The best defense for the Democrats are two shitty points.
First, unlike the GOP, the Dems aren’t a party but a coalition. Can’t think off the top of my head of any issue with with there’s 100%. Maybe reproductive rights?
Forever but more so since the DLC’s ethos took control after Dukasis’ loss. That’s when the party doubled down on being an echo to the GOP as opposed to a true alternative.
Besides ending up with a huge overlap policy-wise between the parties, we also end up with the Democrats running scared 24/7. Anything, everything not GOP-friendly blows up in their faces, not just from Republicans, of course, but also the mainstream media which blows up everything the Democrats do that conflicts with GOP positions etc.
So immigration. Politically, the Democrats have to do something about immigration by which I mean the shot Hamilton’s discussing here for one thing.
And what has to be done to really deal with the southern border problem is to stop fucking up Central American nations and then make up for the shit we’ve pulled and enabled for well over 100 years.
Which isn’t happening in my lifetime nor is it anything nearly any Democrat will push for.
Great write-up! I'm personally sick of living through America's racist and xenophobic immigration policies. Do you have recommendations on books that take a critical look at immigration? (I'm interested in learning how its been weaponized by tech companies)
This writer and many much of the comments to follow are a great example of the simple minded, feel good hypocrites that are polluting our society today. Both sides are filled with lying criminals who could care less about the truth behind the reality of how pathetic our society has become. Hamilton you deserve to starve putting out that cult like drivel. Get a real job you pompous hypocritical cretin.
Molly Ivins explained the Republican's view of immigration perfectly. She said "if you want to stop immigration, we know how: make sure everyone who hires a undocumented worker is put in jail. No jobs = no immigration." She repeated it often, so often that I wondered if it was a position of hers!
Her point is, WE DO KNOW HOW TO STOP IMMIGRATION. So people who keep screaming about it aren't trying to fix a problem, they're trying to profit from the status quo: there are a lot of workers who are powerless to complain about their situation. They don't care if that means an American boss can rape an undocumented woman, and she can't go to the police for fear of deportation. If undocumented women can raise criminal complaints, that means they're in a SANCTUARY CITY!!!DUM dum DAAAAAH!!!
Sorry - the sound effects dial is loose, and slides to the right sometimes.
Plus, there's racist populism: Republicans say the reason the working class has it hard is, whites are held back by affirmative action, but everyone else has it *easy* due to affirmative action. This is a lie, on all fronts (immigration has minimal wage effects, aa has minimal effects), but, it lets them demonize anyone who isn't more strict than they on immigration.
Trust me, once you understand this, you'll spend less time confused.
Fucking thank you! The discourse around immigration is fucking maddening. The horrible shit trump and miller and the other thumb-shaped ghouls in that admin did with/to immigrants was a major motivation in getting people to vote for Biden in 2020 and he hasn't held up his end of the deal at all. In fact, he and Harris and Mayorkas almost immediately reneged. And it's not just them, either; the entire DNC seemed to fall right in line.
What's even worse is that I still feel like I don't have a real choice in November but to vote for Biden again, because at least he's not threatening to deport naturalized citizens (like my parents.)
...
It really sucks how quickly the Dems will ditch their own constituents chasing some mythical "moderate" republican.
Democrats need to remake themselves if they want to be elected.
Not only is their immigration policy the same as the Republicans but so is their support of Israel's genocide in Gaza. Also, they both support the rich at the expense of everyone else.
I have a feeling a lot of people who would normally vote Democrat will either just stay home or vote for a third party, which may wind up giving the USA Trump as a president.
