If you're like me, you've had it up to here with the refrain of "what part of illegal don't you understand" from right-wingers trying to use the immigration debate to distract hard-working Americans from the structural reasons behind their ongoing economic woes.  

Rather than running scared from this simple-minded chorus of xenophobia, it's high time progressives stood up and called a spade a spade.  Allowing immigration status to be used as an excuse to exploit workers is not only morally wrong, it's bad for other workers.  Standing by while hundreds of working parents are rounded up like cattle, separated from their children, and detained for days to weeks without regard for due process is not only cowardly, it's un-American.

Instead of tolerating the completely impractical solution of deporting 14 million undocumented immigrants, we need to come up with practical plans for integrating them into our society and helping them continue contributing to a national economy that they are already propping up.  In the meantime, we need to make sure that the hysterical calls for cracking down on "illegal" immigrants doesn't continue to victimize the very same class of "legal" workers that the crack-down is putatively intended to protect.

Fortunately, a few enlightened state leaders in Iowa are taking some moderate but laudable steps toward achieving this agenda.

Obama makes up so much, we can't tell what is truth or tale anymore.  It's starting to feel like we are living through his next work of Fiction, slated for release next year.

If the media wasn't trying to cover for him, either out of embarrassment, or because they don't want to tip their hand yet, we would be laughing silly with his countless misspeaks and gaffes.  

"On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes — and I see many of them in the audience here today — our sense of patriotism is particularly strong", Barack Obama

(cross-posted at Daily Kos)

Recently Jeffrey Feldman has begun posting a Violent Rhetoric Watch series which is spotlighting the dangerous rhetoric of those who oppose an Obama candidacy and presidency. To quote Jeffrey:

What I've noticed in the past few months--unfortunately--is that violent rhetoric stands to become the 'swiftboating' of the 2008 election.  In particular, there is a concerted effort across a range of media outlets to define our candidates as violent threats to the well-being of American citizens.  With respect to Obama, this has taken the form of two alarming narratives:  (1) Obama the covert terrorist and (2) Obama the angry black man.  My gut and my experience tells me that these are frames the right-wing will spend hundreds of millions to plant in the American mind.

It may seem unrealistic to say this, but our task will be to prevent that from happening.

Since it's Tax day, i thought it was a good time to get away from the horserace and back to issues. And combatting the lies that Haters like Lou Dobbs tell is one of the most important issues to me. Of course Dobbs isn't the only one out there fighting to make the lives of some of our most vulnerable brothers and sisters even worse, he's just the poster boy.

One of the most easily seen-through lies of the Haters is the bullshit notion that "illegal immigrants don't pay taxes!" that is freaking ridiculous. obviously, they pay sales taxes on each and every taxable item they buy. but another huge problem with that lie is in the area of social security and payroll taxes. Illegal immigrants pay into these funds, but rarely recieve anything back for their contribution.

of course many of us know that one day, at present rates, the Social Security Fund will run out. But did you know that if we stopped illegal immigration, the fund will would run out sooner? it's a fact. so, yes, you got it right, ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IS SAVING SOCIAL SECURITY! tell that to next bastard like Lou Dobbs when they start spouting their nazi propagnada about illegal immigrants breaking our bank.

Below the fold is an excellent article detailing the social security tax situation, and how illegal immigrants are paying in, but not taking out. don't miss the comments: not a single immigration Hater that chimes in with Immigrant Hate EVER addresses what the article says, they just keep right on bashing, facts be damned!

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/head line/biz/5695140.html

Here's Lou Dobbs getting it dead wrong last night.  When in the world will someone in prime time gets it?

"...What you said was she cannot win the nomination...well, neither can Senator Obama."

"...Why in the world is there this compulsion, this insistence, that she can't win the nomination....neither can Senator Obama!" (emphasis by Lou)

"...And I have never seen in my career greater favoritism applied in the national media..."

Lou is so wrong.  And I don't care whether Lou's views on public policy are conservative, moderate, or whatever.  He is an idiot if he thinks no Democrat can win this election season.

You're an idiot Lou!

Cross posted at No Quarter

Something unusual has occurred during the past few days. An actual journalist has been questioning what has become the conventional wisdom concerning Hillary's campaign. Finally we have a respected person bringing in other respected people to discuss the issue of this Democratic nomination process without the constant influx of lies that the Obamedia has perpetuated.

This rational discussion began March 31st on Lou Dobbs Tonight. A segment of the show was dedicated to the negative media bias against Hillary. [The VIDEOS are BELOW.] Perhaps most significant was the fact that Dobbs actually presented hard evidence that proved that the media was biased in favor of Obama.

LOU DOBBS TONIGHT

Those voices in favor of Senator Obama say Senator Clinton should end her campaign for quote "the good of the party." And that a long campaign would quote "tear the party apart and ensure a Republican victory in November", but when it comes to the largest audiences the three nightly broadcast newscasts, the bias is seemingly most pronounced. The nonpartisan Center for Media and Public Affairs has found that since last December, 83 percent of the reporting on Senator Obama was positive. Only 53 percent of the reporting on Senator Clinton was positive.

