If you listened to the speech that Donald Trump read (read, not made) to a joint session of Congress last week, you know that immigrants took front-and-center in that speech. Only not in the way that immigrants deserve. For all of the ridiculous praise heaped on the speech for allegedly sounding "presidential," it had nothing much in the way of inspiration when it comes to those who take a chance on coming here and believing that the American Dream might be able to include them. Well, not anymore.
Immigrants are dangerous. Immigrants are terrorists who can't be vetted. Immigrants pour across our supposedly defenseless boarders, snatching jobs away from citizens and driving down wages for everyone. Immigrants are more likely than native-born Americans to be killers, ready to gun down any citizen that dares to cross their paths. Immigrants, in short, are The Enemy Within, and should only be allowed to come into this country if they can prove, in some government-approved way, to "add value" to the country. By "value," of course, we're talking about the kind that folds into your wallet or deposits into a financial account. This, of course, is pure (or impure) Trump: all relationships are transactional. Once upon a time, the motto of this country was "E Pluribus Unum." In the age of Trump, it's "What's In It For Me?"
But make no mistake: in this respect, Trump is completely consistent. All relationships are indeed transactional. Which is why he's perfectly happy to sponsor foreign workers for his vineyard, much as he outsources his branded consumer products to overseas factories. No "America First" here!
The first rule of Trump voting: you only listen to what he says, not what he does. In other words, its just like the relationship between conservatives and conservatism.
No comments:
Post a Comment