Being an Anti immigration American I will definitely fuck off but just wanted to share a few thoughts before leaving. Your solution to the issue seems to be - let's invite everyone in. I am convinced that you personally have never been hurt by immigration? I am disappointed with your lack of scholarship on this issue in this piece. Are you just basically denying that immigration has a dampening effect on wages? Are you saying there is no overcrowding in Public schools? All Social Services come under severe strain because of immigration. This problem cannot and should not be solved with an open door policy. It needs to be tackled at the source. We need enlightened foreign policy to remove cruel circumstances in nations from whence immigrants flee. Our house roof is leaking in many places and it's myopic to shelter more and more inside it when we cannot even muster the political momentum to put more progressives in DC. People who blithely support endless immigration are asking the others to share the meager slice of their pie with the new comers. I remember reading an article in San Diego about a public school in an area that had seen a large increase in immigrants. The children had to take turns to have lunch because the Cafeteria was not large enough. The first shift started at 10A.M. Have YOUR kids gone to such a school? Please don't tell me that the solution is to build more schools. India and the Latin American nations would be willing to send us 600 million immigrants. Are you going to take all of them in? Immigration is the Achilles heel of the Left. I suppose because most of them are dreamers and not doers. This is why the Right gets things done although for the wrong reasons like racism. Farewell.
Don’t get me started on the mainstream media. They’ve become so scared of Republican accusations of liberal bias that Republican politicians can “stand in the middle of 5th avenue and shoot someone” and it might be covered, if at all, on the inside back page, probably as something like “GOP representative has gun cleaning accident.” Biden misspeaks once in a speech and the NYT runs 5 stories a day for two weeks on whether he’s cognitively impaired. I’m 60 and misspeak probably more than once an hour.
I understand the feelings behind your rant. They are my feelings too. My feelings about Gaza are also strong. And climate change. And extinction. And Ukraine. But most of all I am afraid of this latest generation of Confederates that call themselves Republicans. Not only will a house divided against itself not stand, but it will become all one thing or the other. The GOP must be stopped. Completely. Now. If we can do that we can do a lot of good things, including meaningful humane immigration reforms.
Thank you for creating my new favorite insult, "jellyfish-hearted thumb suckers."
The best defense for the Democrats are two shitty points.
First, unlike the GOP, the Dems aren’t a party but a coalition. Can’t think off the top of my head of any issue with with there’s 100%. Maybe reproductive rights?
Forever but more so since the DLC’s ethos took control after Dukasis’ loss. That’s when the party doubled down on being an echo to the GOP as opposed to a true alternative.
Besides ending up with a huge overlap policy-wise between the parties, we also end up with the Democrats running scared 24/7. Anything, everything not GOP-friendly blows up in their faces, not just from Republicans, of course, but also the mainstream media which blows up everything the Democrats do that conflicts with GOP positions etc.
So immigration. Politically, the Democrats have to do something about immigration by which I mean the shot Hamilton’s discussing here for one thing.
And what has to be done to really deal with the southern border problem is to stop fucking up Central American nations and then make up for the shit we’ve pulled and enabled for well over 100 years.
Which isn’t happening in my lifetime nor is it anything nearly any Democrat will push for.
So this tragic shit.
Great write-up! I'm personally sick of living through America's racist and xenophobic immigration policies. Do you have recommendations on books that take a critical look at immigration? (I'm interested in learning how its been weaponized by tech companies)
This writer and many much of the comments to follow are a great example of the simple minded, feel good hypocrites that are polluting our society today. Both sides are filled with lying criminals who could care less about the truth behind the reality of how pathetic our society has become. Hamilton you deserve to starve putting out that cult like drivel. Get a real job you pompous hypocritical cretin.
Molly Ivins explained the Republican's view of immigration perfectly. She said "if you want to stop immigration, we know how: make sure everyone who hires a undocumented worker is put in jail. No jobs = no immigration." She repeated it often, so often that I wondered if it was a position of hers!
Her point is, WE DO KNOW HOW TO STOP IMMIGRATION. So people who keep screaming about it aren't trying to fix a problem, they're trying to profit from the status quo: there are a lot of workers who are powerless to complain about their situation. They don't care if that means an American boss can rape an undocumented woman, and she can't go to the police for fear of deportation. If undocumented women can raise criminal complaints, that means they're in a SANCTUARY CITY!!!DUM dum DAAAAAH!!!
