LEAGUE CITY — The 17-year-old’s lifeless body was frozen in a sitting position in solitary-confinement at the Galveston County Jail.
Arturo Chavez’s back was flush against a 7-foot partition for the cell’s shower. A blue blanket was twisted into a noose, with one end wrapped around his neck, the other tied to a shower head.
He apparently hanged himself about 48 hours after being arrested for what started as an illegal left turn.
I have a son, he is almost seven, I can’t imagine him risking his life, crossing the Rio Grande, at the tender age of 13, hoping to attain the American dream. This is a story that exemplifies a crisis with our Southern neighbors and with our broken immigration system. Yes, its true, albiet he did it without proper papers, this boy risked his life to come here to create a better life for himself and for his family, imagine the inner strength it must have taken to make such a journey.
Arturo Chavez, 17, after being arrested for making an illegal left hand turn, reportedly panicked, attempting to flee from his jail cell. According to jail officers he was tasered and clubbed while attempting to escape over a fence.
From all accounts, he was a model immigrant, taking classes to learn English, proud of his Mayan heritage but also proud to be here in America, his ankle braclet displaying the red, white, and blue colors. He worked hard as a bus boy, hoping to move up to waiter. People will point out that he came here “illegally”, that he should not have been driving without a valid drivers license, and insurance. I agree with all that, but what I am wondering, is where is our soul as a nation, that we don’t raise this child up, praise him for risking so much, for being so brave to strive for the American dream as a mere child. How many teenagers do you know that exhibit such desire to better themselves and better their loved ones?
Those who knew Chavez said, like many undocumented immigrants, he feared any run-in with authorities as it would likely mean he would be deported.
He left Central America when he was 13 and wanted more out of life than he could get with tips loading baggage at a bus station.
Relatives say it took him nearly 15 days to get to Houston, including sneaking into Mexico and riding a passenger bus north.
He crossed the Rio Grande and hiked through South Texas.
Human smugglers demanded $3,500 to guide him, a hefty sum met with help from family and friends.
In Houston, he was known for his hustle and held out hope his improving English skills would get him promoted from busboy to waiter.
Chavez’s death was a mystery as much as a shock, said Mario Garcia, who owns the restaurant where Chavez worked.
“I don’t understand how you can go from making a mistake to losing your life, I’m dumbfounded by it,” Garcia said. “There are two sides to every story, and the truth is probably somewhere right in the middle.”
$100 sent home weekly
The kid known by his family as niño, Spanish for boy, had come a long way since leaving his indigenous village. He was sending home at least $100 a week to help his mother, father and sister.He was not only working full time, but attending Clear Creek High School’s program to help newly arrived international students.
He wore woven bracelets made of blue and white yarn — the colors of Guatemala’s flag — as well as an anklet with the U.S.A.’s red, white and blue.
“He was very proud of his Mayan heritage,” said Elizabeth Laurence, one of his teachers. “He was a feisty young fellow, popular and wanted to learn English very much. He wasn’t timid; he tried to use it.”
Things were going well with his girlfriend, Jhoseline Martell, whom he met at school.
As the police cruiser’s lights flashed behind him near Louisiana Street and League City Parkway, Chavez dialed Martell on his cell phone and stuffed it in his pocket.
“He said the police have stopped me, just listen,” recalled Martell, 15.
He normally rode a bicycle to avoid such trouble, but he had recently bought a used green Honda sedan.
He had no driver’s license, no insurance and what turned out later to be a fake identification card.
He was arrested and taken to jail. His mugshot was taken while he wore the red shirt from his job as a busboy.
Twinad,
Thank you so much for sharing your very personal experiences with us. Your contribution really changes the tone of the discussion and hopefully allows people a moment of human connection.
Since there is no thread about Hillary’s speech, may I offer an observation:
McCain needs to choose a woman for VP. I don’t care which woman. As long as she is a genuine woman, which means Mitt Romney in a dress would not suffice.
