Tancredo '08 - Inflaming Passions for Democracy!

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) has begun his long, firm march.

He wants to inherit the cesspool that is current White House politics in 2008. He is a natural fit. He wants to deal with the problem of immigration; he wants a creative approach to win the war on terror.

The problem, of course, that his ideas are completely out of line with even The Administrations', and yet have a certain resonsance among certain factions of hard-line Americans.

Tom Tancredo has been called a one-trick pony of a politician, a man out of step with his party, a bigot. The Republican congressman vehemently opposes illegal immigration, and he created an uproar last week when he talked about nuking Muslim holy sites.

No matter, Tancredo is pressing on and even hinting at a long-shot presidential bid in 2008.

Tancredo has already visited New Hampshire and Iowa this year, and says he found a welcome audience among voters who are fed up with the nation's immigration policies, including proposals by President Bush.

"Unless I misread the political tea leaves, there is a great deal of support for what I say," Tancredo said.

Tancredo raised eyebrows last week by telling a radio talk show host that "you could take out" Islamic holy sites should terrorists ever launch a nuclear attack against the United States.

"You're talking about bombing Mecca," asked the host.

"Yeah," Tancredo responded, saying he was "just throwing out some ideas." He later said his comments were taken out of context and refused to apologize.

Few consider Tancredo a serious challenger for the GOP presidential nomination, but his stance resonates with some in a post-Sept. 11 era when volunteer groups like the Minutemen have been patrolling the border for illegal immigrants.

Tancredo is a political part of what Orchinus calls a resurgent culture of eliminationism. It is, as has historically been proven, not a particularly good idea to engage in eliminationist tactics, but it has become a stalwart part of ultra-conservativism that has been pulled back closer to the mainstream of the right.

Some have argued that Tancredo's arguments concerning immigration and the war on terror are foolish, arrogant, shortsighted, and ridiculous, but there are those who point out that it is also, simply, extremely dangerous.

"American mentality imagines that a religion is attacking another religion, and here lies the danger," said Syrian political analyst Ahmed al-Haj Ali. He called it "frightening" to "retaliate against the birthplace of Islam for individual criminal acts or acts committed by groups that are condemned by Islam."

But this is how he wants to win the war on Terror: by fueling the war on terror.

In basically any other war-time situation, we must understand Tancredo's desires are not of winning, but of escalation. All those who think that's a good idea, say aye...

All opposed...?