Anderson@Large

What Would Jesus Do?

It’s come to this. President Bush can’t convince House Republicans to support the Senate's shamnesty bill (here and here) that would grant citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants. So, in his remarks at the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast, Bush played the Jesus card:

We have a great opportunity here in Washington to remember the traditions and history of the United States of America and to uplift that sense that America is a welcoming society, a country of law, but a country that also says if you work hard and dream big dreams, you can realize your dreams. And many of those who are in our country who are working hard to realize their dreams also rely upon a higher power to help them realize those dreams (emphasis added).

As Jesús sneaks across our border, he’s no doubt dreaming about “doing jobs Americans are not doing.”  But as Barry Chiswick points out in a New York Times op-ed piece:

Immigrants and low-skilled foreign workers in general are highly concentrated in a few states. The “big six” are California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Texas. Even within those states, immigrants and low-skilled foreign workers are concentrated in a few metropolitan areas — while there are many in New York City and Chicago, relatively few are in upstate New York or downstate Illinois.

Yet even in areas with few immigrants, grass is cut, groceries are bagged and hotel sheets are changed. Indeed, a large majority of low-skilled workers are native to the United States. A look at the 2000 census is instructive: among males age 25 to 64 years employed that year, of those with less than a high school diploma, 64 percent were born in the United States and 36 percent were foreign born.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Today is Brooklyn Day so I want to give a shoutout to my hometown, where there are actually lots of trees.

The borough is also the home of the Brooklyn Bridge, that iconic steel thingamajig that spans the East River.  You know, the bridge that terrorists were allegedly plotting to blow up (and here).

But perhaps the faceless bureaucrats in the Department of Homeland Security cannot see the bridge for all the trees. How else can one explain their bonehead decision that there are no national monuments and icons in New York City?

So, show us some love and send their hapless boss, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, a message: Get a clue.

Inconvenient Truths

It’s been 282 days since Hurricane Katrina blew tens of thousands of survivors from Alaska to Alabama.  But even as evacuees have resorted to breaking into their own homes (and here) to find permanent shelter after the storm, folks are asking: Are we ready for this year's storms?

One of the people asking that question is my good friend, Melanie L. Campbell, president and chief executive officer of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation. Later today at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, the National Coalition will convene a symposium on hurricane readiness.  A distinguished panel of experts will discuss lessons learned, and what needs to be done to better coordinate relief efforts at the federal, state and local levels.

Melanie is determined to get some answers:

The 2005 hurricane season was a wake-up call that emergency preparedness is a serious matter that all Americans not only need to be aware of, but, we also learned we need to be prepared to provide assistance to our communities. The National Coalition is committed to continue utilizing its historical role as an effective convener to engage and educate the public on issues impacting our society, including issues of emergency preparedness.

To RSVP, please click here.

Distance Runner

Well, that didn’t last. Less than a year ago, Maryland’s lieutenant governor said he wanted to be a "bridge of steel” between Democrats and Republicans. Now that polls show that would be a bridge to nowhere, Michael Steele apparently has changed direction.

The Washington Post reported that Steele was a no-show at a recent fundraiser, where Bush was the headliner. Jennifer Duffy of the Cook Political Report said:

It’s a lot harder to explain that you didn’t attend an event with the president because you were going to an event hosted by a senator from another state. I think you have to assume there is some element of him distancing himself not only from the president, but from the party.

Steele denies that he was running away from Bush:

I am very excited and very honored to have the support of my party leadership, to have the support of the president for my efforts to get to the United States Senate.

While it’s true that politics makes strange bedfellows, few would be “honored” to have the support of the worst president since 1945. That dubious honorific was bestowed on Bush in a recent national poll.

Maurice Carroll, Director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said:

Democrats just plain don’t like President Bush. His father, the 41st President, was voted out of the White House after one term. Nixon quit under fire. But most Democrats think Bush 43 wins the worst-president race.

And that's the plain truth.

Unholy Alliance

Though Iraq is in an uproar (and here) and Iran is threatening to disrupt oil supplies, President Bush will take time out of his schedule to renew his vow with the religious right.

Today’s Rose Garden ceremony will join together a desperate man and an alliance of Bible-thumpers in a push for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

But as CNN’s Jack Cafferty observed, for most Americans, same-sex marriage is the least of their concerns:

Guess what Monday is? Monday is the day President Bush will speak about an issue near and dear to his heart and the hearts of many conservatives. It's also the day before the Senate votes on the very same thing. Is it the war? Deficits? Health insurance? Immigration? Iran? North Korea?

Not even close. No, the president is going to talk about amending the Constitution in order to ban gay marriage. This is something that absolutely, positively has no chance of happening, nada, zippo, none. But that doesn't matter. Mr. Bush will take time to make a speech. The Senate will take time to talk and vote on it, because it's something that matters to the Republican base.

This is pure politics. It has nothing to do with whether or not you believe in gay marriage. It's blatant posturing by Republicans, who are increasingly desperate as the midterm elections approach. There's not a lot else to get people interested in voting on them, based on their record of the last five years.

But if you can appeal to the hatred, bigotry, or discrimination in some people, you might move them to the polls to vote against that big, bad gay married couple that one day might in down the street.

There are at least 2,475 reasons why these two should not be joined in an unholy alliance of pandering and intolerance.

Katrina Town Hall Meeting

Ready or not (and here), the 2006 hurricane season is underway.  Sadly, many Katrina survivors are still struggling to get back on their feet.  Earlier this week, thousands of survivors were told to pack up their stuff and go or face eviction.

As the world awaits the next episode of the Big Easy reality TV show (and here), activists remain committed to securing justice for displaced New Orleanians. To that end, the New York Solidarity Coalition will hold a town hall meeting, “Nothing About Us Without Us Is for Us.” Their goal:

We will join together to defend our claim and we will rebuild our home in the image of our dreams. Defend the rights of those who have been displaced: sustainable jobs, wages, housing, education and health.

The event will be held on Saturday, June 3 at Fordham University. For more info, click here.

I Love Music

There are only two kinds of music, good and bad.
-- Duke Ellington

June is the month during which I get to deduct a lot of my, um, research expenses. So for the next 30 days, I will go buck wild.

To be sure, I love good music but I live for the blues. If I clear my desk in time, I will follow the North Star (OK, hop on Amtrak) to Toronto for the Distillery Blues Festival.

I was last in Toronto in 1984 to visit my then-boyfriend. On my five-hour flight from San Francisco, I listened to one track, “Billie Jean,” nonstop. This time, I’ll take the train and my MP3 player will be blasting Etta James' "Stacked Deck" and other blues divas.

For a schedule of blues festivals, click here.