Let 'Em All Vote

Immigration rights advocates, Democratic hacks, and amnesty now folks, along with their leftist, progressive legislators are working furiously to get illegal and legal immigrants into the voting booths. I'm waiting for PETA and the animal rights cuckoos to start demanding voting rights for disenfranchised beasties.

The City of Portland, Maine now has a ballot measure before the voters which would allow non-citizens to vote on city measures and school matters. San Francisco is preparing to allow non-citizens with children in the public schools to vote on school issues, while Chicago and six cities in Maryland already allow non-citizens to vote in municipal elections. New York City came to its senses in 2003 and took away the citizen's right to vote from non-citizens in school elections, and several Massachusetts cities have approved non-citizen voting but can't implement those votes until they receive approval from the state legislature.

In Portland, Claude Rwaganje says he pays taxes on his income and taxes on his cars. His children are in the Portland public schools. He is a refugee from the murderous political strife in Congo, and (take note) runs a nonprofit organization that offers financial and social advice to immigrants. Therefore, he contends, it is unfair for him not to be allowed to vote. Fair, schmair. The right to vote is the major index of the constitutional republic of the United States. Unlike the Old World, America's most unifying principle is the commonality of citizenship under a Constitution rather than ethnic or historic identity. If Rwaganje knows his homeland is a deadly cesspool, and he has gained a measure of freedom undreamed of in Africa, let him start the process for citizenship.

The traditional concept of coming to America, following the rules, becoming a responsible member of the community, and applying for citizenship to obtain that one last invaluable right is rapidly disappearing. The left has been trying to destroy anything that smacks of American exceptionalism for decades, and this is one way of accomplishing that. The dubious American President Barack Obama stood before the people of Germany and declared himself a citizen of the world. Aw, nuts! American citizenship is the most valuable thing any human in the world can have, and diluting it by allowing non-citizens to vote makes us nothing more than additional fodder on the road to serfdom.

Although Rwaganje is from Congo, Portland has somewhere between 5,000 and 7,500 immigrants, and half of them have never applied for citizenship and hail almost exclusively from Somalia and Latin America. Few of the immigrants have learned to speak English, and the Somali community has been stubbornly non-assimilative. But Somali immigrant and non-citizen Abdirizak Daud says: "I like the Democrats. I want to vote for Democrats, but I don't have citizenship."

Like we hadn't guessed which party he favors without him telling us. At least he didn't announce it on Christmas on a flight over Detroit. You don't have citizenship, Mr. Abdirizak? Whose fault is that? Learn English, assimilate, start the process, learn about the true greatness of America (which isn't about freebies and special favors), and get your citizenship. Then, even if you haven't learned how destructive Democrats are, you can vote for them. But not one damned minute before that. Oh, and while you're at it, swear allegiance to the United States and leave that dungheap of a country you came from behind.

To these whining immigrants who claim it isn't "fair" not to let them vote, I say the same things my parents said to me when I as a child whined about not getting what I wanted: "Life isn't fair." To my kids, I added "The souls in hell want ice water." And besides, what's unfair about requiring citizenship in order to vote? The founding patriots fought and died to gain that right. Those who survived earned the right to frame a Constitution that establishes the rule of law, not of men. Messrs. Daud and Rwaganje, your are not the issue, and fairness isn't the issue. The rule of law and the value of citizenship is the issue. If you don't value your adopted town, state and country enough to go through the process of obtaining citizenship, then to hell with you.

The ballot issues before the voters in Portland and mostly throughout the nation involve non-citizens who are here legally. This is just the camel's nose under the tent. If legal non-citizens who have children in school gain the right to vote, why not illegal immigrants? That wouldn't be "fair." This is nothing short of death of the meaning of American citizenship in small, incremental doses. And if it's done, we can deal with the Animal Farm issue later.

While this tragicomedy is going on, five Democrat-controlled states have yet to make even minimal efforts to comply with the Overseas Voting Act which provides ballots for our armed services men and women putting their lives on the line in far-flung and dangerous places. I'm afraid I can't feel any sympathy for non-citizens who want to vote when those who are risking death or maiming to protect our right to vote are denied their ballots. It's clear that the Democrats prefer non-citizens to those who have earned their citizenship in the most difficult manner possible.