Confronting right wing racism head on!

Sep 252007

25/09/2007 Posted by PMC at 23:33 on 25/09/2007

I’ve heard all my life that those who object the most are the most likely to be guilty of what they are accused of and this seems to be the case here.

Recently, I discovered a link back to a website of a person I detest, David Duke, convicted felon and former Grand Dragon of the KKK in Louisiana. Looking further, I discovered it was a post written by Mark Taylor, sometimes known as “Ugly Puppy”.

Mark Taylor and his wife Renee are obsessed with the Mexican truck issue to the point of blurring the lines between the illegal immigration problem and a legal program operating under close scrutiny of safety officials. One has nothing to do with the other in any manner except in the minds of the right wing extremists who are blind to anything other than their own version of the truth.

In additon, Renee Taylor has the audacity to make a post on Lifeontheroad.com and on her website Americantruckersat war.com accusing me of lying and also accusing anyone not agreeing with her point of view, a racist, a liar, a lunatic and more.

They are entitled to their opinion but those who holler the loudest are usually the most guilty and I stand by what I have said.

Mark and Renee Taylor wear their patriotism on their sleeves for all to see. Their idea of Patriotism. Certainly, Mark went to Iraq as an employee of KBR, but I imagine the lure of the tax free income of $80-150,000.00 for a years tour trumped the feeling of patriotism. Hell, I thought of signing up also, but I didn’t care to be a casualty of this insane war. But that is all beside the point.

So the question is, how does one go from a Patriot to a overt racist?

The definition of patriotism:

Patriotism denotes positive and supportive attitudes to a ‘fatherland’ (Latin patria < Greek patris, ??????), by individuals and groups. The ‘fatherland’ (or ‘motherland’) can be a region or a city, but patriotism usually applies to a nation and/or a nation-state. Patriotism covers such attitudes as: pride in its achievements and culture, the desire to preserve its character and the basis of the culture, and identification with other members of the nation. Patriotism is closely associated with nationalism, and is often used as a synonym for it. Strictly speaking, nationalism is an ideology – but it often promotes patriotic attitudes as desirable and appropriate. (Both nationalist political movements, and patriotic expression, may, yet need not, be negative towards other people’s ‘fatherland’).

We go further and keep in mind the reference to NATIONALISM.

Within nations, politicians may appeal to patriotic emotions in attacking their opponents, implicitly or explicitly accusing them of betraying the country. Minorities may reject a patriotic loyalty and pride, which the majority finds unproblematic. They may feel excluded from the political community, and see no reason to be proud of it.

Patriotism is distinguished from nationalism by its lack of aggression or hatred for others, its defensiveness, and positive community building.

Ok, I don’t have a problem with any of that. I served during Viet Nam in the Air Force. My father and Uncles in WWII and my brother with the USAF after Viet Nam. The difference is, we don’t take it to the extreme.

When people take their patriotism to extremes it becomes NATIONALISM. The argument and definition for that is:

Specific examples of nationalism are extremely diverse. The theory of nationalism has always been complicated by this background, and by the intrusion of nationalist ideology into the theory. There are also national differences in the theory of nationalism, since people define nationalism on the basis of their local experience. Theory (and media coverage) may overemphasise conflicting nationalist movements, and war,diverting attention from general theoretical issues;

So when we go from one extreme (Patriotism) we arrive at what could be called a group of Nationalists and here is where the racism occurs.

Nationalism does not necessarily imply a belief in the superiority of one nation over others, but in practice some (but not all) nationalists do think that way about their own nation. Occasionally they believe another nation can serve as an example for their own nation. There is a specific racial nationalism which can be considered an ethnic nationalism, but some form of racism can be found within almost all nationalist movements. It is usually directed at neighbouring nations and ethnic groups. (Such as Mexico and Mexicans)

The anti-racist critique of nationalism concentrates on the attitudes to other nations, and especially on the doctrine that the nation-state exists for one national group, to the exclusion of others. It emphasises the chauvinism and xenophobia of many nationalisms.

Anyone starting to see a connection. Even when those who holler the loudest say “we’re not racist, you are for calling us racist”, the anti-racist phenomenon comes into play.

