Talking Points
Observations, political commentary, prophetic musings, funny stories, dirty jokes, bad puns, and worst advice
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Immigration and the Presidential Debate
Despite immigration’s impact on the social, economic, and
political institutions in this country, the issue has been glaringly and
depressingly absent from public and elite discourse during this 2012
presidential campaign. It was refreshing
that a question on the topic made it into last night’s debate when Lorraine
Osario asked: “What do you plan on doing with immigrant without their green
cards that are currently living here as productive members of society?”
Governor Romney began by connecting his own history to one
of immigrants as he did at the Republican National Convention, citing his
father’s birth in Mexico to American parents and his wife’s father’s birth in
Wales, and reiterating his support for legal immigration. “I want out legal system to work better. I want it to be streamlined,” Romney said,
citing the challenges of navigating the federal government’s confusing
immigration bureaucracy.
Romney took a predictably hard position on immigrants who
entered the country without proper authorization or currently reside here
without documentation, notably using “legal,” “legally,” and “illegally” 20
times throughout the entire exchange (at one point he caught himself saying “undocumented,”
and quickly replaced it with “illegal”).
He would discourage illegal immigration, he said, by refusing to grant amnesty,
a dirty word in Republican circles, putting in place an E-Verify system to
verify the immigration statuses of employees, and by removing magnets like
driver’s licenses for those without documentation. Surprisingly, Romney didn’t address the
border fence with Mexico, an issue that dominated immigration debates
throughout most of the 2000s and that Republicans had a clear advantage on
tough enforcement and border security.
Expanding legal immigration was not off bounds for the
Governor. He suggested, as he has before
on the stump and on his website, that immigrants who graduate from top universities
with degrees in science and math should get a green card stapled to their
diploma, a plan championed
by congressional Republicans but that failed in the House earlier this Fall. He also championed a DREAM Act-lite, one that
would offer “those that came here illegally…a pathway to become a permanent
resident” through military service, though was sparse on other details.
The Governor concluded his answer by tying President Obama
to his broken promise to pass immigration reform in the first year of his first
term, despite the fact that he had a supermajority in the Senate and the House.
The President, who enjoys
a 44 point advantage over Romney with Latino voters, began his answer in
much the same way as the Governor with his support for a streamlined immigration
system that reduces the backlog and makes it “easier, simpler, and cheaper for
people who are waiting in line, obeying to law,” to come to the United States.
Addressing the record number of deportations that have
happened during his tenure, a major weakness with Latino voters, President
Obama reiterated his support for the selective deportations of “criminals, gang
bangers who are hurting the community,” and not for honest individuals “trying
to feed their families,” and undocumented students (DREAMers), a group he was
able to appeal to with the deferred action plan the President announced this
summer that blocked deportation and issues work authorization for qualified
individuals.
President Obama didn’t hesitate to hit back at Governor
Romney on his vow to veto the Dream Act, his support for making life “so
miserable on folks that they’ll leave,” and for the Governor’s support for
Arizona’s infamously punitive SB1070.
The President accused Mitt Romney of saying that SB1070 should be a
“model” for the nation, though Romney and fact-checkers swiftly pointed
out that he was referring to a different law when making that remark.
In one last rebuttal, the Governor again addressed the
President’s failed promise to pass comprehensive immigration reform in the
first year of his tenure and clarified his remarks on self-deportation,
stressing that he was “not in favor of rounding up people…and taking them out
of our country.” The President responded
by simply pointing out that Governor Romney’s top advisor on immigration, Kris
Kobach, is the “guy who designed the Arizona law, the entirety of it – not
E-Verify, the whole thing.”
(*this is a draft that has been adapted by Sayu to be published on National Journal later on).
(*this is a draft that has been adapted by Sayu to be published on National Journal later on).
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
The Long Struggle for Universal Suffrage
by Tyler Reny
In the United States, a country that takes great pride in its democratic institutions, voting is widely referred to as a fundamental, universal, even natural right for U.S. citizens--only superseded by the “unalienable” right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Yet the bevy of demobilizing and disenfranchising voter-identification laws passed by state legislatures in the last two years serve as an important reminder that the franchise isn’t listed as a right in any of our founding documents and, as history shows, was never considered one. It is only through broad political movements and bloody struggles that the franchise has been expanded to underrepresented citizens.
For most of U.S. history, the government was not a government “of the people, by the people, for the people,” but a government of, by, and for the wealthy white male landowning elite.
