Guard Dog

You know the irony here is all the different groups who want to give these folks legal status want something different and all those ends are in opposition to each other. Businesses want cheap and legal labor but once they are legal they won't be able to abuse these folks by underpaying anymore. They will be subject to wage laws and taxes just like everyone else. So there goes the cheap labor. Democrats want them to be able to vote because they think these folks will love big government and taxpayer handouts they will vote for them and are trying to get the republicans to go along. Republicans think since most of these folks are religious they will favor them so that is their motive. Unions see millions of potential new members which will dilute the labor pool and lower everyone's wages but the truth is Unions stopped caring about that a log time ago. Now they are all bout their dues and politics. La Raza and other Hispanic hate groups want to flood the southwestern states and break away from the US to form their own banana republic so they are pushing hard to get 12 millions more folks they thinks will follow their thinking. All of these groups in favor of amnesty are like wolves fighting over a piece of meat and they all have 2 things in common, 1) they don't really care about the people they claim to be trying to help, only how they can exploit them and 2) The don't care about any potential negative impacts on the country or the people already living and paying the taxes here.

So, how's that hopey changy thing working for everyone? Well, at least this was the one campaign promise he did keep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fO-usAlqak

And I hope you are the good luck charm to get the M's to beat the Jays.

Very sad.

In the modern world the failure of democracy leads not to a dictatorship per se rather an oligarchy where all power is concentrated into the hands of a single group. The difference would be little more than semantics except that an oligarchy at least would maintain the appearance of a free republic. Plato stated "Tyranny naturally arises out of democracy and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme form of liberty." It's happening right here in the US. We are seeing more and more heavy handed and aggressive law enforcement actions against increasingly trivial offenses. The government is using the IRS as a perverse form of "Thought Police". The DHS has identified ex-military vets who don't vote democrat are likely terrorists and have asked law enforcement to keep a closer watch on them. The US Constitution is being ignored on a regular basis and the perpetrators keep getting re-elected. It has already begun and the saddest part of all is that it is being done right in front of the voters... and they don't seem to care. I'm reminded of a quote by Lincoln: "At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide." I can't help but notice we are becoming less free everyday.

Am I the only one who finds this type of perspective hard to believe? The lack of effectiveness to implement proper immigration reform or control is really about the Democrats staying in power? Ok lets look at it this way. Suppose the right agrees to complete and total amnesty with full residency rights for all illegals living and working in the US right now with the following caveat: They will not be allowed to vote. Do you think the left would support that? No, because that is all this is about. The rest is just window dressing. Good question, and I don't know the answer to that? I suppose the argument would be if you say someone is a citizen in your country then its a basic human right to be allowed to vote in any Democracy. So the argument from any Democrat would be based around that logic? No, remember all politics is self serving. Altruism is never found in the actions of the body politic. The only interest government has is self perpetuation.

While it may not be their initial thought when choosing one way or the other, do you want to tell me those illegal immigrants once given american passports will vote for the republicans? Well I wouldn't expect anyone to vote for the Republicans so I'm not the right person to ask that question to Yeah because being free from heavy handed authoritarian government is no way to live right? Don't get me wrong, I dislike Republicans but I absolutely HATE democrats. Not all of them individually but many of them and certainly the philosophy that unifies them. Namely that the rights of the individual are subordinate to the state. The people are ward of the government rather than free individuals, etc

Am I the only one who finds this type of perspective hard to believe? The lack of effectiveness to implement proper immigration reform or control is really about the Democrats staying in power? Ok lets look at it this way. Suppose the right agrees to complete and total amnesty with full residency rights for all illegals living and working in the US right now with the following caveat: They will not be allowed to vote. Do you think the left would support that? No, because that is all this is about. The rest is just window dressing.

Quod erat demonstrandum, I think. Res Ipsa Loquitur is actually the best way to express this

Unfortunately the Executive branch is becoming more powerful only because Congress is allowing it to happen simply by not stopping it. The most egregious example being the changes made to the ACA a law passed by Congress and signed by the President without introducing amending bills in the legislature. Congress could have and SHOULD have stopped this from happening but because of political affiliation did not. I think future Congresses and the citizens will have cause to regret they didn't. It's hard to believe party loyalty alone would lead a branch of the US government to site quietly by as its Constitutionally given power is marginalized by a "rouge" President. But here I go wandering OT again.

no disagreement. we were responding to zor's observation 'bout thinking obama has done better than mccain or romney would have. measure obama against the imagined evils of folks who failed to become President? historians rare indulge in such fantasies, and for good reason. it struck us as more than a bit silly to judge obama based on how he stands up to zor's fantasies o' romney/mccain/other incompetence. HA! Good Fun! Completely agree. It really is a subject for speculative historical fiction when you get into "what if this happened". Makes for interesting reading sometimes like Newt Gingrich's novel on what the world would be like if the CSA won the US Civil War. Historical analysis really rests on what did happen. There is no way to know what the world would look like if Romney, McCain, Kerry, Gore, etc would have won. Honestly in terms of foreign policy I believe the difference would really be on of degree rather than something radically different. 9-11 was still going to happen and the events that set in motion would probably have played out the same. With the exception of Iraq I guess.

