The Politics Thread

[JaneAusten]

This is f'ing ridiculous. My mom who was a child before the polio vaccine was developed, had a brother who died of it and every summer one or two in the neighborhood would be afflicted. Seriously do you know what she said. Maybe we need an epidemic of epic proportions so people get why vaccinations are important. These people are seriously deranged IMO.

[ReddFoxx]

The legislature in California did a good thing when they passed the vaccination law. Anyone wants to enroll their children in public school has to vaccinate them and per doctor's guidelines. Interestingly enough, the anti-vaccine theories are more left-leaning in origin, but the right-wing has picked up on the theories as well due to their general paranoia.

[Juliajms]

Wow. I had no idea that the percentage of kids who have all of their vaccinations by 35 months is so low. That is crazy.

[DramatistDreamer]

Ibtihaj Muhammad Reveals She Was Detained By U.S. Customs Without Explanation

 

@Juliajms I can honestly say that in my family, some of us are naturalized citizens, some of us were born here and one or two are permanent residents- for the first time no one feels secure. My mother, who is a naturalized citizen, told me she heard that some people's green cards are being withheld from them upon entry back into the U.S. I assured her this wasn't happening but honestly, I thought about it and deep down, feel that I cannot be sure that it already hasn't.

 

My mother, as a naturalized citizen who arrived in the U.S. legally (and went through the process to permanent residency to citizenship legally), now wonders whether she could somehow be deported and if we all could. Even though I was born in the U.S., honestly, I feel that depending on how one looks, the origin of one's name, even destinations stamped on a passport could all lead to detainment or worse.

 

I know what it's like to be that "random" person whose bags are searched for no given reason, who gets asked stupid, irrelevant questions about my passport upon entry back into the U.S. after international travel and even to have people look twice at my passport, hold onto it, go check the computer, etc, so this is no abstract theory for me.

 

I feel that this is a real possibility that citizens can/will get caught up in this, if they are are 'wrong color' or have the 'wrong name' or fit some unsaid 'profile'.

 

Obama had deported people convicted of serious crimes and there were a few times that there were raids were otherwise law abiding people (except for being undocumented) and their kids (who were usually U.S. citizens) got caught up in it and his administration was criticized and put a stop to it.

 

Somehow it has now become acceptable to separate families and randomly search people on the road to see if they have their papers. 

 

Well, I look 'exotic'. Am I going to have to walk around with my birth certificate now too?

 

For years I've thought about dual citizenship and I am seriously going to look into that possibility because sometimes being in this country seems like too much of a burden to bear.

Edited February 11, 2017 by DramatistDreamer

[Juliajms]

And what if they don't? How many people carry citizenship papers around with them? I agreed with Obama's policy of deporting people with a violent history, but rounding up good people isn't right. I imagine he won't get away with it long term. He's going to face a lot of push back from this. His own party is divided on immigration, so I don't think he's going to have such an easy time passing new legislation either.

 

And I'm sorry that your mother is afraid. President Bannon is definitely enjoying his moment and trying to turn us into a police state, but I don't believe he has the will of the people on his side.

[DRW50]

http://www.teenvogue.com/story/jackie-rayos-garcia-mother-deported-guadalupe-garcia-de-rayos

[marceline]

 

I feel for you. My mother grew up in Jim Crow Mississippi and she's practically having flashbacks. What's sickening is that Trump's supporters want us all to be afraid. The only thing that makes them feel good is the idea that they are hurting someone else.

[DramatistDreamer]

Thank you for your words @Juliajms and @marceline. 

 

I've already spoken to my Mom this morning and she told me she had an anxiety dream. It appears that there are quite a few undocumented people (some of them have worshipped with her for 20 years) who attend her Church and she asked me if I thought that they would raid the Churches. 

I told her that I don't think that even Trump would go that far as some religious groups are some of the only people who aren't currently fleeing his base. If his administration allowed something like this, the blowback would be something that he would not be able to handle.

