Shame on you America

[sheshe2]

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Thank you, my dear sheshe2.

I could not have said this better myself.

K&R

[yeoman6987]

3. I understand what you are saying

but we didn't have 312 million in the country at the time. We didn't already have 12 million undocumented and we didn't have a problem with resources like water and other things. Money wasn't a problem either as we didn't have a chocking debt. And to top it all off, we are not in a World War. Otherwise, welcome them....we will always figure out a way to afford it....we can cut something out of the budget.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. We certainly can cut something out of the budget.

Start with the military and wars.

Then close the loopholes, and make the 1% pay their fair share of taxes. Include the money they hide overseas illegally.

It's a matter of priorities, don't you think?

[yeoman6987]

10. We have that money already spent whenever the 1 percent is finally taxed more

I have heard so many plans already implemented on what to do with that money starting with free pre-k education for all, college education for all, and so many other things. I am not sure we REALLY have that many 1 percenters to really pay for all of these wishes. the military has already been cut....I imagine that can be more, but still probably not enough to cover all the bills.

[Moostache]

16. WRONG!!!! 100 % WRONG!!!!

The 1% SAY that they don't have enough money, but let's get real for a minute - this is a SOCIETY and the cost of maintaining the social order that comes with a society is borne by those who benefit the most from its continued existence. If you make 99% of the money from a business and keep 75% or more of that for yourself in the form of lower taxed capital gains (aka the Rmoney tax rate plan for 1%'ers), the difference between what you "earned" and what you paid in taxes is wildly out of balance with maintenance of a civil society long term.

I am convinced that today's 1% is making a purposeful play to destroy society in the hope that they will be able to restrain the population indefinitely with a military police and draconian enforcement of their whims. They are wrong. And if they do not wake up from this delusion soon, they will pay for the miscalculation with their lives and ALL of their possessions.

Money is a concept. Human suffering is a reality. The more and more that people stop obsessing on getting the former, the more and more they will realize the latter is destroying society while those in privilege watch on with disdain. I guarantee them that the 1% will fall in a bloody day of reckoning if they push too many into too much privation. The choice is theirs alone - increase the pay and purchasing power of society to keep an economy going that they are in the catbird seat to benefit from, or dig in their heels and claim that there's not enough money to pay for everything and lose it all in the end anyway.

Choose 1%, but choose wisely...

[IrishAyes]

22. The French aristocracy never saw it coming either. Neither did the Romanoffs etc.

They never do, even if one of their own - as recently happened - sounds the alarm loud and clear. They are blind with hubris and greed, and ultimately with fear of what they know somewhere down deep is coming. But they respond with denial until the whole thing blows up in their faces, as it surely will. Hard rain's gonna fall one of these days...

[genwah]

32. Really? To me it looks more Orwellian; "The proles will never revolt..." The French/Russians didn't

have American Idol or McDollar burgers.

[IrishAyes]

46. The ramifications are endless, are they not?

[RKP5637]

27. Masses of people are getting more and more pissed off each day with the calculated greed and

sociopathic behavior.

[mountain grammy]

31. Well said! Very well said, thank you!

[sheshe2]

47. "Choose 1%, but choose wisely..."

Well done Moostache!

[Enthusiast]

65. They should have thought of that before they started two counterproductive unnecessary

wars while simultaneously cutting taxes on the millionaires and billionaires.

We should tax the fuck out of those assholes. Unless they can concretely demonstrate that they are not assholes, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

[yeoman6987]

97. That would be a start

The war cost 2 trillion and we just have to see who to charge the other 15 trillion too. The numbers are so disgusting. I really wish this was our focus. Once money is gone, it is very hard to get out of the whole. Just look at Detroit....they are in some serious trouble and nothing good will come out it in the end. I wish they would have telethons or something to help pay off the debt. If each American would send a check, we could really help to control the debt. Maybe have one every year. I don't see why nobody has thought of this. It is almost like everyone ignores it as if it is not there. It is there and will come back and bite each and everyone of us sooner then we would like.

[lark]

78. It's not the just the 1%. it's the companies they own s well that don't pay taxes.

Put in a minimum corporate tax, no exceptions, raise the rate on the rich back to that of the Clinton years, stop all these stupid militiary excursions and unnecessary weapons plans and voila, there's plenty of money to accomplish some good objectives. Infrastructure repair would do so much for our safety, our employment, lower unemployment costs, investment in green energy by taking away all tax giveaways to large oil companies and redirect to green energy, contributing far less to global warming, take away all government guarantees for nuclear energy stopping that dangerous travesty dead in it's tracks. How about single payer! That would save the country money in the long run. So many things could be accomplished with progressive trade-offs.

