Things are just getting going when the bomb scare comes, so no one wants to hear from the police chief when he scurries to the stage. But he takes the mic anyway.
There's a suspicious package, he says.
The threat looks real.
We're not evacuating, but we suggest you leave in an orderly fashion.
A good 1,300 people are packed into this Overland Park conference center. They have come to be riled, to be moved, even to be scared — but not by some silly little bomb threat.
"We're not going anywhere!" one man yells. Then another: "Hell, no, we won't go!"
In an evening of high-pitched consensus, things are suddenly quiet and tense. But then Kris Kobach steps back to the mic, his big, angular face emitting a sense of calm. He'd been riding an oratorical tidal wave when the police chief rushed the stage. He fully intends to see that wave to shore.
"Seriously," he says first, "if you have any fear at all, please don't hesitate to leave."
But no one moves. Down in the front row, an older woman says something — to herself but also for the group: "I can't think of a better way to go."
Yes, the perfect place to die: Engulfed by 1,300 people who all agree that tonight's speakers are genuine heroes. The lawyer who wrote the country's toughest illegal-immigration laws and the sheriff who enforces them at all costs: a match made in America.
Kobach is the lawyer, a University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor and rising star among illegal immigrants' most vigilant foes. This event is ostensibly a rally for his bid to become Kansas' next secretary of state. But Kobach, armed with degrees from Harvard, Yale and Oxford, is smart enough to avoid the topic of his campaign.
He has made his name (and plenty of money) flying from state to state, crafting and defending laws designed to root out illegal immigrants. The laws he has written punish illegal immigrants and the businesses that hire them, landlords who rent to them and states that educate them. Civil rights groups have labeled him a racist and have sued, often successfully, to block his efforts. But the fight has granted him a saintly status among the people packed into this conference room.
His most famous work is Arizona's S.B. 1070, which makes illegal immigration a state crime and forces local law enforcement to seek out and arrest illegal immigrants. The law has attracted national attention, accusations of racial profiling, and lawsuits by the U.S. Department of Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union. (The ACLU suit is being underwritten by The Pitch's parent company, Village Voice Media.) But S.B. 1070 is just one of many similar laws in the works. And with more than half of Americans supporting it, there will be more laws, and more Kobach.
Kobach knows all that. So while he faces a tough Republican primary in less than two weeks — against well-regarded if little-known opponents who are busy touring Kansas talking about being secretary of state — he knows that nothing will improve his chances like being the Guy Who Ships Out Illegals.
Besides, tonight — like much of Kobach's rise to fringe fame — is about Arizona. As much as these people have come to see Kobach, they've come to see the old man sitting behind him: Joe Arpaio.
The sheriff of Phoenix's Maricopa County since 1992, Arpaio is known for housing prisoners in tents and forcing them to wear pink underwear. More recently, he's become known for his aggressive fight to keep illegal immigrants out of Arizona.
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Vincent you are so right!! Go to Home Depot on a Saturday morning on Linwood and Gillham in Midtown. You alway's see migrant workers from Mexico waiting near the entrance for work, eventually some white man in a brand new Nissan Titan with Johnson County plates will pick up 3-4 at a time and haul them off to a work site, see it up there every weekend!
Vincent, I'm just a white girl from the Plaza area, but you are very correct, my own people sicken me at times, then sprew stuff all over blogs as this making mexican people out to be a terrible race.
I admire the Latino race, most outwork the lazy, spoiled spoonfed "white folks" I work with or live around. we can be a sicko race at times, Just wanted to chime in!
The White people are the ones that own the roofing companies, the Lawn Companies, Landscape companies, construction companies, fast food joints, and so on and son on!.... White people hire illegal aliens to work these jobs and undercut the American workforce.
The Illegal Aliens from Mexico don't own these establishments!!
Don't hate the illegal's for trying to make a buck $$ to take care of their families, blame the White Man for hiring them at cheap wages to perform in service industry jobs.If you were a dude from Mexico, you'd be doing the same thing as well!
