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Originally posted on
(Peter Pereira / New Bedford Standard-Times)

I can safely say that this is the saddest story I've had to tell of an individual suffering from U.S. immigration policy.

I've written story after story about the suffering of individuals. No matter how much suffering migrants go through U.S. citizens just seem not to care, in effect, if not intent. Anti-migrant advocates actively ridicule dead migrants, and most progressives do nothing about it.

The New Bedford Standard-Times (please counter the hate people are spewing on this article) just published a story on the death of Ricardo Gomez Garcia.  He left an autistic child and his wife behind after the horror of New Bedford.  After fighting for five months in detention to stay in the U.S. he was deported back to Guatemala, where he made the choice to try and re-enter the U.S. again.  He met up with his family after the harrowing journey that I know so well, and fell ill.  After just 24 hours with his family, he died.

Skip to the end for how you can help.

The first time I learned about Garcia was a through a National Public Radio report on his family.  The report inspired me to write a comprehensive post on the New Bedford Raid.  I'm going to transcribe the NPR report below but keep in mind this was filed long before Garcia died.  Claudio Sanchez reports:

Claudio Sanchez: A three story apartment building at the end of a
narrow steep spiral stairway, a middle-aged woman no taller than
4'10'', black hair pulled tight in a bun, answers the door of a small
apartment.  A little boy clings to the woman's dress, he groans. 

"He doesn't speak," she says, "but he was born in this country". As if
that somehow made up for her son's disability.  We sit at a tiny table
against the kitchen wall.  It's really dark.  She's $200 behind on the
electric bill so she's trying to use as little electricity as
possible...

Juana in Spanish: "The problem that I'm dealing with right now...I am traumatized by the sadness of my husband..."

Claudio Sanchez: Her little boy, though, isn't eating well.  Today,
he's upset about something.  He thinks his father is coming home any
day, now.

Juana in Spanish: "He looked for him and showed me his clothes.  He showed me his
clothes and then looked towards the window, because he always looked
that way when he was coming home from work.  Once he saw him he would
wait for him at the door."

Claudio Sanchez: He points to his father's clothes in the closet and
stands by the window every afternoon waiting for him to arrive from
work.

Everything about this story points to love.  A lawyer describes Garcia's determination:

[Ondine Galvez Sniffin] noted that Mr. Garcia had a different
attitude than many of the Bianco detainees who were tired and ready to
go back to their home country.

In 2001 I started writing a novel. It was based on a handful of facts but was supposed to be pure fiction. The premise was that the Republican Party had become the arm of fanatic Apocalyptic Christians who wanted to force Armageddeon. My jumping off point was Reagan's Interior Secretary, James Watt's statement that the second coming was at hand so we don't need an environmental policy. My premise was that the selection of George Bush as resident of the White House was intended to put a malleable figure head who could be manipulated into starting the final war over the Holy Land with America as the force of God against Islam. I had reached a point where I was considering what kind of dramatic event I could use for the climax.

The next day was 9/11/2001. I was in Manhattan on 9/11. There was no way I could continue my novel after that day.

But as the years have continued, even though I can't return to the novel (not even sure it was ever worth it!), I realize that my premise was frighteningly close to the truth. And it is increasingly clear that America IS being led by fanatics who believe we are in the midst of a Crusade against Islam.

We are on a collision course to war that will be far, far worse than the Iraq quagmire. We are going headlong into a war that will link up the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And this collision course is being driven by BOTH sides.

The President of the United States is playing the same "smoking crater" lie with Iran that he did with Iraq. From Guysen.International.News:

2007 International Drug Policy Reform Conference

The International Drug Policy Reform Conference is the world's principal gathering of people who believe the war on drugs is doing more harm than good. No better opportunity exists to learn about drug policy and to strategize and mobilize for reform.

