I just read two stories, one on the Intercept,
BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY
Refugees Fleeing Violence in Central America Hope for Asylum in Mexico
by Alice Proujansky, Cora Currier (link here theintercept.com/…)
and another in the Guardian, www.theguardian.com/… , about the Montana Republican Candidate for the House who attacked a reporter, instead of answering the question.
As I read them I suddenly understood that these stories are linked. They have a common mindset that has somehow become standard operating procedure for Americans explanation for all our failures and shortcomings.
Let’s look at the immigration problem first, as it is the more difficult to understand. You must understand that the real story behind the Refugee migration, the real tragedy, is it was caused by the failed American Foreign Policy vis a vis Central America in the mid-1980’s. This failed policy is the root cause for these people to flee their country. In the early to mid-1980's we supported the rightist led factions in several Central American Civil Wars. Under the guise of fighting Communism the Reagan Administration illegally flooded the area with weapons and military support, the results of these actions were failed Central American Countries, Guatemala and El Salvador being the most recognizable. This led to vast areas of Central America falling into the hands of war lords which eventually morphed into criminal gangs. …
The results, large numbers of common, working class poor people fleeing their homelands looking for a place they can live and raise their children in peace and security. And they look North to the United States. Not only the source of their problems but a place that has long been considered the most stable and prosperous country in the hemisphere, if not the world. And when they get here they are treated like criminals. Exposed to naked hatred by the American people that are spurred on by our politicians. They are hunted down and then incarcerated in what can only be described as concentration camps, and eventually deported right back to the horror they were trying to run away from. VIVA La Estados Unidos!
So the question is what links them in a subtle but substantial way, what makes me believe they are the same? I mean people fleeing their country to gain, any way they can, entrance to the United States and the story of the Republican Candidate for the House of Representatives seem, on their face to be two very different things.
We, America, caused the problems in Central America. Instead of accepting the fact that we screwed up and doing all we could to help the people of the countries we destabilized, we put the blame on them. As if they caused all the problems they are now forced to somehow survive. It is their fault that their children are recruited to become gang member or if they are female taken and forced into sexual slavery so that the ‘Bosses’ can amass more and more money. It is their fault.
Then we have the events in Montana yesterday. The Republican Candidate in Montana attacked a journalist because the candidate didn't want to answer the reporters question. All he had to do was say “I haven't had a chance to read the full report yet”. But instead he flips out and attacks the reporter. THEN he has the balls to blame the reporter for the incident, claiming the reporter attacked him first. And he made this obvious prevarication despite the testimony of 4 witnesses to the event. And today, even after being cited for non-felony assault, the Republican Candidate clings to the story that it was the reporter who caused the problem.
See the common link there? We cause the problem and then blame the victim. It is never our fault. Never our responsibility. Always the other guys.
It may be time for American, all Americans, to look inward, to recognize and admit our faults, admit when we make mistakes, and take responsibility for them. We must change our behavior. Instead of always blaming others for problems we, personally, have caused, we need to bite the bullet and accept the fact that we are not perfect, and accept responsibility for our own actions. And the do what ever we can to correct the error. But that is not all we must do. We must demand that our elected officials be strong enough to do the same. Admit when mistakes are made and do what they/we can to correct them. This is not an easy thing to do. Yet, it is the right thing to do and we should be strong enough to do the right thing.
Of course, none of this will happen unless and until we get people into power that will refuse to be influenced by the huge amounts of money people such as the Walton’s and the Koch’s use as leverage to get their way. These people, the wealthiest 1%, have only one interest. Acquiring more money, and using that money to acquire more power so that they can accumulate more money and power. Until we admit that Greed is NOT good and demand changes to our economic and governmental systems that will erase or greatly reduce the effects of money in politics, things like the Montana incident and the migration of people from the destabilized governments in Central America will continue. And we will continue to spend money on building a wall that will not stop anyone but cost us the ability to make life better for the people of our own country. And the Corporations building this unending construction project will continue to make huge amounts of money and give it to the people in the senior executive suites, and the people on the Board of Directors, and eventually use it to “donate” to someones election campaign as long as they enact laws that the wealthiest among us desire.