Even before the American Revolution, each colonial government adopted its own requirements to vote. While these varied in specifics, most were based on well-established British precedents that extended democratic rights to white elites with land. Voting was not a right but a privilege conferred upon a chosen few. If it were a right, some feared, it would open up a Pandora’s box of voting rights for all individuals, regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender--a nightmare some thought best avoided.
During the Constitutional Convention of 1787, a committee of state delegates spent a hot summer week debating a uniform rule for suffrage. In the end, the Founders tied the right to vote for U.S. representatives to voting requirements in each state, a decision born both from ideology and out of political expediency--as uniform requirements for voting might sour the chances that the individual states would adopt the new Constitution.
Despite the slow expansion of voter rolls through the 18th and 19th centuries, it wasn’t until 1919 that universal women’s suffrage would be guaranteed and protected by a constitutional amendment. It wasn’t until the mid-1960s, after years of peaceful marches and brutal violence, that the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act would truly extend the franchise to all African-Americans. It wasn’t until 1971 that the 26th Amendment would allow 18-year-olds to vote.
Despite the hard-earned wins, state legislatures across the country have been cracking down on the fallacious specter of voter fraud with a volley of voter-identification laws that are expected to disproportionately suppress turnout of minority voters. One study finds that upwards of 10 million Latinos could be deterred from voting this year. Another illustrates the bills’ effects on young minority voters, driving down turnout in key swing states such as Pennsylvania and Florida, where even small numbers of voters can determine who sits in the Oval Office.
Given the nation’s history with voting requirements, these draconian laws aren’t surprising. They exist because the U.S. Constitution devolves voting and registration requirements to the states, allowing a patchwork of expansive and restrictive laws to determine who can easily vote and who will face various hurdles on Election Day. As precedent has shown, however, these barriers can be overcome.
Today, on National Voter Registration Day, as nonprofits, civic-minded volunteers, and political campaigns around the country work tirelessly to navigate state laws, register voters, and ensure that turnout is high on Election Day, let’s call on Congress to finally live up to the ideal and rhetoric of universal voting rights.
Let’s call on Congress to draft and pass a national voting rights constitutional amendment that renders moot onerous voter ID laws. Let’s make sure that the diverse voices of immigrant and minority communities that bring so much vitality to our democracy are strengthened not silenced. Let’s make sure that all Americans have the right to vote.
Cross posted from The National Journal Next America: http://www.nationaljournal.com/thenextamerica/politics/opinion-how-the-u-s-is-still-struggling-with-universal-suffrage-20120925
In the United States, a country that takes great pride in its democratic institutions, voting is widely referred to as a fundamental, universal, even natural right for U.S. citizens--only superseded by the “unalienable” right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Yet the bevy of demobilizing and disenfranchising voter-identification laws passed by state legislatures in the last two years serve as an important reminder that the franchise isn’t listed as a right in any of our founding documents and, as history shows, was never considered one. It is only through broad political movements and bloody struggles that the franchise has been expanded to underrepresented citizens.
For most of U.S. history, the government was not a government “of the people, by the people, for the people,” but a government of, by, and for the wealthy white male landowning elite.
Even before the American Revolution, each colonial government adopted its own requirements to vote. While these varied in specifics, most were based on well-established British precedents that extended democratic rights to white elites with land. Voting was not a right but a privilege conferred upon a chosen few. If it were a right, some feared, it would open up a Pandora’s box of voting rights for all individuals, regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender--a nightmare some thought best avoided.
During the Constitutional Convention of 1787, a committee of state delegates spent a hot summer week debating a uniform rule for suffrage. In the end, the Founders tied the right to vote for U.S. representatives to voting requirements in each state, a decision born both from ideology and out of political expediency--as uniform requirements for voting might sour the chances that the individual states would adopt the new Constitution.
Despite the slow expansion of voter rolls through the 18th and 19th centuries, it wasn’t until 1919 that universal women’s suffrage would be guaranteed and protected by a constitutional amendment. It wasn’t until the mid-1960s, after years of peaceful marches and brutal violence, that the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act would truly extend the franchise to all African-Americans. It wasn’t until 1971 that the 26th Amendment would allow 18-year-olds to vote.
Despite the hard-earned wins, state legislatures across the country have been cracking down on the fallacious specter of voter fraud with a volley of voter-identification laws that are expected to disproportionately suppress turnout of minority voters. One study finds that upwards of 10 million Latinos could be deterred from voting this year. Another illustrates the bills’ effects on young minority voters, driving down turnout in key swing states such as Pennsylvania and Florida, where even small numbers of voters can determine who sits in the Oval Office.
