That's what local talk show host Kirby Wilbur was wondering about the latest pro-illegal immigration demonstration. Why, he wondered, were they having this demonstration at the most inconvenient time for commuters? Another local talk show host, David Boze, also wondered why the demonstrators seemed to be going out of their way to offend possible supporters.
As it happens, I answered their questions when I was discussing last year's demonstration.
So the demonstrators carried, mostly, the wrong kind of signs to appeal to American citizens, and they made no attempt to appeal to the Republican officials who will actually decide what happens to them. In fact, a significant minority went out of their way to offend those officials.
Did the demonstrators make any other mistakes? Well, yes. Seattle has severe traffic problems. The demonstration began at 4 PM and followed a route that might have been designed to inconvenience as many commuters as possible.
Now, let's put that all together. A Dick Morris would have advised the demonstrators to appeal to Americans, especially Republican officials, and not to inconvenience ordinary people. Instead, except for the American flags, they mostly did not appeal to the ordinary citizens, and a significant minority went out of their way to attack the Republican officials who will decide this issue. And, just to put the frosting on the cake, in Seattle, they timed their demonstration to cause maximum inconvenience.
What are we to make of this? The analysis that I did is not difficult, though I do not think most of the demonstrators would have made it. But some of those who organized these demonstrations must have made that analysis. (It is, after all, not much more complicated than the old saw that one catches more flies with honey than vinegar.) So why did those who organized these demonstrations go out of their way to offend Americans, especially Republican officials? The most likely answer is profoundly cynical; the leaders hope to organize the illegal immigrants against Americans, especially public officials, and most especially Republican officials. That this is not in the interests of the immigrants did not bother them in the least. But it should bother any decent person, regardless of their views on immigration.
Wilbur and Boze need, I am sorry to say, to be a little more cynical about the motivations of the organizers of these demonstrations. Those organizers chose 4 PM for their demonstration last year and this year, precisely because that time would maximize the inconvenience for commuters. And many of those organizers must have understood such tactics make the kind of immigration reform that would help many of those in the marches, less likely.
It is an old strategy on the far left, and those who are opposed to the far left should not fall into their trap. They want to separate immigrants, illegal and otherwise, from most Americans; we should try to separate immigrants from those cynical, destructive organizers — and the politicians who support them.
Cross posted at Jim Miller on Politics.
(You can find pictures of this year's demonstration in Seattle here and here.
My apologies for blocking comments. We have several destructive commenters plaguing this site, and I don't have time today (or most days) to babysit my posts. Until we find another solution, I plan to block comments on some of my posts here.)
Posted by Jim Miller at May 03, 2007 09:39 AM | Email This