Mass Deporting of Dreamers and Other "Illegals" Would Help No One and Hurt Everybody

Mass deportations of Dreamers and other illegal immigrants would be irrational because it would involve substantial economic cost without providing any  economic benefit.   The closest thing to a benefit the action would provide is that it would provide some happiness to those psychological misfits who are  obsessed with obeying laws regardless of the consequences.  

 "Illegal" immigrants are fully integrated in the economy,    The economy is partly dependent on their spending.   If an epidemic or a military attack were to kill 10, million Americans the economic impact could be devastating.  The deportation  of a similar number of people would have the same effect.  The money they spend in retail businesses affects the number of employees those businesses can employ.    A reduction in consumer spending would force retailers to lay off people.  Manufacturers of consumer goods,  clothing and  highly processed foods would  have to cut production because of reduced demand.    Layoffs at these firms and by retailers would further reduce demand.  Local governments often depend on sales tax revenue that would fall if too many consumers were removed from the city.

Stock traders often over react to events that hurt businesses.  They often  act like a herd of nervous cattle and stampede if any thing threatens stock prices. When stock prices are high, traders begin to worry that prices are too high and they will jump at the first sign  of a price drop.  Obviously, traders would sell retail stocks if they knew retail sales would drop even if the anticipated drop would only be a few per cent.   Sellers would try to get the best price  possible, but if many wanted to sell,  there could be a shortage of buyers which would mean a major drop in price.

Government could set up a procedure to determine whether individual immigrants are worthy of  being allowed to stay.  As with any group of people, some illegal immigrants are having a positive impact  on our society and some are having a negative impact.  The federal government should encourage those who are having a positive impact to stay to help replace the 10,000 baby boomers who retire every day.

Congress should discourage those who have a negative impact by imposing a mandatory ten year jail sentence on those who come here illegally and engage in violence, theft or sale of drugs before deporting them.  Deporting them without a jail sentence would accomplish nothing because they would likely find a way to come back. 

Congress could set up a point system for evaluation of immigrants.  Those immigrants who are already here can be evaluated more easily than those who are still living in other countries  Emphasis should be on families because those adults with families are inclined to want a good place for their families to live  A family could earn points by being employed,  learning English and participating in religious or civic organizations. Public safety jobs such as military or fire fighting would provide extra points.   Children could earn points for the family by doing well in school including participating in  extracurricular activities such as sports or music. 
  
Many Americans have long believed that God helps the United States  Those  politicians who share this view should consider the possibility that God has helped the Dreamers and their families to avoid being caught and deported.  Perhaps God has placed the Dreamers here to replace the babies who have been aborted.

Taxpayers have been investing $10,600 per student per year to educate the dreamers so they can eventually replace retiring  workers.  Deporting Dreamers would throw away that investment.

There is a popular myth that those who don't pay an income tax don't pay taxes. Income tax is only one of the taxes Americans pay.  Those who are living in or visiting America pay visible taxes such as sales taxes along with hidden taxes   Business owners sometimes point out that businesses don't  pay taxes  Their customers do  The money a business pays in taxes ultimately comes from customers. The money employees  pay in taxes also comes from customers   Many of the customers who  provide the money to cover business and employee taxes are here illegally.

Firing of Corrupt FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe Long Overdue

2015 Hillary Clinton ally Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe helped finance the unsuccessful state senate campaign of Andrew McCabe's wife.   After the election  FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe took over an investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's mishandling of official emails  and not surprisingly decided that Clinton hadn't done anything illegal.   McCabe also  pushed the stupid anti- Russia witch hunt which is actually helping Russia by discrediting American presidential elections

Is Robert Mueller Doing What President Putin Wants Done?

Is Robert Mueller Doing What President Putin Wants Done?

I've never given any serious consideration to the ridiculous claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin coordinated actions with Donald Trump's organization to help Trump win the election.    The scenario that proponents of this fantasy describe sounds too much like a possible plot for a Leslie Nielsen or Don Adams comedy spy movie.

Putin was with the KGB.   There is no way he would have conducted such an amateurish operation if he had wanted to help Donald Trump win.  He would not have had anyone who could have been   identified as being associated with the Russian government contact  the Trump campaign to coordinate activities.

I doubt that Putin would  have wanted a strong willed leader like Trump running the United State.     However, Putin might have had Russians contact members of Trump's organization in the hopes stupid Americans would misinterpret the actions as involving Russian assistance to Trump and then possibly try to oust Trump.    

Putin is likely aware of how much the assault on President Richard Nixon benefited the old Soviet Union.  The removal of Nixon weakened the United States and created opportunities for the Soviet Union and its allies.   North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam and the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.    Iraniian students overthrew the U.S. backed Shah of Iran and invaded the American embassy  The Soviet Union then was able to develop a relationship with the former U. S. ally.  

If what Putin would likely call the "American secret police"   overthrows Trump,  Putin could claim the action means the United States presidential elections are a farce   He would say if Americans don't vote or someone the secret police approve of the secret police will remove him." 

President Trump Should Fire Incompetent Mueller

Robert Mueller is supposed to be investigating Russian hackers who were spying on political emails during last year's election, but reporters with the Associated Press are doing a better job than he is.

The AP reported last week that the Russian hacking group Fancy Bear was spying on more than just political emails and  FBI .leaders knew it.  The FBI failed to warn the vast majority of hackers' targets that the Russians were reading their emails.   The FBI allowed the Russians to spy on the emails of   "the former head of cybersecurity for the U.S. Air Force. An ex-director at the National Security Council. A former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency."  Targets included a manager working on the stealth fighter program.

Meanwhile Mueller was getting Michael Flynn to admit he lied to the FBI about a legitimate meeting with the Russian ambassador that occurred after the election.   Having aides of the President-elect meet with foreign diplomats can prepare their government for any change in policy and help the incoming president avoid actions that might adversely affect relations between the countries.

