Immigration

Let’s think through the immigration issue for a minute. What are the issues people are concerned with and what are some reasonable solutions?

National Security – It is a different world than it was on September 10, 2001. We now have experienced & know that there are those in the world who are willing and able to do great harm on a large scale to our nation & institutions. So why is it racist or foolish to build a fence along the border where most illegal aliens enter the country? This has nothing to do with race. It has to do with the fact that people are willing to enter our country illegally. This won’t eliminate the problem any more than locking my car & taking my keys with me assures me that my car will not be stolen or vandalized. But since more unlocked cars are stolen than locked ones, I do what I can to reduce the risk. A fence is expensive. So are the problems we are experiencing from illegal aliens. So build the fence and have some chance at securing the border.

Tax Burden – This seems simple. If you are not here legally, what makes you think you have any right to government benefits of any kind?

Jobs – The truth appears to be that there are a lot of industries that rely upon foreign nationals, legal & otherwise, for manpower. OK. Let’s create a system to permit those workers to enter the country if they are truly needed. But don’t create a system where we all know laws are being broken & wink at it while raising hell that people aren’t upholding the law. You can’t expect respect for law if you selectively enforce it.

Respect for law – Any official of state or local government that does anything that conflicts or interferes with federal law &/or policy with regard to an illegal alien should be subject to federal prosecution.

Changing face of America - The fact of the matter is that the face of America has been in a constant state of change from 1492 to the present. The trick is to make it a smooth and intelligent change. There should be one language. Our public schools should be taught in English. There should also be provision to transition non-English speaking children into fluent English speakers. But a national language is important to a smoothly operating and united nation. There needs to be strict enforcement of voting laws. To claim that requiring that a voter show proof of their right to vote is racist is an indication that you think something is fishy and are using the feared racist label to cover your tracks.
What to do with those that are already here – It is unrealistic to say we want to send them back. But it is unjust to put them in line ahead of those who are willing to respect our laws. My suggestion is that we have an official policy of permitting them to stay & work provided they commit no felony and do not demonstrate against the United States. One felony & they are gone. Three misdemeanors & they are gone. Found in a demonstration against US policy & they are gone. If they want the rights that the United States provides, let them earn those rights legally. If they want to apply for legal status, they must leave & return legally. They get no special path to legal status

Hate Crimes

Congress has just passed a new hate crimes bill. If the President signs the bill, it will be a crime to think certain things while committing a crime. This law was passed as a civil rights issue and it sure is.

The Bill of Rights insures your right to believe in and worship any god you choose in any way you choose. It permits you to say or write anything you want about anybody you want. I will grant that there are practical limits to those rights. If your religion includes human sacrifice, you will not be allowed to practice it, though you can still believe in it. You cannot slander somebody with impunity. But the restrictions that apply to your constitutionally guaranteed rights are restrictions upon your actions, not on your beliefs or motives.

Now Congress wants to expand the governments role to that of thought police. If you commit a hate crime, you are already committing a crime. Why is murder more evil if you commit the murder because of somebodies race or religion than if you commit it because you are in a bad mood? Are they any more dead?

Perhaps Congress is in session too long and they feel like they need to be doing something to be earning their pay. A law that punishes you for what you think is the ultimate infringement upon civil rights. We should be passing laws about behavior, not thoughts or beliefs.

This is not a defense of racism. It is a defense of a free society. Once we allow thoughts and beliefs to be a matter of legislation, we set a precedent that will permit broader applications in the future. Perhaps it will become unlawful to believe in Creationism....or evolution. What about Capitalism or Communism? What about Christianity, or Islam, or Atheism? This may seem far fetched now, but think about some of the laws today in light of what the Founding Fathers believed and intended 200+ years ago. Let's not go there.

Iraq & Viet Nam

As the Vietnam War escalated, the American stomach for it diminished. There was good cause for some of this. The war was being managed by politicians who feared pushing the USSR & China too far rather than by military men with the intent of winning a military victory. The cause of our original involvement was being questioned. Tens of thousands of Americans were killing and being killed for reasons that were debatable and with no real intent to win, but rather with the intent to fight the enemy to a position of stalemate.

What we did as a result was shameful. We are suffering today as a result of those decisions, both internally and internationally. We saved many American lives by pulling out of Vietnam when & how we did. But we did so after the North had been equipped by its allies to fight not South Vietnam, but the United States. Our pull out resulted in saving thousands of American lives and costing well over 3 million Vietnamese theirs.

Now Congress has voted to set a date for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.

The case for going to war was flawed. But as distasteful as it is, that no longer matters, because we went to war. In the process we destroyed a functioning, if brutal government. The war has been prosecuted badly. We have caused more chaos than was perhaps necessary, but we caused it. Perhaps Iraq was not the haven for anti-American terrorism we were led to believe. It is now. We have taken down the rule of law and created a training ground for terrorists. If we pull out now the results will be

1)We will convince the world that America can be defeated by tenacity. This will only serve to encourage more bloodshed in the future, because we will have taught our enemies that if they are brutal enough & hang on long enough, we will quit.

2)We will demonstrate that America can't be trusted to protect those who rely upon us. So don't expect any country to take our word that we will protect or defend them.

3) Whatever Iraq may have been before the war, we will leave it as a huge training camp for those who want to harm us. And we will have given those who emerge as victors in the civil war that will follow no reason to quell terrorist activities against the USA.

4)As in Vietnam, there will be greater bloodshed among the Iraqis because we will not be there to curtail it.

It is no longer a matter of whether we should have gone in. We went in. We broke it. We need to fix it.

Reagan Republicans?

There are 2 kinds of political conservatives in the United States. There are religiously motivated conservatives. I keep searching for a word to describe them, because they are not all evangelical Christians, but they all share the same moral values. For them, being conservative seems to mean conserving the institutionalization of their value system. I think Social Conservative may be the best description. This group is well meaning, but they seek to enforce their value system through a system of laws. This is a dangerous idea. Your interpretation of morality may be the right one, and the world my be a better place if we all lived by moral laws, as you understand them. But what happens when somebody else is in power who has a different value system. The proper way to promulgate morality is through religion and philosophy. It is not through force or threat of punishment that we change peoples hearts and behavior, it is through understanding and insight. It is through conversion.

Then there are the Libertarian Conservatives. Although Ronald Reagan had a deep sense of Christian faith, he fell more into this camp. Although, he was also socially conservative in many ways, he believed that the less government was involved in people's lives the better it was for everybody.

Reagan left office with a very high popularity rating, he rejuvenated the Republican Party, re-started the American economy, brought inflation under control, re-built the U.S. military and was crucial (some would argue the cause) to the end of the cold war.

The result is that now, everybody running on the Republican ticket claims to be Reagan Republicans. They are not. I haven't seen one since 1989. We need one.

Thesis

For several years I have lamented the divisiveness of American politics. Talk radio seems to appeal to the juvenile in us rather than the problem solvers in us. Politicians seem to treat political office more like a team sport to be won rather than the responsible governing of the people by statesmanship and compromise. I look in vain for thoughtful people who are speaking up for the American people.

Edmond Burke said, "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing". I felt that if I wasn't seeing what I believed to be a responsible approach to government and politics, I could at least let my voice be heard. If you happen to stumble upon this blog and believe it to be worthy of your time, tell somebody else about it. Perhaps, if there are enough people out there that want to solve problems instead of win the game of politics, we can make a difference.