Monday, October 20, 2008

Why I No Longer Support John Barnes For State Representative

Back on April 1st, which was well over six months ago - that’s half a year to you and me! - I replied to an e-mail sent out by the John Barnes campaign, indicating that I would be pleased to put a Barnes sign in my yard. After several months had gone by and no sign had come, I signed up for one at the Barnes booth at the Irvington Farmer’s Market in August - but never got one. Two months later, at the final Irvington Farmer’s Market of the season, I stopped by the Barnes booth and asked if they had any extra signs. And glory be! Don’tcha know, they did!

So I finally had my sign - along with a mess of cheese, some fruit, and a great big bunch of fresh basil that I chopped up the next day and put into the blender with some chopped garlic, toasted pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil and turned into a very nice pesto dipping sauce that paired perfectly with some ciabatta bread I got at Trader Joe’s and warmed up in the oven.

But anyway - that was a week ago, on the 19th. We walked home from the farmer’s market (my house may be a piece of shit, but I can walk to Ellenberger Park) and I plunked my sign down in the little strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street and was reasonably content.

And then I came home from work this week, either Thursday or Friday, and found yet another Barnes For State Rep flyer in the mail. Our mail over the last several months has contained many of these flyers - and a few for Barnes’ Republican opponent. I’ve perused a few of them but not really paid much attention. The cover of this one, however, said, “On illegal immigration...There is no gray area.” This was on a black and white background in black and white text.

And so, less than a week after getting it, I pulled up the Barnes yard sign. Yes, illegal immigration is a problem; but using a simpleton’s argument - like the one inside this hateful flyer, “No amnesty, no licenses, no jobs for illegals” - isn’t the way to address and correct the problem. It is, however, the way to appeal to xenophobic, racist conservatives. This flyer is clearly a play for the votes of conservative Democrats, and perhaps for the votes of the handful of true scumbags who believe this black and white bovine fecal matter about immigration and think it’s the most important issue we face at the moment. (Um, it’s the economy, stupid.)

Haven’t we had enough of the conservative fearpolitik during the reign of King George II and Darth Cheney? A flyer like this one is not the right signal to send to people who wanted to believe your schtick about being a progressive Democrat. Being progressive means seeing beyond the simple black-and-white parts of the issue and transcending the fearpolitik; it does not mean being a conservative and trying to fool people by putting a cheap donkey mask on your face.

8 comments:

Shane M. White said...

While I completely agree that the economy is the biggest problem right now, illegal immigration is one of my personal biggest concerns. That is one of the biggest things I have against this country - and why I really wanted Guiliani to be running.

Do you want to know how to help the economy? Stop allowing illegal immigrants - who use fake SSNs - to receive paychecks (or more commonly, untaxed cash) which they then send back to Mexico or other South American countries, where it gets converted into Pesos and is spent in the Mexican economy - NOT the American.

From the numbers I've found online - illegal immigrants send roughly TWO BILLION DOLLARS back to Mexico, EACH MONTH. You really wonder why our economy SUCKS? It's hard to support an economy when TWENTY-FOUR BILLION(-ish) DOLLARS a year is being "given" to the Mexican Economy.

I'm sorry you don't see that as problem, but you might have just convinced me to vote for John Barnes - and NOT because I'm the racist you claim I am, but because he addresses an issue that I actually care about.

Money doesn't magically appear to fix the economy (well, aside from the $700 million that's lowed my gas price...), and preventing illegal wages and earnings from leaving the country - that would the BEST start to fixing the economy. That is something that is easily controllable (easily is a relative term) if you put a better system in check for potential employers. One that ensure legitimate SSN numbers. Because, honestly, I wouldn't be so opposed to money leaving the country - if those illegals were actually paying their taxes to the government. I still wouldn't like it, but at least they would be legal and contributing their money the same as everyone else.

Although, I do think it's pretty stupid (and VERY poor marketing) that they never got you the sign you requested multiple times. Doesn't seem to be a very well run ship...

John Peddie said...

1. District 89 extends only as far north as 21st Street. If you live north of that, you're not in Barnes' district.

2. Mexico is in North America.

3. Assuming your numbers are right, $24 billion represents about 0.17 percent of the U.S. GDP, which is just a little less than $14 trillion. It's a bit less than half of what ExxonMobil clears in profit every quarter. Spread that over a year, and you have ExxonMobil making more than seven times the dollars you claim that illegals send to Mexico. And that's just one company. So, while $24 billion isn't exactly chump change, it's not bringing down the economy, either. But it's probably a large enough number to strike fear into the hearts of the simple.

John Peddie said...

Oh, and Giuliani did run - and was the Republican front-runner for some time. His decision to marshal his forces in Florida while ignoring Iowa and New Hampshire was a strategic blunder of astonishing proportions.

I suppose that those who miss the Nixonian days of massive White House corruption and paranoia would have enjoyed a Giuliani presidency, but that's got to be a pretty low percentage of voters.

Giuliani's sense of personal loyalty led him to recommend to President Bush the nomination of Bernie Kerik to head Homeland Security after Tom Ridge stepped down. This is the same Bernie Kerik who was indicted for corruption, employed an illegal alien as a nanny, and conducted an extramarital affair in a lower Manhattan apartment that was supposed to be reserved for use by 9/11 rescue workers.

Bonus: With whom did he conduct his extramarital affair? Judith Regan, the former book publisher who was going to publish O.J. Simpson's "If I Did It" book.

Shane M. White said...

So, I have learned you don't listen to anyone else - and you're always right about everything. Glad I've learned that now. I'll keep my "simple" and moronic studies to myself from now on. Sorry to plague your blog!

Godfather Weilhammer said...

John-O, if you continue to compare Bush and Cheney to a monarchy and the Galactic Empire, I am going to start calling Obama "Lenin." Remember, Obamans are keeping the election positive, right?

John Peddie said...

I was calling them King George II and Darth Cheney long before this election came around. I borrowed Darth Cheney from a column by Stephen King, so I promise not to run for Vice President.

Call him Lenin all you want, even though you and I both know that raising taxes on the wealthy isn't even in the same ballpark as socialism. Cheney actually floated the idea of repealing the 22nd amendment, and it was in large part Bush's refusal to brook dissent that destroyed his first term and crippled his second before it even began.

John Peddie said...

Shane, I did listen to you. I even took your numbers at face value and did not dispute them. All I did was add context. The problem with making the kind of argument that you're making is that most people in this country aren't smart enough to understand that they're not getting the whole story.

Godfather Weilhammer said...
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