Given the nation’s history with voting requirements, these draconian laws aren’t surprising. They exist because the U.S. Constitution devolves voting and registration requirements to the states, allowing a patchwork of expansive and restrictive laws to determine who can easily vote and who will face various hurdles on Election Day. As precedent has shown, however, these barriers can be overcome.
Today, on National Voter Registration Day, as nonprofits, civic-minded volunteers, and political campaigns around the country work tirelessly to navigate state laws, register voters, and ensure that turnout is high on Election Day, let’s call on Congress to finally live up to the ideal and rhetoric of universal voting rights.
Let’s call on Congress to draft and pass a national voting rights constitutional amendment that renders moot onerous voter ID laws. Let’s make sure that the diverse voices of immigrant and minority communities that bring so much vitality to our democracy are strengthened not silenced. Let’s make sure that all Americans have the right to vote.
Cross posted from The National Journal Next America: http://www.nationaljournal.com/thenextamerica/politics/opinion-how-the-u-s-is-still-struggling-with-universal-suffrage-20120925
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Let’s Prove Them Wrong: Intolerance in Post-9/11 America
The anniversary of the horrific September 11th
terrorist attacks will arrive and pass with waning fanfare each year. The major network news channels will still
broadcast their tributes with morose clips of dust, smoke, twisted steel, and
brave heroes. Suited politicians will
pay their respects. The names of the
innocent victims of the truly barbaric act will be read aloud at the memorial
erected in lower Manhattan, the nearly finished façade of the beautiful new
mammoth tower glittering in the background.
But though lower Manhattan has sprung back to life -- a
testament to the resilience of the American people – the attacks of September
11th have nudged the US down a painful path of war and death,
xenophobia, racial profiling, and violence. While national security should be a priority
of the federal government. So too should ensuring that any dark-skinned male
with a beard, regardless of his religion, accent, or country of origin, doesn’t
feel like a target of gun-toting psychopaths or law enforcement agencies
entrusted to protect them. In a country
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, tolerance is an
oft-mentioned though too rarely practiced ideal. We can and should do better.
Once the dust settled on ground zero, the fire was lit under
the Islamaphobic fringe, a slow simmer that occasionally boiled into public
view.Remember Florida Pastor Terry Jones’s disgraceful publicity stunt – the
“execution” burning
of the Quran that incited riots in Afghanistan that killed 12 innocent U.N.
workers? Remember the protests over the
planned Mosque in Manhattan?
Several of our elected officials have turned the heat up.
Since 2011, two dozen states have proposed
or passed laws banning Sharia law in the US court system, despite the fact
that the “extent of its applicability is always
dictated by American law.” New York Representative
Peter King has fueled Islamaphobia with Congressional hearings
on the extent of radicalization in the American Muslim community. The Tea-Party hero Michele Bachmann and her
fear-mongering paranoid colleagues harked back to the golden days of
McCarthy-style witchhunts with their baseless accusations
earlier this year that the Muslim Brotherhood had infiltrated top levels of the
US government.
Rhetoric and political theatrics is never without
consequence. Thirty percent of the
public now believes that Muslims want
to establish Sharia Law in the US.
This Anti-Islamic fervor, fueled and legitimized by the very people
enlisted with upholding our civil liberties, has led to vicious acts of
violence on Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
Last year a New York City cab driver was repeatedly stabbed
after disclosing his religion to his passenger.
Two elderly Sikh men were shot
to death in California and six slain in
Wisconsin after shooters perceived the victims in both cases to be Muslims.
As the Southern Poverty Law Center has so eloquently stated,
“rarely
has the United States seen a more reckless and bare-knuckled campaign to vilify
a distinct class of people and compromise their fundamental civil and human
rights than the recent rhetoric against Muslims.” On this 11th anniversary of
September 11th, let’s remember that there is no justification for the
wholesale demonization of anyone perceived to be Muslim. Let’s remember that rhetoric has power that
can lead to tragic action. Let’s
remember that we should strive towards respect and tolerance. Hate and intolerance is what the 9/11
hijackers lived. It’s what they wanted
from us. Let’s prove them wrong.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Invisible Obama update....
