What are they thinking?
That's probably a rhetorical question when asking it about the American voting public. So San Diego's North County elected a man named Brian Bilbray who did not even attend a four year college as their congressman. When Duke Cunningham was convicted of his bribery scandals, it only seemed natural that this district would finally realize that voting Republican was just not working, but then they go and elect a guy like Bilbray. It would be one thing if he was a candidate without a string of failures and controversies in his past, but Bilbray was a failure in Congress already once before. During his first run as a congressman, he wrote letters on behalf of Metabolife (which has been blamed for over 150 deaths) and accepted their money for his campaign. He didn't listen to his own voters and supported legislation that was so hated in his home district that he was voted out in 2000. After his failure in Congress, he moved on to K street as a lobbyist.
Maybe it's just me, but isn't it wrong to elect a lobbyist into congress when your previous representative was put into jail specifically because of his relationships with lobbyists? You would think that the voters in district 50 would consider that fact when choosing their candidates. In the Republican primary I actually found Bilbray to be one of the three (of 13 I think) candidates that I thought would be corrupt and someone that just should not be elected. Somehow he beat out some pretty decent Republican candidates using his ONLY issue: IMMIGRATION. Well, check that, his other issue is saving the Mount Soledad Cross...yeah, that's important.
Immigration is a very visible issue here in San Diego, but a lot of the people we think are immigrants are actually natives. San Diego is also a very transient town and people are constantly moving in and out of neighborhoods. Thing is, our employment rates are better than basically anywhere in the world, and our wages are decent too. Cost of living is expensive here, but we pay for perfect weather and gorgeous locations. Illegal immigrants are prevalent here, but so are the homeless, alcoholics and junkies. Why should my gardener be considered a criminal when he's doing work I wont do for a price that's too low for me to do it? Only criminals should be crminalized...but that's always my point, why should someone get punished when they're yet to harm anyone?
Bilbray worked for an anti-immigration lobbying group, anyone who is that focused on anti-immigration can't possibly be for protecting the rights of Americans. After all, if he was so passioniate about helping his country, why didn't he lobby for schools, police or the disabled? San Diego has a lot of problems and immigrants aren't one of them. But maybe that stupid cross on Mount Soledad is...oh wait, who really cares about that cross? The actual problems San Diego faces are devastating: A bankrupt pension system, horrific traffic, environmental problems, the highest energy costs in the lower 48, an education system in shambles, public works lacking funding...and the military holding San Diego county hostage with their bases. Duke Cunningham let the military contractors own him, and North County is worse off as a result.
Compare Bilbray to his opponent Francine Busby. Busby was the president of the school board, so obviously she cares about children and education. She spoke of the environment and a resolution to the Iraq war and was willing to speak out about issues other than immigration. I am NOT A DEMOCRAT, I generally hate Democrats as much as Republicans, but socially I cannot understand why anyone would side with a man who says that Bush isn't conservative enough. The more people like Bilbray we elect over those like Busby, the more our nation will be willing to pass acts like THE PATRIOT ACT to curb civil rights in the face of unwarranted fear.
Doesn't the public get that Republican control of the government is not good for us. Not for the economy, not for international relations, not for civil rights. The whole purpose of democracy is to protect civil rights, not to curb them. I believe EVERYONE is entitled to civil rights, not just "citizens". Just because someone is an illegal immigrant doesn't mean they'll be worse for society than some white boy born in Santee. In fact, most immigrants are far more hard-working than those born in our nation, and illegals work extra hard because of their lack of rights and safety net. The 50th congressional seat SHOULD HAVE GONE DEMOCRAT after the Cunningham scandal. If any district should shift, it should be the one that housed the most corrupt politician caught in recent memory. But instead we're stuck with one more district filled by a closed-minded moron (trust me on this one, I heard him speak on NPR before I knew he was running for congress and kept saying out loud "What an idiot" and "How can this guy be so dumb?") who will clearly vote in the opposite way that any intelligent and educated person would.
I'm just surprised they didn't just re-elect Duke Cunningham...
Maybe it's just me, but isn't it wrong to elect a lobbyist into congress when your previous representative was put into jail specifically because of his relationships with lobbyists? You would think that the voters in district 50 would consider that fact when choosing their candidates. In the Republican primary I actually found Bilbray to be one of the three (of 13 I think) candidates that I thought would be corrupt and someone that just should not be elected. Somehow he beat out some pretty decent Republican candidates using his ONLY issue: IMMIGRATION. Well, check that, his other issue is saving the Mount Soledad Cross...yeah, that's important.
Immigration is a very visible issue here in San Diego, but a lot of the people we think are immigrants are actually natives. San Diego is also a very transient town and people are constantly moving in and out of neighborhoods. Thing is, our employment rates are better than basically anywhere in the world, and our wages are decent too. Cost of living is expensive here, but we pay for perfect weather and gorgeous locations. Illegal immigrants are prevalent here, but so are the homeless, alcoholics and junkies. Why should my gardener be considered a criminal when he's doing work I wont do for a price that's too low for me to do it? Only criminals should be crminalized...but that's always my point, why should someone get punished when they're yet to harm anyone?
Bilbray worked for an anti-immigration lobbying group, anyone who is that focused on anti-immigration can't possibly be for protecting the rights of Americans. After all, if he was so passioniate about helping his country, why didn't he lobby for schools, police or the disabled? San Diego has a lot of problems and immigrants aren't one of them. But maybe that stupid cross on Mount Soledad is...oh wait, who really cares about that cross? The actual problems San Diego faces are devastating: A bankrupt pension system, horrific traffic, environmental problems, the highest energy costs in the lower 48, an education system in shambles, public works lacking funding...and the military holding San Diego county hostage with their bases. Duke Cunningham let the military contractors own him, and North County is worse off as a result.
Compare Bilbray to his opponent Francine Busby. Busby was the president of the school board, so obviously she cares about children and education. She spoke of the environment and a resolution to the Iraq war and was willing to speak out about issues other than immigration. I am NOT A DEMOCRAT, I generally hate Democrats as much as Republicans, but socially I cannot understand why anyone would side with a man who says that Bush isn't conservative enough. The more people like Bilbray we elect over those like Busby, the more our nation will be willing to pass acts like THE PATRIOT ACT to curb civil rights in the face of unwarranted fear.
Doesn't the public get that Republican control of the government is not good for us. Not for the economy, not for international relations, not for civil rights. The whole purpose of democracy is to protect civil rights, not to curb them. I believe EVERYONE is entitled to civil rights, not just "citizens". Just because someone is an illegal immigrant doesn't mean they'll be worse for society than some white boy born in Santee. In fact, most immigrants are far more hard-working than those born in our nation, and illegals work extra hard because of their lack of rights and safety net. The 50th congressional seat SHOULD HAVE GONE DEMOCRAT after the Cunningham scandal. If any district should shift, it should be the one that housed the most corrupt politician caught in recent memory. But instead we're stuck with one more district filled by a closed-minded moron (trust me on this one, I heard him speak on NPR before I knew he was running for congress and kept saying out loud "What an idiot" and "How can this guy be so dumb?") who will clearly vote in the opposite way that any intelligent and educated person would.
I'm just surprised they didn't just re-elect Duke Cunningham...
posted by Dan Pasternack at 3:37 PM
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