Elena,
Thank you for the kind words. You know what else I thought about when I was there? I thought about how different their lives were at the time I visited than when my husband still lived there. Yes, they were all gathered around the table just having a wonderful time and I realized all the things they had that they hadn’t had when their kids left home at 12 and then later when they left to go to the US. Here I was, thinking about what it would be like to live in those surroundings all the time and how difficult it would be. But when I was there, they at least had finally gotten electricity. That came about a year before I visited in 2001. One of his sisters that lives nearby had an actual flushing toilet (thank God!)…don’t know how I would have survived without that! And of course, they had enough food because my husband and his brother send plenty home, but their mother still lives and buys food the same way she always has. She comes to visit and one night I came home from work and she had made rice, black beans and tortillas for dinner. That’s it! This was a few years ago before food prices began to rise, but I literally did sit there and think “Damn, she just made dinner for 6 for like $1! They don’t need to worry that they won’t have anything to eat anymore because she has it all socked away, but they definitely do not eat meat every day or probably more than 2 or 3 times a week at the very most…and not Outback steakhouse portions for sure!
WHWN,
Hillary’s speech was great! For all the whining about how neither option is a good candidate for president, I personally think we hit the mother lode this cycle. I am supporting Obama, but had he not run, I absolutely would have supported Clinton. I think it is a shame that we had to choose between the two. And as for McCain, as far as I could see, he was head and shoulders above any other Republican candidate that ran. At least America’s Republican’s got it right!
TWINAD: I agree, Hillary was AAAWWWWWW-SAAAAAAM tonight! “Were you in it just for me” was the best line, as opposed to being in it for your country.
WHWN, I am no fan of McCain but I did like him 8 years ago before the switch from “Maverick” to “Sidekick” (this was the best line of the Montana Governor guy). I notice you seem to hate Romney, and I can guess why. But keep an open mind because I think he may be your guy. Think about it.
If Mitt Romney was willing to go from pro-gay rights TO against them, from pro-choice TO anti-abortion, from pro-affirmative action to anti-immigrant….
(check this out)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9IJUkYUbvI
….maybe he WOULD put on that dress you don’t want to see.
Maybe it would be better to be careful about placing hope in Obama. I don’t have any hope in Obama. However, I do have hope in his followers. He is making a lot of lofty promises and he will break them all…starting with his promise to pull out of Iraq.
My hope is that when Obama starts to break his promises…his disillusioned followers will eventually rise up, march on Washington, and create national chaos like we saw during the Vietnam war. I think this will be the only way we will leave Iraq.
My hope is that the hope so many feel today…will be united into red-hot anger tomorrow…and will lead to some kind of real change.
But I don’t think there is much chance of this happening. Democrats can be just as hypocritical as Republicans. Bill Clinton murdered 500,000 Iraqi men, women, and children and, to this day, democrats actually defend him with a straight face.
McCain, on the other hand, is crazy. Here comes world war 3.
Time to buy a nice plot of land in South America. Working remotely on a 100acre plot in South America while the USA collapses under the weight of empire, sounds like a plan.
We’re still experiencing the cultural/political inertia of 60 years of unrestrained empire. There is a massive cultural/political realignment coming for us. We must relearn our place in the world. Hopefully it will come gradually over many years with good steps like the mortgage collapse. Or Al-Queda might force it to come all at once when they simultaneously detonate multiple nuclear weapons in american cities.
Michael,
Are you threatening people on this blog with legal action ?
Michael, 26. August 2008, 18:22
“What you are doing in supporting “illegal” sympathy can even be held accountable under the law at a later date, should someone wish to press legal charges in the same way “militant and subversive” groups that undermine the national security of our nation can be persecuted under the law. The comments you and others post and the evidence gathered using the recorded and preserved files and internet traffic on this site at the FBI, CIA, DIA and DHS based on the subversive elements and facts that transpire on this site can be used in a later “anti-illegal” damage and subversion lawsuit, brought by the majority of the society against the minority of society that hurts it.”
Elena, are you frickin kidding me? Michael said that? Michael threw that ridiculous infirm, insane, and inebriated idea up on this blog? It can’t be true. I don”t have much respect for his ideas on “democracy,” but never thought him capable of approaching Greg Letiecq territory with such delusions of Thought Police grandeur.
This is a joke, right? Right???
