The need to add this statement always bothers me slightly. I believe heâs being completely honest and that he does, and did, love this country he and his family call home. Or rather they love the ideal that this country represents, what itâs supposed to stand for.
Itâs just very sad to me that when making a statement such as this Takei and others feel the need to add that they love this country because theyâll inevitably be accused of hating it. Theyâll be accused of hating this country by people who donât want to be confronted by how often, and how brutally, the reality falls short of the ideal.
Do I really need to say it? Christ, what an asshole (Bowers, not Takei, obviously).
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America has gone more (visibly) racist in the past few days/weeks/months than any time I can previously recall during my life.
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Takeiâs even, measured, and generous response is inspiring and perfect. He is a national treasure.
He can smack down injustice and plug his current gig, because every word out of his mouth has its own individual silk cravat and brandy snifter
I canât be angry⌠mostly because I still havenât processed my bafflement at the obvious inanity here: âPeople are fleeing violence! Clearly they present a threat of⌠violence.â
Well, it also helps that his current gig happens to be germane to the discussion.
- There never was any proven incident of espionage or sabotage from the suspected âenemiesâ then, just as there has been no act of terrorism from any of the 1,854 Syrian refugees the U.S. already has accepted. We were judged based on who we looked like, and that is about as un-American as it gets.
Someone needs to read up on the Niihau Incident. That doesnât justify the internment, but once you say something like ânever was any proven incidentâ and it turns out there was, you open the door to crazies who will argue from the viewpoint of âbetter safe than sorryâ. This point would have been stronger if it had been based on the criminal justice philosophy of âinnocent until proven guiltyâ.
âMayor Bowers, one of the reasons I am telling our story on Broadway eight times a week in Allegiance is because of people like you.â
Can we as a Nation stop electing assholes like this, PLEASE!
Well, it bears noting that this blog and forum are among a distinct minority this week. Go on to nearly any major news site and read the comment sections: itâs all fear and loathing with an occasional regret that the situation âhas come to this.â Mostly, itâs enthusiastic xenophobia with trigger fingers on keyboards instantly ready to flame the âbleeding heartsâ who want the US to live up to its values rather than capitulate to DAESH by cowardly rejection of syrians and others seeking safety and a decent life for their families. Yes, the old âbleeding heartâ schtick is getting tossed all over the place this week.
Iâm in total agreement with one wit who has suggested that we replace the proud, defiant Eagle in American symbology with a cowering catoonish chicken.
SoâŚwhere are all the tough-talking âpatriotsâ on this matter?
âsuspend and delay any further Syrian refugee assistance until these serious hostilities and atrocities end [âŚ] and normalcy is restoredâ
Or, shorter: âwe need to stop doing anything until thereâs no longer any reason to do anything.â
Oh my!
Well, itâs worked so well for the 2nd Amendmentals when they tied mental health and gun control together, and moved the debate in such a circular way that nothing got done - why wouldnât those opposed try a similar tactic?
During the attacks: âIf everyone in France were packing heat, then PEW PEW! No more terrorism!â
After the attacks: âIâm so scared of the unarmed refugees! What if they turn out to be terrorists? What the hell are we supposed to do then?â
Exactly. America has the 2nd Amendment! No need to fear terrorism, yâall can just shoot em up cowboy style!
Why not a Chicken Hawk?
That would require certain parts of the country to be able to spell âAâ correctly on a spelling test first.
Thatâs what the NRA says and they speak for ALL gun owners in MURICA!!
I have to say that this mayor doesnât say it was a good idea or praises it. Heâs comparing. Additionally he is correct in saying that the threat of Isis today is comparable to the threat of our enemies of the Empire of Japan from then.
Takei is absolutely also correct in pointing out the internment camps were not for our enemies but for American citizens who happened to âlook likeâ our enemies or had the same ancestry as them.
I also do not see anything in the mayorâs statement that suggest internment camps be set up for Syrian Refugees or for âanyone who fits the descriptionâ of one.
These facts are important. I have no doubt this mayor is a typical prejudiced jackwagon, BUT do not make assumptions and assertions and read in things that are not necessarily there.
The very notion of accepting Syrian Refugees at this point is in fact a scary proposition given recent events. Anyone who has fears about the possibility of any of the refugees being the kind of animals that carried out the Paris attacks is legitimately scared! It is a distinct possibility.
However that does not condone turning them away entirely. That would be completely âun-Americanâ! Our system, nation, society is founded upon doing what is best for the many, not the few. The principle must swing both ways, and we cannot punish or in this case refuse aid to those who need it, because there is a potential threat hidden. âGive me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shoreâ is not qualified by putting âIF THEY LOOK LIKE MEâ at the end of it.
The mayor is wrong. Flat out. But we should blast him for what is there, not what we extrapolate.
And of courseâŚnow I expect to be flamed by fellow posters claiming I agree with this idiot or that I am just as bad, yadda yadda yadda. Have at it.
