‘Secret Immigration Deal’ — portions of internet upset
CBS have a story about an immigration deal being brokered between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate. That’s interesting enough in itself, but some of the reactions in comments are bizarro (not sure whether CBS are going to delete some of them).
For example:
You ask,”Why all the fear?” It’s the fear of losing our country to illegals. I rarely hear English spoken out in public. I can’t make a legal turn at a signaled intersection because all the Mexicans can’t understand the signal system and never stop crossing the street. I went to an emergency room and the stench of unbathed humans was too strong to tolerate, not to mention the loud and boisterous jabbering in Spanish. Shopping carts, the Mexican’s free home delivery system, line the streets and sidewalks. Grafitti is everywhere. Our systems of law enforcement, healthcare, education and welfare are on the brink of bankruptcy. Our nighborhoods are deteriorating. All in all, we are fearfull that the arrogant, self-serving politicians will continue to spit in the faces of the U.S. citizens, ignoring their oaths of office and the laws of this country; not to mention the overwhelming will of the people to DEPORT ILLEGALS AND CLOSE THE MEXICAN BORDER.
and:
Three more observations:
1996, 1997, 2004 Walmart–women changing baby poo poo diapers in the middle of the clothing section, on the floor. Try to tell them where the “Bano” was–think I got cussed out in Spanish–one woman left her child’s shittttty diaper right among the clothing racks as she walked away.
2006 Six flags eating at one of the restaurants–man places baby on table beside me and proceeds to change the diaper. Lost appetite
At a chilis restaurant–same thing
2007 (last weekend) stopped in traffic, man is standing on side of the road that afternoon, by his car—pissing.
Never saw a black, white, asian or any other race change a baby diaper at a restaurant table or on the floor of a store.
Sharing is very cathartic. Thank you
My pleasure; really, don’t mention it. Or anything else. Ever again.
Additionally, evidence suggests that the Mexican invasion is destroying American Education:
i say send all illeagels back .i don,t trust kennedy or grahm. and grahm repesents our state
The real problem, however, is clear:
The Rich People and the Catholic cutting a deal behind closed doors to grant amnesty to the wetties (money and power for the Catholic Church and voters to pull the Democratic levers)and guarantee a secure supply of cheap labor to those who can’t manage to outsource (Republican bliss).
Lou Dobbs, eat your heart out*.
*Really. Use a spoon.
It is never pleasant to confront open racism, but that said, I’ve observed behaviors not entirely dissimilar from what these people are discussing, and generally from Spanish-speaking people.
It is perfectly reasonable to expect civil behavior from all members of any society, whatever their status. It is also reasonable to expect a government to make, at minimum, a good faith effort to secure its borders.
I don’t share the outlook of these people, but I do understand where they’re coming from. I’d like to see more policy initiatives to encourage assimilation of existing immigrant populations, and I’m closer than I’ve ever been to supporting English as an official language.
Comment by Rojas — 5/12/2007 @ 11:27 am
Is it not more likely to be a case of extrapolating from a few examples to an entire (really rather large) section of society?
There are really plenty of good arguments against illegal immigration, against amnesty and against current ‘do-little’ policy.
Incidentally, while I can understand why a deal might be brokered before it is unveiled, with support arranged ahead of what then becomes, in effect, a faux debate with predetermined outcome, I don’t think that such a brokering serves the interest of government in the long term. The so-called ‘immigration reform’ is a hard sell, particularly after the amnesty from the Reagan era, but leaving large swathes of the American population feeling aggrieved at a policy decision for which they were not even offered a place at the table to discuss it, is perhaps the biggest risk out of all the risks involved. Yes, some people will be bitter and angry even if the normal processes were followed and they nevertheless lost, but many will bow to the democratic will if they are convinced that the result was the democratic will, rather than a stitch-up executed at the highest levels of Federal Government.
Comment by Adam — 5/12/2007 @ 2:31 pm
I lived in Los Angeles for ten years, and my wife lived there for all but six years of her life. Neither of us has ever witnessed diaper-changing behavior of the sort described here.
It’s not that we’ve never seen diapers being changed in public; we’ve done that ourselves. But never in an enclosed space with other people other than a bathroom, and certainly never in a restaurant. I’m not sure why it would be absent in Los Angeles, with its huge immigrant population, and so prevalent elsewhere. In any case, it sounds more like a poverty-related behavior than a cultural issue to me.
As for hearing Spanish spoken in public places, that’s not rude unless a person refuses to address you–personally–in any language other than Spanish.
I agree with Rojas that assimilation should be encouraged (although not forced), but I also believe that inevitable alterations to mainstream culture arising from immigration are not to be feared or avoided.
Comment by Talarohk — 5/12/2007 @ 3:24 pm
Wow. That felt like an episode of “All in the Family.” I’m having 70’s flashbacks.
I can’t believe someone said, “wettie.”
Comment by Leotie — 5/12/2007 @ 8:54 pm