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The Barack Obama Thread

Ooooh yay, more politics threads!

I'm not American but I love Obama seriously. Pushing the politics of it completely to one side, I love him not because he did a good job as president (I'm not sure whether I believe that he was or not) but because he was a great person in general. All the news I saw about him was 'Obama and __ did something cool together' or 'Obama and Michelle being cute as all hell again' or 'Obama adores this baby dressed as the Pope' and he was such a chill president honestly I love that man. A real 'lad', as us Britons would put it.
 
I will say, I did think that the Republicans in Congress were very unfair to him.
I think this comment, made by Representative Joe Wilson from South Carolina on September 9, 2009, says it all:

oh my god I completely forgot about that.

that douche is still in office.
 
Barack Obama was the first president I was able to vote and elect into office. I was ecstatic. This was for his second term. He was my champion. Words cannot describe how much I miss him. I felt protected. I do not feel protected any longer.
 
This, I do approve of. We need to know who is showing up in our country. I'm tired of people defending illegal immigration and making up softer language terms like "undocumented citizens" to make it sound less harmful. Illegal immigrants fill a ton of lower wage jobs, willing to pay them cash under the table (especially here in Texas) that could be going to our poorer Americans.

Nativists are pissed about immigration when millions of viable jobs are being farmed out to prisons for cents on the dollar without a peep of complaint, haha.

But yes, because of course "poorer Americans" are going to take these jobs. They totally want these jobs. Look at all of these farmers getting "poorer Americans" to work for them. The whole "immigrants do work Americans don?t want to" thing people say isn't false - this is literally because they're paid hardly anything, yet they are that desperate. It?s not the magic "work ethic of the Mexican people" or whatever, it?s people who have money and property extorting them over their dire conditions.

It?s also a classic scape-goat. People like to have someone to blame, and people generally kick downwards when they do. Lost your job? Yell at latino families to feel better!

Colbert challenged Americans to step up and take some of the jobs that immigrants do? and no one took him up on it. None of the people complaining about immigrants wanted to work 12 hour shifts in blistering hot sun picking vegetables for less than minimum wage. Shocking, I know.

The current economy relies on there being a class of people desperate enough to do manually what could be done by machine, so that businesses never have to make the initial investment in modernizing. Having their workers deported doesn?t matter to them, because there are always more desperate people waiting to take their places. It works out great for businesses: they work desperate people half to death, those people get shipped home with nothing to show for all their hard work, a new wave of desperate people arrive, and business continues as usual. All while getting to act morally superior to the people they?re exploiting.

The middle class goes along with this, because hey it means cheaper veges for them! But actually the exploitation of desperate laborers helps keep wages low across the board; the savings made from that exploitation don?t cover the loss of income and purchasing power that results. When the bottom of the economic ladder is defined as the most cruel and abject poverty, people higher up are actually grateful for being shafted economically, because immigrants are getting shafted even worse. It?s an illusion. There is no reason a good 90% of the population should be fighting each other over a sliver of the economic pie while getting royally screwed by the other 10%.

Side note, but let's not forget all of the contributions immigrant folks have made, by the way. You've got a whole chart here.

Here's some more insight on this whole job thing, though: [x] [x] [x]

Also, fun fact, the vast majority of foreign born prison inmates are illegal. Why are we housing, feeding and taking care of these people, rather than deporting them (41,554 out of 45,493 for those of you that don't feel like clicking the link)? I have no idea.

Gee, I wonder what factors could possibly play into the majority of people in there. It couldn't be racial profiling or the war on drugs, right? Totally not.

Also, deportation isn't "pick and choose the good and the bad," and that means entire families or just children going through the inhumane treatment of ICE and the like.

What's that? Don't know what I'm talking about when I say "inhumane treatment?" Allow me to point you to some of this: [x] [x] [x] [x]

These immigrants victims have one thing in common ? they?re immigrants of color and are attacked even with legal status. You don?t see ICE doing any of this racist BS towards white immigrants. Keep in mind all of these people have clean records. ICE agents see black/brown skin and automatically assume they?re a threat. It?s sad how some immigrants aren?t allowed to live their normal lives because they fear high authority scumbags like this. Anyone who defends this has no sense of humanity nor any sympathy from me.

And oh, baby, it really does get worse. People never really wonder where these immigrants go once ICE "detains" them. Well, they go to these horrific detention centers, some even worse than prisons depending on the area. Depending on the detention center, detained immigrants can be deprived of food, clean water, sanitary products, and medical attention. There have also been a number cases of physical and sexual abuse from the officers. There have actually been more than 33,000 complaints regarding sexual abuse in these detention centers and only 570 have been investigated. So, it gets a lot worse after they get arrested, and keep in mind a lot of these people have clean record. According to ICE, trying to start a better life in America is a crime.

But this is what y'all want, right?

I understand that people flee from things like violent drug cartels that behead people in the streets. I get it, life in Mexico is reaaally hard in some parts, same in parts of Central America and South America. However, if they go through the same legal process as everyone else that wants to become a citizen a) they won't be holding up people that worked their asses off for a chance to come here, b) they can have a higher paying job, a bank account, they can get loans for the things they need, etc. and most importantly c) THEY GET TO STAY.

Haha, if it was simple for people to get immigration status illegal immigration would not be a "problem" (using that word loosely). Immigration is expensive. Sometimes the government makes a smooth 15k per head and guess what? You don?t get a refund if you?re rejected. Imagine being a law abiding citizen in your home country but want that ?American dream? only to be rejected after spending over 5k in fees.

Mate, the America immigration system is one of life?s biggest gambles.

As you probably know, it?s humans filing these papers and if they mess up somewhere along the way because of pure human error(which is done a lot considering the circumstances), you?re out thousands and have to restart from the beginning.

Another thing? They don?t tell you that the more money you have the quicker you?ll get papers. If you can pay the legal and reputable immigration lawyer fees seamlessly you?ll get your papers faster. It usually takes almost up to 5 years maybe longer if someone messes up and your file/claim? unless you?ve got that money.

Not to mention the legal channels only apply to certain people in certain situations. So not everyone has the option of immigrating legally. When you finally can immigrate, its expensive and not a guarantee. You can do everything right, pay thousands of dollars and still not get the visa or status you?re looking for. Undocumented immigrants pay taxes, work, and all without the legal protections that citizens of the US take for granted.

The saddest thing is a lot of these people are moving to America because of the negative effects that colonization left in their countries. Had these countries been left the hell alone? well, people wouldn?t be chasing that "American dream". Especially since most of the people coming here were displaced by our national policies. You can?t wreck someone?s house and then pretend their homelessness isn?t your responsibility.

Extra:

 
He wasn't a perfect president - was/is there ever such a thing? But... even with his faults, he's better than the dumpster fire we have in office now.
 
Honestly, He was the coolest President Americas had or probably ever will have.
 
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