Marco Rubio: Immigrant, Not Exile
Why should we care about Marco Rubio embellishing the tale of his parent's immigration? Because it really does matter. It carries a great deal of significance not only in the Cuban communities in Florida, but across the nation.
Rubio has presented himself as an exile for very specific reasons. He wants the narrative that he fled political oppression to come to this country and make something of himself without bootstraps. He has painted his family as political refugees, when in fact, they're economic refugees just like 99.9 percent of the other immigrants in this country.
A simple embellishment for political gain. After all, how could Rubio be anti-immigrant if he descends from an immigrant family? How could Rubio possibly identify with Latino immigrants as a conservative without changing his own history? Just a little date change and he becomes part of something he and his family never were.
Rubio's response when the story hit the airwaves was to push back with this:
I now know that they entered the U.S. legally on an immigration visa in May of 1956. Not, as some have said before, as part of some special privilege reserved only for Cubans. They came because they wanted to achieve things they could not achieve in their native land.
That paragraph summarizes the essence of why many have come to this country, including Mexican immigrants who have literally risked their lives to enter this country. There is only one difference between the children of Rubio's parents and the children of Latino immigrants all around this country, and it's a significant one. Those immigrants are being threatened, demonized, tossed into privatized prison systems and deported because our immigration policy is practically non-existent. No family from Mexico could present themselves at an immigration office, apply for a visa and declare their intent to stay permanently simply because they wanted opportunity. Political exiles might have a chance, but not those who were simply choosing to immigrate.
By claiming this...
I am the son of immigrants and exiles, raised by people who know all too well that you can lose your country. By people who know firsthand that America is a very special place.
...Rubio flatly lied. His parents came to this country in 1956 looking for economic opportunity. They declared at that time they intended to stay permanently. The fact that Castro came to power in 1959 makes a nice excuse to claim his parents were exiles, but it's simply not true. They came here looking for opportunity and assumed they'd be able to return to Cuba for visits whenever they could. Castro complicated the latter, but didn't change the former.
Marco Rubio is just like every immigrant family -- Latino, Irish, Italian, Pakistani or otherwise -- who comes to this country seeking opportunity and a better life. The only difference is that Marco Rubio has allied with political forces who don't want the same for anyone else. He altered his family history to fit a politically expedient narrative and has ridden it farther than he should have.
Rubio isn't the first to do this and he won't be the last. Still he should not be regarded as someone who is fit for national office because of his "exile" background. In fact, he's unfit for national office because of it, because he would deny the same opportunity and legal pathway for every other family who looks just like his did in 1956 living in a country where opportunity lay in a country called the United States and doors were open to walk through.
Beyond the obvious issues with his "story", it proves something else about Marco Rubio. He lies to get what he wants, and does it without blinking. It's a habit with him. He has trouble separating campaign funds from his own checkbook, double-billed Florida taxpayers for pricey plane tickets, and still faces questions about his credit card and foreclosure issues.
You might think Rubio was the type who would sell his own mother down the river for political gain. If you did, you'd be right, since he voted to kill Medicare and Medicaid even as he extolled their virtues for keeping his parents out of poverty.
A simple embellishment for political gain. After all, how could Rubio be anti-immigrant if he descends from an immigrant family? How could Rubio possibly identify with Latino immigrants as a conservative without changing his own history?
How can he do it, the same way some people say "I got mine, so screw you, Jack"
He was raised by people who turned their backs on their country when times got tough? Good to know.
Repug liar by choice.
Men are basically smart or dumb and lazy or ambitious. The dumb and ambitious ones are dangerous and I get rid of them. The dumb and lazy ones I give mundane duties. The smart ambitious ones I put on my staff. The smart and lazy ones I make my commanders.
.
Ignorance is parent to religion.
Religion is parent to Hate.
Remembering Matthew Shepard:
http://vimeo.com/fuksnickityClam/matthew
The reason so many Cubans are republicans is because of Kennedy.
You can read a lot more here
is like spending time with any other 'Wingers longing for the good ol' days of the '50s. Only difference is that they long for paella and flan instead of hot dogs and apple pie. But the old Chevrolets are still running in Cuba, instead of being on blocks behind the barn in Iowa.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
I met some Democratic Cubans, but the cons probably outnumbered them and were as annoying as any con from Cain to McCain.
are far more liberal than their parents and grandparents. I don't have figures, just impressions I got from associating with them while living there. And Cubans are a shrinking portion of Hispanics in SoFla as well. Lots of young people from elsewhere in Central and South America as well, also the Caribbean. I really found the majority of people open-minded and hopeful.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Born before his parents were naturalized.
Is a rightwing slur on a leftwing blog. If his parents applied for a visa and came legally your slur is not correct.
Yes, I agree. Marco Rubio is merely a liar and a fraud.
