Why aren't the teabaggers, so suspicious of government intrusion, outraged? Could it be that they have no actual principles?
Hey, it's not a big deal for actual illegals, I guess. Illegal is illegal. But here's the thing, as I understand it: police are charged with stopping anyone about whom there might be a "reasonable" suspicion of their illegality. Based on shoes, evidently. Thus identified, and absent "papers," they can be taken to jail and, if found later to be on the up and up, the gathered up are still responsible for legal costs. So it's not about illegals after all. It's about legals. And citizens. And everyone with dark dermis and felonious footwear. You damn better have your papers.
So what would you carry? Passport? Birth certificate? Everywhere? Would you? I wouldn't, and I'd be pissed if I thought I had to. So, you'd think, would the bag-dippers. Who's next, they like to ask. Okay, yeah: they're about concentration camps and stealing your kids and other made-up stuff, and this is real; but it shouldn't be that much of a leap... This is police state stuff, isn't it? The very thing over which they get out their crayons. I'm fine with controlling illegal immigration. But is this the way? Every time we get scared, must we give up more rights? And the thing is, most actual citizens would have a much harder time with "proof" than immigrants -- legals of whom will have papers, and illegals of whom might well have printed some nice ones up. So, who gets screwed?
Of course there are solutions. All we need to do is re-legalize implanting chips, and we're cool.
[Having written the above, I read an opinion piece in the NYT that takes significant exception to much of the popular characterization of the law. Maybe it's just a no-nonsense piece of smart legislation. On the other hand, Arizona is not exactly known for its sanity; and even a Bush is unhappy with the law. In Forbes Magazine, hardly a liberal bastion, this article asks the same question I did above: where's the conservative outrage? Especially since the law makes Arizona like France.]
You usin that T-Word again...(Sigh)...ohwell, can't get my Dad to stop usin the N-word...gets a little ummm.. Un-Com-fort-able when he lets one slip at the DMV, oh well, he didn't need to be drivin anyway...
ReplyDeleteand I dont know, I've carried ID since I was in Kindergarten,
OK, it was a REAL kindergarten, in Germany, I just thought havin a number on my arm was sorta cool...
and I'm conflicted, cause I don't wanta screw the Legal Immigrants, you know, the guy who does my taxes, teaches my daughter to fly, tutors my other daughter in Chemistry(He's a busy Guy) but I also need my Shrubs Shrubbed, Bushes Bushed, Pool Pooled, Balls Polished (BOWLING BALLS), and once youve had your car detailed by someone from South of the Border you'll never settle for a dirty Squegee guy again...
and you're so full of Crap, I'm sure you don't go anywhere without that AARP card...
ZING!!!!!!!!!!
Frank, "Darf ich ihren Pass sehen?" Drackman
Ah, the NYT article that says there are already an excess of Federal immigration laws, but that the Arizona law is a good one despite being mostly redundant?
ReplyDeleteHerr Drackman, Mein Reisepass ist im Badezimmer.
ReplyDeleteDrekman... (Poos Be Upon You)and then there is that 29 billion dollar agriculture business to be serviced.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you TeaBaggers ("Papers Citizen")can set a patriotic example, by volunteering to pick and process the crops.
I can see it now, red necked, white Zonies, blue with fatigue, singing patriotic songs as they toil in the 110 degree+ fields of the Zone (The western annex of Hell - TexAss - being the eastern one).
Yes... We shall all witness large, stately, V formations of pigs flying south, in annual migration, before that happens.
Much more likely, we shall see the Zonies hopping painfully about on one foot, the other having a large bullet hole in it.
Schadenfreude is so sweet!
EugeneInSanDiego
Oh, I forgot:
ReplyDelete"Arebiet Mach Frei"
EugeneInSanDiego
OK- I'm posting this sheepishly. My last remarks to Mr. Franky were not appropriate, especially considering the totally inappropriate diss to the LBG community, and to you Frank, as I don’t know you either. For that I apologize. And I digressed twice (thanks Sid for your censorship).
