Thank you for this post. Scary lineup of military dressed out police and getting worse. Maybe only way to stop him is for all of us to stand up at once.
Like so much of the content you create, whether it's books, newsletters, etc, it was fantastic. Please keep up the great work
trump single-handedly killed the USFL. Anybody who knows the sport will never argue otherwise, but where was the accountability? Sure, 40 years later, the statue of limitations has long passed. Even in the late aughts when he was confronted for ESPN's 30 for 30, he called the league "small potatoes," which it obviously wasn't. Back then he was able to brush it off. No big deal. But why wasn't this brought up more in the 1980s or '90s? Why didn't his reputation take a hit back then for this massive blunder? Business leader? Hardly.
Did the owners try to sue him for his horrible, self-serving decisions that ended up sinking the league? Maybe if he was held accountable back then, it would have placed an permanent dent into his image, preventing his entry into politics.
This isn’t about enforcement of immigration laws! These are illegal raids! Go ahead and go after the criminals but casting a wide net knowing you will round up both legal and illegal immigrants is not enforcing the rule of law, it is blanketing us in authoritarianism. And if anyone thinks this wasn’t his plan all along.. to create the need to go into blue states.. I’ve got a bridge to sell you!
In my opinion, we need a more nuanced discussion of the policies and politics of immigration enforcement rather than inflammatory rhetoric that might worsen the situation.
I'll start by saying that I don't agree with the idea that people without status should never be deported simply because they have been law-abiding. I don't think my position is inconsistent with my acknowledgement that the communities of So. California rely heavily upon the contributions of people lacking legal status. There's no dispute that they perform grueling labor in our farms, they work in our restaurants, they build our homes and they care for our elderly. Also, we are culturally enriched by the incredible melting pot of cultures in So. California. In short, we value and need immigrants from around the world here in our communities.
Yet, we are supposed to be a nation of laws. Therefore, immigration policies should be enforced. If there are persons without legal status in the US, then they should be deported. If there are people who employ persons without status in order to save money on wages, then they should be prosecuted. (That never happens.) If people followed the law, rather than bypassed it, it would become evident to everyone, conservative and liberal, that we need to change our immigration laws and make abundant legal immigration a real possibility. That is my hope based upon the idea that we are a nation of laws.
Now, thinking people can all agree that Trump is loathsome, corrupt, lawless and dangerous. He wants to be king and the Republicans who support him would readily abandon democracy and rule of law. But Trump was elected and enforcement of immigration laws is actually a responsibility of the federal government as outlined in the Constitution. So we may disagree, but the detention of people without status is not illegal.
My worry is that by protesting the enforcement of immigration laws, for which Trump actually has legal responsibility, we present ourselves as lawless-- exactly the opposite of what we want. We want to show our fellow citizens that Trump is lawless, and corrupt. So instead of protesting the LAWFUL enforcement of immigration laws, we should protest and get worked up over the UNLAWFUL actions of Trump, including the violation of court orders and failure to afford immigrants due process. We should be focusing on the UNLAWFUL tariffs, the UNLAWFUL threats to defund our universities and institutions based upon their exercise of First Amendment rights, the UNLAWFUL failure to fund programs funded by Congress, etc.
I fear we might lose democracy, that there might be a coup d' etat. If we don't pull back at this moment, we might just help Trump and his Republican enablers get what they want.
I forgot to add that, like you said, the onus should be not just on the people to follow immigration laws but on the government as well. If the aforementioned hypothetical undocumented immigrant shows up an immigration hearing but gets arrested in an ICE raid (and often quite roughly— check the videos) I mean, you know?
(Please read this in the good faith tone I’m intending for it) you might be interested in examining ways to improve the path of citizenship, because you value both accepting immigrants into the U.S. and honoring the law. In order to do that, I’d recommend looking back on why previous attempts to improve the path to citizenship have struggled, and how the labor force, the economy and employer wages keep muddling it up.
It’s unfortunate because on paper it sounds like it should be easy/simple. Ever wonder why an undocumented immigrant you might know hasn’t gotten their citizenship yet? Or why they pay taxes? These are good questions to look up— I don’t want to railroad you— for the discussion you’re interested in.
The violence simply plays into trump's plot. We need peaceful protests knowing that we will be provoked. I also know how mobs get out of control. This chaos is exactly what the authoritarian wants. Here comes crackdown and martial law. The crime of being here illegally when the immigration law is so out of date is a crime--but so is speeding. The punishment should match the crime. This is overkill.
Thank you for this post. Scary lineup of military dressed out police and getting worse. Maybe only way to stop him is for all of us to stand up at once.
