It has
been awhile since I made
a blog entry, but here are a few of the things that have been on my mind
of
late:
* * * * * * * * * *
Politicians and their allies in the
media are once again
stirring up angst and playing cynical political games with the illegal
immigration issue. I use the phrase
“political games” because the American people want one thing: for
the government to secure the borders so
we know who is coming in and why. Afterward,
we can work out what to do about the 12 million illegals who are already
here. For the record, I sympathize with those who point
out the impracticality of deporting them all. Why not simply deport those who refuse documentation to avoid
paying
taxes?
Illegal immigration has become such a large problem
due to
one thing: big government. Illegal
immigrants make liberal use of available taxpayer-funded programs for
everything from health care, housing, income assistance, and welfare. The cost of providing services to millions of
illegals is clearly prohibitive, running many states into bankruptcy. If government were limited in scope, it would
not be engaged in these kinds of redistribution schemes in the first
place -
schemes that serve only to increase government power at the expense of
the
private sector, while doling out just enough to keep poor people poor
and
voting for politicians who never tire of spending other people’s money
if it
means getting more votes.
It is also worth noting that many on the right
hearken to business
interests that oppose border control because it threatens their supply
of cheap
labor – yet another result of big government. How so? America’s high corporate
taxes, excessive bureaucratic red tape distort, and government-mandated
benefit
structures distort the supply and demand curve for labor, making it cost
prohibitive to hire workers for those “jobs Americans won’t do.” And
people wonder why so many of our jobs are
going overseas.
Even so,
pandering to businesses that pay illegal workers
slave labor wages is morally reprehensible. Doing so not only takes job opportunities away from American
citizens,
but shamelessly exploits immigrants desperate (and poor) enough to leave
their
homes, brave criminal gangs, and risk deportation in search of a better
life. Moreover, those on the left who allow this
exploitation to take place and who have erected the circumstances that
contribute
to it demonstrate their willingness to let the poor suffer – so long as
they
can prey upon their feelings of victimization to ply for Hispanic votes
with
handouts and gather more power unto themselves.
Despite the political posturing,
it is difficult (if not impossible) for Democrats or Republicans
to claim the moral high ground on this issue.
* * * * * * * * * *
Speaking of immigration, proposals to make English
the
“official” language of the United States pop up with regularity. Could
there be a bigger waste of the
government’s time? Well, errr…nevermind. Our
founders believed in government of, for,
and by the people. It is not up to the
government to impose a language on the American people, any more than it
is the
government’s business to impose sexual morality, charity, or anything
else. If, a majority of Americans speak English,
there is no need for a law making it official. If, on the other hand, increasingly large percentages of
Americans speak
Spanish, then society will adapt.
Many
politicians and commentators pay lip service to
American exceptionalism – and I agree that America is
exceptional. However, that
exceptionalism derives from individual liberty and freedom, ideals which
have
nothing to do with national origin, ethnicity, or language. It
is embodied in our rights of life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
– a truly unique concept in political philosophy, a grand experiment
that
turned our country into the most prosperous nation in the history of
mankind. A bilingual society – or even a Spanish
speaking one – will do nothing to change that.
Efforts to make English the
“official” language are misguided at best – and bigoted at worst. We would be better served by leaders who seek
to defend the source of American exceptionalism against those working to
suffocate it by regulating personal choice and individual responsibility
out of
existence.
* * * * * * * * * *
Now that Obamacare has been passed into law, I
wonder what
would happen if we were to elect a President who used this new health
care
infrastructure to do things liberals and progressives oppose – such as
eliminating
insurance coverage for abortion. Will
they second guess the wisdom of centralizing that much power in
Washington?
Nahhh…probably
not.
But this is, however, a sterling example of how
placing
power in the hands of the federal government for whatever reason
draws us that much closer to tyranny. The founders knew
that federalism’s balance
of power between the states and the federal government was the only way
to keep
government under control and accountable to the people.
