Part-Time Pundit

Winning the Debate by Silencing the Opposition

Anyone who has taken a Constitution class in high school knows that the First Amendment protects the right of all people to express almost any idea they want in the public square (with the exceptions of inciting riots, threats of violence, etc). Yet there is one group the various pundits insist need to be silenced for the sake of our nation and that is Christians.

Recently, Lou Dobbs lamented the influence religion has on politics. He said churches “are driving that political adventurism as those leaders conflate religion and politics.” Apparently he suggests the government should do something about shutting up those damn Christians who keep expressing their points of view.

In a democratic republic such as this one, all people get an equal say in what they believe the state should be about. That includes atheists, agnostics, wiccans, Jews, Muslims and even those pesky Christians. There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of those groups expressing any of there views. A diverse and tolerant society requires nothing less.

The idea that the Bill of Rights, under the moniker of the Separation of Church and state, is designed to restrict citizens from petitioning their government based on some perceived ideological characteristic is absurd. We’ll skip past the fact that the First Amendment requires institutional separation, not state mandated atheism.

What Lou Dobbs, and others like him, are upset about is that they are on the losing side of issues. And what do they suggest to fix it? Convincing arguments? Helpful debates? No. They want to silence the opposition. This is un-American and the citing of “national values” to stifle free speech borders on absurd. If you can’t handle a country where all people get their say, well, I do question your patriotism.

The bold assertion that the people in the pews are separated from the people behind the pulpit is novel and interesting, considering it is coming from someone who has little grasp on what people in the pews believe or want. Apparently Dobbs things that the people in the pews are at once automatons that follow whatever their pastor says but at the same time acutely aware that their pastors “are a class unto themself.” Either they’re stupid or their not. With the amount of “church shopping” that goes on, it’s pretty clear that if the people don’t like the message, they go somewhere else.

Most importantly, what Dobbs is lamenting is that people aren’t blaming immigrants for the immigration problem. When the government of the United States and Mexico signal to their people loud and clear that they aren’t going to enforce the law, what did you expect was going to happen? Imagine a college town saying they aren’t going to enforce drinking laws for a weekend. You’d have a town full of drunk freshmen passed out in the gutter. Duh.

There is more to the debate than blaming immigrants versus amnesty and proposals take that into account. Of course people think the border should be secured but they don’t necessarily believe that immigrants should be rounded up for what really amounts to a failure of the government.

The attempt to silence Christians should be called what it is, censorship. No one is trying to mandate forced Christianity down the throats of citizens. No one is attempting to silence non-Christian points of view. It is long past time that Christians are cynically discriminated against simply because they don’t hold to whatever elites consider the “right point of view” to be. Because you know if those same Christians were saying the same things, they’d be pointing towards them as proof they’re right.

May 14th, 2007 Posted by John Bambenek | Columns, Freedom of Speech, Immigration, Politics, The MSM | 30 comments

Campus Thugs Use Violence, not Intelligence, to Advance Ideas at Columbia

Last week at Columbia University, members of the International Socialist Organization and other student groups violently rushed the stage during a speech by Jim Gilchrist of the Minuteman Project. This is the same university that employs this year’s Nobel Prize winner in economics. They are obviously capable of intelligent endeavor.

In a rare moment of honesty, an International Socialist member who was too cowardly to be identified said, “It [the protest and rushing of the stage] was fundamentally a part of free speech. The Minutemen are not a legitimate part of the debate on immigration.” Words fail to convey the absurdity of this position, to at one instant wrap oneself in the shroud of Free Speech while at the same time insisting that dissenting points of view cannot be presented. It is a rather delicious bit of unintentional irony.

The fact is, this kind of behavior is an outgrowth of what the University environment has become. Few people discuss and debate opposing points of view, they simply sneer in elitist condescension at opposing points of view. See, if the other side was enlightened, they’d know what we’re talking about. There are only two parts of a debate, the enlightened elite and the uneducated rubes. While this has generally been a left-to-right dynamic, those on the right seem to be perfectly willing to return the favor.