It is WAY too early to try and determine Obama's place in history. Heck we are only now beginning to get a real idea of what Clintons legacy will be. 15-20 years down the road we'll have some perspective on events he set in motion or things he chose not to do. I will say that in terms of individual liberty and personal freedom he is one of the worst. He has absolutely no respect or regard for either and is very much in favor of a heavy handed authoritarian government. However that is a discussion for another thread.

The older I get the more I realize that James Monroe was a smarter man than history gives him credit for and the Libertarian philosophy is not only right but imperative. Is there anyone here that wouldn't go back in time to 2003 and undo all of this? Is there anyone here who gladly would not trade Saddam Hussien for this mess?

Yep and if they walk in through that "Golden Door" they are welcomed as brothers and sisters. It's when the skip the golden door and break in through the window, then once in insist on ownership of the house, that we have a problem.

It's complicated in that the actual motives, ends sought, and means taken are not in line with the talking points or the official media story. But it seldom is. The only honest moment in a politicians life is when he admits he's lying.

Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville. This mans observations are just brilliant. I find it hard to believe he wrote this in 1832.

It's a complicated issue. If you want to legally come to the US and become a citizen it's actually pretty easy to do. If you want to be a citizen and come here illegally then what you are really doing is breaking our laws just so you can promise to obey them. It's like lying about yourself just to get someone to marry you. But the truth is the majority of the folks streaming across the southern border have no desire to become citizens, learn the language and culture and assimilate. They are coming for two things, work or welfare. We can effectively take away both by just enforcing existing laws. No fuel no fire. However that will not happen. The current administrations has instructed ICE, INS, Border Patrol, etc. specifically NOT to enforce the law and send these folks back because they are thinking amnesty and millions of new welfare dependent democrat voters. It is not about the good of the country or even the well being of the immigrants. It is all about, and only about winning future elections, turning red states blue, and building a new permanent underclass to be exploited to keep them in power.

The Rays just traded the best LHP in the game and got back (drumroll please...) A Tigers gym bag with a broken strap, 6 cans of pine tar, and the contents of Dave Dombrowski's office waste basket. Actually they got back a borderline starter whose best upside is major league mediocrity, a AAA infielder with an underwhelming .214 batting average in his few major league appearances, and an 18 year old nobody whose hitting .267 in low A league. Friedman said they would have to be blown away to make a trade. Apparently that doesn't take much. I'm trying to take this in stride. I understand the realities of the Rays position and the need to trade players. BUT FOR GOD'S F-----G SAKE IF YOU ARE TRADING A VALUABLE COMMIDITY DOESN'T IT MAKE SENSE TO GET SOMETHING VALUABLE IN RETURN? There are better infielders on the Rays AAA club than Franklin. What the hell Friedman? Were you drunk last night? That al least I could understand. Did Dombrowski point a gun at your head? PLEASE TELL ME THE GM EVERYONE PRAISES AS SO SMART DID NOT MAKE SUCH A STUPID EXCHANGE AS THIS? Apparently the bar for being called smart isn't as high as it should be.

Your wife set it up as an elaborate test of faithfulness. LOL That is something my first wife would have done.

I remember a great line from the movie "Kingdom of Heaven", an enjoyable if not terribly accurate account of the Saracen recapture of Jerusalem. When the two main characters Balin and Saladin were discussing terms of surrender Balian promised to destroy the city rather than give it up. Saladin quips "I wonder if it would not be better if you did" Obviously that never happened in real life, but it is a true sentiment.

I helped a VERY attractive lady with a dead battery in her car yesterday. She offered to take me to dinner as a way to say thanks. WTF? Why does this happen AFTER I get married? Of course I politely declined.

http://t.foxsports.msn.com/nba/luol-deng-agrees-to-2-year-dollar20-million-deal-with-miami-heat So, I guess one way to look at it is the Heat traded Lebron to Cleveland for Deng and cash considerations.

I hate Grant Balfour. Unreliable sumbitch.

Jeez, don't you guys EVER get tired of fantasy?

I received a call yesterday about extending my employment contract. We have an e-meeting to discuss it on Monday. I'm inclined to accept whatever they offer. This working from home has ruined me for going to an office every day!