[yeoman6987]

79. It you are going to do this

I would want a minimum tax on all Americans too. Only 49 percent of the United States Citizens pay Income Tax....that is not sustainable. We need everyone involved to pay some sort of National Income Tax without getting all these refunds back. That has become a problem too......nobody is paying enough taxes today. And the results is a mess. I am sure I will be blasted, but I don't see why even the poorest of the poor can't pay 3 percent of their income to taxes.....at least when they want to the heard, they can be.

[awoke_in_2003]

81. "Only 49 percent of the United States Citizens pay Income Tax"

Is that you, Mitt?

[yeoman6987]

82. Yes it is

Actually Mitt said 47 percent so I don't know where your statement is going. At least get the facts right before you start yelling and screaming over nothing.

[awoke_in_2003]

83. How am I screaming...

when I am pointing out that you are using a right wing talking point?

[yeoman6987]

84. I was not using a right win talking point

Mitt said 47 percent. I said 49 percent. Besides since when is a FACT a talking point. Good gracious you want to lose in 2014. I happen to want to save the United States for goodness sake.

[laundry_queen]

99. If you want to save the US, stop using right wing talking points

You can quibble over the exact number, but the FACT is you used a talking point that the right wing uses whenever they want to call for austerity and blame the poor. You don't like being called out on it, don't use it.

[yeoman6987]

103. Ok.

You have some valid points. I certainly didn't write my reply very well that is for sure.

[BillZBubb]

101. Not to be childish, but WERE TOO!

Complaints that 49% (or their number du jour) pay no Federal taxes is a right wing talking point and it is totally deceptive. Almost all of the employed pay payroll taxes. Everyone pays state and local taxes in one form or another.

Your claim that it is not "sustainable" is also baloney.

[Enthusiast]

98. Blasted? Yes, you deserve it. Thanks for the Republican talking points. I never hear enough of them.

I have NEVER heard a Democrat say, that everyone must pay taxes. But practically every GOP TV talking head has said it.

Even poor people pay taxes. Anyone that buys any product pays sales taxes. If you have a car you pay the various fees and taxes.

No one is exempt from paying taxes regardless of that old GOP false meme that you have adopted as your own. Curious.

[lark]

113. Think you are missing the bigger picture

There are millions of people in this country who don't have enough food, how can they pay taxes when they can't even eat? Overall, working folks pay a FAR GREATER percentage of their income in taxes than do the rich. Make the rich pay a much greater percentage of their income and so many priorities - single payer, infrastructure repair could be easily accomplished. Poor are already paying, in general. Only the rich, rich corporations, oil companies and ultra poor don't pay. The later are not the issue.

[NealK]

95. What a load of crap.

[christx30]

55. We could do something about

the wars that are driving them up here. Maybe bomb the homes of the cartels, aka 'Clear and Present Danger'. We've been doing it the same way for 60 years. Maybe some new ideas are needed.

[Dustlawyer]

59. How about we start by taking away their control over our government and media!

They own our politicians, judges and media (our airwaves under license to them)! No more campaign money, paid trips by Lobbyists, and legal insider trading (yes, they gave that back to themselves when the media moved on).

September 13 plan on marching in the streets for Publicly Funded Elections and Complete Campaign Finance Reform (CCFR)! The campaign cash for the mid-terms ought to be cranking really good by then and the media will have to cover it if we get the word out. Peaceful, but focused protests on this issue alone, LETS GET THE CORRUPTING FREAKING BRIBE MONEY OUT OF OUR POLITICAL PROCESS!!! Then have OUR politicians bust up the media oligarchies and require truth in the news!

Spread the word...

[Enthusiast]

67. Well said! Take away their control over our government and media.

Break up the media giants! Do it through creative taxation. Tax them until they do not have the surplus they spend buying candidates and the legislature.

[Dustlawyer]

74. When we get OUR Representatives in office and a non-corporate Prez, we revamp the FCC,

and the rule governing ownership and operation of the networks. We pass laws to get rid of the revolving doe between Regulator and the Industries they regulate. This ain't rocket science, it would be easy without corrupt politicians!

