Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Category: Current Affairs

  • A Case for Open Immigration?

    Spencer Case sent me a link to a short op-ed piece by Michael Huemer who teaches philosophy at the University of Colorado.  Huemer's thesis is that . . . U.S. immigration policy is fundamentally unjust. It disregards the rights and interests of other human beings, merely because those persons were born in another country. It…

  • Undocumented Democrats

    Despite  the inaptness  of the phrase, liberals call illegal aliens 'undocumented workers.'  'Undocumented Democrats' is equally inapt but better expressive of why liberals are so tolerant of their presence.  If the invaders from the south were potential Republicans, liberal tolerance would morph into its opposite.

  • Are Illegal Aliens Acting Immorally?

    Victor Reppert raises the question: People like [Arizona's] Governor Brewer often say that we are a nation of laws, and that is why we must make a strong stand enforcing our immigration laws. Are people who insist on a strong stand against illegal immigration gratuitously assuming that persons who enter the country illegally are acting…

  • Church, State, and Arizona SB 1070

    E. J. Montini of the Arizona Republic reports that ". . . one of the lawsuits challenging SB 1070 is based on the notion that the law inhibits First Amendment freedom to worship."  As Montini correctly states, "Among other things, SB 1070 makes it a crime to knowingly transport, harbor, conceal or shield an illegal…

  • A Diversity Paradox for Immigration Expansionists

    Liberals love 'diversity' even at the expense of such obvious goods as unity, assimilation, and comity.  So it is something  of a paradox that their refusal to take seriously the enforcement of immigration laws has led to a most undiverse stream of immigrants. "While espousing a fervent belief in diversity, immigrant advocates and their allies have presided…

  • Palin’s Message for Extreme Enviros

    Here.

  • AZ SB 1070: Why Arizona Drew a Line

    Here is a NYT op-ed piece by Kris Kobach that rebuts the irresponsible assertions and outright lies  broadcast by liberals and leftists concerning Arizona's immigration law, many of whom haven't read it.  As someone who helped draft the statute, Kobach knows whereof he speaks. See also Kobach's Defending Arizona: False Charges With No Merit.

  • Helen Thomas Disgraces Herself

    Good riddance to this superannuated leftist gasbag.  Former mayor of NYC, Ed Koch, delivers a just and fitting verdict: Helen Thomas, 89, who is of Lebanese descent, claims to be a professional journalist. As such, she is subject to professional standards. Her statement that Jews should “get the hell out of Palestine” and go back…

  • Israel and the Blockade

    From Charles Krauthammer, Israel Refuses to Commit Suicide: . . . the blockade is not just perfectly rational, it is perfectly legal. Gaza under Hamas is a self-declared enemy of Israel — a declaration backed up by more than 4,000 rockets fired at Israeli civilian territory. Yet having pledged itself to unceasing belligerency, Hamas claims…

  • Arizona and Israel

    The febrile Left's assault on both makes for some interesting parallels, but I'll leave them for you to draw out.  For a bit of perspective on the flotilla contretemps, see here.

  • The Misrepresentations of Arizona SB 1070 Continue

    People from whom one would expect intellectual honesty continue to misrepresent SB 1070.  Yet another example surfaced in this morning's Arizona Republic in a letter to the editor from Clara M. Lovett, president emerita of Northern Arizona University.  She writes: A statute that allows police to stop people on the basis of "reasonable suspicion" that…

  • Did Holder, Napolitano, Obama, et al. Lie When They Said They Hadn’t Read the Arizona Law?

    J. O. e-mails:  A caller on the Dennis Miller Show called in and said something very insightful I thought you would like. Miller was asking callers to call in about Eric Holder et al. not reading the Arizona Illegal Immigration law, and the caller said that he thought they HAD read it and were lying…

  • Another Round with Reppert on AZ SB 1070: Reasonable Suspicion

    In his most recent post on this topic, Victor Reppert tells us that his "main concern is with the 'reasonable suspicion' clause. That strikes me as horribly vague."  Here is the relevant SB 1070 passage as amended by HB 2162 which contains the clause in question: For any lawful contact stop, detention or arrest made by…

  • Cuba Attacks Arizona!

    This is good for a laugh.  First China, then Cuba.  Will North Korea join in on the fun? 

  • Illegal Immigration, The Catholic Bishops, and the Misuse of Scripture

    (Written 26 April 2006, revised 23 May 2010) At the website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, we read: Why is the Catholic Church involved in the immigration issue? There are several reasons the Catholic Church is involved in the  immigration debate. The Old and New Testaments, as well as the encyclicals of the Popes,…