I've avoided serious topics for quite some time now as it just plain hurts my head. Elections, social issues, recession, etc. As a true Jersey Democrat, I had become complacent during the Bush years just waiting for what I felt was inevitable. The pendulum swinging back to the left. Hope vs. Fear. A reason to be encouraged about the future of my country, my family's opportunities and life in general. This is no introduction to explain how rosy I think an Obama world will be. I don't know the answer to that. He's been in office for 3 months, for God's sake. Give me a break. Give him a break. Because we can buy a burger, a taco or even a beer without ever leaving our car, because we can instantly chat with a friend or family member thousands of miles away with one stroke of a keyboard, we expect things like the economy to right itself by Monday morning at 8 AM. Wake up, America.
I saw the recent report released by Janet Napolitano and the Department of Homeland Security warning of the dangers of possible domestic terrorism from potentially vulnerable returning soldiers and/or Veterans. The backlash was predictable. How dare you attack Veterans. Oh boy. Here we go with the rhetoric, again. 'Support our troops! You hate America! You hate our troops!' Blah! Blah! Blah! One die-hard Rush Limbaugh fan I know assured me that Napolitano would have her resignation on Obama's desk within the week. How dare she?
I'm tired of that noise. The older I get, the more I believe in the power of numbers. Statistics. As a sports fan I have to rely on statistics to make predictions...for my fantasy play, or just to predict an outcome of a game in general. Numbers explain a lot of this world. But the challenge is how to incorporate the human element into the equation. I know, for example, that Albert Pujols is going to have a beneficial impact for the St. Louis Cardinals because he has done so for many years, consistently. But maybe Albert tries to play injured...or his mother passes away. And he plays like poop. Human factors will affect results. They will affect statistics.
The DHS says that since a majority of the most violent, documented acts of domestic terrorism have been carried out by right-wing, religious or libertarian militant extremists who specifically target former military recruits, and that returning soldiers should be cautioned of their potential vulnerability based on their likelihood of post-traumatic stress disorders, etc. ergo, they will be a recruiters objective. It's based on statistics. And the report specifically differentiates between ideology and action. The human element. It never accuses veterans or military personal of being terrorists. The rights allotted to all of us as Americans, to believe whatever we want to believe while upholding the rule of law (i.e. not killing each other). There are left-wing nut jobs who have organized and caused violence, too...just as reprehensible. They want to save animals by harming or killing humans. Ridiculous! And lately the lefty extremists are your cyber terrorists. Computer viruses, hackers, etc. But their numbers do not come close to the likes of the KKK, organized in the 1860's, and their numerous off-shoots that survive to this day as well as the numerous Neo Nazi organizations that thrive in this country and are, in fact, growing due to the obvious infiltration of mostly legal Hispanics as well as the smaller, illegal faction. Pro-white groups have predominantly, not solely, but predominantly supported Republican and/or Libertarian politics. Not good news for legal Non-whites. This country has a very ugly history in regards to race and people still wonder why minorities are carrying the torch. Only Caucasians in the year 2100 will understand.
Right-wing extremists groups are far more organized, have much greater numbers and have committed more serious acts of domestic terrorism than liberal ones. It's a statistical fact. It does NOT mean that all Americans with right-leaning politics are terrorists. What part of the word extremists do people not understand?
In Arizona, a border state, the rhetoric is loud...and ugly. The statistics are there to see in plain sight. Illegal immigration affects our state directly. It affects us economically, socially and politically. Solutions are needed. Real ones. Real solutions are called compromises. What don't I understand about the word ILLEGAL? I'll tell you what. I know it is illegal to cross the United States Border without the proper paperwork in order. I know it is illegal to kill another person under anything other than a self-defense claim, lay person or law-enforcement alike. It is illegal to target, hurt or kill another human being on American soil, regardless of citizenship status because of their race, ethnicity or sexual preference or identity. ILLEGAL. What I don't understand about the word illegal incorporates the human element. When an illegal has been brought here by their law-breaking parent when he or she was 3 years old, went to public school and excelled, scores highest in their class with a full scholarship to a 4 year university while having little to no contact with family in Mexico and is now going to be deported because they're "ILLEGAL, dammit"...That I don't understand. I don't understand the loud mouthed hard liner who has no foresight to see what good that "illegal" can do for his own country, simply because he's filled with his "patriotic pride". What a sad ideology. Embarrassing, really.
The truth is, this impatient faction of the American population wants the border problem fixed now! Done with. Over. But, it never will be over. The border will NEVER be completely secure. EVER. It's impossible. Even if you build a wall, just like post WWII Germany complete with barbed wire, checkpoints and armed military, you will never STOP the flow. They didn't. Advanced technology is not fail-safe. You may reduce it...but at what cost? How much constitutional integrity do you surrender?
It seems the same folks who are screaming that it's OK for Sheriff Joe Arpaio to profile all Hispanics because some are illegal are the same ones grabbing their flag and demanding that the government is out of line for "profiling" a returning soldier. Hey, cops and firefighters have killed wives and neighbors, too, but we call them all "heroes". There is an ebb and tide in every social issue. There is gray in most aspects of our lives,not black and white. If most illegals in Arizona are Hispanic than we should be able to legally "profile" Hispanics, is the argument I always hear. Well than if most domestic terrorists are right-wing nut jobs, avid gun owners and former military guys then we should "profile" them too. Call it even. We really have lost the ability to see the good in people first.
...and they call this a Christian nation. Hmmm.
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