Tag Archives: immigration

Political Rants

What talks.

I’m going to light on a couple of issues this week. One is a certain loudmouth real estate developer / reality television start that has been in the news a lot lately. The other is a bunch of poorly acted television ads that had me scratching my head over the last week.

Channeling the G.O.P.'s inner Milosevic.First, Trump. As someone who was once a contract employee of this individual (yes, he can say that I too took money from him at some point), I know this guy is more than just a cartoon show for our amusement. What he says and does can have real consequences for people who don’t ride in limos and private jets. So when he talks about forcing 11 million people to leave the country, understand that he is articulating a point of view that is held by a very vocal, substantial minority of Americans. There’s nothing ‘silent’ about this ‘majority’. They want ethnic cleansing.

Consider it for a moment. What would removing 11 million undocumented immigrants look like? It would involve massive police action, broad sweeps of poor neighborhoods, and mass incarceration. Trump would also have them bring along their American-born children, whose citizenship he also questions (claiming that some legal experts he plays golf with say the the 14th Amendment does not apply to American-born children of undocumented immigrant parents.) This effort would put Avigdor Lieberman to shame.

The man talks a blue streak, jumps from topic to topic, but always gets his pander-points out – and believe me, folks … he’s pandering hard. And the further he goes out on that political limb, the further his fellow presidential contenders will follow.

Fix this … fix. Have you seen those terribly acted ads about the nasty government trying to get between you and your retirement adviser? I got curious and stumbled upon a posting that linked to a Wall Street Journal article about the industry coalition behind them. Big surprise: financial advisers are not crazy about being forced by the administration to take fiduciary responsibility for the advice they give their clients. I’d heard about the regulation a few weeks ago, but didn’t connect it to these ads until now. Slimy mothers.

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

Lucy ball.

The president has announced that he’s taking executive action applying prosecutorial discretion to stop mass deportation of undocumented aliens in certain categories. This is the type of action he originally promised to take over the summer, then backed off by request of embattled red-state democrats, like Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor and others. (How did that work out?) Now that the disastrous election of 2014 is over, he is proceeding with the plan in the face of very vocal condemnation by Republicans in Congress and in statehouses across the nation. That, I confess, is an understatement. They, once again, have their hair on fire about this deal.

Meet president Eisenhower.Trouble is, Republicans ALWAYS have their hair on fire. It kind of devalues burning hair. All of this gas about how the president is going to poison the well by acting in this fashion; that Congress is ready to work with the president, but that this will screw it up. Hoo boy. If the president were to take them at their word on this at this point, I would worry for his sanity. They have been like Lucy and the football more times than I can count. Honestly, I don’t know why Republicans don’t like this guy. He’s basically Eisenhower with rhetorical skills. His immigration announcement was full of a lot of “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” clap trap. He’s deported more immigrants than any previous president. Sounds like their type.

Obama led with enforcement, as is the standard practice. The border is mined, folks! He ended with soaring rhetoric about what it means to be an American. In between was a promise not to deport the foreign-born parents of American citizens, as well as other undocumented immigrants who have been here five years or more. Now, why did he not do this before the election? Pryor would have lost anyway … and frankly, was he worth saving? It’s a bit like asking if “saving” Mary Landrieu is worth wrecking the planet with tar sands oil via the Keystone XL pipeline – basically the fuse leading to the climate bomb.

Either way, the Republicans threats against the president have been treated with the contempt they deserve. So one small point for Obama. What’s next, Lucy? The ball’s in your hands.

luv,

jp

Political Rants

One or two things.

Same story. Beat to hell. Oh well….

Pulling a Boehner. Minority leader John Boehner appears to think that the Democratic congress is on the verge of a total government takeover of the private sector, including (gulp) tanning salons, presumably. A little over the top, perhaps? (Even for him?) HELL NO, IT’S NOT!

The triumph of Joe Arpaio. So now if you’re driving while dark in Arizona (or wearing the wrong limos), expect to be carded in a very serious way. Like… show me your birth certificate. (Note to Obama – don’t go there. Something tells me they won’t accept yours as valid.)

Drill, baby, w.t.f. That oil rig explosion in the Gulf last week underlines the hazards of off shore drilling. We should expect a lot more of this sort of thing, now that Obama has signed off on increased drilling. Or… we could push back and remind him that it’s a stupid idea. Never sure what the point is, exactly. There isn’t a real lot of oil in these patches, and what’s there is hard to recover. And in any case, are we going to get if for free or something? No… it’s going to be poured into the world oil market and we’ll have to buy it, just like the stuff from Saudi Arabia or Venezuela. We need to start using less, opting for alternatives, etc.

That’s all I’ve got. Time’s up. More later, friends.

luv u,

jp