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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Obama finally takes on immigration lynch mob

Posted on Tuesday, July 06, 2010 at 07:37 PM

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LiamDavid | Jul 09, 2010, 03:46 AM EDT

Many of the comments here are quite amusing! The alien issue is a true and clear problem in America. Although the majority of Americans are in fact “non-native” or non aboriginal people, therefore, one would think that there would be a warmer appreciation for aliens and their plight? But first generation to 10 generation American citizens mostly believe that aliens are little more than criminals and should be treated as such. I believe that the core of this painful issue is not so much aliens trying to enter America, it’s that most Americans feel that these modern day immigrants have no interest in becoming tax paying American citizens, but seemed only interested in making as much money in America as possible, having their children in American hospitals, under various welfare insurances then taking off back to their original countries. Like any other situation, there will always be the good and the bad, but let us pray that cooler heads will prevail and new legislation that is fair and balanced will be passed into law.

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DennisQ | Jul 09, 2010, 03:21 AM EDT

Right wingers are wandering around in the desert, and they know it. Political reality is closing in on them, as the Republican Party loses relevance from election to election. Having been clobbered in '06 and '08, right wingers look to rebound in '10. But even there they are shooting themselves in the foot. In Nevada, for example, the GOP blew a clear chance of defeating Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader. Instead of nominating the moderately conservative Sue Lowden, Republicans chose instead the unelectable extremist Sharron Angle.

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DennisQ | Jul 09, 2010, 03:05 AM EDT

The problem with anti-immigration zealots is that they appear to talk to each other, but not to the rest of us. For example, where did FAIR get it $113 billion figure from? You go to their website and they total their figures without tracking them back to the source. There's a word for such statistical legerdemain - it's called flim-flammery. They quote each other freely, as if repetition of bogus claims made them more believable. It begs the question - Where did they get this stuff from? It's not answered. Instead, FAIR's website encourages visitors to read Michelle Malkin, Patrick Buchanan, Tom Tancredo and the execrable Jim Gilchrist. If these beady-eyed zealots expect to bring people over to their viewpoint, they'll have to make believable arguments. So far, all they're doing is preaching to each other.

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IrishAndProud | Jul 09, 2010, 01:43 AM EDT

And as for Fox News, you can look at the sum total of who watches if versus who doesn't, but every other major American network out there (all of whom lean to the left, to put it mildly) have even smaller shares, of their own. It's the same thing with talk radio in the USA, where conservatives dominate: liberal talk radio gave it a shot too ('Air America'), but ended up utterly bankrupt, because there simply is not enough of a demand in the USA for that viewpoint (which people got for YEARS, anyway -- unchallenged -- on every TV network until Fox and talk radio came along). There's NPR (National Public Radio) which is also heavily left-leaning, but it's only kept alive through 'artifical means,' if you will...involuntary taxpayer funding, which it simply could not survive, without. In short, FOX and talk radio finally, FINALLY provided an outlet for the conservative viewpoint, which HAD no such national outlets, prior.

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IrishAndProud | Jul 09, 2010, 01:35 AM EDT

Sean...oh I agree the GOP plays for cheap political gain -- which is why more Americans than ever are identifying as independents, nowadays. They don't like the Democrats, but they've also had it with the Repubs, who only give lip service to the USA's majority conservatism but then govern differently, once they're in, and/or run from conservatism because they're all scared about what they'll be called and how they'll be labeled if they stick with it. Washington DC is in its own little political bubble world, thoroughly inoculated from the reality in the rest of the country and too many Repubs get weak-knee'd if even a squirrel goes 'boo.' The Repubs stand to make enormous gains this fall (simply because they're not Democrats, more than any other reason...and for the usual lip service they'll pay to the majority-conservative ideology) -- and they will manage to slow if not stop and/or reverse the Obama-ism the USA has grown to hate -- but in the long run they'll fall flat on their faces, again. And at that point, with no where else to turn and with their frustrations mounting exponentially, the people will almost certainly start moving toward a break-up of the USA (through regional/state secession). A GOP victory this year will delay that for probably a few years more, but my belief at present is that it's coming, irreversably.

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Taylor55 | Jul 09, 2010, 01:01 AM EDT

Somehow Dennis, I knew you were going to say that. So you have any better numbers? Be sure to include the children of illegal aliens, after all if the illegals were not here, their children would not be here either, unless you think they just appear out fo thin air.

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DennisQ | Jul 08, 2010, 11:52 PM EDT

The group calling itself the Federation of Americans for Immigration Reform is part of a larger agglomeration of rabid right wingers who believe undocumented workers threaten America's survival. So-called "research" reports emerging from these groups are no more grounded in science than the ravings of Glenn Beck. Go to FAIR's website and they recommend you get up to speed by reading Patrick Buchanan, Michelle Malkin, Tom Tancredo, and the notorious Jim Gilchrist, founder of the "Minutemen" group of private citizens who patrol the border with rifles. The anti-immigration nuts all quote each other as if collectively they have more credibility than they do separately. They are mostly beady-eyed fanatics, people who can't be taken seriously.

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Taylor55 | Jul 08, 2010, 11:26 PM EDT

Umm Sean, the GOP finally IS taking a principled stand - against amnesty which 70% of Americans oppose. By the way Fox owner Rupert Murdoch (know him?) is lobbying for amnesty. Hey how about this bi-partisan plan, we send all our illegal aliens to OZ? Cheers.

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seanomelbourne | Jul 08, 2010, 10:32 PM EDT

Irishandproud forget my last computer glitch.I hate repeating myself. To fix your immigration laws requires bi-partisan support but the good old GOP the party of NO would rather play for cheap political gain rather than take a principled stand on the issue.As far as Fox is concerned they have 40% of the news ratings by far the largest of any other news broadcaster. But that leaves 60% of the listeners who do not tune in to Fox. The extreme right has taken control of the GOP the moderates in the party have taken A "right" turn scared of the teaparty radicals. Try sticking to to "some" point and have an overview of the immigration problem.

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IrishAndProud | Jul 08, 2010, 09:23 PM EDT

And I repeat: Olovely (and McNamara31) are both MILITANTLY anti-immigrant (in addition to being elitist snobs).

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IrishAndProud | Jul 08, 2010, 09:22 PM EDT

That's 'nickname' Guinnessgrrl...not 'nick.'

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IrishAndProud | Jul 08, 2010, 09:20 PM EDT

Not hardly, sean. Political passions aroused, sure...that's what all of us do, here. But 'feelings hurt?' That sounds so...liberal.

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rpmschevy | Jul 08, 2010, 08:50 PM EDT

IrishandProud, here is the thing, Naill writes these articles because he is a happy and dedicated criminal himself. He came to the US illegally, has no concept of Rule of Law, and so he can write articles like this. All of us born here, or who came here legally, like my wife and daughter, he cares nothing about. I would love to see the equivalent of population of the County of Kerry come to Ireland and see how he or real Irish residents feel.

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seanomelbourne | Jul 08, 2010, 08:15 PM EDT

Poor Irishandproud has had his feeling hurt. 30% of o

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Taylor55 | Jul 08, 2010, 08:06 PM EDT

ritmomente, I cannot believe how ignorant you are. Lot's of illegal women work in the fields, in processing plants, as nannies and house cleaners, restaurants, the list goes on. Get out of your bubble and spend some time in Mexifornia looking around outside the tourist areas. Working in a field they graduated from? OMG that is soooo funny, is that a lettuce field or tomato field? Latino illegals have an average sixth grade education, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. But you know, your arguments ARE true for Americans if they are able to take back the jobs illegals stole from them.

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