By the end of this year the American government is supposed to have erected 670 miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico. Roughly half of the barrier is designed to stop everything bigger than a jackrabbit; the other half will let people through but stop vehicles. It is just part of a drive, stepped up in the past two years, to clamp down on illegal immigration and drug-smuggling. The Border Patrol is swelling from fewer than 6,000 officers in 1996 to more than 18,000 by next year. Unmanned watchtowers bristling with cameras and heat sensors are being developed. Finally, checks at proper border crossings are becoming more rigorous.

How about from Canada? That's what worries me. Why don't we build a wall up there too?

I don't like walls. I remember we had a president who said,"tear down this wall." Now we are building a wall against Mexico. And the Israelis are building one against the Palestinians. And I've seen it too. And I don't like 'em. I think we need a world where people can go back and forth as they want to. . . .

Create Secure Borders

Obama and Biden want to preserve the integrity of our borders. They support additional personnel, infrastructure and technology on the border and at our ports of entry.

Improve Our Immigration System

Obama and Biden believe we must fix the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy and increase the number of legal immigrants to keep families together and meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill.

Remove Incentives to Enter Illegally

Obama and Biden will remove incentives to enter the country illegally by cracking down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants.

Bring People Out of the Shadows

Obama and Biden support a system that allows undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens.

Work with Mexico

Obama and Biden believe we need to do more to promote economic development in Mexico to decrease illegal immigration.

I don't know about you, but I see several things wrong with this little 'plan' right off the bat--for example, why is learning English a part of any immigration plan? Did the U.S. suddenly declare a national language that I don't know about? Or does this plan buy into stereotypes about immigrants that they refuse to learn English (it's actually exactly opposite, most immigrants are desperate to learn English, they just don't have the time/resources to do so).

Also, I wonder what this "work with Mexico" plan would entail. Would it involve dismantling NAFTA (or at least scaling it back significantly) such that the indigenous farmers (who are the vast majority of people immigrating) could continue sustenance farming in a successful way? Or would it mean creating more and more miserable factories that continue to destroy Mexico's infrastructure and push more and more workers to desperate moves like crossing a war zone without the protection of papers?

I wait to see Obama's actions on this, and until then, I pray to who ever is out there to touch Obama's heart with a compassion stick.

I just watched a hit job on Barack Obama on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360. In their "Keeping Them Honest" segment Tom Foreman looked at Obama’s press conference and said that Obama was pulling back on his campaign promises. This was news to me since I had listened to the entire press conference and did not notice this at all. So, I went to the transcript to make sure.

It turns out Foreman made use of some fancy editing to create facts for his news story.

Tonight, this is what Foreman claimed about Obama’s tax plan:

Foreman: Time and again out on the trail he said we need tax reform right now.

[Plays campaign video of Obama talking about giving the middle class a tax break.]

Foreman: And he said again today early in his press conference tax relief cannot wait. But when asked later on in that press conference, does that mean he will pursue tax reforms in 2009, he dodged the direct question and repeated again that he still wants to help the middle class.

[Video] Obama: But, obviously, over the next several weeks and months, we’re going to be continuing to take a look at the data and see what’s taking place in the economy as a whole.

Foreman says Obama was asked about whether he would pursue tax reform in 2009, and he suggests Obama dodged his commitment to tax cuts for the middle class. But that is not what Obama was asked. This is the actual exchange:

Question: Mr. President-elect, do you still intend to seek income tax increases for upper-income Americans? And if so, should these Americans expect to pay higher taxes in 2009?

Obama: The — my tax plan represented a net tax cut. It provided for substantial middle-class tax cuts; 95 percent of working Americans would receive them.

It also provided for cuts in capital gains for small businesses, additional tax credits. All of it is designed for job growth.

My priority is going to be, how do we grow the economy? How do we create more jobs?

I think that the plan that we’ve put forward is the right one, but, obviously, over the next several weeks and months, we’re going to be continuing to take a look at the data and see what’s taking place in the economy as a whole.

But, understand, the goal of my plan is to provide tax relief to families that are struggling, but also to boost the capacity of the economy to grow from the bottom up.

