Now Up on the PJ Media Homepage
The Tyranny of Cliches, and the exploration of the memes of the day.
May 7, 2012 - 12:45 am
- Obama’s Liberal Experiment Has Failed, by Victor Davis Hanson. The temple of postmodern liberalism was rocked these last few weeks.
- Jonah Goldberg Discusses The Tyranny of Cliches, Part I, by Ed Driscoll. The Clff’s Notes to the Newspeak Dictionary. (Audio interview with transcription.)
- Why America’s Enemies Are Thankful for Obama, by Michael Ledeen. It’s not for the reasons he had assumed.
- We Don’t Need Another Student Loan Repayment Program, by Timothy Furnish. There is a veritable legion of programs for repaying student loans which already exist.
- Cloward-Piven Strategy Working Perfectly — in Europe, by Zombie. France and Greece double down on an unsustainable entitlement economy.
- The Vanishing Labor Force of Obama’s Depression, by David P. Goldman. About a fifth of working-age Americans aren’t working — and a fifth of all personal income is transfer payments. These numbers are astonishing and without precedent.
Speaking of liberalism having failed–I’m reading a real tear-jerker of a story this morning about a poor 19-year old whose parents illegally brought him into the country when he was a wee bairn, and after getting arrested for not having a driver’s license he won’mt be deported, but he can’t get a job, so he just sits around, hoping for something better to one day eventually arrive. He’s more American now than Mexican. But he can’t just get a job.
Just like twenty percent of the native-born population. He really is American, it seems….
Thanks liberalism! You guys are the best. Really. There is nothing, and I do mean nothing, that you guys can’t destroy if you touch it. Nothing. It’s like some kind of “anti-Midas” touch.
I’m just going to say that this immigration thing is seemingly going to leave a legacy of hate and discontent for a long time, and it is because liberals cannot understand the phrases “second-order consequences” and “TANSTAAFL”, and because others who should have known better never fought them when they should have.
At least the MSM who enabled the demagoguery by the left for so many decades appears to be going bankrupt, so there is some consoloation.
Marco Rubio has the solution all wrong, in this sense–any compromise has to decisively set in place the understanding, in plain and strong words that all the people will see, understand, and feel, with no trimming whatsoever, that illegal immigration was a wrong, the MSM was wrong, the Democrats were wrong, opponents were not racists, the illegals themselves had no rights to do as they did, that the sufferings of their now-adult children are in part the faults of the parents that brought them and are not really the concerns of society (unless that society wishes it to be), that the inability of their native lands to be able to provide for them is proof that the system of those native lands is the thing fundamentally at fault (and that therefore doing anything in the U.S. that in any way, shape, or form resembles those kind of policies or social hierarchy is fool’s play), that the laws of the United States were in fact were deliberately and dishonestly flouted, that there was never any intention to do anything but flout the law, that good people were demonized because they knew something dishonest and fradulent was being dine and would not go along with it, that illegal immigration in part arose out of a desire to basically import new voters who would support Democratic policies (needed because the American people would not support them in numbers large enough to do as the Obama-type wing of the party desired), that the GOP in fact, as an establishment, also betrayed America by not truly fighting to stop the situation from reaching this point; that the system of political correctness is in a sense a system of injustice, because it too easily allows for double standards based upon the past and economic status to thrive (while ignoring the fact that though some causes of sub-desired economic success are extrinsic, others are intrinsic), that political corectness has in fact caused harm in the United States by preventing an inability to criticize certain self-defeating behavioral patterns of the African-American underclasses and Mexican/Central American-immigrants, thus allowing these patterns to fester and metastasize, spreading to other groups, and so on.
In short, things like the DREAM act can in fact be done. They just require that the left dishonor itself in such a way that the problem never happens again. The left caused this problem. By admitting fault in such a way as to leave no doubt that it should not have happened, in such a way to completely assure we will not face this issue again, a deal can be done. Otherwise, I think we are going to have to question whether agreeing to a compromise absent such understanding is not tantamount to telling native-born Americans that they are permanently disenfranchised and disbarred from acting in anyway but cheerful acquiescence whenever someone from another land deems that he needs what they have and a minority of their fellow Americans agree with him–that in essence they whose forefathers created the nation which they are now stewards of in fact have no right to be stewards or owners of that nation, but that such rights belong to illegal immigrants and Progressives only.
Well, nuts to that to that last.
The left is smply going to have to fall on its sword if it wishes to end this problem, and by killing itself will save people like P. Morales. If it doesn’t, it was never about helping people, it was about getting power, South American style. If the left will swallow its pride and accept the disgrace it rightfully has coming, good can be done, because while the number of illegal immigrants are painful to take in, it is not impossible (no citizenship, though, for illegals who as adults came in to this nation, and for the chidren twenty years till the franchise (if ever), as an acknowledgement that there are still those in Mexico and other nations who were willing to follow our immigration system lawfully–and who thus will never be Americans, because they did not win the lottery. TANSTAAFL.)
If the left is not willing to do this, if it demands to be treated as if it was always on the sides of the angels, it shows folks were right to keep their powder dry all along.
