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Old 01-13-2018, 04:07 PM   #55
detbuch
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 7,688
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim in CT View Post
"It didn't bother her base or the mainstream media that she did. With Trump, it's a different matter. When he does it, he is unfit to be President."

That's true. And it's unfair. And it's also the reality, and Trump needs to remember that and not play into their hands in a way that helps them. I love it when he beats the media at their own game of fighting dirty. But I don't like it when he makes it easier for them to csling mud.

"it may not hurt Trump."

But it may hurt some GOP candidates running in purple districts. I want to keep the majority in the house. Trump needs to act as if that's his top priority

If the GOP candidates in purple states would quit acting purple instead of red, thus making it difficult for a Trump-like agenda to get passed, they might have a better chance to get re-elected than if Trump stopped being Trump.

I got caught up in an emotional reaction to what I was told he said. Even if he said it, while I wouldn't advise him to use that language until after the midterms, it's probably not as godawful a thing to say as I initially reacted. Those are sh*thole countries, that cannot be denied. That is not a criticism of the innocent people who live there, it's a criticism of the tyrants who run those places

The manufactured hullabaloo over what he supposedly said was exactly meant to get you and most everyone else caught up in an emotional reaction. It was not intended that you would recover and come to your senses so soon. It was meant that it would be another really shocking part of the continual pile on which will extend at least until the next election.


Detbuch, there is a family that runs the local gas station/convenience store in my town, been there for 15 years. I go in there most Sundays to fill my tank and buy the paper. They were from Liberia, one of the worst countries that ever existed. Came with nothing.

Got a job running the gas station. When they first got there, every Sunday, I'd see the Mom, Dad, son, and daughter. Always working. The kids were not playing video games, they were either working or studying. I got to know these people fairly well. They could not believe there was a place where they could work in an air conditioned building with running water and a flush toilet, selling things to happy customers all day long. They usually work 7 days a week. They could not believe the schools their kids went to with computers, teachers specializing in different classes, band, choir, activities. They could not believe they lived in an apartment that was comfortable and had a TV. They could not believe there was a country that took them out of the hell they were in, and transported them here.

The kids are both out of medical school, doing their residency or internships together.

Th parents cannot believe their good fortune, at what their kids are doing, compared to what might have happened.

The dad also tells me when he watches the news and he hears reporters talking about what a horrible racist place the US is, he cannot believe they are talking about the country that did so much for his family. He also told me something I will never, ever forget. He said it's better for a poor black man to be born in Africa and then to come here, than it is to be born in a place like Chicago. Because people in Chicago for some reason, embrace a culture that doesn't lend itself to a productive life. Whereas he had nothing, so he didn't take anything for granted. He can't believe that there are people who don't take full advantage of the opportunities here. I will never forget what he said, and I think he's exactly correct. But to hear it from his, is more profound and moving, than it is to hear it from a politician.

We can't take in all the world's poor. But I wouldn't want to limit immigration to self-sufficient white people either. Obviously it hurts poor Americans to import millions of unskilled penniless immigrants willing to work for 5 cents a day. We need some balance.

But there's something so right, so glorious, so uniquely American, about what this family's story is. And every town in America has families like that. These people love this country deeply, and have little patience for those who say that only the rich can get ahead, that there is institutional racism, etc.

Does that make any sense? I'm not even sure what I'm saying, I'm babbling a bit. I need to go get some gas and see this family, which always cheers me up. Always.
That's a wonderful story. As I said above, and a few times in other threads, I live in a community of Latinos most of whom emigrated here from Mexico. They have revived the neighborhood which was, as was much of Detroit, decaying in the care of unemployed and welfare dependent blacks, mostly, but likewise several remaining whites. Mexican Town which runs along the full length of Vernor Ave is thriving with small businesses and refurbished homes. So I know that story well--many times over. I also knew and worked with many blacks that emigrated from Jamaica and Nigeria. For the most part, they also did very well as far as education and employment. I also worked with more than a few Asians. They did extremely well, But, I also worked with and know many whites who came from Europe. And they too did and do very well.

So why do the immigrant spectrum of races do better than our abundant population of unproductive blacks and whites? Why do our homegrown "tired poor and huddled masses" so much remain that way? It's obviously, as our immigrants demonstrate, not because of race or poverty or discrimination. Why would your Liberian dad be correct when he says that "it's better for a poor black man to be born in Africa and then to come here, than it is to be born in a place like Chicago. Because people in Chicago for some reason, embrace a culture that doesn't lend itself to a productive life"? Why do those people in Chicago embrace an unproductive culture? I can't believe that the sheer number of our native poor and unproductive are merely at the mental bottom of the Bell Curve. There are too many for that to be the case.

If the Immigrants can do it, so should most of our home grown lackers. You and I, and "Conservatives" have been saying for a long time why they can't. But the intellectual, Progressive, elites, know better. We are the Yahoos. If it were left to us, the nation would be a backward bush country drenched in racism and redneck religion. Our retrograde notions of self reliance, individualism, personal responsibility, liberty, are all just a means of preserving the old status quo of white supremacy.

I got a rather disappointing insight a couple of decades ago into how the welfare state could plant its seeds of destruction. My wife tutored the kids of one of the Mexican families who we were very close with. Emilio and Yolanda came from Mexico and had an extended family here. They were all industrious, mostly self-employed in a beauty parlor and home handyman repair work. They wanted their kids to do better. So they asked my wife, a university English professor, to tutor them, especially in language and writing skills. Their daughter did well. Went to college and became a lawyer. I would rather her degree would have been in something more productive. But what really made my heart sink is that she became an advocate for social welfare justice for Latino families.

Apparently, what she learned in our educational system was that the way her parents did it was not the good mode. The good way was for the government to clear the path and assist along the way. And, more importantly, that the government should provide programs and services, family or otherwise, for those, the growing number of those, who needed "help," even permanent help because they would be held back by discrimination, etc., etc. I'm sure you know the drill.

So the first generation is happy to participate in "The American Dream." You know, that freedom and personal responsibility nonsense, etc. etc. And if they're successful enough, their kids can go to college and learn to be Social Justice Warriors, or social justice fellow travelers who help spread the word and educate the rest of us about what the good way is.

It is nice and heartwarming, even inspirational and affirmative of our belief in what used to be accepted as American values, to see the fleshed out stories similar to your Liberian family. And I hope, even wish, that their children and grandchildren will cherish their views on freedom and opportunity, on the American way, and not become creatures of the state.

But I prefer, rather than replacing with immigrants our failed millions who have had their integrity sucked out of them by the welfare state, that we replace immigration with our own dysfunctionals by forcing them to be functional. "Help" them emigrate from their government induced dystopian existence into the fulfilling existence of productive, responsible, independent humans, by giving them a sink or swim choice, just as the immigrants from foreign nations have had to choose.

If we don't do that, then we can look forward to massively adding to the number of dysfunctional unemployed as many of the children and grandchildren of the marvelous, productive, and grateful immigrants pass through our Progressive educational system, abandon their parents basic and humble ways, and become bitter, anti-American, Progressive SJW's or just add to the unemployment roles.

Last edited by detbuch; 01-13-2018 at 04:17 PM..
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