My liberal pedigree goes back decades, having been carefully molded on all sides. Born into poverty; both sides of my family new to America; brought up in the inner city during the Civil Rights struggles; and my dad a union man. You can pretty much check off all of the boxes. And while my old style of liberalism doesn’t exactly jibe with what passes for liberalism these days, on most issues, I’m still to the left of most and way to the left of some.

However, sometimes an issue (or even a part of an issue) will arise that sends everybody scurrying for righteous cover under the leftist umbrella and I realize that I’m not inclined to blindly join them. There’s something a little bit off (or maybe a whole lot off) and I’m not going to contort myself just to conform to what others believe a liberal (or a leftist or a Democrat or a progressive) should adhere to. I am as suspicious of a legislator who gets an A-plus grade from a liberal watchdog group as I am disturbed by somebody who gets the Teacher’s Pet Award from the NRA.

I’m old enough to remember a time when the United States government mostly worked. But that was a long time ago, back when actual adults walked the halls of Congress and when citizens made themselves knowledgeable through the consumption of news and analysis rather than tweets and sound bites. People sought and found middle ground, upon which progress could sprout and grow.

That’s the essence of compromise. You give something to get something. Then you give some more and get some more. You finally meet at or near the middle and then everybody can go away disappointed. Unfortunately, both sides have become so ridiculously hard-headed (and hard-hearted) that they have retreated to diametrically opposite sides of the room, eyeing each other warily like sixth-graders at a school dance, afraid to make the first move lest they be labeled a traitor to the cause and/or end up infested with cooties.

It has gotten so bad that even when they know that the other side is at least partly right, a lot of people don’t want to say it out loud for fear of diluting their philosophical purity. How will we ever make any progress on gun violence when one side views the other as wild-eyed survivalists who are stockpiling arsenals, while the other side sees the opposition as gun-grabbers hell-bent on destroying the Second Amendment?

To be sure, there will always be people out on the fringe who believe that the Second Amendment is an absolute. (None of our constitutional rights are absolute—not speech or the press, and certainly not gun ownership.) That doesn’t mean that people can’t find some common ground. We just have to stop yelling at each other and one side or another has to be willing to take the first step toward that common ground. (I’m guessing that it won’t be the NRA that will be taking that step.)

The calcification of political stances often involves self-delusion to reach that aforementioned point of purity. Either falsehoods have to be mixed into the weak arguments to provide artificial substance or significant (albeit inconvenient) facts have to be intentionally left out to make the argument simpler and more easily stated.

The latter has become an all-too-common practice among the people on the opposite side of Donald Trump in the immigration debate. It wasn’t that long ago that the argument was, “Yes, they broke the law and are living in the country illegally, but they’ve been here a long time, they work and pay taxes, and they deserve the opportunity to stay here and have a path to citizenship.”

That was the core of a compassionate argument, but nowadays, in the interest of stridency and an unwillingness to give even an inch to the other side, the mantra has been truncated and, in the process, falsified. The new saying is, “They’ve been here a long time, they work and pay taxes, and they deserve the opportunity to stay here and have a path to citizenship.”

That absolutely drives me nuts. They did break the law and they are living here illegally. What’s wrong with admitting that? Are people afraid that stipulating to one of the points made by the other side totally invalidates their own movement?

I don’t want to deport anybody. I don’t want people living in the shadows. I do want people to have a path not just to legal status, but to citizenship. But I also believe that people broke the law coming here and are living here illegally. Those are facts; they may be uncomfortable or inconvenient, but they’re facts. There’s no way that ignoring facts can strengthen one’s position.

Now, if you want to argue that the current immigration law is an ass, knock yourself out. (However, if you think that there should be no national borders whatsoever, you should have somebody else knock you out because you’re stupid.)

The complete truth is a political unicorn these days. Hillary Clinton is widely viewed as being dishonest and her opponent, Liar L. McLiar-Liar lies so fast and furiously, fact checkers suffer from exhaustion. It would be nice if our side stuck to the truth, even when it doesn’t serve the main objective.

This article appears in Jul 7-13, 2016.

