For Whom Do You Provide Your Compassion?

A recent Facebook post by one of my loved Liberal Friends read, “I pity the legacy of a person whose life as a humanitarian ends in a death that is used to beat the drum of war. I’m sure that’s the opposite of their intent.” Obviously this FB poster was showing compassion for someone. Kayla Mueller

It was a reference to the death of American Kayla Mueller. She was a hostage held by the Islamic terrorist army, ISIS (toward what end and what purpose remains unclear). She was taken hostage in August 2013 while awaiting a bus in Syria where she had gone to provide aid to those suffering from the year’s long civil war in that country.

The Facebook post got me thinking, this person doesn’t want war under seemingly any circumstance.  I don’t know if that is true. But I do know this person and believe that to be true. It frustrated me because like too many peace lovers in this world and this country this person seems perfectly willing to let the abuses of ISIS continue unabated.

I am not beating the drums of war with ISIS. I’m not completely sold on what is America’s interest in war with this radical group. But for those peace-nics who think war is terrible I’ll remind them…war is already underway and on going. The hope is that America’s involvement would hasten peace sooner rather than later. I would also ask that those who champion peace in our time at any cost, (a la Neville Chamberlain) where is your compassion for those ISIS butchers, rapes, enslaves. and holds hostage? For whom do you provide your compassion? ISIS killing

It is well documented that ISIS is a barbaric organization sworn to live life and make everyone else live life by Sharia law. For crying out loud, they advertise their barbarity on tv and the internet with video taped beheadings of people they captured and held as hostages for no other reason than these people didn’t subscribe to their religion. Where is the compassion?

It reminds me of the immigration debate. Proponents of immigration amnesty in the United States also advocate a more open border. They have compassion for the millions of Latin immigrants who illegally cross our borders in order to have a better life in the U.S. These people leave poverty, drug wars, and other forms of hopelessness to come to a greater more prosperous country, the United States. Certainly they are deserving of our compassion…in addition to our jobs, our medical facilities, our welfare money and in some cases our prison accommodations. 

The problem is Latino immigrants who enter this country illegally are hurting American citizens. They take jobs from those who would otherwise get those jobs. That would be Americans. They also take jobs at lower wages often without government withholdings, thus driving down what would otherwise be a more competitive salary situation for American citizens in labor, service or construction. It’s worth noting that in most cases these Latino illegal immigrants are not taking the jobs and driving down the wages of America’s college educated, and well-off people. No, the poorest and least educated of Americans are the ones whose jobs and wages are adversely affected by illegal immigration. It’s these same poorer American citizens who find medical care and welfare benefits harder to come by because they’re being provided to someone here illegally.  So…I ask again…for whom do you provide your compassion? 

Here’s another one. A man and a woman are married for many years, until one of them decides to cheat on the other. The victim of the betrayal is devastated, depressed, even suicidal. They had remain true to their marriage vows and worked hard to do their part in making for a successful life and marriage. Due mostly to the betrayal the marriage breaks apart. Due to circumstances the betrayer has to move out of the home the two had enjoyed for years while the spouse who was true remains in the house. Both are hurt emotionally, psychologically, and financially. Divorce is BAD and it hurts both parties and any children as well. For whom do you offer your compassion here? The cheater is probably more hurt financially and in terms of lifestyle. They have to move out of the home they’ve had for years. They’re losing the benefit of a second income, not to mention companionship. They’re lifestyle takes a devastating blow. We certainly should provide them with our compassion? Right? But…they cheated. They caused the problem that was singularly responsible for the break up? Aren’t they getting what they deserve?

The other spouse who was betrayed is hurt too. They too lose companionship, and the benefits of a second income. They’re lifestyle is hurt too. But at least they get to keep the house in which they’ve lived for so long. At least they don’t have to move. But they’ve been betrayed. They may never trust again because the person to whom they gave all of their trust betrayed them. Certainly, we can provide them with compassion, right?

The sad part is…in this last…and usually in most scenarios of conflict compassion is appropriate for both sides. But in giving it to one…often the other is forgotten….and the hurt continues.

10 year anniversary Logo

February 17, 2015
Categories: National Politics . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: Michael Schuett . Comments: 2 Comments

Immigration Reform Sounds Great, But Get It Right

English: Benjamin Franklin National Memorial i...