ReplyDeleteHowever, does not the real responsibility for our Washington DC political follies and embarrassing politicians lie in the hands of the voter? Don't those who hire the illegal immigrants carry the real responsibility for the immigration problems? Or, if in the finger pointing mood, is it a conglomeration of fault? And Sid, getting back to Donna, isn't it a bit hypocritical to have a pen persona- "overthetopper" as it were, that differs from your "everyday" self? It seems as if your writing is as passionate about politics as it is about surgery, and you're not writing fiction. I'm trying to understand, as I feel I should live what I write- unless it’s fiction.
Cory: fair question. First, though, if by "censorship" you had a comment that I didn't post, it was unintentional. As far as I know I didn't delete anything from you. If I did, it was in error.
ReplyDeleteAs to your question. I should give it the thought it deserves; but I wasn't implying that my beliefs -- or, in a large sense, my behavior -- are different in what I write and how I live. Few people speak exactly as they write. In blogging, I can be more harsh than I'd be face to face, I guess. WIth people I don't know well, I'm circumspect until I've felt out the situation. I can rant and rave to friends and family with the best of them, and I do, in much the same way I do here.
In my Donna post I was attempting to address the fact that the censors, which are at play in some social situations don't always come into play when blogging. I do, however, as I said, temper my remarks when I think of particular readers. Sometimes.
I'm not sure that's a big conflict or some form of hypocrisy. I'm never (I hope) rude to people in person, unless I encounter rudeness. I argue as respectfully as do others in my company; which means it runs the gamut.
In blogging, the "rules" are different, because, in a sense, I'm just writing what I think, without a need to self-censor. It is what it is. Why I feel the need to blog at all, I'm not sure. Surgeonsblog was very different, and, I'm pretty sure, did a service for many people, and still does. This one is more for my mental health. It's like going into the street and screaming, pulling my hair, beating my head on a light pole, because our politics drives me crazy. If people overhear, well, so it is. If they want to engage, it's all fair. Either way, it helps me to cope.
As to your comment that voters are responsible for the idiots in Congress, you're absolutely right, and I've said so here. What bothers me so deeply is that voters are so easily influenced by people of ill intent. The usual suspects. It's dispiriting. Which is the whole point.
Sid: A fair answer and good discussion. I do have a better understanding of your position regarding Donna- and also I found a need to reconsider my use of the term “hypocrisy”. While I’m far from being a writer, or blogger, there are “rules” of the road that I should be more attentive of, albeit a fine line to walk, and especially if I intend to participate. I believe I did read somewhere about your meeting with politicians? If this is true- perhaps you not only talk the talk, you do a little walking as well. Good on you. And Thanks.
ReplyDeleteYou might find it interesting that I found this blog from a search I did on my particular medical condition- yes, your other blog is useful! And in my case, this particular blog has been an affirmation of my disgust, apprehension, fear, and bewilderment of the willfully ignorant and a manipulative Fox agenda. Sometimes and unfortunately, depending on where one might live (or blog), it might be hard to find like minded people. I’ve watched Beck and the rest of the RWS (can I use your trademarked term?), and I literally fear walking out my front door- my neighbors love Fox, the RWS, and defending their own willful ignorance! Frankly, I fear the Franks of this blog and of this world... and this is where my own hypocrisy knows no end… I don’t bang on the trash cans nearly enough. Hey Frank, I'm a flight instructor, I'll offer my services for free if your daughter really wants to learn how to fly.
Cory: It's probably true that if my posts here were less over the top I might attract a different sort of commenter, and we might have more enlightening discussions. It does happen in comment threads, once in a while. I should think of my posts as an opening gambit, maybe.
ReplyDeleteBut most of the time (I think I have published the occasional thoughtful post -- actually I think they're all thoughtful and factual: just a little hyperbolic) I'm reacting to the latest outrage, and it seems that outrage is the most legitimate response.
On the other hand, it doesn't make any difference one way or the other. We've moved so far beyond respectful and factual disagreement in our politics that it's hard to imagine ever getting back to the time (and there WAS a time!) when opposing parties worked with each other and each had at least a few members in Congress who sought the higher and the common good.
If there any in the Republican party in Congress at the moment, they're very well hidden, and sadly cowed by their leadership and by the noise raised by those who buy the crap the RWS™ (feel free) are constantly selling.