 

I also urged her to talk to her Pastor about her concerns, not only can he counsel her and alleviate her anxiety over the issue but perhaps it might be a reminder that their church needs to have an action plan in place to help feel the congregation/members feel safe. I told her that perhaps her Pastor ought to talk to the Mayor and find out where he stands.

 

My Mother has always emphasized that she would never come to the U.S. illegally as she feels it would not be worth it to have to live in the shadows, with the threat of expulsion hanging over her head but she feels an enormous sense of compassion for those who do have this threat hanging over their head, especially the ones who have been here for decades, working, paying taxes, supporting families in their household and in their countries of origin. When she's needed someone to do some landscaping, fix a leaky pipe, install a lock or flooring on a budget, it has been these people at her church who were first to answer the call, some even agreeing to payment in installments or deferred payment.

I have met many of them over the years and it does feel sad, now that I really think about them.

 

I'm sure this is what Trump voters want but like the travel ban, I think the consequences could be disastrous. 

 

On the positive side, tourism to the U.S. is already down and other countries (like those in the Caribbean) are beginning to see benefit.  

Hello economy!

[GregNYC]

^ Were immigrant activists afraid of Obama as well? Obama deported more than another President in history. It will be hard for Trump to pass Obama in deporting immigrants.

[Khan]

 

These days, that doesn't say a lot.

 

Man, those anti-vaxxers need to go somewhere.  Like Julia said, their idiotic beliefs will wind up hurting innocent people in the end.

 

I'm afraid that's where we are heading, too.  Mark my words: a bunch of people are gonna die from some heinous [!@#$%^&*] that was supposed to be eradicated from the planet eons ago.  And all because of a bunch of bored, stupid soccer moms who'd rather believe some myth about a parent whose kid "caught" autism after his vaccinations than believe the medical and scientific communities (who, in their minds, are being paid off by...somebody).

 

Thanks to Betsybug, though, more kids will end up in charter/religious/private schools or will just be homeschooled.

[GregNYC]

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Trump and Omarosa crafting order to help HBCU's that Obama neglected

 

http://politic365.com/2017/02/10/hbcus-trump-positioned-to-embarrass-barack-obama-on-black-college-policies/

 

Less than three weeks in office the Trump Administration is in the process of writing an executive order on HBCUs and there’s loud talk of increased funding. House Republicans are working in parallel with the White House on the issue and will host a HBCU event on February 28 in Washington, D.C.

 

HBCUs were given a rough ride during the eight years President Obama was in office.  Often HBCU advocates were left out of the loop by the Obama White House on policies directly impacting their colleges and universities and members of Congress were often placed in the position of having to protect HBCUs from Administration policy.   

In 2009, President Obama’s first budget cut $73 million in funding for HBCUs. The money was later replaced after members of Congress, led by former House Education Committee Chairman George Miller, scrambled to find a way to fill the shortfall.

In 2011, the Department of Education decided to make it harder for parents to secure Parent PLUS loans by tightening credit worthiness standards. The change hit the parents of HBCU students disproportionately and 28,000 HBCU students had their education interrupted. HCBU advocates made plans to sue the Obama Administration over the change but later decided not to. HBCUs collectively lost $150 million in tuition over the Parent PLUS loan decision.

[Roman]

I pray everything works out now. 

[Khan]

I'm pulling for you and your mother as well, DD.

 

I just cannot believe this will be our nation's legacy with that simpleton as president.

[Wales2004]

I don't think she will get the chance to make that much of a dent in California, if any at all. 

 

Is it a thing to point out how Barack Obama did more conservative things than conservatives....because if it is then the conservatives ought to know that it only shows how much lying they've done about him.  Clearly he had moments when he was a better conservative than they and they still pretend he was nothing. 

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@DramatistDreamer I am "naturalized" (placed in quotes because I think it sounds so odd).  None of this phases me personally because I'm just like that now, but I do have compassion for others.  I really hope your mother will be able to rely on her faith and find some strength in it.

[MissLlanviewPA]

 

Yeah, I posted that tweet a page before that. She thought she was coming across as so enduring. UGH. Thank goodness Twitter set her straight.