The Great Illegal Debate

Illegal Immigration:
Perspectives across the Continuum

My continuum of immigration is here separated into categories based on the perspectives the situation is analyzed from. There are any number of perspectives on the issue, but I will break it down into a few of my favorite. And while I know that a continuum should not be broken into categories, categories are the reality here because they are a decent representative sample, and I don’t have all the time in the world!

• Necessary Evil
• Open the Border to All!
• Luxury for the people who deserve it.
• Disrespectful of those who came before.
• Why not, it’s justice for prior bad acts?

My own opinion of the issue really isn't what matters, but there are a few gems that I will pick on because … well I just can't resist sometimes. It's just too much fun!

Necessary Evil:

The people that take this opinion are really quite common because while they don't like illegal immigration, they recognize a certain quality of benefits that can be gained from the practice. Usually they are also the ones who take the viewpoint that illegals will be here temporarily, rolling up their sleeves, and getting dirty doing the jobs that no American really wants to do.

This rosy view might indeed be true, but it certainly is not a universal truth across the spectrum of illegal immigrants. The truth is that many of these people are the same as us, with fewer opportunities. They will work like dogs for far less wages, and be thankful doing it because they want to feed their family, both nuclear and extended.

Another truth that only a select few, politically incorrect, people tend to point out is that the reverse is also true. There are enterprising and smart people that come across the border illegally to take advantage of the system that is wasting millions upon millions of dollars every year. When you look at it objectively, who can blame them? Stay in a country that doesn't want you, where there is little to no work, even less pay, and far more violence? Why? When you can take a notably dangerous trek through the desert and arrive in a country that is just itching to pay you to do nothing. There are innumerable American citizens who find clever ways to take advantage of our government assistance programs in precisely the same ways. Unless you think that illegal immigrants are inherently more stupid than these Americans, why would you think that at least some of them would be willing to do the exact same thing?

Open the Border to All!

Alright, I will admit up front that I think the people who agree with this position are shortsighted and probably take a Utopian view that would make Moore blush. There is, however, one area where I have to agree with them. Everyone does deserve an opportunity to immigrate if they so desire, but that should come with some strict guidelines and enough of a procedure to make sure that we aren’t letting in Hannibal Lector’s illegal protege.

The problem I see with this method would be exactly what the heading says: “All.” If that doesn’t put some trepidation in your decision making process then you clearly are not as pessimistic as I am. Congratulations on that. Already the United States is criss-crossed with enough drug highways to keep enforcement busy for the next thousand years, and if the borders were open to everyone it would stand to reason that this would get worse. I know that there are very few people who really mean to keep it open to everyone with no system of documentation in place, but these kinds of systems are in place now and yet the border might as well be fenced with Swiss Cheese.

My next problem is that unless you grant everyone immediate amnesty and/or citizenship upon arrival, you are basically giving them a green card with no expiration. It is incredibly easy for people to disappear once they get into the country, so if you made getting in so easy there would be no way to get a decent representative number of population demographics. This is key to the way that our Republic functions; with no accurate numbers, different districts would either be grossly under or over represented.

Luxury for those who deserve it.

This perspective usually accompanies the people who believe that the border does need to be secured, patrolled, and respected as a legal zone. Citizenship in the United States is not something that should be taken for granted, and the benefits that come with that status were hard won. The old motto, “Give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses longing to be free...” is a battle cry for those who believe we have abandoned the principles the founding father set forth for us on immigration. The problem is that phrase, lovely as it is, is not one from the founding fathers, not any of them. It is from “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus. It was inscribed on the statue of liberty, yes, but it was never actually uttered by the founding fathers as it was not written until 1883. I happen to believe that Ms. Lazarus’ background made her write this, because she was on the front lines of many waves of immigration from countries who no longer wanted these people. She witnessed, first hand, people coming off boats onto Ellis Island looking for another chance. One line at the end of the sonnet sums up the situation quite nicely, “...I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” She knew exactly what a chance to live here would mean to these people on the lowest rungs of other countries, it would mean that with work they would get their chance.

