August 15, 2003

Goodbye Guzzardi (For Now?)

By Peter Brimelow

It's true: as readers of USA Today and Slate.com's kausfiles weblog already know, our Joe Guzzardi is running for Governor of California on the issue of illegal immigration. Because VDARE.COM is not legally able to endorse candidates for public office, his column must be suspended. We'll miss him.

Kausfiler Mickey Kaus has been writing some remarkable stuff on immigration, just as Steve Sailer predicted he might when Slate.com hired him. But on August 8, he observed in passing that "I’m suspicious of the ideology of VDARE." [link in original]

Sigh. What does Kaus mean, “ideology?” We’ve repeatedly said that VDARE.COM is focused solely on immigration and National Question issues. We try to publish immigration critics from across the political spectrum, including depressed Democrats and American Likudniks.

Still, Kaus politely linked to our "Why VDARE.COM?" statement of purpose carried in our menu bar. (Yes, I know it's time to update it.) He's a gentleman.

I'm not quite so sure about Reason Magazine's Matt Welch. We've had to reprove him before. And in a piece today reporting the horrifying (to Welch) return of the immigration issue, he complains of Joe's last column:

"These are no gentle gibes in VDare-land. La Raza and MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan), are routinely described as Nazi-style fascists, plotting the reconquista of the Southwestern United States." [links in original]

Hmmm, I just entered "Nazi-style fascists" into the VDARE.COM search engine, only to learn that the expression has never been used on our site.

I didn't think so.

Welch does conclude:

"As always, open debate is preferable to ducking the issue. For those interested, Reason has an excellent page full of immigration-related articles and resources." [links in original]

Significantly, the page hasn't been updated since June 2000 - apparently the last time Reason had an idea on the subject.

No doubt this is why Welch concludes on a note of pleasing gloom:

"Whether the pro-immigration side is up to the challenge remains to be seen."