He was asked whether he would initiate tax increases on upper-income Americans in 2009. In response he reiterated his commitment to tax cuts but did not say he would raise taxes on the wealthy in 2009. He wasn’t asked about "tax reforms" in 2009. Of his commitment to lower taxes for middle income Americans Obama was forceful in the press conference:

Finally, as we monitor and address these immediate economic challenges, we will be moving forward in laying out a set of policies that will grow our middle class and strengthen our economy in the long term. We cannot afford to wait on moving forward on the key priorities that I identified during the campaign, including clean energy, health care, education, and tax relief for middle-class families.

On Iran, Foreman claimed that Obama was backing away from his position of direct talks:

Foreman: During the campaign he strongly called for talks with Iran. His website, which is still up by the way, says "Obama supports tough, direct presidential diplomacy with Iran without preconditions. Now is the time to pressure Iran directly to change their troubling behavior." Asked today, however, if he will launch those talks as soon as he takes office he said this:

[Video] Obama: Obviously, how we approach and deal with a country like Iran is not something that we should, you know, simply do in a knee- jerk fashion.

Again, Obama was not asked the question Foreman claims he was asked. Here is the actual exchange about the letter sent by Iran:

Question: Senator, for the first time since the Iranian revolution, the president of Iran sent a congratulations note to a new U.S. president. I’m wondering if, first of all, if you responded to President Ahmadinejad’s note of congratulations and, second of all, and more importantly, how soon do you plan on sending low-level envoys to countries such as Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, to see if a presidential-level talk would be productive?

Obama: I am aware that the letter was sent. Let me state — repeat what I stated during the course of the campaign.

Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon I believe is unacceptable. And we have to mount a international effort to prevent that from happening.

Iran’s support of terrorist organizations I think is something that has to cease.

I will be reviewing the letter from President Ahmadinejad, and we will respond appropriately. It’s only been three days since the election. Obviously, how we approach and deal with a country like Iran is not something that we should, you know, simply do in a knee- jerk fashion. I think we’ve got to think it through.

But I have to reiterate once again that we only have one president at a time. And I want to be very careful that we are sending the right signals to the world as a whole that I am not the president and I won’t be until January 20th.

Obama was referring to Ahmadinejad’s letter when he said you should not respond in a "knee-jerk fashion". Obama also reiterated that President Bush is still President and he did not want to send mixed signals before he is inaugarated. Foreman simply made up a question and answer that did not happen.

Foreman concludes with this bit of nonsense about what would be "unfair" and perhaps these "changes" are due to Obama now having a "deeper understanding of the issues":

Forman: Now, no one should expect him to deliver on his pledges until he takes the oath. That would be completely unfair. And, maybe these slight changes reflect a deeper understanding of the issues from his briefings. Maybe the situation will really change by the time he takes the oath. But, keeping them honest we will keep watching to let you know if the promises he ran on survive intact until Inauguration Day.

Perhaps Tom Foreman needs a deeper understanding of journalism. Or perhaps he should actually read the transcript before he broadcasts disinformation over cable news.

CNN should be ashamed of themselves. "Keeping Them Honest", my ass.

Do you know a young woman or family member that has been affected?

In July 2008, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) added five new vaccinations to the list of required immunizations for immigrants seeking legal permanent residency in the U.S. or people applying for immigrant visas. The list included a vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV), a viral infection that is transmitted by direct skin-to-skin contact and is the leading cause of cervical cancer. Following a recommendation by the CDC's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices to administer Gardasil, the only HPV vaccine currently approved for the U.S. market to females ages 11 to 26 in the U.S., the recommendation became an automatic requirement for prospective immigrants and applicants seeking to adjust their status when the government updated its list of vaccines in July.

The policy went into effect on August 1, and advocates in the immigrant rights and public health movements are calling for a reversal with respect to the HPV vaccine. The mandate creates additional cost barriers for young immigrant women and immigrant families seeking adjustment of status or entry to the U.S., and unfairly forces immigrant women to subject their bodies to a vaccine that is new to the market and has unknown long-term efficacy rates.

Please consider sharing your story if you know someone who has been directly impacted by the new mandate for the HPV vaccine or any of the other vaccines involved. Contact Priscilla at phuang@napawf.org with your story.

Post extendido - Leer más 'Call for stories regarding the new HPV vaccination mandate'...

What, pray tell, was the Government of Kenya thinking when it declared Thursday, 6th November a public holiday?