Now I know why black people say white people have screwed them and our country over, you white folks are just as guilty as the illegals are for hiring them to work for you.
Vincent you are so right!! Go to Home Depot on a Saturday morning on Linwood and Gillham in Midtown. You alway's see migrant workers from Mexico waiting near the entrance for work, eventually some white man in a brand new Nissan Titan with Johnson County plates will pick up 3-4 at a time and haul them off to a work site, see it up there every weekend! Vincent, I'm just a white girl from the Plaza area, but you are very correct, my own people sicken me at times, then sprew stuff all over blogs as this making mexican people out to be a terrible race. I admire the Latino race, most outwork the lazy, spoiled spoonfed "white folks" I work with or live around. we can be a sicko race at times, Just wanted to chime in!
The White people are the ones that own the roofing companies, the Lawn Companies, Landscape companies, construction companies, fast food joints, and so on and son on!.... White people hire illegal aliens to work these jobs and undercut the American workforce. The Illegal Aliens from Mexico don't own these establishments!! Don't hate the illegal's for trying to make a buck $$ to take care of their families, blame the White Man for hiring them at cheap wages to perform in service industry jobs.If you were a dude from Mexico, you'd be doing the same thing as well! Now I know why black people say white people have screwed them and our country over, you white folks are just as guilty as the illegals are for hiring them to work for you.
this is a very racist Act in that Mexicans have been targeted, NOT Illegal Irish, Illegal Italians, Illegal Russians- NOONE else has been targeted but Mexicans...And that you ignorant ppl, is what makes this whole DEBATE a Racist one!!!
this is a very racist Act in that Mexicans have been targeted, NOT Illegal Irish, Illegal Italians, Illegal Russians- NOONE else has been targeted but Mexicans...And that you ignorant ppl, is what makes this whole DEBATE a Racist one!!!
Kobach, if I catch you or any of your racist Honky friends or supporters out in the streets, I'm gonna kick your ass! You racist piece's of filth!
Kobach, if I catch you or any of your racist Honky friends or supporters out in the streets, I'm gonna kick your ass! You racist piece's of filth!
Its about time you racist Crackers get through your thick red white and blue skulls that the solutions is not the expulsion of illigals. They have been allow to work here and buy homes here.
They should now be allow to stay here. May be by paying some fines and reporting their correct income and such. go after real criminals (rapist,muderers,arsonist,robbers) and deport them after they serve some time in jail of course. You can include the
Unducumented here as well of course....
PEOPLE OF KANSAS..FOR THE SAKE OF OUR COUNTRY...WAKE UP!!!!!!! GET THE REAL FACTS. The illegals are helping to bankrupt our country, 1/3rd of the felons in our jails are illegal, the thefts they commit alone are causing our small and large businesses huge losses, the drain on our hospitals, the vast amount of children we, the taxpayers, are paying for, etc, etc,... PLEASE GO LOOK AT THE FACTS NOT THE WRITINGS OF JOE TONE. Is he an illegal? The writer of this piece most certainly has not read Arizona's S.B. 1070 or he would not have slanted it with such liberal bias as he has. This law would simply reinforce a law that is on the books at the federal level. Law enforcers are not forced "to seek out and arrest illegal immigrants", the law enforcement officials of Arizona are trying to keep some sanity in their state. Has Mr.Tone seen the destruction of property caused by the illegals as they infiltrate the state of Arizona? Has he been a land owner on the border who has suffered robberies and beatings? Would this writer enjoy watching his teen aged children look for a summer job without luck because an illegal has it? Does this writer enjoy paying for the food, shelter, special education, and medicine for the illegals who collect our food stamps, and assistance meant for those who really need it. Has this writer watched the thousands of illegals who come into the local stores with food coupons? The women take the coupons and buy necessities including medicine, the men buy products and food stuffs that I, who was born here and worked all my life here, can not afford? Has he watched as they send off hundreds of dollars to Mexico and then buy their goods with our government assistance, paid for by citizens who pay taxes? Has this writer watched in store after store, illegal after illegal, tear open small boxes of various products take out the contents and stuff them in the baby's car seat, under the car seat and in the clothes of the other three children who are under five and not get caught because there is no proof they took the products?
