The Strauss-Kahn Case

I have admittedly not kept up on the Strauss-Kahn case for one reason, namely because there have been many scandals revealed lately from Arnold in California to Anthony Weiner that I just didn't feel like reading about another one including the head of the IMF.  While I don't know the details of the case, I have at least heard snippets here and there to garner enough information about it.  Just yesterday, as the case against Strauss-Kahn began to unravel as questions arose about the credibility of the alleged victim, I read an article which delves into the renewed anti-Americanism that is gushing from France.  Personally, the article ticked me off to hear the perception of the French about our society as a whole based upon one incident.  As soon as the case began to unravel, the French started to lambaste every facet of American society that was involved in the case, from the media, to the judicial system, to people's personal reactions.  Now in terms of the media, they have every right to be critical.  The media in the United States is full of blood thirsty, life sucking individuals who will exploit any news story to its very end, building a mountain out of a veritable molehill, and then dump that news and individual like a used diaper when it doesn't serve their purposes anymore.  In the French's assessment of our media, I agree for the most part.  However, when they start to ridicule our judicial system for its efficacy and apparent crudeness, I have a problem.  Personally, if the victim was legitimate and credible, then I would have wanted our police and judicial system to act exactly the way they did.  It seems the French are looking at the whole case as if Strauss-Kahn is this harmless, flawless individual who should be exempt from being treated like an ordinary human being simple because he is wealthy and powerful.  Don't get me wrong, it is horrible that he lost his job and got all this media attention, but if the case was legitimate, then people would be singing a different song. 

I think that the fact that the prosecutors are discovering the fallibility of the victim and deeming her as illegitimate speak to the fact that we do have an efficient judicial system, one in which the truth is searched for, discovered, and brought to light so as to either exonerate an innocent person or convict a guilty one.   The French are claiming that we have a system that promotes guilt before innocence, yet regardless of innocence or guilt, with a foreign individual accused of rape and other acts and deeds, it makes perfect sense to detain that person till the truth is found out.  How was anyone to know when the news first broke that the hotel maid was spinning a tall tale?  One must go on the facts at hand and proceed from there.  If in the process, an accused person is found innocent, then they will be let go as it seems Strauss-Kahn will be let go if things proceed as they are.   Therefore, I personally find fault in the accusations of the French about our judicial system and the way it operates.  On top of that, for them to assume that every American prescribes to the same ideals put forth by the media is absurd and unfounded.  Their view would be akin to me saying that all French are racists for not allowing Muslim women to cover their faces.  It just doesn't make sense, flies against reason, and erodes any sense of camaraderie that may have been felt between our two countries. 

Lastly, there was one little piece in the article that talked about the death penalty and how it paints our society as barbaric and crude.  The death penalty has nothing to do with the Strauss-Kahn case and is therefore just another excuse for the French to dredge up more items they don't like about Americans to lambaste us.  I have news for the French, not every American agrees with the death penalty and supports it.  I for one do not and will never support the death penalty.  Is it archaic and pointless?  Yes, and I do hope we one day rid ourselves of the death penalty, but at this point, it is what it is.  Maybe instead of pointing out all our flaws as they see it, the French should worry a little more about their own situation, their economy, and the issues in their country.  If all goes as it is right now, their beloved Strauss-Kahn will be found innocent and be allowed to leave, go back to his home country to welcoming open arms, and hopefully we will be able to move on from this incident.  I have said before and I will say it again, the United States is not perfect as no country is perfect.  Every society and nation has its flaws and every nation has its benefits.  Let us not pick at the nitty gritty, exploiting it to our own ends, but lets try and look past it to the human aspect that is at the heart of every nation and society, the individual who makes up part of the whole and adds to the uniqueness and variety that a given country has.   Maybe by relating to one another on a personal level we can get past these "anti-American" and "anti-French" sentiments and start to solve the bigger problems that we are all facing in this world. 

What to do about Immigration?

