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I have to say that Fred has earned my vote!

You're welcome, Ziva. I only wish I had said hello to Val, Henry and LindaSog- I had no idea that I was mere inches away from a coterie of legendary South Florida Bloggers. Ive been backing Fred since he was considering back in March, but I came away from this event thinking that the votes I cast for FDT in the primary and subsequent general election may well be the first and last ones that I cast for a candidate whom I don't have any reservations about going forward. Fred is completely settled and secure in his governing philosophy. Conservatives such as myself were critical of his support of Campaign Finance Reform, but no one- not Reagan, not Goldwater, went through their political career without making mistakes. This is our guy, end of story. Yes, he's not superman, not a demigod, but he is an immensly credible, amiable man with gravitas and intellect, and communication skills galor. If Republicans are too blind to see that it is not that often that we are given golden opportunities such as this to field a candidate of Fred's magnitude, we will only be hurting ourselves in the long run- either with unreliable RINOS, or saddling ourselves with the most dreaded of beings- that woman who should not be.

is this a political ad?

Ahora se puede hacer mucho dinero con esto de los blogs...

we have the audience , and the politicias want their message delivered..

Llego la hora de que ellos paguen por nuestra audiencia...

Enrique, no this is not a "political ad." It is a video of Fred Thompson's campaign stop at Versailles restaurant in Miami. I don't know what happens in Puerto Rico, but here in the mainland during presidential elections, candidates travel around the country campaigning. A lot of people support Fred Thompson, so I posted this video for those who, for whatever reason, where unable to attend the event in person. Would you prefer that people not have access to information as in Cuba?

What is with all the static? Why are Cubans from outside Miami down in the Mouth about Fred? Are there people out there waiting for a Democrat that will be of our way of thinking? Dont bet on it!

I take back since my former statement since it was too general. Hope I didnt offend too many of my hermanos y hermanas. See....self policing. But why all the static for Fred?

I'm a CA from outside of Miami and I am not a fan of Fred. I feel, at least in the state I live in Arizona, that the Republican party has been hijacked by the anti-immigration lobby.

Here in Arizona, there is a large segment of the population that equates all things Spanish/Hispanic/Latino as in illegal. The policies and laws that have been passed in the last four years have been more and more radical and honestly I don't feel that the party is speaking for me anymore.

That is why I feel that McCain and Guliani are more to my liking. No offense to those that prefer Fred, it's your choice.

Perhaps the better question is why do so many Cubans from Miami are enamored of Fred. Do ya'll see him as another Reagan? Just asking

Honestly Angel I have no idea whether or not Miami Cubans have chosen their candidate. I also do not live in Miami, I live in LA. You say there's an anti-immigrant sentiment in Arizona where you live on the part of the republican party. What is your source, and I have to ask, is the sentiment anti-immigrant or anti-illegal immigrant? There's a huge difference, and Cubans are neither, they are refugees.

Some are going with Ron Paul..but hey that's their choice and would be my choice also if Fred wasn't running.

Ziva,

Well the Sheriff here in Maricopa County has instituted a hotline where you can report "illegal immigrant activity". So basically anyone can report anything suspicious and the sheriff's office can investigate. So basically, my parents could be in a store speaking Spanish and someone could technically report them and the authorities then could require they present proper proof of citizenship.

The same sheriff also requires proof of citizenship when entering one of his jails. Proof of citizenship was required for all non-U.S. born citizens. There were several instances where naturalized citizens were denied access to the jails because they didn't present their green cards or passports. As we know from our parents, naturalized citizens don't usually carry those.

There are a number of other laws passed by the state legislator that are very handed when it comes to illegal immigration.

Worse though is the sentiment here among a large percentage of the far right voters. They view everything Spanish as illegal so as someone with a last name like Rodriguez is troublesome.

I consider myself closer to the illegal immigrants than to the Minutemen.

I failed to mention Ziva. I work in the MSM here in Phoenix and we recently did a story on the large number of immigrants who are becoming citizens. I received several phone calls and e-mails about how we should stop even the legal immigrants from becoming citizens with the right to vote. The message boards to that story were filled hate.