Its about time you racist Crackers get through your thick red white and blue skulls that the solutions is not the expulsion of illigals. They have been allow to work here and buy homes here. They should now be allow to stay here. May be by paying some fines and reporting their correct income and such. go after real criminals (rapist,muderers,arsonist,robbers) and deport them after they serve some time in jail of course. You can include the Unducumented here as well of course....
PEOPLE OF KANSAS..FOR THE SAKE OF OUR COUNTRY...WAKE UP!!!!!!! GET THE REAL FACTS. The illegals are helping to bankrupt our country, 1/3rd of the felons in our jails are illegal, the thefts they commit alone are causing our small and large businesses huge losses, the drain on our hospitals, the vast amount of children we, the taxpayers, are paying for, etc, etc,... PLEASE GO LOOK AT THE FACTS NOT THE WRITINGS OF JOE TONE. Is he an illegal? The writer of this piece most certainly has not read Arizona's S.B. 1070 or he would not have slanted it with such liberal bias as he has. This law would simply reinforce a law that is on the books at the federal level. Law enforcers are not forced "to seek out and arrest illegal immigrants", the law enforcement officials of Arizona are trying to keep some sanity in their state. Has Mr.Tone seen the destruction of property caused by the illegals as they infiltrate the state of Arizona? Has he been a land owner on the border who has suffered robberies and beatings? Would this writer enjoy watching his teen aged children look for a summer job without luck because an illegal has it? Does this writer enjoy paying for the food, shelter, special education, and medicine for the illegals who collect our food stamps, and assistance meant for those who really need it. Has this writer watched the thousands of illegals who come into the local stores with food coupons? The women take the coupons and buy necessities including medicine, the men buy products and food stuffs that I, who was born here and worked all my life here, can not afford? Has he watched as they send off hundreds of dollars to Mexico and then buy their goods with our government assistance, paid for by citizens who pay taxes? Has this writer watched in store after store, illegal after illegal, tear open small boxes of various products take out the contents and stuff them in the baby's car seat, under the car seat and in the clothes of the other three children who are under five and not get caught because there is no proof they took the products?
Wow. I used to live in KC during the 60s-80s, and while I always new there were plenty of bigoted racists residing in my beloved hometown, I can only presume that their numbers (along with their mind-numbing stupidity) have continued to grow since I left, judging from the majority of comments here.
And then there is this:
"... Kobach has made voter fraud his singular issue. His volunteers' T-shirts feature crossed-out logos for ACORN, the group busted for illegally registering voters. His website's space is devoted mostly to the threat of "stolen" elections. Who's stealing them? He doesn't say, but the implication is obvious: Illegal immigrants are among the culprits."
What BS. Acorn wasn't "busted for illegally registering voters." While in fact, some signature gatherers did collect a few phony signatures (allegedly on behalf of Obama, yet another racist meme), who reported this fraud to the authorities? Acorn did. They uncovered it, and reported it. Acorn has been accused by Kobach and plenty of other right-wing racists of practically every offense known to mankind, but every accusation has been proven unfounded, as the report by the GAO (the independent investigative arm of congress) has shown:
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d...
No, Acorn was "busted" by a bogus, phony video and a McCarthy-ite congress with racist constituencies that all jumped on the bandwagon to get rid of something that threatened them....Black people voting, or black people not voting for Republicans. THAT's the true fraud. Hell, the author of the video in question later admitted it was a hoax (after Acorn's funding was cut off). O'Keefe pled guilty, and received three years probation and a $1500 fine (a slap on the wrist) for his phony pimp video.
