There is a lively debate going on within MemeStreams on Illegal Immigration. First, thank you. One of the oft criticisms of MemeStreams is that its dominated by liberal perspectives. There is no architechtural reason for this. MemeStreams is supposed to be a place where people from different perspectives debate issues. Its not supposed to be dominated by one side of the fence. I'm glad to see an array of perspectives being offered in this debate, on an issue that is most near and dear to conservative hearts.

Having said all of that, I'm going to weigh in, and I'm going to say a bunch of stuff that is apt to make some of you angry. This is a touchy issue. Be prepared.

I'm a legal immigrant and a naturalized citizen of the U.S.. Most legal immigrants hate illegal immigrants. I don't. There are three things that separate my perspective on this from most people.

1. I think the Berlin wall was a great scar across the face of Europe, and a symbol of our collective primitiveness. I don't like governments drawing lines in the sand and shooting people who try to cross them. I don't like other walls for similar reasons. I think the wall in Isreal represents a great failure to communicate. I think a wall in the southern states would reflect poorly on America. Its an authoritarian reaction rooted in fear. To me it represents weakness rather than strength.

2. I think many Americans feel a sense of entitlement to the greatness of America. They wrap up our country's accomplishments, sprinkle on a bunch of stuff we didn't accomplish, pin it on their chest, and claim personal responsibility for it. They beleive that they are personally great because they are Americans and America is great. They don't want to share their oyster with others.

My grandfathers faught in World War II. I'm simultaneously proud of their accomplishments, grateful for their sacrifices, and in awe of their bravery. But I didn't do this, and I don't deserve any of their glory. The freedom they helped secure was not just for Canadians, but for the entire world. Its a freedom I still get to experience living now in America, and a freedom that my present countrymen's grandparents also faught for. But that freedom is not a privledge or an entitlement. It is not a property that we may own or that we may deny to others. It is a debt we owe to them, which we can only repay through our own accomplishments.

I don't feel personally responsible for anything that I didn't personally accomplish. The idea that other people can become Americans or live in America doesn't bother me. I don't think it makes them any better then if they weren't Americans. In part, perhaps, because I don't think Americans are inherently better then anyone else. Americans aren't great because America is a great country. It works the other way around. America is a great country because there are many great Americans. I tend to judge other people on their own merit rather then on the co... [ Read More (0.8k in body) ]

FOXNews.com - Immigrants Stage a Patriotic Protest

Federal and state authorities have not commented on a possible motive, beyond evidence that an apparent prank spun out of control. Defense attorneys have not commented either, but say the fires were not crimes of hate.

What is going on with teenage boys in this country? Church fires (in "Bombingham")as a alcohol fuled prank? Homeless men beat to death as a "joke"? How can people so young be so violent and destructive?

Chron.com | Drinking May Have Fueled Ala. Church Fires

The federal government has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by an Egyptian who was among dozens of Muslim men swept up in the New York area after 9/11, held for months in a federal detention center in Brooklyn and deported after being cleared of links to terrorism.

U.S. Is Settling Detainee's Suit in 9/11 Sweep - New York Times

I acknowledge that some people have been offended by the publication of the cartoons, and Jyllands-Posten has apologized for that. But we cannot apologize for our right to publish material, even offensive material. You cannot edit a newspaper if you are paralyzed by worries about every possible insult.

More cartoon stuff, out of the horses mouth.

Why I Published Those Cartoons

President Bush today again avoided taking a question from White House doyenne Helen Thomas during his 45-minute press conference, even though he took questions from every reporter around her front-row, center seat.

"He's a coward," Thomas said afterward. "He's supposed to be this macho guy. He'll take on Osama bin Laden, but he won't take me on."

Helen Thomas has really been screwed over by this administration and beleive me- the press corps has noticed. If someone as well-respected as Thomas can be treated this way, no one in the press is safe to ask tough questions.

Speaking of Bush and press conferences...

Dear Mr. Wooten,

I just had the opportunity to read your editorial on the Voter ID act, "Voter ID Critics Have No Room to Whine." I felt compelled to write you about it.

The reason the Voter ID Act is questionable- and I would say, troubling- is not what it does, but what it doesn't do. There have been no cases of voter fraud in the last nine years. ZERO. That means that it seeks to solve a problem that, for all intensive purposes, does not exist. I find that very odd. You write, "The Legislature took a fair shot at fixing an abuse a majority of members legitimately believed to exist." Why did they believe it existed when so many sources have now pointed out that it doesn't? Because that was not the objective of the bill.

In reality, all that is required in Georgia to vote is an affadavit affirming that you are who you say you are. This is on the absentee ballot, and also in the GA Constitution. If this law passes, it does not change that. So once again, this law is unneccessary.

And here's the kicker- the items required to get a "free" ID are items only available on other issued IDs. Here is what is required (from the text of the revised act.)
-"a photo identity document"
-documentation of birth
-documentation of soc. sec. number
-documentation of name and address.

