Children Should Be Seen But Not Herded
There’s a kind of sick fascination in the way that Attorney General Jeff Sessions manages to justify his government’s inhumane policy of separating children from their parents at the border by misrepresenting both the law and the bible. If it seemed relevant, I’m sure he would misquote Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who, too.
Hey, Mister Attorney General! What about the passage in Exodus that reads “You shall not wrong or oppress an immigrant?” You can almost hear Sessions responding, “Wuhl, nah, Ah hahdly think that is relevant ta thuh discussion.”
Is it any less relevant than the passage in Leviticus that insists: “The immigrant who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you?” You can almost see Sessions get that squinty look he gets when he’s not happy with a question. You know, the one where he tries to make death rays come out of his eyes, forgetting that he’s not a cyborg? Yet…
How about the passage in Jeremiah that commands: “Do no wrong or violence to the immigrant?” You can almost hear Sessions giving a dainty little sigh before arguing, “Wuhl, nah, Ah do believe that you ah chereh-pickin’ yo biblical quotes ta suppoht yo’ political position!”
What can we say? We learned from the master.
Let’s Get To The Corey Issue, Here
Former Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski said this in response to the story of a 10 year-old with Down Syndrome who had been separated from her mother as part of the Trump administration’s zero tolerance border policy. To be generous, he could have been advising the child, who likely doesn’t speak English, on how to ask for water in her cage at an undisclosed location.
Or, he could have been suggesting that she take up guitar while she was incarcerated, focusing on the pedal that distorts the instrument’s sound in thrillingly creative ways.
Or, he could have been suggesting that she should expect to find herself in a small town in northern Ontario, so she should bundle up to keep warm.
Or, we could choose not to be generous and admit that he was viciously mocking a disabled child that had been forcibly taken away from her parents and found herself locked up in a country that was not her home. Because this is the very essence of being deplorable – so much so that you would expect Jean Paul Gaultier to distill it and sell it for $110 a bottle!
And, The Fluid Is Toxic Sludge
Finally! Right wing racism that doesn’t involve the border with Mexico!
South Dakota Republican Representative Michael Clark posted on Facebook that the Supreme Court ruling in favour of a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for same sex couples was a “win for freedom of speech and freedom of religion.” Granted, having to refute the idea that “God hates faggots” again is tiresome, so points to Clark for originality for throwing race into the mix. Still, there seems to be even less religious justification for discrimination against black people, seeing as how the Middle East, where the bible is set, is pretty much full of them.
It’s also hard to see how not baking a “Happy birthday, Laquisha” cake is a matter of freedom of speech.
Not surprisingly, Clark did not come to the defence of the owner of the Red Hen restaurant who politely asked White House spokestooge Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave. Apparently, her right to speech and religion was not sacrosanct. That’s the great thing about living in the basket of deplorables: principles are fluid.
Man Plans, God Cringes
Just when you thought you were out of the swamp at the border, they pull you back in!
White House Councillor Kellyanne Conway’s motherhood didn’t keep her from passing the buck on the issue of children being separated from their parents by following up this statement with: “Congress passed the law that it is a crime to enter this country illegally. So if they don’t like that law, they should change it.” The fact that the separation of children from their parents at the border stems from a decision that the President made in how to interpret the law, a decision he could reverse at any time, doesn’t factor into her motherly concern for the youngsters.
Conway’s Catholocism didn’t keep her from misinterpreting the bible on the issue of immigrants. Perhaps she should consult with Attorney General Sessions…after he’s calmed down, I mean.
Conway’s conscience didn’t force her to resign from the White House in protest of a policy that she considered immoral on maternal and religious grounds.
When assessing somebody’s membership in the basket, best to look at what they do, not what they say. As Attorney General Sessions might put it (if he was more self-aware): “Deplohable is as deplohable does.”