It is a state, it seems, filled with Tom Tancredos.

It's a sad fact that the majority of the native population cannot tell the difference between resident aliens and illegals, so unless you're a citizen they think you are undocumented.

The citizens in border states are clearly overwhelmed by the massive numbers of illegals and the lack of a clear policy that deters more from coming. What the Maricopa County sheriff has been doing is a good step towards establishing this policy, even if it bothers some of "us."

Another problem we have as immigrants is the lack of assimilation, learning the language and becoming part of the American population, regardless of age.

People have become that way in AZ due to the boldness and the in your face "we want our entitlement since we are here" crowd. Many of those leading the "ILLEGALS" are leftists and that has been proven time over time in the news and past blogs.

There needs needs to be something done about ILLEGAL immigration cause it's out of control. Just because you want to tighten the borders and set policies that punish ILLEGALS when they enter a jail or other Gov facility is a step in the right direction.

My fear is that one day a terrorist will come over the border and kill CITIZENS. All Gov have border control. We need our laws enforced!

Guajiro,

The leaders of the pro-immigrant movement are no more "leftists" than those on the anti-immigrant movement are all racists. Both sides of this argument have latched on those sterotypes. I don't believe everyone that is anti-immigration is a racist.

I am for securing the border and also a guest worker program that puts employers and a work force together. What I don't like is the puntative measures my state has adapted.

I agree we need to enforce our laws, and I agree that we need to control our borders. However, I am against deporting anyone other than those with criminal records if it's breaking up families, especially where there are children involved. Before people jump down my throat, no I 'm not an advocate of open borders, but I know too many families where there's a mother or father or a sibling that is here illegally. Between our government turning a blind eye to the law for decades, how can you blame them for thinking it's ok to come here? Especially Mexicans, it wasn't that long ago that Mexicans migrated freely back and forth across the border. These are people for crying out loud, just like you and me; not cattle.

That's exactly what I am saying Ziva. There have been two cases here in Phoenix where high school honor students who have lived here for 10-15 years are facing deportation because they were stopped for traffic violations and couldn't present proper ID. It is not these kids fault their parents brought them here. They have been upstanding citizens and done everything to assimilate and become successful in this society, but are still facing deportation. This is where the "what part of illegal don't you understand" argument comes in.

Let's find a fair, practical way to secure our borders and find a system where those that do commit crimes in this country get deported quickly. Congress figured it was better to do nothing than do something during this past session.

We have a similar case here in Miami with two Colombian kids. Their parents came illegally and ignored a previous order to leave the country. They purposely overstayed their 6 month visa. I'm totally in favor of letting the kids stay (DREAM Act), but the parents should go back to Colombia and re-enter legally. If you look at the mainstream thinking, it's not about hating immigrants and sending them back automatically. It's about respecting the law and shoring up our borders. It really isn't that complicated, but people on both sides of the issue like to muddy the waters. However, most Americans are smarter than that.

One aspect of all this that gets almost totally forgotten is the legal immigrant view. How do people who are trying to enter legally feel when they get delayed and pushed back while illegals cross the border, overstay their visas, and take advantage of a soft system? I bet they're pissed. I sure would be.

The ultimate way to secure the border is for Mexico to get its act together and transform their country into a place that nobody wants to leave.

I feel sorry for anybody who believes (in this case correctly) things are so bad in their homeland that they have to get up and leave and risk their lives on a border crossing. But according to the activists here in CA, my compassion doesn't count. I have to be in favor of drivers licenses and voting rights for illegals, not to mention free college registration while native Californians have to pay full price and singing the national anthem not just in Spanish but totally different words that are all about how "we are Latino and we struggle" instead of simply translating the Francis Scott Key's words into Spanish -- or I'm an intolerant mean-spirited bigot.

