The Nativists Are Restless

Check out the N.Y. Times editorial "The Nativists Are Restless."  It recounts a recent D.C. meeting of  anti-immigrationists making the dubious argument that embracing a close-the-borders approach to immigration will help revive the reeling Republican Party.

The op/ed acknowledges that "[t]he relentlessly harsh Republican campaign against immigrants has always hidden a streak of racialist extremism. Now after several high-water years, the Republican tide has gone out, leaving exposed the nativism of fringe right-wingers clinging to what they hope will be a wedge issue."

An anti-immigrant immigrant, Peter Brimelow, author of the diatribe against immigrants, Latinos, affirmative action, etc. (you get the idea), Alien Nation (1995), attended the D.C. meeting as did Pat Buchanan.   Brimelow is a founder of Vdare.com, "an extremist anti-immigration Web site. It is named for Virginia Dare, the first white baby born in the English colonies . . . . The site is worth a visit.  {It really is -- check out Michelle Malkins attack on Congressman John Murtha, Vietnam vet and recipient of a Navy Distinguished Service Medal,  as a "fool" who spews "ignorant nonsense"). There you can read Mr. Brimelow’s and Mr. Buchanan’s musings about racial dilution and the perils facing white people, and gems like this . . . :

“Diversity can be good in moderation — if what is being brought in is desirable. Most Americans don’t mind a little ethnic food, some Asian math whizzes, or a few Mariachi dancers — as long as these trends do not overwhelm the dominant culture.”

KJ