Now, why can we not share that opinion in this millennium? It is idealistic. Who is going to determine who deserves it and who doesn’t? It would probably come down to some government panel shut up in D.C. somewhere that has no real grip on life in this country, much less any other. And government has proven itself to be such a rational entity hasn’t it? I happen to favor this position, but even I can see that it would be logistical nightmare to manage the immigration requests from around the world and handpick from the lists who is deserving and who isn’t.

Disrespectful of those who came before.

I know I said my opinion doesn’t matter, and it really doesn’t, but in the interests of full disclosure I must admit that I agree with this position very much.

Those of us who can claim this perspective often believe that immigration is a luxury, and it is one that generations of people from all over the world have fought for, respected, and honored. It used to be that people immigrated to the US because it was seen as the land of opportunity and people had to fight for the right to come here, and then a good number of them applied for citizenship and never left. There are countless stories of so-and-so’s grandmother/father that studied their butts off for the citizenship test, and then worked even more of their ass off to learn the language. They wanted to be American. I am sure (but don’t know for certain) that most of them never intended to disrespect their heritage or culture by doing this, but I would hazard a guess to say that they wanted more than anything to count themselves as American in every way that they could.

I can’t imagine what those people, who kicked, screamed, and clawed their way through the legal procedure must be thinking. I can imagine it would feel like a kick in the teeth to see the people who refuse to make any effort to abide by the laws or assimilate. Those people who protest cracking down on illegal immigration by waving the flags of some foreign country that doesn’t give a rat’s ass about them. I can’t wait for the day when these geniuses realize that most of these countries have far more harsh penalties for trying to immigrate back into them than the US has for trying to illegally get in.

I am all for keeping your culture alive, your traditions as pure as possible, and I respect your right to be proud of where you came from, but please do not cram it down my throat at every available opportunity. And please, remember how many generations of legal immigrants you are slapping in the face everyday with your BS.

Why not, it’s justice for prior bad acts?

I don’t know why, but I almost forgot to include this perspective. Shocking, I know. I think it has to do with my pure unadulterated hatred of this asinine social justice hippy-dippy-trippy cause. I am not even going to try to be objective with this review, so if you don’t agree with it you might as well skip ahead to the comments section and attempt to rip me a new one. I emphasize attempt there.

The very idea that you can make up for what was a horrible injustice in forcing various groups of indigenous peoples off their ancestral lands, by allowing completely different populations to run rampant over the border, is quite frankly about the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life. There is one glaringly obvious way to tell this is not about social justice at all. Because the groups that were harmed are in no way helped by this proposal, and the groups that can take advantage of this don’t (for the most part) contain anyone that was originally harmed. If you wanted to help Native Americans for being forced to endure the Trail of Tears, I am all ears. But how exactly is being flooded with more people going to make up for land restrictions and take overs that were enacted one hundred plus years ago?

Furthermore, I don’t think encouraging foreign nationals to break international laws are a good thing. Do you see the mess that a large portion of the middle east is in, and what that has done to the world? So next time we attempt to make good on a prior bad act, let us remember that there is a reason that prior bad acts are inadmissible in a court of law.

Besides, what kindergarten graduate among us has not heard that two wrongs do not make a right? Come on people, when in doubt go back to what you have learned from Disney movies (the classics, not the crappy modern ones).

And because I have a new appreciation for her:

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Emma Lazarus, 1883

P.S. To the distinguished Mr. Murdoch:

There is no frickin’ such thing as a “law abiding” illegal alien residing in the US, thanks for the oxymoron courtesy of one of the richest men in America.

One Sixth of a Puppy

Written by Rachel, but posted by Mary, because Blogger was acting weird and wouldn't cooperate.

Are you like me? Do you have no clue why a complete overhaul of our healthcare system has to be done in three months? Welcome to the club! Membership is free, but beware: we are "extremist right-wing conservatives," so anything could happen. Let us laugh all the way to the bank with our "fat checks that were sent by special interest groups and rich people that are SCARED of Obamacare!"

Disclaimer:
Today’s rant was made possible by my inability to keep my mouth shut and fingers off the keyboard while browsing Politico.com. Please remember to keep your eyes open and your brain engaged during the reading of this blog. Remember kids, do not try this blog at home. We don’t want the SS (Secret Service) to show up on our doorsteps! All remarks made in this blog are the sole responsibility of its author and she is very proud of every bit of sarcasm that will drip off your screen.

