Tom Tancredo plays the media like a harp from hell
The louder Talk Left, Colorado Confidential, Square State and Coloradolib yell, the happier Tom Tancredo seems to get. From today's Rocky Mountain News:
This week's flap is vintage Tancredo, who revels in public spats with high-profile figures as a way to further his fight against what he calls uncontrolled immigration and a "cult of multiculturalism."
[Jeb] Bush, the president's brother, is just the latest to get pulled into the fray. Among others, Tancredo has used spats with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, top White House political adviser Karl Rove, and Sen. Ken Salazar.
Tancredo allies, opponents and outside analysts all see it as part of a combative public relations strategy that has helped the Littleton Republican turn his back-bench seat in Congress into a national bully pulpit.
Every two years, it's the same thing. Twenty-one months of the lunacy that's made Tancredo famous. And then three months of pretending to be a straight-shooting maverick.
Perhaps Tancredo doesn't deserve our energy. He's spoken in favor of using the Quran to swear in U.S. congresspeople. His Darfur score is excellent. And every democracy needs its stark raving wingnuts.
But the issue isn't the venom Tancredo occasionally spews. It's the people that venom attracts. Tancredo is a celebrity among the racist and the violent. And I'm ashamed that their hero is from Colorado.
It may be difficult to unseat Tancredo in CD6. But it would be easy to marginalize him so that he doesn't get his dream shot at a Senate seat or even the presidency. But doing it will require all of us - including Jeb Bush - to keep our mouths shut when Tancredo opens his.
I don't think I have the restraint.
PS - Extra points for anyone who caught the Batman Returns reference.
This week's flap is vintage Tancredo, who revels in public spats with high-profile figures as a way to further his fight against what he calls uncontrolled immigration and a "cult of multiculturalism."
[Jeb] Bush, the president's brother, is just the latest to get pulled into the fray. Among others, Tancredo has used spats with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, top White House political adviser Karl Rove, and Sen. Ken Salazar.
Tancredo allies, opponents and outside analysts all see it as part of a combative public relations strategy that has helped the Littleton Republican turn his back-bench seat in Congress into a national bully pulpit.
Every two years, it's the same thing. Twenty-one months of the lunacy that's made Tancredo famous. And then three months of pretending to be a straight-shooting maverick.
Perhaps Tancredo doesn't deserve our energy. He's spoken in favor of using the Quran to swear in U.S. congresspeople. His Darfur score is excellent. And every democracy needs its stark raving wingnuts.
But the issue isn't the venom Tancredo occasionally spews. It's the people that venom attracts. Tancredo is a celebrity among the racist and the violent. And I'm ashamed that their hero is from Colorado.
It may be difficult to unseat Tancredo in CD6. But it would be easy to marginalize him so that he doesn't get his dream shot at a Senate seat or even the presidency. But doing it will require all of us - including Jeb Bush - to keep our mouths shut when Tancredo opens his.
I don't think I have the restraint.
PS - Extra points for anyone who caught the Batman Returns reference.
3 Comments:
Well said.
But remember that even a broken clock is right twice a day. Thus, Tancredo's occasional lapses into reasonableness.
The hypocrisy and unhingedness of his immigration stances negates an awful lot. One must wonder if his position on Darfur is fueled more by fear that refugees will attempt to settle in the U.S. unless a domestic resolution is achieved.
"Hey, just relax—I’ll take care of the squealing, wretched, pinhead puppets of Gothom!:
And that was off the top of my head.
I like the idea of ignoring him. I've been mainly ignoring Coulter for a while, and she got so crazy even the mainstream media turned against her. Tancredo will keep pushing the boundary until he pushes too far. Apparently he hasn't done that yet.
Since it's important we keep track of Mr. Tancredo, how about if, when we feel the overwhelming need to point out his lunacy, we link to the story, then point and laugh? He's just doing it for the attention. Pointing and laughing is attention, but not the kind he would like.
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