Stand with Immigrants - Protest 5PM Sunday Night at Westlake Park

Immigration policy is a serious issue, and I'm willing to grant that a certain amount of caution and gravity is appropriate when allowing people to enter our country.

But if your allies had actually wanted the support of the left, they would have sought out common ground before now. Hell- I'm actually surprised to see the alt-right complaining about the abhorrent practices in some those countries; as far as I can tell, their regressive attitudes towards minorities are perfectly in line with the attitudes I've seen in certain parts of this one!

At any rate, this sudden "slamming of the gates" leads me to believe that this was not a well-thought-out policy. In fact, by every indication, it seems like a massive "fuck you" to the left, rather than a policy truly adopted for the good of the country. Case in point: many countries which represent a clear and present danger to the United States were conspicuously absent from this list.

But the biggest disappointment is this: the ideological strength of our country isn't that we can defend against every threat- although we're great at that- it's that no matter how many people want to destroy us, more will want to be a part of us- and we'll be a better country because of it. The entire point of this entire "America" thing is to be the place where other countries send people they don't want, and to welcome those people gladly because we believe, despite everything, that our investment in them will pay off! Maybe not in this generation, maybe not in two, but eventually!

If we give this up, we have no future. Our current disunity is already enough for our enemies to drive us apart. The only solution is to recognize that we're a nation of infighting bastards and half-breeds. We're the offspring of slaves and of royalty.

We're Americans. That should be an honor enough to raise the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the head of the richest CEO.

How will you live up to that? How can you?

/r/Seattle Thread Parent Link - thestranger.com