THE STORY OF THREE WALLS!
Modern human history has witnessed the stories of two walls and a third in the making. During the Cold War between Communism and Capitalism, the communists erected the infamous Berlin Wall. When the wall was brought down in 1989, the event was hailed as a victory of good over evil. And the then teflon President Ronald Reagan, made big noise about it, claiming personal achievement in bringing that evil wall down.

The second wall story comes from evil and trouble-maker Israel, where the consruction of its “apartheid wall” was started in 2002; of which 470 miles have been completed, and the work continues despite international condemnation and the World Court declaring it illegal. In all this, the U.S. has been silent, while continuing to provide Israel with unspecified billions of dollars and equipment.

At best, one can describe these two historical walls as simple solutions to divide people, where diplomacy and wisdom failed to prevail. At worst, these can be described as evil militaristic schemes to solve political issues. In any case, they can be fairly described as “apartheid walls” that attempt to curtail free human movement, and thus go contrary to the concept of civility and the progress of human civilization.
Now, in regard to issue of the Mexican immigration to the north, one troubling sign is Bush’s proposal to send national guards to control the border. Despite Cooper’s attempt at showing the ineffectivness of this policy, what is worrisome for liberal humanists like myself, is the sad fact of the militarization of the border.

And here where the story of the third evil wall of modern human history starts. It is no secret that one of the proposals on the table is to errect a 700 miles of walling across the Mexican border. I read, at least, one major article, where the underlying theme talks about “West Bank Fence Provides Example for U.S.”

The unholy alliance between Israel and the political-military establishment of the U.S. is a very sad and evil story of Biblical proportions. For many years since its illegitimate establishment on Palestinian occupied lands, Israel was helped in its aggression and brutal occupation by untold billions of dollars from American taxpayers, and unlimited supply of weapons of mass destruction. Now, when American incompetent politicians fail to solve their problems through diplomacy, communication and wisdom, they resort to copying the uncivilized apartheid methods of constucting walls. Even in the so-called medieval times, we have not heard about such large scale walls. America and Israel are two countries that are constantly going backward in the progression of civilization. No wonder they are both hated by the majority of the world! They are both the most arrogant political establishments modern history has seen. But the good news for those who don’t like what they see is that “arrogance comes always before the fall.”

Myth #1
“guest” workers:
let’s dispose of the euphemisms,“disposeable” workers. as soon as the last crops are picked or garment consignments filled they’re unceremoniously sent packing, migrating to population centers ie. LA, SD, SF etc. - anyplace but central america where it would take them a year to earn what they just earned in several weeks.

they will, sooner or later, need health care, education for thier children etc. - all of these costs to be subsidized, not by thier “host” expoiter/employers but by taxpayers (AKA “private sector profit/public sector costs” - that peculiar version of socialism embraced by the Chamber of Commerce)

Myth #2
The US economy needs one and a half million new guest workers per year and they are “easily absorbed”, good for the economy.

US employers unwilling to pay living wages and offer benefits to thier employees are, indeed, desperate for “guest workers” so long as the Marxists at the Chamber of Commerce have thier way.
“easily absorbed”?
Until you do the most rudimentary cost-benefit analysis. When two “guest workers” meet, fall in love, show up at the local urban healthcare center with a diagnosis “rule out pregnancy”, average DRG of labor and delivery - $6500 (barring complications), that baby will need public education in a few years (per student cost of $7200/year). Are the “guest workers” generating $24,000 worth of taxable income per year needed to support just these two basic costs? Oops, send in the socialists!

Myth #3
Anti-immigrants are racists, ignorant of the proud, pro-immigrant history of the US! (repeat myth #3 aloud adding fyfe-and-drum background music)

The cotton farmers (and later, coal-mining owners and industrialists) didn’t care less where the 80 hour/week wage-slaves came from and i suspect that most of the working class of this country that are intuitively suspicious of the “virtual exodus” of latin-american immigrants to the US also couldn’t care less about thier point of origin (mainstream media and the Rusk Limbaughs tiptoe around the racial implications - pundits from the left bludgeon us with it daily).

Myth # 2,136 (I skipped a few myths for brevity)
The blossoming pro-immigrant movement will loom ever more crucial in deciding which party blah, blah blah…

This immigration business is the biggest non-issue in decades. The Kennedy-McCain “sensible” alternative will prevail to much mainstream media fanfare, the flow of so-called “guest workers” will proceed uninhibited, provisions of the unenforceable “sensible” alternative will be, well, un-enforced.