[Enthusiast]

76. +1!

[Enthusiast]

64. Wish I could cast my vote for you.

We need candidates that will stand up and advocate slashing the military and mean it. And the tax thing, a majority of Americans are in your camp.

[trof]

15. Like maybe the billions of dollars F-35?

[Enthusiast]

66. And the thing isn't even a good plane.

It's just another gift to the already filthy rich.

[PatrickforO]

85. The choking debt problem can be taken care of fairly easily by

getting rid of the Fed and having a government run central bank. The US is the sole source of the dollar which is the currency of choice worldwide. If you check your history, Lincoln did this during the Civil War.

The next thing to do would be to put war powers back where they belong, with Congress, which would ensure a vigorous national debate before we cry 'havoc' and loose the dogs of war.

Then, we could abide by the wise guidelines Ike set forth in his brilliant 1963 essay titled, "Why I'm a Republican." To wit, we should NEVER spend in the red for a war, and if we do go to war, ensure the civilians feel it as they did in the Second World War. These wars we've had this last 14 years have not affected the civilian population beyond continuing our profligate consumption and putting a nice ribbon sticker that says 'support the troops' on our SUVs.

A good next step would be to revise the tax code. Like me, you as an individual pay lots of income tax. Did you know over 30 Fortune 500 companies currently pay NO income tax on billions in profits simply because a loophole in the corporate tax code allows them to keep money 'offshore?' I did a study of where the government gets its revenue and in 1944, individuals like ourselves paid in just over 53% of the government's total income tax revenue, while corporations footed about 35% of the bill. By 2011, individual taxpayers were carrying over 83% of the income tax load, and corporations less than 10%. Yeah, we have a high RATE, but that's nominal. The effective tax rate (what they actually pay) is what we need to be looking at.

Next, Republican policies of deregulation, privatization, union busting and cutting non-military discretionary spending (the programs that keep college affordable, pay for upgrades to our infrastructure, and provide safety nets for the unemployed and poor) have been responsible for hunting our middle class nearly to extinction. Austerity has never, does not now, and will never work during fragile economic recovery.

We need rather to BOOST non-military discretionary spending, implement policies that hold the interests of labor equal to those of shareholders, and thus revitalize the American middle class. We can do this by cutting our $trillion/yr war and security budget back to 1999 levels, collecting more taxes from corporations and spending to create jobs, particularly on infrastructure.

Then, we can address border security, impose SANE immigration laws and offer a path to citizenship for undocumented people already here (who have jobs, are raising families and paying taxes, in the most part).

[jtuck004]

88. As long as we are going there, can we get rid of you? I am sure you are using more resources than

you are providing, and, frankly, someone younger and stronger from another country might be better for our long term existence.

Nothing personal, of course. I mean, if there was enough to go around, we would welcome you with open arms.

[sheshe2]

5. Thanks Peggy.

It's sad when America forgets what really matters.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. You're welcome!

It's very sad, and it could be avoided.

As I said to the poster above, it's a matter of priorities.

[Skidmore]

2. Truth!

This confrontation by these teabaggers in CA is just shameful.

[Louisiana1976]

4. "Shame on you America" is right. Those children should be welcomed as refugees, not

called "scum."

[giftedgirl77]

6. All they see is our brown skin, nothing else matters.

[kelliekat44]

8. Sad but there are many new Americans with brown skins out there protesting safe harbor for these

women and children. I just can't get my head around this shameful attitude.

[brush]

42. They were paid — did you see the one with the bullhorn?

Disgraceful!

[Enthusiast]

68. Of course they were paid.

Paid by the Overlords®.

[LoisB]

24. Ding, ding, ding! My sentiments exactly.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

11. +1

[Tikki]

12. In the late 1950's into the 1960's U.S. families took in Cuban refugee children...

Tikki

[Scuba]

13. K&R

[NYC Liberal]

14. K&R but there were PLENTY of those people back then.

We had very strict immigration quotas until as late as 1965. Chinese Americans weren't even allowed to own property until the 60s.

[littlemissmartypants]

17. I wonder if

Any of this angry ignorance and downtrodden apathy has any thing to do with the fact that one third of adults cannot read?

[sheshe2]

21. That or they watch far to much Faux News.

Either way, it explains it, littlemissmartypants.

[genwah]

33. Well, that and a lot of the 2/3 who can read don't.

[littlemissmartypants]

43. Excellent point.

Love, Peace and Shelter.

