Posted on 04/08/2006 9:00:31 AM PDT by axes_of_weezles
PUBLISHED ON APRIL 6, 2006:
Danehy
The immigration debate is really not a debate at all
By TOM DANEHY email this author Richard Pryor did a bit about pimps on cocaine who spoke in disjointed, run-on sentences. He concluded that these people "talk all the time, but don't be sayin' shit!" So it has become for what passes for the news business these days. With the proliferation of cable news outlets and the explosion of talk radio, there is, paradoxically, less hard news than ever. And don't even talk to me about blogs; to the best of my knowledge, blog is an acronym for "blathering lengthily on generalities."
Somewhere during the past couple of decades, our national attention span shrank to zero, and what used to be debates were reduced to frantic exchanges of pithy slogans and calculated sound bites. It reached its zenith when proponents of abortion rights realized the inherent power of the word "abortion" and wisely steered clear of it. But it got so bad that they had to contort themselves by referring to their philosophical opponents as being "anti-pro-choice."
Now, all of a sudden, it has been discovered that a whole lot of people living here shouldn't be (or, depending on your point of view, should be, and we shouldn't be), and the dirty little secret is out in the open. Alas, public discourse on the subject has quickly degenerated. Here are some of the sound bites in what passes for a "debate" on the immigration issue.
We are a nation of immigrants. --countless talking heads
Technically, only about 10 percent (a surprisingly hefty number) of the people currently residing on American soil are immigrants; the other 90 percent were born here. Certainly, almost everybody in this country is descended from immigrants, but all that does is make us a nation of people who are descended from immigrants. That's not all that unique. Unless you live between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and can trace your lineage back 2.8 million years or so, everybody's ancestors came from someplace else.
This is not an amnesty plan. --President George W. Bush
Oh, it's an amnesty plan. It's pretty much the same one that President Ronald Reagan disappointed his core constituency with 20 years ago, and it's the same one at which President Jon Bon Jovi will shrug at and then sign into law 20 years from now.
I don't know what the big deal is. They used to own this land. --Anglo woman being interviewed by KOLD Channel 13 during a rally at Sen. Jon Kyl's Tucson office
The woman appeared to be too old to have gone to a charter school, but her tenuous grasp of history was shocking. I'm not really sure what her statement means. Parts of Italy once belonged to Africans who rode in on elephants. Do modern-day descendants of Carthaginians therefore have a right to show up in Florence and demand citizenship and a full slate of rights? For that matter, "we" used to "own" Cuba. Can we just show up in Havana and make that argument? Probably not.
Humanitarian aid should not be a crime. --sign at a rally
No, it shouldn't. But how about giving a ride to someone you know broke a law that's on the books (even if you don't like that particular law), because that person was really, really thirsty? Should that be a crime? If everybody gets to decide each case on their own, just throw open the border, cut out all the hypocrisy and start a shuttle service. But if you're going to willingly engage in civil disobedience, you should at least be willing to spend that night in the Birmingham jail.
I'm doing this for my country --high school student featured in front-page Tucson Citizen column
Um, yeah, exactly which country is that?
How would you like to pay $1.50 for a head of lettuce? --activist warning of "severe" price spikes if the cheap migrant labor source dries up
What are you talking about?! I paid $1.29 last night at Albertsons. When's the last time you went shopping for food? Personally, I'd be willing to kick in that extra 21 cents for the knowledge that a head of lettuce hadn't been picked by some foreign guy who risked his life to get here just so he could be dicked over by some giant agribusiness corporation.
This is no man's land. --several protesters gathered at the federal building
At first, I thought they were referring to Aztlan, the mythical land consisting of that part of the United States that used to belong to Mexico and/or Spain. But after I asked a few of them, they said that it's more a matter that man is free to roam the Earth, and that borders are artificial constructs, unworthy of recognition or respect. (I paraphrased.)
A giant has awokened. --12-year-old Phoenix resident who walked out of school to protest various immigration bills
You'd better get your ass back to school and hope you didn't miss English class.
Amen.
Bump
Mayor's voice from Simpsons: "And let me be the first to welcome our new Alien overlords."
Oh well . . . (waving little Aztlan flag listlessly) . . . at least you can smoke anywhere you want.
If our government won't stop this invasion, then we will have to do it ourselves.
Try it, and you'll be arrested by the same fedgov that wants the invasion to continue.
Or-gee! Maybe they will work, AT the border, to protect the border. Civil servants (Americans) get too high a pay and benefits. Protect the bottom line. ;^) /sarcasm..
OK Matt.I might need a bit o help : )
Well,, we all do.. Whatever happened to local FR Chapter formation?. The DC Chapter and the Minutemen & JR are doing all the heavy lifting to make a difference while good-hearted FReepers postulate and spin their wheels. Perhaps the organization of Local Chapters can be more emphasized?? I see only scattered reports of a few places around the Nation that even have a group and it indicates to me that not too many are really serious about doing anything but post..
"We are a nation of immigrants. --countless talking heads"
I am sick to death of hearing this bold-faced lie. It's about time I saw someone refute that in print.
I am in the process of moving from California to Scottsdale, Ariz. How do I find FReepers in my new area?
Thanks.
First they'll demand a seperate nation. Then they'll demand reparations.
Litigation treasure is indeed a significant part of the pro-illegal game plan.
Casa de Maryland, a far-out almost terrorist group in the Washington suburbs is nominally set up to run day labor sites. But it is really a government contractor living off government grants and the profits from successful law suits. It has a legal staff of seven full time personnel who admit that they are changing their focus from helping day laborers to lawsuits against contractors and governments because their is big money there, as the ACLU has discovered.
The day laborers they represent are required to repay them with 5 to 20 hours of labor for demonstrations and protests, and threatening legislators. (http://www.casademaryland.org/Legal_md.htm )
The Montgomery County (MD) schools are giving credit for social action to students who will participate in Monday's demonstrations at the US Capitol. These children will report to Casa de Maryland rabble rousers along with the hordes of illegals that owe Casa hours of service.
These children will be turned over to Casa de Maryland ringleader, Gustavo Torres, who has already made public threats that he and his indentured hispanic servants will track the children of those who oppose their agenda right into their schools and homes. (http://www.humaneventsonline.com/blog-detail.php?id=12678)
This was never part of India. The native population was named that by a mistaken Italian captain sailing a borrowed ship full of criminals. It is not a fact.. where the native populations came from or who they replaced. It will be determined, probably, with future science. Possession, of course, is 99% of the Law.
In the meantime however, since I may be a small part Seneca.. get the h--l off MY land!! ;^)..
Great article and excellent point all through.
I would pay $3 for a head of lettuce as opposed to $1.29 if I knew I was helping to pay for some American kid's date and/or college money.
The more pressure we keep on Mexico, immigration-wise, the more reformers inside of Mexico can be emboldened and empowered to scale back monopolists' abuses down there which keep our own country flooded with economic refugees. Here's an interesting new thread on new legal progress that finally emerged in Mexico I think as a result of immigration reform's failure:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1611677/posts
We can make a difference for our sake, and their's as well. Isn't it the neighborly thing to do?
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