I keep trying to convince myself that thousands, perhaps millions of people wanting to come to this country to better themselves is somehow a bad thing. I’ve tried a bunch of arguments but can’t come up with one that even sounds reasonable. I understand, sort of, the poll driven need for President Biden to ‘take some action’ to resolve the “emergency” or “crisis” at the southern border, but would expect that at least one of his team would be bright enough to come up with a narrative that would put the onus on Congress where it belongs instead of making it, like so many other things, the President’s problem.
The Senate is apparently going to vote today on a bill to ensure access to contraception in light of some Republicans’ increasingly clear goal of making those illegal again. One wonders if the male portion of the legislature realizes that they would be losing the only means they have (other than self-control) of taking responsibility for preventing unwanted pregnancies. Then I thought about it and realized that 1) most of those people have no self-control, 2) they don’t recognize any responsibility for the results of their actions, forced or consensual, and 3) they figure they’ll be able to get either black-market condoms or an illegal abortion just like back in the old days.
I’ve just read two books that I highly recommend: Trail of Tears, by John Ehle, the story of the American government’s treatment of the indigenous population of this country with a focus on the Cherokee nation; there’s a great deal of history of the Cherokee prior to their forced removal from their homes and it puts into perspective the lack of respect for other people and, occasionally, treaty agreements that we still see today; and The Essential Erasmus, translated by John Dolan. Erasmus of Rotterdam was a 16th century theologian, philosopher, and Catholic apologist whose approach to Christianity and the Church offers a great deal of encouragement to those who would see more attention to the teachings and actions of Jesus the Christ in today’s world. One need not be Catholic or even Christian to appreciate his commentary and anyone who enjoys reading will find his humor, occasional sarcasm, and pithy wisdom a welcome relief from much of what passes for religious writing now.
Good stuff, Dave! I don't know how President Biden can message the border policy effectively, unless he's implementing exactly what the bipartisan team negotiated before Convicted Felon derailed it. If it's the same, this should be the message, loud and clear: "I took this action on behalf of a bipartisan team in Congress that negotiated these exact terms in good faith, only to have them defeated by the political opportunist they have chosen to run against me. I will faithfully uphold whatever legislation is passed to address the immigration and asylum crisis that their inaction sustains."
Immigrants are the traditional whipping boy for populist politicians. Mark Zandi of Moody's said that Trump's plans to deport 10M undocumented immigrants would quickly trigger both inflation and a recession. Immigrant workers are what is currently keeping our economy afloat.
You don't need to look any further than the US plan recently floated to help immigrants fleeing unstable Central American countries make their way to Italy and Greece. It makes sense because both of those countries are struggling with aging populations and stagnant economies.
But the political realities are that the border remains a liability for Biden, so he is taking some action to address the MAGA claim that immigration can be addressed without legislation. The ACLU will likely succeed in blocking the implementation of this policy because the executive branch can't arbitrarily change the asylum laws without relying on some expanded executive powers that only come into play when there is an emergency (e.g. pandemic).
The facts on the ground are that Mexico has been more successful in reducing the flow of immigrants than any policies either Trump or Biden implemented. Their new president is a progressive and has talked about Mexico taking a leadership role in helper her neighbors to the south build more stable governments and economies. While this is probably too much in the weeds for the current campaign, it is evidence that the Biden approach of building strong international relationships works better than that Trump approach of intimidation and isolation.
The bottom line on immigration is simple. As long as there are employers willing to hire immigrants, people are going to risk their lives and fortune to come here because there is no future in their home countries.
With regard to contraception, it will be interesting to see how those who want to outlaw it will deal with the recently announced male contraceptive. It does not directly interfere with the process of fertilization. It simply inhibits the production of sperm. So there is no zygote to bestow personhood on.
IMHO, women's health will prove to be a big issue in this election too.
Another good book documenting the roots on indigenous genocide in this country is Jacksonland by Steve Inskeep. It documents that significant role that Andrew Jackson and southern politics played in the removals of Cherokee from Georgia. Michigan had a role to play in those efforts too. The War of 1812 was fought in Michigan. The British were aligned with the native populations. The French were allied with the US. Tecumseh surprised everyone by successfully organizing the disparate tribes in Michigan and Ohio to become a potent fighting force. The US didn't particular win so much as the British gave up. But the aftermath was that Jackson used the specter of an organized native force to remove the entire native population from Michigan and resettle them in Kansas.