Lou Barletta: Candidate of Hate and Extremism
Mayor Lou Barletta, the popular mayor of Hazleton, PA, has built up quite a fan base over the past few years. Due in large part to his “Illegal Immigration Relief Act”, which was one of the harshest and most extreme pieces of immigration legislation ever proposed in this country, Barletta became, for a time, the poster boy for tough immigration enforcement. However, once his beloved little ordinance was ruled unconstitutional by a Federal Judge, and once people got a better look at who Barletta really was, his star lost a lot of its brilliance. However, Barletta’s popularity with one group of people has been steadily on the rise.
Simply put, hate groups and extremists love Mayor Barletta. David Duke, an admitted racist, white supremacist, and former leader of the KKK, endorsed Lou Barletta for Congress in 2008. The Eagle Forum, an extremist right-wing group who is in favor of legislation making it legal for a man to rape his wife and to remove all forms of sexual education from public schools, came out in strong support for Lou Barletta when he ran for Congress. Maybe it’s just me, but if people like those folks are pushing hard for Barletta to become a United States Congressman (presumably because they believe Barletta will advance their beliefs into the halls of government), why in name of all that is decent would any sane person vote for Barletta?
Time and again, Barletta has said that he is not a racist and is only opposed to illegal immigration, not legal immigration. However, just recently, Mayor Barletta served as a guest speaker at an event hosted by Pat Buchanan. The event was put on by a group who is opposed to all forms of immigration and who believe that the influx of non-whites into this country is ruining our nation. One of the other guest speakers, Peter Brimelow, is an admitted white supremacist, author of several racist books, and spoke at the event of the Republican Party needing to get back to its roots, “white Americans.” These are the types of people that Mayor Barletta is associating himself with, all the while claiming that he isn’t a racist.
The Republican Party catches a lot of heat in the media, and in the minds of many Americans, as being a club for old, rich, white guys. It would seem that Mayor Lou Barletta, if he has his way, would like to make that perception a reality. This is just one more reason, and a very important reason, as to why Lou Barletta should not represent the Republican Party or the American people in the United States Congreess. Lou Barletta should not be elected to any higher office and it’s disgusting that a man like this is even allowed to serve as a mayor in this country.
-Dan Cheek
www.StopLouBarletta.com
StopLouBarletta@gmail.com
April 6th, 2010 at 10:36 am
[...] “Illegal Immigration Relief Act”, Barletta decided to try and run again. He was endorsed by David Duke, one of the nation’s leading racists and former member of the Ku Klux Klan leadership. [...]