The 2007 International Drug Policy Reform Conference will address a wide range of policy, legal, political and scientific issues including:
Drug Sentencing Reform
Treatment
Drug Testing
Race and the Drug War
Marijuana
HIV, Hep C and Overdose Prevention
International Developments
Drug Education
Entheogens-Science, Spirituality and Law
Alternatives to Prohibition
Pragmatic Steps for Ending the Drug War

This year's conference will be held at the Astor Crowne Plaza in the legendary French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana. For a conference brochure and registration details, go to www.drugpolicy.org

Why New Orleans?

Old world ambiance, hot jazz, cool eats and sizzling night life... The Astor Crowne Plaza is within walking distance of many of the landmarks of New Orleans' worldwide appeal: courtyards and iron-laced balconies, famous restaurants and galleries, Bourbon Street, the mighty Mississippi River and legendary Jackson Square.

New Orleans also presents us with the opportunity of “Working Toward a New Bottom Line” – our conference theme. We can’t convene in this location without engaging the tragic conditions both the city and the state of Louisiana. Hurricane Katrina laid bare an array of problems, many of which are exacerbated by drug war policies. Meanwhile, the state of Louisiana comes close to leading the nation in the rate at which it incarcerates people for drug law violations. But such excesses also create opportunities for reform. Drug policy reform has always been particularly challenging in the South, but we aim to use the International Drug Policy Reform Conference to build momentum for meaningful change – both in New Orleans and more broadly.

Thanks for Dick Cheney

Joel S. Hirschhorn

When someone in high elected office shows the nation how vulnerable our Constitution is, we should be thankful for the wakeup call. Like many ruthless dictators, evil kings, and monster generals, Dick Cheney is the leading practitioner of the ends-justify-the-means mentality, where only his vision of the desired ends counts. And if this means disregarding and disobeying the Constitution, torturing prisoners, killing thousands of American soldiers, disrespecting Congress, destroying our environment, embracing the invasion of illegal immigrants, increasing out national debt, and disregarding the will of the vast majority of Americans, so be it. Serving corporate interests rather than serving the people is Cheney’s brand of patriotism.

Cheney’s self-righteous ego is bigger than George W. Bush’s, and what makes Cheney more striking is that he is enormously smarter and more competent than Bush, his token boss. He is so dangerous and frightening that no impeachment of Bush effort ever stood a chance. Not as long as “President Cheney” enters your consciousness. Cheney became Bush’s shield.

When reality hits the fan we use the-lessons-learned approach to stay sane. With his finger-in-the-eye disdain for what anybody else (or history) thinks of him, Cheney offers a far better lesson learned benefit than the stumbles and fumbles of Bush-the-smirker. Bush is a joke. Cheney is a monster.

Are Americans Unready to Boil?

Joel S. Hirschhorn

The frog-in-boiling water model helps us understand political upheavals: how citizens wake up early enough (or too late) to respond to social and economic oppression. Sometimes the greed and arrogance of Ruling Classes makes them careless and social waters heat too quickly. Sensing doom, alert citizen-frogs escape or revolt. Or they stay complacent and boil. The Bush Administration has turned the heat up on us, explaining why nearly 75 percent of Americans believe their country is on the wrong track and 70 percent think the economy is worsening.

Mexico is the richest Latin American country but has extreme economic inequality, which measures social temperature. Mexicans are jumping out of oppressive waters en masse, right into the U.S., exacerbating our rising inequality. The Chinese have learned to offset oppressive communist forces with materialistic capitalism – like our affordable materialism keeps Americans distracted and docile (with help from Chinese imports). In colonial America the greedy British motivated our Revolutionary War, but with oppression now coming from within, will Americans wait too long?

Some Americans keep warning us – people like Michael Moore, Cindy Sheehan, Aaron Russo, Dennis Kucinich, Lou Dobbs, Ralph Nader, Ron Paul, Bill Moyers, Jon Stewart, and Keith Olbermann. They entertain complacent “frogs” and preach to the choir of alert “frogs” that also know the temperature is rising dangerously. Many of the former keep hoping that putting better Democrats or Republicans in office will get us back on the right track. Many of the latter are ready to jump to what our Constitution offers us: an Article V convention.

