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May 17, 2006Because real Americans never do this stuff… UPDATEOkay, now I am back to feeling physically ill. On a small handful of right-wing blogs, I’m seeing links to this story in the AP, about a terrible rape/murder and the sentencing of the perp. I could understand if the blogs discussing this terrible crime were pointing out the usual -ie that the press had buried the perp’s citizenship status at the end of the story. At a time when citizenship is front-and-center in the news, it is not unreasonable to expect to see such information closer to the lede. But what I am seeing from several bloggers, is something more along the lines of (I’m paraphrasing), “these are the sorts of animals George W. Bush and his cultists and want to let stay in our country!” What I am seeing is nothing less than rank demagoguery meant to foment hate and fear and to keep others in a a whipped up state of frenzy. It is needlessly provocative and could end up encouraging some tragic behavior. No, I’m sorry. Pointing to a horrible story, or two, or ten, as a means of illustrating the “rightness” of your hardline on the issue of illegal immigration does not work. Are these far-rightwing bloggers asserting that American citizens don’t get coked up on drugs and don’t commit heinous crimes? Do I have to run down the names of “legal,” natural-born citizens who have committed unspeakable atrocities? Are there illegals here who do bad things, illegal things? Yes. But here on Long Island, where we have our share of illegals, we have also seen these folks do heroic things like run into a busy road to push kids out of the way of oncoming traffic or rundown and tackle a grabber, or run into a burning house to help someone get out. Just as the press doesn’t like to discuss an illegal immigrant gone bad, I think these bloggers would not be quick to discuss one who has done something heroic. So maybe all things are equal, after all. I go to church with some of these illegal folks and see them worship and give generously from their modest earnings - perfectly respectable men trying to carve out repectable lives. There is one fellow who goes to mass every morning and never leaves without a deep bow to the Tabernacle. Should we lump him in with the rapist/murderer, because “they’re all the same?” Would I rather he’d have gotten here by legal means? Yes. A thousand times, yes. But he, and millions of his countrymen, are here. This is the world, as it is. Some of them have been here for many years, and they have become the closest thing an “illegal” can come to being a good citizen. Some will say, “it doesn’t matter if these people are saints, they’re here illegally! Illegal is illegal! It’s always illegal!” The right has a disproportionate number of Christians in its tent, and Christians are supposed to know a thing or two about forgiveness and second-chances. By the light of Christ, a whore is not forever a whore and a thief is not forever a thief. Are we conservative Christians going to forget our own second chances - some of them known only to God and ourselves - and declare that while we might not always be wretches, “an illegal is always an illegal and there is no mercy, no chance to be something more…” I can’t believe that. Can’t accept it. Won’t be part of it. Our Lord demands more from us than a shrill dehumanization of what He has created, some demagoguery and a quick look-away as we shout, “ship ‘em back! Bad! All Bad!” Oh, I can hear lots of howling right about now from the “you bleeding heart RINO, didn’t you see all those Mexicans marching on May 1st?” crowd. Yeah, I saw ‘em. I saw all the A.N.S.W.E.R. folks and rabble-rousers too. And I have no patience for the “storm the gates” mentality. I’ve never said that no one should be “shipped back.” I’ve never said a fence shouldn’t be built. However, these people we are talking about are in fact, people - created creatures loved into being, just like you and me and your kids and mine. These are not soul-less zombies undeserving of your regard or your humane respect. I am no bleeding heart, but I do believe in treating human beings like human beings and not like evil, distrustful sub-humans, walking around stealing our breathing air - and I am very disappointed, more than I can express, to see some blogs wave around a terrible story and pronounce breathlessly, fervently, “they’re all like that! And they’re coming here! And George Bush wants them here! And this is all you’re going to get from these people!” These posts are sickening, and they are feeding every old stereotype of the “bigoted rightwingnut” I’ve ever read, and once believed, and then came to disbelieve. It is sickening. I thought this sort of thinking went out with Archie Bunker. Are there problems regarding the number of illegals, and their housing and health situations? Yes. There are complications and problems, and expenses connected with illegal immigrants. Which is one of the reasons serious discussion of humane solutions must be found - and those are being looked into and discussed. They must be discussed rationally, dispassionately and dare I say it, a little imagination, a