The clip from Colbert's testimony that the media is not showing.

Immigrant Farm Workers

Sep 24, 2010

House Committee Judiciary | Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, & International Law
Witnesses spoke about the American agricultural sector's reliance on foreign, and often undocumented, workers to pick fruit and vegetables on America's farms. Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert appeared in character to testify. Mr. Colbert was part of a United Farm Workers campaign calling on unemployed.

www.c-spanarchives.org...&start=7039&end=7268

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I'm not sure if this was televised, but here's Colbert's testimony, and Transcripts.
(I got this off wired.com so that explains the title)

reply to post by Oozii


Starred and Flagged, friend. You that know me know that I am dead set against any kind of illegal immigration, read that invasion from our southern or any other border. Enough is enough. That being said, I think what the United Farm Workers want is some protection for the job they do. I once belonged to the Autoworkers, and the Steelworkers unions in my working days, and those Reps went all out to protect my job and benefits. So protection I understand, when in that vein. I also understand that some of these workers have been coming here to work for many years now. In may ways, they were indentured servants, and it is my belief that at least some deserve a Class of Citizenship. In other words, an American citizen, but with certain Constitutional rights denied, per class. Now before you all freak out here, hear me out.
The class citizen farm worker will have the right to:
Enter the US at planting and harvest time by showing a work Visa and Permit Card.
Stay all year long if the job demands it.
Vote in local elections.
Be eligible for medical care, school for children, rent and pest control.
Have the right to drive, and own a car.

After a period of a few years of good service, (as defined by thinkers much higher on the food chain than I) or a three year stint in the Military, one becomes a full citizen. This goes for everyone, many of us are real tired of "anchor babies." Of course, this goes without saying, LEARN the LANGUAGE we speak here, we do not wish to learn Spanish. Obey our Laws, we are a Nation of Laws, and without them there is Chaos, and Lawlessness. Also be advised that if you commit a crime such as rape, or murder, or the molestation of a child, you will get to know our prison system really well, and I hear they will all soon be Privatized.

I watched this earlier today. I am a big fan of Colbert. And he appears to have some of the biggest, brassiest cajones I have ever seen. First, the "Bush Roast" (well, he was the only one roasting anyone, but it was the best thing I have seen, honestly). Now this.

Some will say it is disrespectful to Congress for him to submit humorous testimony and act in character rather than genuine. I say that until something is done about those rats in DC, nothing could be more disrespectful than their service.

thanks for sharing.

I've got some mixed feelings on this one,
I think Colbert can be entertaining at times, I also think he can be dismissive.
Maybe it's just the mood I'm in watching it, or my mindset on everything going on in this country,
but I think we have enough wasted time and enough mockery going on in congress without adding to it.
Maybe this is just what it is anymore, and there was just some honesty shown, just a waste of time, a big joke,
a gathering of apathy sprinkled with some humor to create a distraction just big enough and long enough to allow nothing to happen, and John Q Public forgets minutes after the show is over why it is that his country is swirling around the drain.

reply to post by autowrench


In the interest of reason over emotion:


Yes we (the United States) are a Nation of Laws. But, under a nation of laws, All citizens must be considered EQUAL UNDER THE LAW.

In a land where how you are treated under the law is dependent on your social, ethnic, economic or other recognized status, no one is safe from arbitrary and/or unwarranted prosecution and persecution.

That is why equality under the law is written into our very Constitution.

That is one of the reasons we even have a Constitution, so that the life and liberty of no citizen is ever again left to the whim of an aristocrat's "pleasure"; so that no one could reasonably claim status above the law.


Under the Law, a Citizen Is a Citizen, without restriction or limitation.


And driving a car is a privilege granted by each State, not a right. Privileges can be revoked for various reasons. Revocation of a right irequires a very serious legal proces; and rightly so.