Thursday, July 31, 2014

Ground War Might be Required in Gaza, to Save Civilian Lives

   Bless Israel for protecting its people, and for the various times it has held out cease fires during the present conflict. Yes, with Hamas using the people of Gaza as human shields, civilian lives are sure to be lost.
   But, I believe I shall join with those who suggest Israel should not be killing so many civilians. Perhaps it is that instead of rockets, you are forced to use more soldiers on the ground, for they can see the person in front of them before they pull the trigger. Yes, many more Israeli soldiers would die. But, the total loss of life would be less, and you would avoid killing as many innocent bystanders.
   I may rethink it tomorrow, but that is my thought on this matter tonight.

Bless the Ill Eagles and Nurse Them Back to Health

  Someone posted a picture on Facebook of graffiti on a building housing children immigrants. "No Ill Eagles Here. No Undocumented Democrats," the graffiti said.
   I commented on the post, saying: "Ill Eagles"? They do come poor and in need, and sometimes sick. Bless them, for they are as American as the eagle, to me, if they love this country and are hard-working people who want to be part of it. Bless the ill eagles and nurse them back to health.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

News on Child Immigrants, if True, Should have been National News

   He had been down to Nogales, and said the Border Patrol told him they found a dozen dead children in a ravine that past day. Such is what a friend told me today, wondering why it wasn't on the news.
   I do not know of the truth of the matter. Were 12 immigrant children found dead in a ravine? If so, yes, I believe it should be national news. I don't care which side of the border they were found on, news like that should be one of our lead stories.
   He also told me of a raid on a hotel in the Nogales area, with about 35 arrested for being "pedophiles," which I would guess means they were abusing the child immigrants. Again, I do not know the truth of the matter, but if this has some truth to it, it should have been major national news.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Freedom, Once Something We Shared, is Now Something We Hoard

   Once, we viewed those fleeing from oppression as seekers of freedom. Now, we see them as oppressors of our freedom.
   Once, freedom was something we shared. Now, it is something we hoard.

Monday, July 28, 2014

The Immigrant is as the Child

   They are the unwanted children of society, the immigrants, and we would do well learning from our experience in raising children what happens when you have a child who is unwanted.
   I speak of the adult undocumented immigrants. They are as if unwanted children. They are the unwanted children of our society. I ask you, though, what happens to a child who is unwanted? If you ignore a child and do not nurture him, he is more likely to go wayward.
   So it is, perhaps, with all humans, whether they be children or adults. If we ignore them, if we shun them off, if we do not nurture them, they are more likely to go astray.
   Society is the parent of its members. So, what if society rejects one of its members? Now, it certainly has rejected the undocumented immigrant. So, should we be surprised to see some negative outcomes?
   I came to this thought while reflecting on the news article that reported immigrants who came illegally in the 80s to places such as Los Angeles learned the ways of gangs, and, when they were deported back carried the ways of the gangs with them back to their own Central American countries. I wondered at the part of how they fell in with gangs when they came here.
   Perhaps in this there is a lesson, I thought, and it was then I thought of how if you reject and neglect the child and do not nurture him, he is more likely to go astray. I would guess this is not just a trait of children, but a trait of all humans. If we can see this is a true principle, can we expect anything less to happen? More of the undocumented are likely to have negative outcomes.
 

    Sunday, July 27, 2014

    Are The Gangs the Child Immigrants Flee From of Our Own Making?

        Did we teach them violence, then send them home? In the 1980s, did immigrants come from Central America, learn the ways of our gangs, then get deported in the 1990s, taking with them the gang culture they learned here and infecting their home countries with it?
       And, are the gangs the children are now fleeing from the very ones we exported to Central America?
       So suggests an Associated Press article published in the online Deseret News July 24.

    This Prevents Person Who Leads from being Person Who Serves

       Our perception of people limits our ability to treat them right. Few times do we help a person if we do not feel he is worthy of our help. So, then, it becomes every person who is in position to help others to judge righteously, to not wrongfully judge.
       If he doe judge rashly, the person who rules will never be the person who serves. It is good to have leaders who serve, and those are the true leaders, indeed. But, if they allow themselves to become fault-finders, they will not measure up to being leader/servants.

    Saturday, July 26, 2014

    What Kind of Government Endangers Civilians to Protect Itself?