The captains of industry and the closet-socialists at the Chamber of Commerce will continue to enjoy a cheap supply of easily exploited “guests”, paying only half the tab for thier services.

As for the rest of us, we’ll pick up the other half of the tab as we watch the steady decline in quality of life currently being experienced in southern california (over-crowded schools and highways, strained health and human service systems, sky-rocketing housing costs, overwhelmed public safety services etc. - all, at the very least, greatly exacerbated by the influx of tens of millions of “guests” in the context of a total absence of any rational attempts at urban planning)spread insidiously throughout the nation . Which brings us to myth #4

Myth #4
The minutemen are well deployed along our border.

Wrong! We need to re-deploy the Minutemen to the corridors of power in Sacramento and along the Beltway in DC with orders to apprehend all men in suits who would, without compunction, devise, implement and support policies that would render the US a third-world economy.

I cannot understand why there is so much discussion on immigration.

The question is why do Latinos want to enter the U.S.? Presumably to get jobs right?

So if they could not get jobs in the U.S.would they still migrate? I think not! right?

I hate to quote “The bleeding obvious” but it stands out like the proverbial dogs balls to my simple mind, No jobs! would mean no migrants! or am I missing something?

Dubya, Condi et al presume to know how to implement the rule of law in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria North Korea in particular and in the rest of the world in general, but their administration seems to not have the wit or the wisdom to be able to institute the rule of law with law inforcement and fraud free employment documents at home.

If Employers are part of the problem by exploiting immigrants illegally to undermine the wages and conditons of American workers, why could they not be threatened with “Regime Change” ?

Would not these two simple measures stop the flow of illegal migrants accross the southern U.S. land border but also from air and sea ports from where 40% of the illegals enter the U.S.?

The U.S authorities appear to be able to print reasonably secure dollar notes so why not print secure employment documents.

The U.S. through the C.I.A. also seems to be quite adept at kidnapping people from all over the world to send them to various countries more skilled in interrogation methods than those in Abu Graib. Why not do the same with Employers, (not able to outsource,) who are exploiting illegal migrants in order to undermine the wages and conditions of American workers. After all the entire American dream is under threat here!

The P.R.A. using their wire tapping skills could be utilized for the purpose of detecting these miscreant employers, why not? They could then be held without trial incommunicado and indefinitely in Guantanamo Bay.

My solution would be cost effective and would relieve the administration of much time and effort enabling them to concentrate more productively in spending middle class taxes on more vital matters such as expanding the number of U.S. bases around the world from the miserly 120 at present and bomb more countries than the 40 they have bombed since the end of world war two.

The above policy would be a “Slam Dunk” with the prayers of the millions of “Fundamentalist Christians” the United States, if they were led of course by the intrepid “Born Again” Christian leader George Bush.

Regards

JOHN ADAM

What I havent heard any one wonder is that if the Illegal aliens stay and work will they earn the minimum wage?  Or will the buisnesses that created this whole problem continue to get rich off of hiring illegal workers getting payed illegal wages while funneling money into an illegal administration that complains about a lack of control over the migration of mexicans.

This is another political waste of resources.  The guard does not even equate to a token presence.

Impeach the %&* NOW.

Subject: What Did Bush Mean by “Beyond the Protection of America’s Laws?”

Last night in his address Bush stated that illegal aliens “are a part of American life, but they are beyond the reach and protection of American law.”

I find this statement to be disturbing. The first clause is merely irrelevant: essentially everyone is “beyond the reach” of our laws until they are not; any fugitive remains a fugitive until apprehended. It’s the part about being “beyond the protection” of our legal system that strikes me as ominous for a number of reasons.

Firstly: it is untrue. Constitutional law explicitly extends the Bill of Rights to all “persons”, not just citizens, on American soil. Now some could argue that the president was merely identifying the fact that the cryptic lives led out of necessity by illegal aliens facilitate their abuse and exploitation, and this position would have some merit. But I assert that the content and context of the president’s address represent not only an acknowledgment but a subtle endorsement of this situation.