So does this apply to Mark and Renee Taylor, their good friend Eric Boulanger otherwise known as Bubba Bo, on whose radio program they are regular and honored guests? And it is not just these two but the majority of the anti Mexican truck and anti-Mexican movement which has reared it’s ugly head in this nation.

You see people, the opponents of the Mexican Truck Pilot Program, which is the issue on this site, have absolutely no facts to back up their claims that Mexican trucks are unsafe, the drivers are all drunks and drug users, and the rest of the crap they try to force on the American public. They have nothing but anecdotal evidence from years past that they try to pass off as the way things are in 2007. They rely on a piece of trash reporting commissioned by the Teamsters by a hack by the name of Charles Bowden who supposedly, in 1998 came to Mexico and found Mexican truckers willing to spill the beans on their industry. From my personal experience, Mexicans do not open up and tell all to strangers, especially norteamericanos, but Jimmy Hoffa and others have really gotten the mileage out of this piece of garbage.

When Renee Taylor’s essay entitled “Porter Corn, you have failed” was censured and taken from the other website, she was quick to put it up on her own little site. Just as quick as she was to claim the post written by her husband for another site was “scraped” and posted without their permission on David Dukes site. That stretches the credibility because as it is copyrighted to another site, they could request it be removed but this hasn’t happened. And besides, I don’t think David Duke has any need to “scrape” content for his site. There are plenty of loony toons around who are proud to be associated with him.

But the Taylors and others have insisted that the Mexican Truck issue and illegal immigration are one and the same. By their own admission, they don’t want Mexicans in this country. They continue, as do others, to insist those two convicted felons, Ramos and Campeon are heroes and should be free and take every opportunity to use them as an example thus throwing another issue into the fray that has absolutely nothing to do with Mexican Trucks, their legal drivers or the pros and cons of the issue.

They, and others, make it a point to leave out the positive or derogatory effects of the Canadian truckers in this country.

So they choose to call me a liar. Whatever floats their boat. But one thing I will say is everything that has been posted on this site, the statistics, my opinions on various aspects of the Mexican Truck Program and Mexico, have all been verified and proven, by government and other sources, not intentionally, but as this issue has played out. The opponents can not say the same. I do not have to rely on fabricated evidence, rigged statistics from DOJ nor the other underhanded tools of the opposition because the facts, and history are on my side.

Oh, and do we need more? Consider more actions of the opposition who do not want anyone to dare disagree with them when they post incredibly stupid videos on using photos which misrepresent the issue and defacing currencies. How childish when they restrict comments to only allow those that agree with their point of view. But what else would you expect?

Is Racism at work in Border Trucking debate?

http://www.sfcmac.wordpress.com SFCMAC

ARE YOU NUTS? To allow Mexican trucks to cross the American border carte blanche, is one of the most boneheaded moves ever made by a government agency. The NAFTA farce aside, you will further erode what little border security there is.Why not just hang a huge neon sign at the border announcing "illegals and terrorist cells welcome?" There IS NO SECURITY IN PLACE. These criminals traipse across the border because they CAN; there's not enough Border Guards, weapons and equipment to stop them, and the government doesn't have the guts to actually seal the border with the appropriate measures, like a wall and shoot-to-kill ROE. This may be difficult for you to grasp, but we are being invaded, and you're giving thieves, rapists, murderers, and terrorists the go-ahead. You've got alot more to worry about than the "safety of Mexican trucks". What about the safety of the United States? Your little plan will flush what little security there is right down the toilet. Thanks for doing your part to endanger the U.S.

SFC MAC
http://mexicotrucker.com Trailero 1

I could ask you the same question, ARE YOU NUTS or simply one of the loony tunes who refuses to set aside preconceived notions and look at the facts? I think, the latter, from reading your comment.

1. No one, including myself, has ever advocated allowing Mexican trucks carte blanche access to the U.S. although we allow that type of access to the Canadians. When these Mexican rigs cross the border, we know WHO is driving them, WHAT they are hauling and the CONDITION of their equipment. That's a fact! Those are the rules like it or not!

2. The Mexican truck issue has absolutely nothing to do with the illegal immigration problem. Despite people such as yourself trying to weave the two together, they have nothing in common.

