Posted on 04/10/2006 8:14:27 AM PDT by AnnaZ
Long Waits, Ingrates, and Ahmonajihad
April 10th, 2006
For a long time I have been very sympathetic towards immigrants, even the illegal ones, here in America. As an immigrant myself, and as the daughter of immigrants, suffice it to say, "I understand". Or at least I did. Today, I still just have two words for them, but now those words are, "SHUT UP!"
I have paid my dues and I have paid my fees. I have stood in lines, been fingerprinted and background-checked, answered questions and opened up and said "Ahhhh." Had the lines been longer, I would have still waited in them, had the fees been higher, I would have still paid them. My sentiment was always "I understand", because although I was born in a country that many people in the world consider a promised land, Canada, I was still as desperate as anyone could be to be an American.
Which is why I am out of my mind over the teeming, screaming, demanding masses taking to the streets. You're here and you're not daily kissing the ground? You're here and you're not doing everything you can to repay the gift? You're here and you're not weeping to the strains of the Star Spangled Banner? Good grief, are you really still hoisting a buzzard over your head? (My favorite protest sign has been the "We're not criminals!" one. Uh, well, yes, frankly, you are. Shut up. Go back to the job you've been blessed to be given. Be happy you're not back in some unpronounceable province grinding corn.)
And now, frankly, the situation is getting out of hand, as every two-bit, shade-of-red organization is hijacking the march. That's just fabulous. We have Senators tripping over themselves to harvest the illusion of potential voters and meanwhile the 'world worker parties' are already signing them up. This is because they are completely aware of the real battle they're trying to get us to lose, and the rest of us, and especially those we have elected, have got to remember what's really at stake. It's what I wish these immigrants would get a grip on. We are at war.
[I]n the free world, the competition of ideas and parties flourishes, and allegiances are often based on a single common principle or purpose that struggles against a competing point of view.
Though generally healthy for a society, this competition can be quite dangerous if we lose sight of the fact that there is a far greater divide between the world of freedom and the world of fear than there is between the competing factions within a free society. If we fail to realize this, we lose moral clarity. The legitimate differences among us, the shades of gray in a free society, will be wrongly perceived as black and white. Then, the real black-and-white line that divides free societies from fear societies, the real line that divides good from evil, will no longer be distinguishable.
A lack of moral clarity is why... people living in free societies cannot distinguish between religious fundamentalists in democratic states and religious terrorists in fundamentalist states. It is why people living in free societies can come to see their fellow citizens as their enemies, and foreign dictators as their friends.
Natan Sharansky, The Case For Democracy
You're just the only one who mentioned it.Aw, come on, EveningStar... ya coulda tossed me a giggle.
This whole illegals invasion would make for great fiction too (à la Alice in Wonderland), I just wish we could get all the illegals back on the other side of the mirror.
But there's gonna be big problems if we have another recession like the one in 1982 where even skilled trades adults couldn't even get a part time job at Mickey D's. There wern't enough jobs to go around then and despite 9/11 recession wise we've been lucky another one of that magnitude hasn't happened. When it does and people can't work people are gonna be getting very angry.
Immigration has to be limited for the common good and security of all citizens. The employment issue is but a part of it. Up till a decade or so ago TB in this nation was all but wiped out except for the occasionally patient in remission who would become active again. {That happens especially in health care facilities}.
Even visiting most nations means requirements both from the U.S. and the destination country to have certain vaccines. Not even U.S. Servicemen are exempt from this requirement. Ones on active duty military are the most vaccinated visitors in any foreign land. Actually U.S servicemen are not excempt from U.S. Customs laws either. Each deployment I came off of where we hit a foreign port we had to fill out declaration forms and even have our belongings searched. So are illegals better than those who risk their lives to defend the nation? I hope not.
But it comes back to this also. We were told in the Navy when we visited a port that if we broke their laws we were subject to that nations laws and punishments. Uncle Sam said you're on your own son. We have a Court Martial waiting if/when they release you. I know one guy who was likely still in a foreign prison many years after I got out of the Navy just for a few chunks of hash.
