The Random Comic Strip

The Random Comic Strip

Words to live by...

"How beautiful it is to do nothing, and to rest afterward."

[Spanish Proverb]

Ius luxuriae publice datum est

(The right to looseness has been officially given)

"Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders," wrote Ludwig von Mises, "no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way for himself if society is sweeping towards destruction. Therefore everyone, in his own interest, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle."

Apparently, the crossword puzzle that disappeared from the blog, came back.


Wednesday, July 8, 2015

The Trump Card


There is a big fuss over Donald Trump's comments about illegal immigrants from Mexico. Essentially, he said Mexico is not sending their "best and brightest" across our border. Well, duh! Of course not. The Mexican government is not sending anyone, as far as I can tell. It is just not impeding them.  Perhaps they cannot do much about illegal emigration to the U.S. It's pretty clear we can't (or won't) either.

In 1980, Cuba did, intentionally it appears, send criminals to the United States. We did nothing except arrest the criminals once they committed crimes in our country. We sent them to our prisons (which certainly beat Cuba's for comfort and cleanliness and treatment) and then allegedly deported them back to Cuba after they served their sentences.

But that was Cuban policy, not Mexico's. I think Trump was wrong to lump them altogether but I don't think the vast majority of us believe he did. I think the vast majority of us knew he was talking about a large number of them but certainly not all.

And now, of course, the media is questioning all Republican candidates about Trump's comments as if Trump speaks for the party.

If I were ("were" sounds wrong to me, it should be the singular "was") a candidate for the Republican nomination and I was asked about Trump's comments, I would respond with this, "What is Hillary's response to the socialism Bernie Sanders wants to bring to the U.S.?"

And, "Does Hillary support putting the U.S. on the metric system... as Lincoln Chafee proposed?"

When you answer those questions, I will comment on Trump's statements.

To re-address illegal immigration, I just heard Juan Williams justify the administration's emphasis on those illegal immigrants who are dangers to us. the problem with that argument is that they are here because the immigration laws are not being enforced. And the killing in San Francisco (a "sanctuary" city) exemplifies that fact. The killer is a known felon and illegal immigrant who was deported five times.

2 comments:

Tom said...

I think it's pretty obvious that Trump is making these statements to draw attention to himself. Regardless of some merits that may buried in his remarks, he's not doing anybody any good by spouting his inflammatory rhetoric. But ... good question. In a way, Bernie Sanders is the Democrats' Donald Trump; but no one is examining and questioning any of his positions. But Doug ... you should like Bernie Sanders. He's against gun control!

Douglas said...

No, Tom, he really isn't. The anti-gun people are still angry over his vote back in 2005 exempting gun manufacturers from lawsuits when a gun is used to harm or kill someone. That is 10 years ago. He now says things like guns are different in Vermont vs California, New York, and Chicago. The hard left, the extreme left, vilifies him because he didn't vote "their" way on strict gun control. But he still supports gun control.... look it up.