I’d like to preface this post by saying that, as a result of economic insecurity, climate change, authoritarianism, and any number of other factors, the United States will almost certainly see more immigration over the coming decades, as an increasing number of people, quite understandably, begin gravitating toward more stabile, less dangerous countries. And, as a nation that has historically been more welcoming to immigrants than most, and very much dependent upon the relatively inexpensive labor of undocumented workers, it’s not going to be an easy issue for us to navigate. Up until now, though, it hasn’t been an insurmountable problem. In fact, illegal boarder crossings, contrary to what you might have heard, have been decreasing for the past several decades. With that said, though, things were already beginning to happen during the Obama administration, demonstrating just how complex things were becoming. As you may recall, back in 2014, when unaccompanied minors began coming over the border in increasing numbers from Latin America, the Obama administration made the decision to detain the children in question, locking them up in government facilities, prompting formal complaints from the ACLU. [These complaints referenced children in cages.]
So, no matter how thoughtful or compassionate a presidential administration might be, there are going to be difficult decisions to be made, and mistakes will happen. And, as much as I may rail against Trump for wanting to invest our nation’s resources in a ridiculous wall, which no one thinks will be effective, instead of in things like education, health care, and dealing in a meaningful way with the global root causes of migration, I agree that immigration reform is necessary. [Regardless of what Trump might say, I’ve yet to hear a single Democrat in elected office advocate for an open border, or advocate on behalf of MS-13 gang members.] We need a clear, fair, and transparent immigration system (unlike the one that delivered Melania Trump an “Einstein” visa for being an underwear model while keeping out people from what Tump has deemed “shithole countries,” who are quite literally fighting for their lives every day), built upon a solid legal foundation that respects our dedication to human rights and equality. This, of course, is not something that we have today, as ICE agents indiscriminately round up our neighbors, while our President is saying things like, we should immediately deport undocumented workers with “no judges or court cases.” [This, of course, would be unconstitutional, as the Supreme Court held in 1982 that “aliens, even aliens whose presence in this country is unlawful, have long been recognized as ‘persons’ guaranteed due process of law by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.“]
The bottom line is that this is an incredibly complicated problem that doesn’t lend itself to easy answers. Demanding “zero tolerance” and “no judges” does not magically make the problem go away. As we’ve seen over the past several weeks, it just makes things exponentially worse, as families are torn apart, children are lost in the system, and the rule of law further erodes in the face of authoritarianism. But, as it seems to be working with Trump’s racist base, this is what we get. As Trump reportedly said a few days ago about his administration’s family separation policy, “My people love it.” And it’s absolutely true. There’s a sizable population in our country that, like our president, aren’t capable of appreciating complexity, and just want easy answers. They don’t want to think about how easy it would be to scale a border wall, or throw things over it, or tunnel beneath it. They don’t want to think of all the ways it would be an ineffective wasted of money. They just want to chant, “Build-The-Wall,” thinking that it’ll somehow magically take us back to the 1950s, when everyone had jobs, no one’s kids were overdosing on opioids, and the only people on television were happy and white.
I know it’s not exactly helpful to point out the hypocrisy and stupidity of Donald Trump and his followers, but I’m struck today my how confusing the messaging on the right is about the border, especially as it relates to the Democrats.
“Countless Americans who have died in recent years would be alive today if not for the open border policies of this administration,” Trump lamented in September 2016. And it’s something that he’s continued to beat Democrats up on since. Just last week, as you might recall, he attacked his detractors in Congress as “extremist open-border Democrats,” and argued that the party wanted “illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our Country, like MS-13,” because they see MS-13 gang members as “potential voters!” And this message, as you probably saw, was then echoed across the Republican right by the likes of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who shared the following racist post on Twitter.
At the same time, though… and this is what I find so interesting… the same folks on the right have began arguing that Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy toward immigration, which dictated that children be forcefully removed from their parents at the border and held separately, was actually the work of Barack Obama. [As stated above, the Obama administration did detain unaccompanied minors, but, outside of extreme cases, where health concerns or other factors dictated, they did not separate children from families.] In fact, as we discussed some time ago, when Donald Trump was forced to sign an executive order stopping his administration’s policy of child separation, his daughter actually took to Twitter to sing his praises for standing up on behalf of these poor children. [By the way, according to Senator Diane Feinstein, over 2,000 children taken from their parents at the border have yet to be reunited with their families.] And it’s a narrative that I’m seeing more and more of on the delusional right… Here for instance, is something that was sent to me a few days ago on Twitter, from a fellow who referred to me as “libtardo.”