This speech was nothing but a promise to the Republican party’s ultimate right-wing base - made essentially inevitable by his plummeting poll numbers across other demographic sectors - that the president shares their concerns. The introduction to the address describes illegal aliens that “sneak across our borders”, “live in the shadows”, and “bring crime to our communities”. Furthermore, he also within the first few minutes explicitly identifies and exonerates the employers of undocumented workers as victims of these lurking conspirators:

“Many use forged documents to get jobs, and that makes it difficult for employers to verify that the workers they hire are legal.”

The entire effect is to underwrite the xenophobic scape-goating of illegal immigrants that has long been a durable touchstone of the right wing.

In this demagogic context the president’s statement that illegal immigrants are “beyond the protection of our laws” takes on a chilling aspect. Is this a wink-and-nod to the bands of agitated “minutemen” that the gloves can finally come off? Is he telling employers that they can from here on out take a more sanguine approach to the management of this vulnerable labor pool than the government has previously allowed? Well, I don’t know; but I’m watching the administration and their media organs for this particular phrase to show up as an echoed talking point.

Ken Duerksen

Oxford, Ohio

Your description of Lou Dobbs disturbs me. I think he is very honest. I live in Fresno,Ca. I see what goes on. Lou Dobbs knows what he is talking about. We live with this problem everyday. He speaks for us. This isn’t to say that illegal immigrants are horrible people. This is not true. I can not understand why our politicians don’t strive harder to help the mexican people demand that their own goverment take care of it’s own people. If they can take to the streets here, what is stopping them from doing the same thing in their homeland? where it would benifit them. Securing our borders and going after employers here, would also solve some problems.

Whatever legislation comes out of congress will be aimed at guaranteeing industrialists a plentiful supply of cheap and docile workers.  This is necessary, of course, to accelerate the race to the bottom which features two tracks now, out-sourcing and immigrants, and also goes by the name of union-bashing.  And so far it’s been a sure success for them as a diversionary tactic.  Also what good timing on the part of the powers that be, what with this quagmire in Iraq, New Orleans having washed away, pensions rapidly disappearing, forty plus million Americans without health insurance and so and so forth.  Yet, despite such populist issues, up pops immigration and, in a knee-jerk response,  what comes out of many progressives is “Deport them, they broke the law, they should wait their turn, etc etc”; and, suddenly, the Iraq war is on the back-burner, in a re-run of the Asian-bashing of the l9th century and a lot that helped American workers.  Why is it so difficult for so many otherwise progressive folks to realize that this anti-immigrant fervor is nothing but divide and conquer with the a racist twist?  Yes, it’s easier, once and awhile, to be a “winner”, but must it be alongside the Minutemen and the KKK?  Shouldn’t a genuine warm-blooded progressive have second thoughts about collaberating with such hateful and scary and groups?  What is there about this immigration issue that causes some of us to be diverted from attacking the root causes of oppression and, instead, to go for one of the symptoms.  And make no mistake, “illegal immigration” is a symptom.  Of what?  (The question shouldn’t have to be raised, even) Of capitalism, what else!  Let’s see now, there’s NAFTA, CAFTA, WTO and what these have done to our Spanish speaking neighbors south of the border, which is to blow them off of their farms because south of the border farmers can’t compete with our government-subsidized corporate produce (especially but not limited to corn)that’s now flooding Mexico; and, rather than allow their families to starve, has forced the displaced farm-workers to immigrate to El Norte by whatever means are available. 
Still some anit-immigrant progressives will insist that it doesn’t matter what drove them across the border,
“They should have waited their turn like everybody else” (like the Pilgrims, perhaps?)and, besides, they broke the law.  Broke the law?  What a crock, that is.  Who hasn’t broken the law.  Smoking a joint is breaking the law, too, but I doubt that many of our anti-immigrant so-progressives would sing the same tune, should they (or one of theirs) be caught by the gendarmes with a joint in his/her pocket. Plus how may times has our president broken the law, not to mention corporations in violation of almost every rule and regulation that’s on the books. So how come this fixation of some progressives on immigratiin.  A convenient, way to let out steam, perhaps.  Deadly, though, considering what it does to our immigrant sisters and brothers.
OK, so what’s the answer.  Well, for sure it ain’t immigration bashing.  It’s doing what progressives are supposed to do.  Look for systemic causes, expose them and find remedies.  This, while at the same time, and always, looking for an opening to change this G-D capitalist system to something that serves everybody, nobody left out.  Come on now, the powers that be are our enemy, not their south of the border victims.

http://www.ajhs.org/publications/chapters/chapter.cfm?documentID=303

The Tragedy of the St. Louis (A.K.A. - “So!  They couldn’t wait already?”)

