by

Comparing refugees and homeless veterans?

by Guest Blogger Dennis Higgins

All I have to say about the meme that “we shouldn’t help the refugees while there are still homeless veterans” bullshit:

1.) Apples and Oranges. As if they are going to defund the veteran homelessness initiatives to pay for the refugees. I mean, really, let’s use some critical thinking skills, people.homeless-veteran

2.) Thanks to the Obama Administration’s initiatives to end veteran homelessness, 27,000 veterans have found home. Some of them are my patients. Some of them are my classmates’ patients. These programs are real and they are working. The current estimates have a little under 50,000 homeless veterans on any given night in 2014. So, when Obama says his government has reduced veteran homelessness by 33%, the numbers back him up. I challenge you to find a modern president who can show that kind of success in reducing veteran homelessness.

3.) The party that forced Secretary McDonald to cut $1.4 Billion to the VA’s 2016 budget is the party that seems to want to perpetuate this idiotic meme and block refugees coming into the United States.

So, basically, if you perpetuate this homeless vets and refugees meme, you are perpetuating bullshit and just need to stop. You can hate on refugees for whatever reason. It’s your right as an American. BUT DO NOT COMPARE IT TO VETERAN HOMELESSNESS because you are wrong. Pure and simple.

 

Dennis Higgins is a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan who is currently a Doctoral Candidate in Clinical Psychology.

by

Editorial cartoon: The Republican reaction

Clay Bennett

by

I can’t even

It’s 2015.

And the leading candidates for the Republican nomination for President:

a. Have no political experience whatsoever (remember when they claimed Senator Obama wasn’t qualified for President because he had only been a “community organizer”?)trump

b. Are encouraging the kind of racism we thought all major politicians had run from since the 1960s

c. Are honestly claiming that perhaps we should make American Muslims have special IDs (perhaps maybe even a tattoo on their forearm?)

d. Proudly proclaim their hatred of science and spout out lies about everything from the economy to foreign policy when such lies are easily refuted

I mean, every time I thought that party could not stoop lower, I get surprised. It’s showing us the worst of America — the ugly, racist, stupid rich American that is the cliche of Americans in the rest of the world.  And the Republicans are embracing it.

A week or so ago, I wrote about how it is important for those with integrity to call out those in their group who are not — how good lawyers need to weed out the bad ones, how good cops have to not cover up the excesses of the bad cops, how good Muslims must speak out against the evil ones.

And the same is true of Republicans. But I don’t see it. Where are the Republican leaders distancing themselves from the terrible things Trump is saying?

I have friends who used to be Republicans who now have left the party because of crap like this. But maybe they should instead be staying and fighting, and speaking out against the GOP leadership that allows and encourages this.

Anyway, it’s depressing. It’s why I haven’t posted anything in a while. I can’t make fun of something so over-the-top it looks like a satire already, and even though part of me is saying “Good, this means they’re going to lose in 2016” another part of me grieves for the loss of responsible politics.

by

Editorial cartoon: Mission Accomplished

mission

Matt Bors

by

You don’t need to be a foreign policy expert to do the right thing about refugees

I’m no foreign policy expert.

And neither are you.

One of the problems I have when discussing what to do about terrorism is precisely that: I don’t know. I don’t have the information and intelligence that the experts have access to, I don’t study the subject completely, and, as I said a few days ago, I can see that whatever the solution is, it’s not going to be easy and simple.

And that’s why I get so frustrated with people who “know” what we should do.  Usually, it’s some variation of “Bomb them all” — which is what we have been doing. While some of it has been successful in removing important leaders, it also helps their recruitment and propaganda.

While I don’t know the best way to deal with this — even if there is a “best way” — I do know that turning away refugees is wrong.

safe_image

“Hey, when we say ‘never again’ we didn’t really mean it…”

I don’t need to be a foreign policy expert there. I just need to have a heart.

The refugees are the ones running away from these fanatics. Most of them are educated, had jobs, and will be productive members of society. They’re just running away from war.

The recent attacks in Paris were performed by people who had already been in the country. All the evidence points away from the recent refugees.

Let’s face it, if some terrorist wants to commit these acts, they will find a way. They always do. Turning away people who need our help who are willing to obey our laws won’t matter to the terrorists. The only people we harm by turning our backs on the refugees are the ones who legitimately need our help.

Yes, Saudi Arabia and other middle eastern countries should be helping these refugees. But they’re not, because they’re the Bad Guys. Let’s not lower ourselves to their level.

As someone named Oliver Willis recently posted: “If only we had a seasonally appropriate story about middle eastern people seeking refuge and being turned away by the heartless…”

 

 

by

Editorial cartoon: He does exist after all!

Jeff Parker

by

There is no easy solution

Look, there isn’t an easy answer. Stop trying to find one.

The more we attack ISIS, the more they get to recruit people by claiming we’re at war with Islam.isis-army-700x430

And if we don’t attack them, they’re just going to kill their own people and install their medieval ideas of religion on the area.

As human beings, we should accept the refugees running from such terror and help them.

However, some of them may be using this to gain entry to us and infiltrate from within.

If we target Muslims in our own country, not only are we doing exactly what they want, but we are going against everything we say we stand for.

There is no easy solution. “Bomb them all into oblivion” won’t work. “Ignore them” won’t work. “Outlaw Islam and round up all the Muslims” won’t work.

Anyone who argues for an easy “solution” should be ignored.

by

Editorial cartoon: Alternate Title

Clay Bennett

by

President refuses to blame Muslims

“Both Americans and Muslim friends and citizens, tax-paying citizens, and Muslims in nations were just appalled and could not believe what we saw on our TV screens,” said the President after this terrible attack.

“These acts of violence against innocents violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith. And it’s important for my fellow Americans to understand that.”paris-1-jpg20150109111431

The President continued on, once more refusing to blame Muslims, saying “The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don’t represent peace. They represent evil and war.”

Conservatives everywhere fumed, because he refused to lay the blame where it properly belongs: on the religion itself and the people who follow that religion. How dare the President not realize this!

Oh, wait. Hold on, my bad.

None of that happened.

Because these words aren’t from President Obama. They’re from President Bush, after the 9/11 attack.

Sorry. For some reason, I dunno, I thought maybe conservatives would be consistent in their views and not change them based simply on who was President.

Silly me.

by

Editorial cartoon: Freebies!

12140189_10153227622436167_7508000278137282563_o

Rob Tornoe