Yes, that was precisely the intent of my satire about Romney. Personally, I feel like it plays better with a hint of subtlety, but yes, I’m quite disgusted by Romney’s insulting attitude toward the electorate, that we’re too dumb and lazy to notice that he changes his positions on core issues depending on who he wants to pander to.
My point, however, was that there is a great opportunity to peel off older women voters who supported Hillary and are resentful toward Obama for stealing the show. But it will take more than a commercial or two to do it. He needs something more substantive, like a Kay Bailey Hutchinson VP pick.
Sorry for being off topic, Elena. Maybe you could do a convention thread?
NGL,
Not a joke, unfortunately. I almost missed it, as I often only do a quick “drive by” when I read his posts. But he has actually posted this type of comment twice. Once on this thread and also on the thread about law enforcement being reluctant to get involved with immigration. Kinda creepy.
Will do tomorrow WHWN, promise 🙂
WHWN,
Of course, I HOPE I will be able to do it tomorrow, assuming the DHS hasn’t arrested me for subversive thoughts!
NotGregLetiecq,
Unfortunately, in a democracy, the will of the majority always trumps the rights of the minorities so Michael is technically correct.
Lucky for us though, we used to live in a Constitutional Republic where the rights of minorities were protected by the Constitution. In a democracy, 51% of the people can condemn 49% of the people to death. In a constitutional republic, 99% of the people cannot violate the freedom of speech of the 1% minority.
Elena,
I think Michael is making a valid point though. Our society is changing. We see sign after sign of it. All indicators are pointing towards the continued expansion of a police state.
Michael is only going along with the “official” flow. I think I remember this happening in the 1930s somewhere.
Elena,
Have you seen this impressive lecture by Naomi Wolf? Even she is saying that one day, she will be afraid to speak out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjALf12PAWc
Michael is appalling in his not-so-veiled threats, but one needs to remember the source. I know this will sound harsh, but so much of his rhetoric is so bizarre and so removed from any historical or political reality that it long ago passed ridiculous. So much of it, not all, not every word. He moves in and out of reality. I’ve noticed that Michael’s favorite phrase has become “You just dont’ get…” or some slight variation of that. Basically, only Michael truly “gets” his arguments because only Michael is living in bizarro Michael-world. Just to take a single example, recall this claim:
“There once was a time (in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s) when people believed in voting on the issues, and were blind to race, gender, religion and ethnic group. Now the liberal mind has returned to racial, and ethnic centric thinking, except the white people are not the ones doing that now because they have forgotten what race, religion and ethnic group they POLITICALLY belong to.”
Nobody paying even the slightest attention to history or politics could ever claim such a thing about those decades. It would be simple to give dozens more examples. I think the fact that Michael is now issuing these strange threats is just part of the same compulsion, the same solipsistic politics that has just turned a bit desperate, or needs more attention, or something. The posts are like political OCD. Sometimes it’s on full strength, sometimes it tapers down.
Finally, Michael appears to believe that people’s political speech here is somehow actionable. Again, only in Michael’s bizarro world, one that even goes beyond Joe McCarthy in its fantasy notions of subversion. Along with being “creepy” as Elena said, it’s also rather goofy!
I missed all the talk today, but I also must have missed Anti’s soothing black screen phrase. I’m sorry about that! Did it really happen?
I also want to thank TWINAD for doing what she’s done so many times: bringing in experiences that instantly act as a “reality check.”
Money doesn’t equal happiness for sure. But think of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs). In order of importance, they go like this:
1. Physiological needs
2. Safety
3. Love and Belonging
4. Esteem
5. Self-Actualization
Without the first two needs met, you can’t enjoy (or in some cases even HAVE) the rest of your needs met. Working for $1.00 a day doesn’t help you provide you/your family with food, clothing and shelter. It doesn’t give you a sense of safety either, especially if there is war and violence in your country. It makes sense, then, that parents might send their teenage, mature son to another country to provide for himself and hopefully, in the long run, be safer. Then perhaps he can attain the rest of the hierarchy.
Think of it this way. If you lived in the inner city in an unsafe neighborhood and couldn’t get a job, do you think you could really enjoy your family? Stress, if nothing else, gets in the way.