I've seen a lot of different nations especially in Europe including Tito's Yugoslavia. It was under communist rule then but not Warsaw Pact. But it wasn't paridise by any means. The worse place I saw though was in Brazil. A culture where in Salvador kids 5 years old and some younger were street orphans. This was in 1977 BTW. The kids I had to feel sorry for as they were innocents. But the innocent kids were ones you did not turn your back on either least you have a switchblade up against your ankle. The adults that allowed this to continue though was inexcusable. What I am saying is culture means plenty. Travis I'm sure you saw worse in your tour.
If a person want to be a legal American Citizen more power to them. Join the rest who have left national allegiance behind and adapted to the customs by the second generation. All sides of my family came here from Britain or Scotland. Some were here while we were still under the British Crown 150 + years before the Declaration of Independence. I definitely do not call myself a Scott/Irish American. Such pre-identifiers or prefixes before American in a sense puts the former nation before the one we live in. Just my 2 cents..
I definitely do not call myself a Scott/Irish American. Such pre-identifiers or prefixes before American in a sense puts the former nation before the one we live in. Just my 2 cents..I am definitely not a Canadian-American either, LOL, even as recent as my roots are.
In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.
Theodore Roosevelt, 1907
thanks for the ping AnnaZ. My parents also went through the long lines, etc... to immigrate here from France. They also had to have a sponsor and it took them something like 5 years. I understand their need to make a decent living and many of them work alot harder than I do but maybe if our borders are closed there will be alot of pressure on the Mexican government to help provide more freedom of prosperity.
For years I told folks what I thought was going to happen and look now, here it has happened.
You rightly call our nation a Republic. What you see here is Democracy in action. Before too long there will be a 51% majority through simply breeding and then where will true Citizens be. (the same holds true for Isreal...lots and lots of "Palestinians" breeding till the Jewish people are simply voted out or laws are passed because of "a majority")
Viva Zapata and Tierra y Libertad (Land and Liberty)? Well, Zapata is dead and the illegals can kiss my backside cause it is the liberties and lands of Americans that are going to be lost! And these poor dupes are too ignorant to realize that they won't have Tierra or Libertad if they keep following Marxists and Communists.
Got to stop now before I start getting irate.
XOXOXOXOXO ;o)
So, I found the best response (as indeed I did endure a zillion of such charges against me): Was to call the person on their *)(*&&: "You are (an emotional) bully. You are exactly the kind of person no one wants for their neighbor.
It just stunned those trying this crap on me to be called on what they were: Bullies.
In one debate, I turned the tables: "Were I slamming the heck out of rapists, would you also call me a sexist?"
Even worse is when you start laughing at them. They get really upset, usually clam right up and storm off, or head right at you..
Certainly worthy of consideration and likely somewhere down the line as the future unfolds.
I concur that a large number of illegals have now achieved a sort of non-citizen residency that is stable, but it was a natural progression.
I believe that they would return to a migrant pattern is we made it so. I also realize that some want to stay and become Americans.
We have to address all the motivations and use their own momentum to gain control of the problem. We cannot take all of them, or Mexico would be empty....LOL:-) but we need to control the numbers in a way that the numbers adjust to the economic needs.
A return to the migrant pattern is one way to do that. The other way is the green card.
This is what makes Bush's worker class visa system attractive to me and I think it could work, enhance security and take the pressures off the border at the same time.
Still ROTF;-)
It looks like this is turning into another nasty FReeper war like the Terry Schiavo affair a year ago. Too bad. :(
Sorry to hear that, EveningStar. I've been avoiding the "illegal immigrant" threads. I've already seen too much prior to this lastest round, and determined there's some folks one can discuss that subject with, and others who get so het up and begin raving.
Their actions show that they're not with us.I'm not that interested in anyone who doesn't take our present (real) threat seriously.
I will! He's coming home for Easter! :)
"interesting" isn't quite the word I would have chosen.
"interesting" isn't quite the word I would have chosen.I was being purposefully coy.
I am not known for being reserved on the other hand, am I? LOL
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