November 30, 2006
As discussed,
Rep. Tom Tancredo called Miami a "third world country", setting off a firestorm of (largely manufactured) outrage, including a
missive from Our Leader's brother, Jeb Bush.
"What a nut," Bush told reporters [Wednesday]. "I'm just disappointed. He's from my own my party. He's a Republican. He doesn't represent my views."
...In his letter to Bush, Tancredo states that Miami-Dade School District's graduation rate is 45 percent, that the English language is falling out of usage in the city, and that "fewer and fewer Miamians think of themselves as Americans." He cites a November Time Magazine story that describes Miami as "a corrupt, exorbitant mess." ["There's Trouble--Lots Of It--in Paradise", link]
Bush on Tuesday called Tancredo's statement about Miami "naive." Tancredo swung back today.
"It is neither naïve nor insulting to call attention to a real problem that cannot be easily dismissed through politically correct happy talk," Tancredo wrote to Bush...
Once again, I've thankfully never been there, but in addition to the Time link above,
apparently the county used to have to clean santeria-related dead chickens off the courthouse steps, which were sacrifices for those who were going through the justice system (also
here and
here).
More Tancredo-related info on Miami
here. At least two people - who, frankly, might be travel agents or similar - call Miami third world
here.
In 1998, Joan Didion
wrote a book called "Miami"; from the description:
"As Didion follows Miami's drift into a Third World capital..."
In 1993, Time
offered "Miami: the Capital of Latin America". From even earlier back comes
this scary flashback.
And, in 1998, the Washington Times' Insight Magazine
offered "A Miami vision of our future?"
Miami, a microcosm of cultural diversity, is plagued by corruption, racism, poverty and drugs. The city's problems may be a precursor of tumult in a multicultural America.
According to Travel and Leisure magazine it is "the most unfriendly city in America." Fodor's International says it's the country's "most unsafe" destination. And George dubbed it the "most corrupt city in America." Judging from these and other "Wish you weren't here!" postcards, America's long honeymoon with Miami seems to be over, a casualty of the city's serial political scandals, a history of corruption in high places, rampant crime and a chilling climate of alienation and violence...
Posted to Politics at November 30, 2006 05:10 AM
Comments
total evil corruption is Miami that is what the third world is! don't people get it, a people make a culture a people can kill a culture.
Posted by: Fred Dawes at November 30, 2006 08:07 AM
In his letter to Bush, Tancredo states that Miami-Dade School District's graduation rate is 45 percent,...
You mean he (and others) actually cite facts?
And what do his critics do?
"What a nut," Bush told reporters...
Employ ad hominem and name calling. How novel.
Posted by: eh at November 30, 2006 08:10 AM
MORE FACTS:
Miami is like a Third World country: Governor Jeb Bush got huffy the other day when Tom Tancredo said that Miami is like a Third World country. Bush and other Florida lawmakers responded with the usual doublespeak, using words like "hospitality" and "vibrant."
Like always, we must ignore what the politicians say, and must rely on data. According to the Census, here is how Miami compares to the rest of the country:
Percent Hispanic
Miami 65.8
USA 14.1
Percent speaking something other than English at home
Miami 74.6
USA 17.9
Percent of people ages 25+ with high school degree
Miami 52.7
USA 80.4
Homeownership rate
Miami 34.9
USA 66.2
Percent poor
Miami 28.5
USA 12.5
Let's see: the city is a place where most people are Hispanic, Spanish-speaking, 1/2 never finished high school, few own homes, and many are poor. Sounds like the Third World to me. And it's coming to your neighborhood next.
Posted by: perroazul del norte at November 30, 2006 11:55 AM
Fred, right as usual. Perroazul del norte, you, too, are so correct. New codespeak for toilet/septic is "hospitality" and "vibrant". In my never ending quest to remain politically correct, I say thanks for the tip! Hey, Jeb! Your state is so...hospitable! vibrant! And no one speaks English, so they never bothered with me during my vacation. Of course I couldn't buy anything, either, same reason.
Posted by: Jeebie at December 1, 2006 08:15 PM
The term "Third World" is often used to denote nations with a low UN Human Development Index (HDI). The HDI considers factors such as life expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living. It has nothing to do with ethnicity.
But Tancredo comments on Miami meanwhile not mentioning Detroit or Cleveland.
He does this because of his anti-Hispanic bent. Miami has a lot of Hispanics. Therefore, he criticizes Miami indirectly criticizing Hispanics. If Detroit had a lot of Hispanics in it, you can bet he'd be harping about that too, but it doesn't.
Posted by: Slim at December 2, 2006 02:34 AM
It has nothing to do with ethnicity.
Actually, it does, at least in part.
The third world like squalor you can find in Detroit is largely due to Blacks who are citizens, and whose parents etc were also. While I do not know the full context of Tancredo's remark, I will make a general point for him: the fact that you can find, in the US, an increasing number of places where you can see poverty etc that may remind some of the third world is largely due to the fact that we are experiencing large scale Hispanic immigration. In other words, this is a problem we are importing, or inviting via non-enforcement of immigration law. Parts of Miami being one specific example.
In other words: one big reason (not the only one, though) Mexico is a shithole is that...wait for it...it is full of Mexicans.
He does this because of his anti-Hispanic bent.
Having an "anti-Hispanic bent" is aka citing demographic statistics about Hispanics, e.g. how likely (in comparison) they are to be criminal, how unlikely (") they are to attend college etc etc.
Posted by: eh at December 2, 2006 07:24 AM
Miami A Third World County You Tell Me .. A mayor who changes the county’s name just for the heck of it … publicly defies the president and attorney general over an immigration law…1/2 penny tax going to the hospital’s board room … the other ½ penny going nowhere plus a fare increase and still going nowhere … homeless people on every corner hustling you for money (makes you wonder where the 1 cent restaurant tax is going)… County Manager who is making almost as much as the president … Directors and Assistant County Managers making more then the Vice President … Insurance companies extorting citizens … Employees producing fake permits … Housing department being used as a cash machine … Mayor who only wants to be strong mayor … Commissioner who needs to be recalled after being elected four times…. Same commissioner wanting to cut the mayor’s salary by 90% for wanting her recalled… English only rule being voted in by a strong majority of the citizens and being voted out by the commissioners … Seaport director working 38 years without ever missing day (and being offered a cushy high paying consultant’s job after stealing all of that time) … Airport employees being paid for not reporting to work… Director of Elections receiving a $160k gift to quit … paying two high paid Airport directors at the same time… most of the commissioners being owned by Lennar and Century builders. I can’t imagine anyone thinking Miami-Dade is third world.
Posted by: alsbutt at December 14, 2006 06:03 AM
