14 May 2010 So much for interstate commerce

14 May 2010 So much for interstate commerce


Our staunch conservatives tar any ideas of national ID cards for American citizens and legal residents with the dreaded label of European socialism, Nazism, Communism, or some “totalitarian” combination of all the above; as the staunch conservative base often has no real knowledge of what distinguishes one form of government from another. They are, of course, all too willing to take their incorrect information from the Fox News pundits and the other demagogues of the right wing. So therefore, national identification documents are a socialist evil, unless you happen to be visibly Hispanic.

To add idiocy to the mix, several major cities have now decided that they will boycott Arizona events, companies/corporations, and affairs; in a regressive imitation of Medieval politics between city states that will make no difference in cultural attitudes among Arizonans, but which will fan the flames already damaging constructive efforts to solve American immigration problems.

http://us.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/05/13/los.angeles.arizona.boycott/index.html?hpt=T2

Los Angeles approves Arizona travel boycott

By Alan Duke, CNN May 13, 2010 12:46 p.m. EDT

CNN) -- The Los Angeles City Council overwhelmingly approved a boycott of Arizona-based businesses and governments Wednesday unless the state repeals a new law giving police the power to question a detainee's immigration status.

Several other California cities, including San Francisco and Oakland, have already adopted resolutions requesting city departments to not sign any new contracts with Arizona companies.





http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/13/AR2010051304373.html

In Arizona, just say no to Latino heritage



By Eugene Robinson

Friday, May 14, 2010

At least we don't have to pretend anymore. Arizona's passing of that mean-spirited immigration law wasn't about high-minded principle or the need to maintain public order. Apparently, it was all about putting Latinos in their place.

It's hard to reach any other conclusion given the state's latest swipe at Latinos. On Tuesday, Gov. Jan Brewer signed a measure making it illegal for any course in the public schools to "advocate ethnic solidarity." Arizona's top education official, Tom Horne, fought for the new law as a weapon against a program in Tucson that teaches Mexican American students about their history and culture.

Horne claims the Tucson classes teach "ethnic chauvinism." He has complained that young Mexican Americans are falsely being led to believe that they belong to an oppressed minority. The way to dispel that notion, it seems, is to pass oppressive new legislation aimed squarely at Mexican Americans. That'll teach the kids a lesson, all right: We have power. You don't.

I dislike the practice of cities boycotting other cities in this nation. We are supposed to be one, united, populace. We are supposed to be concerned for each other. This immigration problem is driving a huge wedge between non-Latinos and Latinos.

I favor legal immigration. The nation has long benefitted from new ethnic groups being absorbed into the mix. I am adamantly opposed to illegal immigration. I am even more opposed, if possible, to the demands by “immigrants’ rights” groups for open borders, for general amnesty for illegals, and by the practice of “sanctuary” offered illegal aliens by churches and cities. We are not living in the dark ages, ruled by divine right rulers and a “mother church.”

Here’s what I see. Spain lost its colonial hold on Mexico and parts north just as England and France lost their colonies. After Mexico became independent it lost a war for territory with the United States. California and other parts of the continent were later seized and made part of the U.S. Mexico’s oligarchic nature, a holdover from Spanish colonization in league with the Catholic Church laid the groundwork to make Mexico the third world nation it became and remains today. Therefore, opportunities for better paying jobs in the U.S. have fueled a steady stream of illegal aliens ready to work for unscrupulous employers who will hire them in defiance of U.S. immigration and labor laws.

What has evolved in a pool of illegals and legal immigrants, who now want to return the U.S. Southwest to Mexico. They fail to see that such an action would merely make the returned lands as much a third world sink hole as Mexico is today. The problem is not in the U.S.’s possession of the territory but in the very nature of Mexico.

So while I am sympathetic to their desires for a better life, I find their demands for territory exchange, for open borders, for amnesty, and their practice of waving Mexican flags in demand for “immigrants’ right” they have no legal claim to, to be highly objectionable. So do a large percentage of non-Latino Americans.

I’m willing to support a boycott. I’m all in favor of boycotting those cities that have offered “sanctuary “ in opposition to U.S. immigration law. Any church offering “sanctuary” should immediately be stripped of its tax-exempt status. My understanding of medieval history is adequate to remind me that such actions as Los Angeles’ in response to the stupidity of Arizona will damage the fabric of this nation. When I hear “states’ rights” I think of the horrible toll racism took on this nation during and after our Civil War. Now I’m beginning to hear “cities’ rights” bandied about as if these cities are independent states. We really can’t allow such rifts to form and widen. They have to be stopped now, preferably in court instead of in the streets.

Congress needs to do its part as well. We need national ID cards, we need to enforce the immigration laws we have on the books, and we need to avoid any form of amnesty. Mexico needs to take care of Mexicans. We have a hard enough time just taking care of ourselves. It’s only going to become harder.