The result is masses of activists stirred up with a fervor that rivals all the accusations of the “blind faith” of the religious. It is where the ad hominem is the first step in a disagreement. It is only natural that acts of violence flow from this mindless conformity to unquestioned ideas. The University, once the first and best place for the free exchange of ideas, has become the worst place for such a debate.

This is not a problem particular to Columbia; even the University of Illinois in Champaign (not commonly thought of as a liberal bastion) has had issues like this occur. In 2004, a group of protestors engaged in a violent occupation of the campus’ administration building. Such antics are not atypical for a campus environment. They are so convinced of their causes; they feel they don’t have to bother with intelligent discussion. Such is the disposition of a revolutionary.

The latest incident at Columbia should be a wake up call to universities everywhere. Either we return to the free exchange of ideas principle on campus or these acts of violence will continue and escalate.

October 9th, 2006 Posted by John Bambenek | Around the US, Education, Immigration, Politics, University of Illinois | one comment

Republicans Punt on Immigration: Does the Public Really Care?

It appears the Congressional GOP has sounded the death knell for immigration reform legislation until after the elections.

It is a good thing that the current package of immigration reform has died. Amnesty would be one thing but the current package is far more than just amnesty. In addition to amnesty they get two years off taxes, job rights far surpassing that available to US citizens, and civil rights protections far beyond what is available to our own homegrown minorities. It legalizes their status and throws money at the community simply to buy their votes.

While no one seriously contends that the United States should have no effective border or that any regulation of immigration is inherently unjust, few seem to have developed the intestinal fortitude to specify a policy that makes sense. Part of the reason there are so many problems in the illegal immigrant community is the lack of enforcement of the law.

Employers can extract more from employees by holding the sword of calling immigration over their employee’s heads. That community is subject to the manipulation and abuse of coyotes (immigrant runners), landlords, and employers because they have no recourse to the government. When the law goes enforced you get lawlessness. It is clear that not enforcing the law hasn’t worked; the idea that removing the law altogether will help is patently absurd.

When the governments of the US and Mexico both telegraph that immigration law won’t be enforce (at least not the parts about sneaking across the border), is it any wonder people come over the border? This is a problem of our government’s own making (blaming the immigrants is rather simple-minded here) who don’t enforce the law and then grant ridiculous concessions like bilingual services, welfare, and the use of non-US identification. It as if the US government wants to multiply the number of walls between the immigrant community and the general population. In effect, it only increases the amount of tension, manipulation, and anger in the illegal immigrant community.

The Republicans know that they have gotten themselves in a tough spot. The Democrats have stayed largely silent on the issue because there is no reason to get involved in letting the Republicans pick which set of people they burn with their policy. The Republicans decided to hold off until after the elections as a result.

This means that the public, based on their actions during the midterm elections, get to decide the policy. If a strong anti-amnesty, pro-enforcement message gets communicated, likely the Republicans will adopt that. If apathy on the issue is apparent, then the Republicans will likely pander to gain new voters.

So while the Republicans are backing off in apparent cowardice to handle an issue largely caused by governmental actions, it gives the chance for the public to pick the policy. The question is, how much do the people really care? We’ll find out in November.

September 5th, 2006 Posted by John Bambenek | Immigration, National, Politics | no comments

DI Column Up: Cashing In / How to Become an Illegal Immigrant

You can read it here, or quoted below:

During last semester’s immigration protests in Champaign, the migrant community wanted to be accepted as Americans and treated as equals. The United States Senate has gone well above and beyond anything they asked for.

The Senate bill will not only grant amnesty, it will actually reward immigrants for braving the desert illegally. Far from being treated as the equals of Americans or legal immigrants, the package offered to them surpasses even the rights and privileges enjoyed by citizens who have lived here for decades.

First, under the bill, illegal immigrants will need to pay three out of the last five years of back taxes to the government. Or, to put it another way, every illegal immigrant gets a two-year break from paying taxes.

