"Ought I not care ...?" - Michelle Alexander

"Ought I not care ...?"

- Michelle Alexander - *

* Moyers & Company (BillMoyers.com)
TPO's assessment :
Michelle Alexander is Bill Moyer's guest on his show. Here she discusses the historical background, and reasons for the current festering state of America's social issues (eg. incarceration cycles, legal discrimination, etc). Why does America continue to be permeated by fear, hatred, prejudice, and ignorance?

Ms. Alexander gets to the root of the issues in a clear and passionate manner that leaves few stones unturned. It should be noted that she is not just a problem-pointer. She also offers constructive and practical ideas for the direction to which we should head. In this day and age where the loudest voices are repeatedly found to be the wrong and the false ones, it is refreshing to find individuals such as Ms. Alexander that do good. 

Mr. Moyers is an immensely astute and incisive truth-seeker, and Ms. Alexander is a dedicated, very intelligent, and well-spoken social activist. We should hold these two Americans in the highest esteem and be thankful for their contributions to our society.

The Republicans' Vision Thing - by Andy Borowitz

The Republicans' Vision Thing *

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G.O.P. Unveils Immigration Plan: “We Must Make America Somewhere No One Wants to Live”

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell unveiled his party’s long-awaited plan on immigration on Wednesday, telling reporters, “We must make America somewhere no one wants to live.”

Appearing with House Speaker John Boehner, McConnell said that, in contrast to President Obama’s “Band-Aid fixes,” the Republican plan would address “the root cause of immigration, which is that the United States is, for the most part, habitable.”

“For years, immigrants have looked to America as a place where their standard of living was bound to improve,” McConnell said. “We’re going to change that.”

Boehner said that the Republicans’ plan would reduce or eliminate “immigration magnets,” such as the social safety net, public education, clean air, and drinkable water.

The Speaker added that the plan would also include the repeal of Obamacare, calling healthcare “catnip for immigrants.”

Attempting, perhaps, to tamp down excitement about the plan, McConnell warned that turning America into a dystopian hellhole that repels immigrants “won’t happen overnight.”

“Our crumbling infrastructure and soaring gun violence are a good start, but much work still needs to be done,” he said. “When Americans start leaving the country, we’ll know that we’re on the right track.”

In closing, the two congressional leaders expressed pride in the immigration plan, noting that Republicans had been working to make it possible for the past thirty years.
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* Source: Andy Borowitz (a news satire columnist, The New Yorker) - http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/republicans-unveil-immigration-plan