How a small nation’s pragmatic, humane approach exposes the lie behind America’s manufactured “crisis” and offers a roadmap for defeating the racist strongmen weaponizing immigration for power…
Clearly tRump/miller oppose this common sense approach to immigration for the exact same reasons Orbán did in Hungary, as you state. Work took me to Budapest in the summer of 1991. All of Eastern Europe was exploring new political territory as the oppression of Soviet rule was finally dying. The people were vibrant and very excited, and Hungary did indeed thrive - until Orban.
The USA will be facing increasing issues with immigration as the reality of climate migration takes hold - as will most of Europe. Sane & compassionate policies are vitally important.
Thanks for posting.
There are systemic reasons the USA cannot be as smart as Scandinavian countries, but that doesn't mean we cannot learn and emulate what we can from them. I keep hoping & praying the backlash to the current madness will be truly progressive politicians elected to offices across all levels of government, who are then able to implement truly progressive policies. We are at a tipping point where the very future of the planet depends upon it.
Great call to action. I use www.democracy.io to easily contact my federal legislators using my words on the subject instead of a canned letter. Brief and to the point.
The S.4361 - Border Act of 2024 is in cloiture. There are no cosponsors.
My representative, MAGA Cuban American Maria Elvira Salazar, is the author of the Dignity Act, which has 24 cosponsors, 12 from each party. https://salazar.house.gov/dignity-act
The Dignity bill consists of five core principles: (1) ending illegal immigration once and for all; (2) fixing our outdated asylum system, (3) providing a dignified solution for undocumented immigrants living in America; (4) protects American workers and supports industries; and (5) ensuring the United States remain prosperous and competitive in the future.
According to the legislative intent section, it's "based on the biblical principles of Dignity. It will restore law and order to our immigration system and support American workers. It was written in consultation with American businesses leaders, agriculture and farming industries, the faith-based community, immigration reform groups, and border security experts."
Trump opposes the Dignity Act. The White House has explicitly stated that he will not support the bill because he is opposed to any form of "amnesty"
I've been saying that this fact may be the basis for a deal. Salazar has joined the problem solvers, virtually all who are co-sponsors. She also recenty exprressed support for the Trumepstein victims. https://problemsolverscaucus.house.gov/
This is just one issue. E.G. Republican chairs are calling out Trump on Ukraine. They call out Trump on Ukraine.
Senator, Astronaut, Captain Mark Kelly would be the most popular person in Leavenworth. He didn't look too worried on Maddow's show, yesterday.
I look forward to the Senate impeachment trial. I hope he gets a go at Hegseth too.
From AI Overview: Senator Mark Kelly serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Special Committee on Aging, and the Joint Economic Committee. He also chairs the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee and is the Ranking Member of the Airland Subcommittee.
On the other hand, a small country like Denmark with few natural resources had better find sensible and humane solutions, and the fact that its population is very homogenous (except for the recent Muslim influx) males that a lot easier.
Common sense solutions, of which there is a dearth in these here United States, beset we are with demagogues of press and pulpit, that perceive anything smelling of free thinking and liberalism as a threat to their purse and power.
Of course to achieve such social equity and harmony, one must forfeit some of what these denizens of purse and pulpit perceive as essential to their power, like unrestricted gun ownership, and "freedom of speech", in other words restrictions on the ability of people to say and do anything that they wish.
For instance: Denmark has a law makes it a criminal offense to publicly burn, tear, defile, or trample religious texts or objects that appear as such. The law covers texts of any recognized religious community, including the Bible, Quran, and Torah
Solving a problem, not creating one---what a novel idea!
Nearly everything that is wrong and making people miserable in our country has been solved in another democracy elsewhere.
Like your sample interview, nothing could be more sensible. It's very Scandinavian, but they certainly are not alone.
Just like the psychos from Project 2025 and TechBros planned it, WE ARE ALONE. Workers and the vulnerable are priced-out of health care, education, and housing. Not the fault of immigrants, and they're caught up in the same mess we are. First we stop their gas-lighting from working, then we turn to that bi-partisan sensible solution. People need to understand they deserve a decent life, not the crumbs from the Kings' plates. See you in the streets.
Got my DNA done, Thom. I know you are Norwegian, and I thought I was half Swedish. My Vikings got around---Denmark, Norway, Iceland and some islands. Fun surprise.
I am not "Scandanavian." However, my maternal grandparents were married in Copenhagen and two of my uncles were born in Sweden.