Second, the bill would require that they are paid the “prevailing wage” (much higher than minimum wage) for agricultural work. Also, they are granted job protection measures in federal law far beyond what is available to normal Americans and legal immigrants who can be fired for any reason or no reason at all.

Third, they can be paid Social Security benefits based on their employment in the United States while using forged Social Security numbers. With 40 million people having used the Social Security number 000-00-0000, it is clear this measure will generate massive fraud and accelerate the bankruptcy of Social Security.

Many pundits have complained that the proposal to lavish money on illegal immigrants is pandering at its worst. However, instead of complaining about legislators trying to buy new voters, there is a far better solution to this congressional excess. Become an illegal immigrant, too.

Here’s how: Take a vacation to Mexico and stop by a U.S. embassy there. Renounce your citizenship and give them your passport. Then travel back to the United States using your driver’s license or birth certificate. Congratulations, you are now an illegal immigrant - your La Raza membership card is in the mail.

To take advantage of the two-year tax holiday, return to your job and get a new W-4. In box 7, write “exempt.” Do the same for your Illinois W-4. This will stop all tax withholding from your paycheck. Alternatively, get your employer to pay you on a 1099, which has no tax or other withholding. Stop filing tax returns.

Then apply for the amnesty program which will require you to pay back taxes for three of the last five years (which you’ve already paid). You have now legally evaded taxes for two years.

Now, as an illegal immigrant from Mexico, you can demand affirmative action to get into grad school ahead of those equally qualified (or even a little more qualified). Out-of-state students take note; you can now demand in-state tuition.

Some might say this is cheating the system. I say it is demanding your fair share. The defining image of this nation is an outstretched hand waiting to be paid. It’s time we all cash in on the entitlement culture before the government’s checks start to bounce.

June 16th, 2006 Posted by John Bambenek | DailyIllini, Immigration | 2 comments

Guard the Borders Blogburst - The Senate’s Version of Enforcement

by Heidi at Euphoric Reality

WHAT THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT SENATE BILL S. 2611

The new immigration bill (the most “sweeping reform in 50 years”) S. 2611 is an amalgam of petty causes, illogical provisions, unstructured “solutions” with zero allowances for implementation, and self-contradictory language. Despite the mess, it was passed by self-righteous politicians who repeated the mantra “it’s better than doing nothing.” This from the same gaggle of do-nothings who outright rejected the House’s law enforcement bill.

The Senate bill has our President’s full support - this same bill is a derivative of one structured by Ted Kennedy and John McCain, and supported in full by the majority of Democrats. That alone ought to give one pause - President Bush, a Democrat?

Peggy Noonan says, “The disinterest in the White House and among congressional Republicans in establishing authority on America’s borders is so amazing–the people want it, the age of terror demands it–that great histories will be written about it.”

May 30th, 2006 Posted by John Bambenek | Immigration | no comments

Guard the Borders Blogburst: 10 Facts

By Heidi at Euphoric Reality

Facts are a funny thing. They are conveniently forgotten if they don’t uphold one’s point-of-view, and they’re easily overlooked if they are randomly scattered about. But when solid facts are brought together in one place, the pattern is difficult to ignore. The facts I’m about to provide below are just such a case. People may be able to overlook a single fact, but the weight of their significance cannot be denied when they come together in one place. That is the purpose of this week’s Blogburst - to look at some hard facts.

I think it’s important to study the problems of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas as instructive for the rest of the states. It may be that others can write off the doom of California by saying, “Well, that’s just California, a loony state of fruits and nuts - that would never happen here.” But while California is tipping head-first into ruin, it is highly indicative of the chain of events the rest of us are blindly bumbling through. Arizona and New Mexico have declared official states of emergency because they are completely unable to handle the burden of the influx of illegals into their communities. Texas is not far behind with mass hospital closings, an overwhelmed and declining school system, and a climbing crime rate. Just because one lives in Idaho or Nebraska or Maine does not mean that it won’t happen to you! You’re just a few years behind the curve.

