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'Republicans Hate Latinos'
That was the slogan on a poster at Saturday's Immigration March in Los Angeles. And why not? It was a Republican who declared that illegal immigration was the greatest crisis facing our country. It was a Republican who introduced a bill that would criminalize any act of human feeling directed toward an illegal immigrant. And it's a Republican president whose idea of a solution to the problem of illegal immigration is a "guest worker" approach that has only led to problems where it's been tried.
I've often wondered what it would take to get people out of their homes in large numbers. Correction: huge numbers. Well, we learned what it is. According to The Associated Press, 500,000 marched in Los Angeles, 50,000 in Denver, 20,000 in Phoenix, and 10,000 in Milwaukee. The New York Times buried the story on page 31, but the Times can perhaps be excused--its editors are busily making amends for the paper's pre-war regurgitation of the government's lies.
Everyone with any common sense understands that illegal immigration is a real problem, if not the looming crisis some would have us believe. On the reasonable assumption that anything this President proposes is a bad idea, I reflexively condemn Bush's idea of a two-tier, licensed-worker program. Given all the urgent issues our do-nothing White House and Congress aren't dealing with, my view is that immigration can wait until '09, when--please God--we will have some smart professionals in office again.
One point is, I think, worth making: Once again, a tone-deaf administration and the clueless Congresspeople and Senators who represent the Republican "base" have chosen to gang up on the weakest segment of our society. I remember when we had a country house in Westchester. "Need day labor?" a neighbor said. "Go to the train station in the morning." I did. And had my pick of South American men. They worked hard clearly brush all day and seemed glad I didn't try to screw them when it came time to pay up. I didn't pay into their health plan (they didn't have one) and they didn't pay taxes (they were, after all, illegal), but as transactions go these days, it was fairly honorable.
Saturday's marches were thrilling because they were, at bottom, honorable. The marchers understood that this debate is about "protecting" America's borders against "dark" people--in direct violation of the Christian commitment to help the weak, the sick, the poor. The marchers and Jesus were in complete harmony--each step brought society's losers and winners closer together.
I would bet most of the white people who marched believe in a few simple precepts: education for all, medical care for those in need, food for the hungry. Yeah, they like their lawns cut for less and their shirts laundered for cheap, but this is a minor hypocrisy. In the crunch, they're human.
The "Christians" now making noises in Congress and the cable channels--there's a name for such people: "Chinos." That is: "Christians in name only." Last weekend, at long last, these folks discovered that this is America 2006, not Europe in the Dark Ages. And Spanish-speaking voters in New York and Miami just possibly learned that Republicans loathe more Hispanics than just Fidel Castro.
"Immigration" is in the news because some very cynical people thought it would make a lovely election issue--a nifty way to disguise racism as a "security" problem. In fact, Republicans love cheap labor; they'd have us all working for the minimum wage if they could. But brown illegals sucking our services....it's the "Welfare Queen" in the Cadillac all over again.
Looks like it backfired. Well, three cheers for democracy. To everyone who marched and every minister who urged people to march--God bless. For a brief shining moment, you made us proud to be American.
I've often wondered what it would take to get people out of their homes in large numbers. Correction: huge numbers. Well, we learned what it is. According to The Associated Press, 500,000 marched in Los Angeles, 50,000 in Denver, 20,000 in Phoenix, and 10,000 in Milwaukee. The New York Times buried the story on page 31, but the Times can perhaps be excused--its editors are busily making amends for the paper's pre-war regurgitation of the government's lies.
Everyone with any common sense understands that illegal immigration is a real problem, if not the looming crisis some would have us believe. On the reasonable assumption that anything this President proposes is a bad idea, I reflexively condemn Bush's idea of a two-tier, licensed-worker program. Given all the urgent issues our do-nothing White House and Congress aren't dealing with, my view is that immigration can wait until '09, when--please God--we will have some smart professionals in office again.
One point is, I think, worth making: Once again, a tone-deaf administration and the clueless Congresspeople and Senators who represent the Republican "base" have chosen to gang up on the weakest segment of our society. I remember when we had a country house in Westchester. "Need day labor?" a neighbor said. "Go to the train station in the morning." I did. And had my pick of South American men. They worked hard clearly brush all day and seemed glad I didn't try to screw them when it came time to pay up. I didn't pay into their health plan (they didn't have one) and they didn't pay taxes (they were, after all, illegal), but as transactions go these days, it was fairly honorable.
Saturday's marches were thrilling because they were, at bottom, honorable. The marchers understood that this debate is about "protecting" America's borders against "dark" people--in direct violation of the Christian commitment to help the weak, the sick, the poor. The marchers and Jesus were in complete harmony--each step brought society's losers and winners closer together.
I would bet most of the white people who marched believe in a few simple precepts: education for all, medical care for those in need, food for the hungry. Yeah, they like their lawns cut for less and their shirts laundered for cheap, but this is a minor hypocrisy. In the crunch, they're human.
The "Christians" now making noises in Congress and the cable channels--there's a name for such people: "Chinos." That is: "Christians in name only." Last weekend, at long last, these folks discovered that this is America 2006, not Europe in the Dark Ages. And Spanish-speaking voters in New York and Miami just possibly learned that Republicans loathe more Hispanics than just Fidel Castro.
"Immigration" is in the news because some very cynical people thought it would make a lovely election issue--a nifty way to disguise racism as a "security" problem. In fact, Republicans love cheap labor; they'd have us all working for the minimum wage if they could. But brown illegals sucking our services....it's the "Welfare Queen" in the Cadillac all over again.
Looks like it backfired. Well, three cheers for democracy. To everyone who marched and every minister who urged people to march--God bless. For a brief shining moment, you made us proud to be American.
