PrintMay 12, 2011
Obama Demeans Himself on Immigration
The mendacity of Barack Obama continues to know no bounds. He has now embarked on a campaign to sow the seeds of distrust and animosity within the Latino community on the issue of illegal immigration. With his "the ends justify the means" mentality he has no hesitation to play the race card and to utter the most inflammatory rhetoric at every opportunity in order to win re-election.
The matter of illegal immigration, and more importantly the current regime's unwillingness to secure the southern border, is among the defining issues of the day. It encompasses not only the legality of unfettered immigration and its impact on a devastated economy, but rampant crime and national security. Yet this President treats it as if it was simply a topic to exploit for his personal ends.
For a President of the United States to behave in this manner is crass and reprehensible, as he has no intention on working with others to solve this issue in a fair and equitable manner. Illegal immigration is first and foremost a violation of the law and cannot be rewarded. I say this as an undocumented alien who eventually became a citizen by going through a long and winding process.
More specifically, I arrived in America as a "displaced person" from World War II. I did not speak English and had no name. I did not have a passport, a birth certificate, or papers of any sort as neither I nor anyone else had any knowledge of what country I was born in or when ( except to guess sometime in the latter years of the War), and certainly not to whom.
After numerous misadventures I was eventually put on a ship bound for the United States. On the seventh day, as dawn broke, I stood, alone, at the railing and watched the image of the Statue of Liberty slowly emerge from the mist, framed majestically by the skyline of New York in the distance, the peaks of its skyscrapers reflecting the morning sun.
I did know what the future would bring in this strange land that had so willingly taken me in. In due course after living in a variety foster homes, I was adopted. A birth certificate was created and in 1956 I stood before a judge and answered questions about the history and structure of the United States, repeated the Pledge of Allegiance and became an American citizen.
That day was and still remains the highlight of my life. At last I was part of something, I was someone. I lived in a country and among people who stood for liberty and freedom and acknowledged that our rights came from God and not man. I was blessed to be a citizen of the United States, the greatest and noblest experiment in the history of mankind.
Yet I now fear for our country, its prospects and the nation generations yet unborn will inherit. Today the United States is tearing itself apart over the size and scope of government, America's standing in the world and illegal immigration. Unfortunately, the nation has at its helm leaders who appear to care little for the nation's future; only themselves.
Among us live 10 to 12 million illegal aliens. Many came in a desperate quest to secure freedom or economic gain, others to commit crimes and prey on our fellow citizens, and a few determined to sow destruction and terror in the name of religion or ideology. They were able to walk across the border because those we chose to lead us viewed these masses not as individuals, but as pawns in a crass political game.
The Left saw potential votes by making the illegals another dependent class as they had so cynically done with the African-Americans. Many on the Right, at the behest of the business lobby, viewed these same unfortunates as a source of cheap, easily exploited labor. Bowing to the basest of political motives -- money and votes -- the borders were left open and unsecured.
As with all problems ignored, this one has festered into a crisis. A crisis which has become all the more pronounced as a result of the economic downturn and Mexican drug cartels which are threatening to turn the border into a no-man's land of violence and anarchy. States such as Arizona have become so desperate that they attempted to take matters into their own hands. Yet they have been vilified and thwarted at every turn by an administration more concerned about potential votes than the safety and security of the citizenry.
This has brought to the fore the most disgusting aspects of political discourse in the United States today. In what can only be described as the character trait of lemmings, the media, instead of accurately reporting the facts of the damage caused by an open border policy, opts instead to regurgitate the talking points given them by the Left and the Obama administration. They choose to be oblivious to the fact that the Progressive agenda includes finding anything true or false to demonize their opponents and to exploit the Hispanics as a potential permanent voting bloc in their determination to seize power for the sake of power.
The majority of Hispanics are not mind-numbed robots willing to be manipulated by crass politics and equally crass politicians. Many are, as I am, naturalized citizens or multi-generational Americans who care about their country and family.
The lifeblood of a representative republic is civil discourse. To those on the Left and President Obama: I vehemently disagree with your political and economic philosophy and believe it will ultimately destroy the country I love. But I wish to have a forthright and respectful discussion with you.
Let the United States have an honest, open and civil debate and let the citizens decide the course the country based on facts and not emotion. Do not continue to cram down the throats of the people laws, regulations and policies they clearly do not want just because you on the Left are convinced of the superiority of your position.
Do not treat the citizens of this country as mere pawns to be manipulated, lied to and told that you as the current Ruling Class will provide them with cradle to grave security when you know full well that you cannot fulfill those promises. Do not openly mock and demonize your opponents in the most crass and vile way possible, the future of the country is not a sporting event or a game of one-upmanship set on a high school campus.
There are solutions to the illegal immigration issue and border security. But the present strategy of inciting emotion and retaliation will not solve the problem. It is beneath the dignity of the office of President of the United States to exacerbate and exploit so volatile a topic for one's personal aggrandizement. Fifty-seven years ago Joseph Welch asked the question for the ages which more than ever applies to Barack Obama and his determination to be re-elected regardless of the cost to the country: "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