The best way for all progressive thinking Kenyans to celebrate Obama's victory is to work on bringing political change to this country from the bottom up. To not just sit and grumble about the inanity of our political discourse and the Bush-esque tyranny and divisive stance of our tribal chieftains but to rally one Kenyan at a time towards the embracing of a new political dispensation.

The time is now to move away from the press conferences and donor driven palavers; the yelling of empty threats at politicians from the shelter of posh NGO offices, by the ‘activist-elites' and speak directly to our families and friends.

If America can, why can't we? We cannot because those who purport to preach the change gospel love to write concept notes, strategic plans, jingoistic communiques, jargon ridden country reports and Op-ed columns from here to new York City while the opponents of change are out in the field- face to face with the ‘real Kenyans- handing out machetes and vitriol.

If you love Barrack Obama, spend your public holiday tomorrow talking to Main Street- tell them that, even here in Kenya, WE CAN!

To bastardise JFK, ask not what Obama can do for your country but what you can do for it.

So then, my wish list.

1. All grandpas and grandmas that are still in office will go to their ranch or wherever else that can be called a retirement home, and take a good rest. Enjoy watching the beauty of the sun setting. If they must, they can also get up early and savour the rising of the sun. By all means keep off meddling into affairs of a country.

2. Issues. Anyone that aspires leadership should dwell on issues of the day. Like making the lives of ordinary people better. Building schools and hospitals and other good things.

3.Anyone that tells people to burn peoples property, maim and kill others so that he/she can become a ‘leader’, should lie still in their bed, never to rise again. Such a species does not deserve a single sniff of oxygen.

4. If you are not eloquent, or have tendencies to forget what you meant to say, or you tend to say the wrong thing, please go home and look after your goats. They need you more.

5. If you cannot sprint up the podium with your sleeves rolled up, please do as 4 above. Thank you.

6. If you are not good looking, that’s ok, for now anyway. But try to be well groomed. Brush your teeth and put on a clean shirt.

7. Once Obama has done his term or two, can he please come and do 2 terms for Kenya. I that heard he comes from Kenya, and he will only be 55 then. A lovely age to become a president especially in an African country!

That’s all for now.

Petition to President-elect Obama for a Moratorium on ICE Raids
President-elect Obama, we congratulate you on your historic victory, and we celebrate this moment with great hope that under your leadership we will finally be able to achieve a humane, inclusive immigration policy that unites families and offers a path toward citizenship for the undocumented. Fundamental reform of our broken immigration system is an urgent national priority. The first step, that you can take through executive order, is to immediately end all Immigration & Customs Enforcement raids.

The enforcement of the unjust laws of our broken immigration system is tearing our country apart. The workplace and neighborhood raids by squads of ski-masked ICE agents armed with automatic weapons are the most brutal and outrageous part of this enforcement. They tear our families apart. They terrorize our communities. And they routinely violate the civil and constitutional rights that define our nation.

The ICE raids must end now! President-elect Obama, Latino and immigrant voters responded to the promise of change you made to our nation and voted for you by huge margins and in record numbers. We call on you to uphold that promise and honor our support by declaring an immediate and unconditional moratorium on ICE raids until just and human immigration reform is passed and implemented.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION

via/Truly Outrageous

This also is a good time to check in on other bloggers in Oceania and Asia to see how they view the contest.

From the Philippines, A Girl's Notebook is balancing her attachment for Barack Obama with her job prospects:

Personally, at first I like Obama. I am not saying that McCain will not be a good president. I know that McCain has a heart for blacks and asian people. But Obama is black and he grew up in Indonesia which is an Asian country. So he knows what a black and an asian person feels. But then, McCain is more open to country’s relation with other nations and outsourcing. Being in the call center industries, of course, I will be affected if Obama is against outsourcing. I might lose my job! :( Though I understand the reason behind Obama’s stand about outsourcing.

Manuel L. Quezon III, also from the Philippines, takes us on a historical tour of U.S.-Philippine relations as a lens to view the current election.

Let me state first of all that my bias is a clear and in many ways, an unshakeable one, beginning with being bombarded by my father’s very strong opinion that the American Democratic Party was the only proper party to appreciate in the United States, because it was the party of Philippine independence, a cause that generally prospered during Democratic administrations and that fared less well under Republican ones. For this reason I continue to be astounded by Filipino-Americans who are Republicans but eventually, I suppose it makes sense for those who’ve made the decision to leave home and become citizens of the USA: emigration is at the very least an implicit repudiation of the homeland; more often than not, an explicit one, too; and if one party and its policies can be credited with the independence one feels ambivalent about, then one can understandably embrace the very party that, to too many Filipino minds, was poised to bring the permanent blessings of American civilization to their benighted little brown brothers.

