The melting pot works

The single greatest advantage the United States has over China is that high-skilled immigrants would much rather move here.

Imagine if we reformed our immigration system to actually let them... pic.twitter.com/Mr2Xs77POW

— Alec Stapp (@AlecStapp) March 14, 2022

Republican = Traitor

Peace,

emaycee

 

Beware ye of the forked tongue

This, from Linda Upmeyer, the current speaker-elect of the Iowa House of Representatives:

"That's what elections are for, right?  Then, we need to go home and talk to the public and the public can send people to Des Moines that are going to represent their views accurately and consistently."

Fucking seriously?

I'm not sure if you have to admire the chutzpah of republican politicians or pity the ignorance of republican voters, but the idea of republicans representing the views of ordinary Americans accurately is Fantasy Island on steroids.  To wit:

• Americans overwhelmingly support Social Security.  Republicans want to privatize it.  Kowtowing to Wall Street accurately represents our views exactly how?
• American overwhelmingly support Medicate.  Republicans want to turn it into a voucher system.  Drooling over the insurance industry accurately represents us in what alternate universe?
• Americans overwhelmingly support immigration reform.  Republicans have blocked it at every turn.  Cowering to racists accurately represents us because....
• Americans overwhelmingly support stronger background checks on gun purchases.  Republicans won't let it so much as come up for a vote.  Sucking up to the NRA and the gun industry accurately represents us on what other planet?
• Americans overwhelmingly support the right to choose and have come to accept gay marriage.  Republicans are still pissing away tax dollars and valuable time on settled issues.  Grovelling to the religious right accurately represents us in what godforsaken way?

You get the gist.

Frankly, the only views in this country that republicans accurately represent are the moneyed interests and the crazies in their base, which leaves the vast majority of Americans shit out of luck.

But Rep. Upmeyer was right about republicans being consistent--they've been consistently bad for the country for as long as I can remember....

Peace,
emaycee

Bullshit artistes

For all republicans whining about Pope Francis, the only thing that's different about his papacy over that of his predecessors is that Francis has reminded his flock that fighting for the poor, looking after immigrants, taking care of the earth, and abolishing the death penalty have always been and will continue to be every bit as much a part of the church's mission as abortion, gays, and birth control.

And for Catholic politicians such as Chris Christie and Marco Rubio to claim that they can disagree with the Pope on these issues because they are political issues is the height of hypocrisy.  To suddenly decide that your faith is an a la carte of beliefs when it doesn't suit your wealthy donors or your hateful base is a sure sign that your faith is a fraud.

Which really isn't so surprising when you consider that republicans have never had any problem ignoring Christ's admonition that "You cannot serve both God and money."

They've made a movement out of serving money.

Peace,
emaycee

Not gonna do it!

Jeb Bush made quite the show this past Monday in his announcement for the republican nomination for the Presidency in 2016 of his benevolent attitudes toward the American Latino community--he noted that his wife was Mexican, he spoke a few sentences in Spanish, and he had several Latinos speak on his behalf.

The one thing he didn't do, though, was explain exactly how he was going to transfer his goodwill toward said Latino community to his republican partners in the U. S. Congress and actually get some sort of immigration reform passed.  Whether it would be the force of his personality, an appeal to republicans' better selves, or by petitioning God through prayer, he did not say.

And the reason for that is because he cannot do it (though petitioning God may be his best bet).  The republican party keeps falling farther and farther off the deep end, and there is a better chance I'll walk on my hands upon a tightrope across Niagara Falls in 2017 than there is that Jeb Bush will get republican congresspersons to offer aid and comfort to a group of people their party's base hates.

No matter his platitudes, the man behind the curtain is not a wizard.

Peace,
emaycee

Impeach Obama now!

It's been ten days since the republicans big night, and it took, oh, all of about 10 seconds for President Obama to realize that with two years left in his Presidency he has nothing to lose by tacking left and taking them head on.  So we've gotten bold movement from the President on Net Neutrality, a climate deal with China, a pox on Keystone XL, and the President saying he'll take executive action on immigration reform because frankly, he's sick and tired of republicans fiddle-farting around for the past year on immigration.

And it's cause for even the intellectual (so-called) wing of their party to call for President Obama's impeachment for um, I guess, doing his job.

My only thought on this is pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease do.

Because there's nothing American voters like more than wasting American taxpayer dollars impeaching a President over nothing while the country has a host of other problems to tackle.

Just ask the husband of our next President.

Peace,
emaycee

Woe unto the white man

Who knew?  We Democrats are waging a war on whites.

This revelation is courtesy of one Mo Brooks (R-AL--and what a surprise those two designations are) who is convinced that it's a plot of the evil black man in the White House, and that his plan over the course of his two elections has been to divide us.

It worked, too--I'm a white, fifty-five-year-old male and I'm completely divided from the republican party.

This is just another in a long line of temper tantrums from the more facile minded members of the republican party who just cannot see straight because a man of color occupies the Presidency.

Frankly, there has never been a subset of human beings in the history of human civilization that has had an easier berth than white males in America.  And if they're angry because their lives or the country or their dim-witted worldview didn't turn out exactly the way they had imagined, it isn't Obama's fault and it isn't the fault of a group of people from south of our border coming here in search of a better life.