Obama is accelerating a disturbing trend of federal
power
bloat that began at the turn of the century. It would be far wiser for progressives to not gather power in
Washington
that they would never willingly turn over to their political opponents
to use against
them. Once the infrastructure is in
place, it can be used for good and
ill – and probably will.
The interests of the working man, the middle class,
minorities, the disadvantage, as well as the privileged would be better
protecting by placing power in the hands of states and local officials
who are
more directly accountable to their constituents. Save the
federal government for its intended
purpose – protecting national security and interstate commerce.
* * * * * * * * * *
Have you heard the latest about Lady
Gaga? How about Miley Cyrus? What a couple
of skanks! At least that’s what the media says.
These and other celebrities are often presented as
two-dimensional figures with all the depth of a character in a
second-rate
romance novel. Any given celebrity is
either all good or all bad, and sometimes they even change from one to
the
other in a matter of weeks. Miley Cyrus
was once a wholesome role model for young girls, but now she is a out to
corrupt our daughters. What a despicable
transformation!
I saw a couple of stories over the weekends that
belie the
media template. One was a Rolling Stone review of a
recent Lady
Gaga concert at Madison Square Garden. She drew attention to her father in the audience and thanked him
for
everything he had done for her. She
pointed to the spot in the balcony where she watched concerts as a fan,
told
the audience to dream big, and that anything was possible. It
is true this does not make her videos any
less salacious or controversial – but maybe she isn’t as self-centered
and
narcissistic as the media have portrayed her to be, either.
Meanwhile, on "People of Wal-Mart" (a funny site,
by the way),
there was a picture of Miley Cyrus shopping with a Yankees cap pulled
over her
head. She obviously didn’t want to be
recognized, but she still took the time to pose for a fan picture. Is she the sexually promiscuous party girl the media says she
is turning into? Probably not. It is far
more likely that she is simply a
young woman asserting her independence and making mistakes along the
way.
It is
easy to forget that celebrities are normal people who
sometimes shop at Wal-Mart like everyone else.
I do not mean to defend Lady
Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, or whoever else. Neither do I intend to make excuses for bad
behavior. That is beside the point. I only
mean to point out that when the media
feeding frenzies begin and the stereotypes get written, we should
remember that
their targets are real people, not easy-to-define caricatures. While
it is true this kind of treatment comes
with the territory of being famous, maybe the rest of us should think
twice
before casting judgment and salivating for the next juicy detail from
the
tabloids and Entertainment Tonight.
* * * * * * * * * *
LeBron James has become a new target for
the media. His decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers
for the Miami Heat has caused outrage in Cleveland, childish tirades
from the
owner, and endless media caterwauling about LeBron’s mistreatment of
“the
greatest fans in sports.”
First of all, the NBA is a business – just like the
NFL,
MLB, and NHL. I don’t recall this level
of outrage when players in other sports left their teams as free agents –
even their
“home” teams. Secondly, Cleveland had
ample opportunity to resign LeBron. Even
if he wasn’t interested, he didn’t “leave the team in the lurch” as many
commentators have said. It isn’t LeBron’s
responsibility to ensure the Cavaliers have an adequate replacement. That’s the owner’s job.
Most infuriating (for me, at least) is the way the
sports
media moans and cries for the fans of Cleveland. Their
resentment over the Browns move to
Baltimore to become the Ravens was so intense that the NFL placed a new
team in
Cleveland almost immediately – but still they moan. The
sports media’s outrage is also very
selective. For example, I don’t recall any
media angst when
the Cardinals left St. Louis, when the Rams left Los Angeles, when the
Oilers
left Houston – or most strikingly, when the Colts left Baltimore.
Why the love affair with Cleveland? And
why isn’t LeBron allows to do what
countless other players have done in free agency – sign with another
team
without being subject to character assassination?
Honestly, from the way I have seen fans in the
“mistake by
the lake” behave over the past twenty years, I think they deserve all
the
suffering they can get.