Occasionally, a name or a phrase such as “Remember the Maine,” or “Watergate” enters the national lexicon. One such name has been burned into the collective memory of American Jewry: the St. Louis, a German luxury cruise ship which on May 27, 1939, steamed into Havana harbor with more than 900 German Jewish refugees from Nazi oppression, each with the letter “J” stamped in red on their passport. When the St. Louis arrived in Havana, its Jewish passengers were forbidden to come ashore. Despite the efforts of the American and Cuban Jewish communities to persuade the Cuban government to let the Jews land, on June 6th the vessel departed to return to Germany – and certain death for the refugees.

Until the late 1930s, Cuba had been a haven for European Jews. Especially since Manuel Benitez Gonzales, Cuba’s director general of immigration, willingly sold visas for a fee, 500 refugee European Jews a month were landing in Cuba in early 1939. Some went on to other destinations, but the Cuban Jewish population rose to 4,000 in 1938 and continued to increase sharply. With the deepening of the worldwide economic Depression, the spread of Nazi propaganda and the association of Eastern European Jews with socialism, Cuban president Laredo Brú felt the public pressure to reduce the number of Jewish immigrants.

When the St. Louis sailed on May 13, only a handful of passengers had met the requirement. The rest clung to one of Benitez’s now-invalid landing permits. The Hamburg American Line did not insist that each passenger post $500 before sailing. To the shock and dismay of the passengers when the ship arrived at Havana 13 days later, the Jewish passengers were forbidden to disembark.

The United States government took the position that the St. Louis affair was an internal Cuban matter; while the American consul in Havana tried to be helpful, he took no formal action.

But Berenson misjudged Brú’s desire to dissociate himself from the entry of additional Jews to Cuba. Brú called off the talks and ordered the St. Louis, with its 906 Jewish passengers, to sail for Germany. Max Loewe, a passenger who had been in a Nazi concentration camp, could not face the prospect of returning to Germany and slashed his wrists and jumped overboard. Cuban police fished Loewe out and hospitalized him, but then refused to let his wife or children ashore to visit him.

On June 2, the St. Louis steamed out of Havana harbor. Once it was at sea, President Brú – facing the pressure of world opinion which ran counter to that of Cuban nationalists and fascists—agreed to reopen negotiations with Berenson. The captain of the St. Louis diverted the ship toward Miami, where it anchored 4 miles offshore. The U. S. immigration office in Miami announced that under no circumstances would the passengers be allowed to enter, and the U.S. Coast Guard shadowed the ship’s every movement until it returned to international waters steaming back to Havana (before returning to Europe, where some countries took the refugees in).

Sadly many of the passengers died between 1939 and 1945 when the Nazis overran Western Europe. These were lives that could have been saved.

W’s speech was nothing more than old rhetoric. He has to crawl out from under his desk and pretend that he is trying to do something. His speech served to cover his ass and those of his party that have already began to betray him. W needs to placate the Crazy Right Wing fools. 

I am proud to say that I am a son of an “illegal immigrant.” My father was captured twice by La Migra and deported. Finally, he got his green card and the deportation problem ended. Therefore, following all the ridiculous logic of many of you anti-illegal-immigrants, that makes make me illegal. Could you please deport me!

Sending the National Guard to the border is a political joke. Then again, didn’t W serve proudly in the National Guard? Although W’s records were never found, he protected our nation from the Viet Cong. Thus, since W was in the National Guard/Weekend Warriors, he must know something that we do not know. The Guard will protect our great nation from the evil horde of the south.

Stationing the Guard at the border serves no purpose. If they can not apprehend anyone, then what are they going to do?

We need to stop all immigration! It is unfair that birds and butterflies travel freely across the border. We need to put up a 10,000 foot wall to stop Daffy Duck and all his illegal friends from eating and living off our great land. Oh, the monarch butterflies need to be stopped as well and the Gray Whale that feeds in Alaska then has its babies in Mexico. We need to tax the baby whales as they cross into our waters!

