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“In this struggle against the immigrants it is clear – any half measure leads to ones own destruction. Immigrants and their world must die if we are to live.”
“There is no other choice than to fight a pitiless battle against the immigrants in every form.”
Just as our President seems to be guided by these quotes from Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels (right), so do many elected officials here in Orange County.
Now, clung to by today’s right wing fanatics, the anti-immigrant stance is against everything America stands for, stood for, and will stand for (if they get their way) in the future.
Joseph Goebbels also said “The almighty has never helped a lazy man. He does not help the coward. He does not help the immigrant that cannot help themselves. The principle applies here.” Nazi propaganda is alive and well, not just in 1941 Germany, but here in America, now, with a foot on our throats right here in Orange County.
We were reminded of Goebbels’ salute at this past Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. Raise your hand in the famed Nazi salute! Should we thank the mighty Supervisors for protecting us from the very people that made America great, should we snuff out the very light that lit that New York harbor and greeted the masses? Or should we condemn them for bringing back the burning crosses that wring the neck of our nation’s fraught history?
This week the OC Board of Supervisors freed itself from California’s agenda of protecting immigrant’s rights. This will exacerbate discrimination and encourage attacks on all immigrants legal and illegal. Supervisor Michelle Steel (up for re-election) grabbed hold of the propaganda and spread it across the county. Please don’t doubt that the anti-immigrant stance has been solidly entrenched in OC for decades, and is resurgent!
Wood and crosses were lit in a fury by right-wing fanatics combined to burn down the American dream at this heated BOS meeting. Damn immigrant, criminal, low-lifes are destroying our society, all of this was screamed over and over. Maybe they were talking about those damn Irish… no, maybe it was the German immigrants or the Chinese. No… actually it was probably the Jews and the Catholics. Line ’em up and throw them all out of this land!
Emma Lazarus:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Lazarus (right) contributed towards shaping the self-image of the United States, and how we think of the needs of those who emigrate to this land of opportunity as our parents did. Her themes produced sensitivity and enduring lessons regarding immigrants and their need for dignity.
That is America, what we are all about, written by an American, an American Jew. Sensitivity and dignity is a far reach from the clenched fist we show the current immigrants.
The Statue of Liberty was an important symbol that was the meaning and the soul of America. This meant a lot to the soldiers shipping overseas in WWII.
Miss Liberty is a 1949 Broadway musical by Robert E. Sherwood and Irving Berlin. It is based on the sculpting of the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World) in 1886. The score includes the song “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor,” a musical setting of Emma Lazarus’ sonnet “The New Colossus” (1883), which was placed at the base of the monument in 1903.
Now we stand on a precipice, possibly looking at a long fall from America “land of the free” to a despotic state, with the lessons of our history, the fight for equality forgotten, the soldiers who perished to protect distant people’s lives and liberty lost for naught.
Now we must ask: “Is Orange County the leader in the landslide of hate? Will Orange County win in the war of propaganda against the immigrant? Is God on the side of the immigrant hater? Will we tear down the Statue of Liberty like they tore down the statue of Stalin, the statue of Saddam Hussein? With this absurd, unbelievable move, will the despots of the past be laughing in their graves at the holier-than-thou Americans?
Sing along in the finale as Woody Guthrie weeps – “This land is their land, this land is their land, from the shores of New York to the coast of California. From the gulf stream cruise ships, to the west coast wineries, this land was made for them and not anyone from some other place on this planet especially if you are Latino…”
Stand by for more on this unless… the city councils, the Orange County Board of Supervisors and our Commander in Chief himself unite to close down the blogosphere next.
The original cynic/pragmatist courtier Talleyrand opined of Napoleon Bonaparte’s assassination of a popular counter-revolutionary prince, “More than a crime, it was a BLUNDER.”
I hope this move of OC Republicans turns out to be a big political blunder, it deserves to be.
*Chairman Vern, as you well know…the BOS folks only listen to the sound of the rattle of the coins in their pockets from “their base”: Land Developers, Real Estate Agents and Big Banking Interests. This is where they get their campaign cash and of course anything which may impact that in flow…..may become a problem! The welfare of the Public; their Health and Safety, the Humanity of taking care of the Homeless and the warmth of the human heart……hardly put cash into their re-election coffers! The good news is: As long as they stay “Low profile” they get re-elected. The minute they cause a stir…..”they’re gone!”
I wonder if – probably not but – Sylvia Plath was thinking of not only the biblical character Lazarus but also Emma Lazarus when she wrote her notorious “Lady Lazarus” poem which ends:
“Herr God,
Herr Doktor,
Beware,
Beware.
Out of the grave I rise with my red hair,
And I eat men like air.”
The OCGOP knows exactly when to blow the dog whistles. They will firmly grab hold of Trump’s white sheet tails and ride this wave as long and as hard as they can. Mansoor in Costa Mesa had his Minutemen. We had riots in Anahiem. Little Trees has already burned their crosses.
Every city in OC will start having divisive Council fights tearing apart communities along party lines. And local governments will grind to a crawl while issues we really should be addressing gets lost in the clouds of fire and dust.
It’s the new era folks. Hang on.
What’s your proposed course of action, then?
We can only do all we can
And spend all the money we can
And do as much walking for the anti Disney anti corporate anti Trump candidates as humanly possible.
Remember too that the corporations spend money like water and as individuals we have greater control of our expenditures. So we might make better use of less money that will be the goal.
We the people have outed over worse odds and did in the last election in Anaheim.
*Two places to watch and to think on Sam: Where is the Lincoln Club putting their money? And, what races are the RNC or their surrogates putting money into for the elections in November?
How about a WWII style trade to help ease the Homeless/Immigrant debate.
Here’s what I propose:
A ONE for ONE swap between the United States and Mexico.
We (USA) will send one homeless to Mexico in exchange for one Mexican.
We could offer papers.
They get the derelict, who would probably like it, good weather, tons of trash to scavenge, cheap food and lots of cardboard, tires and cheap drugs.
We get a good worker, who just wants to better his/her life, but now can do so legally instead of stealing from those who did it the RIGHT way.
WIN WIN if you ask me.
This would be an unconstitutional proposal if it (as I imagine it likely would) involve duress to get our homeless people to leave.
But I’m surprised that you didn’t raise the question of how the Mexican government (from the federal down to local level) treats its homeless people — and, moreover, how it would treat American homeless people. Without that part of the analysis, you may just be forcing American homeless into deaths in foreign jails.
Perhaps this warms your heart — or what passes for one. But hey, flesh out your proposal with that in mind and we’ll see what people with functioning consciences make of asking Mexico to take in what you seem to consider to be our “human trash.” Don’t get your hopes too high.
*Dr. D., so the Judge says: You can’t take away these people’s tents until you have a place for them to live…with a door they can lock and a roof. Uh oh, what is the Hot Toddy going to propose now?
G.O.P. = GREEDY OLD PERVERTS
Orange County G.O.P. = Perverts with really cheap orange-tinted tanning cream. Trump!