30% is a significant difference!
It seems clear that this pro-Obama media bias (Obamedia) is an intentional strategy concocted by the Obama campaign and the Obama media supporters.

Here's Lou Dobbs giving 'em hell last night.  Thank the lord someone in prime time gets it:

"...What you said was she cannot win the nomination...well, neither can Senator Obama."

"...Why in the world is there this compulsion, this insistence, that she can't win the nomination....neither can Senator Obama!" (emphasis by Lou)

"...And I have never seen in my career greater favoritism applied in the national media..."

Lou is correct.  And I don't care whether Lou's views on public policy are conservative, moderate, or whatever.  He has in fact been one of the fairest commentators on any cable channel this election season, certainly on CNN.  
You can't even tell who he prefers for President...imagine that!

Give 'em hell Lou:

Updated 4/2/08 5:25 PM PST: In response to the comments below suggesting that it's un-Democratic and possibly criminal to quote Lou Dobbs, I want to clarify. The purpose of this diary is not to endorse or defend Lou Dobbs as a person or any economic, social, or political position he may hold. The intent of the diary is to endorse Dobbs' comments that are shown in the blockquotes, which unfortunately have not been heard so forcefully from any other prime-time broadcaster. In my view, it's myopic and un-democratic to pigeonhole a person: because Dobbs has conservative opinions about immigration, for example, doesn't rule out the possibility that he may have something of merit to say on another issue.

Updated 4/3/08 10:14 AM PST: I would like to note that several commenters to this diary have expressly or implicitly called me a racist. I urge myDD, in the strongest terms possible, to discourage and penalize this lowest form of insult. One such comment was posted at 12:30:06 PM EST

When I was a kid, my dad used to make a quarter appear behind my ear.   He'd wave both his hands to distract me while, all along, the coin was hidden up his sleeve.  That was the trick.

So the current attacks against immigrants in politics and the media feel very familiar -- arms flapping to scapegoat immigrants while ignoring the real, hidden issue.  All Americans --- immigrants and citizens alike --- are suffering under a lop-sided economy that is designed to favor the super-rich at everyone else's expense, no matter which side of the border you're on.  We're busy scapegoating immigrants, pointing fingers wildly in the wind, while the greedy corporate titans are hiding up America's sleeve.

Policies like NAFTA not only ruin local economies in the United States by shipping jobs oversees, they also ruin local economies in Mexico and elsewhere by driving down wages and flooding local markets with cheap, mass-produced products.  Small family farmers in Mexico can no more compete with corporate corn from the U.S. than small factories in South Carolina can compete with clothing made in China.  Workers on both sides of the border lose.  The only winners are big business.  That's the way the trick is designed.

The economy is now fully in recession.  There aren't enough good jobs to go around for anyone.  And most of the jobs we have aren't keeping up with inflation.  Over 46 million Americans lack healthcare.  Millions more face rising premiums and can't afford the healthcare they have.  Three-quarters of a million Americans are homeless.  Millions more face foreclosure because of sub-prime mortgages.

Attacking immigrants is just waving our hands.  Citizens and immigrants are in the same sinking ship.  We have to fix the broken economy to work for everyone.

This week, grassroots, immigrant-led organizations are convening in Washington with groups working on healthcare reform and economic justice to strategize around their shared vision of community values.  At a summit on Community Values, leaders from the Fair Immigration Reform Movement and the Health Rights Organizing Project are meeting with representatives in Congress, the Bush Administration and the media to demand an end to hateful rhetoric against immigrants and.  They want a productive focus on our collective way forward. We need solutions that work for everyone, and not just some.  And we can only get there together, not divided.

The Community Values summit launched a pledge campaign to end anti-immigrant rhetoric that is not only un-American but equally unintelligent. Instead, the pledge asks all of us to recognize the contributions of all communities and demand just, workable and humane immigration reform.  I encourage you to add your name to the pledge at http://www.buildingamericatogether.org/

No matter where we were born, we all long for an America that works for everyone --- that ensures guaranteed, universal healthcare; affordable, accessible education from pre-K to college; real jobs with real wages and collective bargaining power; a foreign policy that makes friends not enemies; an immigration policy that respects and values us all.  At the Community Values summit, I saw immigrants, African Americans, white folks, rich and poor folks, urban and rural dwellers all standing together for the same, shared agenda.  The American people are clearly fed up with blame games and scapegoating and sky-is-falling hand waving that distracts us from the real issues.   And it's showing in the presidential election, where messages of unity are defeating the fear mongering of the past.  

No more tricks.  That coin my dad produced?  It says, "E pluribus unum."  Out of many, one.  Together, we can build a better America for all of us.      

Sally Kohn is the Director of the Movement Vision Lab at the Center for Community Change.