[genwah]

54. Ain't that sumpthin'? I was ten years old in 1968 Chicago. DNC, Daley's cops beatin' on who

I knew even then was US. We were fighting for world peace, an end to capitalist exploitation, an end to world hunger. I didn't start marching for another 6 years, but I thought we could win.

How many years later, I'm still fighting the same old battles,on the same old streets, over the same old shit, and now, I'd settle for Love, Peace and Shelter.

What the hell happened?

[littlemissmartypants]

56. Nothing.

Whatever it is going to take has not happened yet. That's why we have to keep trying.

Forward together, not one step back.

[littlemissmartypants]

18. I breathe your air and your moon is my moon.

[littlemissmartypants]

19. Should we really expect Americans to accept non-American when they despise

Other Americans?

[littlemissmartypants]

20. Off to the greatest with you love. eom

[Spitfire of ATJ]

23. Those were WHITE kids in WWII.

[TNNurse]

92. Skin color is wrong, they do not speak English, some are concerned about "diseases", but mostly they

Are not white.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

96. In California racism against "Mexicans" is as bad as racism against blacks in the Deep South.

[yeoman6987]

114. Pretty sad for a deep blue state.

Would have thought better of the state. Surprised by your post and disappointed.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

115. It's in pockets here and there. Orange County was a good example....

Rich folks in Costa Mesa and Tustin acting like someone from Santa Ana should be arrested for being in the wrong neighborhood.

[m-lekktor]

25. i agree!

[marble falls]

26. I wonder if skin is in the equation? Hmmmmm .......

[littlemissmartypants]

53. I wonder who has

Skin in the game, how much skin and what body parts it is covering. People are not very deep.

Love, Peace and Shelter. Lmsp

[pleinair]

28. k&r n/t

[WinkyDink]

29. I think the govt ought do much more than de-planing and dumping.

[Iliyah]

30. K & R

[mountain grammy]

34. These are refugees! Refugees from starvation, poverty and violence. We MUST take them in.

That's what countries do!

[Cha]

35. Actually Shame on the Scum who call themselves "Christians" and act like they represent America..

they don't.. this President and the People with heart represent America, she..





http://www.democraticunderground.com/110219685

[sheshe2]

38. Absolutely perfect Cha!

This President listens to all the people and does his level best to make it right.



http://www.democraticunderground.com/110219685

[herding cats]

36. Back then it was considered the right thing to do.

We've changed a lot since then. Both for the better and the worse.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

37. Why do conservatives love dictators beyond our borders?

They cause horrors and floods of refugees. It doesn't make sense to support what causes the thing they seem most to object to -- refuges escaping.

And while I'm at it, Joan Rivers joked yesterday that "Obama is gay and Michelle a "tranny" ". Not the least bit witty or funny. She also thinks dictators have their place. Yet when Obama uses executive orders, he's called a "dictator" or "tyrant". There's such a disconnect in the single mind of a conservative.

[hughee99]

93. Which dictators beyond our boarders

Are the ones the Repukes support and are causing this?

[SleeplessinSoCal]

100. most of them

Look historically. The CIA has done more harm to us than good by supporting and/or installing them. Only infrequently have we seriously condemned them.

[hughee99]

104. I was reading from another thread that instability in Guatamala, El Salvador and Nicaragua

has been pushing a lot of the immigration. I'm pretty sure at least two of those three are not run by people supported by conservatives, nor would their leaders be described as "dictators" in most circles.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

107. Guatemala is run by a former Military leader and assassin

He's a hardliner with a violent past. Pretty sure that fits the mold of dictator. Can only imagine what is carried out as president.

Otto Pérez Molina

On 24 February 2001, he founded the Patriotic Party.

Accusations of human rights abuses
Genocide and torture suspicions

In 2011 reports were made, based on United States' National Security Archives, that Pérez carried out the scorched earth campaigns of the 1980s under the military dictator Efraín Ríos Montt. Pérez commanded a counterinsurgency team in the Ixil Community in 1982-3, and razed 80-90% of the villages. At least 184 civilians were killed or disappeared during his deployment.

