[Dialogue] Republicans Wake a Sleeping Giant

Fri May 5 19:56:05 EDT 2006

AlterNet

Republicans Wake a Sleeping Giant

By Molly Ivins, AlterNet
Posted on May 4, 2006, Printed on May 5, 2006
http://www.alternet.org/story/35862/

Dec. 16, 2005, is a day that will live in infamy in the Hall of Fame of
Unintended Republican Consequences.

A bunch of the guys were just noodling around in the House of
Representatives in Washington, see, kind of fooling around with the idea
that they might get some traction out of immigration as a hot-button issue.
The old hot buttons have kind of cooled off here lately, with people up in
arms about Iraq, oil, health insurance and all this other stuff that makes
the boys say, "Who me?" Where's a good divisive social issue when you need
one? They weren't that far wrong -- some variation on the "race card"
usually works.

Trouble is, they played the card, tried to make every illegal worker in the
country a felon and woke up the Sleeping Brown Giant, instead. Who knew?
Unions, organizers, community workers, priests and preachers, and Lord knows
the Democrats have been trying to wake the Sleeping Giant for years. That it
would happen someday was an article of faith when I first started watching
Texas politics 40 years ago. Who knew all it would take was one softly
played, very ugly, very nasty little piece of racial political pandering.
And there was the Giant, out on the streets in the millions. For those who
know the Latin emphasis on respect and dignity, maybe it's not such a
surprise after all.

The Waking Giant clearly makes a good part of Anglo America uncomfortable --
I suppose if the R's really want to push racial division, it will work and
we can commit some monumental folly like building a fence on the border. But
as a founding member of the Anti-Hypocrisy on Border Issues Party, I'm ready
to bet Republican money, which after all hires the illegal workers, has too
much at stake to let their party go off on a racist toot. You can let the
right-wing radio commentators bloviate all they want, to get the young
jackboots all stirred up, but it's still Wal-Mart hiring these people.
Believe me, their employers are big Republican donors.

The solution to this problem is so simple: Do the right thing. As that great
economist "High" Hightower of Denison, Texas, said, "Everyone does better
when everyone does better." We won't need a fence or even a border when
Mexico is doing better.

It does not take great economic acumen to realize that Mexico was damaged by
NAFTA, that the surge in immigration has been caused by our own selfish and
stupid trade policies, which benefit few of us, also.

And domestic policies, I might add. The conservatives have been preaching
this "Me First" stuff as though life were a race to the finish and the only
object is to pick up as much money as you can. It doesn't work -- not even
if you wind up with a lot of toys. As another noted economist said, we are
becoming a nation of private opulence and public squalor.

Look, we all do better when we all do better. You raise the minimum wage, it
works for everyone.

Rabbi Michael Lerner ("The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from
the Religious Right") is urging a 20-year commitment of 5 percent of GDP to
end world poverty. The money would not be committed to governments, but to
NGOs with solid records. And I say, why the hell not?

Is selfish and stupid working out so well for us? The progressive religious
people will be meeting in Washington, D.C., on May 17-20 for a Spiritual
Activism Conference. Naturally, being lefties, they pose no threat to
separation of church and state. Amazing how easy it is to keep that clear
just by thinking it through. 

Molly Ivins writes about politics, Texas and other bizarre happenings. 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20060505/bee8d117/attachment.htm 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 1542 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : /pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20060505/bee8d117/attachment.gif 