little thinking-outside-the-box might help. Maybe the answer is something I’ve been thinking about for a little while - a sort of registry in which a “guest-worker” who has been here for a while and has demonstrated his peaceable intentions would register and pay a recurring fee (not a tax, which would give rise to demands for representation and votes, but a fee - a usable source of revenue for the local government) and in exchange have the “right” to work without being harassed or having to look over his shoulder all the time. Perhaps these registration centers would offer classes in English for nominal fees, to help them in their assimilation. Such a registry might even be able to eventually offer affordable group health insurance to take some of the burden off of the hospitals (and the rest of us). Okay, maybe it’s a stupid or naive idea. I never said I was brill. That’s why I’m not a community leader. But someone, somewhere has an idea that will work. The immigration problem is complex for two reasons, the first because we are America - we are a nation of compassion and tolerance and staggering generosity. And to some extent, just as our very liberties put us at risk of terrorism, our very compassion makes us somewhat exploitable in ways that do not always make us feel happy or safe. We need to address this long-ignored problem in ways that are fair to our nation and its precepts but which will not cause us shame, will not stifle civil liberties or overburden the tax-base and the citizenry which - it must be said - by sheer dint of their citizenship must be counted as “first among equals.” The second complication to the equation is that we are talking about people, about human life, which is sacred, and how we deal with other humans will determine what sort of humans we are. We cannot allow ourselves to lose site of the humanity of the people we’re trying to deal with, whose issues - like it or not - have over 30 years become our issue. If we do, we will condemn ourselves before the Creator. It pains me to write this, because I have long-admired some of these bloggers as courageous folk. Some of them have inspiring work ethics that leave me breathless. While I do not always share their views, I have always respected them. But to be honest, when I read the hysterical, unhinged “these murderers and rapists are the people George W. Bush wants to let in our country,” crap…I felt like weeping with shame and embarrassment and anger. I never did like Pat Buchanan…and some of these folks would, I think, turn his face red! In his sadly out-of-print book of essays, People I Have Loved, Known or Admired, the great Leo Rosten wrote this about a man of whom you or I have never heard: Lord de l’Isle and Dudley, about whom I know nothing except this (but what a this it is!): In England, after the war, he organized a legal defense fund for German Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, who was being tried as a war criminal. You can imagine how many eyebrows were raised in London’s clubs when this was announced… When reporters asked Lord de l’Isle and Dudley to explainhy he had launched this puzzling philanthropy, he replied: Had I met General von Manstein during teh war, I would have shot him on sight.” Pause. Muttered “Hear, hear!”s of approval within the press. “I am not concerned with whether Manstein is guilty or note,” milord continued. “I simply want enough money to insure that he will be properly represented in his trial, by a British barrister…I want Britain’s reputation upheld.” He wanted England never to have anything to be ashamed of. And I know that, passions aside, we all want the same for America. Once again, my friends, I’m begging you; please, pull back from the edge. UPDATE: The Senate has voted in the fence. For some, of course, it will never be enough unless every illegal is “shipped out” as well…but they are increasingly sounding to me like the folks Jesus talked about: “we played a jig and you would not dance; we played a dirge and you would not mourn…” Some folks are simply not going to be pleased unless they get things 100% their way. You know what? That’s not leadership. And it’s not the way the world works, either. Related: http://theanchoressonline.com/2006/05/17/because-real-americans-never-do-this-stuff/trackback/ 23 Responses to “Because real Americans never do this stuff… UPDATE” |
May 17th, 2006 at 2:46 pm
Well said!
May 17th, 2006 at 3:18 pm
These hate-filled, so-called conservatives will destroy the Republican party and with it the country.
May 17th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
I don’t think it’s fair to paint all conservatives with the same brush, any more than it is to paint all libs with the same brush.
I think the point made by those blogs bear making … that illegal immigration is by no means an unmixed blessing. Yes, illegal immigrants work hard. But some do commit crimes.
In fact, I would go so far to say that allowing hordes of poor but ambitious people into the country who have no *legitimate* way to participate in our economy an open invitation to crime. Ambitious people who cannot legitimately make money will make it illegitimately.