This post from a few weeks ago from George Washington University's David Karpf:
Most reporters will be tasked with focusing on the drama, the soundbites. More of the public will see/hear the headlines then will pay attention to the speeches themselves. And the headlines and soundbites will all be geared towards advancing a predetermined narrative. Fox News will call Romney's speech a landmark event that reignites his campaign. They'll call Ryan's speech Reaganesque. CNN and the major news networks will talk about how the speeches couldn't have gone much better. They'll ask a panel of commentators to rate the speech. A token Democrat will give it a 1, a token Republican will give it a 10, and the other analysts will all give it an 8 or a 9. They'll focus on how close the polls already are and speculate on how big of a convention bump we'll see. MSNBC will stand alone, with Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes talking about the lack of policy details, the errors, oversights, and outright lies, and the threat to popular government programs. Politifact will issue "mostly false" statements. No one will pay any attention to Politifact. Each of these networks is playing to a niche audience that tunes in for their brand of commentary.Karpf's comments help clarify why lies in a convention speech aren't likely going to have much impact on polling numbers and lays out, very clearly, why Nate Silver's Fivethirtyeight election forecasts don't factor in much of a bounce for either candidate after the convention... stay tuned for polling updates after today's job numbers report. Dems are spinning the lousy 96,000 jobs as a positive because unemployment dropped to 8.1%, GOP, understandably, is hammering Obama for the truly lousy numbers.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Invisible Obama
If you care about facts and are foolish enough to follow
politics, you may be flabbergasted at the slew of lies about President Obama
coming from the right over the last few weeks.
From false
accusations
that Obama has removed the work-requirements from welfare to talk about Obama letting
a GM plant close before he was even President, to turning an out-of-context
quote into an entire
convention theme – lies and misinformation about President Obama have
abound. Yet it only took 90 seconds of
an octogenarian’s primetime speech before all the disparate pieces fell into
place – Mitt Romney isn’t running against President Obama. He is running against the President that only
Republicans can see, “Invisible Obama.”
As Obama revealed in an interview
with Vanity Fair, “there is a character people see you there called Barack
Obama.” It is the Obama Administration’s
goal to shape who Barack Obama is, whether it is true or not, and it is the
opposition party’s goal to distort it to their advantage. These GOP distortions are well known,
persuasive, and likely to continue – Mitt Romney’s pollster Neil Newhouse said,
after all, that fact-checkers wouldn’t “dictate”
the Romney campaign. Touché.
So who is Invisible Obama?
In 2008 he was a radical Marxist-Kenyan with a deep hatred of white
people and secret
ties to terrorist Islamic groups. Invisible
Obama is now a job
killing, entitlement
flaunting, big
government liberal intent on punishing job creators, intentionally
destroying the economy, and ruining Medicare.
Where is the evidence for most of these claims? The proof that Republicans provide is often misleading,
taken out of context, or outright lies.
But it doesn’t matter. National
elections are not decided by competing detailed policy proposals (as they are
in the Netherlands), but on a complex combination of personality, morals, basic
policy differences, economic performance, looks, oratory, and competing
narratives and characterizations that emerge during the campaign.
Lies aren’t effective for vast majority of the voting
population. Most voters, including a
significant portion of independent, are decided
partisans. The true swing voters
that can actually impact the election, those in battleground states, compose
only about between
3-5% of the registered voter population.
How do these swing voters ultimately make up their
minds? Swing voters often form their
opinions about candidates based on “emotional
intangibles,” many are low-information voters who may not watch the
Republican National Convention but you will hear through sound bites that
Romney and Ryan blasted Obama for shutting down a GM plant (he has no soul!),
and removing work requirements from welfare (how dare he!). Is it true?
No. But these voters aren’t going
to run to their computers to fact check the claim. That is exactly what the
Romney campaign is banking on.
As an aspiring political scientist, I would like to think
that a greater emphasis on policy could elevate the debate above the misleading
and false characters that both campaigns develop of their opponent. But the narratives developed are powerful and
facts are stubborn things. As long as
17% of voters think Obama
is Muslim and 25% of adult Americans think he was born
outside of the United States, focusing on policy proposals will be
difficult. Former President Clinton did
so beautifully last night. But did swing
voters listen? Tough to say. Instead, I’m afraid, many voters will vote
against Obama because he is the President of entitlements and dependency,
despite the incontrovertible fact that he
is not.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Radiolab: An Appreciation by Ira Glass
Read Ira Glass, one of my favorite radio personalities gush over Jad, my other favorite radio personality and now recipient of the MacArthur genius grant! http://transom.org/?p=20139
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