In July 2011, the indigenous organization Waqib Kej presented a letter to the United Nations accusing Pérez of involvement in genocide and torture committed in Quiché during the civil war. Among other evidence, they cited a 1982 documentary in which a military officer whom they claim is Pérez is seen near four dead bodies. In the following scene, a subordinate says that those four were captured alive and taken "to the Major" (allegedly Pérez) and that "they wouldn't talk, not when we asked nicely and not when we were mean [ni por las buenas ni por las malas]."

Pérez denied his involvement in any atrocities. "I have nothing to hide," he told Reuters. He said he was proud of his role in the civil war.[14] Pérez has never been charged with any human rights violations. In 2011, he became the subject of a new investigation into the disappearance in 1992 of the guerilla commander Efraín Bámaca, an effort led by Guatemala's top prosecutor.

Allegations of involvement in the killing of Efraín Bámaca

In 1992 the guerrilla leader Efraín Bámaca Velásquez disappeared. Investigations led by his wife, American lawyer Jennifer Harbury, suggest that Pérez, who was Director of Military Intelligence at the time, probably issued the orders to detain and torture the commandante.

Hearings held by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights revealed that on March 12, 1992, the local Guatemalan army captured Efraín Bámaca alive; that the army had secretly detained and tortured Bámaca for over a year before killing him in September 1993 without trial; and that his torturers and killers were paid CIA informants.

Allegations of involvement in the murder of Bishop Gerardi

In his book The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop?, American journalist Francisco Goldman gives evidence that Pérez Molina may have been present, along with two other high officials, a few blocks from the April 1998 murder of Juan José Gerardi Conedera, a Roman Catholic bishop and human rights defender. He said Pérez and the other two men were there to supervise the assassination. Gerardi was murdered two days after the release of a human rights report he helped prepare for the United Nation's Historical Clarification Commission. Gerardi served as bishop of Quiché from 1980-1983.

[hughee99]

108. Yes, and Nicaragua is run by Daniel Ortega, who if I recall, is not a favorite of the conservatives.

El Salvador is run by Marti, who I think is also not one of "their guys".

As I said above, at least two of those three.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

111. My question still stands though

The CIA has made a mess of South & Central America. Hardliners' control drives an exodus which leads to many low wage jobs here becoming a magnet for those our natl security policies have virtually invited to leave.

The end being prevent true democracy while promoting a "slave labor force" similar to the one that build this country. Works out nicely for land owners and little else.

[hughee99]

112. Yes they have made a mess of it,

but the current situation is as much driven by non-conservative backed leaders south of the boarder as it is by the RW dictators.

I inferred (perhaps incorrectly) from your first post that the current situation is a result of RW CIA-backed dictators although a large majority of the immigration that's being reported doesn't seem to be coming from countries that fit THAT profile.

[perdita9]

39. We cannot solve other countries' problems

Central America has problems that they need to solve. They can't just export their excess population to us and expect us to deal with it.

[Rantzid]

49. Yeah, but...

How many of those problems are due to American money in the first place? Both now and in the past? How many American corporations exploit/ have exploited the labor force or environment of these countries? (rhetorical question...look up National Fruit) How much American drug money?
The world is mostly a better place because of America- in the years following WW2.
But the sad truth is many places in the world are now worse off- because of America.

[Enthusiast]

69. +1 an entire shit load.

[perdita9]

70. Stop infantalizing Latin American countries

The major problem they have is they've put the Catholic Church in charge. The Catholic church has issued a ban on contraception leading to 8 children per woman, extreme poverty and domestic violence.

Smaller families would be healthier and lead to a more stable society. Thailand reduced their birth rate and got a huge rise in education and economic growth.

Stop acting like everything is America's fault!

[noiretextatique]

77. we deserve a lot of blame

For our attempts to support oppressive regimes in central and south america. It the same shitstain we left in se Asia and Iraq. We can not creating problems in other counties and keep pretending we are blameless.

[perdita9]

87. Oh, please!

Stop blaming America for everything. These countries should be able to run themselves. We give them millions in aid every year. When, exactly, are they going to step up and take responsibility for their own problems?

[Comrade Grumpy]

91. Do you know anything about the history of the US in Central America?

You could start with Walter LaFeber's "Inevitable Revolutions: The United States in Central America." You could pick one up used for about fifty cents on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Inevitable-Revolutions-Central-America-Edition/dp/0393309649

[Comrade Grumpy]

89. "They put the Catholic Church in charge."

