Think Progress

Miami is “as bad as any ghetto in any Third World country,”

says Carlos Espinosa, spokesman for Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), who stands by his earlier comments comparing Miami to a “Third World Country.” Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) called Tancredo’s comments “disappointing” and “naive.”



54 Responses to “Miami is “as bad as any ghetto in any Third World country,””

  1. gmnotyet says:

    Open mouth wider, insert foot deeper.


  2. RealScientist says:

    Yet another clueless idiot representing the GOP. Do these clowns try to be ignorant, or does it just appear that way?


  3. Juan C says:

    mmm…Yep, I would invite you too walk through the “streets” of the favelas in Rio de Janeiro or Fuerte Apache in Buenos Aires…just like Miami.


  4. DieNowForPeace says:

    Why do wingnuts hate America?


  5. Zooey says:

    Tancredo needs a nice, comforting, steaming mug of shut the f*ck up.


  6. Parrotlover77 says:

    More Republicans fighting Republicans. Excellent. I don’t know why everybody got worked up about the Majority Leader position “fight.” Democratic in-party conflicts never get as ignorant and stupid as this! Well with the exception of maybe Joe Lieberman, that is. Although he’s a DINO, so he doesn’t count!


  7. ted says:

    its because of teh gays, stoopid.


  8. RUCerious says:

    Zooey, would that steaming mug perhaps be topped off with a couple of glazed WTFs?


  9. Tom says:

    I spent a week’s vacation in Miami, South Beach and the surrounding area this fall. Tancredo is full of sh*t. Any metro area has its places to avoid — I am sure that even Denver has some bad spots.

    It is fun to watch the repubs squabble amongst themselves. Now that they have been rendered irrelevant, it is really all that they have to keep themselves busy. Soon they will start eating their young.


  10. Bluedog49 says:

    The latest Zogby polling shows that Latinos have lost faith in the Republican party in huge numbers. In 2004, Latino acceptance of the Repub party was in the 40’s. Now it’s down to about 25%. Let’s just hope that the Latino population in America helps us make the current version of Repubs an irrelevant fringe group with no electoral clout for decades to come. That’s what these f*ckers deserve!


  11. DieNowForPeace says:

    Er, Tancredo might be well served to visit the slums of Denver.

    Disgusting, and probably just as dangerous.

    Nice job, hypocite.


  12. billy says:

    Uh

    Have you seen Little Haiti in Miami? It’s pretty bad. Like, really bad.

    Tancredo was probably saying this as an anti-Hispanic slur, so I wouldn’t stand behing him, but look. We have a serious problems in our ghettos, which are becoming increasingly poor, very violent, very drugged up, and very dangerous. Liberals should acknowledge that and think about ways to limit poverty in our country that really does approach third-world levels for some people.


  13. DieNowForPeace says:

    Liberals should acknowledge that and think about ways to limit poverty in our country that really does approach third-world levels for some people.

    Comment by billy

    Attention Billy: That’s what libs have been trying to do, but stupid greedy conservatives would rather DIE than help the poor.

    Now, back under your rock…


  14. Oliver Willis says:

    The Tancredo Boys Strike Again…

    Tom Tancredo and his virulently anti-Hispanic minions are making a strong bid to completely take over the GOP. With this kind of honesty, they’re on their way: Miami is “as bad as any ghetto in any Third World country,” says…


  15. SpudgeBoy says:

    I spent a week’s vacation in Miami, South Beach and the surrounding area this fall. Tancredo is full of sh*t. Any metro area has its places to avoid — I am sure that even Denver has some bad spots.

    Tom, you are correct. Every city has a seedy spot. Even smaller cities like Spokane Washigton have bad areas. WHen I lived up there during the ’90s. There was an area we called crack whore alley. Shoot, even the little town of Tustin, California has an area at the Southern end that you wouldn’t want to be at night.


  16. impeachcheneythenbush says:

    Has Tancredo ever even been to Miami? I strongly doubt it…doesn’t sound like the Miami I’m familiar with. Certainly there’s a large (and controlling) faction of Cuban expats and their descendents, but many other diverse peoples live there as well. It’s what makes the city vibrant and interesting. On the other coast (probably Tancredo’s “dream”) is Naples, FL. That’s a white-bread place filled with too many people with too much money and too much time on their hands. BORING!!


