Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Purging the evil

"We are doing a poor job of fighting the terrorists at home if we continue to allow Muslim immigrants, especially from Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, into America. We won't win this war if we permit the uncontrolled construction of mosques, as well as Islamic schools, some of which already have sown the seeds from which future terrorists will be cultivated. We won't win this war if we continue to permit the large-scale conversion to Islam of prison inmates, many of whom become radicalized and upon release enlist in al-Qaida's army. We must purge the evil from among us, or else. " -Cal Thomas
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When war rages within ourselves , and will not be acknowledged; we require an external enemy to engage. The conflict between our simplistic worldview, and the complex reality that overwhelms our understanding creates a fear that torments; a fear that requires mitigation lest it destroy our will to live. The temptation to trade truth for certainity may engulf the best intentions, and, in a desperate bid to master the dread of unpredictability, lead to creation of straw demons; respositories of rage and revulsion.

Thus, the outside influences of evil loom eternally, shadowing our lives and darkening our minds and hearts. One adversary falls, and another rises up to cast the pall of menace; this dimness obscures the truth of inner dissonance and leads to an continual crusade against those who reflect the evil that eminates from ourselves.

We must first purge the evil within before we can hope to deal with the evil without.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

SB1070

I, for one, am not surprised to see a materialistic motivation behind the current legislation. Pandering to public paranoia for private profit seems to be a far more likely explanation for SB1070 than any longing for the love of law and order. For many years here in Arizona, the exploitation of workers for less than minimum wage was a popular and accepted practice; despite the hardships caused by unregulated border crossings and unprotected employment.

Now that the economy has declined, the more expedient form of exploitation has become scapegoating; many social ills are charged to a group little able to defend themselves, thus neatly diverting anger from the financial disaster created by political/business manipulation of the Arizona economy.


As was pointed out by a local columnist in the Arizona Republic, the same sort of hoopla surrounded the passing of the Legal Arizona Workers Act (AZHB 2779), the "E-verify" act. It was purported to end the incentive of hiring workers without current legal standing in the US by imposing stiff penalties upon any employer who was in violation of its regulations. Its failure is evidenced by the new law, which I fear will do little to fix economic problems, but will prove invaluable to the aspirations of many a reactionary politician.

Hiding hate and ignorance beneath the halo of judicial reverence and good citizenship seems to work well for many here in Arizona; I wish I could say that such attitudes were confined within our borders.