Crisis Under The Big Top!

Stuart’s Thoughts  9/9/2015

Crisis Under The Big Top!

Come one, come all!  The show has begun!  The circus of politics is once again in full swing.  A show that, not that long ago, took place once every four years but now seems to be on a constant run with only brief temporary respites.  With the proliferation of communication channels we’ve seen the 6:00 PM nightly news morph into a frantic, round the clock, battle between a seemingly infinite collection of TV networks and internet sites for a finite audience.  With the promise of delivering red meat, mostly of the super-charged political variety,  the country is being whipped into a non-stop frenzy.  This relentless process begins shortly after the culmination of the last election and continues, gaining momentum with increasing craziness, until the next election delivers its bolus of sugar-coated disappointment.  We never get a rest from the lying politicians, the constant drone of false promises to “do what’s best for The American People” and the endless hype of all manner of supposed journalists vying for the day’s most extreme dose of sensationalism. 

Young adults may be listening intently to this spectacle if their full attention wasn’t already monopolized by a vast wasteland of social media. Facebook and the like or texting their friends seem to occupy their days.  The middle-age group are sort of interested but can hardly spare time from their 16-hour workday quests for sufficient funds to meet those obscene college expenses required to hopefully educate their texting-crazed offspring.  And what about the older generation, we seniors, who find our “Golden Years” tarnished by this media circus?  Years of experience has taught us that the politicians eagerly use this circus to garner enough votes to win the next election and their implied desire to make things better for themselves who, in their view, are the only “American People” who really count. I am becoming increasing pessimistic that this scenario will ever change regardless of which party is in power.  However, the political circus is only a prelude to what bothers me the most.

The real crisis that all the politicians avoid facing squarely, is the crisis in assuring that our country functions according to the “Rule of Law”, the essential foundation of our democracy and the way of life coveted by so many.  Along with an insatiable appetite for a disturbing measure of violence in all forms of our entertainment media, an increasing level of lawlessness is being condoned.  Why do 80% of the movies shown on TV have warnings of violent or extreme violent content?  Why does our government not only tolerate massive breaking of our immigration laws but then bend over backwards to reward the law breakers with all manner of benefits?  Are rewards to other thieves and outlaws just around the corner as our politicians court their votes? Does this signify to the citizenry that our government will condone or, at least, go easy on any of us who have reason to break the law? Perhaps, it does if we symbolize a large enough block of potential votes.

I first focus on “illegal immigration” which, in fact, should be called for what it is. In my view, these people should not be referred to as immigrants. To refer to those whose first act in coming to our country was to break a law, as immigrants, should be insulting to those good true immigrants who have obeyed the law, stood in line, and taken their turn. Don’t all good parents  still insist that their children politely wait their turn?.  Such law-breakers should not be referred to as  “illegal immigrants”, “undocumented workers” or whatever plain vanilla label you want to apply.  They are simply “outlaws”.  Regardless of how needy or how good workers they may be, in my view, none of that matters once they have broken the law.  Personal reasons for breaking a law does not justify the action.  They have broken the law as their first action upon entering this country so they are “outlaws” and should be treated as such.  Consider just one of the costs imposed on us by our government as a result of them not enforcing their own immigration laws.

  • Between 2008 and 2014, 40% of all murder convictions in Florida were criminal aliens. In New York it was 34% and Arizona 17.8%. 

• During those years, criminal aliens accounted for 38% of all murder convictions in the five states of California, Texas, Arizona, Florida and New York, while illegal aliens constitute only 5.6% of the total population in those states.

• That 38% represents 7,085 murders out of the total of 18,643.

More than 100 immigrants whom the Obama administration released back into the community went on to be charged with subsequent killings, according to government data released recently. That raises more questions about whether immigration authorities are doing enough to detain illegal immigrants awaiting deportation.

How many more family tragedies are taking place around the nation like that of Kate Steinle’s family currently being played out on national TV?

Donald Trump says all such illegal immigrants should be deported and required to get back in line in order enter our country legally.  While that straight-forward solution appeals to those of us who deplore the lawlessness, it simply is an impractical solution.  It would be too costly and too time consuming to deal with  many millions of cases.  I would favor a solution that could come from a decision process conducted by a sizable group of knowledgeable experts.  Personally, I would favor a “passive deportation” strategy.  By that I mean that a mechanism could be put in place whereby only legal immigrants would have access to American jobs and benefits.  Surely, we have the technical knowhow to devise such a mechanism, whether it involves some high tech concept such as DNA or finger print assured ID cards or something else.  It should not be rocket science to create a mechanism that works.  Not having access to American jobs or benefits would result in self deportation by millions.  Without entering the country properly,  these people would have no way of supporting themselves or their families.  Their children would not be allowed to enter school, they would have no access to health care, no food stamps, no civil rights afforded to legal residents or any other benefit that would be readily available to legal immigrants.  This may sound harsh but I believe it would work and their fate could be reversed by going out of the country and re-entering via legal channels.

Both parties share responsibility for the “mess” that characterizes our border control and immigration system.  We’ve often heard reference to the need for immigration reform.  Whatever that means, why isn’t our government addressing it along with securing our borders?

I could go on about many other aspects of lawlessness in our country that bother me but will save that discussion for later.  Suffice it to say that indifference to traffic laws that we all see anytime we venture out in our cars is all that’s needed to recognize how pervasive lawlessness has become.  The recent “war” on the police is particularly distressing.  Only those who seek anarchy condone such actions and our leaders need to take whatever measures are necessary to bring that craziness to an end.

In my view the primary attribute I will be looking for in future candidates is a strong commitment to reestablishing and strengthening the “rule-of-law” in all aspects of our society and our nation.