That being said, I suppose I am like most Filipinos in viewing the relationship of the Philippines with the United States as more of a positive than negative one, or at the very least, who sees it from the perspective of a relationship that is very personal and not just abstract: the relatives and friends over there, the American friends over there and here, and so on. And for every George W. Bush who praised Marcos’ devotion to democracy, there’s a Ted Kennedy who was a friend to Filipinos fighting Marcos.

In the end, he supports a better America:

…[A]nd for those, like me, with a particular kind of affection for a particular kind of America, to derive a certain satisfaction and comfort -the comfort of a return to something familiar, and which seemingly seemed poised to be gone for good- from what is going on.

It’s a return to a more inclusive, a more idealistic, less fear-driven and optimistic, view of the world, for Americans the world they affect so much; and for those who find affinity in those ideals, and in the expression of those ideals, a return to the motive power of words, and of their promise of a society where Social Justice is a living ideal, a commonly-held aspiration, and where might is not what defines right.

David Farrar from Kiwi Blog provides a litany of what-ifs regarding the star-crossed McCain campaign:

If McCain had been elected, he would have been one of the most independent Presidents in history. His legislative history as a Senator speaks for itself. His independence from some of the religious lobby groups would be especially useful - abortion and civil unions should not be the number one issue for a country.

America would have had its most ardent pro free trade President in history - McCain supportes free trade agreements with every country, except those they have security issues with.

On fiscal issues, Bush has left a disaster of a deficit, and McCain would probably have been pretty effective in reducing the deficit. Bush in fact has massively expanded the federal budget.

On Iraq, he was the main proponent of the surge strategy, that basically suceeded. The challenge would have been to then reduce numbers in Iraq over time so that the Iraqi Government can govern without the need of foreign troops. A McCain presidency would be given more time by am impatient public to withdraw. Obama may find it very difficult to reconcile the expectations of his supporters and the obligations to the Iraqi Government not to pull out too quickly.

Within those dark clouds, he comes up with some silver lining:

It is a credit to McCain that he is still so close to Obama in the polls, when you consider only 10% of Americans say the country is heading in the right direction and 88% say the wrong direction. The candidate for the party of the incumbent should be miles behind. He won’t lose by miles but I don’t think it will be close either.

Of course, Farrar’s readers weren’t going to let him off the hook for that prognostication.

Neil M, who had this to say:

The world will now have to deal with the realities of an Obama presidency. Will the rest of the world stop acting like an angry teenager - bridling at parental control but unwilling to move out of home? With Obama there’ll be no more excuses for Europe to drag its feet on commitment in such places as Afghanistan.

And Grumpyoldhori:

Come on David, McCain ranting that the USA needed to confront Russia in Georgia, how utterly mad would that be.
McCain arguing that you do not talk to those you have issues with, suggesting that military force should be the first not the last option. He is seventy two years old, do you believe that Palin is ready to have her pinkys on the button right now ?
A woman who could not even explain what the dubya doctine was.

It will be interesting to see how many non religious types stay with the Republicans if they continue to push Palin forward.
Or do all Republican types believe in the rapture etc ?

Slightlyrighty added this:

Personally I can’t see McCain winning this. This may well be less of a observation as to how good a president he could be but more of a reflection on just how bad a president Bush was. The turning points in both campaigns to me was the VP selections. Obama selected a VP in Joe Biden who complemented him. In areas Obama was weak, Biden is strong, and we have a complete package.

By selecting Palin, McCain screwed up big time. McCain is 72, and needed to pick a Co-President, not a Vice President. McCain’s age is an issue, and there is no denying it. It may have no bearing on his ability to do the job in reality, but the minds of voters can be as far removed from reality as it could possibly be! That choice in itself represents bad judgement on the part of McCain

From Singapore, Rascal, a blogging dog (you read that correctly) explains why he would like a vote in this year’s election. That’s because this election is about animal rights:

With the US presidential campaign coming to its climax today, I cannot help but wonder why no one bothered to ask us who we want to vote for. For the record, Rascal is a Barrack Obama supporter. Why? For one, Rascal is a black supporter. (I’m half black labrador, half husky remember?)

