Figuring out that waving American flags is politically more advantageous than draping yourself in red, white, and green
Mary and Rebekah make good observations:
That photo was on the frontpage of the online LA Times. I heard on the radio, also, that somewhere in Texas, protestors were now overwhelmingly displaying American flags. Seems they are realizing that politically, it is disadvantageous for them to wave around Mexican flags in an attempt to win over the hearts and minds of American citizens, loyal to this country.
Check out this poll in today's LA Times.:
Notice that the poll question is flawed, in that it asks voters "is immigration good for the U.S.?" It should read, "is illegal immigration good for the U.S.?" Still, as of tonight when I viewed and voted, Americans voted yes-39%, maybe- 7.8%, and no- 53.2%! That's encouraging.
Throughout their entire photo gallery, the LA Times consistently refers to this as an issue of immigration, rather than correctly characterizing it as one of illegal immigration.
I'm not one of the hardliners on this, that says "ship 'em all out". There are many illegals who have rooted themselves here, for a period of years and decades, with complex ties and relationships including having children who are natural born citizens (why can't we amend the Constitution on this?). I am not a supporter of any illegals in our country; but I do think the manner in which we deal with this, along with our frustration and anger, has to be tempered with compassion. We have ourselves to blame for the mess we find our country in and we need to take part of the responsibility for it.
I do think we need to build a wall and take control of our borders; and severely punish those who hire illegals, whether by fine or jail-time. We don't have the logistical means to kick out 11 million illegals; but if we remove the incentive to come here, which is largely to find work, then much of that 11 million should probably remove themselves by their own accord and free will.
I think control of our borders is the first order of business.
My thanks to Curt for the poll screen capture.
That photo was on the frontpage of the online LA Times. I heard on the radio, also, that somewhere in Texas, protestors were now overwhelmingly displaying American flags. Seems they are realizing that politically, it is disadvantageous for them to wave around Mexican flags in an attempt to win over the hearts and minds of American citizens, loyal to this country.
Check out this poll in today's LA Times.:
Notice that the poll question is flawed, in that it asks voters "is immigration good for the U.S.?" It should read, "is illegal immigration good for the U.S.?" Still, as of tonight when I viewed and voted, Americans voted yes-39%, maybe- 7.8%, and no- 53.2%! That's encouraging.
Throughout their entire photo gallery, the LA Times consistently refers to this as an issue of immigration, rather than correctly characterizing it as one of illegal immigration.
I'm not one of the hardliners on this, that says "ship 'em all out". There are many illegals who have rooted themselves here, for a period of years and decades, with complex ties and relationships including having children who are natural born citizens (why can't we amend the Constitution on this?). I am not a supporter of any illegals in our country; but I do think the manner in which we deal with this, along with our frustration and anger, has to be tempered with compassion. We have ourselves to blame for the mess we find our country in and we need to take part of the responsibility for it.
I do think we need to build a wall and take control of our borders; and severely punish those who hire illegals, whether by fine or jail-time. We don't have the logistical means to kick out 11 million illegals; but if we remove the incentive to come here, which is largely to find work, then much of that 11 million should probably remove themselves by their own accord and free will.
I think control of our borders is the first order of business.
My thanks to Curt for the poll screen capture.
Labels: Illegal Immigration, Los Angeles Times
posted by The WordSmith from Nantucket at 4/10/2006 08:10:00 PM
6 Comments:
Absolutely right on the mark!
If they had any "smarts" in the first place they would have known that placing the Mexican Flag above the American Flag was a truly moronic thing to do. But they didn't figure it out themselves... they had "advisors."
It would be interesting to see millions of Americans trek down to Mexico demanding "equal rights" and waving the American Flag above the Mexican Flag. Or just "marching down there, period" without any flags. We'd be lucky to be put in jail. They would mow us down with machine guns as though they were hunting quail.
I definitely feel that we should focus and make sealing our borders top priority. A FENCE in my opinion! Then getting all the departments in order for screening, documenting, etc. Then dealing with all these ILLEGALS. Why have laws if it is okay to break them? These employers need to be held accountable too...if they can't pay employees what they should, they do not need to be in business.
I'm sick of hearing they are here to work....THERE ARE criminals coming across that border every hour...TERRORISTS, GANGS, DRUG DEALERS, Human Trafficking, Killers, Rapists..etc. Forged documents...How the heck is Congress going to know they have been here 2 or 10 yrs? I could go off on this forever...from every angle. It is NOT FAIR to the ones that have went the legal way...any way you look at it...I don't feel they deserve amnesty...citizenship..That plan of a fine...is laughable.
I actually feel that the majority of these illegals are just normal folk with family who love being here and want to be a part of this country. They're just fighting for their survival. I sympathize with those folk; but they should never have been allowed in like this in the first place.
I've heard some of the lamest reasoning and arguments in this coming from protestors who are given mic time by reporters.
I agree with you. I am not "anti-immigrant." I am anti illegal immigration. I noticed that little phrase-change in the media, too.
I think a fence is essential before anything, because any action against illegals will be just a drop in the bucket if we can't stop them in the first place.
Awesome post!! I wholeheartedly agree with everything you've said here. I'm getting ready to do a post on this as well and these are my exact sentiments. I think we have to have much better border security but I am not without compassion for those with families already here.
The problem w/ these protestors now carrying American flags is the groups behind these protests gave them to them and took away their Mexican flags. It was a staged and planned thing which makes me a little leary about how genuine it is.
I get so irritated with people who refer to the issue and those opposing illegals as being "anti-immigration". It really has nothing to do with immigration and everything to do with people breaking the law.
Like you, Word, we have to do something with whose who have been here for years, but we also need to close the borders.
Unfortunately, Gayle, if we marched into Mexico, we'd be shot by the Federales...or hauled off to some unknown location and thrown into a deep dark Mexican jail!
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