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Good news about my friend the former Daily News intern Jose Antonio Vargas:
Jose Antonio Vargas, the writer and activist who went public last year with his status as an undocumented immigrant, was arrested for a driving infraction in Minnesota on Friday, but federal immigration authorities did not detain him or take any other action, officials said Saturday.
Vargas, a former Washington Post reporter who revealed his status in The New York Times Magazine and touched off a debate in the journalistic community, was initially pulled over by a state trooper for driving while wearing head phones, Eric Roeske, public information officer for the Minnesota state patrol, told POLITICO.
“He did produce a Washington driver’s license” after being pulled over, Roeske said. “When the trooper ran the license, it showed the status [of the license] was canceled. It also indicated there may have been fraudulent activity associated with the license. That’s why [it might have been] canceled. That triggered the trooper to look into that further and contact ICE (U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement).”
Roeske, who had no details about the possible “fraudulent activity” regarding the license, said Vargas, who was in Minnesota for a speaking engagement that he ended up missing, “spoke to our captain that works with ICE, he had some conversations with Mr. Vargas.” Roeske said he didn’t “know what the nature of that conversation was.”
I guess Jose must have said the secret word ("Swordfish"?) because he remains a free man here in the United States -- fighting for the rights of people like himself, who were brought here as children, to remain and be recognized as Americans.
Comments (145)
@tps- So you never cared about the promise of a new transparent government and administration? Never cared about the promise of sub 8% unemployment rate if we spent 800-some billion dollars on stimulus? Never cared about not really having 'shovel ready jobs'? Never cared about the new "post-racial" America? Why did we have to waste our time with "jobs saved or created as if that can actually be defined? Why did we have to listen to reasoning like, "I know things aren't going well but imagine how much worse they would be if I hadn't done ----. All things that are impossible to quantify. Why do we bother with campaigns or waste time with debates?
A main source of my annoyance with Barry is his outright refusal to accept any blame or admit that anything he did was the wrong thing to do. Someone asked if he made any mistakes or regrets, and his answer was (paraphrasing) I didn't explain to the American people how effective my policies were. How is that for arrogance- because people don't agree with him, it surely must be a lack of communication on his part or understanding on the part of the masses.
Any overpromising by Romney currently has already been done 4 years ago by Barry. I'm willing to give a different 'over promiser' a chance if that makes you feel better.
— Wiseman6- wiseman -
I take all "promises" from politicians with a grain of salt. That fact lies independent of whether or not I think that their policies are, in balance, positive or negative. I judge policies by their outcome, not by the accompanying promises.
==]] Why did we have to waste our time with "jobs saved or created as if that can actually be defined? [[[===
I look at graphs of trends in unemployment from the end of the Bush administration through today and I see a clear turn-around (in a positive direction) under Obama's presidency. I don't think that is entirely attributable to Obama's policies, but I don't think that his policies were irrelevant. I don't think that his policies were optimal, but what he promised is irrelevant to me. I consider focusing on that to be mere political wrangling.
You are selectively criticizing Obama for things (campaigning) that are ubiquitous in our political process.
— Talking point sleuth - ==]] A main source of my annoyance with Barry is his outright refusal to accept any blame or admit that anything he did was the wrong thing to do. [[[===
I don't agree. As far as politicians go, IMO he has been more accepting of responsibility for failure than most. No politicians are as up front in that regard as I think they should be. I think that they share an inaccurate perception that bluster is required to be politically effective. I think they undersell the American public in that regard. But in that regard, I think that Romney (and certainly Bush) is actually worse. I think he displayed much arrogance in the recent debate. But honestly, all of that is pretty much identity politics that I think is pretty vapid. Displays of arrogance are for public consumption - and tell us little about who the politicians actually are.
===]]] I'm willing to give a different 'over promiser' a chance if that makes you feel better. [[[===
Sure. That seems reasonable to me. But I see far less "over-promising" in Obama's platform. It is quite abundant in his platform as well. But I think there is considerably less. That's why they make chocolate and vanilla.
