Let's Check Everyone's Papers!

Arizona lawmakers have passed legislation making illegal immigration a crime in their state. The governor signed it into law. The police can now ask anyone "suspicious" for documentation proving legal entry into the country or proof of citizenship. The police will be trained to spot "suspicious" folks.

How will "suspicious" look? Will it be cultural - a certain type of music on the MP3 player? How about clothing? How do suspicious clothes hang?

What if the possible perp can't speak fluent English? Of course, the person in question would have to answer a question to demonstrate command of language or lack of same - so again, how would a law enforcement officer determine "suspicious"?

If someone attends a mass said in Spanish, is that suspicious? If someone is dark skinned, is that suspicious? What if they're poor? Homeless? Mentally ill? Obese? Ill shod? Addicted to artisan bread? Confused?

In Denmark during the 1940s, the Nazis, who had conquered the country, decreed that every Jew in the nation wear a yellow star on his or her sleeve. The next day, the Royal Family appeared with yellow stars on their sleeves.

Wonkissima would never compare the seriousness of the Holocost with this Arizona law - but at what moment does racial persecution begin? Could this law lead to profiling?
It may not be YOU the powers-that-be are coming for right this second, but some day. if we don't all take a stand, it just might be.

McConnell lying about finance reform - what else is new?

Conservative power broker Senator Mitch McConnell is at it again ... boy is he a one-man misinformation campaign! During the health insurance reform debate, he stood on the same soap box as Righter-than-Right extremists like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Sarah Palin and shouted the same lies as they did almost word for word ... "Obamacare will kill your Grannie!" or how about those supposed Death Panels? or the rape of Medicare? the decrease in medical benefits for former military? All lies. And now proven to be lies.

This week, the Senate Minority Leader from Kentucky, fresh from his sojurn to New York where he dined and wined (and whined) with the Wall Street Elite, is spouting a whole new ration of Bushwa - the bill favored by Omama will BAIL OUT failed banks!
Not true! It simply requires them to gamble with their own reserves. Not with our retirement accounts; not with tax payer money; not with OPM at all (other people's money) - but with assets owned and controlled by the banks.

Wall Street Elite brought this country to its knees in a fashion al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden could only drool over and lust for. Now, after receiving bail outs from W Bush and the Republican controlled Congress of 2008 THAT REQUIRED NO REPAYMENT AT FAVORABLE INTEREST RATES, Wall Street bankers are raking in profits and bonuses at record rates - often by taking the same risks that rocked our financial system to its core a scant 18 months ago. Do you know what a "derivative" is? If not, maybe you should find out ...

At last, Goldman Sachs has been formally accused of fraud by the SEC. Wonkissima hopes that this prosecution will finally pierce the iron curtain of secrecy that surrounds most behind-the-scenes trades and bring the entire slimy mess into the light of day.

But don't expect Mitch and his Big Banker friends to be forthcoming with information no matter how deeply they may be enmeshed and don't expect the bought and paid for members of Congress to jump on the finance reform bandwagon.

Do expect an eventual bill with some real teeth from supported by our President and do expect lies, lies, lies from the opposition.

Only white women allowed to speak for GOP?

When you watch Conservative opinion leaders on TV - most of whom are white male TV and radio hosts or just plain old white men in general - has it ever struck you as odd that almost all the female Conservative opinion leaders are white? Think about it for a moment ... which women do Conservatives, NeoCons and Republicans rely on day to day to get their message out? Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter, Michelle Bachmann, Liz Cheney, Dana Perino, Laura Ingraham, Mary Matalin. You could have mentioned the token Michelle Malkin at one time but Fox News fired her. Uh oh ... she's ASIAN!
Name me ONE black, Hispanic or Asian woman who is prominently and regularly praised, consulted, featured or introduced as a LEADER of and/or by the GOP. How many non white women were guest speakers at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference last week?

Something is wrong with this picture.