Benjamin Franklin National Memorial in the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

Immigration Reform is finally front and center in our national debate, no thanks to a feckless President unwilling to show his hand in this controversial debate. A group of republican and democratic Senators have come forward with a framework for a bill they hope to write, then pass on to the GOP controlled House by Spring. It’s a noble effort that will only become law if priorities are straight. And so far I’ve not seen evidence that their priorities are straight. So far, the only priority I’ve seen bantered about is the news medias claim the Republicans might come on board due to their desire for Hispanic votes. How’s that sit with you for integrity?

Estimates place the number of illegal aliens in this country at 11 million persons. 40% of these immigrants came to the country legally and over-stayed their visas. 80% of these illegals came from Mexico or some Latin nation. All of them place heavy burdens on our countries resources; jobs, welfare, schools, hospitals, justice system, etc. It’s a blight on the country and a serious threat to both economic recovery and deficit spending. And unless the problem is solved there is no hope of it getting better. It will only get worse. So some compromise, in the spirit of Benjamin Franklin, seems in order.

One of our countries greatest statesmen was the Philadelphia printer who almost singlehandedly brought the French into the Revolutionary War, and through an established aura pressed authors of our Federal Constitution to accord. The 81-year old Franklin urged his fellow delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention to be willing to sacrifice, not their principles, but their overwhelming urge to be right.

Franklin said that day that through his long life, he had often been forced

“by better information or fuller consideration to change opinions . . . which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others.”

Details of the proposed immigration reform plan can be read in detail here, in the ABC News story: Details of the Immigration Plan.

What has always been the sticking point is what to do with the 11-million illegals already in this country. Hard liners insist they not get “amnesty”. But lets face it. Such a stance is both un-American and cruel. Americans grant amnesty all the time. It was written into the Constitution that Franklin worked so hard on. But Liberal Democrats have never wanted to face the reality of Republican priorities first: secure the border and remove the magnets. Granting illegals a path to citizenship is absolutely fine with me. But first things first. The border must be secured and allowing illegals to suck-up every welfare and entitlement program this country offers will not diminish the uncontrolled flow of illegal immigrants into this country. It will, in fact, accelerate it.

I’ve never understood why Democrats failed to understand that the jobs and benefits taken by illegals more drastically affect people who statistically tend to be Democratic voters. When you employ a Spanish-speaking person to cook your hamburgers, lay your carpet or install your new roof you aren’t taking a job from some college educated intellectual. You are taking a job from the least educated in our society, and far too often that person is black. When you provide a Section 8, or welfare home, to an illegal Mexican family you aren’t shutting out that home from a Stanford University grad and their kids. The American family who needs the warmth and security of that shelter is poor and ill-educated.

The current compromise proposal calls for more border agents and security monitoring using unmanned drones before any amnesty is granted. This sounds like a step in the right direction. It also proposes stream-lining the legal immigration process to make it easier to come into this country than the current nightmarish system. It also allows for more immigrants to legally come during times of economic growth and slow immigration during times of no or slow growth. Again, good ideas.

American Civil Liberties Union

The American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, has already come out against a registration plan allowing background checks for employers to see if potential new hires are legal residents in this country. They have an excellent point. A national ID card program, which this plan would certainly require, is an infringement on the implied Constititional right to privacy. But the problem can be easily solved by making the Federal Background check program and registration voluntary. If employers choose not to use it and are found to have hired illegals penalize them with such severe consequences that they would be unwise to not use it.

At the turn of the 20th Century and just before, this country was being overwhelmed by new immigrants. But at that time you were not allowed into this country without a sponsor and without a desirable skill. That too would seem to be a standard in our own national interests.

I don’t expect this bill to go anywhere. Because while I hope and expect Republicans to compromise on the “path to citizenship” issue; I expect Democrats to use the poor Hispanics/Latinos in this country as they continue to use the blacks in this country as political footballs with which to perpetually bash the GOP and subsequently remain in power. It’s not solutions they want. They’ll paint the Republicans reasonable positions regarding border security first as too tough and inhumane. And in doing so the complicit media will again drive more Latinos into the hands of their overseers, the Democratic party.

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January 28, 2013
Categories: National Politics, Washington State . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: Michael Schuett . Comments: Comments Off on Immigration Reform Sounds Great, But Get It Right