So the heroic Donald Trump, undeterred by the excruciating pain of his bone spurs, finally stood up to the Obama administration Deep State and set these abducted children free. And it isn’t just anonymous internet conspiracy theorists spreading these lies. Amy Kremer, co-founder of Women for Trump, was just on CNN yesterday, telling Victor Blackwell how Obama had started the child separation policy. Obama Homeland Security Director Jeh Johnson, she said, had admitted as much, she assured viewers. Knowing that this wasn’t the case, though, Blackwell asked the folks in the control room to find the video of Johnson that Kremer noted, which they promptly did. And, guess what? He’d said nothing of the kind. [Fast forward to the 4:20-mark, if you’re short on time.]
REAL-TIME FACT CHECK: President Trump supporter @AmyKremer falsely claims the Obama administration had a family separation policy, too https://t.co/gI8IkVgvbu
— Victor Blackwell CNN (@VictorBlackwell) June 23, 2018
We live in an age of short attention spans and rapidly growing fear, in which a huge percentage of the American population are too stupid and gullible to carry out the work required of citizens living in a democracy. Thanks to them, we elected someone for entertainment value, and, now, as a result, for all intents and purposes, we’re living inside of a reality television program, subjected to the chaos, racism and lies of man more interested in adulation and the accumulation of power than in the welfare of the people he’s sworn to serve. And, thanks to numerous judicial appointments and a stolen Supreme Court seat, this evil we know as Trumpism is gaining a foothold that will be with us for generations. [News came out today that the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, had sided with Trump on his Muslim travel ban.] I wish I could tell you that we’re going to be able to stop it, but every day it seems a little less likely, with gerrymandering cases being thrown out of court, people of color being scapegoated as “animals” “infesting” America, and members of the right screaming about how they’re the one who are being victimized. Speaking of which, today Speaker of the House Paul Ryan demanded that Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters… who our racist president calls “low IQ” Maxine Waters… apologize for saying that people should “harass” members of the administration in public. Ryan, it’s curious to note, did not, however, ask for an apology from his fellow Republican Congressman Steve King, who recently retweeted something from a self-described Nazi sympathizer.
So that’s the America we live in. The black woman who Donald Trump refers to as having a “low IQ,” is asked to apologize for her lack of civility, while Steve King, an older white man, is allowed to spew racist garbage unchecked.
Personally, I’m beyond giving a fuck about civility. I’m well beyond caring about the politics of whether or not something we do on our side may turn off independent voters. If the owner of The Red Hen wants to kick presidential propagandist Sarah Huckabee Sanders out of her restaurant, I don’t care. Yes, I know that it’ll be all that Fox News talks about for a week, and that it’ll help them avoid confronting the racism and cruelty of Donald Trump’s border policies, but what does it fucking matter? They’re never going to be honest. There is no level of appeasement that would make them stop. It reminds me of a headline I saw yesterday urging the Jews to be more civil toward the Nazis.
Okay. I've found it. The absolute culmination of the "we have to build bridges with the far right" argument. pic.twitter.com/PpMHELNIe1
— Angus Johnston (@studentactivism) June 14, 2018
I’m also beyond worrying about Nazi analogies, by the way. I don’t care if they hurt your feelings, or if you feel they’re unhelpful. Again, I’d encourage you to consider the fact that the ruling party in our country, which is now run a conman with anti-democratic tendencies who has started saying “I don’t want judges, I want ICE” at rallies, and talking about the “breeding” of immigrants in our country, stole a seat on the Supreme Court, and is now in the process of rolling back civil rights for people color, all while talking about their own victimization. If there’s a better analogy than the Nazi Party, I’m not aware of it.
58 Comments
Today the Republicans are calling on Maxine Waters to resign.
We’re dealing with totalitarian unAmerican amoral nutjobs who are mentally and materially equipped for civil war. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. Vote progressive in the primary. Speak truth harder and louder in response to their vile fascist lies. Use your 1st amendment like your life depends on it. Don’t be that pussy who refuses to support the best candidate because of cultural intimidation and twisted strategic bullshit.
“Keep America white”
Anyone who doesn’t think this administration is driven by racism is a fool.
You represent the racists in this country, Iron Derp. You think if someone doesn’t hate European descended people they are racist. Americans want to have a border with orderly immigration. Previous administrations fucked it all up. Trump is fixing it. I think you people just get off on trying to make every single thing about race. It’s like “Lethal drugs and human trafficking and gangs and terrorists? Whatever do you mean? It’s waycist to even think of it! Waycist!!!”