"They" didn't put the Catholic Church in charge. Catholicism was part and parcel of the Spanish conquest of the region. You know, cross and sword, and all that. Catholicism in Latin America isn't a choice, it's a historical fact. (Although the evangelicals have been making a play for several decades now.)

They don't have "8 children per woman." The highest fertility rate in the region is in Guatemala, with between 3.5 and 4 children. Other countries in the region are lower.

The countries of Central America suffer poverty mainly because of the nature of their insertion into the global economy. And, as the dominant power in the Western hemisphere for the past several centuries, the United States deserves plenty of responsibility for that.

And the baleful influence of the US is not just ancient history. We supported murderous genocides in Guatemala between the 1950s and the 1980s, we supported a murderous rightist military dictatorship in El Salvador in the 1980s, and we ginned up the Contra War againt the leftist Sandinistas at the same time.

While those countries could certainly benefit from better governance, our hands are plenty dirty, and plenty bloody.

[BillZBubb]

102. Don't confuse him with the facts!

His mind is made up, just like that of a conserv.... Hmmm....

[perdita9]

109. Yeah, I know

That birth rate of 7 or 8 children per woman was in an NPR report this week. It's the poorest areas having the most kids, primarily due to a lack of contraception thanks to the Catholic Church.

[davidthegnome]

58. We can't solve our own problems.

I wonder how long it will be before American refugees are fleeing to other Countries? A few years? A few decades? A century or two, perhaps? I mean, if the human race lasts that long.

That excess population you speak of consists of people just like you and I. People with families. People with hopes, dreams, with talents and ambitions - and with needs. How much does a member of congress earn? How much does a Senator earn? Could they spare, oh, I don't know, maybe a few dollars for a person who's going to starve to death or face violence, rape, torture, imprisonment or death if they return to their own countries? How about for a child? Because I can. I make eight dollars an hour, but I'm willing to share what little I have. Double my tax rate, hell, triple it - I'll happily pay it if it means offering these people some shelter, some food and medicine - and the hope of a better life.

The problem isn't with immigrants, illegal or otherwise, it's not with refugees or with desperate people. The problem is selfish people who have outrageous wealth and aren't willing to use it - not even a little bit of it, to help people in need. The problem is with cruelty, with a lack of charity or compassion for our fellow human beings.

This Country was founded by immigrants, legal and illegal. By refugees, who any Nation with a heart should offer a hand up. It has long been maintained by those same people and their descendants.

America has no excuse for this despicable lack of charity. For this cruelty, this bigotry, this ultimate damning of our own founding and our own people. We should give the statue of liberty back to France - we no longer deserve it.

[perdita9]

71. I don't support open borders

Sorry, but I just don't. For what I pay in taxes, I expect to be protected from an invasion. 20 million people living here without permission is an invasion. Yes, many of them are nice people. Doesn't matter. I don't get to move into my neighbor's house just because I'm nice or trying to support my family.

The process has to be controlled and fair. I support immigration reform, but I don't support open borders. These citizens are from Honduras and Guatemala -- those countries need to step up and take care of their own.

[davidthegnome]

80. An invasion?

Where are the dead bodies of our people? Where are the mutilated corpses, the burned out towns and villages? Where are all of the orphans created by this invasion?

When the United States invaded Iraq - THAT was an invasion. Hundreds of thousands of dead, sanctions that prevented the Iraqi people from even getting medical devices. Electricity, running water, social safety, peace, National pride - so many things were butchered. It could be argued that, for the first gulf war, we had some valid reasoning for going in. However... then we did it again, with the only justification based on lies and misdirection.

Twenty million people coming to kill us? Okay, let's kick some ass. Twenty million people coming out of desperation, from war torn Countries or Countries suffering in economic ruin? Twenty million people coming here to work, to go to school, to join our military, to work with our citizens? You know, I'd call that an opportunity. An opportunity to perhaps, begin to make this Country stronger, braver, brighter, smarter.

Alas, there is no reasonable path to citizenship - and the first people many of these immigrants meet are as bad as the coyotes and cartel nitwits. Assholes holding signs that demand they leave, people calling them scum, spitting on them, insulting them and at times - even beating or killing them.

I envision a Nation in which we welcome desperate people, with a hand up. We give them a path to citizenship, we give them the opportunity to vote, to work here, to be educated here. We start focusing not on making everyone speak English, but on welcoming diversity and teaching our own children Spanish in public schools.

I will never turn my back on such people - for it could as easily have been me, my son, my sister, my Father, my Mother.