The situation reminds me of an old Warner Brothers cartoon about a family of buzzards.  The mother sends her children out to bring back some fresh meat.   One brings back a horse.   Another brings a cow.  The younger one is shown flying along holding a bee in its talons and proudly singing: "'I'm bringing home a baby bumble bee.   Won't my mommy be so proud of me."  Last week the AP brought back a whale and Robert Mueller brought back a baby bumble bee,

Mueller has spent millions on what would be called a dry hole in Texas oil country.   The  Associated Press has brought in a gusher.   The AP has discovered what may be the greatest act of espionage involving federal employees since the theft of atomic bomb secrets in the forties.  

President Donald Trump should either replace Mueller's team with people who have never worked for the Justice Department or drop the investigation

Do Roy Moore's Accusers Have False Memories?

The human brain is an unreliable memory device.  It can forget events that happened and remember events that didn't. 

  I don't know  if the allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior by Ray Moore 40 years ago are true or not.   I do know that it is unlikely he would remember such casual affairs so many years in the past.  Many men would forget such affairs in weeks, if not days.   A young woman might consider an older man's attention significant,  but to the older man the young woman is just another warm body who might be used and forgotten.

It is possible Moore doesn't remember the incidents because they didn't occur except in the brains of his accusers.  False memory can play a role in allegations of sexual abuse of young people.  Women and men sometimes falsely imagine they have had a  sexual relationship with someone that didn't actually occur.   Talk show host David Letterman once had  a problem with a woman who thought she was his wife.   A  woman who was convinced she was married to singer Michael Jackson even challenged his will in court.  

False memories in women can begin as sexual fantasies with "rape fantasies".    Men sometimes misinterpret the concept as an indication that women want to be raped.    Such fantasies might be more accurately described as "action adventure" fantasies.    Males may fantasize about athletic achievements  or perhaps imagine themselves as someone like James Bond or Marshall  Matt Dillon.   Females seem less inclined to fantasize about being involved in sports or fighting evil doers which leaves contact with men as the potential subject of physical fantasies.

The accounts given by Moore's accusers Leigh Corfman  .   and Beverly Young Nelson fit a pattern which could indicate they are fantasies.    The plots of each involve a dangerous encounter with an older man in which each accuser escapes without being raped.  Each is a damsel in distress who in effect rescues herself.  

Memories can be affected by drug and alcohol abuse.    Leigh Corfman's  use of drugs and   alcohol might have affected her memory of events from her youth to the extent that she might be  confusing
an old fantasy with an actual event.  

Television  can also affect memories of past events.  Watching a program multiple times can lead to stronger memories of  an event depicted on the program regardless o whether the event is real or fictional.  Seeing a fictional event that is similar to an actual event or a fantasy event could result in the brain combining the events.  As I read Nelson account of what she believed happened to her I saw two brief images. One video segment  was a woman who seemed to be struggling.   The other was of a car leaving an area in a hurry.

ALL Stand for the National Anthem

Should those of us who are watching sports events on television stand along with the people in the stadium and possibly join in the singing when someone performs our national anthem?

How many of us make a quick trip to the kitchen when the tv sports event announcer asks everyone to stand for the national anthem?   How many of us have come to think of the performing of the "Star Spangled Banner" as just a part of the show for us to watch, but not to participate in?

I'm wondering if those of us who treat the playing of the national anthem as just part of the show are really much  different from the  NFL kneelers.   The national anthem played before the start of a sports event isn't just the national anthem of the people in the stadium. It's our national anthem as well.

  Many of us already participate in some television programs. Many of us cheer along with the people in the stands when a player on our team makes an outstanding offensive or defensive  play.  We may sing along when someone sings one of our favorite songs.

Although the national anthem is called "The Star Spangle Banner" it isn't about the flag itself, but what the appearance of the flag flying over Ft. McHenry symbolized. When  Francis Scott Key saw the flag that morning he knew the men in Ft. McHenry had refused to be intimidated by the British bombardment of the fort.

An audience may give an entertainer a standing ovation for an outstanding performance.  Standing for the national anthem is the equivalent of a standing ovation for those who died defending Fr McHenry and in other battles including the recent deaths in Niger.   Performing music  is a greater tribute than clapping hands.

We should all join in giving a tribute to our fallen heroes when someone performs our national anthem.  

President Trump's "Failure to Communicate"

President Donald Trump had a "failure to communicate" when he talked to Myeshia Johnson about the death of her husband Sgt. La David Johnson who was  one of the Green  Berets killed during a mission in Niger.   Trump failed to consider the implications  of the concept that "men are from Mars and women are from Venus. 

Veteran sitcom viewers are very familiar with the basic plot.  The man says or does something that those of us  of the male  persuasion consider perfectly sensible and the wife or girl friend blows her top because the female brain  sometimes interprets statements and actions differently than the male brain.

Men tend to take statements at face value.  Women are more likely to read between the lines and look for hidden meanings partly because many men have a tendency to deceive women. 

 I would interpret the statement attributed to Trump  "He knew what he signed up for, but when it happens, it hurts anyway"] as praise for Sgt. Johnson's courage.    Myeshia Johnson interpreted it differently possibly because women have trouble understanding the male warrior nature that likely has a genetic base. 

Males in some species are genetically programmed to protect other members of the species, especially the females and "children".    In primitive societies most males have  a strong drive to protect the others in their village or clan.   As societies become larger it is less necessary for  everyone to be a warrior.   This situation  allows those with a weaker genetic "protection" drive to avoid combat. Those who inherit a strong "protection" drive tend to become the societies' protectors in the military, law enforcement and fire departments.