21 replies on “Danehy”

  3. How can they be here illegally and pay taxes? If they have citizenship right to work documentation or a green card then they are NOT here illegally. If they are working and paying taxes it is with a phony ID and that is also illegal, besides entering illegally. Please explain to me, anyone, how you can be here illegally and work and pay taxes without committing further crimes.

  5. The employer either provides a false SS #
    or
    He collects taxes but does not remit them
    or
    He does not collect them.

    All THREE are crimes. Ask Chuy’s.

    What the hell is going on here?

  6. So Tom’s premise that they deserve to stay based on the fact that they pay taxes and contribute is shot out of the water.

  9. Let me get this straight. You state that H.C. is ” widely viewed as dishonest”. Her opponent you have no trouble labeling as an outright liar. I have just finished viewing a congressional hearing where the F.B.I. director acknowledged multiple outright lies by the Hildebeast. The late William Safire referred to her as a “congenital liar” nearly twenty years ago. She has never stopped lying.
    C’mon, call her a liar Tom. It is kind of like saying ” radical Islam”. You can do it if you try really hard. Maybe you are just as phony and partisan as the people you criticized in this lame column.

  10. Bill lied to us after he lied to her. Then he lied under oath. She lied for him, she lied to us and they lie for each other. How hard is that to figure out? They are liars. And supporters are enablers. This could create severe consequences.

  11. So, they have committed a crime (or crimes). I guess they need some sort of punishment, then. But what? Fine them? They are already working for less than any American would take, and now we take some of that away? And where would it go? Who would get it? Maybe give it back to the employer?

    Or prison? What would that accomplish? The point of punishment is to deter others from doing it. If the punishment is a path to legality, then what would deter others?

  13. Cat Woman. I’ve been looking for you. On 5/19 you posted a last minute comment asking me ” do you sill (sic) pimp for your old lady?” Sorry to say so, but yes I do. I had no choice. At least men will pay good money to be with her. When I provided the same service for yours I damn near starved.

  14. Liberals definition of ‘compromise’ is the wiilful and intentional erosion of the constitution and individual rights. That’s not compromise, it’s subversion of our country. And their ideas and actions should be treated for what they are, anti-american.

    Will there ever be a day again when liberals stand up for our country instead of our enemies?

  15. What, Again:

    People like you are the enemy, not the liberals you so unjustly despise.

    Your misplaced negativity is so off the chart. I have NEVER seen you post anything positive. I can’t explain why, but I actually kinda feel sorry for you. 😢

  16. 4 days ago Cat Woman posted one of her moronic comments about me. Once again I put him in his place. Instead of coming back at me, he vanishes. Too easy. Way too easy !!

  17. Sorry AZ/DC! But there are no enemies per your description. Your posts appear very negative and directed at people certain opinions you may oppose. Grownups call it a discussion. Debate if you will. But enemies, no. It would help a whole lot if we would try to understand each other rather than trashing them.

  18. Hey Mary T:

    Are you What, Again’s significant other? OR are you actually What, Again posing as a “caring” female.

    Find a POSITIVE comment from Wrong, Again anywhere, post a link, prove me wrong and show me up. Good luck with that because he, such as yourself, has not even established an account on this site. Until then, quit typing and go away! As What, Again should have done long ago.

    I choose not to approach What, Again as an adult because he has NEVER acted like one himself; I’m truly convinced that he is or he has the mentality of a lonely 14 year old.

    Fight fire with fire is my motto. What’s your motto? Fight logic with bullshit. It seems appropriate after reading your comment. You should know what you’re up against before you start typing ignorant horseshit.

  19. Some people just try to be impossible. My spouse would rather I not waste time here because of all the ignorance. That may be right.

    Have a nice day.

  20. In other words, “Okay, it’s impossible to find a positive comment from What, Again…even though he’s my hubby!?”

    Did I actually hit the nail right on the head?

    If so:

    AZ/DC! : 2
    Most Ignorant Couple Ever : -2

    Thanks for playing!

  21. Tom, your comments are slanted, but far less than usual. However, if you want a better example of digging in of heels and demonizing by both sides, take the abortion issue.

    Both sides fear the camel’s nose under the edge of the tent, so will not give an inch, when in reality, both sides want the same thing, and that is fewer unwanted children, and, despite what the right maintains, fewer abortions. However, no one from either side dares step forward, for fear of the purity police on both sides.

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