"To the left, to the left!"

Words.

"With 14 million Americans out of work, you would think somebody could answer the desperation call from farmers offering to pay $150 to anyone willing to pick fruit in the orchards of Washington State. But no, the apples hang at peak ripeness, a near-record crop, and the jobs go begging, despite radio ads and an appeal by Governor Christine Gregoire to the other Washington for help.

One thing the United States still does better than most countries is grow food. But one thing it now does worse than others is govern to solve problems. And so, the apples rot, businesses are crippled, and dreams of fresh life in a new country are dashed. This dystopian status quo exists because the simple-minded who control one of the major political parties have shut down all adult talk on the subject of immigration.

...This country has long been known for the words of the Emma Lazarus sonnet at the base of the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” That line should bring tears to any descendant of an immigrant, which is to say most Americans. But some Republicans apparently want to replace that motto with: Kill the Mexicans.

...More telling — and truly chilling — is the fact that the audience at the Tea-Party-sponsored Cain speech on Saturday cheered when he initially promised to electrocute Mexicans. “The fence is going to be electrified, and there is going to be a sign on the other side that says, ‘It will kill you.’”

Now, substitute Irish for Mexicans and imagine the reaction. You simply could never say such a thing. But Latinos — they can be routinely dehumanized to appease the black-hearted base of the Republican Party. It’s not hard to see how talk of killing Mexicans, for what is a misdemeanor offense, is such a dis to many of the 50 million Americans who are Latino — the largest ethnic group in the country.

...Meanwhile, jobs go begging: in Alabama, which passed the nation’s harshest anti-immigrant law; in Georgia, where the governor suggested using convicts to work in the fields after 11,000 jobs went unfilled; and in the orchards of Washington, where the flow to the far north has diminished mainly because of the recession.

...The problem, through good times and bad, is that there are millions of jobs that Americans will not do. The solution, some combination of path to citizenship with guest worker programs, should be within the grasp of the better political minds.

But tepid Democrats are afraid of doing anything. And some Republicans want a death fence, and will go after anyone who has an illegal on his lawn. It’s the great disconnect — yet another reason why so many Americans have a higher regard for a single-celled protozoan than a politician working the stump."

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Migrants from Sanity