I'm not talking about open borders either - I'm talking about very simple things like charity, kindness and compassion. I'm talking about a way to make our Country better and stronger, with millions more proud, hard working Americans. All we have to do is offer a path to citizenship that can be reasonably earned.

Read the inscription on the statue of liberty - THAT is what we should be.

[perdita9]

86. Emma Lazarus wrote a poem, not US policy

I am not against compassion. I am against open borders.

If you want to come here, do it legally.

[Comrade Grumpy]

90. If you support immigration reform, you better talk to the Republicans.

They're the ones blocking it.

Although from your rhetoric here, it sounds like you've been listening to the Republicans.

[perdita9]

110. Republicans aren't going to listen to me

I'm a flaming liberal. I'm also a big tree hugger. I don't support open borders for environmental reasons.

[Jamaal510]

40. It's a shame

what's happening in their native land and I'm not implying that they should go back, but I wonder if there are other nations that are willing to take the refugees in or if the U.S. is the only place that they can turn to.

[Mass]

41. Thousands of Japanese Americans were emprisoned in camps.

As for those children, they were British http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children's_Overseas_Reception_Board. Before the war started, the US limited dramatically the number of Jewish immigrants here, including when the German troops entered France and Jewish families there were left with nowhere to go.

I would be very careful with this, which does not mean that helping those kids is not the right thing to do.

[citizen blues]

44. Thank you for expressing

exactly what I have been feeling too.

[Uncle Joe]

45. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, sheshe.

[mackerel]

48. What should we do? Take them in? I think some will be abused and such here.

[Personal Damon]

50. Sadly, the key word there is "Europe," i.e., white

Kicking and Reccing while Shaking My Head.

[AuntPatsy]

51. K & R , selfishness and greediness seems to have become the norm for far too many, it's incredibly

Depressing...

[Drale]

52. The difference is

those kids are white and these kids are brown. Every single protesting these kids are racists. EVERY LAST ONE!

[flvegan]

57. LOL at shaming a lack of (conveniently limited) empathy!

Empathy has a definition. When limited, it loses that definition. It stops being empathy.

FAIL. FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL.

[daleanime]

60. Amen....

[napkinz]

61. K&R

nt

[redruddyred]

62. nevermind that the cause of their poverty is often large american multinationals.

I'd say, "it's a recession, people are scared", but 1929-1945 takes the cake for scary. shame on you america indeed.

[Enthusiast]

63. But them WWII children wasn't Mesicans.

I kid.

[Katashi_itto]

72. K&R

[TBF]

73. Preach it. K&R nt

[hopemountain]

75. my sentiments exactly

thank you, she

the hard hearted and the meanspirited are well organized. threatening and bullying women and their children is....there are no words....

[riverbendviewgal]

94. evere read the book NONE IS TOO MANY

America and Canada are guilty.

[ismnotwasm]

105. Right on the point.

It's so sick it's nausea inducing.

Meanwhile in Texas

Rise of the DIY Abortion in Texas-- brought to you from Latin America

The Alamo flea market sits right off South Texas’s lengthy Highway 83; a sprawling, dusty, labyrinth of a place. Under canopies in the converted parking lot, vendors in dark sunglasses stand behind tables heaped with piles of clothing, barking in Spanish and hawking their wares. The air is hot and muggy, thick with the scent of grilled corn and chili.

Customers browse simple items—miracle-diet teas, Barbie dolls or turquoise jeans stretched over curvy mannequins—but there are also shoppers scanning the market for goods that aren't displayed in the stalls. Tables lined with bottles of medicine like Tylenol and NyQuil have double-meanings to those in the know: The over-the-counter drugs on top provide cover for the prescription drugs smuggled over the border from nearby cities in Mexico. Those, the dealer keeps out of sight.

I’m here to look for a small, white, hexagonal pill called misoprostol. Also known as miso or Cytotec, the drug induces an abortion that appears like a miscarriage during the early stages of a woman’s pregnancy. For women living in Latin America and other countries that have traditionally outlawed abortion, miso has been a lifeline—it’s been called “a noble medication,” “world-shaking” and “revolutionary.” But now, it’s not just an asset of the developing world.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/06/the-rise-of-the-diy-abortion-in-texas/373240/


The hypocrisy is beyond belief.

[sheshe2]

106. Thank you for the link, ism.

That just blew me away. I have no other words.