A Quick Thought
John McCain the once impartial, bi-partisan Senator who worked across the aisle with the likes of opposite minded politicians than himself like Ted Kennedy on immigration reform has done a 180 in terms of his rhetoric. On Sunday Senator John McCain said the fires that have engulfed his home state of Arizona were not caused by climate change, weather patterns, or even something more rational like any other possible natural cause; but it was undoubtedly illegal immigrants. Senator McCain was quoted as saying “There is substantial evidence that some of these fires are caused by
people who have crossed our border illegally... They have set
fires because they signal others, they have set fires to keep warm, and
they have set fires in order to divert law enforcement agents and
agencies from them.”. Even after much deserved criticism was thrown at Senator McCain, he still incessantly defended his stance on the Today Show by saying “I’m puzzled…that there should be any controversy.”
Even though it is plain to see how ridiculous of an accusation this is, Senator McCain wants us all to believe it. We still have to provide factual evidence to disprove his theory, even though he hasn't provided any to substantiate his. Arizona ranger Tom Berglund denounced the “illegal immigrant” theory to ABC News, saying, “There’s no evidence that I’m aware of…indicating such a thing.”. Remember, this is the guy whose job it is to analyze and understand the causes of the fire; not some racially motivated politician in the Senate.
This is just another attempt by the right wing conservatives to push their anti-immigrant, anti-minority, and anti-poor propaganda down the throats of Americans without question or doubt of their intentions. It is their aim to scapegoat the weak and the vulnerable in an attempt to push through their political agenda without resistance. This same political tactic has been used throughout history by some of the worst of the worst; South African apartheid advocates and Afrikaners blaming tribal leaders for the continuing instability in their country. The Hutus were painted by the Tutsis in Rwanda as an inferior race and the cause for the country's hardships, leading to the 1994 100 day genocide which killed up to a million people. Hitler with his claims that the Jews were the reason for the economic downturn in Germany in the 1930's which lead to one of the worst tragedies in modern times.
As much as I don't want to equate Senator McCain with the likes of such despicable people as Hitler or the Afrikaners, I do just want to connect the dots in regards to the political strategy. It's not even necessarily John McCain, but his party that purports such political propaganda without remorse. By defining a clear target as a scapegoat, a plan of action can be set forth, while simultaneously passing legislation and policies that actually hurt the majority of people while only benefiting those that aim to oppress, the political elite. It's these tactics of blame, fear mongering, and outright propaganda that has caused millions to die around the world, sparked countless wars, and has only hastened the rate at which hate and racial discrimination around the world is disseminated.
This is just another attempt by the right wing conservatives to push their anti-immigrant, anti-minority, and anti-poor propaganda down the throats of Americans without question or doubt of their intentions. It is their aim to scapegoat the weak and the vulnerable in an attempt to push through their political agenda without resistance. This same political tactic has been used throughout history by some of the worst of the worst; South African apartheid advocates and Afrikaners blaming tribal leaders for the continuing instability in their country. The Hutus were painted by the Tutsis in Rwanda as an inferior race and the cause for the country's hardships, leading to the 1994 100 day genocide which killed up to a million people. Hitler with his claims that the Jews were the reason for the economic downturn in Germany in the 1930's which lead to one of the worst tragedies in modern times.
As much as I don't want to equate Senator McCain with the likes of such despicable people as Hitler or the Afrikaners, I do just want to connect the dots in regards to the political strategy. It's not even necessarily John McCain, but his party that purports such political propaganda without remorse. By defining a clear target as a scapegoat, a plan of action can be set forth, while simultaneously passing legislation and policies that actually hurt the majority of people while only benefiting those that aim to oppress, the political elite. It's these tactics of blame, fear mongering, and outright propaganda that has caused millions to die around the world, sparked countless wars, and has only hastened the rate at which hate and racial discrimination around the world is disseminated.
It's a sad thing to see how civil discourse in this country has gotten so ugly that politicians can get away with blaming almost anything on a minority group. It's one thing to say illegal immigrants take jobs, another thing to say they inadvertently lower wages, another to even say they raise crime rates; but to say that illegal immigrants are to blame for the Arizona wildfires that have consumed 389,000 acres is a complete falsehood, erroneous and outlandish. This is an insult to our intelligence as a nation, an insult to the hardworking Hispanics of this country, and a complete lack of respect to the scientific community that has year after year and day after day provided overwhelming statistics, studies and facts that the recent extreme weather systems have been caused by climate change. Never once in a study on climate change did it say "the lack of enforcement of America's borders overwhelmingly causes extreme weather systems", but John McCain would like you to believe so.
I'm just wondering how Senator McCain plans on blaming illegal immigrants for the tornado's in Joplin, Missouri.
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