      Some note all the Gaza civilians being killed, and the missiles hitting such places as hospitals and beaches and homes. Hamas positions themselves in these places on purpose, so when they are attacked, there will be an outpouring of anger against civilians being killed. What kind of a government would purposely endanger its citizenry to protect itself? What kind of government would, in all real essence, force its people to the battle front in order to gain sympathy that civilians lives are being taken?

    The Reign of the Dollar Might be at an End -- at a $17.5 Trillion Expense

       Tonight, I am listening in on a video speaking of how the U.S. dollar is about to lose its status as the world's reserve currency.
       Don't be cool with that. Don't think it no big deal. The video argues that a debt default would be inevitable for the U.S. if we did not have the ability to print money. As the world's reserve currency, we can cover our debts simply by printing money. But, if the international market quits accepting our dollars, we will no longer be able to simply cover those debts to them by printing our own dollar bills. If they start saying, "No, I don't want a dollar bill. You must pay in gold," we are in trouble.
        And, the video points out that that is already beginning to happen. It lists some of the places where the dollar is no longer the exchange currency.
        Will that $17.5 trillion debt soon be tumbling down upon us? We have propped it up by printing money. But, if we are no longer able to do that . . .
    http://pro.stansberryresearch.com/1404EOAJULY1/PPSIQ707/?h=true

    Friday, July 25, 2014

    We are Turning Away the Ill-Clothed, the Hungry, the Strangers

       Come judgement day, what if we are asked why we turned away the naked, the hungry, the thirsty and the strangers? (See Matthew 25.) And, we might reply by asking when was it that we turned away those so needy.
       The answer might come, "July 2014, at the border of Mexico."
       "Yes, I remember them," we will say. "I remember that. But, those people did not have the necessary paperwork for me to be helping them. I only turned them away for lack of paperwork."
       While we are down on earth, it might seem like a good reason not to let them come here. But, once we leave this earth for the heavens, it might not pan out as a good answer. Many of those coming across the border are needy, and that is the reason many of them come. Maybe not all, but many. If we turn them away, why does not Matthew 25 apply? We are turning away the ill-clothed, the hungry, the strangers.
     

    Thursday, July 24, 2014

    The Story of Isa Ramoul

       I shall call him Isa, Isa Ramoul, the poorest of the poor in Mexico. As a birthday present to himself, when he turned 23, he headed north, thinking to find a job and a living in a land he honored and revered.
       Hadn't he heard you need to get permission to come to America? Check. He had. But, he had also heard that even without paperwork, you could stay. It would take a long time before they would catch up with you and send you home. In the meantime, he figured to be working, earning money, and sending it home to his wife and their two babies.
       If you wonder about his character, Isa was an honest type. Didn't want to join the cartels just to make a living, although joining the cartels was a certain way to make a good income. But, that was not for Isa. His mother had raised him different than that, teaching him to stay away from crime.
       So, he headed north.
        He didn't bring enough food, and barely enough water. He stumbled through the border territory without a guide, arriving on the American side of the line a hungering and a thirsting and a stranger to all -- and anxious to knock on a door and ask for help.
       Now, Mr. Biddle had had a lot of migrants knock his door before. They were a nuisance -- an unwanted, unwelcome, uncomely nuisance. They were all criminals and drug burros, to him. So, as you might guess, this didn't go too well.
      "Help me! Please help me," Isa pleaded as Mr. Biddle swung open the door.
       "You scum. You criminal," came the reply. "Shall I call the Border Patrol, or will you go back on your own? You heard me, go back where you belong! Get out of here! Leave me alone!"
       Isa stumbled up to another two or three doors before someone finally called the Border Patrol and had him arrested. Seems in this new country he had he had entered, they didn't think in terms of helping people out, only of kicking them out. They really weren't bad people, these Americans, but somehow they had gotten it in their heads that these immigrants coming in from Mexico were going to ruin their country. Somehow, they figured that instead of being shown charity, the immigrants needed to be taught a lesson.
       Now, that might make perfect sense to you, but it doesn't to me.

    Wednesday, July 23, 2014

    Which Category do These Child Immigrants Fall Into?

       I do want the child immigrants to be allowed to stay, if it is what is best for them, but I keep wondering how they qualify for asylum. As I understand our law, you need to show that you are one of five classes before you can apply for asylum. You must be being persecuted in your homeland on the basis or race, religion, nationality, political belief, or social group. The children immigrants we are getting are supposedly fleeing violence, but I don't know that they fit in any of the five categories.
      Perhaps, none are staying under our asylum laws, as they don't qualify. Perhaps it is just under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 that they are being allowed to stay.

    Tuesday, July 22, 2014

    What if We Treated Gaza Like We did Iraq?

       What if we took the same approach with Gaza that we took with Iraq? I'm not saying we should, but am throwing it out as an idea for discussion. What if we decided, like we did in Iraq, that terrorism was behind the government, and we went in and obliterated the government and installed a democracy?

    Monday, July 21, 2014

    These are not Invaders; They are Needy People

       If 2.5 million people fled violence in Syria, we, reading our newspapers in America, would not say the neighboring countries were being invaded; we would say the 2.5 people were refugees.
       If 2.7 million people were displaced by the Balkan War in what was formerly called Yugoslavia, we, listening to the news in America, would not say the neighboring countries were being invaded; we, again, would say those fleeing the violence were but refugees.
       If people fled one warring nation in Africa to find peace in another, we would be understanding, and want them to have the peace they sought.
       But, if 57,000 child immigrants came north from Central America, passing through Mexico and then crossing into the United States, that would be an invasion.
       I will grant that the violence might not be as great. I will grant that they could go to closer countries to the south than coming all this far to the north. Still, whatever reason they are coming for, they are not coming as invaders. It seems most of them truly are needy people. To call needy people reaching out their hands for help "invaders" does not seem equitable, just or clear-minded, to me.
       Oh, I am aware that when those in other lands flee, the people in the lands they flee to also reject the refugees, same as we are rejecting the child refugees. I read of the rejection in Germany of those from the Balkan War.
       But, I would that we would not reject a needy people, even as I would that Germany would not reject needy people.

    Sunday, July 20, 2014

    These Scriptures Should be on the Frontlets of My Eyes

       I sense an urgency to know well the scriptures speaking of the return of the Jews, and to be able to recall them to discuss them. I think of Deuteronomy 6:6-8 saying how the Lord's word should "be as the frontlets between thine eyes." That is as if to say, memorize these things and know them. "And thou shalt write them upon the post of thy house, and on thy gates," it goes on to says in that Deuteronomy passage.
       I ran across some such scriptures today while reading the Book of Mormon, as the Book of Mormon quotes whole chapters of Isaiah. It is while reading there that I felt this urgency to be able to recall such scriptures.
       "For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return," it says in Isaiah 10:22.
       Isaiah 11:12 speaks of how the Lord will "gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth."
       Among other Isaiah scriptures I ran across while doing my Book of Mormon reading was Isaiah 11:12, that speaks of assembling the outcasts of Israel. Inasmuch as I have been thinking much of the immigrants at our border, and knowing many of them have Indian blood in them, I thought how there is no one we know of the tribes of Israel today more outcast than the immigrant from south of the border. That "outcasts of Israel" speaks of the Jew, it is sure, but I cannot see how it does not also speak of those from south of the border, for they truly contain the blood of Israel and they truly are outcast. You would be hard pressed to find a people in our day who are more outcast.

    Saturday, July 19, 2014

    We Would Sent Child Refugees Back into the Jaws of Violence?

       Americans wish the child immigrants would be deported faster? So says a Pew Research poll, showing 53 percent of Americans want the process accelerated, even though it mean some who might qualify for asylum find themselves deported.
       I shake my head in disbelief that this is my America, a people who I like to believe are caring and loving and helpful to those in need. We would send children back to the jaws of violence that they are fleeing from?
       Yes, we don't know what share of the children are fleeing violence. But, it seems some are. Would we say -- as the poll indicates -- we do not care if you flee flee oppression or violence, you arrived without permission, so go back.
       Our hatred of someone who comes without paperwork is strong, indeed.

    Friday, July 18, 2014

    Bachmann Wrongly Faulted Foreign Nationals for Rape, Bus Accident

       Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann made headlines when she went on CNN Tuesday and said: "My heart is broken for a female college student in Minnesota who was raped, murdered and mutilated by a foreign national who came into our country. We had a school bus full of kids in Minnesota -- four children were killed on that school bus because an illegal alien driving a van went into that schoolbus."
      Bachmann's point was that we don't need the foreign nationals and those disparagingly referred to as "illegal aliens." But, what if we changed the words "a foreign national" to "an African-American" and the words "an illegal alien" to "a person of same-sex attraction"?
       You don't blame a whole class of people for the crimes of a few. To judge the many by the few is wrong, regardless what group of society you select.

    Thursday, July 17, 2014

    The Guess Who Sang it Right; Now Give the Song to the Immigrants

       Suppose this song might be sang by the Rainbow people today. Well, with all due respect to them, I think we should take it back and give it to the immigrants.
       "Share the Land" by the Guess Who.
       Yep. Let's  those get word to those coming from south of the border.
    "Maybe I'll be there to shake your hand
      "Maybe I'll be there to share the land
    "That they'll be giving away when we all live together
       "I'm talking about together now."
       Meet them at the border and shake their hands. Share the land and give them a place to live together with us in it.
       Hey, I'm talking together, now.

    Wednesday, July 16, 2014

    Might Doesn't Make Welfare Fraud Right

       The dad died long after his divorce, and the two children reaped a windfall: About $3,000 a month in Social Security payments. His former wife divorced her new husband, and lived off the payments.
       I heard this story today, and wondered why we allow such to happen. It is not that we do not want to help people, but this is over-the-top. There is such thing as welfare fraud and then there is such a thing as welfare fraud created by government, for whether the law allows it or not, it is still wrong, still a fraud upon the taxpayers.
       Might doesn't make right, it is said. Nor is doing something a right thing just because you might be able to do it.

     

    Tuesday, July 15, 2014

    Tipping Point in Israel-Gaza-Lebanon War

       I see a headline asking if the Middle East hostilities have reached a tipping point and my eyes catch the date of the article, July 9, which is six days ago, and just a day after Israel launched Operation Protective Edge. I don't open the article, but suppose it is referring to just the Israel-Gaza-Lebanon (missiles have been fired from Lebanon, so I include it) war, not all the Middle East conflicts. I think how today, Hamas rejected a ceasefire whereas Israel stopped hostilities for about six hours as it accepted the stoppage.
       Now, Israel is warning it will punish Gaza for rejecting the ceasefire and is warning Gaza residents to flee, lest they be caught in an offensive. Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, and when striking at military targets, it is hard to avoid the general population.
       Other interesting developments? The drone out of Gaza would qualify. Israel's Iron Dome defense shot it down. And, after shrapnel from a missile out of Gaza cut a power supply in Gaza, Israel warned it would not be able to make repairs at this time, as it is unsafe for its workers now. That begs the question of why Gaza depends on an enemy to provide it with its power. Most unusual.
       As for a tipping point, or turning point, are hostilities ratcheting up yet more? We shall see.
       (This post was rewritten 7/16/14.)

    Monday, July 14, 2014

    Allow in Even the Immigrant Who Doesn't have a Good Lobbyist

       These days, it helps to have a good lobbyist if you want to immigrate to the United States. So it seems to me. Legislation is considered for those who benefit one industry or another. Admittedly, it does work out, to some degree, because for every job falls into some industry and every industry has lobbyists.
       But, it contributes to the tendency to only bring in immigrants who will benefit someone. If you aren't a benefit, we don't want you.
       I'm not sure I like that influence. In fact, I don't. I don't like the thought that we only want to bring in immigrants who will benefit us. That might be a lobbyist's perspective, but it isn't mine. I think it better to bring even those who don't have a good lobbyist.

    Saturday, July 12, 2014

    Coming to America Shouldn't be a Crime; It Should be a Liberty

       Remember Elian Gonzalez, 1999? Here was a Cuban child not quite 6-years old, found floating alone on a raft or boat off the Florida coast. Family here in the states wanted to keep him, and argued that his mother, who apparently drowned, wanted him here. His father (parents were divorced) also wanted him. It became a custody battle, with the father winning.
       The child immigrants? We ought to send them back to their folks if their folks are still in the home countries. If their folks are here, let them stay for the moment. If the parents are undocumented and we feel we must deport them, deport them as a whole family, but let them live together as a family until the deportation. You deportation fans should gain great comfort noting that in reuniting them with their families, a number of undocumented people are going to be identified and thus deported.
       Although I feel the child should go where the parent goes, I do so wish we would let both the child and the parents stay, if the parents are already here, and let both the child and the parents come, if the parents aren't here yet.
       I don't see much harm in letting a person move to the United States. Somehow, we've got it in our minds that if they live here, it is somehow going to ruin it for the rest of us. How so? I am not a person who fears overpopulation. If it means we're going to have to pay school fees for more kids, well, we've been paying to send a lot of kids to school for quite some time now and nobody has ever suggested that if they live on the wrong side of town -- in the poor areas -- they shouldn't be allowed because that's going to cost the rest of us a little too much money. Nor do I fear their ruining our economy. The idea that poor people should be locked out because they will drag our economy down strikes me as strange. What's that all about? I'm thinking I'll keep on making just as much money even if I do have a poor person living next door. Is it that he's from Mexico, not that he's poor, that's going to hurt me? I still do not understand. Nor do I buy the notion that they are inherently criminals. They are like the rest of us, with some being criminals and some not. Is it that they are going to end up on welfare? We are running up a big debt on welfare, it is true, but is not allowing poor people to move here in order to save us money on welfare a noble idea? We have not only a broken immigration system, but a broken welfare system, and when we pour the immigrants into it, perhaps there are too many of them who receive it. Fix the system instead of kicking out the poor.
       Let 'em in. Let the immigrants in. We're suppose to be a free country. Originally, people were free to come here. Let's restore that freedom. Coming to America shouldn't a crime; it should be a liberty.

    We Should be being Flooded With Case Stories from the Border

       I find a shortage of news on the child immigrant crisis, I do. It seems if we wonder why they are coming, there should be more interviews with the children, there should even be a survey among them, of why they left, what they are fleeing from, or what they are fleeing to.
       If something unusual is going on, seek out the dynamics that are causing it. If you really wonder what's causing them to come, do something basic like simply asking them. These stories should not be sparce; We should be being flooded with them.

    Friday, July 11, 2014

    Enlist Private Charities to Help With the $3.7 Billion

       President Obama wants $3.7 billion for the child immigrant crisis, and Congress is balking. So, why-oh-why not enlist private charities? Why not ask the charities how much they can raise? One million? One billion? How much?
       Why does President Obama not appeal to private charities? If the money is needed, does it matter that it comes from private charities instead of the tax payers? Money is money. Help is help. Why not appeal to the public to contribute?
     

    Thursday, July 10, 2014

    Do We Slap His Hand Away and Tell Him He is a Criminal?

       If some needy person came up from Mexico, seeking help and having heard we were a rich and prosperous and benevolent nation, and he made it across the border and approached one of us, reaching out his hand and saying, "Please, help me," would we slap his hand away and tell him he was a criminal?

    Wednesday, July 9, 2014

    We have a Moral Crisis in Our Middle

       We have a humanitarian crisis at our border and moral crisis in our middle.
       Oh, I do so believe the rejection of the needy people wanting to come into our country is much that people just haven't given it enough thought, to realize that, yes, we should help these people.
       Maybe not the ones who aren't needy, but the ones who are. If these people are coming because they are in need, then, of course we should help. "When saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?"
       Let not the answer to that question be, "In 2014 at the Mexican border."
       And, I am not just talking of the children. I am speaking of all the needy. I know the fear is that they will overrun our land, and overrun our welfare system. I say, let them come. We have not been overpopulated by all the other things that contribute to population growth. We should not be so fearful of immigration. Welfare? If we have created a system where too many people are on our welfare rolls, then, yes, that should be fixed, meaning the welfare system should be fixed. I would remind you, though, we have run up a $17.5 trillion debt already, with a chunk of that due to carrying for our own, and there has not been this kind of outcry against those people who are on welfare.
       As for what to do with the immigrants -- how to care for them inasmuch our welfare system is broken -- if we do not want to add them to the list of people on it, then pass a law turning the care of the needy immigrants over to private charity. Some would say that law would be struck down on basis of equality, and perhaps they are right.
       I only know I do not like the idea of us turning a blind eye on the needy at our border.
     

    Tuesday, July 8, 2014

    I Speak of the Immigrants, and This is How We Treat Them

       It is wrong to reject the needy. It is wrong to not help those in need. When they reach out their hand for help, do we slap it down, telling them to get there hands out of our pockets and call them thieves for trying to take our money?
       I speak of the immigrants. This is how we treat them. To me, we are not honorable in how we fail to care for this segment of needy people.

    Let the Poor Who Seek Work Have Our Mercy

       I guess some immigration might be like the panhandlers making a good living off begging. Some immigrants perhaps come to get on our welfare rolls. But, are we to judge every immigrant as such? Are there not some -- many -- who come who are in real need? Are there not many who come who come not for welfare, but for work? Are we to treat them harshly, these who are poor and seek only to work?
       Are we to say that since some seek welfare, we should reject the whole lot?

