By GottaLaff
Previous posts about Tom Tancredo have shown Rep. Tom (How'd He Get Elected-Colo.) to be a Palin and McCain-dissing, literacy test-endorsing, immigrant/Obama bashing, Ed Show-quitting racist.
Now we see that this mindset goes back, way back, which is not at all surprising. But it is eye-opening. Here is a first hand account of one young man's observations of Then Tancredo. He said others could, but were unwilling or unavailable to, corroborate his story.
With that in mind:
So here's the deal with my history with Tancredo. [...] Tancredo is a petty, mean bastard [...]
Tancredo grew up in North Denver in the 50s and 60s. It had been, for many years, an enclave of Italian and Irish immigrants and their descendants. Tom identified strongly with his Italian community and attended Holy Family High School in North Denver.
During the 60s, Mexicans began moving into North Denver in large numbers and they were seen as interlopers by the Italians. I had lived in cities with large black populations growing up. I had a keen interest in the civil rights movement. When my family settled in Denver I noticed right away that Mexicans were an underclass with white Denverites.
I got a job at Elitch Gardens, an old amusement park in North Denver, the summer [of] 1968 [...]. This is where I met the great Tom Tancredo.
He was kind of the Assistant Manager of the park reporting to a spooky old guy named Bud Brechman. He ran the crew of 15 - 18 year old kids like he was a mob boss. [...] He wore Coke-bottle thick glasses and had thick five o'clock shadow at all times. He was downright swarthy.
One of the things I learned quickly about Tancredo is that he hated Mexicans. Or as he might say it at the time, he hated "spics, beaners, taco benders, and greasers". He had a crew of dull witted, mean spirited lackeys who enforced his every whim.
When the park was crowded, he would tell them, "Let's get rid of some spics, this place is staring to stink." He would routinely seek out Mexicans to harass and eject from the park. He particularly liked having his henchmen humiliate Mexican boys in front of their dates. [...]
There was another amusement park nearby called "Lakeside" that was owned by a woman named Rhoda. It was considered much lower class, Elitch's had beautiful formal gardens and a more white clientèle. Most Mexicans went to Lakeside because they wouldn't be hassled and it was less expensive.
Tancredo would often tell anyone who would listen that all the Mexicans belonged over at "Rhoda's Park" because she didn't mind "wallowing" with them.
Unrelated to his racism but representative of his character -- Tancredo liked to bet on the dog races and he had a big scam going. He would prey on weak, vulnerable, awkward adolescents to participate in his "dog track pool". He preyed on other weak, vulnerable, awkward adolescents with this scam too.
Here was the deal: His henchmen would come around on pay day and ask for your contribution to the pool. Exactly how the pool worked was never really disclosed and no one seemed to win except Tancredo and his buddies. But if you didn't participate, you could find yourself assigned to a ride in kiddie land that repeated that awful friendly dragon song all day long.
So all of this may not be that interesting, but I watched in horror over the years as Tancredo ascended the political ladder.
I moved [...] in the early 70s and watched him build momentum from afar. When he ran for President in 2008 it was almost comical, knowing what a deeply racist jackass he was and how he had morphed into this "legitimate" politician with a concern over immigration issues. Not, racism mind you, just protecting Americans. [...]
I'm sure there are many people who saw him in action at Elitch's, but racism was so prevalent in North Denver in that era that it may not have been remarkable to the average kid who wasn't trying to understand the larger world of race and class.
Here is Tom giving us a personal tour of his old stomping grounds, talking about his days at Elitch's.
Maybe the powers that be over at Discovery will give him his own reality show.
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