I somehow, every once in a while receive emails from friends, and associates forwarded to me. Chains, if you will. While some are more offensive than others, they almost always hit upon common right wing themes.
From extreme Obama hatred, to outright lies. The common thread here, is always vilifying a weaker, vulnerable class or group in order to (I believe) divide and divert us all against each other.
Usually, I'll just send a "reply to all" with the text copied from Snopes or another source that undermines the premise of the email, both factually and or intellectually. That usually does the trick of removal from that email list, but ONLY after I get the usual barrage of replied vitriol.
Maybe it's because summer is here. Perhaps the interwebz are down. But in any event, my response this time produced a marked reduction of agitated response. Not even one death threat either!
So follow me below the fold, and I'll share with you the latest goodness from my inbox, and my "reply to all" comment. What followed was an unusual deafening of replied silence.
Here's the text received:
You have to love an American like her!
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vs. the Phoenix Suns owner
The owner of the Phoenix Suns basketball team,
Robert Sarver, came out strongly opposing
AZ's new immigration laws.
Arizona 's Governor, Jan Brewer,
released the following statement in response to
Sarver's criticism of the new law:
"What if the owners of the Suns discovered that
hordes of people were sneaking into games without paying?
What if they had a good idea who the gate-crashers are
but the ushers and security personnel were not allowed
to ask these folks to produce their ticket stubs,
thus non-paying attendees couldn't be ejected.
Furthermore, what if Suns' ownership was expected to
provide those who sneaked in with complimentary eats and drink?
And what if, on those days when a gate-crasher
became ill or injured, the Suns had to provide
free medical care and shelter?"
And here's my "reply to all" to a list of hundreds;
The Honorable Governor, is certainly well acquainted with free market principles and should have no trouble comprehending the fact that;
Those "freeloaders" that came here to work are putting dinner on your plate.
Those "freeloaders" can't feed themselves.
The market for that labor is exists primarily because people with no rights of citizenship, make excellent slaves who can very easily be economically abused and exploited.
No overtime, workplace safety, rights of redress (of any kind). These "freeloaders" are responsible for much of what ends up on your dinner plate, in the United States.
The poor standard by which they are treated, is an incredibly low bar that also serves to undermine every one of us, as Americans in the workplace.
Because in the end, we all suffer from a lowered bar that comprises poorer working conditions, lower pay, less protections, fewer rights. The list can go on and on.
And ultimately, these "freeloaders" will find their way into our Hospitals, schools and churches, seeking to fill the gaps of human need. Brewer is right on that.
But don't kid yourselves, for even one moment that anyone working here illegally isn't here doing so at the behest of and in the interests of serving the financial interests of Corporations.
From low wage labor to filling the empty beds of a privatized jail.
That's what happens when corporations draft legislation on behalf of your elected representatives (See ALEC).
This whole debate about immigration, is premised on the opaque reality, that it is the taxpayers who ultimately fund this low wage shadow labor force on behalf of corporations. These folks can never vote, and who will never possess the rights of American citizenship.
And should any one of them complain, it will be ICE that comes to the rescue. Not for the laborers, but on behalf of the corporations who will deport them. And not to be deported so abruptly, that they WON'T first, fill the "bed" of a privatized detention center. (More of your ALEC dollars at work)
This is Corporate America's wet dream.
Because they created this mess with the policies that THEY drafted, and passed by the legislators THEY bought and paid for. While pretending all the while, that they had no idea the bulk of their labor force had "iffy" legal status.
By demonizing "illegal immigrants", Brewer thinks you're just dumb enough to believe her bullshit side of the story, and about who's responsible for it.
So tell me, are you?