"White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel warned liberal groups this week to stop running ads against Democratic members of Congress.

The powerful top aide to President Obama made his feelings known at the weekly closed-door strategy session of an array of progressive organizations, according to two sources who were there.

Emanuel’s request came on the same day that Obama himself told a meeting of Democratic senators that he didn’t like seeing dollars used by liberal groups to target congressional Democrats." [1]

Gee, really Rahm? You want your friends to stop making fun of the little blue dog puppets that you so skillfully direct everyday? Whyyyy?

Wow, Rahm, that actually sounds dangerously like threats. You would threaten your friends on the far left? But...they are your buds aren't they? Oh, I forgot. That is just the Chicago way. See, most of us don't understand your big city ways. All you genius cityfolk are just so slick, what with manipulating everything you can possibly get your pathetic little mitts on.

"Organizing for America, the president’s political arm, is engaged in an intensive grassroots effort to rally support for healthcare reform legislation, going so far as to air ads in the states and districts of targeted Democratic members of Congress. But the spots were tame, not mentioning the names of the members, and White House officials indicated that they were being run to give their allies air cover to support the legislation." [2]

See, the problem is that if you truly need an organization that touts the Obama brand like the Sierra Club tout baby polar bears, then it really isn't GRASSroots. Think of it more like WEEDroots, unsightly and popping up in between the cracks of a smooth operation; except our weed spray is the truth from real Americans that are sick and tired of fronting your handouts. The reason you need these little offshoot groups of losers to come and harass real people that are trying to restore real HOPE is because your programs are doomed to failure. Everybody knows it except your little bunch of idiots, and the other idiots that you convinced to go along with you this last time.
These programs have played themselves out around the globe, and not once have they proved to be anything resembling sustainable. They ALWAYS FAIL. But, I don't expect this kind of basic knowledge of economic history among people who can't decide if the U.S. is a great country or not. That is probably the simplest question that you could be faced with; or it was, before you people got your egocentric moneygrubbing little claws into us. These are just a few reasons why you have to recruit losers who are too stupid or lazy to go get real jobs to go out and spin your little pathetic webs of spit, so that all the newly glistening threads of bullshittery can be woven together by the Messiah Himself to form an "authentic" grassroots campaign.

"Democracy for America, the organization founded in the wake of Howard Dean’s presidential bid, is partnering with another progressive group to target Democrats and has tangled with Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who suggested the ads being aired against him made it less likely that a healthcare bill would pass.

“We have not heard from the White House,” said Jim Dean, the chair of Democracy for America and the former DNC chair’s brother. “The ads are part of a much larger campaign that we are conducting to mobilize one million DFA members to engage all congressionals – Republicans and Democrats alike — in various ways (meetings with staff, petitions, ads, etc.) to support the President's plan.” " [3]

And here is yet another example of the prime genius that I mentioned just two seconds ago. I am not making this stuff up people; in ONE article there are three organizations (OFA, DFA, and another unnamed organization) being mobilized to rescue the healthcare reform argument. Yet, I didn't need anything but my own common sense to get mobilized against it.

***By the way, I am still waiting on my check from the special interest groups and the extreme right-wing conservatives. Come to think of it, I never even got a stimulus check...

Personally, I love it when the democrats go after each other. Please, continue. Who needs the Libertarian Party (to which I am a member) to fight, when the moonbat liberals will just implode on their own! We need munchies for this show. So, who's gonna get the popcorn?

Seriously though, they mobilize troops (that may be literal before long, folks) to support this plan that was cooked up in one MONTH. They drive these people to rallies, give them mass produced signs to wave around and then round them back up when it is time to go on to the next event. In the middle of this little choreographed dance they do they also like to rough people up including senior citizens and innocent men handing out Gadsden flags. Yeah, you can’t be REAL Grassroots© unless you are a badass and knocking around the elderly and ganging up on unsuspecting people. Oh, or how about slapping people who don't agree with you? Wow, Shaft has nothing on these people--they must be the real badd muthas.

