<p>The far left liberal media ( Air America et al ) is equally bad. I don’t listen to either myself.</p>
<p>Not many are behind the felony aspect of the proposed law. Non starter as the jails are not big enough.<br>
Yes I am sure criminal and social problems would rise significantly.</p>
<p>Right now we have a tenuous “balance” where the numbers are still manageable in both deportations and jobs. Costs vs “benefits”. The problem is defining what is the de facto system into a legal system.
It’s much like the speed limits and tickets. Cops know they can’t make everyone go 65 when 75 is both natural and more efficient. So they ignore the people going under 75 and ticket the worst offenders. Traffic moves well and the crazies are kept in check. But nobody puts that in writing.</p>
<p>OK – to clarify. I’m female, 51 years old as of yesterday. I am going with my mother and stepfather from MN to NY later this month to see my daughter who is in college there. We will have a four-day trip. I don’t own an IPOD, though I guess I could buy one. My son had one but went swimming with it over spring break . . . another story!</p>
<p>My mother’s rants track Fox news reports. The network makes her feel like something is being taken from her, like she is a victim, and that gets her all riled up (and then she is certain to vote conservative). I’m sorry to “blame” it all on Fox, but that’s really all she watches, and she doesn’t read anything political that I know of, not Time magazine or Newsweek or anything else. Like many older Americans, she is quite naive, unable to believe that manipulation would occur in the U.S. and/or recognize it when it happens.</p>
<p>She hasn’t always gone on these bigoted rants, only in the last three or four years. The thing that is so very annoying is that she considers herself a devout Christian, reads her Bible every day, but yet shows no empathy for those less fortunate than herself. I am truly disappointed in what she has become, and use her quite often as a lesson how not to act. (I have to guard against becoming like her, because of course as her daughter I have some of her tendencies, though I hate to admit it.)</p>
<p>SuNa - read Jimmy Carter’s latest book “Our Endangered Values”. He writes about the same type of thing you’re describing in your mom. Haven’t gotten to the ‘solution’ part of the problem yet. Maybe if you took it along on the trip, your Mom would ask to borrow it and get the hint.</p>
<p>“The thing that is so very annoying is that she considers herself a devout Christian, reads her Bible every day, but yet shows no empathy for those less fortunate than herself.”</p>
<p>Is this what provides the justification for a bunch of bible-toting Christians to park about wherever they want on Sundays, without any respect for the garage entrances or the property of residents that are “unfortunate” to live too close to a church. Heck, one could expect the uniformed Krispy Kreme lovers to help a bit, but they are too busy collecting their tips and keeping their patrolling colleagues away. And to make things worse, it’s the same group of devouts who spent most of their Saturday making sure to set up a gazillion orange cones to preclude families to park next to the parks where little girls in pigtails learn to play soccer. Welcome to America.</p>
<p>I especially like the Jimmy Carter book idea, lefthandofdog. I’ll buy it to read during those days. If nothing else, I’ll probably find some peace from the book. I loved his autobiography; he is a very good writer. Thx.</p>
<p>(NJres, I think an IPod would, unfortunately, be anger-inducing, like putting my hands over my ears when she’s talking . . .)</p>
<p>If you look for anger-inducing subjects, copy this article for your reading material during the trip. Your mother might resent that the borderjumpers pay a good chunk of her social security, and probably have paid more than all the SS recipients have ever paid during their lifetime. </p>
Is this true? I’m not aware of any equivalent of right wing talk radio other than Air America, so I don’t know who the “et al” might be. I’ve listened to Air America a few times, and while I have heard caustic criticism of Bush, Cheney and Rove, I didn’t hear anything of the nature of demonization of “conservatives” as a group. Granted, I listen to talk radio maybe twice a year, so my sample is small, but it seems like any time I hear a right wing talk guy spouting off he has something to say about “liberals” - what they think, what they say, etc. Needless to say, I don’t recognize my own beliefs in these offensive descriptions, despite my self identification as a liberal. </p>
<p>So my question - and I’m not baiting you, Barrons, honest, I’m sincerely crious about this - is it really true that Air America (and whoever “et al” is) uses the same tactics to marginalize and vilify “conservatives” as opposed to attacking individual politicians and conservative policies? What do they say when they do that?</p>
<p>Wouldn’t NPR be the epitomy of left wing radio? I always picture that Saturday Night Live skit when I visualize those super calm voices.</p>
<p>Not all conservative radio is the same, but the Rush style is based on a very clever appeal to emotions of fear and anger. Longtime listeners suffer from greater fear, angry outbursts and overall anxiety. Hell, the style must be a torutre for Rush himself, given his propensity for self-medication.</p>
<p>For some reason, the Rush mix is addictive for older Americans. Curious.</p>
<p>NPR appeals to emotions of fear, empathy and guilt. That mix also causes longtime listeners to suffer from increased fear and anxiety, though at seemingly lower levels than Rush listeners. Whether there is something to the soothing voices parodied on SNL, I’m not sure.</p>
<p>Also, NPR does not appear to be as addictive as Rush.</p>
<p>It may be that if the Rush message were delivered by the NPR readers in an NPR style, my father would be a much better companion. He’d have his conservative opinion and he would be able to discuss it without spitting and demeaning himself.</p>
<p>But usually NPR is factual, while Rush, sad to say, if often not</p>
<p>Facts with emotion is better than falsehoods with emotion</p>
<p>What Air America does, which is really funny, is play rush, oreilly, and all the rest, using their own words to show errors, name calling, bad reporting, nothing like from the horses mouth</p>
<p>And while we are talking Social Security, isn’t it swell it is being used to help with the war!!! </p>
<p>And no one dares talk about the coorperation and their tax payments, nope not them</p>
<p>But hey, lets put all the blame on the guy who picks your grapes, he is the reason we are in this massive deficit, our debt is owned by China and our health care system is so messed up</p>
<p>Illegals do pay something into SS but it’s hardly as large a number as they would like to imply in the NYT article. 10% of the SURPLUS is really a pretty small amount as it is not 10% of the TOTAL SS collection for the year. Maybe it’s a few percent of the total collection at most.</p>