Reality Bites by James Norton for the week of May 3

“A Day Without Immigrants” should have been named “A Day Without Brains”

    Like most things in life, you can‚Äôt have it both ways.  You can‚Äôt on one hand say it‚Äôs a peaceful rally then call it a protest against the system.  What system do you mean?  The one which gives benefits to those of us who pay the taxes to FUND those benefits?
    Whose bright idea was ‚Äútoday, we won‚Äôt work to show you that you can‚Äôt exist without us.‚Äù  Yeah, that‚Äôs a great idea, make your point by making everyone‚Äôs life a little more aggravating by not showing up for work.  Knowing the Unemployment Insurance system, you can probably collect for being ‚Äúlaid off‚Äù for stupidity.  Frigging liberals.

    I wish we could all come together to understand that the only thing wrong about an immigrant is an ‚Äúillegal‚Äù immigrant who has lived here for years, not wanting to become a citizen ‚Äì who doesn‚Äôt even live here legally -and then expect the same benefits as us.
   Do I have a problem with someone who, after 40 years of being in this country still can‚Äôt say more than 10 ten words in English?  Sure, but I‚Äôll get over it, because they work, pay taxes, own a home, raised some kids, sent them to public school and acted responsibly once they got citizenship.  We are a country of immigrants ‚Äì my great-grandparents came from Ireland, so I‚Äôm an immigrant when you get down to it.
   You know, I don‚Äôt even have a problem with illegal immigrants, who are attempting to obtain a green card, a work visa, citizenship ‚Äì that‚Äôs only right.  After you sift through all the other bullshit involved in this most stupid of debates, it all comes down to why should someone who pays no taxes deserve any public benefits, including the ability to vote?
    Because you do the work nobody else does?  That‚Äôs a bunch of crap.  Because you contribute to the community by buying your goods and services in that community? Well isn‚Äôt that just the stupidest statement ever?  Where the hell else are you going to buy your food, your clothing, your household wares?
    Trying buying a can of beans or veggies in Darfur – what‚Äôs happening there is a real concern.  Iran making nuclear weapons is a real concern.  The Taliban making a comeback in Afghanistan is a real concern.  The high rate of AIDS infection in Africa is a real concern.  Pick a real concern, not this silliness.
     You live here illegally and can‚Äôt get public benefits and can‚Äôt vote?  Get over it.
Want to see the model for immigration that should be adopted here in America?  Look into what immigrants have to go through in The Netherlands.  You have to view a two hour video about the country and then take a test.  Then you have to learn the language.
What a concept, learning the language where you want to live.
I bet the Social Security offices weren’t boycotted.
     I spent the day on Martha‚Äôs Vineyard working on Monday ‚Äì where there is a huge Brazilian population.  I personally spoke to a dozen of them and asked them all the same question:  ‚Äúwhat do you think about the protest today by illegal immigrants?‚Äù  Not one of them thought it was a good idea ‚Äì they all thought there would be backlash as a result.
      I agree, don‚Äôt you?
Anyone can search the internet and find rumors of immigrants being destructive and waving the American flag for the cameras but the minute the cameras left there was nothing but a street full of American flags on the ground.  That‚Äôs a bunch of bullshit too.
      Sure, I saw hundreds of people at Foss Park yesterday when I got back from the island.  I saw at least 100 when I left early in the morning too.  I suspect the real illegal immigrants out of both groups, was the one in the morning, that wanted to find some work and try to act responsibly.  Not the camera seeking, opportunity-to-wave-the-flag, try to enforce my will upon everyone else crowd that was there making asses of themselves.
   I hope you all lost your jobs, seriously.  Not because I‚Äôm a racist, not because I‚Äôm prejudiced, because I think you missed the point in the first place and did what you did to be a group of self-serving, attention seeking, system sucking assholes.
   Think about it – at the end of the day, there needs to be a way to deal with the problems we have today while looking to the future ‚Äì isn‚Äôt that the essence of why we are here – doing this dance we call life?  Immigration isn‚Äôt the only issue this country needs to deal with, but with local and regional issues much more pressing on most of our lives right now, how will we ever deal with the obviously lingering national issues that deserve more than a sound bite at 7 p.m. with Stone Phillips?