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
Michelle Malkin is an anchor baby. Rubio is jus a liar.
Exile to me means they still have a loyalty to the homeland they were forced to leave and are living as "guests in our country. Not exactly the super patriot he bills himself as. Either way he's an idiot.
Lying is a prerequisite for being republican.
...whats Obama's excuse?
audit-prosecute-incarcerate
.
What did Obama lie about and use that lie to get elected? And your proof?
"no lobbyists in my administration"...and continue from there with Guantanamo for starters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SlBlvirqA0
audit-prosecute-incarcerate
But the topic of conversation is Rubio, not Obama. Until a thread starts that questions Obama's lies, keep your trap shut.
See, it's not that hard to remain on target...but, like most Libertardians, you get distracted and start shooting wild. Which is bad gun range etiquette, sunshine.
"Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati" - Red Green
Freedom Ain't Free - Pay Your Share
Back on topic? Thank you.
If any one of them had a conscience and were capable of feeling shame they could not survive in the Republicon party .
Insanity , it is what it is , there is no understanding it .
...who comes to this country seeking opportunity and a better life.
another good reason coming from the vast diseased wasteland of the republican mind to crash the economy and keep it crashed.
From an exile on Main St to just another hustler on Ludlam Rd...
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
if no jobs here, no opportunity for would-be immigrants. "Stay home, folks. We'll bring our jobs to your country instead. Don't bother coming to the good ole USA." To hell with the middle class! If our economy sucks badly enough, the 99% will emigrate to where the jobs are, and the 1% will be the 100%.
Marco Rubio= Fucking lying piece of shit. We were so moved by your story Marco, we had to go to the bathroom.
Why do Republicans have such a hard time telling the truth. The true story of Rudio's life is good enough but nooooooooooooo, he had to lie and embellish it to make people think he is something that he is not. Go to hell Rubio, you swine.
the post Castro Cuban immigrant community was lavished with all types of legal and financial help. They didn't have to adhere to regulations that other immigrants did, and they were subsidized by the government that Rubio now finds evil. I'm sure that Rubio's parents and little Marco rightfully took advantage of these benefits. His is the American dream on subsides.
JimmyPete
here in OC were given assistance. Many of them too are rabid Rethugs now.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
I pointed this out in a comment months ago. I think I called his Daddy a Ricky Ricardo refugee.
“Why would anyone with a functioning brain believe this guy?”
Some guy with an eating disorder
the Rubio family was fleeing the corruption of the Batista regime...
and Castro just rolls off the tongue easier..
as a bartender in Cuba and wanted him to come to the US. He ended up in Vegas didn't h e?
“Why would anyone with a functioning brain believe this guy?”
Some guy with an eating disorder
The plutocracy the tea party is struggling to impose on the american society is in the throes of predition.
just give it enough time and vote against it and we will be talking in a few years of how stupid the idea was.
roger allen
Why does this guy have an Italian sounding name?
Harry Chapin wants you.
Because you can't tell the difference between an Italian and a Latino? Because Spanish and Italian come from the same root language and share a fair number of words, and you might know that if you knew anything about other languages?
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
Someone big is backing him. He popped out of nowhere to become a Repug darling here in florida a little while back.
This is the third world where elections are strictly for show, and political corruption is not a crime. He fits perfectly here.
and make something of himself without bootstraps.
Okay, can we STOP misquoting that proverb already?
"Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps." That's the original phrase. But everyone I've ever heard use it - INCLUDING that use right there - completely misses the point of it. The phrase is commonly taken to mean that a person should use his own effort to rise in society (or life or their career or whatever) with no one else's help. But that's exactly the OPPOSITE of the intended meaning. What most people don't realize (and this is because most boots no longer HAVE straps) is that pulling yourself up by your bootstraps is actually IMPOSSIBLE. You can't do it. Nobody can do it. It's a physical impossibility, that is the very point of the phrase. It's meant to MOCK people who think it's possible to achieve anything with no one else's help.
The truth is no one can accomplish anything completely by themselves. EVERY meaningful act a person can achieve involves others, whether through help, advice, encouragement, whatever. We are not solitary animals, we live in society, and we are nothing without each other. THAT is the point of the phrase - that anyone who tries to go it alone will find himself struggling with the impossible weight of an act that would be easy if only the help of others was accepted.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
Yup. No matter how hard you pull, it can't be done.