^^^ “You represent the racists in this country, Iron Derp” says the Dude who just replied to a comment about structural inequality built into regulations re legal marijuana cultivation and sales with “Waah! Waah! Waah! Waah!”
So let’s get this straight: Concern for structural barriers to opportunities for POC is scoffed at and women are treated as objects of desire or derision only. while special pleading is made for supposed bias toward white men.
HW you are not making a strong case that you aren’t a racist and sexist fuck. Paranoid and reactive too, which is a multiplier. All this while perpetually stoned.
The conversations among some commenters about preserving civility here, in which HW is given a pass and defended, mimic Trumpian logic. White men who express racist sentiment and advocate for violence should be handled with kid gloves. People who confront them should be condemned for their bias and lack of civility. Double standards always work the same way– to preserve power. They cant exist without power imbalance.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bkd_JzlA8fv/?taken-by=the.daily.don
“You think if someone doesn’t hate European descended people they are racist.”
lol
Yes, I think we should imprison all white weed smokers.
I have a small amount of empathy for HW. Despite being a white man, gifted with high intelligence, as evidenced by his superior knowledge about hemp, marijuana, and sativa, as well as his unusually strong resistance to deep state programming, he is stuck making a life for himself in Ypsilanti, surrounded by complacent racist drones. Other people of similar mindset, but lesser abilities, have been able to make a life in a community such as Jackson, Midland, or Grand Rapids. For whatever reason that seems to be mysterious to all, HW is here, on this board. Maybe he was booted out of other boards by other redpillers threatened by his knowledge. At least Mark allows him space to share his mind.
The power of the 420 Siberian Warlord to predict future events was only rivaled by Nostradamus himself.
He is like the Muskegon version of Nostradamus, but where lesser beings fill that storied city, he chose to grace the great city of Ypsilanti with his powerful clairvoyant abilities.
If only he might apply his abilities to horse racing or saving pets from being boiled alive in a Wal-Mart parking lot, he might be the richest marijuana expert in the world.
Surely there must be a better use for HW’s uncanny rhetoric, societal knowledge, and interpersonal skills than being a small time pot dispensary and sound technician. He should run for public office, as once the scales fall off the local citizenry, he will become the Alexander Hamilton of Washtenaw County. Mark will then write a hagiographical article retracting all derogatory comments directed at HW and will rename the site in his honor.
I like that you have a tag for “white victimhood”.
Under the Mr. 420 Morovian ObamaKushlord’s watch, the iconic Ypsilanti tower will instead be repurposed into the world’s largest bong, with a 24 hour repeating soundtrack of Blues Traveller’s “Run-Around” for all to enjoy.
I think that as it is already purposed for containing large quantities of water, a hookah would be more appropriate.
Think of all the children who will be spared the pain of having seizures. We will not worry ourselves with all the dead kids and pets, as they do not have seizures, being dead and all.
Certainly any governmental system that places a top value for performance on a subsidized cost per citizen basis would do extremely well by reducing all expenditures to zero.
You people are so far off it’s shameful. If you are going to spend your life trolling then you should try to hit the mark. No sense of humor, just crackhead monkey talk.
Oh shit you guys are about to get fucked up! I love to see a good plan come together. I know you can’t believe it. It’s about to come down! You’re going to get fucked up I’m telling you.
The nice thing is no one will actually get it but the criminals. There is nothing to fear unless you fear light. You will wonder how you were under their spell your whole life. That will be progress when even people like you begin to understand.
Under the 420 Liberian Sierian Kushlord, in Washtenaw County marijuana will be free of charge to all children under the age of 8 years. No child will be allowed to opt out of the system, toking stations will be set up at all corners and police will be ready to enforce the new rules. Parents and children who do not comply will be jailed until toking resumes.
“Oh shit you guys are about to get fucked up! I love to see a good plan come together. I know you can’t believe it. It’s about to come down! You’re going to get fucked up I’m telling you.
The nice thing is no one will actually get it but the criminals. There is nothing to fear unless you fear light. You will wonder how you were under their spell your whole life. That will be progress when even people like you begin to understand.”
His Nostradamus like powers on display, without the need for translation fro 16th century Italian. Only marijuana is needed to understand his powerful display of clairvoyance.