Yes, thank you Twin for giving your testimony. Once again, you show us your bravery and insight.
TWINAD
I, too, am giving you a standing ovation. It is so easy of us who have lived cushy lives in the US. None of us, not even the poorest, know what it is like for most of the world. Old Indian saying “Walk a mile in my shoes” would apply here. KUDO’s to you!!!
As always, thank you for shedding a different light especially to those who still walk in the dark.
LMAO!!!!!
Yeah, okay Michael.
My husband is with Dept. of Defense. They have crawled up my buttocks more than you know. If anyone was going to be arrested for speaking up, it would be ME!!!!
I’m sure I’m not the only “government wife” here who has gone through similar checks to make sure we aren’t subversive radicals and spies looking to terrorize the nation with our horrific democratic rights.
What color is the sky in your world, dear?
“KG,
It’s a conspiracy!”
LOL! Red. EVERYTHING is a conspiracy!
Let’s not forget another tragically oppressed group of people who were only seeking a better life for themselves and their families.
They,
Were nonviolent and caused no physical harm to anyone,
Sought only to make a better life for themselves and their families,
Acted in the face of U.S. laws and a system designed to deny them the right to pursue their dreams,
Suffered as their families were torn apart when many of them were sent to prison,
Believed in the American dream of achieving all that you possibly could, and
Saw the death of one their group, partly attributed to the stress caused by their harassment by U.S. authorities,
They are, of course, the former Enron executives.
No difference exists between corporate crooks violating U.S. laws for personal economic gain and illegal aliens doing the same. However, I have no doubt that many on this blog will respond excoriating corporate crooks but praising illegals. Such views are based on the premise that the law applies to some but not to others. If someone is a member of a group you favor (i.e. illegal aliens) they are exempt from obeying laws you personally oppose. If someone is a member of a group you dislike (i.e. corporate crooks) the full force of the U.S. legal and criminal system should fall upon their heads.
This is hypocrisy at its worst. If such views prevail, the U.S. will deteriorate into an anarchical society that serves only the interests of an elite, rather than have a legal system equally applying the law to all. We are, unfortunately, now closer to the former than the latter than we have ever been in the history of our nation.
I would hardly equate multi million dollar exec’s to oppressed people! Try again, save the middle class, with a more coherent analogy!
Hmmmm… Michael gets ganged up on for his alternative views yet the resident crackpot here gets constant free passes even though his asinine police state comments and youtube conspiracy theories pepper EVERY SINGLE THREAD?? What’s up with that?
STMC, Enron execs were hardly the suffering masses or the suffering poor. White collar criminals, in fact, should be held to a higher standard than others. Why? Becuase they have the education, the authority, the money, and the power to ruin people, more people than the average beggar.
We let coporate criminals get away with things that the average street thug couldn’t. I’m not saying being a street thug is a good thing. Nor is being illegaly here a good thing. But there’s a huge difference. Illegal aliens can pay back what they owe in taxes. Enron has no intention of paying back anything to victims.
Mando, why don’t you offer some support for Michael then? I’d be interested in reading it.
Cheers for TWINAD and her family!
There seems to be an assumption on a couple people’s part that the young man who committed suicide was sent here by his family. Often teenagers size up their family’s situation and make the decision to leave on their own. Their parents may not want them to go at all. And I agree with Mackie that a beating ,followed by solitary confinement, may have been the tipping point.
Ha ha. I find Michael’s threats amusing. He admits that his wife was here illegally and that she and her friends were involved with some shady dealings, but I bet he didn’t pack her up in the family car and drive her to the border. He expects others to live to a higher “morality” than he clings to personally. Long-winded obsessive ramblings are probably of more interest to the FBI than the regular chat here. Send the FBI, Michael, my father probably trained some of them when he was an agent at Quantico.
Mando,
I have expressed differences with Mackie as have others. However, Mackie has never threatened to sick the federal government on us!
Mackie,
I have actually watched the video of Naomi, some time ago. She definately gives you evidence that requires one to be especially vigilant in the 21st century. However, I still have faith that there are enough sane voices, speaking loud enough, that will not allow this Republic to sink to a “failed” state. Unlike you, I also have a strong belief that although no one man can be responsible for turning this country around, Obama is our best opportunity.
