Just To Be Clear

I'm trying really hard not to be screechy. Everybody and their mothers are writing about what's happening in Minnesota these days. Some of it is true, some of it is total horse-hockey. People (including me) can be really hot and passionate about this subject. Several hundred people walked out onto real ice on Bde Maka Ska to send a message to the world: SAVE OUR STATE. See, here's the thing: ICE has been around for a long time doing their job with warrants and due process in their polo shirts and khaki pants. They were not running around the street of Minnesota looking like some paramilitary vigilante force. I don't care what anyone says: these costumes are meant to terrify and intimidate; that's exactly what they do. 

This is not to say there was never any pushback in regard to illegal aliens and deportation orders; there was. But ICE should know who is already in jail just like they used to know. Real criminals in the prison system were picked up on release and deported. I used to prep some of those airline tickets. It was part of my job whenever I was on loan to the government branch. I don't think I could do that in this environment. 

Just to be crystal clear in regards to my position of immigration law:

1. I believe in the Constitution of the United States, especially Amendments 14 and 44.
2. I support the existence of immigration law
3. I support the right to due process for all people within the jurisdiction of the US
4. I support the right to apply for asylum. 
5. I do not support the idea of open borders.

The 14th Amendment states:

 All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

There are two phrases in there 

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States
2. nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

that speak directly to the condition of the individual. Any number of cases heard in the Supreme Court deal with that very issue. A good one to look at is Shaughnessy v. United States ex rel. Mezei as it is presented in Cornell's Legal Information Institute. Just about every case comes down in favor of "any person" meaning both citizens and non-citizens alike, regardless of their immigration status.

The breakdown is not really about illegal immigrants, it's about the tactics being used. American citizens are being swept up. Legal immigrants with residency status are being swept up. ICE is using immigration check-ins as a way to sweep people into an amorphous net. None of these sweeps allow for due process. People are locked up, denied access to attorneys, denied basic human health necessities.When the office who shot Renee Goode walked away from her car, he called her a fucking bitch and it was heard on the tape around the world. She was alive when the car crashed and then denied medical attention. THIS is what people are fighting against. It's not the law as much as it is the absence of the law. 

The story of Liam Conejo Ramos is not an isolated case of child-grabbing. His cute hat helped him to not just make headlines, but to start a groundswell rejection of ICE tactics. The picture was not staged, not taken by a photographer; it was taken by a bystander. He was used as bait, and there are lots of witnesses to testify about what happened at the front door. Even so, ICE and DHS continued to lie about it. Is this what we have come to expect and accept? A confederacy of liars running our government? 

Off the scale, folks

Apparently, yes. Wag the dog is the order of the day. Anything to misdirect away from Epstein and the files. Demolishing part of the White House, changing the name of The Kennedy Center, going after settled 2020 election results..........all red herring to deflect this real issue of a sexual deviant-pedophile-crook who is lining this own pockets with YOUR money every time he sues the government for doing its job. Now he's suing the IRS for $10,000,000,000 for leaked tax info. Isn't he supposed to release his taxes when he runs for office? What a crock... and just think, we're supposed to lap it up with one of his golden plastic spoons. Uh, not happening. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.....

As long as I'm doing WP positioning, I want to clarify something about me and AI. 

1. I do not condone using AI for any creative writing. Period. If you use AI to write, it's not your work, it's a collaboration between you and a machine and should be subject to full disclosure.
2. I use a spell checker and that's it. If you read this regularly, you know I have more than my fair share of typos. And no, I'm not a great speller so I do look up a whole lotta words.
3. I do not use AI for any part of the blog. I view Google as a sort of card catalog. I avoid AI research results because I believe those results are not trustworthy. I search and research using the long form....meaning I type in my parameters, ignore the annoying AI box at the top of Google, and then search "by hand and eye." 
4. I do not use AI in writing my books. EVER.  My voice is my voice and no machine is gonna tell me how to write a sentence to "make it better." I am the Queen of Prepositional Phrases and proud of my ability to edit those suckers out. (I can cut thousands of words from a manuscript by doing that. Just sayin'.)

On another day, I'll talk about AI and art as an emerging medium. Just like people said photography would destroy painting, moving pictures would destroy theater, and television would decimate movies, and CGI would stifle the imagination, none of those things happened and new art forms became art. But I'm saving that for a day when I don't wanna rant about the government. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Proud Mam Moment:

The Senior Son just release a new EP and I gotta admit

CRUMBS TO A FEAST

is my new favorite earworm. 

Apple Music

Spotify