Okay, back to serious matter. I came across this article about this 109-year-old lady was the daughter of a man born into slavery. Now, I have mean no offense to any black member but I can see several smilarities between the challenges faced by the black community and the animal community. We are both born into something we have no choice in. And when people sit back and give in to the situation, it was always remain status quo. In the face of opposition, the black community rallied together, with compassionate white people and raised their voices against the inequality and atrocities the black community is being subjected to.

Not all agree. “Yes, McCain might be more inclined to attack Iran. By the same measure, he would also be more inclined to pressure Pakistan to act on terror by providing a stick as well as a carrot,” writes analyst Dweep Chanana.

“On the economy, Republican presidents have historically been far more supportive of higher work permit quotas for Indian workers, and push more for free trade.”

Obama has voted to reduce the number of H1B visas issued to foreign workers. McCain is said to favour more H1B visas.

Dang!

I'm surrounded by deeply entrenched McCain supporters over here! This was one of the questions that they ambushed me with. “What will Obama do for you?”

As the vocal onslaught progressed between the McCain supporters and the SINGLE Obama supporter. I thought it's a good idea to withdraw for now … but the question lingered!

I might not have the ability to vote for the president *yet*, but that doesn't mean I haven't already made up my mind on who I would have voted for.

And I would vote for Obama, (now or if I had all my citizenship stuff in order) because:

I find him more internationally presentable. He has the capacity to accept and understand diversity
I stood there thinking, of all the issues that Obama has on his agenda (The economy, taxes, gay rights, …etc)

That was the only thing I could feel that would affect me, or Obama would do for me

So I in turn as you….

What will Obama do for you?

The London Times broke the story on October 30, and both global mainstream media and bloggers followed suit.

Two days later, we learned from the Associated Press that Onyango is living here illegally, which complicates issues considering she contributed $260 to her nephew's presidential campaign.

Cuban blogger Zury echoes the Times' find and opines:

I don't know about you, but with the millions he made with the book and being that he referred to his aunt, with such affection, you would think, he would share his wealth, like he wants to do with the wealthiest Americans.

“If she is violating laws, those laws have to be obeyed,” Obama told CBS News. “We're a nation of laws. Obviously that doesn't lessen my concern for her. I haven't been able to be in touch with her. But I'm a strong believer that you have to obey the laws.”

Canadian blogger Jonathan Strong, a conservative, is not convinced, questioning recent poll data whether Obama and John McCain aren't closer in American viewpoints, but moreover positing Obama was denying facts to the American people:

It is illegal to accept campaign contributions from those who don't hold a Green Card or are not citizens. Obama's campaign has come under fire for having very loose credit card rules on for online donations. It is suspected that he may have received millions of dollars in illegal donations from overseas and foreigners.

Obama is denying that he knew his aunt was in the US illegally, but such denials from Obama are common place. He denied being close to Rev. Wright, and being in the church congregation when racist statements were made. He denied being friends with Bill Ayers. He denies being close to Rashid Khalidi and Tony Rezko… you get the picture.

Across the pond, Dutch blogger Michael van der Galien of PoliGazette suggests it is unfair to criticize Obama for failing to chastise his aunt:

Although it would be fascinating to hear this woman’s life story, those who go after both her and Obama on this subject are crossing the line of decency and normal political discourse. This aunt is not running for president, Obama is. It is fair to look at how he treats relatives, especially if he bragged about having great relationships with them in his books, but those relatives themselves cannot be touched.

Some readers of conservative blog Ace of Spades argued that Onyango’s status indicates Obama may have known his aunt was in the country illegally and may even have assisted her. If Obama was running on a strict anti-illegal immigration platform, calling on friends and relatives of illegal immigrants to report those people to immigration officials so they can be deported, Obama could potentially be criticized. But that is not the case. Obama is not pretending to be a hardliner on the issue of immigration.

Furthermore, Onyango is Obama’s aunt. If Obama knew she was here illegally, and he probably did, does anyone truly suggest he should have reported her to authorities? His own aunt? That is what the Hitler Jugend and youth organizations in the Soviet Union did. But in any normal, humane society, such behavior would be condemned as immoral, unthankful and worse. It would be betrayal of the worst kind: betrayal of one’s own relatives. It does not get much worse than that. Not in any decent society, at least.