Rick Bentley stated (on 26. August 2008, 8:15):
Firstly, Rick Bentley, I highly doubt you are presently inclined to feel or express any sense of genuine pity considering the tenor of your comments.
I doubt we are being asked to praise the young man for the means he used, but for the ends he sought per the reasons why he sought them. Extreme circumstances often require extreme measures, as I myself have personally learned in recent months due to what I went through earlier in the year.
Perhaps to Arturo he wasn’t paying a smuggler, but investing in a savior.
Perhaps to Arturo he wasn’t leaving home but was escaping hell, a place already overrun by bandits who he, as a young boy, was powerless to defeat alone.
Perhaps to Arturo mere subsistence and acquiring sustenance would have been sharply impeded by strict abidance to driver-license and insurance law. There was also likely the problem of being able to afford paying for the documentation and insurance required to drive.
There is an old saying: You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. In other words it is a great error for those who pay arduous attention to strict legalistic details (straining the gnat) and completely ignore (swallowing the camel) the higher human causes of mercy and compassion which is what law ultimately must serve. Law is not an end unto itself, which is a point lost on so many who worship the “rule of law” ideology with an almost religious devotion.
While Arturo’s presence here was, by codified definition, “illegal”, his presence here nonetheless meant life, where his presence from whence he escaped could easily have meant death.
And yet he is now dead, and by his own hand. Perhaps for him he reached a final crushing moment in a long series of desperations that seem to have been his constant companions since childhood, and where compassion never seemed to reach him. Perhaps he simply had enough.
And even in his death there are those on this blog who would still prosecute him … no, persecute him … for his “wrongs”, to the utter failure of extending to him even the slightest human decency of that compassion which he seemed to have sought for so long.
Censored,
Great point. I know my husband’s mother was devastated when he decided he was going to come here. Yes, he was 18 and hadn’t lived with her for about 6 years, but at least she got to see him once in a while.
And another thing, if I went to visit now, 7 years after my last visit, boy would things be different! His mom and dad no longer live in the grass hut that got flooded every September during the rainy season. He built a house for his parents and younger brother to live in with 2 (2!) bathrooms with toilets and showers, electricity, tile floors instead of dirt or concrete AND an indoor kitchen! And get this, after the house was done, he had to spend 4 evenings on the phone with her (and get other siblings to call her to try to talk her into it) to convince her to move in! She had to move one mile from where she had lived for 40 years and she felt that was too far away from her daughter and children that lived next door, she felt her friends would no longer talk to her because she had hit “the big time”, she felt that the house needed to remain unoccupied in case my husband ever decided to come and live in it, I could go on, but you get the picture. Anyway, she finally moved in and about a month after they moved in, the hut they had lived in was flooded to the roof top.
Mando my boy,
It’s time we had a talk…Crackpot to Crackpot.
As a brother Crackpot, I had hoped you would have shown some more Crackpot solidarity.
Crackpots of the world UNITE!!!
Elena – the Enron analogy is not to the current economic status of either group, but to the inequitable way the laws are applied. Why should one group be prosecuted and the other given a pass, regardless of their income or wealth, however wide the spread? Since when does anyone have the right to pick and chose the laws they will obey and disobey?
On another matter that has been discussed in this thread, I found very interesting the articles about Hattiesburg. The company took economic development incentive payments (taxpayer money) to create jobs for Americans, which they then gave to cheap (illegal) immigrant workers. After the raid and the removal of the cheap labor, the company is forced to pay a living wage. Americans line up to get those jobs, which were intended for them in the first place.
This incident belies completely the argument that immigrants, legal or otherwise, take the jobs that Americans won’t do. There are no jobs that Americans won’t do. There are only jobs that Americans won’t do for poverty level wages. End the competition from cheap labor (immigration and outsourcing) and the economic status of the American middle/working class can start to improve again.