  17. billy says:

    I am a liberal! And I know conservatives would rather die than help the poor! Don’t just dismiss arguments outright based on what you *think* the motivations of the speaker are.


  18. profmarcus says:

    i have seen where the hispanics live in denver and i have seen whee the hispanics live in miami, and i have visited many latin american countries, and currently live part-time in one… i would like to see a list of countries that tancredo has visited and, if there are any, where in each country he visited and how much time he spent there… that kind of list provides the qualifications for speaking with any kind of authority on the subject…

    by the way, i had a very revealing insight into ted tancredo when i was visiting my friend, who used to be the mexican vice consul in denver… let’s just say that tancredo is a very ugly customer…

    And, yes, I DO take it personally


  19. Zooey says:

    Zooey, would that steaming mug perhaps be topped off with a couple of glazed WTFs?
    Comment by RUCerious

    That would be nice on a cold morning, wouldn’t it.


  20. ForTruth says:

    Tancredo is trying to justify his anti-immagration stance. In the proces he sounds like an ass.


  21. Juan C says:

    There was an area we called crack whore alley. Comment by SpudgeBoy

    Funniest place in town, I guess.


  22. ForTruth says:

    It’s because of Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine.


  23. Zooey says:

    Even smaller cities like Spokane Washigton have bad areas.
    Comment by SpudgeBoy

    Spokane is a small city? I really am a hick, aren’t I?


  24. Jerry says:

    of course Miami is as bad as any ghetto in a third world country…It has a lot of brown people. Blacks, Cubans, Haitians. Tancredo can’t stand brown people.

    Gloria Estefan is a crime against nature though.


  25. Tom3 says:

    Tancredo once hired illegals to refinish his basement. Everybody here in Colorado knows he’s an idiot, but he keeps getting re-elected anyway. Tancredo also promised to limit his terms and broke that promise.


  26. Bluedog49 says:

    The people who vote for Tancredo are the same people who think a Christmas wreath in the shape of a peace sign is unacceptable speech which is disrespectful to the president. In other words, they’ve got their heads up their *sses.


  27. New Yorker says:

    Tancredo just committed political suicide. Even his constituents are embarrassed.

    I guess Tancredo missed all these well-educated, perfectly bilingual, and obviously affluent people I kept bumping into in restaurants and upscale stores in Miami during my last visit.

    Maybe he is jaleous because he is neither well-educated, nor bilingual, nor affluent…


  28. Sam says:

    i think Tancredo has a point. It is the truth. The Spanish folks mainly Cubans
    take up political status and kick out the American born citizens and scam their way around. The immigration says ” English is a must” to me when Jeb Bush became Governor… It seems it is no longer required. It is a sad thing though where they step over the real American people ways. Yes the ones who are in charge of Miami (the Spanish ones) would come to the rescue. One said that this is a city where “diversity is celebrated.’ No I disagree with her, the only thing celebrated is when the Cubans come over to take over the city with the fleet of Prostitutes, Bad driving, scam’s and Gang bangers. If you are not Cuban, go to the back of the line. Most of South Americans and Central Americans and other Caribbean countries come here and join the American ways and speak English. Why not Cubans? As you can see in the news that guy who held up the Miami Herald…. he needed a translator. He can not speak English for how many years being in Miami, and got a job at a news papers. Tell me how fair is that to the other Americans in south Florida? I cannot see why there is still the “ wet foot dry foot” policy around . Which it really sound like “the white foot, black foot policy.” Because the Haitians and some other Caribbean people are sent back. Some are executed upon return. That is so un fair.
    So I agree with Tancredo, it looks just like a Nasty 3rd world country in Miami. PEOPLE NEED TO WAKE UP!!


  29. Sam says:

  30. impeachcheneythenbush says:

    Hey Sam…ever been to Miami?


  31. squegeeboo says:

    wow, if I was in a third-world country, I would be pissed at that comparision.


  32. Manuel says:

    Miami is so great it doesn’t look like it’s the United States, but since Tancredo hates anything with latinamericans .. well, you get the idea …


  33. SpudgeBoy says:

    Spokane is a small city? I really am a hick, aren’t I?

    Comment by Zooey — November 29, 2006 @ 1:51 pm

    At least I called it a city and not a village. : )

    Compared to other big cities, yeah, Spokane is tiny. You can drive from one side to the other in 10 minutes in traffic.


