Farmers Branch, New Orleans, and the Federal Government...

From the Houston Chronicle: "It says especially to Congress that we're tired of the out-of-control illegal immigration problem. That if Congress doesn't do something about it, cities will,'' said Tim O'Hare, a City Council member who was the ordinance's lead proponent.

This isn't about immigration, or illegal aliens.

This isn't about race, or nationality, or even quality of character.

While I'm watching a guy get his face slammed into concrete by the cops while illegals trash his car unmolested, I see a sign asking "Were the pilgrims legal immigrants?"

America is not a nation founded by immigrants. America is a nation of conquerers. America is what happens when people with guns meet people with stone-age technology. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying it's the way it is. Veni, vidi, vici, and here we are. Then someone decided that some poor European peasants would be perfect cheap labor to work in their new "industrial revolution" factories, and put up a sign that said "Send us your poor," and so on.

As shitty and underhanded as America is, it's still the best country there is. That's why everyone else is trying to get here. I can't blame them. In most countries, the people live under the same thumb I keep trying to dodge. If I could find a better country, I would be on anything that floats, trying to swim there, and they would be blogging about me. Keep in mind, however, that even though I understand their motivation doesn't mean I want America to become a third-world country.

And that's exactly what's happening. Immigrant labor raises our taxes and drives down our wages. You might not care, with your college degree and salary, but I'm unskilled labor. Those are my wages being driven down. You'd better believe I care.

So Farmers Branch passes a law to prevent property managers from renting to illegal aliens, and I cheer. I cheer, and I'm an asshole not being sympathetic to the plight of the illegals. I must be a racist. Added to that, I'm told, it places the responsibility of the Federal Government on landlords.

Fuck landlords. Fuck the Feds. The Feds aren't doing the job. The Feds aren't doing a lot of jobs. If the Feds aren't doing the Feds' job, should the job go undone? Maybe we should quit expecting so much from our government. As far as I'm concerned, the government's job is to fix my roads and my sewers, and stay the hell out of my way.

Think back on New Orleans, when my ex-girlfriend Katrina trashed the Gulf Coast. (I'm about to defend George Bush - someone call the papers.) Katrina wipes out New Orleans, and everyone got mad at Bush for not responding more quickly, when all the Federal Government had to do was stay out of the way. The City of New Orleans failed her people, the State of Louisiana failed her people, but everyone was mad at George Bush, who was hundreds of miles away, right where he belongs, and kinda useless, anyway. I don't understand why anyone expected anything from him in the first place. But everyone wants the Feds involved, so FEMA goes in there and fucks up the job some motivated citizens could've done for themselves. The cops, National Guard, and Blackwell Security (the military arm of Halliburton) went door to door, confiscating everyones' guns, locking everyone out of their homes, and then leaving them to twist in the wind. Crime skyrockets, and National Guard troops, fresh from combat in Afghanistan and unaccustomed to civil law enforcement (There's a reason for that), get a little jumpy and start shooting black people. "Temporary shelters," aka "trailer-homes," sit empty for over a year, and are eventually ruined without ever actually sheltering anyone, even temporarily. Millions of dollars are wasted on bureaucracy and red tape, while next to nothing is accomplished, and people remain, to this day, locked out of their own homes under penalty of arrest. The Feds could've sent some money, some food and water, some medicine, but otherwise stayed out of it, and fewer people would've died.

Then we have the Minutemen. In Arizona, they shoot Mexicans illegally crossing the border. It's too bad people have to die over it, but I'm not that sorry. The National Guard and Border Patrol hand out job applications to border-jumpers, so it falls to citizens to carry out the responsibilities that were once entrusted to the government. There is a reason they're called "illegal" aliens. There are laws governing admittance to this country. Ridiculously lax laws, that are apparently only enforced if you're an American trying to leave or come back. Next time, just jump the border and cut through some red tape. I read somewhere that a Mexican citizen had to demonstrate economic viability in order to immigrate, and that economic viability is not something you find littering the streets of Mexico. Think that's mean? Try emigrating to Canada. You, with your college education and marketable skills, would probably have to jump the border.

Think of America as your yard, and your house. You're pretty gracious, and all anyone has to do is ring your doorbell to gain entrance to your home. If someone sneaked in through the window, moved in, ate your food, ran up your cost of living, and took half of your paycheck, you wouldn't like it. You might go so far as to ask them to leave, regardless of where they were from or what color they were. You might even shoot them, if you caught them in the act, and had the means.

In reality, you would probably call the cops, who would get there just in time to tag you and photograph the crime-scene, and make sure there aren't any suspicious donuts in the area. You would do it because you've been trained all your life to be dependent on the government, rather than to be responsible for yourself.