I'm supposed to be proud of our mayor and police chief marching against his own police department over the May Day incident here in LA, about which the whole story hasn't been told. There is plenty of video showing demonstrators throwing rocks and bottles at police and some with video cameras shoving people into the line of cops to start something and then rolling tape. They were also standing in the middle of the street and other illegal activities, defying orders from police to move or disperse. What, is LAPD supposed to be a branch office of the UN and do nothing?

You hear not a peep out of Bratton and Villaraigosa out of this part, which is far worse than anything the cops did. There's this zeitgeist in LA of bend over and grab your ankles for thugs and for illegals or be labeled a member of the KKK. Flat-out nauseating, and something's got to give. I think it will take the form of folks just fleeing LA in particular and So Cal in general in the next 10 years if all levels of govt don't start taking their job seriously.

Remember, every action is matched by an equal but opposite reaction. When you're being over-run by illegal aliens due to over-compassion for them to the point of giving them benefits American citizens don't have, there will inevitably be over-reaction. The pendulum will swing in a crisis, too far one way (as it has), to too far the other way (as it will), back and forth until it finally finds a happy medium -- I hope. There have been disasters and human rights violations (illegals committing murders as in NJ) resulting from a far to lenient/negligent Sgt. Schultz-style policy on border enforcement, so there will be severe measures that result in human rights violations against illegals and even Spanish-speaking American citizens.

But the idea that the Maricopa County sheriff is going to coming running out with a SWAT team every time somebody drops a dime because they heard somebody speaking Spanish...as Stossel would say, GIMME A BREAK.

Zhangliqun I live in LA also, and I agree with about the activists. They should face criminal charges. I honestly think we shouldn´t do anything until we control the borders, then we should deport the criminals, and work something out with the people who are already here. I really don´t think we need to deport people and break up families. We need a guest worker program, we need to take back our schools and reinstate a curriculum that teaches our children to be proud Americans so the children of immigrants assimilate. I´d start with that.

We are close but there are some areas where we disagree. I wouldn't have a problem deporting people, but like you said, we have to re-establish control the border before we can do anything else. Because if there is no control at the border, those who are deported will just come right back anyway. But once the border is under control, sure, try to avoid breaking up families, but start deporting. It sounds "cold", but part of securing the border is taking away some of the incentives for coming here in the first place, and deportation is part of that.

I'm all in favor of reinstating a cirriculum that teaches all kids to be proud of being American. But you know as well as I do that at least here in LA, that requires driving a wooden stake through the heart of LAUSD. Seems impossible but maybe not. Look at Prop 227. Though there are still some California schools bucking Prop 227 on the ending of "bilingual education", notice how it isn't a topic anymore.

That's because the immigrants' kids, contrary to everything these pandering bilingual education "experts" whined about during the 227 campaign, are learning just fine in English immersion class. Well, big surprise -- thousands of years experience from all over the world with immersing the children of immigrants in the local language shows they take to it like ducks to water. Which means egg all over the faces of these 'experts', which means they don't want to talk about it anymore. (crickets chirping...) I thought there was no way 227 would be implemented, the courts would find a way to make it unconstitutional even if it won at the ballot box, but here we are.

So LAUSD is a major obstacle, but not impossible.

Going off on yet another tangent, one other thought I have is about why Bush (and the federal govt in general) takes such a lax view of border enforcement. Conventional wisdom on the right and left says it's about cheap labor. Maybe, but I don't totally buy it. Here's an idea I heard kicked around once that I have zero hard evidence for but it somehow rings true:

The govt fears the consequences of totally shutting the border down. The fear is that not allowing Mexico to use America as a steam chute for the poor folks they can't (or won't) take care of would create a critical mass of discontent that could cause a Chavez-style dictator to emerge either via a coup or more likely just from a straight up election. Remember that "AMLO", a Chavez-esque socialist candidate who ran in Mexico's last presidential election, missed being the Mexican president by a whisker.

So as bad as the illegal immigration problem is, another Chavez or Castro right on our southern border would be far worse. (Although if that really is the fear, I wish the government would just come out and say it.)

Anyway, it's a thought. Kick it around...

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