Sorry - the sound effects dial is loose, and slides to the right sometimes.
Plus, there's racist populism: Republicans say the reason the working class has it hard is, whites are held back by affirmative action, but everyone else has it *easy* due to affirmative action. This is a lie, on all fronts (immigration has minimal wage effects, aa has minimal effects), but, it lets them demonize anyone who isn't more strict than they on immigration.
Trust me, once you understand this, you'll spend less time confused.
Fucking thank you! The discourse around immigration is fucking maddening. The horrible shit trump and miller and the other thumb-shaped ghouls in that admin did with/to immigrants was a major motivation in getting people to vote for Biden in 2020 and he hasn't held up his end of the deal at all. In fact, he and Harris and Mayorkas almost immediately reneged. And it's not just them, either; the entire DNC seemed to fall right in line.
What's even worse is that I still feel like I don't have a real choice in November but to vote for Biden again, because at least he's not threatening to deport naturalized citizens (like my parents.)
...
It really sucks how quickly the Dems will ditch their own constituents chasing some mythical "moderate" republican.
"America is a fantastic machine for taking in all the people of the world, and making them despise all the other people of the world."
sad mic drop
:(
Democrats need to remake themselves if they want to be elected.
Not only is their immigration policy the same as the Republicans but so is their support of Israel's genocide in Gaza. Also, they both support the rich at the expense of everyone else.
I have a feeling a lot of people who would normally vote Democrat will either just stay home or vote for a third party, which may wind up giving the USA Trump as a president.
Being an Anti immigration American I will definitely fuck off but just wanted to share a few thoughts before leaving. Your solution to the issue seems to be - let's invite everyone in. I am convinced that you personally have never been hurt by immigration? I am disappointed with your lack of scholarship on this issue in this piece. Are you just basically denying that immigration has a dampening effect on wages? Are you saying there is no overcrowding in Public schools? All Social Services come under severe strain because of immigration. This problem cannot and should not be solved with an open door policy. It needs to be tackled at the source. We need enlightened foreign policy to remove cruel circumstances in nations from whence immigrants flee. Our house roof is leaking in many places and it's myopic to shelter more and more inside it when we cannot even muster the political momentum to put more progressives in DC. People who blithely support endless immigration are asking the others to share the meager slice of their pie with the new comers. I remember reading an article in San Diego about a public school in an area that had seen a large increase in immigrants. The children had to take turns to have lunch because the Cafeteria was not large enough. The first shift started at 10A.M. Have YOUR kids gone to such a school? Please don't tell me that the solution is to build more schools. India and the Latin American nations would be willing to send us 600 million immigrants. Are you going to take all of them in? Immigration is the Achilles heel of the Left. I suppose because most of them are dreamers and not doers. This is why the Right gets things done although for the wrong reasons like racism. Farewell.
"Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit:
'There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.'
There is nothing more or else to it, and there never has been, in any place or time."
- Frank Wilhoit?
🥲
Don’t get me started on the mainstream media. They’ve become so scared of Republican accusations of liberal bias that Republican politicians can “stand in the middle of 5th avenue and shoot someone” and it might be covered, if at all, on the inside back page, probably as something like “GOP representative has gun cleaning accident.” Biden misspeaks once in a speech and the NYT runs 5 stories a day for two weeks on whether he’s cognitively impaired. I’m 60 and misspeak probably more than once an hour.
Couldnt it be possible to assess this issue outside of the context of political parties?
I understand the feelings behind your rant. They are my feelings too. My feelings about Gaza are also strong. And climate change. And extinction. And Ukraine. But most of all I am afraid of this latest generation of Confederates that call themselves Republicans. Not only will a house divided against itself not stand, but it will become all one thing or the other. The GOP must be stopped. Completely. Now. If we can do that we can do a lot of good things, including meaningful humane immigration reforms.