Americans Unready to Revolt, Despite Revolting Conditions

Joel S. Hirschhorn

The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal national poll results vividly show a population incredibly dissatisfied with their nation’s political system. In other countries in other times such a depressing level of confidence in government would send a signal to those running the government that a major upheaval is imminent. But not here in the USA. Why?

First, here are the highlights of the poll that surveyed 1,008 adults from June 8-11, with a margin of error of plus-minus 3.1 percentage points.

A whopping 68 percent think the country is on the wrong track. Just 19 percent believe the country is headed in the right direction - the lowest number on that question in nearly 15 years. And most of those with the positive view are probably in the Upper Class.

Bush’s approval rating is at just 29 percent, his lowest mark ever in the survey. Only 62 percent of Republicans approve, versus 32 percent who disapprove. Take Republicans out of the picture and a fifth or less of Americans have a positive view of Bush.

Even worse, only 23 percent approve of the job that Congress is doing. So much for that wonderful new Democratic control of Congress. Bipartisan incompetence is alive and well.

On the economic front, nearly twice as many people think the U.S. is more hurt than helped by the global economy (48 to 25 percent). Globalization does not spread wealth; it channels it to the wealthy, making billionaires out of millionaires.

The Evils of Lesser Evil Voting

Joel S. Hirschhorn

Condemn progressives for voting enthusiastically for Democrats and the inevitable response is something like “just imagine how much worse voting for Republicans would be.” Similarly, many true conservatives and Libertarians see voting for Republicans as a necessary evil. With many progressives regretting giving Democrats a majority in Congress and many conservatives regretting putting George W. Bush in the White House, it is timely to refute lesser evil logic.

Inevitably, lesser evil voters face personal disappointment and some shame. Politicians that receive lesser evil votes do not perform according to the values and principles that the lesser evil voter holds dear. These voters must accept responsibility for putting ineffective, dishonest and corrupt politicians in office. Though they may be lesser evils, they remain evils.

All too often lesser evil voters avoid shame and regret and prevent painful cognitive dissonance by deluding themselves that the politician they helped put in office is really not so bad after all. Corrosive lesser evil voting erodes one’s principles as pragmatism replaces idealism. This makes the next cycle of lesser evil voting easier.

Lesser evil voting helps stabilize America’s two-party duopoly that greatly restricts true political competition. Third party and independent candidates – and minor Democratic and Republican candidates in primaries – are defeated by massive numbers of lesser evil voters. Despite authentically having the political goals that mesh with many voters on the left or right, these minor “best” candidates fall victim to lesser evil voting. Lesser evil voters are addicted to a self-fulfilling prophesy. They think “If I vote for a minor candidate they will lose anyway.” They ensure this outcome though their lesser evil voting. The truly wasted vote is the unprincipled lesser evil vote.

On Friday, May 11th, the indie circuit will feature the debut of a film titled The Hip Hop Project. One showing is going to be down the street from my law school at The Charles, our independent theater hub in Baltimore. I hear someone making the rounds on our local hip-hop station and our local Fox affiliate, hyping this project, and it sounds very positive and very bold. Being in my usual early morning stupor, I don't know who is behind this voice, but the message was enough to get me moving. Here's a link to the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8emq1rtBnec

Even in the release of the film to the public, the movie has challenged assumptions about its content -- direct and indirect. The MPAA tried to slap an "R" rating on the film because it uses the word "fuck" 17 times throughout the movie, which barely spans an hour and a half. According to XXL Mag, the backers of the movie project appealed, and the board voted to change its rating to "PG-13," meaning hopefully it will reach more audiences and have wider influence. The net proceeds of the movie will be used for the benefit of youth organizations.

Through Hip Hop Press, I found more information about the movie and project initiative: