The Fence

It is 93 degrees outside where I live and I had to run an errand. It is so hot that your eyebrows can burn. Driving up my block I noticed a local landscaper's truck and two workers were on a neighbor's property pulling out weeds and dead tree branches and maintaining serious square footage. Not to sound like I am stereotyping but these workers, sweating beyond belief, seemed to be brown skinned and if I guess correctly, may not have the legal status to be in this country. No doubt as to how hard they were working and with much pride too. Their efforts pay off as can be seen by a great visual experience. These men didn't appear to be rapists, or thieves. They appear to care about their work. They don't have trousers with cantaloupe sized thighs carrying drugs. (Too hot today for trousers anyway.) They don't seem to have been dispatched here by a government looking to send us their worst. They are, if I had to guess, from Mexico. Now I have compassion so I am thinking that the next time I see them, I ought to warn them about The Fence. Yes, The Fence. After all, our leading candidates from the Republican field are in agreement that we must build The Fence, to keep these workers from destroying the land, (quite the contrary on my block), or from attacking our women (just like the Republican party is doing with unequal pay, vaginal probes and attempts to close PP etc.) or to sell me drugs (which I could get easily from some legal white folk) if I really wanted to. To millions of Americans, regrettably, The Fence idea seems to be great, because after all, we must keep these people out and send the millions that are here, back to where they came from. Their kids too so we can keep the families together, but hell, they aren't "real" citizens anyway. We must deny their birthright and save the dish washing jobs and child care jobs and custodial jobs and landscaping jobs for all the willing white people in America who are just lining up to fill them. (Who hired all these illegals anyway?) As far as birthright goes, its in the Constitution and I would bet my nicely landscaped house,(I do it myself....teacher's salary), that not one of these Republican candidates embracing the front runner's plan, could even tell you how to amend the Constitution. Where are you Americans for Reason and Truth?

A Plausible Alternative?

Contrary to what my relatives, colleagues, friends and neighbors might say, I am not a litmus test for the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. My preferences certainly lean that way, but I am always looking for a plausible alternative or at least something else worth considering. When I find it, when it meets my needs and the needs of our country, I will give it due review. To date, that alternative is simply not plausible. For instance, President Obama wants to try peace and diplomacy before blowing the heads off of our enemies, much like Reagan and Bush 1 did. The alternative?...deadly and costly war. The President wants to clean our air and prepare our children for the future by regulating poisonous CO2 and reducing our reliance on dirty and unsafe coal. The alternative?..a deadly and costly erosion of our planet. The Democrats want to support an agency that has saved the lives of millions of people by offering free health counseling, safe medical procedures and sensitive support for womens' health while they also preach alternatives to abortion helping to push the number of abortions to the lowest level in decades. The alternative?..Shut Planned Parenthood down. The President wants to invest in bridges, tunnels, rails, roads and airports and bring our infrastructure to levels seen in other nations, creating jobs and planning for the future. The alternative?...Do nothing at the Federal level, its the States's to fix. The Affordable Care Act is working by every single metric out there. There is no longer an argument in the broad sense calling it a failure. Part of the law allows for states to expand healthcare to millions of poor and many States have done it. The alternative? Call it socialism and government interference and let people be sick and use expensive emergency rooms and repeal the law with nothing to replace it with. The President wants a solution to the immigration problem and supports a bill passed by the Senate. The alternative?...Deport 15 million illegals and put a fence on the border. There are a plethora of other examples that could be included in this blog post but I have already exhausted my quota of minutes thinking about how wrong, hateful and ignorant the responses to Obama's positions and vision are. I am afraid that under the current climate of Congressional stupidity, that Plausible Alternative remains out of reach. Where are you Americans for Reason and Truth?