The mean-spirited attitude infecting America is hurting America. This mean-spirited hate that’s running through this country is having a negative impact on what’s really important.
Mardi Gras has just ended in New Orleans and the crawfish season is beginning. But there’s a problem - a BIG problem. There are not enough migrant workers to peel the meat from the crawfish tails and that could create a problem for the crawfish industry that provides crawfish tails for countless dishes that have crawfish tails as the main ingredient.
The current administration’s efforts to keep certain people out of America and the fear-tactics ICE agents are using to rid the country of illegal migrants are making migrant workers afraid to come to America.
Mike Strain, head of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, says, “Any American is offered these jobs first. Only then can guest workers be hired. And these are not low-paying jobs. They make $15-$18 an hour.” Strain points out that when transportation and housing are included the pay rises to $25 an hour. The crawfish industry “would gladly hire Americans, but there just aren’t enough of them that will actually do the work,” Strain added.
Many Americans have been convinced by right-wing media that migrants are stealing jobs from Americans, but the facts indicate that there are a lot of Americans who refuse to do the work, even if the pay is decent. The truth is that America needs migrants and the administration is making them afraid to get a visa and come to America.
The fear-mongering over immigration has created a problem for us right here in Louisiana. But there are other examples of how hate is impacting an understanding of what’s best for America.
A guest on Newsmax - (okay, it is a guest on Newsmax, which is a right-wing media echo chamber) - wants America to start vetting Olympic athletes for their political views before they are allowed to represent the United States in the Olympics. That may sound, “Rah Rah America is Great!,” but it’s a jaded view poisoned by political bias.
A few Olympic athletes have voiced negative opinions about the president and Olympic freestyle skier, Hunter Hess, said that wearing the American flag does not mean he supports everything happening in the United States. He supports many things, but disagrees with certain things happening in the U.S. I think it’s fair for a U.S. athlete to make that comment. Think about the conservative U.S. athletes who agree with the administration, but disagree with Democrats?
On the world stage where so many athletes from other nations are forbidden to speak freely, witnessing an American speak freely is a great promotion for American values and it’s a great promotion for freedom of speech.
FoxNews.com has featured Olympic athletes that have vocally supported the Trump Administration. The conservative platform is supporting the idea of bringing politics into the Olympics. How is that different from an athlete expressing other political views? There is NO difference - unless you want to promote the United States as a nation where freedoms are no longer allowed?
If this country started vetting athletes based on their political views, our country would be defying The Constitution and eliminating some of the best athletes. If that happens we can expect to get our ass kicked in many Olympic events.
The mean-spirited thinking toward migrants, who are willing to do jobs Americans are NOT willing to do, and the bias-motivated rejection of freedom of speech, are making America substandard. How can this be part of Make America Great Again?