Here are a few more links of just such behavior if you are interested, and you should be, this could be your mother, father or grandparent next. These are mostly middle aged to elderly people who believe in their hearts that Obama and his health plan would leave them to fend for themselves, or just die. They are fighting for their lives essentially.

Human Events article.
And more evidence on YouTube.

Even the comments on the above YouTube video by "InModeration1" are threats toward an opponent to Obamacare who was just voicing his opinion.


Meanwhile, does anyone know what the members of that crazy angry right-wing conservative mob do?
They take off work (the work that pays for most of the lazy bums in these organizations), they make signs that aren't all that clever but are HOMEMADE instead of mass-produced, they drive their own cars to meetings and try to be heard like they deserve to be. Some politicians are making that more and more difficult, though. Virtual townhalls, phoning it in, one on one meetings.
People, that is not democracy. We have an inherent right and responsibility to confront our elected officials when they get THIS out of hand. And I have news for you lawmakers that are so appalled at this behavior, here's that vicious troublemaking mob you have heard so much about:
FreeColorado.com
"It wasn't a mob until they showed up."
"Meet the mob."
And the man who was attacked by SEIU union thugs speaks.



If you had actually listened to the People in the first place and not gone against every principle that got you elected you wouldn't have these problems. I know the Messiah is memorizing. Why, I can hardly keep from barf- uhh… I mean staring when he speaks.
I will try to make this simple so tiny brains don’t just melt-- and that means you too San Fran Nan, God only knows what would happen to the environment if all that Botox escaped from your flesh… think of the Polar Bears!

*Serious voices everyone!*


The number of Representatives a state has is decided by the population of that state, while each state has only two Senators regardless of landmass or brain matter present (unfortunately on the latter). Now let us take the lame brother’s-cousin’s-ex girlfriend’s-best friend’s-husband’s-mother that no one likes to talk about … yes, I mean California.

The state population in California, as of 2008, was estimated at 36,756,666 (I didn’t make up that last part-though fitting). California is the most populous state, so it has the most representatives, currently numbering 53. Representatives are paid, as of January 2009, $174,000 - more for the speaker and party leaders. Can anyone do that math? Yeah, but California has lots of money, it can afford to pay these salaries to people who are already more rich than you and I could ever dream of being…right? But this isn’t just California, these salaries are nationwide. Oh, and did I mention that they get a cost of living adjustment (COLA - no not the Pepsi kind) EVERY year? When is the last time you got a cost of living adjustment? They are even eligible for lifetime benefits after only five years! That includes a pension, social security benefits and those primo healthcare benefits that they are so sure none of us need. They are dead set on believing (and preaching) that this new bill proposes a plan that is plenty for the American people, but they don’t even want to think about being on it themselves and especially not their families subjected to Obamacare! But wait…aren't they American too? Aren’t they subject to the laws that they write? Why, of course not! That would interfere with them being more important than us lowly constituents - I mean citizens.

See, this is the grim reality now: we are supporting these people FOR LIFE. And not only will they not listen to us when we try to use our inside voices, they say that we are an angry mob using terrorist tactics when we yell a little louder! Well, what else is left? If we can’t get through your thick skulls with respectful discourse and we aren’t allowed to yell anymore … Hell we might as well not talk at all. So that is what I want people to do next time they are at one of these townhall meetings. Don’t talk. No. Seriously, don’t. Here is what you do:

Cheer! Do you remember those lame cheers that the little blonde airheads did In high school? Bring those back! My personal favorite was always this little number:

"LET’S GET A LITTLE BIT ROWDY. R. O. W. D. Y."


Now maybe you can mix that up with a little bit of “WE THE PEOPLE” or “REMEMBER THE VOTERS” maybe even a raucous version of “CONSTITUTION”.
Fitting eh?

I still don’t know why it is unreasonable to ask President Obama to spend AT LEAST as much time on healthcare reform than he did when picking out the puppy for his daughters. For those of you that didn’t keep track, he took 6 months to pick a puppy. He wanted healthcare done in about a month. So, your health is essentially worth 1/6 of a puppy.

