Tom Tancredo II

Just when we thought the U.S. House of Representatives had lost its craziest immigrant-hater with the impending retirement of Tom Tancredo, it seems someone else wants to step up to fill the position. Lou Barletta, the mayor of Hazleton, Pa. who was one of the first and most extreme to try to crack down on immigrants* at the local level, is planning a run for Congress. I feel personally insulted by this because he's running in Pennsylvania's 11th District, where I lived from age 9 to 18 (and where my parents still live). So while the incumbent is a pretty center-of-the-party Democrat (and therefore unimpressive by my progressive sensibilities) who has held the seat as long as I've been alive, given his opposition I'm prepared to go out on a limb and endorse Paul Kanjorski in the race for PA-11.

*Yes, immigrants-period, not just "illegal immigrants."