Americans are addicted to immigrants. Bible thumper Mike Johnson is a hypocrite.
Instead of being honest about the border immigrants, Republicans are resorting to ‘blackmail’- Rubin Navarrette, Jr:
SAN DIEGO, California — I’m not in the habit of helping politicians do their jobs. They don’t help me do mine, beyond giving me plenty to criticize.
But for House Speaker Mike Johnson — who claims he doesn’t know what to tell constituents who ask why the United States wants to send billions in aid to help defend Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan while the U.S.-Mexico border remains porous — I’ll make an exception.
Johnson definitely needs help. His House Republicans are engaged in a high-stakes game of “border blackmail.” They are holding hostage a spending package that includes funding for allies who live in dangerous neighborhoods around the globe.
In exchange for approving the funding, Republicans want Senate Democrats and the White House to agree to anti-immigration measures — like finishing the border wall, or stopping the practice of “catch and release” — that the GOP claims will magically stop the flow of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Reality Check No. 1: The fact that Republicans have the audacity to believe that they can stop desperate people from seeking better lives shows how little they know about the “huddled masses.”
Reality check No. 2: This is a really bad time to pull a stunt like this given that Russia, Iran and China appear to be forming an alliance of evil that will undoubtedly challenge the West.
Johnson is making the rounds of conservative media to explain why Republicans are linking two things that have nothing to do with each other: military aid to faraway countries and U.S. border security.
“National security begins at our own borders,” he told the radio host (the right wing radical Catholic!) Hugh Hewitt. “We have to maintain our own sovereignty, that we can project peace through strength and help our friends.” (HELLO? Hewitt is a radical Catholic who should be supporting the immigration position held by the Roman Catholic Church.
(The Catholic view of immigration is a view about human beings and why they migrate, recognizing that most do so reluctantly.)
As the speaker sees it, maintaining our national sovereignty doesn’t just mean fending off a terrorist attack or repelling an invading army. It also means stopping the flow of immigrants and asylum seekers who are changing the demographics of the United States.
Johnson would like nothing better than to give fellow Republicans taking points for Christmas.
“You have a lot of members in the House who are going home to constituents and having town halls in their districts,” he told Hewitt. “They’re being asked serious questions about this: Why are we securing the border of a foreign country and taking care of their needs when we’re not doing it here at home? And that’s a tough, tough question to answer.”
Naverrette, as a professional communicator for more than three decades, "I’m happy to lend a hand".
First, the speaker should stop telling Republican voters what they want to hear and tell them what they need to hear. Like this:
Republican alert! “My dear constituents, one of the things that has always helped to define the Republican Party — as opposed to our friends across the aisle, who like to play the victim — is the firm belief that people need to take responsibility for their actions.
“In the immigration debate, we have to take responsibility for the fact that among the things that got Americans addicted to immigrant labor were parents who raise their children not to do chores around the house, much less hold down an after-school job. And employers who hire illegal immigrants to do jobs that few others want to do. And husbands and wives who, in running a household, hire gardeners, housekeepers and nannies. And, finally, everyday Americans, who don’t care that those who cook our food, or make our beds, or pick our fruit might not have proper documents.
“For too long, we’ve turned a blind eye to the realities of supply and demand. Immigrants come for jobs, and we provide them. Those who seek refugee status often have a relative who is living in the United States, working at a job that we’ve given them.
“Let’s face it. Americans had a good thing going for the last 30 years or so. You could make middle-class wages, yet live an upper-middle-class lifestyle — all thanks to affordable labor.
“But now, along the U.S.-Mexico border, the bill has come due. Despite what you hear from some — including elected officials in my own party — this is not an invasion. It is an invoice.
“We must secure the border. But it wouldn’t hurt for us to also be honest — above all with ourselves — about how the border got to be so insecure in the first place. Anyone have a mirror?”
Of course, I’m dreaming. Johnson doesn’t have the guts or integrity to say that. If he did, he’d be in another line of work.
Navarrette’s email address is crimscribe@icloud.com.
SAN DIEGO, California — I’m not in the habit of helping politicians do their jobs. They don’t help me do mine, beyond giving me plenty to criticize.
