The Leveller: A modern day regulator

Der Einwanderung FeuerTeufel!

To get a thorough understanding of American politics in the last half of the twentieth century one should read Chain Reaction. Published in 1992, this book covers the political evolution of both the Democratic and Republican parties. I know of no other text that better described how the parties evolved and competed for the White House during that time.

The main thesis is laid out in the opening pages where the author states, “race has been the most critical, and the most powerful, in effecting political change. Race has crystallized and provided a focus for values conflicts, for cultural conflicts, and for interest conflicts – conflicts over subjects as diverse as social welfare spending, neighborhood schooling, the distribution of the tax burden, criminal violence, sexual conduct, family structure, political competition, and union membership.”

The Republican party reached its zenith during the Reagan era after developing a recipe, combining race, rights, and taxes to secure the White House for what should have been almost 25 years into to the early 2000’s, into a modern day rubrication.

However, we know that this didn’t happen. Bush 41, was president during a recession that also required him to seek re-election. Generally, not a good combination for any incumbent. Rather than review the history and circumstances of 1992, this article instead reviews the issue of race as it pertains today. Obama’s Clinton-like victory is attributable to the same reasons as Clinton’s in ’92. It wasn’t about race at all but if it was then McCain may have been the victor in 2008.

More important than Obama’s blackness in terms of racial politics, was the illegal immigration issues of 2006. It wasn’t until this conflagration erupted did we see a large voting majority of mostly middle to upper middle class working people unite over one deciding issue. This could have been McCain’s own Willie Horton.

Instead, the only flames in California today are the seasonal wildfires that occasionally dislocate people. However, during the 1990’s many white people were similarly dislocated from California due to the influx of illegal and legal immigrants coming from South of the border. The immigration issue today, is now a fire starter of its own, that briefly sparked in 2006. It will ignite again and dislocate people in such a way that makes the recent seasonal wildfires look like a controlled burn.

It was all about race. For many of the people that support any immigration and those that are against “illegal” immigration, it was and still is all about race. However, most people are not willing to admit it. For the majority of white people that say they support or don’t have a problem with immigration per se, they also state they are against “illegal immigration”. A perfectly legitimate position to take of course. But this position against only “illegal immigration” is a bit of a canard that is tantamount to putting on a fireman’s protective suit. People wearing this attire realized they were still getting burned and became confused with the conflagration in 2006 that resulted in this:

Immigration issue draws thousands into streets
LAPD estimates 500,000 at protest; Bush faces wedge issue for party

Here is the voting block of illegal immigrants and their supporters that Bush, leading the Republican party, and the Democrats are both vying for. Instead of bringing a plebiscite to the people, these demonstrators opposed legislation passed by the House that would have made it a felony to be in the U.S. illegally. The arguments for and against illegal immigration are silly. There is no such thing as a job no one else will do. A free market will decide a price that will get the job done. The racist sentiment embedded in arguments against illegal immigration are also obvious. Until they are “outed” these people will continue to protest loudly with the “I’m for immigration, just not for illegal immigration”. Seriously, consider that if all the “illegals” decided to go through a process that made them “legal” one day. Will there be no more debate about immigration if illegal immigration were to disappear? Not hardly. These are anti-“South of the boder”-immigration proponents. Or taken another way using George Will’s view that we should be open in terms of immigration, as long as they are the “best and brightest” we should of course let all people in. How does this reverse osmosis get implemented at the border? In other words, this admission that the U.S. is not in fact receiving the best and brightest instigates people like George F. Will to speak about this issue in such a cowardly manner. A racist argument under cover is all it is. But to be fair, there is also racism by the populations who want unfettered access into the U.S. Some of whom do not hide their intentions of outnumbering and even defeating the “gringos”, attempting to seize back the land previously stolen by them.

The brown population rising up from the southern border states have an equal mix of racist sentiments in direct conflict with those from the “indigenous” white populations. California is by any standard of accounting a bankrupt and losing state much like the U.S. auto industry. California’s social services are also collapsing. For the average American needing any standard service whether from the DMV or medical must wait in overcrowded lines with people that share the following sentiment, “I think it’s just inhumane. … Everybody deserves the right to a better life,” said Elger Aloy of Riverside, a 26-year-old premed student who was pushing his 8-month-old son in a stroller at the Los Angeles march. Sure, a true sentiment to be sure. But that does not mean the U.S. is a nation that is compelled to actually provide that right to anyone.

The legislation proposed by the House was advertised as a bill that would protect the U.S. from terrorism. It would do nothing of the sort. It seemed every piece of legislation proposed during the 8 years of Bush was intended to protect against terrorism. It also seems that the authors of the bill were using terrorism to push through a bill intended to address an issue that has been ignored for a generation. It has been ignored for so long that now the demography makes it impossible. The demonstrations in 2006 displayed in the picture above should indicate that it is in fact too late. This was simply a warning. The riots in 1994 are nothing compared to what this group of potentially disaffected voters will do. And so the legislatures backed down. The economic malaise then soon started and distracted from this potentially burning issue at the start of the 2008 presidential campaigns.

John McCain was essentially defeated twice by Bush. Once in 2000 and then again in 2008. McCain’s time to be president was in 2000, he was considered by many to be the best man for the job at that time. McCain lost in 2008 because of an economic situation exacerbated by Bush over the last 8 years. The Federal Reserve policies that inflated the bubble popped in late 2007. During the inflation of that bubble was of course also an economy that got Bush re-elected. Today, most Republican sycophants blame Fannie, Freddie and Democratic influence that created and supported policies of easy money. In part this is true but if they believe this is mostly responsible for the bubble then they would have to argue it gave rise to the “appearance” of an economy that seemed strong during the 2004 reelection campaign. Instead they argue it was the Bush tax cuts that were largely responsible for the so called strong economy. Many economists knew in fact at the time that if you took away housing, the economy was rather weak. But this was ignored. Much like the actual pre-war intelligence was ignored prior to invading Iraq.

The only Republican hope for victory in 2008 was to conjure a new amalgamation of the still larger voting bloc that stands against “illegal immigration”. It is all about race. Even though no one wants to admit it. Obama was elected because of the deteriorating economy. Race was not an issue in 2008. However, it will become an issue in future elections.

Consider the escalating violence in Mexico and the drug war that is spilling over the borders. Consider the failing state budgets and services. Consider a large section of the public that will not be coerced into supporting legislation designed to control immigration. Large sections of California and other border states will deteriorate and equal Mexico in terms of corruption and economic conditions.

“The Immigration Firestarter” will spark again.