Additionally, since the issue of Onyango’s status as an illegal alien does not tell us anything about Obama being a hypocrite or worse, the only net effect of making this a big issue is to attack a person who is not running for office. This woman should be considered off limits.

Among other bloggers on the issue, few captured the essence of Kyle from Citizen Orange, a U.S.-based and Guatemala-inspired group blog. Kyle tracked progressive bloggers on both sides of the Auntie Zeituni issue and concluded:

The debate over this story has devolved into one of Republican nativism and Democrats and their allies either describing this as smear or running as far away from this as they can. If having an unauthorized migrant relative is a smear, than smear me too.

(Hat tip to Thai blog Jotman, via British blog Ten Percent.)

After quoting various sources on the matter, including a pro-migrant immigration lawyer who suggests the leak to the AP was a federal law enforcement official, Kyle further theorized:

[W]hile nativists are screaming “ILLEGAL” at the top of their lungs and “progressives” are refusing to defend unauthorized migrants, it appears that everyone's lost sight of who the real “ILLEGAL” is. That “federal law enforcement agent” broke U.S. immigration law. Perhaps the anonymous source should be deported?

…In pointing fingers no one even thought to protect the rights of Obama's aunt as an asylee. This disclosure could possible result in great harm for Obama's aunt, especially as the situation in Kenya has deteriorated.

Malawi blogger Steve Sharra, a visiting professor of philosophy at Michigan State University, intellectualizes Oyango's and Obama's African burden in a long piece of prose you can read on your own.

Extracting pieces from his blog post is the following:

In the documentary Life and Debt about the effects of IMF’s structural adjustment policies on Third World economies, by Stephanie Black, there’s a contrast made about what it takes for an American to enter Jamaica, and what it takes for a Jamaican to enter the US. For the former, it is a mere driver’s license at the port of entry. For the latter, as with most Third World people around the world, it is a herculean, heart-rending process that stretches for months. Several thousands of visa applications get rejected every single day, each of them having paid the equivalent of a non-refundable US$100. The inside of the embassy itself is a place that reduces one to fear and humiliation, requiring one to prove one’s humanity before one is considered worthy of entry.

Sharra continues:

The burden for the kind of change the world is anticipating ought not to be carried by Obama alone, if at all. As Dr. Makau Mutua, Dean and Professor of Law at State University of New York at Buffalo wrote in June 2008, the US presidency is very different from the African presidency, and most other presidencies for that matter. If elected, Obama’s constituency will be the numerous interest groups who wield influence in US domestic and foreign policy. Obama may personally understand the importance of changing the image of Africa and Africans in the eyes of Americans, but it will have to be a slow, gradual, deliberate process, or else it may merely provoke unintended consequences. And in the meantime, Aunt Zeituni has to accept her place in the hierarchy, follow the law, and return to Kenya.

And Kenya? What does Kenya say?

Failing to find Kenyan bloggers on the issue, the Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation comes to the rescue with a report by Zipporah Njeri of the Kenyan News Agency who writes from Nyang'oma Kogelo, the village where Obama's father was born.

Njeri didn't write about Zeituni Onyango but did speak to Barack Obama's paternal grandmother, Sarah Onyango Obama, who continues to live in Kogelo village and follows her grandson's progress overseas. She said:

Obama is God's gift to the world, and many people from various parts of the world have confirmed this to me. If it happens that our son wins, come back here on Wednesday and you will witness the whole village in dancing frenzy!

Before anyone suggests that Sarah might consider emigrating to America, she shook her head to the reporter and exclaimed, “Home is home and remains the best place for a person of my age.”

Sadly, however, they are not.

Here is where they are different: the post was not about Onyango, but about Obama. It was further proof that Obama does not practice what he preaches. He talks about helping ‘the poor’ constantly, but he and his wife Michelle donate little to nothing to charity. Instead, he wants to take your money away, and give it to people such as his aunt, whom he refuses to help with his own money.

Palin wants teachers to teach students that “the best way” not to become pregnant is by not having intercourse. She does not, however, want to force any underaged girls not to become pregnant; she simply wants to teach them that if they refrain from having sex, they will not get pregnant. It can be quite safely assumed that she also taught her daughter this. Her daughter, however, made her own decisions in life, and acted differently.

