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Congressman Tom Tancredo Speaks to the Wednesday Morning Club on His New Book - In Mortal Danger: The Battle for America's Border and Security

Here's a .wav file of Tancredo's speech Aug 22, 2006.

From David Horowitz's email:

In this book, Congressman Tom Tancredo lays out the case that unless the United States changes course, it is headed toward catastrophe. Like the great and mighty empires of the past-"superpowers" that ounces stretched from horizon to horizon-America is heading down the road to ruin. Without strong moral leadership, without a renewed sense of purpose, without a rededication to family and community, without shunning the race hustlers and pop-culture sham artists, without protecting our borders, language, and culture, the nation that was once the "land of the free and home of the brave" and the "one last hope of mankind" will repeat the catastrophic mistakes of the past. In Mortal Danger is his prescription for beginning to repair the damage.

As I walk into the Four Seasons for Tuesday's lecture, Melrose Larry Green plays the piano like a pro. After every number, he stands up and applauds himself. He keeps announcing he'll perform in Palm Springs in a few weeks.

When we seat ourselves for lunch, Larry walks around to every table and urges people to get out the Republican vote in November. His self-promoting personality grates on some members of the conservatives crowd (there's one non-white person in the group, half the members seem to have one foot in the grave).

Cathy Seipp arrives with her daughter Maia Lazar, who just broke up with her boyfriend. We sit together. We look forward to hearing Tancredo, a fireball who got rapturous applause at the WMC's Immigration conference last year.

Maia just broke up with her boyfriend.

I spot Pat Boone, who I interviewed for KAHI radio 20 years ago. He looks unchanged.

Actor Ed Ames (Ames Brothers was a 1950s TV show) sits near him.

Tancredo, tanned and dynamic, sits next to David Horowitz.

Jim Jones writes me:

However, your atrocious skills as a writer and commentator were balanced with this gem of a line: "Tancredo, tanned and dynamic..." which surely translates as "Luke Ford is gay for this right-leaning douchebag."

Maia discusses what she learned from her etiquette at the Reagan Ranch retreat for 24 young conservatives ($1800 for a month). She places her knife and fork at right angles to indicate she's finished with her plate.

Miss Lazar will try out for at least two sororities as she begins at UCSD in a few weeks. She says one of the sororities uses sharpies to draw on the fat spots of potential recruits.

I tell Maia to eat no more bread.

She obeys.

Cathy snaps at me to leave her daughter alone.

I ask an old Jewish man at our table if he's ready to get angry. He says he's too old to be angry but that his wife is angry about illegal immigration.

Tancredo says that 27% of federal prisoners are non-citizens (90% are illegal aliens).

Our enemy is the cult of multiculturalism, the belief that all cultures are morally equal, that there's nothing special about Western civilization.

He praises the work of Samuel Huntington.

When he worked at the federal Department of Education, Tancredo found a textbook which began: "Columbus came to America and destroyed paradise."

As Tancredo speaks at highschools, he finds the kids are willing to cheer for their school and for their team, but no more than 10% are willing to say that the United States is the greatest country on earth. When he poses that question, the kids look uncomfortable and stare at their teachers.

Tom went to an inner-city school where the kids were overwhelmingly black and groping each other in the hallways. The place was bedlam.

He asked the students, "How many people do you know have left the United States to make a better life for themselves in Pakhistan (or any country)?"

Tancredo cites Sun Tzu on the Art of War: Know your enemy and know yourself.

"Terrorism is not an entity. It is a tactic.

"I almost fell out of my chair when President Bush said we are at war with Islamic fascism."

Tom calls Grover Norquist (who says that Tancredo will be responsible for Republicans losing elections for the next 20 years) a "patriot for profit."

Wearing cowboy clothes, Tom met the president at an airport in Denver. "Spiffy clothes," said the president. "Are you in cognito?"

"In Colorado," Tancredo replied.

It was their longest conversation.

"We don't have a president who will enforce the law," Tom complains.

"Congress is like Chinese water torture on your principals."

Tom's wife does not want him to run for president but Melrose Larry Green does. After making his point, Larry walks backward to his seat to emphasize his awe of Tancredo.

Maia emails: "I know a boy who has the same awe of Tancredo. He not only copied the same speech style but parroted Tancredo's book in his speeches I just noticed today. He was Mr. Stalker Guy...and a bit awkard at RRLA but it is interesting how dynamic how leaders can be to the point of teens wanting to become their Mini Mes."