By the time I had my DNA assessed, a cousin had told the same company that her dad was born in Goteborg, and so they falsely alleged that my brother and I were 25% Swedish.
My mother, born in the USA in 1914, was exposed to Swedish and could converse well enough that Swedish tourists in Mexico asked her to translate...but she couldn't speak Spanish.
The Danes claim that Leif Erickson discovered America, and in Pennsylvania and Delaware, many towns were founded by Swedes. Vikings conquered France, Russia, and even some Mediterranean countries. Many brits have Scandanavian DNA.
Similar thing on the other side of our lineage, lots of countries. More than the DNA gets scrambled over time. Passing the story down is like the game of "telephone".
It's fair enough to limit the rate of immigration to what we are able to accommodate, but we must not use race, religion, or income as a basis for who gets in and who doesn't. The first thing any immigrant should get is the main thing that attracts them here in the first place--equal justice under law. I know that sounds like nostalgia, but what if we did live up to our ideals?
Great expose Thom. Your interview questions of Danish conservatives is priceless. What a radical concept. Conservatism with a heart and common sense. Billionaires don’t run the Danish government.
Harry Harrison was the original author of the book “Make Room! Make Room!,” and Soylent Green was based on this book. In Harrison’s novel, Soylent Green was comprised of soybeans and lentils, hence the name of the food. Harrison disliked the scriptwriters’ change to the food source being human bodies. He wanted people to realize humanity itself was the source of the problems Harrison described in his novel, and he felt the scriptwriters had diluted the message he wanted to deliver.
While the Danish approach to immigration is both sane and Christian (even if the immigrants are not Christian), one issue popped into mind. Trump asserts that we have 20 million more immigrants than America can absorb. So what does a government do with the excess immigrants? We arrest them, put them in gulags, and then deport them off to hell.
However, there seems to be strong evidence that our illegals ARE employed and toting dem barges, pickin' dat cotton (and other veggies), processing our meats, cleaning up our hotel rooms, picking up our trash, and doing jobs few white Americans want to do. Thus, the real problem is what if we give them all a path to citizenship? The GOP knows that its wealthy elites will lose more political influence once immigrants are eligible to vote Blue.
How many Red states would turn Blue if immigrants could vote? Look at our government today. There is but 1 GOP "oreo" in the Senate (Tim Scott), only 12 GOP Black legislators, and 1 GOP oreo Supreme Court Justice (Thomas), and Thomas seems to want to disenfranchise all fellow minorities, by revoking gay marriages, jailing women who get abortions, using redistricting to eliminate liberals' votes, and encouraging misogyny to lock women (they tend to vote Blue) in the kitchen and nursery so they stay home on voting day.
As I’ve often said, the reasons Republicans don’t solve problems, is because if they did, they wouldn’t be able to use them as an issue anymore. It’s why they have always been against complete immigration reform. Republicans tend to ignore real crises (gun violence, climate change, wage disparity, healthcare), while inventing or exacerbating problems to create crisis. Like the 2022 inflation that was 54% caused be corporate price gouging. Of course, the media failed to EVER mention that.
Republicans have been railing against Obamacare since day one. Remember their “Repeal and Replace”? They’ve had 12 years. WHERE is their PLAN? They have NO alternative plan for “cheaper and better”, while quietly pushing the Medicare Advantage scams.
Problems require solutions. Solutions require reasonable smart people, not people playing culture war politics. As Reagan said: “Government can’t solve problems, government IS the problem.” Republicans don’t believe in governing. As a former organizational development practitioner, I know it is virtually impossible to do a good job at something you don’t believe in. That’s the GOP. Unfortunately, the media won’t keep the voters focused on issues and facts.
When is the public ,particularly those willfully ignorant and highly gullible, going to see the Republicans want illegal immigration as a wedge issues and have, at least under Dictator Donny, no intention of giving up on a winning wedge issue. The current immigration policy provides for good political theater and that is always the first priority by Dictator Donny. Spend billions on a cruel and harmful immigration policy and spend very little on actual solutions.
This leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The richest and most comfortable people in the world should not be oriented more toward defending borders and placing arbitrary limits on immigrants while little or nothing is being accomplished to mitigate violence and suffering in other countries and our policies and actions and powerful corporations have been responsible in large part for the horrors people face around the globe, rather than towards providing a refuge for desperate families on the verge of starvation and death. The history and the exploitation we have been responsible for matter more than the politics of affluence and internal pacification. We cannot delude ourselves into believing we can be secure, happy, warm, and fat, while so many people are cold, hungry, and dying. The way we look at this and the way we think needs to tilt more towards being committed to dealing with the world as a whole and being less indifferent and less xenophobic. We can't get there by turning a blind eye to reality. We start by forcing the billionaires to start acting more like citizens and less like gods and by condemning the selfish and self-centered reactionaries for cowering in fear. Call me a radical. We must protect the Dreamers and the undocumented people already here and treat them as entitled to compassion and equality. This is not Denmark.
The basic word (or concept) here is that of regulation. Whether applied to immigration, business (capitalism and/or socialism,) the environment, or any other facet of public life, the government exists to facilitate or enhance the benefits of laws while minimizing any detriments. Does not the word "govern" mean to control and direct policy?
Doesn't it seem like the entire conversation is on the back end of the issue? Why are there so many immigrants? Shouldn't we call them refugees? Why would they leave the countries and cultures of their birth and go to a place they're not welcome? Let's get our heads on straight, shall we?
Are we navel-gazing instead of being genuinely "global" in our policies? Travelers probably have a better fix on this, unless they're dilettantes consuming past vainglories without paying attention to present realities. Has Danish education let them down?
Maybe not: Euro-centric civilization has now matured beyond our earlier expectations, and this is CLEARLY represented in the conservative's positions. The colonial era needs to close, and a global consciousness begin to respect other cultures with more differences than those in Europe. The "conservative" stance is still too short-sighted to be relevant in the world we've made, patting ourselves on the back and reaping a bountiful harvest at others' expense.
You are a genius, sir, who has been around and knows and understands things that the right wing extremists either don’t understand or are deliberately cruel. With miller and Vought I’m sure it’s the latter. We need you to be president. Of the country.
Love today's song.
Clearly tRump/miller oppose this common sense approach to immigration for the exact same reasons Orbán did in Hungary, as you state. Work took me to Budapest in the summer of 1991. All of Eastern Europe was exploring new political territory as the oppression of Soviet rule was finally dying. The people were vibrant and very excited, and Hungary did indeed thrive - until Orban.
The USA will be facing increasing issues with immigration as the reality of climate migration takes hold - as will most of Europe. Sane & compassionate policies are vitally important.
Thanks for posting.
There are systemic reasons the USA cannot be as smart as Scandinavian countries, but that doesn't mean we cannot learn and emulate what we can from them. I keep hoping & praying the backlash to the current madness will be truly progressive politicians elected to offices across all levels of government, who are then able to implement truly progressive policies. We are at a tipping point where the very future of the planet depends upon it.
Great call to action. I use www.democracy.io to easily contact my federal legislators using my words on the subject instead of a canned letter. Brief and to the point.
The S.4361 - Border Act of 2024 is in cloiture. There are no cosponsors.
My representative, MAGA Cuban American Maria Elvira Salazar, is the author of the Dignity Act, which has 24 cosponsors, 12 from each party. https://salazar.house.gov/dignity-act
The Dignity bill consists of five core principles: (1) ending illegal immigration once and for all; (2) fixing our outdated asylum system, (3) providing a dignified solution for undocumented immigrants living in America; (4) protects American workers and supports industries; and (5) ensuring the United States remain prosperous and competitive in the future.
According to the legislative intent section, it's "based on the biblical principles of Dignity. It will restore law and order to our immigration system and support American workers. It was written in consultation with American businesses leaders, agriculture and farming industries, the faith-based community, immigration reform groups, and border security experts."
Trump opposes the Dignity Act. The White House has explicitly stated that he will not support the bill because he is opposed to any form of "amnesty"
I've been saying that this fact may be the basis for a deal. Salazar has joined the problem solvers, virtually all who are co-sponsors. She also recenty exprressed support for the Trumepstein victims. https://problemsolverscaucus.house.gov/
This is just one issue. E.G. Republican chairs are calling out Trump on Ukraine. They call out Trump on Ukraine.
https://www.mississippifreepress.org/us-sen-roger-wicker-rips-trumps-so-called-peace-plan-for-ukraine-russia/
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/republican-trump-ukraine-russia-peace-plan-b2870645.html
I wanna hear what Sen. Wicker, Rep Bacon et al say about thereats to Sen Kelly..
What do they say about orders to kill?
What about "Bubba"?
Senator, Astronaut, Captain Mark Kelly would be the most popular person in Leavenworth. He didn't look too worried on Maddow's show, yesterday.