— Talking point sleuth - At least a fine for driving with an invalid license? Or is he protected from prosecution for that as well?— FletcherT
- Should have been deported years ago. His parents too. Breaking the law by being here. And it's not undocumented immigrant-it's illegal alien you dope.— georgel
- Great speech from our soon-to-be President today on foreign policy. Strong, focused, crystal clear. Not sure if Barry was golfing or partying in Hollywood while Romney was speaking. Forward.— bil,l atkins
- Great speech from our soon-to-be President today on foreign policy. Strong, focused, crystal clear. Something we haven't seen from Barry, ever. Not sure if Barry was golfing or partying in Hollywood while Romney was speaking. Forward.— bil,l atkins
- Alert All of the posters who think Vargas should be deported should verify that all of their ancestors were legal immigrants, unless they're ok with living in a glass house and throwing stones.— landscape
- @tps- I guess it all depends on your perspective. I can't recall Barry ever admitting to a mistake.— Wiseman6
- "I would say that Bush over-promised and under-delivered by substantially wider margins."
Mommy, mommy THEY over-promised firrrrrrrssstttt!!!!!
Clown.— bp*philly - ==]] Mommy, mommy THEY over-promised firrrrrrrssstttt!!!!! [[==
Since you are lamely trying to copy my expression - I guess I need to point out how it is properly used.
Mocking the "Mommy, mommy" whining so often seen here by Attytood Republican toadies and libertarian extremists is my own way of pointing out when the tu quoque fallacy is employed in arguments.
My response about Bush over-promising was not a form of excuse for Obama's over-promising by pointing out that Republicans are hypocrites in that regard - but to point out that wiseman's statement that over-promising is a "fatal error" except when it comes to Obama. In point of fact, over-promising is rarely a "fatal error," and Bush's reelection after very notable over-promising was a case in point.
In fact, I specifically said that I, personally, consider over-promising in and of itself to be fairly insignificant when done by politicians. It is integral to our political system. What matters for me is the results of policies - and in the case of the upcoming election - what I see as being the likely outcomes of the candidates' respective policies irrespective of their promises.
I appreciate that you read my posts carefully, and I suppose even coming from you imitation is form of flattery (even if your obsession with me is a bit creepy) - but if you're going to copy my expressions, at least use them properly.
— Talking point sleuth - @tps- My approach with over promising and under delivering being a fatal error, is more with respect to the private entrenprenurial sector rather then government. The fact that under delivering is not such a big deal in the political world still is beyond me. Its probably why we have such mediocre 'talent' in Washington..
In business over promising and under delivering is indeed a fatal error. I wonder why we don't hold our representatives to the same standard?— Wiseman6 - I just read over at the Drudge report a story about how all of the gains over the last 30 years that the black middle class has made were wiped out under the Obama administration
.http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-10-07/news/ct-met-black-middle-class-austerity-20121007_1_black-middle-class-black-households-national-rate— Phishface - wiseman -
===]]] In business over promising and under delivering is indeed a fatal error. [[[===
Again, that looks like a very selective assessment, IMO. In the private sector, over-promising is pretty much the name of the game (in fact, that's part of the reason why Romney is so good at it. That kind of confidence/bravado is hard currency in the business world - his abilities in that regard was a big part of his success).
Sales hype - ubiquitous in the private sector - is the very foundation of profits for many businesses. How many times a day to you see advertisement promising something that you know will never be delivered? But it isn't only w/r/t the consumer. It is w/r/t companies to investors, suppliers to manufacturers, sub-contractors go general contractors, middle-management to upper management, execs to boards, etc., etc.
I'm not suggesting that it is somehow unique to the private sector - only that the supposed distinction some draw between the private sector and public sector in that regard ignores the fundamental underlying aspects of the hows and whys of over-promising.— Talking point sleuth 
Kudos to Wiseman for an civilized, intelligent debate.— wokmaster
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