I found the original ‘dumb bitch; comment, It;s su absurd, it makes me wonder why we are still talking to this guy, I dont understand people who get this worked up over disagreements I really dont. I think maybe it’s time to ignore HW. as much fun as it has been
[[Hyborian Warlord
Posted October 14, 2017 at 8:28 am | Permalink
Jean Henry: “HW– Who said it’s sexist not to vote for HRC? Acknowledging sexism in the campaign is not the same as saying all people who didn’t vote for her are sexist. I have made clear here that I think sexism and racism heavily influence voters. I have also made clear that I don;t think all Trump voters are sexist or racist.I don;t see those statements as contradictory.”
Me: “You did:”
Jean Henry :“But right now, I don’t think they politically deserve to be catered to. And I know them well enough to know most of them will never ever ever vote for HRC anyway. Just like Bernie or Busters– It’s asking to much of them to admit their criticism is largely based on misinformation, lies and sexism… They will still hate her, like they hated Obama, because they are bigots. Because sexism is a factor. And denying it is like a full time job for parts of our majority culture.”
You dumb bitch!
“Civility” on display.
Very strange to use misogynistic language in a discussion about sexism.
I think.
If you were honest you would post all the things you said about me before that. Why be offended by me calling you a dumb bitch when YOU are the one who declared war on me? You thought I was a good target be because I didn’t fight back and now that I do you want to play victim. Waah waah.
Strange to hate men in general and act like that is not sexist. My comment was to Jean, no one else.
“I am a strong black woman and I cannot be intimidated.”
— Maxine Waters
Just like the brave white nationalists in the Unite the Right event in Charlottesville, the 420 Liberian Kushlord is the true victim.
The Mr. White Liberian ObamaKushlord is our own Peter Cytanovic, a victim in an extensive deepstate CIA conspiracy with the well compensated Jean Henry at the helm.
“As a white nationalist, I care for all people. We all deserve a future for our children and for our culture. White nationalists aren’t all hateful; we just want to preserve what we have.”
– Peter Cytanovic
Man, you are really hurting yourself. Soon it will be painfully obvious to everyone (if it isn’t already) you are stuck in a tub of bubbling, stinking shit trying to fling it at passersby. You are the one with the extremist views, not me. The very fact that you would try to associate me with racists when you are openly racist yourself shows what we are dealing with here.
The Mr. 420 Kushlord is not a racist, he simply wants to preserve the European character of our great society by keeping brown people out.
It’s morally reprehensible to use accusations of racism to try to keep bad policies in place. It’s really bad what you do. You are the extremist for equating having a border with white nationalism. You support criminal networks who abuse our system to smuggle drugs, weapons and human beings. It’s you who hates brown people. You look the other way when they are bought and sold like slaves. You are actually doing evil by attacking someone like me who is bringing light to the subject.
I get the sense that being a good listener has never been more critical than it is these days. It also appears to me that people are moving away from that more dramatically now than at any other time that I’ve been around to observe.
“It’s morally reprehensible to use accusations of racism to try to keep bad policies in place. It’s really bad what you do. You are the extremist for equating having a border with white nationalism. You support criminal networks who abuse our system to smuggle drugs, weapons and human beings. It’s you who hates brown people. You look the other way when they are bought and sold like slaves. You are actually doing evil by attacking someone like me who is bringing light to the subject.”
lol
“Fuck civility! ‘Trump-shaming’ is what happens when elites won’t listen to the people.”
http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/will_bunch/supporting-incivility-toward-president-trump-aides-cabinet-20180626.html
“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ~Elie Wiesel
“Strange to hate men in general and act like that is not sexist. My comment was to Jean, no one else.” I adore men and prefer their company to women most of the time. I just dont like men like you HW.
There is a pattern of you thinking that my political positions, say against sexism and racism, constitutes hatred for men or white people or some other group.
I’m really unclear on why disliking bigotry constitutes bigotry.
I’m more unclear on why misogynistic personal attack constitutes reasonable defense against accusation of sexism.
I was in no way offended by you calling me a dumb bitch.
I don’t mind being a bitch and there’s ample evidence that I’m not too dumb.
I also have no respect for your opinion.
But it was a misogynistic outburst and, as such, is fair game in asserting that you’re sexist.
Looking back a bit, I wonder if HW is unclear on the difference between criticizing racism and racial bias and sexism and gender boas as a cultural disease that is systemically and structurally re-enforced, and and accusation of an individual or group being racist or sexist.
He’s not alone. Many a Bernie supporter felt that I was accusing them personally of sexism while pointing up the sexism in the Sanders campaign. Its an absurd conflation. I didn’t think most Berners were sexist.
I do however think that HW is racist.
So there’s that.