But Palin does not want to force anyone to act like she would ‘like’ them to, Obama does.

So far for the comparison.

Overnight something else happened, and this is disturbing. Some conservatives have found out that Onyango is an illegal alien in the United States. She requested asylum, but the U.S. government did not grant her request. The government then told her she should leave the country, but she fled and stayed in the U.S.

Although it would be fascinating to hear this woman’s life story, those who go after both her and Obama on this subject are crossing the line of decency and normal political discourse. This aunt is not running for president, Obama is. It is fair to look at how he treats relatives, especially if he bragged about having great relationships with them in his books, but those relatives themselves cannot be touched.

Some readers of conservative blog Ace of Spades argued that Onyango’s status indicates Obama may have known his aunt was in the country illegally and may even have assisted her. If Obama was running on a strict anti-illegal immigration platform, calling on friends and relatives of illegal immigrants to report those people to immigration officials so they can be deported, Obama could potentially be criticized. But that is not the case. Obama is not pretending to be a hardliner on the issue of immigration.

Furthermore, Onyango is Obama’s aunt. If Obama knew she was here illegally, and he probably did, does anyone truly suggest he should have reported her to authorities? His own aunt? That is what the Hitler Jugend and youth organizations in the Soviet Union did. But in any normal, humane society, such behavior would be condemned as immoral, unthankful and worse. It would be betrayal of the worst kind: betrayal of one’s own relatives. It does not get much worse than that. Not in any decent society, at least.

Additionally, since the issue of Onyango’s status as an illegal alien does not tell us anything about Obama being a hypocrite or worse, the only net effect of making this a big issue is to attack a person who is not running for office. This woman should be considered off limits.

Lastly, there is one thing about Onyango’s illegal status that is significant: she donated more than $200 to Obama’s campaign. Foreigners, which Onyango is, are not allowed to donate to any campaign, however, and if they do so nonetheless, the campaign itself has to act by refusing to accept the money. There are many security checks that would normally prevent someone like Onyango from donating to Obama’s campaign, but the latter has made the conscious decision not to implement those checks other campaigns use.

In this regard, then, Onyango’s illegal immigrant status is only significant in so far that it once again shows that Obama accepts money from foreigners. On the other hand, that is nothing new. We already knew that - there is an abundance of evidence to back up this claim. As such, using Onyango as the evidence for this matter is nonsense and gives decent observers the impression that the ‘donation’ aspect is an excuse, not a reason to write about Onyango.

We have discovered Obama’s aunt, and it once again clear that Obama does not practice what he preaches when it comes to helping people and that his campaign accepts illegal contributions. But that should be the end of the Onyango story.

The left has crossed the line on a variety of occassions this year and there were rightfully called out when they did. The right should now be careful not to cross the line as well.

©2008 PoliGazette. All Rights Reserved.

Hi.

My name is Adriana.

I'm writing to you from the Fast for Our Future encampment at Placita Olvera in Los Angeles. I've been fasting on water for 14 days. I want to tell you a little bit about myself and urge you to do everything you can to make sure that everyone you know signs the Pledge to vote for immigrant rights at www.fastforourfuture.com.

I'm a 19-year-old photojournalism major at Santa Monica College. I have 2 jobs, as a waitress and as a photo assistant. One of my favorite things to do in the whole world is eat homemade nachos while watching the original Planet of the Apes. One of the greatest movies ever made...

I decided to join the Fast as soon as I heard about it because of people like my parents. They came here from Mexico in the 70s without papers and started over from scratch. I never had a birthday party because they were always working to give my brother and I a better life. Somehow, after another long, hard day at work, my dad usually still had the energy to read me a bedtime story. I'm fasting because no child should have to grow up without their parents, and the enforcement of our unjust immigration laws is tearing mothers and fathers away from so many children. This can't go on... please help us by signing the Pledge and sending it to everyone you know right now.

I'll be fasting until 1 million people like you sign the Pledge and commit to uphold the promise we made in 2006: Today we march, tomorrow we vote. Today is just 7 days away.

Thanks for everything you do - it means so much to every one of us.

Adriana

PS

Every person counts. Please forward this email to all your friends, asking them to sign the pledge.

© 2008 THERISEMOVEMENT.ORG