[Peace-discuss] [Peace] spread the news

Sun Nov 3 15:42:27 UTC 2019

Deb, of course I was just using your posting to vent some of my festering
critiques of how the immigrant issue has been treated, including of course
in the progressive community; nothing personal. I probably should have just
written up an article summarizing my views in light of the onslaught of
News-Gazette articles that clearly show the alignment of "pro-immigration"
views with neoliberal business interests.

In any event, of course Trump is ridiculous with his wall, and just
"playing to his base." And the human suffering around the border is
horrific. But the attention devoted to the wall serves the interests of the
Democratic Party establishment, and I know you don't want that.

DG

On Sun, Nov 3, 2019 at 4:01 AM Debra Schrishuhn <deb.pdamerica at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Geez, I was not trying to solve the entire existential problem and history
> of immigration and deep-seated xenophobia. Rather, my intent was to show
> how ineffectual and wasteful (aside from being destructive and
> counter-productive on so many levels) the Trumpian wall solution as
> constructed is with a concrete--er, commercially available power
> tool--example, one that is easily understood even by those who may not be
> "the sharpest tool in anyone's shed."
>
> If you don't find the article useful, ignore it, delete it, and don't
> spread it around. It really is as simple as that.
>
> Debra
>
> On Sat, Nov 2, 2019 at 3:38 PM David Johnson <davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net>
> wrote:
>
>> Very well stated David !
>>
>>
>>
>> I have also had run ins with these neo liberal “ pro “ immigrant rights
>> groups.
>>
>> I had one of them tell me once that it didn’t matter if employers of
>> undocumented workers were exploiting them, that at least they were “ giving
>> them a job “. And that was after I told them a horror story I thought they
>> would be sympathetic to, which involved a construction / landscaping
>> contractor in Texas who would consistently hire 10 to 20 undocumented
>> workers and tell them they would be paid in two weeks and then come pay day
>> immigration officers showed up to arrest the workers.
>>
>>
>>
>> When I stated that my solution to the current undocumented immigrant “
>> problem “ was to give everyone a Green Card, they just scoffed and said
>> that it wasn’t “ feasible “. That they had to work with Democrats in
>> Congress. The same Democrats who went nowhere with immigration reform.
>>
>> These same people when I approached them 10-15 years ago about seeing if
>> they would assist in organizing undocumented workers into the IWW Union so
>> that they could collectively demand more money for their labor replied – “
>> They are not interested in Unions “. End of discussion.
>>
>>
>>
>> Your characterization of them as Neo Liberals is spot on. I would go even
>> further and call them “ poverty pimps “.
>>
>>
>>
>> Also, leaving Israel – Palestine aside, groups like Bend the Arc refuse
>> to even acknowledge much less discuss the economic and foreign policy of
>> the U.S. government CREATING  the undocumented immigration problem in the
>> Western Hemisphere. ESPECIALLY Honduras where the 2009 Obama-Clinton State
>> Dept. encouraged and supported a violent military coup to oust a
>> progressive democratically elected President, and turned Honduras into a
>> brutal narco state,  where medical services and all education has been
>> privatized and dead bodies in the streets is a common sight. I know this
>> not just from independent journalist reports but also from a friend of mine
>> who is married to a Honduran woman. And then in addition there is ; Haiti,
>> Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, and El Salvador, though not as bad as Honduras
>> ( even though Haiti and Colombia comes close ) they nevertheless have been
>> economically devastated by U.S. government neo liberal economic austerity
>> policies. And it is U.S. military aid and TRAINING to their respective
>> police and military that also contributes to repressive actions against
>> Unions, Cooperatives, environmental activism, etc.. in these other
>> countries.
>>
>>
>>
>> A good book that documents the above is : “ Drug War Capitalism “ by Dawn
>> Paley.
>>
>>
>>
>> David J.
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Peace-discuss [mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] *On
>> Behalf Of *David Green via Peace-discuss
>> *Sent:* Saturday, November 02, 2019 12:15 PM
>> *To:* Debra Schrishuhn; Peace-discuss
>> *Subject:* Re: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] spread the news
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Spread what news?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/us-immigration-laws-unconstitutional-double-standards/599140/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> The above article was extensively quoted by Thomas Garza, head of the CU
>> Immigration Forum, in the his most recent appearance on UPTV (youtube).
>>
>>
>>
>> This article is from George Mason University, one of the homes of Koch
>> Brothers-style libertarianism, which includes, I guess, "open borders." It
>> also, of course, includes rights to desecrate the land.
>>
>>
>>
>> Sometimes strange political bedfellows are to be desired--apparently even
>> the Koch Brothers, or the remaining non-deceased Brother, is not happy with
>> U.S. troops around the world. That's fine, I guess, if they actually want
>> to do something about that, of which I haven't seen any evidence, although
>> maybe they have Trump's ear.
>>
>>
>>
>> But what does anyone think that the sort of libertarian capitalism
>> advocated by the KBs, and by George Mason, will get us?
>>
>>
>>
>> The immigrant rights movement is motivated by basic human decency, at
>> least from the more casual observer. But in its more public expressions, it
>> is also motivated by liberal political expedience, see Bend the Arc etc.,
>> as I have noted in past letters to the editor, regarding their Zionism and
>> their liberal hypocrisy, not to mention their obnoxious claim to represent
>> the "Jewish community."
>>
>>
>>
>> It is also motivated by good old-fashioned capitalist greed, and a desire
>> to think that "markets," including the "market" for immigrants to move to
