Posted on 11/18/2005 5:59:02 AM PST by spintreebob
Theodore Roosevelt on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907.
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But. this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag ... and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile. We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language. And we have room for but one sole loyalty, and that is a loyalty to the American people."
A good quote anyway.
When you read things like this it really brings into sharp relief the way our modern political discourse has deteriorated.
Apparently politicians actually used to say things that had clear meaning.
he would not have mentioned illegal aliens. who would have at that time? you might as well as asked him if pigs really do fly? lack of a mention does not approve of the left out mentioned behavior. note to teddy roosevelt, thank god you are dead, if you saw your country today, youd die from a heart attack on the spot.
Jimmy Carter and his people invented the undocumented BS.
But African-American is still OK, right?
Is this anything like supporting the troops but condemning the mission?
I will try doing some research later tonight.
In todays world that would not be PC but back then people WANTED to be Americans, period. My Father never regretted it.
Chris Mathews?
Do we know who specifically created that propaganda term?
I bet we could even trace who is responsible for first using "liberal" for communist.
I think you might have missed the first sentence which said:
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin.
Jumping our borders and ignoring our immigration laws, tax laws, identity theft laws and driving laws hardly constitutes good faith or becoming an American. In 1907 we had a clearly defined legal immigration process and I doubt that Roosevelt was talking about people who ignored it.
If Teddy Roosevelt could come back and see America today, I think he'd probably barf.
Teddy was my Fathers hero and when war came, my Father and his brother were first in line as volunteers.
This statement was actually written by TR on January 13, 1919, a few days before his death not 1907.
No doubt...sad things is...I think the dumbocrats think just because his last names is Roosevelt he was a democrat...not true, Teddy was a republican famous for inventing gun boat diplomacy.
I think he'd get along with Bush...but good God would he be pissed with what the Dumbocrat party is trying to do with America.
He was a Republican at a time when the Republicans were considerably more liberal then Democrats. Of course, by todays standards, both parties were conservative and most of the population would probably have considered the John Birch Society mainstream. Roosevelt believed in a forceful foreign policy. Domestically he was a populist. He came to power at the tail end of the Gilded Age and his policies were aimed at reversing some of its excesses like the widening gap between rich and poor and the abuse of the working class which resulted from an over-supply of cheap immigrant labor. Among other things I believe we can thank him for the Inheritance Tax which was aimed at preventing folks like the Carnegies, Rockefellars, Vanderbuilts and the Bush's from becoming a new royalty.
That would explain what was bothering me--the reference to the "red flag" which of course would have meant the Bolsheviks. I couldn't make this jibe with 1907, 1919 makes a lot more sense.
I think Teddy R. would also be disappointed that the American people seem to have lost the will to stand up to evil. A good portion of them, anyway.
Teddy was also somewhat progressive when it came to race relations. This is one more reason the conventional liberal wisdom of Dems being the party of civil rights is so absurd. Compare Teddy to the other President Roosevelt who didn't even support anti lynching legislation because he was afraid it would cost Demo votes in the south!
Currently reading a book called "Theodore Rex", and it's ver "bully"...it's a good read.
IMHO, Teddy would still identify with the Republican party of today but he wouldnt know what to think of the Democrat party.
Will you be so kind as to ping me when you find an answer? It seems odd to me, and the reference to the red flag, in 1907 makes it even more so. Thanks.
Listening to Don and Roma right now. Don said 'If Bush would announce an immiggration policy that plugged the borders he would have 50% poll numbers overnight'
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