Then, too, bringing undocumented immigrants into the US is smuggling. While many are upstanding humans whose sole crime is being too poor and uneducated to jump through the hoops of legal immigration, it occurs to me that if one can smuggle a human across a border one can also smuggle anything a human can carry … drugs, slaves, weapons.
So while we will go around about this for hours, it’s still going to boil down to some very simple facts:
1) We have to secure our borders — Canadian AND Mexican. Securing one’s frontier is a fundamental duty of a nation state. We can’t altogether prevent terrorists or drug smugglers from getting through, but we can make it harder.
2) We aren’t going to perform massive deportations. The Latin lobby, humanitarian lobby, and the business lobby pretty much guarantee it isn’t going to happen. And if we did, what’s to stop them from coming back? Shoot to kill anyone trying to cross? Machine guns, minefields, and dogs? Not in MY lifetime, bucko.
3) Since we can’t deport them, it follows that we are going to need SOME way for these undocumented people to become documented and legalized. That means some sort of “guest worker” program or “amnesty”. What else are going to do, shoot them all?
In other words, what Mr. Bush proposed is pretty much what we’re going to have to do. We can scream and fuss all we want, but I don’t see any other possibility.
Respectfully,
Brian P.
May 17th, 2006 at 3:21 pm
Well said, Anchoress.
fschmieg, I find your comment interesting. It isn’t as if the liberals in this country give a damn about theIraqis now, or when Saddam was in power. Liberals, least of all, give a damn or have conscience.
Helping people and standing up for them has nothing to with politics- theirs or yours.
This is a lesson hypocrites have a hard time with.
May 17th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
“an illegal is always an illegal and there is no mercy, no chance to be something more…”
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Take it from a criminal defense attorney who has represented citizens, legal immigrants, and illegal immigrants accused of criminal offenses — there is a very strong anti-Christian current in the conservative law-and-order crowd.
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It used to be that an offender could “pay his debt to society,” reform his life, and move on to be a productive member of society. It is getting to be near impossible for an offender to do that today because of the anti-Christian idea of once a criminal always a criminal, and they should never be forgiven, never be taken back into society, never be given jobs (all the while demanding that they maintain employment), never be allowed to move into a house in your neighborhood. All in the name of “justice.” Offenders today are made permanent outcasts, never being allowed reconciliation, and is it any wonder that they go on to re-offend? If only re-offending by using drugs?
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That is not the Christian way. The Christian way, and more specifically, the Catholic way, is to forgive, to reconcile and restore after contrition and penance. The Christian way is to leave ultimate “justice” to God.
May 17th, 2006 at 3:31 pm
[...] When you're done, read Because Real Americans Never Do This Stuff, by The Anchoress. [...]
May 17th, 2006 at 3:35 pm
Maybe the answer is . . .
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There is only one answer that will truly work, and that is for all of these home countries to reform their governments and their economies so that they can be the successes that the United States is.
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There is absolutely no reason that Mexico cannot be an economic powerhouse. The United States did not become one merely by chance, and it did not become one by exploiting the poor, or Native Americans, or the environment. The United States became successful by good old hard work by its citizenry, and there is no reason that all those so-called hardworking immigrants cannot go home and use their work-ethic to improve their own countries. There is no reason that Mexicans cannot march in Mexico City, grab Vincente Fox, and toss him into the Gulf of Mexico.
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As it is, these people are more refugees than true immigrants. It is time to end the oppressive governments and economies of these home countries so that these people can stay home, rather than becoming parasites, living off of others.
May 17th, 2006 at 3:37 pm
In fairness, Brian, I don’t believe I have painted ALL conservatives with this brush…I made apoint of saying it was some bloggers, but I will call it a handful to clarify.
May 17th, 2006 at 4:52 pm
I’m surprised it’s only a handful. Maybe what’s causing the distemper among some is that they don’t trust the good-faith of the government here, not the democrats’ and not the republicans’. And when that trust is gone, a fellow’s brain does grow hot. Forgivably.
I think this is why many of us are saying ’seal the border first, then we’ll talk’. We need that proof that politicians aren’t just blowing the same smoke up our exits that they have for 20+ years now.