  34. Valerie in Florida says:

    And Governor Jebby’s only response is that the remarks were ‘disappointing’ and ‘naive’? Wow, he really defended his state…..how about ‘That’s bullsh*t’?

    Thank God I never voted for either Bush.


  35. G. Chell says:

    Sam:

    White southerners cannot speak English either. In the movie “My Fair Lady,” Professor Dolittle says “in America they havent spoken English in years.” He was actually referring to the southern whites.


  36. Daryll says:

    Hey Dems, visit little Havana and Dade County. Tom is correct, I visit Miami twice a year, and the only upscale areas known, from my perspective, are Broward County (Ft. Lauderdale) and Miami Beach (Ocean Drive, Collins Drive, Washington Blvd, Coconut Grove, Biscayne bay). That’s one place full of sin (Wet Willie’s, Fat Tuesday, Clevelander, Opium, SoBe, etc.).


  37. Zooey says:

    That’s one place full of sin (Wet Willie’s, Fat Tuesday, Clevelander, Opium, SoBe, etc.).
    Comment by Daryll

    Daryll’s been naughty…do you have the addresses…?


  38. Daryll says:

    Zooey, I may remember some of the addresses, but I won’t relay them to you because I will not support sin. I wasn’t down there to party, I was there for business purposes.


  39. Zooey says:

    I wasn’t down there to party, I was there for business purposes.
    Comment by Daryll

    Then why would you bother remembering the addresses, Daryll?

    You don’t have to support sin, deary. My sin is self-supporting.


  40. Roberta says:

    What Sam and Billy said-I was born and raised in Miami, about 10 blocks from the Orange Bowl, lived there for 40 years, and yes, I am a Democrat, raised in a proud Democratic home by my grandparents-Grandad was a coalminer and a staunch union man.


  41. JPark says:

    Last I heard there really wasn’t much point to visiting 3rd world countries for “business”. Guess I heard wrong.


  42. JPark says:

    So, Roberta, when was the last time you were to Bogota?


  43. Roberta says:

    I am happy in America- Miami isn’t so much a third world country, it just isn’t America-my 80 year old grandmother once went to a county govt office to speak to someone about her taxes-when her turn came at the counter the person behind the counter couldn’t help her because she couldn’t speak English.


  44. JPark says:

    #45 What? Even in Wisconsin most businesses and all gov’t agencies have a Spanish speaker. I find it hard to believe nobody could help her.


  45. Roberta says:

    In Miami the trick is finding an English speaker- I am not talking about the fancy hotels, fancy malls, places that want the tourista money, I am talking about everyday life there, stopping to get gas, ask a question of a clerk in a big box store, that sort of thing. And in America, shouldn’t everyone in a government agency be able to communicate in English? I wouldn’t have the arrogance to go to a non-English speaking country and expect a govt employee to speak to me in English and not be able to speak the language of the country we were in, that would be very rude. My entire extended family left throughout the 90’s, the elders, to old and poor to leave, passed away, from sadness, I expect.


  46. JPark says:

    I find it difficult to believe that you have trouble finding English speakers, sorry.


  47. Roberta says:

    You are entitled to your beliefs, I felt entitled to live in America, and now I do.


  48. JPark says:

    Congratulations Roberta. I certainly hope that you don’t feel that lying makes you an American. Not all of us do that. Mostly, just our leaders.


  49. Roberta says:

    You seem to be insinuating that I made up what I said, I didn’t, but as I said earlier, you are entitled to your beliefs.


  50. JPark says:

    Do you see the lede on this story? You already admitted that Miami is no 3rd world country.


  51. Roberta says:

    I was responding to the sections of the posts about feeling alienated in what you thought was America, that’s all. Anyway, not my problem anymore. I enjoyed the conversation, goodnight-I have to be at work early:-)


  52. Patrick Ross says:

    Peter Brimelow Archive

    “A great demographic storm is breaking over America. The Republican Party may prove to be the least that it sweeps away.”

    Fellow countrymen you must become informed. There are many sources of information that can be corroborated, which is important. Don’t assume you know what is going on unless you have read several sources, including many government pages.


  53. JPark says:

    Ok, Patrick. You might want to go to freeperville and say that. We are not stupid.


  54. Michael Alfaro says:

    I live in Miami. I am American but my family is Cuban. I dont agree with what Tancredo said ;however, Miami is a pretty crummy city. Traffic is bad, people are ignorant, service is horrible, and people have no aspirations to grow into a better people.



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