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
Rubio's parents fled from the Batista regime. Batista was a dictator, aligned with the US. He was corrupt and under him the gap between the rich and the poor grew, with Batista in cahoots with the rich. There was rampant unemployment and poverty. I bet Rubio's parents were more politically in line with Castro than Batista. I am not saying Castro is great but he seems to have been a lot better to his people than Batista. Initially the wealthy people fled the Castro regime and the poor people fled the Batista regime. Rubio grew up in Miami with all the people who fled the Castro regime so it was probably socially, politicallly and economically expedient for them to appear to have fled Castro. Maybe his parents created the lie and mislead him so they were more welcome into the Cuban community in Miami. The lie is polically expedient for him since his is in the Republican party and got the republican nomination because of the tea baggers. The tea baggers are anti-immigrant and would call Rubio an anchor baby. It is really ironic. So Rubio is either lying or is a lie. Either way he is a hypocrite.
Cuba before Castro one finds the Jones-Costigan Act (also known as the first Sugar Act 1934)..
and...well...conclusions could be made that the USA is not completely innocent of the tide of communism washing up on Cuban shores.
Blowback of a political and economic nature....
All Reslug lowlifes get busted for lying, cheating, stealing etc. They just can't help themselves, it's second nature to them growing up.
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"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
So, using Rubio's logic, can I claim I'm an exile from the Hungarian Uprising of 1955?
but this immigration business is nasty. The web is very sticky.
For instance ----Homeland security awards contracts to Haliburton KBR. because there was going to be an influx of immigrants. Hmmm or maybe an influx of raids. I don't know. I suspect if I studied the issue enough I would find that Blackwater was in the mix. Why wouldn't they be? There's money in it and power.
http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/ar...
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/022106a.html
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15308
Okay so....
How influential are these companies on GOP politics? And don't they want to problem to remain a problem? It gives them a talking point and it makes them money.
Jeanne
This lame uncle tomas could not muster a proper allowance of success to our President for his success in Libya; instead he towed the GOP line of disavowing that President Obama's had achieved any accomplishment whatsoever. The GOP tried to fool the voting women of America with Palin, they tried to fool African American's with Michael Steele (that came back bit them back, Michael wasn't playing no reindeer games); and now, they think they can get the Latin American vote by nominating this Republican lock step talking point drone. Please, go for it.
However those leaving Cuba before Castro took over were leaving a chaotic atmosphere. Now if they were politically involved and feared for their lives I would understand his statements. Many left because the revolutionary forces were beginning to take a toll on the stability of the nation in general even before Castro came to power.
But if you understand this as he claims because he feels it through his parents than why wouldn't he understand the plight of the Mexicans and the Central American countries. They don't have enough food to feed their children and they fear for the lives of their families. They don't come here to better their situation because America is paved with gold. They leave every thing they know and love including family members because they feel there is no other choice anymore.
I mean think of it. Think of leaving where you are, who you are, the graves of your ancestors, the smell of the fields around you, the foods, the sounds you fall asleep to, everything you love, everything you know. Leave it for a country that doesn't want you and a place where you don't know the language. It's not that easy. .
Jeanne
This guy is just another million dollar whore for the 1%. He hasn't an altruistic bone in his miserable body. Wake up, Floridians! Dump this lying bastard when his job comes up for review.
"Respect for the rights of others is peace." --Benito Juarez
To just another lying politician. Its these stupid little lies that might get you 2-5% greater approval, but when exposed you lost 10-20%. One step forward, ten steps back,, way to go loser.
We knew he was a huckster and fraud in Florida but that does not stop the blue-haired idiots from voting the (R) line. He owned a home with another fraudster...............
The reason why he did not pay for the house was because he was not sure what the payments were, just like he was not sure when Castro took over in Cuba.
Simple mistake, though he was using his card. Once it was found out, he paid the money back.
Oops, simple mistake billed twice for one ride.
When Florida voters were told Rubio was a Fiscal Conservative, they though it meant he worked out often, because he is a cutie. His van was damaged while raising money for the GOP so he thought it was OK for them to pay for it. Strange enough, I tried getting my employer to pay for my crashed truck when I got hit while driving to work but he said tough shit.
May this kind of intentional, disgusting lie mark the beginning of the end of his political career.
Much as I think Rubio a grade-A scum, I don't think this was a knowing lie -- more of a careless one. One can easily imagine that by the time Rubio was born (1971) his parents had somewhat embroidered the story of their arrival in the US. Rubio repeated the politically advantageous family legend as true, and neglected to look a gift horse in the mouth by investigating it.
There are many, many good reasons to despise Rubio, but I don't think this is one of them. I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt when they appear to be repeating the stories their parents told them.
He embellished his 2nd generation status in order to gain credibility among the hispanics in FL. He couldn't tell the truth. How many TBAGGERS do you know can tell the truth about any of their policy goals?? They are CORPORATE AMERICA BOTS programmed to deliver the TBAG message. He is a TBAGGER. He wanted to get elected and he needed to lie to get there. So, he is what he is and FL deserves him.
CarmanK
"Middle class societies don't emerge automatically as an economy matures, they have to be CREATED through political action." Paul Krugman.
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