Some problems only BIG Government can solve

NeoCons, Tea Partiers and other self-proclaimed Conservatives of every stripe grouse tirelessly against federal spending in general and the stimulus package implemented by Obama and Congressional Dems in particular. “Big Government is all wet!” they may be shouting out of one corner of their mouths while the other corner is smiling at a camera taking a picture of them handing their constituents Big Checks made possible by … the federal government’s STIMULOUS PACKAGE. They scream America could never in a billion years oversee anything well and insist we’d all fare much better if elected officials would quit all that unnecessary taxing and spending. They also cry train car-loads full of tears about the huge debt which will be this generation’s legacy to the next.
Of course, that tear-full train car is probably sitting on a track that is crumbling. What would really happen if Big Government disappeared entirely – state and federal? No armed forces or National Guard. No Big Scale disaster relief or crisis response – not to mention low percentage loans for the actual disaster sufferers. No drivable bridges or roads. No drinkable water. No airports or classrooms or rapid transit systems or any other infrastructure would remain inhabitable or usable because most of it is currently falling apart and it will take a monumental effort to shore it back up. THAT’s the real legacy we are leaving our children and grandchildren – a nation whose underpinnings are literally disintegrating. The Society of Civil Engineers graded U.S. infrastructure last year – most sectors scored a D or lower! Water infrastructure scored a D-.
The $100 billion appropriated by Congress for infrastructure repair is a DROP IN THE BUCKET of what is required – a situation our president has not denied. The estimated cost of repair and replacement just for water delivery and treatment systems is $500 BILLION more than has currently been allotted! And Conservatives don’t think this is an emergency? What private business could possibly finance or even begin to address such a huge undertaking?
We need to keep our public sector strong and continually evolving so that we can compete with China and other fast growing nations. We need to be able to deliver clean, safe and AFFORDABLE water. We need state-of-the-art educational facilities, more efficient mass transit, shored up levies, repaved highways and bridges that don’t fall down when you blow on them.
Three or four decades ago, we received title to and became caretakers of trillions of dollars worth of gorgeous framework in solid condition – it is only right that we pass it along in similar condition. And that, friends, will take the kind of investment only GOVERNMENTS are equipped to make.
The Bush regime borrowed gazillions from China to finance tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans this nation has ever known. Conservatives/Repubs NEVER paid for any of it through budget cuts and 90% of us didn’t improve our lots in life from this huge yet narrow commitment of our wealth.
But all Americans will partake of the rebuilding of our nation and the wealth that investment will generate. The gift that’ll keep on giving …

An Open Letter to the Enemies of our President

To the enemies of our President:

We love our president. We prefer not to receive any email regarding anything unsubstantiated, any rumors, any third party gossip. any aspersions against his character particularly without his or someone else's real time opportunity to specifically refute same. Anyone can make a video or sling libel and slander. Just remember how YOU feel when friends or family members are trashing you or your character and you have no recourse to stop it or defend yourself. "Do unto others ..."

Barack Obama IS an American citizen. He is NOT a Muslim. (Even if he were, the Constitution specifically FORBIDS requiring a particular religious belief for any elected official.) The point is moot - doesn't matter, HE IS A CHRISTIAN. And to my knowledge, he has never slandered or vilified YOU or your beliefs.

He is NOT a socialist, a Marxist, a Leninist, a Maoist, a communist, a terrorist, a Nazi, a racist - as alleged by both Glenn and Rush and too many other irresponsible people who think lightly of the hatred they are setting afire. He is NOT part of a "regime" a "cabal" or a "junta." He is our PRESIDENT and he has appointed a CABINET.

As for the latest rumor ... being former CIA connected to Columbian drug cartels for some undefined yet nefarious purpose, I find this ludicrous. As in WHEN? When did he sign? Who recruited him and where was he recruited? He doesn't speak Spanish so the idea he would have been intricately involved in anything Columbian-Drug-Lord related undercover seems naive. Plus, he doesn't look too Latin in my opinion. Where are the FACTS? Why hasn't the accuser filed a Freedom of Information Act request?

George Bush SR. was the HEAD of the CIA before becoming president and conservatives revered his service in this government spy org as a sign of his patriotism. Even when he was later implicated in Iran-Contra drugs-for-guns-for hostages swaps.

I keep seeing these falsely accusatory videos about Obama labelled "watch this today - it will soon be suppressed." Guess what, after weeks and sometimes months, all those videos are still on the internet.

There is a dangerous level of violence being fanned across this country by UNPROVEN, BASELESS charges against our duly elected and sworn PRESIDENT. There are no Death Panels in Obama Care. Grannie isn't going to be "shoved off to an early death" because of Obama Care. Hospice care has NOT been eliminated or rolled back under Obama Care. Folks who say these things are lying. We insist - disagree if you will but PLEASE stick to the facts. PROVE what you SAY by citing chapter and verse. Where is the Death Panel mentioned? We have read the over 2,000 pages of this bill and have found NO DEATH PANELS. Have YOU read the bill? If not, why not? Shouldn't you KNOW what is in it instead of relying on others to make you afraid of what is in it? You are intelligent enough to make an informed decision for yourself. SO DO IT!!!!

When Dick Cheney was the veep, he stated flatly that anyone who impugned the President for ANY REASON during a time of war was fomenting treason. Obama is our LEGALLY ELECTED President. We are still fighting the wars engaged by George W. So, does this make Cheney a traitor by his own words? He has condemned himself and has no need of it from us.

How can any Christian or American of good conscience continue to fan the flames of misrepresentation and outright lying? The bible has ideas about bearing false witness. And when it comes to inciting violence and hatred purely for their own spiteful sakes, those that will not mend their ways will "surely inherit the wind."
Because what goes around does come around, and around and around.