Lastly, compassion. A distantly related question here. When the humane societies say do NOT put out birdseed during the winter months, which do you follow? Your heart? Your head?
May 17th, 2006 at 4:57 pm
I put out birdseed packed with peanut butter!
‘
But then…a bird, with very few exceptions, is not a human being.
May 17th, 2006 at 7:19 pm
This is racism plain and simple. What’s next white sheets over their heads?
I consider myself conservative and I find this kind of bigotry shameful.
May 17th, 2006 at 8:38 pm
If amnesty wasn’t the answer 20 years ago and only postponed the day of reckoning, why is it a good idea now?
Bender, how have illegal aliens paid their debt to society? Your point is clear re: punished criminals, but I don’t see how it applies to those still breaking the law. Could you explain, please?
May 17th, 2006 at 9:05 pm
Under today’s laws, most of my family would be illegal. Most of us came here originally from somewhere else. And immigration was open to everyone, until 1920. I think a policy quite that open might be difficult for us, as a nation, to support. But we need to fix the immigration laws (which allow only a small percentage of legal immigration from non European countries) so that many more people can come. Then we need to close the border, and enforce immigration policy. But the laws need to be fair first. And, because they weren’t when so many people first came, yes, I support some kind of amnesty if they can earn it.
May 17th, 2006 at 9:12 pm
[...] Answer: Yes. PermaLink | | Trackback/Pingback (0) [...]
May 17th, 2006 at 11:32 pm
Bender, how have illegal aliens paid their debt to society? Your point is clear re: punished criminals, but I don’t see how it applies to those still breaking the law. Could you explain, please?
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My point, and I think the point of our dear hostess, is that perhaps we should find a way to allow them some way to pay their debt, however high that debt might be, rather than simply and permanently reject them out of hand.
May 18th, 2006 at 12:39 am
[...] The Anchoress gives a passionate plea for everyone in the immigration debate to remember that illegal immigrants are first and foremost people, and thus deserving of a certain amount of respect. It is a long peice, but well worth reading. [...]
May 18th, 2006 at 7:30 am
I remain convinced that some of the extreme commentary you’re seeing from readers of certain blogs/sites is deliberate skullduggery from folks from over at DU/Koskids. This is an EXCELLENT way to 1. divide 2. defame conservatives/Republicans and 3. damage their credibility with both our political leaders and the “average voter.”
May 18th, 2006 at 8:18 am
Sal:
This plan is not an amnesty plan. Perhaps you can explain why some people can not grasp that fact.
May 18th, 2006 at 9:02 am
Convert, I’m sorry you feel that way. I disagree. “I” am not the one demanding perfection and refusing to see a glass 2/3 full as useless because it’s 1/3 empty. “I” am not the conservative suggesting we “lose to win.”
Best,
A
May 18th, 2006 at 12:47 pm
Something that would make me happy is if we stopped couching it in the language of “civil rights”.
If a person who is here illegally becomes a citizen, he has not received his “rights”. He has received a grace. He has received better than he deserves. I think it speaks well of America that this is given, and it should be received with gratitude.
It is a gift, a mercy, a grace. It is not an “entitlement”.
The only thing an illegal alien is “entitled” to — in this or any country — is a one-way bus trip to the nearest border. If we go past that to pay for a one-way fare back to the country of origin (assuming it is not the closest border), that is a mercy.
Deportation is neither unjust nor unfair, and I wish the activists on the other side would stop talking about it as if it were. Deportation of an illegal is just. While mercy is a better idea both for practical and moral reasons, it should be craved as a gift and accepted as such, not demanded as a right.
Respectfully,
Brian P.
May 19th, 2006 at 10:38 am
Of course it’s amnesty.
The corrective for illegally entering the country is deportation.
If you aren’t deported and are allowed to stay - amnesty.
This is not hard, folks.
May 19th, 2006 at 11:21 pm
Because the U.S. doesn't have any drunk, coked-up rapists and murderers.
Michelle Malkin is really stretching for "Gotchas!" in the immigration debate. A Guatemalan with an expired visa raped and murdered a woman. A despicable crime, and I have no pity for him. Malkin comments: "[The] AP…refuses to tell you…
November 17th, 2006 at 3:13 pm
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