heron

Mebbe so, mebbe no. Never underestimate the ability of the voter to vote against his/her own self-interest.

I’ve been watching this member since s/he was posting over on the yellow side. The posts seem strongly consistent with the kind of divisive, derisive, fact-free comments that we know are typical of posters paid to intensify conflict and division in the American electorate. Why they bother with AN is anybody’s guess, but this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this behavior. I agree that disengagement is probably the best course.

I’m curious - how do you define “conservative”? What, exactly, are “conservative values”?

In my opinion, anyone is entitled to speak. They are not entitled to an audience, payment, or the absence of opposition. It would move the conversation along if you could present some specific examples of the behavior to which you object.

Puts the concept of “takers” in a whole other perspective, doesn’t it?

I agree ... I enjoy her so far, but we still haven’t seen the steak beneath the sizzle. Campaigning and governing are totally different jobs.

I agree ... I enjoy her so far, but we still haven’t seen the steak beneath the sizzle. Campaigning and governing are totally different jobs.

I don't recall that Muno called her a racist. As for idiot - well I don't know that I would use that word, but I have to say that what I've heard from her isn't very impressive. Long on fiery rhetoric and carefully crafted sound bites, short on actual reasoned argument. But, then, she isn't representing me, so I don't really follow her work.

Not getting your final point - how does regaining the right to vote = having "more rights than a law-abiding citizen"?

I suspect she'll develop quite a case of reality shock when she gets exposed to people from so many different places in the world.

The disease concerns are real but no different from the concerns we have had all along in our own, home-grown populations of poor and marginalized people. I have been in practice for 45+ years and have seen almost every single disorder on that list ... and they weren't rare, either! I suspect that if you controlled for socio-economic status and living conditions (slums, homeless) the incidence of these diseases won't be that much different in native vs immigrant populations. Given the ecological, political and climactic destruction underlying our national standard of living, it all has the feeling of chickens coming home to roost.

That's because the whole argument is the rhetorical equivalent of a spinal reflex (aka knee-jerk). Of interest is the fact that the same memes were used against Chinese, Irish, Italian and Eastern European immigrants at various times. It crops up whenever the group attempting to follow the original European invaders speak the wrong language, practice the wrong religion or have the wrong skin color. The tradition goes all the way back to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, founded as a religiously exclusive theocracy.

Ahh, yes ... the venerable "diseased foreigners" meme so beloved of the old 19th century know-nothing nativists. More conservative reverence for tradition, I guess. The list ought to provide a hint as to the living conditions the migrants are striving to escape.

As Muno has already pointed out, we already had a calm and orderly process established for years. Trump wanted to pick a fight to show how tough he is and, like most bullies, he picked the most helpless population he could find.

Thanks, herring! My first thought on hearing about all this was all the warnings I've been reading about Trump becoming more dangerous as the walls close in on him. And we gave him the football.