Reason 8,000,001 I'm Sick of Politics
My Congresswoman, Tammy Baldwin is best known for being the only openly game woman in Congress. I'd don't care that she's a lesbian, but I do care that she's a flaming liberal who is more accurately referred to as "Comrade Baldwin". So, yeah, I'm no fan.
Dave Magnum, a radio station owner, is planning on challenging Baldwin again this year. Baldwin gets a ton of money from places like Emily's List, but, even so, Magnum gave her a good run in 2004, so there's reason to believe he could challenge again.
Anyway, I get Magnum's email newsletter, Dave's Digest. The latest issue focused on illegal immigration. Dave says:
Unfortunately, some of those on the front lines of the immigration debate are doing their cause no favors with their confrontational stance. Pictures of illegal immigrants on the news parading around in "I'm Illegal, So What?" t-shirts are a mocking display of blatant disregard for our laws. This in-your-face effort to provoke and bully is only going to make it more difficult for all sides to come together and reach a mutually acceptable resolution.America is the most generous nation in the world, bar none. We will always be willing to help those who need it, yet there is a difference between a hand-up and a handout. For generations, those who arrived on our nation's shores understood this.
As a kid, my Grandpa DeSomer often told the story of how his family agonized about it and finally stepped onto an intimidating old ship leaving their family and native Belgium forever. They sailed to these shores, hung the stars and stripes, learned the language, and worked hard to become productive citizens. The last thing they expected was a handout. Yes, America was built by immigrants - law-abiding, respectful, grateful immigrants for whom living, working, and raising a family here was a point of pride that was not taken lightly and did not come without great effort and sacrifice. That is still true today, and we should never lose sight of that fact as we work toward solving our current illegal immigration crisis.
I like that quote. It makes me feel like this is a candidate I could get behind. But then, immediately after that passage in the newsletter is this:
DID YOU KNOW... The Tammy Baldwin agenda on protecting the U.S. flag from desecrationTammy Baldwin voted against H.J. Res. 10, which proposes a Constitutional amendment authorizing Congress to prohibit the physical desecration of the U.S. Flag (6/22/05 - Roll No. 296)
That makes me roll my eyes in frustration. Where is the candidate that wants to enforce laws at the border and respect our First Amendment rights?
Posted by kris at May 2, 2006 10:16 PM
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Comments
| # May 5th, 2006 9:22 PM mbrlr |
| We agree on the flag. If such an amendment ever passes, the very first thing I'll do is go out and burn a flag. Like it or not, that fits our settled definition of speech and it should be protected. That right is far more precious than the stars and stripes.
As for the immigration bit, though...let's see. "Unfortunately, some of those on the front lines of the immigration debate are doing their cause no favors with their confrontational stance." Speech by its nature is sometimes confrontational. "Pictures of illegal immigrants on the news parading around in "I'm Illegal, So What?" t-shirts are a mocking display of blatant disregard for our laws." No. It's a political statement and thus protected and perfectly appropriate. "This in-your-face effort to provoke and bully is only going to make it more difficult for all sides to come together and reach a mutually acceptable resolution." Provoke and bully? Please. For provocation and bullying, see the Minutemen (all jokes concerning their performance with their spouses will be withheld for the moment) and their ilk. "America is the most generous nation in the world, bar none." Actually, our per capita giving ranks fairly low among industrialized nations in the West. "We will always be willing to help those who need it, yet there is a difference between a hand-up and a handout." We haven't always been willing to help those who need it. And that "hand-up and a handout" business is a bunch of tripe. "For generations, those who arrived on our nation's shores understood this." Actually, our levels of illegal immigration have always been high, but they're particularly high when we go on one of our periodic "seal the borders!" fits. People want to come here. Go figure. "As a kid, my Grandpa DeSomer often told the story of how his family agonized about it and finally stepped onto an intimidating old ship leaving their family and native Belgium forever. They sailed to these shores, hung the stars and stripes, learned the language, and worked hard to become productive citizens." Awwww...how touching. That's precisely what Latinos are now doing. The fear of Spanish is just...why? We've always had immigrants, first and second generation, who've hung onto the languages, but they usually lose it by the third generation and become the typical "I won't speak another language" types we're prone to. That's a cultural aspect we've kept from Mother England and that aspect is, statistically, something the descendants of Latino immigrants also do. There's no difference. The fear of the "other" is just one of those things we go through occasionally, from the fear of the Irish to the fear of the Italians to the fear of the Asians to the fear of the Latinos. It doesn't reflect well on what is, with the exception of native Americans, a society of descendants of immigrants. "The last thing they expected was a handout." And Latinos do? Please. "Yes, America was built by immigrants - law-abiding, respectful, grateful immigrants for whom living, working, and raising a family here was a point of pride that was not taken lightly and did not come without great effort and sacrifice." Ditto for Latinos. "That is still true today, and we should never lose sight of that fact as we work toward solving our current illegal immigration crisis." Wow. Meaning what? But, as you say, he then goes on to confirm his yahoo-ness with the bit about the flag. A pox upon him and his ilk...but I respect his right to be a yahoo. |
| # May 5th, 2006 10:19 PM BVBigBro |
| Actually our per capita giving dwarfs other western nations. |
| # May 7th, 2006 6:34 PM mbrlr |
| Our dollar amount may be the highest, but in percentage of GNP, we're either dead last or next-to-last. |
| # May 7th, 2006 8:06 PM BVBigBro |
| Nope. The people who generate this crap do so by specifically excluding the types of donations Americans are likely to make. When you make any effort to include all charity and aid guess who's number 1? |
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