May the Great Spirit in the Sky have mercy on the hideous human race. This land was not made for you and me!

immigration and troops to the border is just the new “gay marriage” election year distraction from the real issues - bush can’t pay for it and he doesn’t care.

wake up America! while he’s tapping your phones and scanning your email, the man behind the curtain is bombing the hell out of Iraq and planning to do the same to Iran.

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” MLK

Think Tank for The Laity: Subject: The Mexican Border—-Where the multicultural designs of Bullshit Bill Clinton meet the cheap, ephemeral labor demands of The Decider. Thus have been sewn over the years the seeds of a socio-political disaster perhaps reminiscent of French Algeria in 1954. If coming events cast their shadows beforehand bear in mind that Algeria was a Department [State] of France for well over a century, and taken from Maghrebian Arabs in the identical manner that the Western US was taken from Mexico, i.e., by War just about the same time. Borders are not Geographic. They are political, cultural and ethnic and if you don’t believe me? ask any Israeli. As Weixel commented no fence, ditch, and I’ll add rhetoric of equivocation read on a teleprompter—Or for that matter an Army, is going to put things the way they once were. And that’s the unvarnished truth, just as sure as there’s shit in a goat. This is the first significant deployment of The US Military to the Mexican Border since 1916 and any drunk watching TV in a beer joint can tell you it means trouble down the road…and if you ask me Mass Demonstrations are not indicative of people “Living in the shadows.” They are indicative of a people making unilateral demands. The cat’s out of the bag. Go figure.

Marc, I take exception to your comments about Lou Dobbs. Dobbs is not anti-immigration or anti-Hispanic. He is anti-ILLEGAL-immigration as we all should be. I salute Dobbs for bringing attention to this issue. As the son of an immigrant, one who came here through legal channels and patiently waited til it was his turn to become a citizen, I am offended at anyone who thinks illegal immigrants should be given a path to citizenship. My father followed the rules and waited til it was his turn. Why should people here illegally be allowed to go to the head of the line? I consider myself an extremely liberal person, but this is one issue where I agree with Republicans. We need to secure our borders and stop the flow of illegal immigration. But putting a bunch of troops on the border won’t do anything. What we really should be doing is cracking down on employers who hire illegals. I can’t stand it whenever someone says illegals do the jobs Americans won’t do. The truth is that Americans will do them if you pay them enough money. But employers don’t want to and along come illegal workers willing to work for less than Americans. And as far as the 12 million illegals already here, obviously we can’t just deport them. But if we punish employers that hire illegals, these people will eventually leave on their own. And anyone else thinking of coming here illegally will also be discouraged.

As we speak here in Manhattan you have “illegal aliens” building skyscrapers in the heart of town while American born union members stand on the sidewalks waving signs.

That’s the reality and no fences or ditches are going to put things back the way they once were.

and a smaller set of balls.

bush has as small penis

OK,...first things first - I am an Army (National Guard, mind you)Vetran.  I proudly served as a front line medic in the heart of Baghdad (Sadr City Area). 

I just don’t get it.  Aren’t they called the “National Guard”?  The only border they’re not allowed to guard is their own?  I served on the border of Egypt and Israel is the blazing desert heat (Sinai Penninsulai - MFO {Operation Enduring Freedom})making sure that neither of the other’s people got across each others designated borders, and we were armed.  This is a national secutiry issue. This whole politics thing is arbitrary - ENFORCE THE BORDER NOW.  Politics later.

I promise you… anyone reading this… there are people out there that want you dead.  All over this world.  As of right now, all they have to do is 1)Hop the pond to Good Ol’ Mexico 2)Pack a baloney sandwich, a bottle of water (to throw on the ground) and some smokes - or drugs, if they’ve got the “cajones” 3)Take a pretty good hike 4)Set up shop in Austin… or Phoenix, or L.A.

The problem is all of the P.C. (Political Correct-ness.)  Is it so wrong to be on alert?  We’re not racist, just informed. 

Enough Rambling -
Enforce the border.  WHATEVER it takes.
James"Doc"Poynor

I am a life long Republican who voted for Bush twice. Unless the Republican Party nominates a Tom Tancredo type guy I will stay home for the next two elections.

OMG, you worked for a SOCIALIST!!! Just saying that you disagree with Bush makes me more confident in his policy. You wanted to lead Chile on the same road as Communist Cuba. Que puerco!

free bird