Posted: Thursday, 27 December 2007 11:14AM
Lou Barletta, Come Home
Steve Corbett Reporting
Thursday, December 27, 2007
I don’t want to go back to Iowa.
No matter how many presidential political caucuses the good folks there hold, my one trip to the corn state back in October to check out a locally-connected alternate fuel plant was more than enough for me.
Let Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta hold court in the heartland tossing back shots of ethanol and eating corn dogs.
He can have it.
Once was enough for me.
But Iowa is exactly where Barletta finds himself today, joining other anti-immigration zealots in whipping up Iowans into frenzies about what mindless militia members affectionately call the alien invasion.
With the Iowa caucuses looming large on the horizon, Barletta joins other conservative Republicans and radical radio talk show hosts to offer up their version of America, the land of the free and the home of the knave.
Knave might be too kindly a word for Lou and his posse that more and more resembles a bumbling biker gang or a political cult of last resort.
Reprobates all, they come together in the land of corn silk to present purses made of sow’s ears. And, as those of us with functioning IQs know, it is impossible to make something excellent from poor material.
But Barletta believes he can buffalo the plain people of the Midwest.
And maybe he can.
Why would Barletta’s backers send him on such a cold winter’s mission unless they truly believe they will recoup their investment? Barletta is, indeed, a bull market for hate groups, supremacists and self-styled patriots.
Would-be kingmakers expect Barletta to again enter the political area with a new campaign against incumbent U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski. Barletta’s mission is to lead his minions to the promised land. Iowa is as good a place to start as any.
So what if Barletta’s message is skewed worse than a cornfield after a tornado. Barletta’s quote this morning in a Scranton Times-Tribune story sums up his dilemma and his delusion.
“Hazleton is at the heart of the illegal immigration fight. We drew the line in the sand. We’re the first city that decided to fight back because of the federal government’s failure,” Barletta said.
Nice job, Lou.
Hazleton no longer remains the heart of the illegal immigration fight.
Hazleton lost a big decision in federal court when a federal judge ruled Barletta’s plan to be unconstitutional.
Uncle Sam scored a KO and Lou got dragged back to his drafty dressing room on a stretcher.
Lou drew no line in the sand.
Hazleton is no beach and is hanging in a troublesome balance of poverty, racism and economic despair. Barletta should stay home and do the job taxpayers elected him and pay him to do.
Hazleton wasn’t even the first city to “fight back,” in Barletta’s words. But Hazleton was the first city to get punched out in the process. Sadly, Barletta failed to learn his lesson and continues talking from a very white high horse.
“People are interested, and talk show hosts are interested in hearing the Hazleton story,” Barletta told a local reporter. “This is where it all began. It was our standing up that spread across the country, with other cities following Hazleton, and some states, too – like Arizona and Oklahoma.”
Lou needs to call home as soon as possible.
We need to talk to him and explain that further embarrassment to Northeastern Pennsylvania does little to help the cause of good government and quality of life issues for hard-working people of all races, ethic backgrounds and immigration status.
That’s why I’ll do my best today to track down Lou amid the snowy cornfields of the American Heartland. Somebody needs to remind him that his hometown is the heartland, too.
Right-wing radio talk show hosts from everywhere but Hazleton care little if at all about Hazleton.
We do.
Because our heartland – our soul - exists right here in Lou Barletta’s backyard.
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