I look forward to the Senate impeachment trial. I hope he gets a go at Hegseth too.
From AI Overview: Senator Mark Kelly serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Special Committee on Aging, and the Joint Economic Committee. He also chairs the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee and is the Ranking Member of the Airland Subcommittee.
It's hard to conjure up a social or economic problem the Danes haven't found a sensible and humane solution to.
On the other hand, a small country like Denmark with few natural resources had better find sensible and humane solutions, and the fact that its population is very homogenous (except for the recent Muslim influx) males that a lot easier.
Common sense solutions, of which there is a dearth in these here United States, beset we are with demagogues of press and pulpit, that perceive anything smelling of free thinking and liberalism as a threat to their purse and power.
Of course to achieve such social equity and harmony, one must forfeit some of what these denizens of purse and pulpit perceive as essential to their power, like unrestricted gun ownership, and "freedom of speech", in other words restrictions on the ability of people to say and do anything that they wish.
For instance: Denmark has a law makes it a criminal offense to publicly burn, tear, defile, or trample religious texts or objects that appear as such. The law covers texts of any recognized religious community, including the Bible, Quran, and Torah
Solving a problem, not creating one---what a novel idea!
Nearly everything that is wrong and making people miserable in our country has been solved in another democracy elsewhere.
Like your sample interview, nothing could be more sensible. It's very Scandinavian, but they certainly are not alone.
Just like the psychos from Project 2025 and TechBros planned it, WE ARE ALONE. Workers and the vulnerable are priced-out of health care, education, and housing. Not the fault of immigrants, and they're caught up in the same mess we are. First we stop their gas-lighting from working, then we turn to that bi-partisan sensible solution. People need to understand they deserve a decent life, not the crumbs from the Kings' plates. See you in the streets.
Got my DNA done, Thom. I know you are Norwegian, and I thought I was half Swedish. My Vikings got around---Denmark, Norway, Iceland and some islands. Fun surprise.
I am not "Scandanavian." However, my maternal grandparents were married in Copenhagen and two of my uncles were born in Sweden.
By the time I had my DNA assessed, a cousin had told the same company that her dad was born in Goteborg, and so they falsely alleged that my brother and I were 25% Swedish.
My mother, born in the USA in 1914, was exposed to Swedish and could converse well enough that Swedish tourists in Mexico asked her to translate...but she couldn't speak Spanish.
The Danes claim that Leif Erickson discovered America, and in Pennsylvania and Delaware, many towns were founded by Swedes. Vikings conquered France, Russia, and even some Mediterranean countries. Many brits have Scandanavian DNA.
But I don't.
Similar thing on the other side of our lineage, lots of countries. More than the DNA gets scrambled over time. Passing the story down is like the game of "telephone".
It's fair enough to limit the rate of immigration to what we are able to accommodate, but we must not use race, religion, or income as a basis for who gets in and who doesn't. The first thing any immigrant should get is the main thing that attracts them here in the first place--equal justice under law. I know that sounds like nostalgia, but what if we did live up to our ideals?
Great expose Thom. Your interview questions of Danish conservatives is priceless. What a radical concept. Conservatism with a heart and common sense. Billionaires don’t run the Danish government.
Denmark?!! Bah! Humbug!!
Donald's ultimate goal is to exploit workers to his and his billionaire brethren's benefit.
He could be a DEI [equal opportunity] Soylent Green producer.
Soylent Green is a 1973 dystopian sci-fi thriller with a shocking twist: the food ration “Soylent Green” is made from human remains.
Or maybe he'll listen to Curtis Yarvin and use human biomass to fuel public transportation.
And then again, there are always the human batteries in "The Matrix."
VOTE !!! No Matter What !!!
Harry Harrison was the original author of the book “Make Room! Make Room!,” and Soylent Green was based on this book. In Harrison’s novel, Soylent Green was comprised of soybeans and lentils, hence the name of the food. Harrison disliked the scriptwriters’ change to the food source being human bodies. He wanted people to realize humanity itself was the source of the problems Harrison described in his novel, and he felt the scriptwriters had diluted the message he wanted to deliver.
While the Danish approach to immigration is both sane and Christian (even if the immigrants are not Christian), one issue popped into mind. Trump asserts that we have 20 million more immigrants than America can absorb. So what does a government do with the excess immigrants? We arrest them, put them in gulags, and then deport them off to hell.