Immigration laws in the United States need to be revisited, updated, and re-evaluated based upon our current economic climate.  This re-working of immigration laws must be done at the national level, not left for individual states to decide upon and invoke their own laws based upon certain local conditions.  Most people have heard about the controversial immigration laws in Arizona which essentially amount to creating an atmosphere of fear for anyone with skin color other than white or black.  Documentation must be presented upon request, racial profiling is allowed for police officers, and unwarranted searches can be conducted.  Well, similar laws have been passed in Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama.  The laws are essentially the same, give or take a few caveats depending upon which state you look at.  Perhaps the worst is Alabama which requires every potential student to provide verified documents proving their legitimate citizenship in this country.  Any student and family without proper documents must be reported to the state capitol and be dealt with later.  Students can not be turned away based upon their citizenship, but they will be reported and potentially removed from this country along with their family.  My question about all of this is, when has our country turned into this vast anti-immigration machine that seeks shut down our borders to some people, but keep them open to others, regardless of whether or not potential immigrants arrive here legally?

Our country was founded by immigrants and since its birth, celebrated today, July 4th, has been a bastion of freedom and hope for all those abroad who wish to lead a better life.  Immigration has made this country the melting pot that it is, the unique exception where people from any walk of life can live without fear of reprisal or condemnation based upon their skin color or race.   These new laws being created at the state level seek to eliminate a portion of that melting pot, eliminating that sense of freedom felt for so many years by so many different people.  Regardless of whether or not these immigrants are here legally, they should all have a chance to integrate into our system and create for themselves a life of their own choosing.  Take for example the life of Jose Antonio Vargas, a successful journalist here in the United States.  A few weeks ago, he came clean in an article in the NYTimes Magazine in which he shared his story about being an undocumented immigrant.  He came over at the age of 12 in 1993 and since then has been educated through college in our system and has worked for a variety of different newspapers as a journalist.  Today, he is still technically an undocumented immigrant who can not leave this country because he does not have a passport or valid ID and must live in fear of being discovered and deported.  The main reason that he did as well as he did was because he found individuals who were willing and able to support his goals of becoming a journalist and help him navigate through the country as an undocumented immigrant.  What potential would we be eliminating if we removed the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently residing in this country.  Most of the undocumented immigrants in this country do the work that the majority of us don't want to do; work in the fields picking fruits and vegetables, cleaning dishes in the kitchens of restaurants, handling our trash, etc. 

If you ask me, it would make much more sense given the United States' current economic situation to legalize this immigrants and incorporate them into our tax system.  If they work in this country, then make them pay taxes.  Most of the time, these immigrants aren't causing trouble and assist us with work.  By imposing laws seeking to alienate these immigrants, then we are eliminating the melting pot ideal that is American society.  We are ostracizing them and forcing them to live under the radar, creating their own subculture.  If we could only find it within ourselves to allow them to legally integrate into our society, we would be adding new blood to our melting pot, creating more diversity and potentially adding valuable intellect to our system.  Some critics may claim that they are a drain on the system and are taking away jobs from legal Americans.  Well, they are only a drain on the system because we do not allow them to become part of the system and pay into it and in terms of jobs, we can complain all we want, but until a college graduate who is unable to find work starts picking fruits and vegetables in the field for money, we have no right to speak.  We can only benefit from integrating these people into our society.  Instead of spending more or our money to weed them out a deport them, lets spend less and welcome them in. 

I guess the ultimate question posed by critics would be; when does it end?  It ends when we run out of room.  We need to look hard at the economics of immigration.  Immigration is in part what feeds our country and adds to our uniqueness.  Our country is supposed to be a symbol of freedom, hope, and liberty.  If we cut people off, close our borders, and sequester ourselves, then what does our symbol mean anymore.  We can complain all we want about these immigrants' culture and the ideals they bring with them, but at one point or another, all of our ancestors were immigrants and brought their own cultural norms and ideals with them.  We need to look back at what ideals our country was founded on and get back to the basics.  Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Isn't that what we all want?  Isn't that what these immigrants want?  Let them strive for the American dream, whatever it means to them.  The moment we start to deprive certain individuals or groups of the American dream is the moment that we start to become unAmerican.  People can criticize us all they want, but not system or country is perfect and neither are we.  What we can strive for though is perfection and if we strive for perfection, although we may not attain it, we will end up with something truly amazing.  Let us celebrate today our independence, our freedom, and the American dream that every citizen in the United States strives for. 

