Last shot at an immigration bill

This week a starkly divided Senate will have another go at a "comprehensive" immigration bill. If no agreement emerges, that will be the end of the story--probably until a new president sits in the White House. (Even if a bill is passed by the Senate, the House promises an even more acerbic fight.)

In the midst of this seemingly endless brawl:

* Some politicians and talk show hosts are constantly stoking the latent (or not so latent) xenophobia and racism that have dogged earlier groups of migrants and immigrants through much of our nation's history.

* It is clear that for decades entire industries and countless citizens have invited migrants to come and work for them. Now, even though only a small percentage are troublemakers, some 12 million of them are being called criminals for crossing our southern border. The adjective "illegal" has been turned into a noun, and migrants thus become "the illegals."

* Few people talk about the fact that half of the undocumented population entered the US with a valid visa--and just stayed.

* Perhaps the worst injustice is that--since the federal government began sealing the traditional crossing points near towns and cities 12 years ago--thousands of people in search of work and survival have died while moving north through our remote deserts. So far this fiscal year, we have documented 126 migrant deaths just along the Arizona-Mexico border.

The whole status quo is senseless, even insane.

Down his numbers go

According to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, the Decider's approval rate now stands at 29%. That is down six points since April. Egads! The rate of American emergence from deep sleep is accelerating (despite the media's 'round-the-clock coverage of Bible-toting Paris and those other blonde dimwits of Hollywood.)

But, to borrow from the language of Ronald Reagan, the sound of Looney Tunes still reverberates in the land. 70% of Republicans continue to venerate their patron saint. And, according to a report in the London Free Press, some of those people are putting more than pennies in the collection basket. Bush supporters at a recent fund raiser in Wichita, Kansas, were willing to pay $4,600 to be photographed with His Majesty.

I don't expect that many of those deep pocket cheerleaders pay any real attention to the fact that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died because of this senseless Bush-Cheney war. But one would think that they would set aside the society page long enough to note that 3,521 US troops have been killed (as of noon today), 3,382 of those since the First Flyboy declared "mission accomplished" way back on May 1, 2003.

Come on, you 29%. Wake up, so we can start withdrawing at once from the midst of this mad civil war.

Will Bush drop into the teens?

Right now, the Decider's approval rate

The Prince of Propaganda

Probably anyone looking at this blog knows that Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, also known as Faux News or--in the inimitable lingo of Keith Olbermann--Fox Noise, is a humungous propaganda machine for the Bush cabal. The June 1 issue of The Week gives us a closer look at Murdoch and the power he loves and wields.

The 76-year-old Australian inherited a media base and started on his own with typical tabloid stuff in England. Now his "News Corp" is worth $70 billion. His television programs reach 75% of the population of the planet. He owns 175 newspapers. In the US, he owns 35 television stations. Through them he reaches 40% of the population.

I used to think the guy was a super-charged ideologue. But he flips around on issues. For example, as he has huge investments in China, he has told his people to downplay criticism of the Chinese regime.

So forget the ideologue part. What we seem to have here is a plain old (super-rich) profiteer with a perpetual thirst for more power and more money.

Change stations, everybody. Please.

Dysfunctional Nation

The whole world must know that the USA is the richest country in the world and the richest country in world history. I wonder how many of those folks know that in the midst of all those riches, nine million children do not have health insurance. (Another strange twist in our national dysfunction: almost all of these children are from working families.)

In reporting these facts today, ABC News pointed out that if those nine million children formed a line holding hands, they would stretch from coast to coast. That picture does not go away as readily as a page of statistics.

And OK, readers, you know I am going to say it again. George W. Bush is pouring one billion dollars into his mad war every four days.

Dysfunctional president + dysfunctional Congress = dysfunctional nation. We are in the pits.