However, there seems to be strong evidence that our illegals ARE employed and toting dem barges, pickin' dat cotton (and other veggies), processing our meats, cleaning up our hotel rooms, picking up our trash, and doing jobs few white Americans want to do. Thus, the real problem is what if we give them all a path to citizenship? The GOP knows that its wealthy elites will lose more political influence once immigrants are eligible to vote Blue.
How many Red states would turn Blue if immigrants could vote? Look at our government today. There is but 1 GOP "oreo" in the Senate (Tim Scott), only 12 GOP Black legislators, and 1 GOP oreo Supreme Court Justice (Thomas), and Thomas seems to want to disenfranchise all fellow minorities, by revoking gay marriages, jailing women who get abortions, using redistricting to eliminate liberals' votes, and encouraging misogyny to lock women (they tend to vote Blue) in the kitchen and nursery so they stay home on voting day.
As I’ve often said, the reasons Republicans don’t solve problems, is because if they did, they wouldn’t be able to use them as an issue anymore. It’s why they have always been against complete immigration reform. Republicans tend to ignore real crises (gun violence, climate change, wage disparity, healthcare), while inventing or exacerbating problems to create crisis. Like the 2022 inflation that was 54% caused be corporate price gouging. Of course, the media failed to EVER mention that.
Republicans have been railing against Obamacare since day one. Remember their “Repeal and Replace”? They’ve had 12 years. WHERE is their PLAN? They have NO alternative plan for “cheaper and better”, while quietly pushing the Medicare Advantage scams.
Problems require solutions. Solutions require reasonable smart people, not people playing culture war politics. As Reagan said: “Government can’t solve problems, government IS the problem.” Republicans don’t believe in governing. As a former organizational development practitioner, I know it is virtually impossible to do a good job at something you don’t believe in. That’s the GOP. Unfortunately, the media won’t keep the voters focused on issues and facts.
When is the public ,particularly those willfully ignorant and highly gullible, going to see the Republicans want illegal immigration as a wedge issues and have, at least under Dictator Donny, no intention of giving up on a winning wedge issue. The current immigration policy provides for good political theater and that is always the first priority by Dictator Donny. Spend billions on a cruel and harmful immigration policy and spend very little on actual solutions.
This leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The richest and most comfortable people in the world should not be oriented more toward defending borders and placing arbitrary limits on immigrants while little or nothing is being accomplished to mitigate violence and suffering in other countries and our policies and actions and powerful corporations have been responsible in large part for the horrors people face around the globe, rather than towards providing a refuge for desperate families on the verge of starvation and death. The history and the exploitation we have been responsible for matter more than the politics of affluence and internal pacification. We cannot delude ourselves into believing we can be secure, happy, warm, and fat, while so many people are cold, hungry, and dying. The way we look at this and the way we think needs to tilt more towards being committed to dealing with the world as a whole and being less indifferent and less xenophobic. We can't get there by turning a blind eye to reality. We start by forcing the billionaires to start acting more like citizens and less like gods and by condemning the selfish and self-centered reactionaries for cowering in fear. Call me a radical. We must protect the Dreamers and the undocumented people already here and treat them as entitled to compassion and equality. This is not Denmark.
Happy Thanksgiving, Thom, to you and yours.
The basic word (or concept) here is that of regulation. Whether applied to immigration, business (capitalism and/or socialism,) the environment, or any other facet of public life, the government exists to facilitate or enhance the benefits of laws while minimizing any detriments. Does not the word "govern" mean to control and direct policy?
Doesn't it seem like the entire conversation is on the back end of the issue? Why are there so many immigrants? Shouldn't we call them refugees? Why would they leave the countries and cultures of their birth and go to a place they're not welcome? Let's get our heads on straight, shall we?
Are we navel-gazing instead of being genuinely "global" in our policies? Travelers probably have a better fix on this, unless they're dilettantes consuming past vainglories without paying attention to present realities. Has Danish education let them down?
Maybe not: Euro-centric civilization has now matured beyond our earlier expectations, and this is CLEARLY represented in the conservative's positions. The colonial era needs to close, and a global consciousness begin to respect other cultures with more differences than those in Europe. The "conservative" stance is still too short-sighted to be relevant in the world we've made, patting ourselves on the back and reaping a bountiful harvest at others' expense.
You are a genius, sir, who has been around and knows and understands things that the right wing extremists either don’t understand or are deliberately cruel. With miller and Vought I’m sure it’s the latter. We need you to be president. Of the country.