"Open borders are only possible when there are no social spending programs. Come here if you can work, but you'll starve if you can't. That works."
That works? Can you give me an actual example of THAT actually working? Come here if you can work...what do you think most undocumented workers are doing? Most are working their collective asses off.
]]>I propose that at the very least people do not be hounded because of their ethnic background. That's not what this country should be about. I'm sure there are plenty of reasonable possibilities. To me this is not one of them.
In the larger view, I think it's a crime to open borders to corporations and investment but not to people. GM can cross the border any time it wants, pollute the air, violate basic laws of human decency by providing low pay and horrid working conditions, and sell cheap goods made by cheap and exploited labor. But the minute a family of four wants to risk their lives to come to America to actually survive and create some semblance of hope in their lives and aren't patient enough to die waiting in line cutting through red tape, they are the criminals.
That, to me, is itself criminal.
]]>I'm wondering, however, just how many legal immigrants don't have drivers licenses and thus wouldn't be carrying them when asked for ID. Further, what's most troubling is the presumption of illegal status unless you can produce one of the four kinds of ID the law calls for.
In Apartheid South Africa, blacks were forced to carry a pass and papers that proved they were where they were supposed to be. They were expected to carry these papers at all times. I'm sure it was argued, "What's the big deal? Just carry your pass and you'll have no trouble." But the pass itself wasn't the problem. It's what the pass represented - an opportunity for authorities to stop and harass you, because of skin color, for no other reason than to ask you for them. And if you didn't have them, they had no qualms about arresting, detaining, and sending you away regardless of legal status. It's a form of racial entrapment that, in AZ's case, is as un-American (in values, not in history) as possible.
]]>Your faith in law enforcement to follow all the rules and not ask for ID unless someone is actually being investigated or arrested is cute.
I guess this ( http://bit.ly/98Zq4S ) could not have happened either because the new law hasn't yet taken effect. The guy who was victimized her MUST have been under arrest or a suspect, as you insist has to be the case for police to ask for ID.
]]>Papers, ID, whatever. My choice of words, not necessarily hers.
]]>Just because a law doesn't go into effect for a period of time doesn't mean that the police won't begin enforcing it as they see fit. Police often act outside the law and have been known from time to time to bother people, particularly minorities, for no reason at all. Further, there have already been incidents reported in the press of authorities enforcing the spirit of this law, before it officially goes into effect. That is consistent with the incident I describe.
That said, it's your right to be skeptical. Indeed, it's your responsibility. And if it turns out to be false in the end, I'll gladly retract it.
]]>I'd also say let's cut the crap and stop attempting to weaponize space, including this bogus missile defense research. Gutting any new nuclear programs would be a great start too. No doubt this is one baby the DoD will hate to give up. Finally, I advocate abolishing the CIA and starting over, not letting the President have his own private army to do with as he wishes. The billions upon billions spent on so-called espionage that actually goes into aggressive actions around the world (the financial numbers on which we can never know because it's all classified and simply rubber stamped) is a waste and contributes to American outlaw behavior worldwide.
To me the bottom line is that all the spending that goes into so-called defense is what is weighing us down the most. We could do without hundreds of bombers, tanks, and new-fangled (sp?) gadgets that only defense contractors and the branches of the military salivate over.
None of this can happen over night but gradually. But to even call for them at all would mean the end of any politician's hope for a new term of office.
I don't have them here with me, but I highly recommend Chalmers Johnson's American Empire series ("Blowback," "The Sorrows of Empire," "Nemesis") as well as James Carroll's "House of War."
Just an overview of my thoughts. I'm working right now, so no time really to go into greater detail!
Thanks!
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