    Monday, July 7, 2014

    Charity can be More Important than Rule of Law

       Let's say a starving and thirsting person came to my house -- the only house within miles -- and I had a sign saying, "No trespassing," and he came through the gate and knocked my door, anyway. Yes, I guess I could tell him I was going to call the cops and have him hauled off for trespassing, but is pressing for enforcement of the law the right thing to do when it comes at the expense of someone who is in need?
       I wish we applied this same principle to immigration. Charity can be more important than rule of law.

    Sunday, July 6, 2014

    With an Eye on Israel

       Never knowing when the war spoken of in the Bible will occur, violence in the Holy Land -- Israel -- always lifts my eye.
       Three teenage Israeli boys were killed. Israel responded. Rockets are being fired from Gaza into Israel. An Arab boy has been killed. Arab protests are underway in Israel. Such is the news of the day.
       I read how the killing of the Arab boy might be on the face the reason for the protesting, but a suggestion from Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to ban the Islamic Movement is also a factor.
       And, another factor being a move to give Arab settlements in an area known as the Triangle over to Palestine. This intrigues me. First, I have not heard of this area of Israel called the Triangle where so many Arabs live. Second, I certainly have not heard of a call to give Israeli territory over to Palestine. Third, that such a move is being considered surprises me, as I thought Israel wanted to keep all of Israel. Fourth, that the Arabs in the Triangle do not want to be ceded to Palestine surprises me. Perhaps it is because the suggestion is that they go in exchange for land in the West Bank being taken from Palestine. I do not know. Perhaps that is also the only reason for the suggestion of giving away land in the Traingle, is that it would only be given in exchange for West Bank land. Then, it all makes sense.

    Saturday, July 5, 2014

    Now, Here's a Solution

       Yes, here's what we can do: If a needy people comes into our midst, we can tell them they're illegal and cast them out.

    Had Hobby Lobby Lost, Abortions Would Have been Affected

       You're wondering, aren't you, how the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision will affect abortions. If companies do not have to provide insurance paying for contraceptives, then they should no longer have to provide insurance paying for abortions. One equals the other.
       Well, surprise: Companies don't have to insure abortions right now, anyway. They can opt out of any financial involvement in abortions. It was made that way way back in 1973 in the Roe v. Wade decision. (But, states have been given the right to strike down that provision, and indeed require companies to insure abortions, if I understand correctly.)
       One of the dangers of the Hobby Lobby case was that if the court had ruled against Hobby Lobby, then the door would have been open to require companies to insure abortions.
       Thankfully, that didn't happen.

    Friday, July 4, 2014

    Michele Bachmann Provides Dramatic Picture of Lady Liberty

       Michele Bachmann (yes, she of political fame) provided this photo. Found it on Facebook. I'm awed by it, for Lady Liberty points to a hole in the dark clouds where the sun is shining through. I post it here because I wonder if it is God's doing, to position the light through the dark clouds in such a way. Perhaps just the way the clouds lined up that day, coincidence, and no message from God. Still, I do wonder.

    The (Im)Perfectness of the Constitution

       Could we dare say the Constitution isn't a perfect document?
       Was it closer to being perfect before amendments started changing it, shifting it from what the Founding Fathers gave us?
      Or, was it actually even more imperfect then than it is now, what with the original document counting slaves each as only three-fifths of a person, and not giving women the right to vote at all.
      "Defective" is the word Supreme Court Justice John Marshall had for the original Constitution. That may seem a little strong, but read his whole quote. Marshall believed in the Constitution as a living document, one that needed to be and was improved on.
      "I do not believe the meaning of the Constitution was forever 'fixed' at the Philadelphia Convention. Nor do I find the wisdom, foresight and sense of justice exhibited by the Framers particularly profound," Marshall said. "To the contrary, the government they devised was defective from the start, requiring several amendments, a civil war and momentous social transformation to attain the system of constitutional government, and its respect for the individual freedoms and human rights we hold as fundamental today."
       If we could ask George Washington if the document was perfect, what would he say? Actually, he did leave us his thought on the matter. "The warmest friends and the best supports the constitution has," he wrote, "do not contend that is is free from imperfections; but they found them unavoidable, and are sensible, if evil is likely to arise therefrom, the remedy must come hereafter; for in the present moment it is not to be obtained; and, as there is a constitutional door open for it, I think the people (for it is with them to judge), can, as they will have the advantage of experience on their side, decide with as much propriety on the alterations and amendments which are necessary, as ourselves."

