xenophobic policies

The xenophobic policies offered up by Republicans in the wake of the Paris and Beirut attacks are simply jaw-dropping:

• Presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz suggested bombing innocent civilians in the Middle East.
• Twenty-six Republican governors have vowed, without any legal authority, to block Syrian refugees from their states.
• Presidential candidate Jeb Bush joined Sen. Cruz in proposing that we block Syrian refugees based on religion — admitting Christian but not Muslim refugees.
• The House passed a bill requiring the FBI director, the secretary of Homeland Security and the director of National Intelligence to personally sign off on every refugee from Syria or Iraq.

References:

1. Jonathan Martin, “Obama Says ‘Enough is Enough’ after Colorado Shooting,” New York Times, November 28, 2015.
2. “Closing the Terror Gap in Gun Background Checks,” Everytown for Gun Safety, July 21, 2015.
3. Judd Legum, "In Response To Paris, Ted Cruz Calls For Airstrikes With More ‘Tolerance For Civilian Casualties’," ThinkProgress.org, November 13, 2015.
4. Sarah Frostenson and Dara Lind, “Here's a map of every state refusing to accept Syrian refugees,” Vox.com, November 18, 2015.
5. Amy Davidson, “Ted Cruz’ Religious Test for Refugees, New Yorker, November 16, 2015.
6. Camila Domonoske, “House Votes To Increase Security Checks On Refugees From Iraq, Syria,” NPR, November 19, 2015.

The Power Elite

One thing one have to acknowledge is that what we have is systemic corruption, rather than individual incidental corruption. Sure Obama is a corrupt egocentric cynic. But he is no closet communist, or a foreigner, or a worshiper of the malignant. He does no evil for evil sake. What he does is the bidding of power groups because that´s how he got to be President, and because it is the path of least resistance. Obama is no different in essence form, say, Bush. The Power elite gets its way because they are organized, concentrate Power and Money, and control the Media. The common man can resist by being informed, understand the issues, and look at policies on their own merits. Most of the public agenda is a charade of false topics to entertain the public and brand the two wings of the Business Party. It is hard to do but one must start from objective understanding: Who´s behind? Why? What are the implications?