You cited the unemployment statistics elsewhere on the blog, but those numbers don’t tell the entire story. You are counted as employed in those stats even if you are working part-time or at a wage below what you would earn in the absence of competition from cheap, immigrant labor. Moreover, four million Americans are categorized as “discouraged” workers. That means that they want to work but have given up because they can’t find a job, or a job at a decent wage. Add them to the unemployment stats, adjust for the part-time workers and those working but underpaid, and the unemployment rate does not look so good. All of these numbers are on the Department of Labor’s web site, http://www.dol.gov and you can check them out for yourself.
Only George W. Bush, the Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and other proponents of expanded immigration of cheap labor say that the employment situation in the U.S. is good for working class people.
Tying the two topics together (unequal application of the law and providing a continuous supply of cheap labor for corporate interests) we see a situation in which American working people can’t win. Of course the Enron crooks should be convicted and sent to prison. Our legal system works in most cases in favor of corporate types, but they went way too far with their corruption to get let off the hook.
Look at Hattiesburg. Enforce the law equally, reduce the supply of cheap immigrant labor, make companies accountable for creating jobs with livable wages and benefits, and we’ll see improvement in the living standards of American working/middle class people!
“Mando,
I have expressed differences with Mackie as have others. However, Mackie has never threatened to sick the federal government on us!”
Where exactly was there a threat to sick the federal govt. on anyone?
There’s another scenario. Companies move overseas.
Robb Pearson
Thank you for your post.
Mando,
See the thread on arresting illegal aliens. I just read it and I have to say that I can see some inconsistencies on what Michael proposes. He wants anti-group society that will bring peace and society. I like that but then he considers that our opinions on illegal immigration (in my case just an analysis of the numbers) will be used against us by the State. as long as you agree with the majority, then you enjoy peace and prosperity. What is next, a cultural revolution? Mao though that he was bringing peace and prosperity. Stalin purged dissenters too.
Could you address those inconsistencies Michael? You have traveled around the world with the military. Could you tell us why the controlled and anti-group philosophies didn’t work in Yugoslavia for example? Was it because the Muslim minorities didn’t accept the peace and prosperity definitions?
You talked about the 60s’ a lot, Do you think that it was OK for Blacks to accept segregation because it affected the majority?
I understand the logic of your statements Michael. It is about our social contract but all of us want to get the same benefits.
Censored – you are absolutely correct. Outsourcing and shipping U.S. jobs overseas is as big a threat to American working and middle-class people as is immigration policy controlled by corporate interests. I’m not an Obama supporter, but I agree with him completely that the U.S. must end tax breaks to corporations that export American jobs. We do not have a “free market” or “free trade.” The system is loaded to the benefit of corporate interests, and driven by K Street lobbyists and the corrupt politicians they buy.
I was disgusted by the recent, two-week “Olympics” propaganda feast designed to put a friendly face on China. We did not see anything about the detention camps set up to imprison anyone who wanted to protest. We did not see Chinese slave-labor factories (although you can see their output at your neighborhood Wal-Mart). We did not hear about the manipulation of the Chinese Yuan (their currency) to keep it low to discourage imports of American goods into China and promote export of their lead-based toys and poisonous foods to us. I could go on and on about China and many of our other “free market trading partners.”
All of these “free trade” policies that encourage the export of American jobs are brought to us by the same friendly folks who want us to have unlimited immigration of cheap foreign labor for the industries (construction, hospitality, etc.) that can’t ship American jobs abroad.
Save the Middle Class, here’s an article (a couple years old) from the WaPo that covers an industry and location with which I’m familiar. It’s interesting – and long – because it covers the issues confronted by one industry and the immigrants it employs.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/16/AR2006071600665_pf.html
Brown-Waite, Sheriff Clash Over Handling Of Rape Cases
http://southshore2.tbo.com/content/2008/aug/26/na-brown-waite-sheriff-clash-over-handling-of-rape/news/
Save the Middle Class,
I concur with your ananlysis of “free” trade, it is all smoke and mirrors to me.
However, you still have not answered my question from another thread.
Why is it that whenever there is a new migration, centered around the increased numbers of one ethnic group, the same arguments arise? Your economic argument today is no different than the argument of a century ago.