If they want to know what ails them, perhaps they should just look in the mirror.

Peace,
emaycee

Say, which life is it anyway?

"I mean, yes, sometimes Palestinian kids get killed," she continued. "That's because they are associated with a terrorist organization that is harming Israel. And Netanyahu doesn't care what the religious leaders say weeping about Palestinian children. He doesn't care what the U.N. says. He doesn't care what the media says. We are a country. We have borders. And Netanyahu enforces them. Why can't we do that in America?"

That was Ann Coulter earlier this week on "Hannity."  Presumably the pro-life Coulter said this without the slightest bit of self-consciousness vis-a-vis the value of life--i.e., to her in the womb=live, brown skinned=die.

Note that she actually laughed after the remark about Palestinian kids getting killed.

Know why we don't do "that" in America?  Because we aren't pigs.

Pro-life, indeed.

Peace,
emaycee

Dunderheads 'r' us

Tonight House republicans passed an immigration bill that could basically be called the "Let's Deport Everyone Who's Not White Bill."  I may not live long enough (from my keypad to God's eyes!) to see another republican in the White House.

And that's what you get when your party's leadership is Tweedledum, Tweedledumber, and Tweedledumbest.

Peace,
emaycee

The lone ranger

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick this week called on his state to use two abandoned military bases to help house some of the Central American refugees waiting at our borders until their hearings.

There are currently twenty-one Democratic Governors in American, and Patrick is the only one who has stepped up and said that we need to reach out to and take care of these children.

The only one.

It's sad statement for America that we only have one Governor who has the courage to say that sending children back to a death sentence in their home country is not what our country is about.

But it is a ray of hope, even if it's only the tiniest sliver of one.

Goddamnit, Democrats--do the right thing.

Peace,
emaycee

The hammer of justice

It doesn't surprise me that conservatives would turn to ugliness and false witness when it comes to the immigrant children from Central America arriving at the borders of the land of the free and the home of the brave.  Despite their disingenuous "Moi?" protests, it's their M.O.--if you aren't a white Christian, they aren't interested.

It does surprise (and disconcert) me, however, that Democrats are not pushing back on the hate and championing these children as political refugees--it's not only the right move morally, it's also the right move politically.  From President Obama to Harry Reid to Nancy Pelosi and on down the Democratic food chain, there is not one Democrat who should not be celebrating their supporters.   There is not one who should not be speaking out for them like Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley did this week--and without the bogus blowback because his reminder that we are America and we do not abandon helpless children made the Obama administration look bad with its continued calls for deportation that will send them back to the earth equivalent of hell.

My God, they're children from violence ravaged nations.  Let's turn them into productive American citizens--in time, they'll be a whole hell of a lot more worthwhile to America than any republican.

Peace,
emaycee

Please please me

As I was driving to work yesterday, I drove past Loserville, Population 2--a.k.a., a booth with a couple of doofuses calling for the impeachment of President Obama, replete with big ass pictures of the President with a Hitler mustache.

Yikes.

This seems to be a republican theme of late, with the Queen of Dunceville, Sarah Palin, calling for Obama's impeachment over his immigration policies and proving she knows two words of Spanish ("no" and "mas").  Her would be protege, pretender and republican candidate for Senator from Iowa, Joni Ernst, was also caught this week calling for Obama's impeachment earlier this year.

This is one republican initiative that I could not agree with more.  Please, please, please do.  Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!

If they do--guaranteed--we take the House back in 2016, win enough Senate seats to comfortably pass the sixty vote threshhold, and Hillary Clinton wins the Electoral College in the biggest rout since Reagan annhilated Mondale.

The republican party--the gift that keeps on giving.

Peace,
emaycee

Do the right thing

Seems the Democrats are having internal discussions (nothing overly serious) about how it will play politically the bolder President Obama goes on unilateral action (read:  republicans are fucking worthless) to lessen the rate of deportations.

I understand that we live in very political times, but when I read this I wondered (and I'm not an historian) how much Democrats thought about politics when FDR pushed through Social Security or the WPA, or how much they did when LBJ pushed through Medicare and the Civil Rights Act.

You know what I hope?  That the President just does the right thing.  If we look out for the least among us and get our asses kicked this November, we'll still be able to say we made America a better place and that's something republicans will be hard pressed to ever claim.

Peace,
emaycee

A not so thin line between love and hate

Seems the leaders of Murrieta, CA are flummoxed because people across America think the good folks of their town aren't compassionate because they a) spit at, b) screamed at until they were red in the face, and c) intimidated so much that their buses fled, a bevy of women and children from nations in Central America trying to escape violence and suppression in their native lands, and find safety and a better life here in America.

Who could have ever fucking guessed?

You know what's left unsaid?  This isn't just the people of Murrieta--it's the modern incarnation of the republican party.  It's reached a point where it's become the party of inclusion (us, Democrats, Liberals, Progessives, the good guys) versus the party of hate.

For the sake of all the ideals American stands for (those realized and those yet to be), this is not a battle we can afford to lose.

