RIP US Rep. Elijah Cummings (January 18, 1951 – October 17, 2019).
This one-minute speech on border conditions is a good summary of the man.
* * *
(Click image for links)
shakemyheadhollow
Conceptual spaces: politics, philosophy, art, literature, religion, cultural history
shakemyheadhollow 
Such a wonderful man – such a loss.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Yes
LikeLike
In the longer version that follows, he speaks of an “empathy deficit,” and really zeroes in on the devastating governmental actions that allowed this travesty against immigrant children.
Now that we know how ill he’s been for so long, his faithful service as demonstrated in these snippets is all the more remarkable.
We have lost a giant—just when we needed him the most.
Thank you for posting.
LikeLiked by 2 people
So true. Thanks, Annie.
LikeLike
I hope it’s not a good summary because it shows him short sighted, ignorant of what patrol forces have to deal with, not to mention the huge problem of child trafficking. It just elongates a radical left narrative.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I disagree, Matthew, but alternative points of view are welcome to be aired here. (Btw, I think we might agree it’s a good summary, as I would guess that if you disagree with him so strongly here, you’d probably disagree with him in general.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh that’s good. Have you lived with mass migration on your doorstep? But literally?
LikeLike
I have lived most of my life in Louisiana, Texas, and now Mexico, so have quite a bit of contact with those crossing the border, though the only “mass migration” I may have seen was when living in Germany 2016-2018. By comparison, I think the immigration crisis in Germany is real, with an influx of over a million refugees in just a couple years, whereas the immigration “crisis” in the US is fabricated for political purposes, as the number of illegal immigrants in the US had slowly gone down from 2005-2016. I suspect there’s been a slight uptick since then — can’t find numbers — but it can’t be much, since border apprehensions in 2017-2018 remained below the decade average. I do have a friend who has lived for many years a few miles from the border, and I posted a video he sent me of how the town (Naco) is dealing with post-Trump changes. I understand that there’s a place for competing points of view on this, but if you want his and his neighbors’ point of view you can click here:
https://shakemyheadhollow.wordpress.com/2019/05/18/from-the-front-lines-of-trumps-border-wall/
LikeLiked by 4 people
You edited your comment after I viewed it initially. I agree generally with supporting humane ways of processing refugees. But it has become a political football. I don’t like seeing how people politisice it for moral credits when they haven’t been personally confronted with it nor are aware of aspects pertaining to Latino culture and this issue.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, so we agree quite a bit. My most recent comment (“I have lived…”) suggests much the same — that the immigration “crisis” is a political football. From my point of view, the “crisis” was fabricated by Trump and Repubs as red meat for the base. But by cracking down on the phony crisis, Trump created something of a real crisis in terms of conditions at the border, so I don’t blame Dems for trying to address those conditions. That’s my opinion. As I said, others are welcome 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t care if we agree a bit or a lot. How does that make the bit of difference? We are conversing about an issue. You are putting the blame on the administration and Trump (who is not my cup of tea), but having open borders would create a real crises. I have Venezuelans near by doorstep pleading for everything. Colombia has a real crises with open borders. W ould you let all of them in your house? How democratic would you be asking for your shelter outside of your door with your kids inside?
LikeLike
I have always thought open borders a bad idea — at least until the Age of Aquarius hits. Luckily, there is much space between Trump’s absolutist, hair-on-fire approach and going all open borders. I’d say a push to be more rational and humane about what is currently going on at the Mexican-US border would fall into that space. The Venezuela-Columbia border situation may be entirely different.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I apologise for the tone of my remarks last night. It’s a subject matter I hold close to my heart because of the mass migration which is occurring in Colombia. Who wouldn’t feel empathetic towards their plight? It would be inhumane not too. BUT, many ‘perceived’ refugees abuse/scam the system. To have a strong border / migration process you need to vet everyone. Child trafficking which is very common occurs to aid adults in the vetting process, however many children who are brought with adults are not in fact their children. They are of course circulated to add credibility. It’s horrific that people would do that. You are of course going to get some disturbing images leaked when you are dealing with one of the most stressful circumstances people could experience and that goes for all parties involved.
In Bogota recently a Venezuela child trafficking gang were recently caught for ‘renting’ out infant kids to other Venezuelans to aid them on the sidewalks when begging for change. Now if people are willing to go to the lengths of doing that, you imagine what they would do to resettle.
This constant focus by the left on Trump has to stop. It’s not serving anything continually disparaging him. The Left need to talk to their neighbours and not eat their own. I highly recommend this video by Bret Weinstein about Trump and what the left should be doing:
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m with Bret! (Tough situation in Venezuela/Columbia. My heart goes out to those kids.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
God will love him forever. And so will every good human in America.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on From 1 Blogger 2 Another.
LikeLike
So who will step up in the Democratic Party to succeed Elijah’s greatness?
LikeLike