Hey Jeff,
Last night I caught your YouTube video on the USFL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCjWo9A_51E&t=6s
Like so much of the content you create, whether it's books, newsletters, etc, it was fantastic. Please keep up the great work
trump single-handedly killed the USFL. Anybody who knows the sport will never argue otherwise, but where was the accountability? Sure, 40 years later, the statue of limitations has long passed. Even in the late aughts when he was confronted for ESPN's 30 for 30, he called the league "small potatoes," which it obviously wasn't. Back then he was able to brush it off. No big deal. But why wasn't this brought up more in the 1980s or '90s? Why didn't his reputation take a hit back then for this massive blunder? Business leader? Hardly.
Did the owners try to sue him for his horrible, self-serving decisions that ended up sinking the league? Maybe if he was held accountable back then, it would have placed an permanent dent into his image, preventing his entry into politics.
Sigh.
Keep fighting.
If you haven’t already NOW is the time to decide where you will stand in all this and take action! Join us in standing up against fascism
This isn’t about enforcement of immigration laws! These are illegal raids! Go ahead and go after the criminals but casting a wide net knowing you will round up both legal and illegal immigrants is not enforcing the rule of law, it is blanketing us in authoritarianism. And if anyone thinks this wasn’t his plan all along.. to create the need to go into blue states.. I’ve got a bridge to sell you!
Sob 😭
Yup
Thank you for such a well thought out response.
Hi Jeff,
In my opinion, we need a more nuanced discussion of the policies and politics of immigration enforcement rather than inflammatory rhetoric that might worsen the situation.
I'll start by saying that I don't agree with the idea that people without status should never be deported simply because they have been law-abiding. I don't think my position is inconsistent with my acknowledgement that the communities of So. California rely heavily upon the contributions of people lacking legal status. There's no dispute that they perform grueling labor in our farms, they work in our restaurants, they build our homes and they care for our elderly. Also, we are culturally enriched by the incredible melting pot of cultures in So. California. In short, we value and need immigrants from around the world here in our communities.
Yet, we are supposed to be a nation of laws. Therefore, immigration policies should be enforced. If there are persons without legal status in the US, then they should be deported. If there are people who employ persons without status in order to save money on wages, then they should be prosecuted. (That never happens.) If people followed the law, rather than bypassed it, it would become evident to everyone, conservative and liberal, that we need to change our immigration laws and make abundant legal immigration a real possibility. That is my hope based upon the idea that we are a nation of laws.
Now, thinking people can all agree that Trump is loathsome, corrupt, lawless and dangerous. He wants to be king and the Republicans who support him would readily abandon democracy and rule of law. But Trump was elected and enforcement of immigration laws is actually a responsibility of the federal government as outlined in the Constitution. So we may disagree, but the detention of people without status is not illegal.
My worry is that by protesting the enforcement of immigration laws, for which Trump actually has legal responsibility, we present ourselves as lawless-- exactly the opposite of what we want. We want to show our fellow citizens that Trump is lawless, and corrupt. So instead of protesting the LAWFUL enforcement of immigration laws, we should protest and get worked up over the UNLAWFUL actions of Trump, including the violation of court orders and failure to afford immigrants due process. We should be focusing on the UNLAWFUL tariffs, the UNLAWFUL threats to defund our universities and institutions based upon their exercise of First Amendment rights, the UNLAWFUL failure to fund programs funded by Congress, etc.
I fear we might lose democracy, that there might be a coup d' etat. If we don't pull back at this moment, we might just help Trump and his Republican enablers get what they want.
My 2 cents.
I forgot to add that, like you said, the onus should be not just on the people to follow immigration laws but on the government as well. If the aforementioned hypothetical undocumented immigrant shows up an immigration hearing but gets arrested in an ICE raid (and often quite roughly— check the videos) I mean, you know?
(Please read this in the good faith tone I’m intending for it) you might be interested in examining ways to improve the path of citizenship, because you value both accepting immigrants into the U.S. and honoring the law. In order to do that, I’d recommend looking back on why previous attempts to improve the path to citizenship have struggled, and how the labor force, the economy and employer wages keep muddling it up.
It’s unfortunate because on paper it sounds like it should be easy/simple. Ever wonder why an undocumented immigrant you might know hasn’t gotten their citizenship yet? Or why they pay taxes? These are good questions to look up— I don’t want to railroad you— for the discussion you’re interested in.
The violence simply plays into trump's plot. We need peaceful protests knowing that we will be provoked. I also know how mobs get out of control. This chaos is exactly what the authoritarian wants. Here comes crackdown and martial law. The crime of being here illegally when the immigration law is so out of date is a crime--but so is speeding. The punishment should match the crime. This is overkill.
Progressives Are Letting The World Know That Anarchy, Violence Against Law Enforcement, and Chaos Rule The Day https://shorturl.at/9m7y2
Can’t wait for his parade next weekend or whenever…