An Immigration Solution: Not bad for a Politician...

Watching the Sunday cable news shows I came across Rudy Guiliani, the Presidential candidate from NYC ("the country's mayor"). Of course, I do not like his silly attempts to exploit 9/11, but I do think he's a smart guy. I don't want to get into politics here, or in the blog itself (maybe later); let it just be said that I am a registered independent, socially progressive, "progressively conservative", but really I just have a strong 'independent' bent that avoids being categorized (pretty much I don't like government or anyone to tell me what I should do or think). My mother, now deceased, was a Stanford 'Limo Liberal' who pretty much listened without critique or skepticism to NPR. In her mind, I was some sort of "right winger" (nothing, of course, could be further from the truth). However, I love ideas, and concepts, and therefore, god (small 'g') forbid in her mind ... I watched Fox news! It's not interesting to listen to those one agrees with. Well, in her mind, and in Palo Alto where I was born and raised, a Republican was automatically a racist, sexist, stupid, evil... (and you would certainly never associate yourself with 'that kind'). I'm not a Republican, nor have I ever been one, but the idea of small government, markets, low taxes, no IRS (ad valorem tax), liberatarianism, "no nation building", religious freedom, all appeal to me. It's to bad that the party of Lincoln was taken over by the religious right and the neo-cons who seem to have forgotten their own party's roots. The Democrats? I personally think that there is a huge amount of hypocricy on both sides, but I'd say more from the Democrats. Show me a poor Democrat (who hasn't already made it - whatever that means). To me, let them give away their own fortune first, show me their tax returns so I can verify that they've done so, then ask others to... The phrase itself is an Oxymoron. Of course, the Republicans have their own hypocricy. How can one be for personal freedom, free markets, low taxes, capitalism, free enterprise, then be for a war that costs the national a trillion dollars? Rail against "nation building" in Yugoslavia (under Clinton), then for it in Iraq? Philosophically it is the party for less government, for less government involvement, for personal privacy, and "State's Rights", less Federalism, but then we watch them constantly propose and have a strong legislative agenda (different, mind you; different constituencies) that does its best to invade that same personal privacy, and citizen's freedoms (to be free of an over zealous government). What is that about? Of course, the Democrats do the same thing. Have their own interest groups that they fight for. Did I talk about Religion? Why are our Politicians, both on the left and the right, talking about Christianity in the Presidential race? Explain that again? OK, there's so much more to say but I'll stop here for now.

Immigration and Guiliani? The purpose of this blog? Yes, that's why it is called a blog... you can meander. Give me a few hours...