Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Welcome to Idiot America

This article, from Esquire Magazine, is great! It's a truly sobering look at the U.S. anti-evolution movement. My favorite quote:

And in Dover, Pennsylvania, during one of these many controversies, a pastor named Ray Mummert delivers the line that both ends our tour and, in every real sense, sums it up:

"We've been attacked," he says, "by the intelligent, educated segment of the culture."

And there it is.

And there it is, indeed.

We have a culture here that has really developed a disdain for intelligence, logical inquiry, and thought. Politicians are dismissed as "eggheads" or "wafflers" is they dare to commit the sin of approaching a problem from more than one angle. Admitting that something as complex as, oh, I don't know... INVADING ANOTHER COUNTRY might be capable of generating more than a single viewpoint is seen as weakness?! We have a situation where all problems are reduced to black and white responses, where "you are either with us or against us", and where discourse is seen as weakness.

We've got to find a way out of this mess.


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Right Wingnut Debate Dictionary

Finally! A guide for you, our faithful reader(s) to help you puzzle through the tangled crap spewed out by Sabbath Gasbags, Fox mouthpieces and the like. On top of being spot-on, it's a ton of fun to accuse someone of "Hannetizing".


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Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Immigration Reform

There has been a lot of chatter recently about Bush's plans for immigration reform, which has gotten me thinking about the whole issue of illegal immigration. I think that history has proven that it's pretty much impossible to keep people out of a country. In the end, the lure of better economic opportunity proves stronger than the national will to prevent illegal immigration.

I have an idea. It might not be all that revolutionary, but I think it's workable, livable and sane: End illegal immigration.

Make it known that any person that wishes to come to the U.S. to work is welcome to come (with caveats for convicted felons and the like), with only one requirement: You MUST register. That's it. Only that one hurdle. That way, we know who you are, and you know who we are.

Part of what makes illegal immigrants so desirable to U.S. businesses is that they are vulnerable to exploitation and tax fraud. An immigrant that is here illegally is unlikely to complain to OSHA is working conditions aren't safe, or sue for back-pay if they are shorted for overtime work. However, a registered, legal, immigrant worker is free to do these things if they feel that they are being exploited. Additionally, the employers will have to pay FICA and other taxes on the workers, since they will "Officially" exist inside the U.S. employment and taxation system.

I think that potential immigrant workers would be willing to stand in line for a while to get in legally and avoid the expense and danger of crossing the border illegally. Additionally, the workers would be free to go home to visit family without having to worry about sneaking back in to the country.

Given that pretty much every potential illegal immigrant seems to eventually become an actual illegal immigrant, I don't see how it would really increase the number of immigrants that end up here. We could even take the resources spent on border patrols and related tasks and spend them to create processing centers to move these volumes of people through in a speedy and humane manner, making the process even more likely work.


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Monday, November 28, 2005

Have you ever read this document? http://www.wwcd.org/issues/Lakoff.html

It's an interesting discussion of how morality works, and some insight onto why the Right has been so successful in "owning" morality. This is one of those areas where I feel that the Liberals have really fallen down on the job. We have totally abandoned the idea that there is a moral imperative behind liberal ideals. Somehow, we've allowed a system to come into place where national defense is a moral issue, yet providing health care is an economic issue.

This connects back to the 2004 elections, and really all the way back to the Reagan years, when suddenly every politician was terrified of being labeled a "Liberal". I think that, as a group (and as a party, assuming that the Democrats are the way to go with this) we need to regain ownership of Liberal in the same way that homosexual men have taken "queer" back as their own term. We need to stop flinching every time a neocon accuses us of wanting to raise taxes. Instead, we must look them in the eye and say "Hell yes, I think we should raise taxes. Our government is running massive deficits and it is stupid to the point of being irresponsible, and perhaps treasonous, to cut taxes while we are at war AND recovering from a national disaster of epic proportions". I realize that's not a soundbite-friendly thing to say, but I think that the general populace can tell when we aren't comfortable with an idea. When we tap dance around taxes, or equal rights, or health care, they can tell we aren't comfortable with the sound of our OWN ideas! How can we expect them to believe us, if we don't even sound like WE believe us?

I don't think we have to abandon the middle of the road entirely, but we've moved so far to the middle that the middle isn't the middle anymore, it's the right, and the right is now the far right. We really have to project the idea that WE are the party of morals, that WE are the party that cares about families. It's true, we ARE the party of morals: Is there anything immoral about feeding the hungry? Dressing the cold? Uplifting the downtrodden? Caring for the sick? THESE ARE MORAL VALUES!!! Morality isn't concerned with who you stick your penis in. That's only a moral issue if the other person isn't willing and/or old enough to consent. Morality isn't leaving poor people to freeze because they can't afford heating oil. Morality isn't letting a working parent get sick because they had a job that didn't provide health care, or they couldn't afford the deductible. Morality isn't letting the environment get ruined for the purpose of short-term economic gains.

Morality is the opposite of these things, and much, much more. Morality is understanding that sometimes, sacrifice is necessary. Morality is understanding that we have an obligation to help those who need help. Leaving the land in better shape than when we found it isn't some hippie crap, it's an expression of our moral responsibility to look out for and provide for our children, and those of our neighbors.

We simply MUST make it clear to those around us that being a Liberal isn't an immoral stance, it's a pure and righteous stance. A stance that seeks to uplift all peoples, protect all families and provide for the social, moral and economic well-being of our country.



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Welcome to Get Left

A political blog, now with Retsyn!


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