Vigilante Justice
Here in San Diego we have a lot of news related to the Border. Afterall, I can see Mexico from my office right now...but there is a scary thing happening now along the more isolated sections of the Amerixican (I think I invented that word just now) Border. The Minuteman Project is an emerging threat to the safety of our border and not the other way around as they believe. These people set up barbed wire fences and sit on their easy-chairs while watching for illegals crossing over the border. They claim that they are just there to watch the border and they report any suspiscious activity to the US Border Patrol, but nobody can believe that some of these Vigilantes wont try and take matters into their own hands.
On the one hand, these people are honestly trying to do something to benefit this country, but Vigilantes are even worse than cops. The Border Patrol is a highly trained group that I have a lot of respect for (despite my anti-border beliefs...I believe a world without borders would be far better than our segregated world) and they are being undermined by these vigilantes. Most of these people are retired WHITE men, in fact, every person I have seen who claims to be a member of the Minuteman Project is a older white man. They are all worried about Mexicans coming over the border, but they claim that they are protecting our border from terrorists. Didn't the 9/11 hijackers enter this nation through Canada? So how come we aren't seeing a bunch of Minnesotans sitting with their shotgun and doberman at the Canadian frontier? Make no mistake about it, this is not about protecting our nation from danger, but protecting it from MEXICANS.
What really upsets me about this whole immigration debate is that WHITE PEOPLE STOLE THIS LAND FROM MEXICO AND THEIR NATIVE PEOPLE!!! What's wrong with a little healthy job competition? Wages may be brought down a little for low-paying jobs, but the costs of goods are also held down by those low wages and vast unskilled labor base. I shouldn't be allowed to live in San Diego if Jorge Manzanillo from Tecate isn't. I belong somewhere near the Baltic, but I live here in San Diego, so why should I deny someone else the opportunity that I was given by my ancestors? So why is this such a big deal right now? Because the Republican party is using it as a distraction from the real problems we are facing: high energy costs, futile and losing wars on drugs, terrorism and Islam, vast differences in wealth of the American people, a broken and worsening public education system and of course our weakening position in world politics. You'll notice that every politician advocating a border fence is also a staunch conservative who uses his religion as justification for many of his political decisions.
So here's a scenario of what WILL happen if these vigilantes are allowed to continue patrolling the border.
A Vietnam Vet is sitting on his easy chair on a sunny afternoon in southern Arizona when he sees a hint of movement in the distance. He sits at attention and tries to peer into the distance as to what it is. As the movement becomes more clearly human he reaches for his shotgun. The man is starting to get nervous and anxious anticipating a hostile immigrant. As the figure is within shouting distance the Vet yells out "Turn around and go back to Mexico or be shot!". The man either doesn't hear him or doesn't understand and continues to move closer. The Vet's trigger finger is now trembling and suddenly a bird lands nearby and startles him. BLAM!! The figure falls to the ground, dead by shotgun fire.
Now does it matter who that man was? If he was an illegal immigrant the Vigilantes might say that it was justified, but he could have been another minuteman or a Border Patrol officer. Can you honestly tell me that if these minutemen are allowed to continue dolling out justice on their own time that we wont see an event like this? After all, the vice president was a very experienced hunter and he shot his friend in the face...
On the one hand, these people are honestly trying to do something to benefit this country, but Vigilantes are even worse than cops. The Border Patrol is a highly trained group that I have a lot of respect for (despite my anti-border beliefs...I believe a world without borders would be far better than our segregated world) and they are being undermined by these vigilantes. Most of these people are retired WHITE men, in fact, every person I have seen who claims to be a member of the Minuteman Project is a older white man. They are all worried about Mexicans coming over the border, but they claim that they are protecting our border from terrorists. Didn't the 9/11 hijackers enter this nation through Canada? So how come we aren't seeing a bunch of Minnesotans sitting with their shotgun and doberman at the Canadian frontier? Make no mistake about it, this is not about protecting our nation from danger, but protecting it from MEXICANS.
What really upsets me about this whole immigration debate is that WHITE PEOPLE STOLE THIS LAND FROM MEXICO AND THEIR NATIVE PEOPLE!!! What's wrong with a little healthy job competition? Wages may be brought down a little for low-paying jobs, but the costs of goods are also held down by those low wages and vast unskilled labor base. I shouldn't be allowed to live in San Diego if Jorge Manzanillo from Tecate isn't. I belong somewhere near the Baltic, but I live here in San Diego, so why should I deny someone else the opportunity that I was given by my ancestors? So why is this such a big deal right now? Because the Republican party is using it as a distraction from the real problems we are facing: high energy costs, futile and losing wars on drugs, terrorism and Islam, vast differences in wealth of the American people, a broken and worsening public education system and of course our weakening position in world politics. You'll notice that every politician advocating a border fence is also a staunch conservative who uses his religion as justification for many of his political decisions.
So here's a scenario of what WILL happen if these vigilantes are allowed to continue patrolling the border.
A Vietnam Vet is sitting on his easy chair on a sunny afternoon in southern Arizona when he sees a hint of movement in the distance. He sits at attention and tries to peer into the distance as to what it is. As the movement becomes more clearly human he reaches for his shotgun. The man is starting to get nervous and anxious anticipating a hostile immigrant. As the figure is within shouting distance the Vet yells out "Turn around and go back to Mexico or be shot!". The man either doesn't hear him or doesn't understand and continues to move closer. The Vet's trigger finger is now trembling and suddenly a bird lands nearby and startles him. BLAM!! The figure falls to the ground, dead by shotgun fire.
Now does it matter who that man was? If he was an illegal immigrant the Vigilantes might say that it was justified, but he could have been another minuteman or a Border Patrol officer. Can you honestly tell me that if these minutemen are allowed to continue dolling out justice on their own time that we wont see an event like this? After all, the vice president was a very experienced hunter and he shot his friend in the face...
posted by Dan Pasternack at 1:10 PM
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