Egypt, Revisited

Its been more than 6 months since the uprising and protests first started in Egypt and it seems like little progress has been made.  In the aftermath of the revolution, there have been some tumultuous times as is expected whenever a country radically changes direction, but when will it end?  In the late spring, there were some clashes between Muslims and Coptic Christians and just over the last few days, there was some heated interactions between the general public and the police.  The root cause of the latest clash is debatable with each group claiming a different cause.  It seems that in general, the public is frustrated that nothing is happening.  Everything has been pretty much simmering since Mubarak was ousted and seemingly little progress has been made in formulating a new government for the people.  From the public's point of view, it is the military that is now the obstacle.  In the wake of Mubarak, the military stepped in to run the country and control things, but months later, the public is ready to move forward when the military is apparently ready to stay put.  Emergency law is still in place and while there is much more freedom to be had, jobs and money are still scarce and the economy is severely stagnating.  So how does a country that has been stifled for 30 years re-create itself?  Not easily. 

Many of the underlying problems still abound; corruption for one is still present, and there is still great distrust simmering in the shadows.  After 30 years of dealing with an overtly controlling government, old habits die hard and it will still take some time to move forward and institute reforms and meaningful agendas to lift the country out of its current doldrums.  The first move in my mind that needs to be made is to remove the military from its current position of running the government and in essence the country.  The people will not be satisfied until they have a civilian in power with the military there only to offer security against foreign threats.  In order to get a civilian into power however, there needs to be greater communication amongst all to formulate a plan to institute elections and create a common list of goals that will be recognized by the newly elected official.  Currently it seems as if the list of grievances that needs to be addressed is staggering and is one of the biggest obstacles to moving forward.  What needs to happen is to whittle down that list to the underlying issues and start with those realizing that in conquering the biggest problems, the little ones will be taken care of along the way.  So what are the biggest issues?   From what I can garner from the media and reports, the biggest issues are unemployment, corruption, the decimated economy, and the current vacuum of power that is filled by the military. 

So how should these concerns be addressed?  Well, in my mind, the logical thing to do would be to set a date for elections and come up with candidates that the public can vote on.  That date should be set for 2-3 months down the road so that the country doesn't sink farther into despair.   Whoever is elected should have an initial limit of time that they can be in power, I would say 2 years is best to begin with.  With a 2 year limit, it gives the public security in knowing that if they do not like how things are going, they can elect someone different sooner rather than later.  After the initial 2 year limit, I would raise it to four or whatever the people deem is responsible and necessary.   Once that person steps into office, the first and most important issue that needs to be addressed is the corruption that is still rampant.  Without addressing corruption, any effort to boost the economy and thus job growth will be in vain.  I personally do not know what steps should be taken to address the corruption, I only know that if things are going to improve, it is a major obstacle that needs to be removed somehow.  Finally, after Egypt has a civilian in power and corruption under control, work can start to happen on re-invigorating the economy and formulating an official plan for the future. 

Any transition in power, especially at the country level, is going to be hard and take time.   It will take courage and the effort of everyone to change mindsets and adapt to a new way of life.  The 30 year stranglehold on Egyptian society is over, but the psychological remnants remain and will for some time.  You can't just take 30 years of life and flip it like a dime.  I am confident that the people of Egypt will formulate a plan to move forward and see it through.   All that they need to realize is that they need to do it themselves.  For 30 years, they were told what to do and how to do it, now it is time for them to step out on their own and do it for themselves, a very hard thing to do when everything used to be done for you.  If you look at the timeline, though, its only been 6 months, albeit a long 6 months, but in the overall scheme of things it is a drop in the bucket.  For Egyptians, it is time to get down to work and step into the public arena and work for what they want to see happen.