Immigrations and Emotion
At a Q & A with the Monticello, MN Chamber of Commerce, Congresswoman Michele Bachman (R-MN) pointed out that America is being lost to immigrants, and that a fence at the border between Mexico and the U.S. from Arizona to Texas is a well-thought-out answer to the seeming problem. Following is the excerpt from the Monticello Times:
She touched on various topics, including the Iraq war, immigration control, healthcare and energy conservation.
She was particularly emotional about immigration, a subject that she made headlines with back in February when she was very critical of the system that allowed the woman charged with crashing into a bus in Cottonwood, Minn., to continue driving.
“We’re losing our country,” she said. “People are not assimilating themselves to America. They’re not speaking English, and you must speak it if you want to succeed here in this country.”
A Monticello businessman asked about a fence along the southern border of Texas and Arizona.
“The money is there. Why haven’t we seen anything?” he asked.
“Exactly. The money is there. It’s our (Congress’) fault. We aren’t doing our job here,” Bachmann replied. “And the argument that fences don’t work doesn’t hold water. Look at Israel and Palestine Fences work. Maybe people have too much interest or benefit from open borders.”
Where to begin! I’d like to address first the flagrant misunderstanding she seems to have regarding the “success” of fences in Israel and Palestine. Obviously a congressperson that hasn’t traveled to the region, or one who keeps up with international news, because if she did, she’d know that success is elusive in the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and that the fence she so righteously champions is one put in place as a deterrent from a population with whom Israel is in frequent conflict, and whose goal is the ethnic cleansing of Israelis in certain areas they inhabit within that fence. In other words, the fence is part of a comprehensive defense system against enemies with whom they’re at war. At least one Minnesotan agrees.
To equate the necessity of the Israeli-Palestinian fence with one along the southern border of the U.S. is nothing short of ludicrous and incongruous. It minimizes the struggle between Israel and Palestine, equating it to the overblown immigration media circus in this country, and it further scandalizes an issue that gets little rational thought and much ideological abuse. This irrational urgency in finishing the fence between the U.S. and Mexico has lead to the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, waiving (via congress approved waivers) more than 30 laws in place to protect property, environment, and people.
An immediate trigger of suspicion for me is the report that the congresswoman got “particularly emotional” regarding immigration policies. This is indicative of an opinion not based on fact or figures, but on a “gut feeling,” or a set of ideas cobbled together through hearsay or misunderstanding about the topic at hand. To be led, as a politician, by one’s emotions regarding any policy will inevitably cause one to proceed with blinders on, to champion things other than logical courses of action or clear-headed notions of the facts, thus motivating legislation that does not have a clear practical goal, but rather serves to stand as an ideological statement of such emotions. She appeals to those present by using words like “losing our country,” which is a baseless statement meant to rile the emotions. Again, a clear indication of a lack of knowledge regarding the issue, and furthermore an encouragement to others adopt similar myopic views.
Congresswoman Bachman would be well-recommended to visit the areas about which she speaks with such ignorant command. By standing next to and appreciating the full meaning of the wall between Israel and Palestine, I would hope she might come to appreciate its true purpose and reason for existence. By visiting the American Southwest and staring out across the vast miles of desert the border traverses, she might come to understand that what doesn’t hold water is her unilateral, uneducated view of what a fence will and won’t do.
A further discussion of immigrant assimilation, beginning with a critical view of English Only policies and the demystification of bilingualism will follow in the days and weeks ahead. Stay tuned!
Congresswoman B’s long distance thinking reveals her blatant ignorance. If the fence is working overseas, wha…nevermind…apples and oranges.
Minnesota is a border state. Shouldn’t the Congresswoman be concerned about a lack of a fence between Minnesota and Canada?
Oh, but those immigrants presumably speak English, and nobody with bad intentions would dream of coming in via the thousands of miles of unguarded border with Canada…
I think your statement about Palestine in the first graph is overblown (to put it nicely); not sure it is a “war,” and not sure all Palestinians want to wipe out any and all Israelis.
Bachman is not the brightest bulb in the box. Pictures of her groping Bush at the 2007 SOTU speech are hilarious. Can you say suck up?
Wow. I wonder what people will think a thousand years from now about all the fences put up to keep people separated. What does that say about humanity and our respect, or lack thereof, for one anothers differences?
Don’t even get me started on ignorance. Our world is plagued with ignorance, and the worst thing about that are those who perpetuate the idea that it’s perfectly fine to act on/out of ignorance. Example: Congresswoman Bachman. Just because you are smart, doesn’t mean you aren’t ignorant.
Ruth…
As a former Israeli citizen and what I would like to think is a pretty decent American citizen, as well…. I can honestly say, you hit the nail on the head…
Eventhough there are more similarities than you would think, the situation is leagues apart….
In Israel, it is true, many Palestinians work jobs that are considered “menial”, as many Mexicans do in this country… The logic is the same.. The money is better in the alternative currency, and it provides many additional opportunities… That is fair… and I think it is fair for Americans to accept these people with open arms and thank God that SOMEONE is willing to pick oranges for $2.00 an hour, or wash your car for next to nothing, or move furniture for you at a price that won’t make you need to sell half of your shit in order to move the other half.
Having said that, Israel and Palestine (not really officially Palestine… let’s just call it that.. A rose by any other name, dontchaknow…) have a sordid history of violence and bitter rivalry.. a feud of sorts.
No such feud exists between the Modern U.S. and Mexico. It’s purely ignorant to buy into government hype about minimum wages being so low due to the immigration problem… That is tripe of the first order…
The national minimum wage is so low because the top 1% wants to continually get more and more bloated with wealth and power that it leaves VERY little for the average joe, much less the “less than average” joe…
If you took the top 1%’s salaries in the United States (including all their laundered money, offshore accounts, secret tax breaks and kickbacks) you would have enough money to have the rst of this country ALL living at a level that is pretty much unfathomable to most people….
I know, that sounds an awful lot like communism, but what the fuck?
If Idealistic Communism worked, it would have been the greatest idea in history. Sadly, greed, envy and ambition are far more tangible than idealistic communism… So that is just not to be.
Another thing people say is that if mexicans (or any immigrants, for that matter) live here, and have a child, that child enjoys free healthcare benefits that we, the taxpayers, pay for… my question… SO????
These fucking people toil doing nasty, shitty jobs that most white-bred sophists wouldn’t dare think about, much less do.. They think that lettuce magically appears in grocery stores… That construction happens by intelligent design…. These people are idiots.. The least we can do for these people who are working their asses off for the convenience of this country is give them minimal healthcare for them and their kids….
Anyways, I shant bore you wit ha long rant on this.. I figure you get the point already.
Congresswoman Bachman got pwned. More hysterical xenophobia from white Americans… can’t say I’m surprised, only disappointed. As a white American myself (albeit one who grew up around Latinos and Iranians and has lived in Latin America), I try to do better.
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