There you have it. DREAM Act as somewhat proposed by Rubio in exchange for a fatal blow to the Left, Political Correctness, and the idea that in America trendy ethnicity will be king. And it just can’t be lip service, especially from Rubio-types anxious more for future electoral success than righteousness and principle. It’s actually got to hurt the people it needs to hurt, on both sides of the aisle.
Otherwise, scorched earth would seem preferable.
And for folks thinking they are going to get something better–I think for many Americans, enough to decide the issue decisively, that the initial point, reservation point and target point are going to be one and the same, and that there is a BATNA.
This actually is the best, and only, offer. It’s rejection allows for clean consciences and no further action on the subject, and I think that will be a common feeling.
Because this is still America, not Venezuela or Peronistic Argentina, and there is still a certain Calvinistic ethos in the land.
And by “it just can’t be lip service, especially from Rubio-types anxious more for future electoral success than righteousness and principle.”, I am explicitly referring about and speaking to Mr. Marco Antonio Rubio, Senator from the State of Florida, who as far as I am concerned has already shown he will basically betray the principle of the rule of law and those who support it if the interests of the Republican Party deem it best.
It has long been my understanding he is not exactly alone on this kind of thing among the movers and shakers of that wretched and feeble excuse for what passes for a party establishment, one supposedly dedicated to advancing the liberties and interests of all Americans.
That is, as long as doing so does not interefere with pork, reelection, or require bringing the party into mortal combat with the MSM. Or so it seems. Based upon the last ten years or so of observation of actions. Not words.
The more I think about it, the more I realize the impossibility of the modern political class to admit to having erred, in any large numbers, to the level where it actually wourd hurt themselves. As a class, there is simply not enough integrity inherent. And since such admission of fault is essential to my scheme, there is a conundrum to be solved. The solution is easy, if unusual in form and somewhat undesirable (for the precedent is establishes for the future). But it is now my preferred solution.
There simply needs to be one or two national plebiscites (or perhaps state ratification conventions in each state) on the essential questions at hand.
The first would be on the subject of illegal immigration itself, to for all time define the spirit of the people of these United States on the matter–does the United States have the right to set quotas and/or close/restrict its borders, is illegal immigration a right, do those who come here illegally have any right to make demands on the host society, etc.? That sort of thing. This plebiscite, divorced from the issue of what to do wih those actually here and being more of philosophic impact, would generate useful discussion and understanding of the matters at hand.
If this plebiscite passes, by a suitable majority–say, 3/4–then and *only* then does the next stage happens, in a year or so–the issue of what to do with those here.This would be the stage that Mr. Rubio could pen his plan for the people’s approval and gain for the Republican party those voters he so desires.
I wish this plebiscite series because our political class has shown they, at times, view the future electoral prospects and success of their faction as being more important than representing the interests of the people at large as the people themselves feel those interests being. Therefore, beyond the enabling legislation for the two plebiscites (or ratification/approval conventions, though these are *not* Constitutional amendments), I myself have no desire for them to have any more to do with the process than necessary, for I do not think, as a class, left and right, that they are up to the task of stewardship of these United States. You cannot make a silk purse….
But they are what we have to work with for the moment. Nevertheless, on this issue, I should hope there would be no objection to allowing the members of the “club” to determine if others get to join, both join in principle and join in fact. And the first vote must precede the second. The people must simply be allowed to have their say on what shall be proper and improper means of becoming an American. After that, once we have a common understanding of right and wrong on this issue, an understanding firmly established and not subject to spn or denial, then and only then can we turn to the matter of those (relatively few) who *should* be deported, but perhaps aught not to be all the same.
Pay attention to how America’s Latino population (by and large illegally in the USA) is being re-packaged.
First, an “illegal alien” was just that a criminal, having broken several of USA’s immigration laws.
Second, the word “alien” was pejorative so, two things happened…the word ‘Immigrant” was introduced into this mix. IT did two things; 1)advanced an “illegal” closer to their “Legal Resident Alien” immigrant breatheren and 2)removed the stigma of “alien” associated to those in the USA and not having registered with USCIS for proper conduit to USA’s Immigration program. An “Illegal Immigrant” was now a proper, unpejorative way, to characterize these criminals…in otherwords. Decriminalized a criminal.
Third shoe is now falling. The word “Illegal” is now going to be replaced with a better, more descriptive term, delimiting this catagory of “illegal alien” as being an “almost citizen” without being a US citizen. So now, there will be full acceptance of Mexico’s matricula consular (consular matricula) across the USA. This will be a step closer for these “illegal aliens” being considered, “guest Immigrants”( a totally new Immigration catagory, yet to be regulated).
“Guest Immigrants” will have the same legal rights as their LPR (Legal Permanent Resident) breatheren who may have already concluded their first step towards naturalization, except these “guest immigrants’ will be allowed to apply for naturalization along with their LPR breatheren. This is Mr. Obama’s “Right Hand/Left Hand Rule” in full display.
Mr. Obama, Latino media and activists are busy paving the way for this becoming reality…already is underway with Messrs. Rubio and Gutierrez (of Congressional Progressive Caucus fame – commie organization) having a “fruitful” meeting during the week of April 25, 2012. (Backdoor Amnesty Program)
Watch closely for an announcement of a new path to US citizenship called: “guest immigrant.” God Bless America. Amen. Marxism/Leninism are really great economical and philosophical models for capitalistic, “Rule of Law” America.