Kobach and his ilk are nothing but lying, racist toadies that know how to push the racist buttons that will get their racist supporters all riled up over some non-existent threat. Alas, there are plenty of people out there who have a difficult time utilizing what little grey matter they possess, and they are too easily manipulated, particularly when they are such bigots to begin with.
Wow. I used to live in KC during the 60s-80s, and while I always new there were plenty of bigoted racists residing in my beloved hometown, I can only presume that their numbers (along with their mind-numbing stupidity) have continued to grow since I left, judging from the majority of comments here. And then there is this: "... Kobach has made voter fraud his singular issue. His volunteers' T-shirts feature crossed-out logos for ACORN, the group busted for illegally registering voters. His website's space is devoted mostly to the threat of "stolen" elections. Who's stealing them? He doesn't say, but the implication is obvious: Illegal immigrants are among the culprits." What BS. Acorn wasn't "busted for illegally registering voters." While in fact, some signature gatherers did collect a few phony signatures (allegedly on behalf of Obama, yet another racist meme), who reported this fraud to the authorities? Acorn did. They uncovered it, and reported it. Acorn has been accused by Kobach and plenty of other right-wing racists of practically every offense known to mankind, but every accusation has been proven unfounded, as the report by the GAO (the independent investigative arm of congress) has shown: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10648r.pdf No, Acorn was "busted" by a bogus, phony video and a McCarthy-ite congress with racist constituencies that all jumped on the bandwagon to get rid of something that threatened them....Black people voting, or black people not voting for Republicans. THAT's the true fraud. Hell, the author of the video in question later admitted it was a hoax (after Acorn's funding was cut off). O'Keefe pled guilty, and received three years probation and a $1500 fine (a slap on the wrist) for his phony pimp video. Kobach and his ilk are nothing but lying, racist toadies that know how to push the racist buttons that will get their racist supporters all riled up over some non-existent threat. Alas, there are plenty of people out there who have a difficult time utilizing what little grey matter they possess, and they are too easily manipulated, particularly when they are such bigots to begin with.
What a piece of garbage this article is. I'm glad there are public figures who are working to rid our nation of these cockroaches.
What a piece of garbage this article is. I'm glad there are public figures who are working to rid our nation of these cockroaches.
Again the Pitch is in another world which is far from the rest of America. Making half statements with less than half truths
Again the Pitch is in another world which is far from the rest of America. Making half statements with less than half truths
Nice how the article smugly talks about the "debunked myth" that Arizona is second in the world for kidnapping, but omits the facts (from the same article cited) that Phoenix has a special division to handle the 370 kidnappings they have in a year. I'm sure the residents of Phoenix feel very comforted being told that 370 kidnappings a year does not put them in second place worldwide. Obviously, anybody who is concerned about it is an alarmist. Perhaps the Pitch will forgo their annual article on the KC murder rate until it also surpasses Mogadishu, Bogota, and Baghdad.
Nice how the article smugly talks about the "debunked myth" that Arizona is second in the world for kidnapping, but omits the facts (from the same article cited) that Phoenix has a special division to handle the 370 kidnappings they have in a year. I'm sure the residents of Phoenix feel very comforted being told that 370 kidnappings a year does not put them in second place worldwide. Obviously, anybody who is concerned about it is an alarmist. Perhaps the Pitch will forgo their annual article on the KC murder rate until it also surpasses Mogadishu, Bogota, and Baghdad.
well Rhonda, since you can't seem to spell right, I would guess that you probably have an 8th grade education. (No, I'm not going to tell you which word you misspelled either.)
Ashley my dear I do have my facts. And I am sick of people like you judging without facts. And who are you to insult my intelligents little girl.
Well, what else can we excpect from THE PITCH. I mean, seriously.
People, get educated, if you are so passionate about the issue, get your facts straight, and then write about it. Don't you insult our intelligence trying to make us believe you are a writer.
I'm just sick of people judging on the topic when they have no idea about how BROKEN OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM IS.
GET EDUCATED.
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