3. Here you use the terror card, a favorite of the far right when they have nothing factual to back their claims. Where are these terrorists that are infiltrating our southern border? Seems to me for each one caught, that would be front page news. In the U.S. and Mexico! I haven't seen it in mainstream news. (And no, WND.com is not mainstream news) The thieves, rapists, murderers? Perhaps 1 in 100,000 could fit this discription, and I agree, even one is too many. But in the American population, how do you single out one of these? And I am not talking about a Mexican. What are the traits you look for in an American citizen to tell you if that person is going to rob, rape or murder? You can't! But in your mind, simply being a Mexican makes a person prone to this behavior. Do you see how idiotic your comment is?

4. A shoot to kill policy? Is this why you and people like you think the convicted felons Ramos and Campeon are heroes? Because they shot an unarmed man in the back? Excuse me, it wasn't and unarmed man, it was a Mexican. I guess in your world there is a difference. Shoot to kill ROE, interesting idea. So you are advocating starting a border war in order to keep hard working harmless people out of the country. People that would follow the rules if the rules made sense.. And the government has tried to pass laws that made sense but they are always met with an outcry from people such as yourself who whine that any effort to address the problem amounts to amnesty.

Build a wall and there will be a ladder to breach it. Guard the wall so it can't be breached and you don't need the wall.

You mention "my little plan"? I don't see where I proposed a plan. Want one? Here you are and I'll make it simple so even you can comprehend what I am saying.

1. Realize the impossibility of rounding up 6 to 12 million people for deportation and make it possible for them to come out of the shadows so we know who is here.

2. Change your priorities. The Mexican do not present a danger to national security, but the middle easterners and people from other Muslim countries do. Those who have come here legally and overstayed their visas and are in hiding. Deport them first.

3. Bush's little plan to fast track entry for "Iraqi refugees"! Cancel that! We're letting more potential terrorists into our country so we can blame Mexico if another attack occurs.

4. Forget any idea of a "path to citizenship" for the illegals already here. The majority of them do not want it. They come here to work, and before the hysteria of post 9/11, most left the country after a year or two, never to return. Of course they were replaced by others, but so what! They came here to work.

5. Pass the DREAM Act! It's the right thing to do for kids who had no input to whether they would come to this country or not. These are kids who have assimilated into American culture which is what most on the right demand. These are kids who speak English and desire to further their educations. Pass this act and you have solved the problem of about 1,000,000 technical illegals and in the process, you have potential tax payers in high income brackets, contributing legally.

6. Forget the fence. Those billions of dollars could be used to better secure the border technologically. Build the fence, they'll continue to come over it, tunnel under it or simply cross in areas where there is no fence. You cannot fence 2500 miles of desert. Oh, and while we're at it, we need to fence the northern border or do we? Canadians, even Canadians from Muslim countries can walk across the northern border legally, simply by showing Canadian documentations.

7. We have the technology to know who enters and when they leave our country on the southern border. Use the technology and lighten up on the rules. You might see a downturn in illegal immigration. And after lightening the rules so everyone is documented, then drop the hammer on those caught here illegally.

8. You can deport the honest hard working people who come here to work and save enough money to go back home for good and open business or build a house and in most cases, they will stay deported. To you, these may be criminals. To me, they committed a civil misdemeanor which is all illegal entry is. Deport the thieves, robbers and rapists after they have done their time, and if they desire to, they will return. They are the criminals and a very minute percentage of the illegal population.

You wanted a plan? There's your plan! Wholesale roundup and deportation of illegal Mexicans is not possible nor would it serve to enhance security of the United States, because the Mexicans are not a threat to national security.
Gantec

Mr. Corn,

I found Mark and Renee Taylor’s article on David Duke’s website some time ago. The article is copyrighted to the website it was originally posted on. I personally believe that it ended up there in much the same way articles end up on Mexico Trucker. If it agrees with your agenda, it will land here.

It is interesting what a person can find with a little Googleing, is it not?

Mark and Renee Taylor have a belief, and they support it. They believe that allowing Mexico domiciled trucks to operate in the U.S. is not in the best interest of our country. I happen to feel the same way.