    (NOTE ADDED 8/6/17: The Constitution does not prohibit women from voting, it just doesn't specify that they can. While this old blog's headline suggests the Constitution is imperfect, I am wondering now if it is, indeed, perfect, or close to it.)

    Have a Holiday Such as This, Even a Candidates' Day

       I'm not buying. No, I just don't know that having a high voter turnout turns the trick, if it is the measurement of a successful election. And, as it is the 4th of July and we are considering what a great country we live in, perhaps we should consider this and wonder if it could make us even better.
       See, even if you have a high voter turnout, if those who turn out know nothing about the issues or candidates, if they just randomly poke their pens on one candidate or the other, you have achieved little by having them come out to vote. (And, I would say it is still much a random vote if they just pick someone on no more basis than that it says "Republican" or "Democrat" next to their name, for that candidate might not endorse the stands you think he or she does.)   No, I think it is time to realize we need an upgrade in our elections. If we are to be a government of the people, we need to do better than this. True, some races we do spend close attention to, but many of them, we flounder at.
       So, what can be done?
       I propose a new holiday. Candidates' Day, we will call it, and it will be the day you get off work to study the issues and candidates. It will be the day you attend convention. You are free to skip the convention of course, but it will be there for you and you are off work, and it is what the holiday is all about, so be a good little citizen and run down to your convention.
       Here you will find everything under one roof, watch the candidates spar, catch videos and computer downloads, read literature and watch rallies, all in the name of learning about the issues and the candidates.
       I do want to point out, I have said it should be about the issues as much as about the candidates, themselves. Knowing the candidates doesn't mean as much if you don't study the issues, for you vote according to the candidates' stands, so it becomes important to know the issues in order to know if the candidate is taking the right stand. At our grand conventions, you will be able to hear debates on each of the magnificent issues of the day, even joining in the debates, if you wish.
       If you want to involve your electorate, involve it. Have a convention such as this.
     

    Thursday, July 3, 2014

    If the Poor Came to My Town, I'd Welcome Them

       Someone posted the below meme on Facebook (the meme was from NumbersUSA). After a string of replies, all siding against allowing the immigrants into their town, I replied:
      "Yes. Yes. And yes. Consider: These are most likely good people, though you judge them for evil for daring to set foot on American soil without your permission. More to the point: These are probably people in need. Why, if someone were in need, would we turn our backs on them? Why, instead of helping them, would we heap hatred on them, calling them criminals for even coming our way in search of help? Heartless? Yes, sometimes we are. I would that we would see how wrong it is that we treat people this way."

    Wednesday, July 2, 2014

    Let Them Come if They Come to Work

       Just wondering if this would work: Allow to come to America every immigrant who pledges to work. Deport them if they don't work. Grant them citizenship if they work for four straight years.
       Off top, one of the problems I see is that it might create a bureaucracy to track them. Another problem, is that it would force them to take the lowest paying jobs, as they would have no choice but to take some job lest they be deported for having no job at all. Is that bad or is it good?
       It would reduce the number of immigrants working off the books, though. Since they would have to report their jobs, they couldn't get away with doing under-the-table work. Thus, they would be tax-paying folks like the rest of us.
       As for creating a bureaucracy to keep track of them, that might be reduced by assigning the task of keeping track of them to an existing agency.

    Tuesday, July 1, 2014

    At What Point do We See that Our Policy is Wrong?

       At what point do we see that our policy is wrong if that policy is to reject the needy from coming to America? Will it be when children come alone, without their parents, and we mourn at the thought of not welcoming them, of turning our backs on the care of children?
       Ridiculously, to me, the efforts for immigration reform I have seen reach out more to those who would benefit us than to those who need help, as if Lady Liberty had changed her tune to say, "Give me your educated, your talented, your people who are yearning to be upwardly mobile."
       Why not make the poor who seek simple work the people we invite here first? Put them at the head of the line. Why not make those who will work, without going on welfare, the ones who we invite first? America is a nation that seeks to help others. If a person is begging not for welfare, but for work, should we not say, "By all means. If you are so humble as just to want a humble job, let us not throw a road block in front of you. You are of the kind we would be proud to have as Americans."