Mackie,
Interesting that you seem to interpret Michael’s “Thought Police” threats as just going with the Bush/McCain Police State at Home, War-for-Profit Abroad, Petrol-Elite-Run-The-Country Flow.
Is that a criticism of Micheal, or a criticism of the Bush/McCain Police State at Home, War-for-Profit Abroad, Petrol-Elite-Run-The-Country Flow?
Because, while there’s not much we can do about Michael, you do have a vote as to whether we have another four years of Bush/McCain Police State at Home, War-for-Profit Abroad, Petrol-Elite-Run-The-Country Flow.
Elena, I’m sorry I haven’t commented on yet another tragedy caused by the Anti-immigrant Lobby. It’s not that I’m indifferent to tragedy, but there are tragedies all over the world right now. Somehow, we have to get the United States government on track again, preventing tragedies instead of causing so darn many, at home and a abroad. So I’m consumed with bringing the government back to the people and wrestling it away from the lobbyists (including the Anti-Immigrant Lobby, the War Profiteering Lobby, and of course Big Oil). That means booting out McCain and all traces of the Bush/McCain/Cheney administration.
Robb Pearson, thank you for your panoramic and incisive revelations about the tragic mindset of an anti-immigrant clone. Your post above was truly moving, I’m quoting only part:
Mando,
Since you missed this post by Michael, here the section where he threatens us with the “thought” police” :
Elena, 27. August 2008, 0:28
Michael,
Are you threatening people on this blog with legal action ?
you said : Michael, 26. August 2008, 18:22
“What you are doing in supporting “illegal” sympathy can even be held accountable under the law at a later date, should someone wish to press legal charges in the same way “militant and subversive” groups that undermine the national security of our nation can be persecuted under the law. The comments you and others post and the evidence gathered using the recorded and preserved files and internet traffic on this site at the FBI, CIA, DIA and DHS based on the subversive elements and facts that transpire on this site can be used in a later “anti-illegal” damage and subversion lawsuit, brought by the majority of the society against the minority of society that hurts it.”
Once again Robb, you have reduced “illegal” immigration to its most basic form, a common thread that binds us all, our humanity.
Thank you
Michael, Seriously man, are you saying what I think you are saying? The thought police is going to get us for our words here today? I believe my ancestors fought to make that not happen.
If that were the case, perhaps you should be more worried than most of us should be.
“Outsourcing and shipping U.S. jobs overseas is as big a threat to American working and middle-class people as is immigration policy controlled by corporate interests. I’m not an Obama supporter, but I agree with him completely that the U.S. must end tax breaks to corporations that export American jobs.”
The manufacturing and assembly line jobs of 50 years ago do not translate into a mature economy. Those jobs are for emerging economies like China, Vietnam, Singapore, etc. Remember the old “Made in Japan” hoopla from the 70’s and 80’s? They too used to be an emerging economy. Not anymore. There’s is an economy like ours that now benefit from using emerging economies like they used to be. Keeping those jobs here is a major reason we have so much illegal immigration and a major reason for even greater income disparities. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Why? Because you’re asking our govt. to subsidize these low level jobs that we have outgrown which in turn attracts cheap illegal labor. A vote for Obama is a vote for even more disparity, more illegal immigration, more subsidization, and more Govt. control.
In essence, by asking the govt. not to ship those jobs overseas you’re asking the govt. to import the labor. This falls squarley into the sites of the democrat party. Poor labor require welfare which is provided on the backs of the middle class. You and me. Democrats are masters of wealth redistribution and in order to retain and gain voters, need a healthy supply of individuals addicted to the middle classes’ hard earned money. Obama = some hard times ahead for us average Joes.
“And even in his death there are those on this blog who would still prosecute him … no, persecute him … for his “wrongs”, to the utter failure of extending to him even the slightest human decency of that compassion which he seemed to have sought for so long.”
Empty rhetoric. Problem here is Elena intentionaly mixes these tragic stories with illegal immigration like a chef would mix ingredients for a cake knowing the outcome is going to polarize both sides. Then guys like Robb Pearson latch onto it so they can point fingers and demonize. Mission accomplished Elena.
That’s why these threads are horse $hit.