A typical right wing trope, speaking out against racists makes one a racist, since racists have the best interests of everyone at heart.
Makes sense to me.
HW: I’m not bigoted. I treat all other people the same.
“I’m not a racist, I just support a President who ran on a racist platform and implements racist policies to please racists.”
Anthony Kennedy just announced his retirement. This is going to get worse.
Will right wingers stop claiming to be victims now?
Soon, women will lose control of their bodies as God willed, birth control will be illegal, we will go back to the glory days when poor people did not have health care as intended, back to the glorious days where one could speak proudly of one’s whiteness without the fear of having to serve brown people a meal.
Stakes on the midterm just grew exponentially. I dont know if the Dems have the balls to block a SCOTUS nominee, but the GOP sure have it coming.
I feel physically ill.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/27/politics/anthony-kennedy-retires/index.html
If they restrict access to abortion even more, all free-thinking women over 14 should get a IUD installed and not take it out until we regain our bodily autonomy.
Oh, over 14 and under 50. Heh. My first thought upon hearing the news was phew I dodger that one, and then, time to get my daughter an IUD.
We have a street fighter in the White House who uses those skills to inflict harm on the most vulnerable. The answer is not more weak-kneed politicians or policy wonks. The answer is street fighters for good.
#whitegenocide
Hey, IL, JH and all the lurkers, instead of this masochistic charade with the Australopithecus Bongwhore, why not spend your spare time working the midterm election? The Michigan 7th, 8th and 11th are all flippable. How about, at a minimum, you give one of these Dems a buck for every gratuitous trolling comment you can’t resist making? I do understand the urge, BFFS get to work people.
https://swingleft.org/
I usually help where I can, yes.
Because I want to see white people imprisoned and sterilized.
Let’s see what happens when implicit biases work their way into artificial intelligence. What could go wrong?
https://harpers.org/archive/2018/07/known-unknowns/
https://www.axios.com/ibm-releases-image-data-to-improve-facial-recognition-ai-5ff43695-89b2-4494-bd47-f6774e165536.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8N72t7aScY
Phuuuuck so haaaai the machines will pack the bong
John Brown– you assume I’m not engaged politically. That would be wrong. I dip my toe into lots of actions. I’ve co-lead a few. Enough to now try to use my political energy where eI believe it can have impact, which means mostly in local politics. And then on non-partisan issues like gerrymandering and community capital/localism. What I do here, is simply a break from other work, or a way to pass the time while doing the significant amount of time spent waiting in single parenthood. It’s an outlet that lets me wrk out my thinking. Its not political action. That’s why, most days, I enjoy it. It may be a waste of my time. Probably better to take up knitting or read a book.
I dont give money to campaigns or parties any more. I give to non-profits and political advocacy organizations and non-profit journalistic outlets.
It would be a big mistake to confuse the person I am on MM with the person I am IRL. I wouldn’t want this me to bleed over too much into my regular life. That would suck for everyone. We all need our outlets. Porn isnt an option with kids around.
“I adore men and prefer their company to women most of the time.“ – Jean Henry (June 27,2018 12:53pm
Be honest, Jean. It’s women who prefer you spend your time in the company of men, isn’t it?
I have to admit also, I’m a bit surprised. Most of the arrogant, obnoxious French guys I know get along very well with women…
…usually other men’s wifes, fiancés, girlfriends, etc.
“You can’t argue that Obama imprisoned child immigrants while also arguing that he had an open border policy” – Mark Maynard (June 26, 2018)
Actually, in this new age, you can. Logic, integrity, honesty, decency, consistency; These are all things of the past.All is fair in war, and now all is war.
You should understand that. You’ve been blogging for many years. Intelligent discussion and logical argument disappeared long ago. Reason and responsibility went too. Few seemed to notice. Now that even the most basic standards are falling away, lots of folks are freaking out. But they weren’t freaking out when they were the perpetrators in the earlier stages. The chickens are coming home to roost, Mark. There is no going back now. We are long past that point. Now, there is only going ‘through,’ and it is not going to be pleasant. You can count on that.
The government never had a specific plan to reunify families, a court testimony shows.
https://cnn.it/2tMwyTQ
“[The children] did not have shoes or blankets in the detention center, and there were people in the cells that had to sleep standing up. They did not have enough to eat….”
https://twitter.com/NewsHour/status/1015344638008483841
“Just got off the phone w/ HHS. I am furious&horrified after immigration conference call – virtually no separated children have been reunified; no system, no plan, no path to assure reunification; no answers to key questions. Strategy seems to be: blame everyone else.”