>> the U.S., well seriously address our economic problems. Capital is free to
>> move, labor is free to move, welcome to Koch Brothers utopia. See these
>> recent article from the News-Gazette:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> https://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/guest-commentary-building-a-welcoming-economy/article_859ff35b-cbd6-546f-97c5-1862fc43ab4c.html
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> https://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/university-illinois/ui-business-school-dean-among-who-signed-letter-to-trump/article_41e30891-7403-57fa-aaf6-5914f59e7684.html
>>
>>
>>
>> It would appear that immigration is the solution to all of our economic
>> problems, according to these neoliberal perspectives, subscribed to by both
>> the Campus YMCA and the Gies School of Business (Dean Jeffrey Brown, arch
>> Zionist). Disgusting. (Why isn't he proposing that we bring a few million
>> stateless, well-educated Palestinians to our country in order to solve our
>> labor problems?)
>>
>>
>>
>> There is, of course, an implicit disregard of and disrespect for American
>> citizens, especially including the African-American ones in our own working
>> class community, who have no voice and no representatives in these matters,
>> including from anyone named Ammons. Not to mention the notorious "white
>> working class." But then again, if they opened their mouths and asked a few
>> obvious questions, like: "Why can't African-American children be the future
>> skilled workforce?", they risk being called xenophobic.
>>
>>
>>
>> Thomas Garza, Ricardo Diaz, and the CU Immigration Forum (constituted by
>> the two of them) honored the Zionist, racist Bend the Arc group in a recent
>> ceremony at the Urbana Free Library. The UFL seemed to endorse this event,
>> not just host it. Isn't this crossing the line from the civic to the
>> political, just as they did when they allowed the "trans-rights" activists
>> to demonstrate upstairs while Nina Paley was hosting a panel downstairs?
>> Does the UFL think that anything it does is automatically good and true and
>> beautiful?
>>
>>
>>
>> Thomas Garza honors Koch Brothers libertarianism on his WRFU/UPTV
>> program, without saying so, or even clearly referencing the article from
>> which he is reading, although he didn't give himself time to finish it.
>>
>>
>>
>> When I ran for Congress in 2014 and attended (was on the panel at) a
>> "forum" sponsored by Garza and his group at CPL, my impression was that
>> Garza was judging people up or down depending on whether or not they agree
>> with his rather shallow and de-contextualized view of the immigration
>> issue. Over the years, that impression has been nothing but reinforced.
>>
>>
>>
>> My impression is that Garza's analytical skills are sorely lacking; he is
>> far from being the sharpest tool in anyone's shed, and he is arrogant to
>> boot. He goes on about "playing politics with people" on show after show,
>> but he doesn't address how economic interests are always "playing politics
>> with people." Garza and his allies are, in fact, "playing politics with
>> people," whatever the hell that means. He talks about xenophobic bigotry,
>> and then describes entire unnamed groups of people in clearly generalized,
>> stereotypical, bigoted terms; classic projection: "deplorables." Indeed,
>> it's probably the only clearly bigoted speech that is allowed on UPTV.
>>
>>
>>
>> I think Garza is a "pro-immigrant" neoliberal, and that he is not in any
>> way antiwar. He allies himself, generally speaking, with corporate forces
>> at this university and in this community; they want their fancy,
>> highly-educated immigrant friends; and they want someone to cheaply clean
>> their houses and take care of their children. Who needs a higher minimum
>> wage?
>>
>>
>>
>> Something to think about as we "spread the word."
>>
>>
>>
>> As we're doing so, it might be worth noting that we are assuring the
>> re-election of Donald Trump. Hooray!
>>
>>
>>
>> People aren't stupid. They know that "open borders" doesn't address their
>> economic issues; it's a thumb in their eye. They know that the exploitation
>> of immigrant labor on top of the exploitation of citizen labor is not the
>> answer to our problems, it is just more corporate neoliberalism, supported
>> by both parties.
>>
>>
>>
>> But at least the immigrant issue gives some people plenty of chance to
>> virtue signal and feel really good about themselves and feel that their
>> being "welcoming" while they get on with their privileged lives; I will say
>> that much for it.
>>
>>
>>
>> DG
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Nov 2, 2019 at 7:03 AM Debra Schrishuhn via Peace <
>> peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>>
>> Smugglers Cut Through Sections of Trump’s Border Wall
>> <https://politicalwire.com/2019/11/02/smugglers-saw-through-new-sections-of-border-wall/>
>>
>> November 2, 2019 at 7:23 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
>> <https://politicalwire.com/author/tdg/> 29 Comments
>> <https://politicalwire.com/2019/11/02/smugglers-saw-through-new-sections-of-border-wall/#disqus_thread>
>>
>> “Smuggling gangs in Mexico have repeatedly sawed through new sections of
>> President Trump’s border wall in recent months by using commercially
>> available power tools, opening gaps large enough for people and drug loads
>> to pass through, according to U.S. agents and officials with knowledge of
>> the damage,” the Washington Post <https://wapo.st/2qjWC9V> reports.
>>
>> “The breaches have been made using a popular cordless household tool
>> known as a reciprocating saw that retails at hardware stores for as little
>> as $100. When fitted with specialized blades, the saws can slice through
>> one of the barrier’s steel-and-concrete bollards in a matter of minutes,.”
>>
>> “After cutting through the base of a single bollard, smugglers can push
>> the steel out of the way, allowing an adult to fit through the gap. Because
>> the bollards are so tall — and are attached only to a panel at the very top
>> — their length makes them easier to push aside once they have been cut and
>> are left dangling.”
>>
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>>
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