Peace,
emaycee

U.S.A.! U...s...a...?

On a day when many proud Americans--myself included--screamed "U.S.A.! U.S.A.!" in cheering on our national soccer team's efforts in the World Cup, a group of gutless low-life scum screamed the same at buses full of women in  and children in Murrieta, CA trying to immigrate to America to escape the violence of their native countries in Central America.  Though small in number, their efforts managed to get the buses to leave and head for another safe haven.  No doubt those lily-livered folks considered themselves Patriots who had protected our American values.

Since fucking when did hatred and intimidating already scarred women and children become American values?  How many of these anti-immigrant protesters have the slightest clue what it says on perhaps America's most admired monument, the Statue of Liberty?

"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."

Some golden door they have there in Murrieta, CA.  Methinks shouting "U.S.A.!" in the name of hate toward terrified women and children is enough to make a maggot puke.

Peace,
emaycee

The Koch side of life

Last weekend the Koch Brothers held a summit in California, attended by, among others, three hundred billionaires, and a modicum of the usual fellators of the wealthy (republicans), namely Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio, and two men who would join them in the Senate, Tom Cotton (AR) and Cory Gardner (CO).

The summit was entitled "American Courage:  Our Commitment to a Free Society."

Ahem.

If you take the time to read the short piece, it almost comes across like the kind of scene you'd see in an extremely satirical political movie.  My guess is the summit won't be coming to a theater near you anytime soon, as it mostly included seminars on issues contrary to the views of a vast majority of Americans:  money as free speech, anti-immigration reform, pro-oil spin, etc.  Perhaps the most terrifying was "Employee Outreach:  Engaging Your Workforce in the Cause of Freedom," which is basically conservative doublespeak for "Forcing Your Employees to Carry Out Your Political Agenda With the Threat of Starving Their Children."

Labor Unions, indeed.

Frankly, the only "Free Society" the Koch Brothers and their ilk are interested in is one where billionaires get everything for free while the rest of us pay for it.

Fuck that.

Peace,
emaycee

Much nothing about adieu

While I'll freely admit that Eric Cantor's loss tonight to David Brat  in his primary in Virginia-07 (largely due to Brat's strict adherence to the Tea Party's edict on hating on the immigrants) is a stunning upset, in the end it isn't going to mean much.  The Democrats are not going to win this solidly republican district, the Tea Party's influence will still remain on the wane, and Immigration Reform is still going absolutely nowhere.

Basically all it means is that the House of Representatives will trade one far right wing nutjob who doesn't give a shit about average Americans for a slightly more right wing nutjob who doesn't give a shit about average Americans.

That and the fact that republicans are really good at voting for the haters.

Peace,
emaycee

In America

Several years ago, I had the pleasure of watching a quaint little film called In America.  Directed by Jim Sheridan, the film tells the story of the travails of an Irish family upon their immigration to America.  Much like having a child can remind a parent over and over of the wonders of this world, seeing America through the eyes of Sheridan's immigrant family reminded me of the wonder that is America.

I thought of that film today while at work.  As I've noted before, I manage a thrift store for a non-profit, and we cater to many different immigrants--Eastern Europe, the Middle East, south of our border.  This can be both fun (I wished a young Latina woman a nice day a few days ago and she smiled brightly and said "Me, too!") and a pain in the neck (many of the immigrants who shop our store come from countries where buying goods isn't like it is here--walk in Wal-Mart or Target, if it says $2.99 for toilet paper, that's what you pay--and want to bargain for everything like we're on the set of Let's Make a Deal).  Tonight a young immigrant woman (although I don't know for sure, I'd guess she was from Eastern Europe) was shopping our store and found an entertainment center she wanted for $25.  The stand was huge--probably 7' x 7' and weighing a couple hundred pounds.  Unfortunately, she had no vehicle large enough to get it to her home, but after a lot of broken English and hand gestures, I agreed to let her borrow our four wheel cart so she could wheel it down the street to her home.  Her father left to get her boys (ten or eleven) and I helped them get the center on our cart and out the door, and then watched as she held on as if it were a Faberge egg as she and her sons wheeled it down the streets of Utica, Michigan to their home.

Now I ask you:  what's the truer picture of the glory that is America--this immigrant woman and her boys full of moxie pushing their two hundred pound entertainment center through the streets of her adopted hometown, or some old white republican pissing and moaning about how horrible immigrants and immigration reform are?

Peace,
emaycee

Nebraska? Fucking really?

Seems the fine people of Fremont Nebraska (population 21,000 and some change) have voted a second time on an ordinance which will make it unlawful to harbor (hire, rent to) undocumented immigrants--thus giving them a big Cornhusker middle finger.

With a population just a little over 1.85 million, located in the middle of nowhere U.S.A.. famed for corn and miserable winters and not much else, you'd think a state like Nebraska would be doing its damndest to get hard working folks of any stripe into their state.  I mean Nebraska is one of those states where the best and brightest haul ass the minute the graduation ceremony is over (there's a reason Wall Street and Silicon Valley are not located in Nebraska).  And Fremont wants to boot people looking for a better life out of their city?

It's akin to Hell kicking out the volunteers.

Peace,
emaycee