By Doug Porter

Between Tea Party types seeking to bomb ObamaCare and neo-cons looking to bomb Syria it would seem our elected representatives have decided they’re just too busy to deal with immigration reform this year, according to today’s New York Times.

Although the Senate passed a bipartisan bill back in June and immigration reforms advocates had a successful summer campaign that included hundreds of visits to Congressional offices, rallies and town-hall style meetings, the Times story says “Republican angst about losing Hispanic voters in the 2012 presidential campaign has faded.”

The prospect of a delay is generating frustration among supporters of the legislation, who felt emboldened by a summer in which conservative opposition in House districts largely fizzled and immigrant groups seized the chance to lobby lawmakers on their home turf.

“We believe they can walk and chew gum at the same time,” said Eliseo Medina, who leads the immigration campaign for the Service Employees International Union, referring to members of Congress. “The more they delay, the worse it will be for them.”

Last week advocates for reform delivered 600,000 signatures on old-fashioned paper petitions to the Ohio offices of House Speaker John A. Boehner.  This past Sunday pleas for comprehensive immigration overhaul were heard from Catholic pulpits around the country.

The increased activism has yet to persuade House Republicans, despite the failure of nativist groups to generate any enthusiasm for a push back against immigration reform.

An August rally pushed by both the Tea Party Patriots and NumbersUSA featuring Steve King, an ‘anti-amnesty’ activist described in The Atlantic as “the firebrand Republican congressman who recently claimed most undocumented youth are physically fit drug mules,” drew only a few dozen participants and a lot of photographs showing the empty location in Richmond, VA.

Back to today’s account in the Times:

If the House does not take up the immigration issue until 2014, members will face the prospect of voting on a highly contentious issue in the middle of a Congressional election year.

Republican primaries will begin in the spring, and many lawmakers may be reluctant to overhaul the immigration system just before facing their conservative constituents. If Congress does not complete action early next year, Congressional aides said, the issue could be delayed until after the November elections.

Supporters of immigration reform are planning a national mobilization in early October, with gatherings in 40+ cities on Saturday October 5^thand a march in the national’s capital on October 8^th.

Here in San Diego the Oct. 5 rally is planned for 10am at 6^th & Laurel in Balboa Park. For more information visit the local Facebook page for the National Day for Dignity & Respect

From the People Who Brought You Rigged Polls in the Last Election…

UT-San Diego, the daily newspaper that went so far last fall as to rig a poll along with discounted ad rates for negative ads to gin up support for a Republican candidate, has proposed hosting a series of six debates for this fall’s mayoral primary.

This is the sort of “offer” is in keeping with right wing publisher Doug Manchester’s ongoing attempts to control the political narrative in San Diego.

You can be sure the questions will be tailored along the lines of whether or not the candidates support the publisher’s various schemes for our city.  I can envision Roger Hedgecock with probing inquiries like: “Do you favor a new Chargers stadium or do you beat your wife?- pick one”

From the Daily Fishwrap’s Sunday sermon:

The U-T San Diego ownership and its editorial board are proposing a series of six mayoral campaign debates before the Nov. 19 election. These debates would be co-sponsored by the U-T and a consortium of local universities and community groups. All would be televised, with varying formats and panelists. Key topics could include the candidates’ vision and leadership style, the $1 billion backlog in municipal infrastructure, implementing pension reform, revising the city charter, boosting the region’s economy, education and keeping the Chargers in San Diego. Each of the candidates who can demonstrate that they have a viable campaign will be invited to participate.

See any mention of neighborhood vs. downtown development, prevailing wages, bike infrastructure, or minority issues?  Nope. That’s why they want to host the debates.

After all, the city “was broken in important ways by the nine months of Filner”.  All those poor developers on street corners with plastic cups begging for spare change are all the proof the UT-San Diego needs.

Anti-War Demonstrations Oppose Strikes on Syria

President Obama’s going on a full-court press this week hoping to gain backing for a proposal for limited air and strikes against Syria in response to allegations that chemical weapons were used by the government in that country’s ongoing civil war.

There have been ongoing demonstrations and rallies around the country staged by people opposed to military intervention in Syria.

Here are three events in San Diego this week:

• Monday, Sept. 9, Noon at Diane Feinstein’s office in downtown San Diego, 750 B Street.
• Monday, Sept 9, 7pm, Intersection of Girard & Silverado Streets in La Jolla  More Info: c/o MoveOn
• Thursday, Sept 12, 4-6pm at the 6th Street overpass over Interstate 5. This is an ongoing event, to be held weekly until further notice sponsored by Veterans for Peace. For more info: Dave Patterson –760-207-9139

Mayoral Campaign Tweet of Note:

 There’s “true” and there’s “campaign true.” I was speaking to the latter.

— Parody Translator (@WhatKevinMeans) September 8, 2013

(This is from a parody account about candidate Kevin Faulconer)

A Russian Star is Born

America’s mighty righties have found themselves a new hero in the War Against Everything Obama. According to an article at MediaMatters.org, such luminaries as Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge, Fox News military analyst Ralph Peters and syndicated columnist Patrick Buchanan are all on the We Love (Russian President) Putin bandwagon.

Some of this love comes from a desperate need to find a right-wing basis to oppose US intervention in Syria.  But there’s more:

 The Putin admiration has been growing for weeks now. In August, when the leader helped cracked down on gays in Russia by banning the positive depiction of homosexuality as well as the adoption of Russian children by any foreign couples from countries with marriage equality, the American conservative media cheered the former KGB agent as a righteous champion.

Syndicated columnist Patrick Buchanan toasted Putin’s move and praised him for trying to restore Russia‘s “moral compass” by implementing anti-gay policies. (Limbaugh had previously praised Putin’s stance on gay adoption, conceding it was “ironic” for him to be agreeing with a Russian leader.)

At this rate, if Putin ever gets tired of running Russia he can always sign on as a Fox News contributor.

Conspiracy Theorists Note

I will be taking a much needed vacation starting Wednesday, September 11^th (coincidence?), and therefore this column will not be published for a week.

My absence is not being caused by either the downtown anti-Filner cabal OR the smug purveyors of “everybody knows” on Twitter.  Nor will I be attending brainwashing sessions at Daily Kos.

In reality I’ll be visiting family and attending a wedding.

If for some reason I should not return, it’s most likely because Iowa is granting permits to acquire or carry guns in public to people who are legally or completely blind.

You’ve been warned.

Check Out the SDFree Press Calendar

Thanks to the efforts of Brent Beltrán, the San Diego Free Press now has an on-line calendar of events. You can see events in the arts, performances and political gatherings of every persuasion by clicking on the ‘Calendar’ Tab at the top of the page. To get your event listed, drop us a line:  events@sandiegofreepress.org

On This Day: 1957 – The first civil rights bill to pass Congress since Reconstruction was signed into law by President Eisenhower. 1969 – Jimi Hendrix mad his television debut on “The Dick Cavett Show.”  1997 – Sinn Fein, the IRA’s political ally, formally renounced violence as it took its place in talks on Northern Ireland’s future.

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Doug Porter

Doug Porter was active in the early days of the alternative press in San Diego, contributing to the OB Liberator, the print version of the OB Rag, the San Diego Door, and the San Diego Street Journal. He went on to have a 35-year career in the Hospitality business and decided to go back into raising hell when he retired. He won numerous awards for his columns from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Doug is a cancer survivor (sans vocal chords) and lives in North Park.

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