As the battle lines are ever more pronounced in the fight over immigration reform, I thought today would be a good time to remember the words of Emma Lazarus, not just those most famous from the poem “The New Colossus,” as inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty, but the whole thing.
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
What do the Republicans not get?
The president will explain what’s in his executive order tonight as he addresses the nation in a prime time speech – one that you’ll have to search cable for, as none of the major networks have agreed to carry it!
Senator Tom Coburn actually predicted anarchy and violence in the streets should President Obama take action (as Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush both did, with no similar pronouncements).
The author of the article “Reagan and Bush Acted Unilaterally on Immigration, Too– for the Same Reason That Obama Will,” Danny Vinik of The New Republic, joined me at the end of today’s show to discuss the amazing disconnect.
While Republicans are apoplectic over the idea of President Obama doing exactly what he promised to do if Republicans couldn’t get their shit together to pass some sort of comprehensive immigration reform, the fact is that he has issued fewer executive orders than any president since Grover Cleveland, going back to the late 19th century!
But the GOP never lets facts get in the way of good hyperbole.
Perhaps, in light of Coburn’s warnings of violence and anarchy, President Obama should declare a state of emergency and call out the National Guard. Oh wait, that’s already happened in Ferguson, MO, where there’s still no word of a timetable on when the Grand Jury decision is expected in the case of the killing of Mike Brown.
Somehow, Republicans have taken on a holier-than-thou attitude about elections having consequences. It’s fascinating that they only seem to believe in giving the people what they want when they come out on the winning side of an election. I don’t recall any such warnings about the people having spoken following the Democrats’ wins in 2008 and 2012. Just sayin’…
And as for these 2014 midterm results, we should probably take them with that proverbial grain of salt, as things are a bit fishy in unverified voting machine land.
Greg Palast returned to the show today to point out some of the discrepancies in the election returns in which the outcome was conveniently very different from the polling results. Instead of believing what people said about how they were going to vote, the media and officials are just taking for granted that the names missing from the voter rolls (and the lack of any way to verify the results of the always unreliable electronic voting machines) had anything to do with it.
As Greg reported,
No question, Republicans trounced Democrats in the Midterm elections. But, if not for the boost of this voter-roll purge system used in 23 Republican-controlled states, the GOP could not have taken the US Senate.
See for yourself – it’s 27 minutes that will surely open your eyes.
Want to see how easy it would be to have your name purged from the voter rolls in 2016? Plug it in here and see if you have a doppelgänger somewhere who could, ostensibly, keep you from being allowed to vote.
Are YOU a criminal double voter?
(Apparently, Michael Moore voted 176 times!)
Over at the BradBlog, Brad Friedman today tells us about a new Election Integrity Project report that has the US ranked 26th out of 73 countries studied.
- Experts were also critical about electoral flaws in certain long-established democracies, such as Italy and Japan. Most strikingly, the United States ranks 26th out of 73 elections worldwide, the lowest score among Western nations. Experts highlighted concern over processes of redistricting, voter registration, and campaign finance in American elections.
Yeah, the US ranks just below Mongolia and Micronesia, and just above Mexico and Barbados.
And finally, as we continue to venture further and further into Opposite World, we find that while some people are fawning over Kim Kardashian’s nude photos (that did not break the internet — narcissistic much?), many (of the same people, perhaps?) are offended by Alyssa Milano’s instagram photos of her breastfeeding her newborn baby.
I discussed that disconnect with Amy Simon of She’s History this morning, along with the latest revelations that Dr. Huxtable’s alter-ego is a scumbag serial rapist – allegedly – according to 16 women and counting.
On Tuesday morning, I played the silence that was the reaction of Bill Cosby when asked about the allegations by NPR’s Scott Simon, who described Cosby as shaking his head no- as if to say he wouldn’t answer those questions.
Last night, the Associated Press released video of an interview conducted earlier this month in which he did say out loud that he wouldn’t answer, along with his admonitions after the interview officially ended- but cameras were still rolling and he was still mic’d – not to air that portion of the interview.
Yuck. I shall now go take a shower.
One last thing: As the Obama administration is fighting with Sen. Dianne Feinstein over how much of the CIA Torture Report they want redacted (the White House wants LOTS of redactions, Feinstein not so much), there is a call on for outgoing Sen. Mark Udall, a champion of our right to know what out government did in our names, to read the entire, un-redacted report into the Congressional Record before he goes. There’s a petition asking him to do that. Sign it at ReleaseTheTortureReport.com.
I’ll be back to wrap up the week tomorrow morning… see you then, radio or not.