Sources:
1,2,3 Politico.com
QuickFacts.Census.Gov
Wikipedia

Courage at a Beauty Contest

Catch up on the story!

The Question and Answer

Miss CA Respond's to controversy

When did it become a bad thing in this country - hell, in this WORLD - to speak your mind and stand up for the beliefs of your heart? When did we decide to go overboard on political correctness to the point of demonizing a 20-something girl for having courage in her convictions? I think we could learn something from this young woman. Even if we don't agree with her, what she did took guts and a level of maturity that it seems the entire country has not reached.

This is sad considering how nearly everyone (myself included) makes fun of beauty pageant contestants for that stereotypical, "world peace" answer. You know you did the same thing! So why now, when a contestant finally breaks out of that little box, do we feel the need to shoot her down at every available opportunity?

Some people would like us to believe that it would have been better for her to 'be a good little girl' and just feed everyone the usual line of BS that political correctness demands. Those people are of course the very same ones that were right next to me in line to take a swing at past beauty pageant contestants for their mind numbingly-stereotypical-shallow-idiotic lines about how "We all just need to get along, with smiles and giggles and sparkly unicorn farts, tee-hee!"

Pardon me, but holding hands and singing around a camp fire is just not my brand of fun, and I am glad that they finally found a contestant that could actually have an opinion and still maintain existence.

So my take on the situation is…

We have been silent for too long. And what has that silence gotten us? This is the fruit of our silence:
We can no longer disagree with political policy because we are called racist.
We can't tell a woman she is beautiful without being called sexist.
And, we can't criticize a certain senator anymore because we are called ageist.
What's the point? Yeah, these are awful things to be called and hard accusations to get rid of, but at this point who cares? I think the silence has gone on long enough. Can you even imagine where it will end up if we continue this ridiculous charade of political correctness? If we can't criticize the socialists, we're going to have a new Holocaust. If we can't criticize the people claiming that (insert any group) people are evil and should be killed, we're going to have a genocide. If we can't criticize the terrorists - people whom we know are just itching to kill us, our country is going to fall under severe attack.
We are so concerned with not offending someone that we put a gag in our own mouths in an effort to not hurt someone's feelings, and in the process, we sacrifice our own hearts and minds on the altar of 'social acceptance.' And it's not just social acceptance, it is the social acceptance of a bold and vocal few who have been using this era of political correctness to their own gain. And forgive me, but I always believed that America was about the desires of the many, not the disciples (and decibels) produced by the few. That isn't freedom, that's just peer pressure. Political Correctness is straight out of the halls of high school, and ought to have been left there. That's how it goes, the loud and proud misguided crowd offers the rest of us the forbidden fruit, and those who succumb to peer pressure take that bite that changes history - and the way things are going, it was one hell of a poisoned apple.

I would like to take this opportunity to offer you some advice: If you are doing things right, then you will piss people off, so use this as your gauge to how effective your argument is. The more furious they get, the more proud of yourself you can be (providing you are using a good argument and can actually back up your claims). If their only response is blind anger then you know they were incapable of responding with logic, and that is a good sign.

I say this not as an expert in arguments, but as a person who has spent much of her life arguing with people, defending one controversial view or another, and intentionally starting flame wars all over the place.

We all have a right to have our own personal opinions. Or do you agree that someone else's rights (or fight for those rights) trump someone else's? The Bill of Rights is not a game of Spades! If you will notice, the girl said that she personally believes marriage is between a man and woman, and good for her. What she didn't say is that gay people are freaks who don't deserve the right to marry. So why is everyone so up in arms as if that is what she said, word for word? What she said was not offensive; it was quite a polite way of expressing an opinion that is shared with much of the country (evidenced by the recent votes).

We are apparently living in a time that is Freedom of Speech-Lite: all the substance of speech with none of that pesky Freedom stuff that everyone is so tired of these days.

So here is this woman who is trying to live her life by her own beliefs and not compromising on them - good for her! We could take a lesson on that, too.
Compromise never gets you the best. It gets you less than the worst.

So what we are left with is this new frontier for Free Speech and Courage: Beauty Pageants.
God help us if we now require beauty queens to make us realize what is wrong with this country.