That, however, is not the only cause they support, and in following what they have written over the last four years, even though I haven’t always agreed with the viewpoints they presented, I have found people with integrity and a strong desire for the betterment of our country. I find it a very low thing to attack them on those grounds. I find it an even lower thing to take their legitimate concerns and dismiss them with the label of racism.

It is completely possible to be in opposition of this program and not be racist. I am against the pilot program for many reasons and I can assure you, based on my own good name and reputation, that racism is not one of them.

The safety of our borders. It is not the Mexicans we need to worry about, however, or the Mexican border alone. We have work to do at the Canadian border as well. We should not add to those problems by opening another border before we get that one straightened out.

The safety of our highways. It is not only Mexican drivers who are unsafe, current conditions make it far to easy to put an untrained and untested driver behind the wheel. We have internal issues to address before loading yet another burden on our enforcement infrastructure.

The economic impact on the trucking industry. Cabotage is already an issue with Canadian drivers. Yes cabotage laws exist, and those laws need to be enforced first. Cabotage is not the only economic issue, however. You are right that two trucks or 200 trucks will barely be a ripple in the pond. On the Mike McConnell show, you said that you thought that at it’s height, even after permanent implementation, only about 200 trucks would operate in the program. Of course, you also said that you didn’t believe that Mexican trucks would travel very far into this country.

How interesting, then, that the very first truck across the border went to North Carolina. Even more interesting is the pay rate the driver received for that trip, a whopping 13 cents a mile. And you don’t think that there will be more than 200 trucks engaged in the program? Seriously. How many trucks run across the border every day to leave trailers that another truck, with an American driver, will carry further into the U.S.? Those American drivers make much more than that, and will surely be replaced with the cheaper Mexican labor as quickly as possible. Somehow, I think that will be far more than a few hundred trucks.

This country is already suffering from an overabundance of trucks. Rates and wages in this industry are horrible. Inflation in our cost of operations has reached levels as high as 250% in the last two decades, while freight rates have stagnated and in some cases even decreased. The influx of poorly trained American drivers on our roads has had a serious impact on highway safety as well as the public perception of our industry.

You don’t invite company over when your house is a mess, and the United States has a lot of housecleaning to do..

Frankly, I’ve found your arguments to be somewhat compelling, if–in my view–flawed. The opposition to this program is on a slippery slope that makes it easy to lean back on the labels of racism and “agenda” rather than to make a logical argument for something, and this is a trap you seem to fall into again and again.

The right has an obvious agenda, you say? Well, it better have! What would be the point in having a “right” and a “left” if there were no interests to serve? In this case, however, the interest isn’t the “protectionism and xenophobia” you claim it to be. Instead, those whom you attempt to dismiss with the label of “right” are trying to serve the interest of what is best for their country.

It would be interesting to know YOUR true agenda in this. Why is this issue so important to you that all opposition to it is labeled as racism? I’ve read your byline, and the reasons you give for taking up this fight, but let’s hear the real story. What category, exactly, does your expert status fall in? In our last discussion you guaranteed the safety of the program and staked it on your “good name and reputation.” What exactly is that reputation, Mr. Corn? I would like to know, because the one I see isn’t exactly one I’d like to stake the safety and welfare of my country and my industry upon.
http://mexicotrucker.com Trailero 1

Another well written well thought out comment of the type I appreciate. I'll attempt to to respond to some of your comment and question, but not all of it.

!. My agenda! I don't have one unless you call trying to show the truth about Mexico and the transportation industry as it truly is and not as how the opponents and critics want to label it as.

I've lived in this country (Mexico) for more than 10 years and I have yet to find the junk trucks running line haul, the drunk and drugged drivers they claim all Mexican trucker to be or any more of the anecdotal evidence they use to defend their position. Rather than to sit her and say,, "you're wrong and I'm right", and knowing I would be challenged on anything I said, I made it a point to prove, what I had to say and to solidify my position with facts and documents supporting those facts and I will continue to do so.