Are you reading what I'm reading? You NEED an official photo I.D. to GET an official photo I.D. Even if they get more specific on this matter (i.e, specifying what kinds of "photo identity documents"), it is still very strange when it doesn't actually change the affadavit clause, covered in the constitution. I can only assume that this bill will not affect you, sir, or surely you would think it strange as well.

What is the point of passing arbitrary bills that have no positive effect? To appear active (I would say to anti-immigrant activists). And according to your article, that is good enough, and we have "no room to whine." When Republicans start arbitrarily building barriers to YOUR constitutional rights, such as, oh, the first amendment, then I hope you feel the same way.

Thank you for your time,

(name)

P.S. Attached is a copy of the GA absentee ballot. The text of the new Voter ID act can be found at:
http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2005_06/fulltext/sb84.htm

This Voter ID stuff annoys the hell out of me...

Decius wrote:
] ] The law gives Allawi "extraordinary authorities" to
] ] declare curfews, restrict communications, seize assets,
] ] restrict civic associations and assume direct command of
] ] security forces in areas deemed to be emergency zones. In
] ] those places, police and military units would have the
] ] freedom to search and detain people without judicial
] ] orders.
] ]
] ] The country's human rights minister, Baktiar Amin,
] ] compared the new Iraqi law to the U.S.A. Patriot Act, the
] ] U.S. law enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks that
] ] gives broader powers to law enforcement authorities in
] ] pursuit of suspected terrorists. "Similar laws have been
] ] enacted in a number of countries," Amin said.
]
] Brilliant. No, the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act had nothing to do with
] these kinds of powers. Nor do I think that martial law is
] entirely out of place in some of these cities. But this
] comment is interesting on many levels. Isn't it the Human
] Rights Minister's job to question laws like this? Is he just a
] rubber stamp? Was our loosening of the rules a carte blache to
] other nations to loosen them even more. What kind of messages
] are we sending?

The answer to problems with democracy is more democracy, not less. Both the US and our red-headed step child over (Iraq) there don't seem to realize that, hence the on-going problems. Samuel Huntington would freaking LOVE this law.

RE: Iraq Approves Security Law Allowing Martial Rule (washingtonpost.com)

I've found this on 3 different news sources. Why ,though, is this not making bigger news?

Did the CIA infiltrate CONGRESS?

] ] If even one reporter had stood up during a pre-Iraq Bush
] ] press conference last year and shouted, "Bullshit!" it
] ] might have made a difference.

Not exactly true. Anyone ever heard of Helen Thomas?

"MS. THOMAS: Is this revenge, 11 years of revenge?

MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, I think you know very well that the President's position is that he wants to avert war, and that the President has asked the United Nations to go into Iraq to help with the purpose of averting war.

MS. THOMAS: Would the President attack innocent Iraqi lives?

MR. FLEISCHER: The President wants to make certain that he can defend our country, defend our interests, defend the region, and make certain that American lives are not lost.

MS. THOMAS: And he thinks they are a threat to us?

MR. FLEISCHER: There is no question that the President thinks that Iraq is a threat to the United States.

MS. THOMAS: The Iraqi people?"

-Transcript of a white house press conference a few days before this prominent reporter had her front row seat demoted. Not ONE reporter raised their voice in opposition when she was demoted, instead taking it as a warning for people that ask the wrong sort of questions.

That is messed up.

RE: NYPress: SHOVELING COAL FOR SATAN: Christopher Hitchens collects check from Microsoft, calls Moore a coward.

] One friend I know describes working in the media as
] shoveling coal for Satan. That's about right. A worker in
] a tampon factory has dignity: He just uses his sweat to
] make a product, a useful product at that, and doesn't lie
] to himself about what he does. In this business we make
] commodities for sale and, for the benefit of our
] consciences and our egos, we call them ideas and truth.
] And then we go on the lecture circuit. But in 99 cases
] out of 100, the public has more to learn about humanity
] from the guy who makes tampons.
]
] I'm off on this tangent because I'm enraged by the
] numerous attempts at verbose, pseudoliterary, "nuanced"
] criticism of Moore this week by the learned priests of
] our business. (And no, I'm not overlooking this
] newspaper.) Michael Moore may be an ass, and impossible
] to like as a public figure, and a little loose with the
] facts, and greedy, and a shameless panderer. But he
] wouldn't be necessary if even one percent of the rest of
] us had any balls at all.
]
] If even one reporter had stood up during a pre-Iraq Bush
] press conference last year and shouted, "Bullshit!" it
] might have made a difference.

Wow, this is the kind of media rant I have been wanting to write for quite some time now. Please go and read it.

NYPress: SHOVELING COAL FOR SATAN: Christopher Hitchens collects check from Microsoft, calls Moore a coward.