September 28, 2007

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer—Latest Toast Of The Treason Lobby

By Joe Guzzardi

Move over, Teddy Kennedy, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. Make room for New York Governor Eliot Spitzer—the newest and scummiest dirtbag on the Treason Lobby block.

Being selected as the worst villain in the Immigration Wars is no small accomplishment. The competition is fierce. But because of Spitzer’s recent announcement that illegal aliens in New York will qualify for driver’s licenses, the award may be retired in his name forever.

How could anyone top Spitzer’s irresponsible and treasonous action? [e-mail Spitzer here]

Ironically, Spitzer’s two-term period from 1998-2006 serving as New York’s Attorney General included 9/11. His office was a short three-block walk from the Twin Towers.

Spitzer understands as well as anyone that terrorists in 1993 and 2001 used driver’s licenses—the national de facto identification card—to rent trucks and board planes that murdered 3,000 Americans.

But, despite knowing exactly what driver’s licenses in the hands of the terrorists like Mohammad Atta will mean, Spitzer announced that all 500,000 aliens in New York would have access to licenses regardless of their immigration status.

Under Spitzer’s new rules, the New York Department of Motor Vehicles will accept a current foreign passport as proof of identity. No visa or other evidence of legal immigration status is required.

Spitzer’s new policy does not need legislative approval—he acted by decree.

Idiotically calling driver’s licenses for aliens "a common sense change" and absurdly claiming that his new guideline will bring people "out of the shadows," Spitzer exposed himself as a fool without regard for public safety.

As reported by the New York Times, Peter Gadiel, president of 9/11 Families for a Secure America and VDARE.COM contributor, issued this statement in anticipation of Spitzer’s announcement:

"Governor Spitzer will demonstrate abject stupidity and breathtaking disregard for the victims of 9/11 if he hands these powerful ID’s to people who sneak across our borders. Terrorists here illegally used licenses to kill my son and thousands of others in the World Trade Center; if they do it again using New York licenses issued by this governor, the blood of the victims will be on Mr. Spitzer’s hands."

Times reporter Nina Bernstein wrote that Spitzer seemed "taken aback" at Gadiel’s message and said that it was "way beyond" the tone permissible in public discourse.

And, adding insult to Gadiel’s and the other 9/11 families’ injuries, Spitzer brazenly responded that people can’t ignore the "the reality of illegal immigration." [Spitzer Grants Illegal Immigrants Easier Access to Driver’s Licenses, By Nina Bernstein, New York Times, September 22, 2007].

Is anybody better acquainted than Gadiel with "the reality of illegal immigration"?

As attorney general, Spitzer made his mark with his high-profile prosecution of Merrill Lynch and other Wall Street firms for stock manipulation and fraud.

Would that he were only half so vigorous in his pursuit of illegal immigrants.

Spitzer’s grandparents legally emigrated to the U.S. from Austria and were processed at Ellis Island. As a young man, Spitzer was raised in the affluent New York suburb of Riverdale and graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School, thanks in large part to the real estate fortune his father amassed.

Despite a background that should reflect appreciation for legal immigration and the rule of law, Spitzer is now the symbol of the madness that is at the core of illegal alien pandering.

To learn a sane lawyer’s take on Spitzer and to see how many codes his unilateral action may breach, I contacted lawyer Frederick C. Kelly (e-mail him) who practices in upstate New York.

Here’s what Kelly told me:

"Governor’s Spitzer’s new executive order is but another demonstration of how hollow the remembrance of 9-11 remains among our elites, even when they are elites from New York.

"After all the talk of marking the day or remembering the dead, we nevertheless find that that the honor, safety and integrity of America all take back seats to politically-correct politicians eager to appease and serve illegal aliens, who are various and many. 

"I was taught that respect for the law should be at the very heart of every lawyer’s calling. We all know that we can never counsel a client to break the law, much less aid a client in his violation.

“Yet in a sense that is precisely what Governor Spitzer is doing. 

"The irony is that if private Attorney Eliot Spitzer were actively aiding an illegal immigrant client in his attempt to fraudulently obtain papers, he would risk disbarment. But Governor Eliot Spitzer can actively aid the untold millions—who are in fact clients of his Democratic party’s welfare machine—in their attempt to circumvent our immigration laws.”

Kelly added after he reviewed New York Lawyer’s Code of Professional Responsibility that Spitzer appears to have violated the following ethical considerations (EC) and disciplinary rules (DR)

Spitzer’s lunacy is made more incomprehensible—if such a thing is possible—when you consider that even if every single illegal alien in New York state, estimated at 650,000 but probably many more, were eligible to vote and cast their ballots for his Republican opponent in 2006, he still would have been elected in a landslide. (See the election results here.)

And although Spitzer had made giving licenses to aliens one of his campaign pledges, had he ignored it his standing as a favorite among New York liberals would not have been diminished one iota.

Thankfully, all is not lost.

Republican New York State Senator Martin Golden called issuing licenses to aliens "abhorrent" and a "Christmas present" for terrorists. Golden plans to introduce legislation to block Spitzer. [e-mail Golden here.]

A final note: I take strong personal objection to Spitzer’s dismissal of legal immigration’s value and importance.

From Spitzer’s inaugural address, January 1, 2007:

"Under the shadow of Liberty’s torch, generations of weary travelers have sailed into New York harbor believing that of all the places on Earth, this was the land where people could come and find the chance to make their world anew."

This statement describes my Sicilian grandparents. In no way should it be interpreted to include illegal aliens from the Caribbean islands, Mexico, Central and Latin America and all the myriad others who violate U.S. immigration laws.

Spitzer, a smart guy who knows the difference between right and wrong, should act accordingly and withdraw his proposal—before history repeats itself.