The following 10 facts have been pulled from the LA Times. We’ve posted them all at one time or another at ER or in the Blogburst.

1. L.A. County has 10 million people. 40% of all workers in L.A. County are working for cash and not paying taxes. This is because they are predominantly illegal immigrants, working without a green card.

2. Of the 10 million people in L.A. County, 5.1 million people speak English. 3.9 million speak only Spanish.

3. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.

4. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens.

5. Over two-thirds of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal whose births were paid for by taxpayers.

6. Nearly 25% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally.

7. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages.

8. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south of the border.

9. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.

10. 21 radio stations in L.A. are Spanish language only.

We need to look at the experience of California as inevitable for the rest of us - if we don’t, we’re only burying our heads in the sand and bequeathing that future to our children! After all, if we keep merrily careening down the road to California, we can’t be dumbfounded when we actually end up in California, can we?!

Here are a few more facts on a national scale:

1. Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our crops but 36% are on welfare.

2. Over 70% of the United States annual population growth (and over 90% of California, Florida, and New York) results from immigration.

3. The United States receives more immigrants every year than the rest of the world combined.

4. The cost of immigration to the American taxpayer in 1997 was a NET (after subtracting taxes immigrants pay) $70 BILLION a year [Professor Donald Huddle, Rice University].

5. The lifetime fiscal impact (taxes paid minus services used) for the average adult Mexican immigrant is a NEGATIVE.

6. 29% of inmates in federal prisons are illegal aliens.

The problems of illegal immigration are not solely “border state” problems. They impact everyone. California and Texas are the two biggest economic engines in the United States - and they are teetering on bankruptcy on a catastrophic scale. If they go bust, guess who picks up the pieces? Indiana, New Hampshire, South Dakota, West Virginia, and all the rest. Illegal immigration is not - I repeat, NOT - a border state problem. It’s a burden we’re all bearing and a risk we’re all sharing.

We are way past the point of half-way measures and temporary fixes. As a nation, we must demand a definitive, decisive, no-nonsense solution. We cannot be placated by smarmy speeches from self-interested politicians, or fooled by spin semantics (”it’s a guest worker program - not amnesty”), or lulled into apathy by the drone of our everyday lives.

We cannot leave this crisis to our children. Do something! Get out of your comfort zone and get involved. There are bigger issues at stake than the price of lettuce! The time is critical. And it’s NOW.

_________________________________

This has been a production of the Guard the Borders Blogburst. It was started by Euphoric Reality, and serves to keep immigration issues in the forefront of our minds as we’re going about our daily lives and continuing to fight the war on terror. If you are concerned with the trend of illegal immigration facing our country, join our Blogburst! Just send an email with your blog name and url to euphoricrealitynet at gmail dot com.

April 24th, 2006 Posted by John Bambenek | Immigration, Law / Legal Issues, Politics | no comments

General Strike Called to Support Illegal Immigrants

You can read the details on the flyer below but just intercepted this from the local communist group. Even the current plan isn’t enough for them which lets everyone here more than 2 years (as if you can prove that) have a path to citizenship no questions asked.

UPDATE: (5:29pm CDT)

Here’s an activity taking place on campus to mark the event.

What: National Day of Action to Defend Immigrant Rights (Rally)
Economic Boycott to protest anti-immigrant bills and support fair
comprehensive immigration reform
When: APRIL 10th, 2006 @ 11AM
Where: Begins on Neil St & Green St

If you are forwarding this e-mail to any groups, then we would like to
know which groups and approximately how many will be attending. We are
asking for this information for logistical purposes to ensure that we
have the right number of signs and coordinators to direct people. Any
questions, comments or concerns should be directed to Miranda Jimenez

UPDATE 2: 5:47 CDT

They also have a website. And another here.

Other posts linking here that tb’s can’t find:
Texas Rainmaker

April 6th, 2006 Posted by John Bambenek | Immigration | no comments