You ask what I am staking my reputation on? My reputation as a driver of 30+ years, without chargeable accidents nor an overabundance of citations. Perhaps reputation wasn't the correct word, maybe it was. And I have never claimed to be an expert. But my experience "in country" as a resident and someone who has actually driven the roads of Mexico in the interior, give me knowledge and authority to render the opinions that I do. As opposed to the critics whose only experience in Mexico has been in the border towns doing the tourist thing, or the zonas, doing the night time parties or perhaps stepping off a cruise ship in the Americanized cities on the coast. My actually traveling the country, interacting with the people, keeping my eyes open and being observant more than qualifies me. As to being an expert though, that is a matter of opinion.

the critics always seem to want to throw the terror card into a discussion when they have nothing of substance to solidify their position. As I have said before. Forget the Mexican Trucks. They don't exist for a moment. Even without the Mexican Trucks, the same amount of freight is going to cross the border. It is a fact that ALL trailers crossing into the U.S. are scanned for radioactive material as are all cars and pedestrians entering the country from Mexico. I have photographic proof of this, and these safeguards are at all the major border crossing and ALL of the commercial crossings. This pretty much defeats the theory of a security or terrorist threat.

Mexican drivers, by and large, and most assuredly any that will be permitted to participate in the program are as experienced as most American drivers. I have shared the road with these guys and have not felt threatened.

You mention the comment I made on McConnell's show about the Mexican trucks not going very far into the country. That was based on the prevailing opinion on the border and in the trucking companies down here. I was wrong although the assumption was a logical one. The first company to enter, Transportes Olympic, did go to North Carolina as we all know, servicing one of their customers in Monterrey Their customer choose them to carry the load because it resulted in a cost savings to the shipper. That is good business. Did it deprive an American trucker of a load? Sure it did, but who missed it? You can't lose something you never had in the first place and there are millions of tons of freight crossing the border every year. Enough for everyone.

Whether are not a person feels it is in the best interest of the country to allow Mexican trucks in is besides the point. Economists and others seem to think it will have a net positive effect on the tri lateral economies. It is not something we will see immediately.

My problem is with the people, such as Mark and Renee and other's who choose to group the Mexican Truck issue and the illegal immigration problem together, stir in a little fear and then deal the terror card, mix it all together and serve it with a healthy dose of of false patriotism to shove it down the throats of those who could care less.

You see Gantec, where the critics of Mexican trucks fail, is they have no facts to support their opposition. Instead, they fabricate a scenario to scare the hell out of people who are too damned lazy to look for themselves. For instance;

No databases in Mexico? That has been disproven time and again but they still persist. Mexican applying for VISA's to enter the U.S. undergo background checks to the satisfaction of ICE before permission is given. The Federal Police are able to access a database from the laptops in their cruisers to check for wants and warrants. I've seen that personally. True, the databases in Mexico are not set up in the same manner as they are in the U.S. but they work for Mexico, they are accessible by U.S. authorities and that should be the end of the argument. But they persist!

They claim the Licencia Federal is in no way comparable to our CDL and in some ways they are correct, but not in the manner they claim. The Mexican CDL is much more difficult to obtain than the U.S. counterpart. It involves drug testing, physicals, background checks and 40 hours of training each time it is renewed. They ignore this fact and call me a liar although the requirements are clearly posted on Mexican government websites. And being a Federal license, they cannot be bought on every street corner. A Mexican drivers license on the other hand, is easy to obtain. Walk into a license bureau, present two forms of ID proving who you are and pay the $60 pesos and pass the test. The test is one question; "Can you drive?"

the critics complain that you won't know who it is behind the wheel of the truck! Another ludicrous suggestion to those of us who have dealt with the Mexican bureaucracy and know how anal they are about proper credentials and making certain all the loops are closed.

And it goes on and on.

But I intend to continue this site, without compensation nor asking for "donations" as most of the right wing critics have on their sites. Because it is my intent to keep putting the documented proof of my position out there for anyone who cares to take the time to read it.

The illegal immigration problem will never be solved as long as the white right refuses to accept the fact that you cannot round up and deport 6 to 12 million people. It is as simple as that. There are better ways to do it. We need to forget racial profiling and work to identify and deport those nationalities who would do harm to this country. The Mexicans are not amongst this group!

I do appreciate your comments though

Mexico Trucker Online

Confronting right wing racism head on!