Got My Baby Girl's Back...Always!

Well, well, well, the little blogger has been at it again. Blogging AND forgetting to tell her mother she had done so!

I will admit while I have a number of thoughts, especially on the whole AZ issue and thanking Mother Nature, I cannot find a valid reason for attempting to say all the things I am thinking. Many of you have hit the nail so on the head.

HOWEVER, (my favorite leftover law school word!) I do have some things I want to say (surprised, huh?). Unfortunately, for us all, the America we knew, know and will know, wanted, want, and will wish for, no longer exists. Bells cannot be "unrung" (another little law school residue). WARNING: This will not be pleasant to some, the truth rarely is.

This journey of a thousand miles began with many little steps. Steps like Unionized Labor, which paid, pays and will pay those who, by circumstances and/or personal choices are not educated, trained, or otherwise qualified, outrageous salaries for standing on a production line when they in many cases cannot read nor write. Please do not point out all the overly educated, trained people you know who do the same...I get it. I know those people as well. That does not change the fact that as a society, in many cases, we pay Union controlled laborers more per hour than those men and women who protect our homes, our families, our lives, our country. We pay athletes more to kick, throw, dunk, hit, and run objects than we do doctors and surgeons who care for and heal mankind. The SYSTEM of AMERICA is broken...period. Like it or not, while there is truth that there are a number of jobs it appears "American Citizens" will not do..the truth is we, our system, trained them to think that you should be compensated handsomely b/c you work, no matter the job. We broke the system. When a high school drop out KNOWS he can "get on at________" (you can fill in that blank with so many corporations, companies, etc., you will never name them all)for some ridiculous hourly rate of pay with full benefits, then you bet he is not going to work 8-10-12 hours a day roofing a house for minimum wage...THAT is training and changing the system.

While I appreciate the fact there are many "stations in this life"...I do not believe in, endorse, nor support taking systems that are built on integrity, values, morals, ethics, or standards and "watering down" the same so that all can reach equal levels of success and/or achievement(s). We have "watered down" what it means to be an "American." America was the "melting pot"...we assimilated, we became "one"..the UNITED States of America..one language, one judicial system, one flag, one anthem, one Nation Under God..like it or not..THAT WAS AMERICA.

Do not preach to me about ancestry, predecessors, family immigrants. My grandfather dropped out of school in the 3rd grade. He could barely read, he could hardly write, he was pulled out of a field at 16 years old to be a "sparring partner" for boxers and wrestlers. He had worked in those fields 12-14 hours a day for one dollar a day...a dollar.

He was not angry, he was not bitter. He knew if his children did not want to do virtually the same they had to change the course and direction of their lives. His son, my father, worked 3 jobs while going to medical school with 4 children, one who was critically ill and spent most of his childhood hospitalized. My father EARNED the "American Dream." He is the last of a dying generation(s), people who knew what "Let Freedom Ring" means. People who understood the theory of hard work, education, dedication, people who understood being paid according to your worth (spare me the whole "worth of a soul" sermon...I get that one, too. I am talking work, occupation, job)and whether we want to admit it or not, those people built this country! If you don't believe me then listen to the stories upon stories of the immigrants who came here, who learned to speak English, broken it might have been, but they learned, immigrants who opened shops, brought skills, trades, arts and crafts, immigrants who worshipped the God that brought them here, many times at great peril, immigrants who came because they sought more than they could find in their own countries. Immigrants who would not want to break the law, but sought to uphold and live by the law(s)...the very law(s) that secured their freedom to do all of the above.

I don't think the color of your skin, the church pew you sit in, or the accents you carry should demonize or "profile" you...no, I don't. However, why did they come then and why do they come now if what is here is not more?

I will be the first to say there was a time in this country that the color of your skin was demonized and many, many innocent people suffered at the hands of those who ignored "and justice for all." That was a time of shame for us all. We have learned and we have grown, no one can deny that...there is evidence of that growth all around.

The proverbial bell has rung loudly. You nor I can "unring" that bell. WE have allowed our "system" to be watered down, to be "accommodating", to give what is not earned. We, you and I, have allowed our standards and values to be "Unionized." Somehow, we are gradually being desensitized to words like "illegal." We are allowing, slowly but surely, those who have done nothing to earn "their pay", "their benefit(s)" of being part of the system, the right to be paid or rewarded handsomely for just showing up. That is not the America I want to live in.

Nor is the America I want to live in the one where I worry that I cannot fly in a plane without checking every one's shoes, or walk the streets of New York with out fearing what is in a car parked on the street. No, that is NOT the America I want to live in. I want to live in the one where people came here for the same things their ancestors came and would come for...the America where a mother found some comfort, as minuscule as it may be, that her son or daughter died fighting for the freedom of future generations.

I am saddened that with the passing of law(s) and/or the implementation of the same there is a possibility that there are those "enforcers" who may abuse their power. I recognize that...but, there is a part of me that still believes in the "system." The "system" we call America...a land of opportunity, a place where all men/women can dream...and where those dreams can become reality. A land where we can hold onto the belief(s) and tradition(s) that made us great, yet, learn to let go of those that were demons.

I am not sure what the solution is in AZ...I don't believe there is a fool-proof answer. The only way to "fool-proof" something is the removal of all fools...good luck with that one! So, in light of that...the fact that the solution is NOT fool proof does not mean that you don't try to solve the problem. The operative word is "illegal." I do not want words like "illegal" watered down. I want those who are sworn to uphold the law to do so with integrity. I want the country that was preserved to thrive...I want my "America" back...and if you do not want to follow the rules to be here and you want to be rewarded b/c you "showed up"...I will be damned before I say that is o.k.. Far too many lives were lost and too high a price has been paid for this piece of land to be cheapened. Either you come with the willingness to stand beside me, regardless of MY skin color, and fight WITH me to preserve this land, choice above all others, regardless of YOUR skin color and that, just like for me, includes the DESIRE to obey the law and do so with respect for OUR flag, OUR forefathers, OUR language, OUR freedom. That's right...YOU, ME should EQUAL "OURS"...ONE NATION assimilated together with a rainbow of colors standing side by side to keep this the greatest nation on earth! If you are not willing to do that, do not come at all.

YOU, no matter who you are, sir or m'am, are not above the law! You are no better than those who came before seeking a land of opportunity.

That torch held high for all to see still stands as a symbol of liberty...the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free...but, you must be willing to, at the very least, do so legally..........

Oh, and Mother Nature, thank you for everything green and B-E-A-U-tiful...but could you please let up on the whole stormy "tornadic" activity...you are starting to scare me!
aaaaaaaaaggggggghhhhhhhhhhh, it feels good to be back!

Thanks, Snarky!