Amnesty?

President Barak Obama has told the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to plan for "for the possibility of giving legal status to millions of illegal immigrants," according to the New York Times.

I knew Comprehensive Immigration Reform was his Next Big Thing after cap and trade and health care, but this is the first I'd heard of his plans.

This is sure to start a pundit-storm. The people who are here legally, but under CNMI rules might see some hope in this.

I'm off to grab some typhoon supplies, but wanted to get something posted on this.

Abraham, Martin and... Barack?

Jeez, Hillary, you've gone too far this time.

Hillary Clinton brought up Robert F. Kennedy's assassination as one of the reasons she should stay in the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination. The remarks were made to the editorial board of South Dakota's Sioux Falls Argus-Leader but the New York Post (Who else would it be?) is making sure they get wide play.

"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it," she said, dismissing calls to drop out.

It wouldn't surprise me if someone took a shot at Barak Obama, because there's been a determined campaign to paint him as 'the other'. You know: 'not one of us'. The sort of dehumanizing a nation uses against its enemies when it goes to war. So the thought crossed my mind.

That's me, I kept it to myself and I'm not a national figure anyway. She should keep that sort of thing inside too, even if it pops up in guilty 3 am dreams.



And it's a hard life, it's a hard life
It's a very hard life
It's a hard life wherever you go
And if we poison our children with hatred
Then the hard life is all that they'll know

(Abraham, Martin and John, Emmylou Harris)

Bad Grief!

Evil is not a word I throw around loosely, but what else do you call people who attack the Epilepsy Foundation website with flashing animation?

As you'd expect, it caused some seizures and headaches. Luckily, there are no reports of serious injuries. I just don't get where these griefers, hackers or whatever are coming from.

I actually saw this post on a web forum: "Wow, you guys have no sense of humor, thats damn funny. It might be morally reprehensible, but its freaking funny."

Hilarious, since nobody bit off their tongue or was killed. I found it chilling, like watching Richard Widmark in The Kiss of Death. But that was fantasy.

Speaking of fantasy, this is reprehensible, but funny:

"Some girl who played World of Warcraft died in real life, and those horrible failures of human beings planned a funeral for her... RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF A PVP ZONE! They posted about the event on the messageboards and urged people not to bust it up.

I don't think I need to explain what happened; the video speaks for itself."

Small grin

Now, hacking into Barak Obama's website and redirecting visitors to Hillary Clinton's, that's just good dirty fun. I'd say it's fifty-fifty whether "Mox" is even political. Except... Netcraft warns that there are still vulnerabilities that could lead to something nasty.

For some reason the comment link keeps disappearing on the main page. If that happens, just click on the headline if you have something to add, then go to the bottom for the comment link. I don't know what's going on with Blogger.

The Wright stuff

Hoo boy, was I wrong. Like most people I've been following the media wisdom about the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

After all, when everybody from the New York Times to the Fox News pundits agrees...

But then I actually read Wright's speech to the National Press Club. A question and answer period followed. This isn't the cartoon figure, the anti-American firebreather I've been reading and hearing about.

Plenty radical, but no more than I lot of people I know. Here's a taste:

And I said to Barack Obama, last year, "If you get elected, November the 5th, I'm coming after you, because you'll be representing a government whose policies grind under people." All right? It's about policy, not the American people.

I've heard wingnuts say the same thing.

Obama edging away from any association? 'That's what politicians do'. But he's upset with excerpts and sound bites--can't imagine why--so read for yourself.

It's very interesting, educational, funny in places and really, really long.

Effect without cause

I'm fascinated by synchronicity, what I suppose you'd call coincidence that's meaningful. Thinking of someone just before they call you on the phone is usually used as one example.

I went through a Jungian phase where I read up on it a lot. Jung theorized that it was an ordering principle like cause and effect, but that we couldn't figure out how to study it. Or something like that. Whatever.

But I'd just posted this comment before I stumbled across the Wright speech:

I don't trust reporters. I doesn't matter whether they're from the Washington Post or the (Moonie) Washington Times. The Wall Street Journal doesn't deserve any more or less skepticism as it tabloidizes like Murdoch's Post and Fox News.

I've seen them cheat, across the political spectrum, by cherrypicking facts and quotes. So I check their sources if I can and if I've got time. Sometimes I post the links while I've got 'em, in case anyone's interested.

Exactly what I was talking about, but what's going on here? Why are Wright's words getting so twisted?

Bitter times

Not original, I know. Everybody's made fun of the Governor's Better Times campaign slogan by now, but I'm not talking locally. Yet. (A little foreshadowing, folks)

Nope, it's the foot Barak H. Obama planted firmly in his mouth when talking about the working class:

It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to express their frustrations.

Hillary Clinton called the remarks “elitist and arrogant”. A strong indictment indeed, coming from her. The usual suspects crowded print, airwaves and the internet with reaction.

They should lighten up a little. Sure, it's the usual pop-psychology pap we all use to explain how other people can Get It Wrong. It ignores the fact that people can honestly disagree. Saying it in San Francisco? Well...

Really, though, that argument gets a lot of mileage because it's got an element of truth. In hard times it's human nature to cast about for a villain, and we sometimes (usually?) get it wrong. There are always profiteering pundits to egg us on.

On the home affront

I see that on Saipan every day. Blame the contract workers, blame the locals, blame the airlines. Heck, let's all blame Washington. There's a nasty undercurrent lately.

Let's back up. Contract workers come for jobs. They don't control anything. If there's a path to naturalization, well, why not?

Local leaders? Well, who elected them? After all of these years, a lot of voters are the children of aliens. There's a large group of other Micronesians and people from the states. With so many elections decided by a handful of votes those are blocks that could make a difference, and they don't.

I constantly hear 'outsiders' say I didn't know what anybody stands for so I voted for so-and-so. I know him and he's a nice guy. Sorry, they're all Nice Guys; that's how they get elected. Do some digging, or don't waste your vote. Oh, and shut up about the fine mess we're in.

Report card day

Ah, that's too serious, so I'll have to end with something light WARNING: I'm being facetious here. After all, nobody in his right mind would suggest having a recall vote on every single elected official

It would be fun. We could combine it with the non-voting delegate vote to save money. Even the Judiciary? Why not, especially if you've read the self-serving I've-got-mine-Jack folderol they're peddling. Now that's why they need a PIO.

They'd all be retained, of course, but it would be interesting to see how many would get a B plus from voters.