But for House Speaker Mike Johnson — who claims he doesn’t know what to tell constituents who ask why the United States wants to send billions in aid to help defend Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan while the U.S.-Mexico border remains porous — I’ll make an exception.
Johnson definitely needs help. His House Republicans are engaged in a high-stakes game of “border blackmail.” They are holding hostage a spending package that includes funding for allies who live in dangerous neighborhoods around the globe.
In exchange for approving the funding, Republicans want Senate Democrats and the White House to agree to anti-immigration measures — like finishing the border wall, or stopping the practice of “catch and release” — that the GOP claims will magically stop the flow of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Reality Check No. 1: The fact that Republicans have the audacity to believe that they can stop desperate people from seeking better lives shows how little they know about the “huddled masses.”
Reality check No. 2: This is a really bad time to pull a stunt like this given that Russia, Iran and China appear to be forming an alliance of evil that will undoubtedly challenge the West.
Johnson is making the rounds of conservative media to explain why Republicans are linking two things that have nothing to do with each other: military aid to faraway countries and U.S. border security.
“National security begins at our own borders,” he told the radio host (the right wing radical Catholic!) Hugh Hewitt. “We have to maintain our own sovereignty, that we can project peace through strength and help our friends.” (HELLO? Hewitt is a radical Catholic who should be supporting the immigration position held by the Roman Catholic Church.
 |
| #Hypocrite "I have very moderate beliefs. Like the founders wanted to protect the church from an encroaching state, not the other way around". #DinosaurPolicyStatement #RightWingBibleThumper |
(The Catholic view of immigration is a view about human beings and why they migrate, recognizing that most do so reluctantly.)
As the speaker sees it, maintaining our national sovereignty doesn’t just mean fending off a terrorist attack or repelling an invading army. It also means stopping the flow of immigrants and asylum seekers who are changing the demographics of the United States.
Johnson would like nothing better than to give fellow Republicans taking points for Christmas.
“You have a lot of members in the House who are going home to constituents and having town halls in their districts,” he told Hewitt. “They’re being asked serious questions about this: Why are we securing the border of a foreign country and taking care of their needs when we’re not doing it here at home? And that’s a tough, tough question to answer.”
 |
| Bible thumper House Speaker Mike Johnson |
Naverrette, as a professional communicator for more than three decades, "I’m happy to lend a hand".
First, the speaker should stop telling Republican voters what they want to hear and tell them what they need to hear. Like this:
Republican alert! “My dear constituents, one of the things that has always helped to define the Republican Party — as opposed to our friends across the aisle, who like to play the victim — is the firm belief that people need to take responsibility for their actions.
“In the immigration debate, we have to take responsibility for the fact that among the things that got Americans addicted to immigrant labor were parents who raise their children not to do chores around the house, much less hold down an after-school job. And employers who hire illegal immigrants to do jobs that few others want to do. And husbands and wives who, in running a household, hire gardeners, housekeepers and nannies. And, finally, everyday Americans, who don’t care that those who cook our food, or make our beds, or pick our fruit might not have proper documents.
“For too long, we’ve turned a blind eye to the realities of supply and demand. Immigrants come for jobs, and we provide them. Those who seek refugee status often have a relative who is living in the United States, working at a job that we’ve given them.
“Let’s face it. Americans had a good thing going for the last 30 years or so. You could make middle-class wages, yet live an upper-middle-class lifestyle — all thanks to affordable labor.
“But now, along the U.S.-Mexico border, the bill has come due. Despite what you hear from some — including elected officials in my own party — this is not an invasion. It is an invoice.
“We must secure the border. But it wouldn’t hurt for us to also be honest — above all with ourselves — about how the border got to be so insecure in the first place. Anyone have a mirror?”
Of course, I’m dreaming. Johnson doesn’t have the guts or integrity to say that. If he did, he’d be in another line of work.
Navarrette’s email address is crimscribe@icloud.com.
Labels: Albuquerque Journal, Hugh Hewitt, Republicans, Rubin Navarrette
posted by Juliana L'Heureux | 6:11 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home