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Jorge Ramos Shines Light on Immigration Issues

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But first, two definitions….

Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power.

Civil discourse is engagement in discourse (conversation) intended to enhance understanding.

It’s important to understand these two terms… both the differences and similarities among them.  And the fact that sometimes, an encounter can have elements of both.

Such is the case for recent encounter between veteran bilingual journalist Jorge Ramos and 2016 Presidential hopeful Donald Trump.  Here’s a recap via Fusion TV…

For Mr. Trump and his accompanying echo chambers, Ramos’ actions were “absolutely out of line“.  Which I guess means we’re to assume that Trump’s full-scale Twitter attack against Fox News reporter Megyn Kelly is somehow acceptable and appropriate??

But let’s be clear about what happened.  Whether you consider Ramos’ actions to be more in the civil discourse camp, or the civil disobedience camp, that doesn’t change the fact that the reporter achieved his desired result.  In front of the national news media, he was successfully able to not only press Trump on Immigration, but also put the issue at the forefront of America’s political discussion once again.  He did so in the highest form of civil discourse… journalism.

The confrontation was similar to recent tactics employed by the Black Lives Matter movement and the DREAM Action Coalition. Individuals in these organizations may not be as well known as Ramos, but when given the opportunity, they have successfully brought their issues of concern to light, and in many cases, achieved important progress.

In November 2016 and the whole process leading up to it, Americans are being asked to make one of the most important decisions that we will ever make.  In the course of making that decision, all Americans have the right to question those seeking the office, and engage in civil discourse around issues that concern our lives.  Jorge Ramos was not out of line with Donald Trump… he was doing his job and representing the concerns of millions of Americans who want answers to those very questions.  Just as he has done with President Obama at many points in his Presidency, Speaker of the House John Boehner and even Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, Ramos continues to press Federal leaders on why they  have not yet achieved comprehensive Immigration Reform after years of promises to do so from both Democrats and Republicans.

After decades in the supposedly cut-throat world of big business, Mr. Trump sure seems to have difficulty with some of the most basic levels of civil discourse.  Jorge Ramos deserves high commendation for staying committed to the cause, and for being consistent with candidates of various political stripes.  The current Republican front-runner can say all he wants about the “temporary inconvenience” caused to his campaign.

But here’s a newsflash for Donald Trump… the truth ain’t always convenient.

Dos Centavos has more.

 

Jorge Ramos

Photo credit:  CNN Money

Politics, Texas Politics

Finally: President Obama Issues Substantive Immigration Action

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If you are a Texan, chances are good that you have met someone who is, knows or is directly related to an undocumented immigrant living in the United States.  16.6 million families in the United States are of  “mixed status” — households where American Citizens and undocumented persons live under the same roof.  As such, President Obama’s Immigration Accountability Executive Actions, announced tonight, will have a massive effect on the Lone Star State.

On this historic night, here are the basics, directly from a White House Press coordination..

The President’s Immigration Accountability Executive Actions will help secure the border, hold nearly 5 million undocumented immigrants accountable, and ensure that everyone plays by the same rules.  Acting within his legal authority, the President is taking an important step to fix our broken immigration system.
These executive actions crack down on illegal immigration at the border, prioritize deporting felons not families, and require certain undocumented immigrants to pass a criminal background check and pay their fair share of taxes as they register to temporarily stay in the U.S. without fear of deportation.

These are common sense steps, but only Congress can finish the job. As the President acts, he’ll continue to work with Congress on a comprehensive, bipartisan bill—like the one passed by the Senate more than a year ago—that can replace these actions and fix the whole system.
Three critical elements of the President’s executive actions are:
Cracking Down on Illegal Immigration at the Border:  The President’s actions increase the chances that anyone attempting to cross the border illegally will be caught and sent back.  Continuing the surge of resources that effectively reduced the number of unaccompanied children crossing the border illegally this summer, the President’s actions will also centralize border security command-and-control to continue to crack down on illegal immigration.

Deporting Felons, Not Families: The President’s actions focus on the deportation of people who threaten national security and public safety. He has directed immigration enforcement to place anyone suspected of terrorism, violent criminals, gang members, and recent border crossers at the top of the deportation priority list.
 Accountability – Criminal Background Checks and Taxes:  The President is also acting to hold accountable those undocumented immigrants who have lived in the US for more than five years and are parents of U.S. citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents.  By registering and passing criminal and national security background checks, millions of undocumented immigrants will start paying their fair share of taxes and temporarily stay in the U.S. without fear of deportation for three years at a time.

As listed above, these executive actions are not the commands of a king, or the harsh over-extensions of a power-hungry dictator.  They are common-sense reforms that honor the law of the United States, while recognizing the reality of those living within our borders.  Your neighbors, your classmates, your friends and your community members are the ones that will directly affected.

But even if you are not someone related to an undocumented person, the President’s actions help you as well.  Here’s why…

A known community is a safer community.  People that live in fear of deportation also live in fear of the law, and of public actions in general.  Imagine that you are someone who is mugged, and the only witness is an undocumented person.  Would they be willing to go with you to the police station to identify your attacker?  Or someone in a traffic accident… what’s the likelihood that the person who hit you is going to drive off and never be seen again?  These are real issues that everyone in today’s society deals with.  Our law enforcement will now be able to do their jobs better because more people in our communities can be true eyes and ears for bad actors.

A known community is a more prosperous community.  Bringing people out of the shadows decimate the black markets they are forced to rely upon for goods and services.  Their money, and their tax dollars enters the books, and provides more direct contributions to our schools, cities and states.  Legal working abilities also decimate the severe wage theft that many undocumented persons experience, but are too afraid to discuss.

There will be much more to assess in the coming days.  But for tonight, millions of people across this country can rest easier and get ready for a new chapter in their lives.

The venerable Dos Centavos has more.

 

 

Politics

Rep. Steve King Confronted by DREAMers, Caught on Tape

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Tough to even put this one into words, but here’s the story from Talking Points Memo…

Things got dicey Monday night when two immigration activists confronted Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Rep. Steve King (R-IA) at a fundraiser in Okobiji, Iowa.

Erika Andiola and Cesar Vargas, both members of the Dream Action Coalition, shook hands with the two lawmakers and introduced themselves as beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program — a program King pushed to end through legislation in the House. Paul was quickly whisked away from the table by an aide and even left his food behind as Andiola handed her DACA card to King and offered to let him rip it up.

The Dream Action Coalition posted video of the confrontation to YouTube.

“Stop a minute,” King said as he grabbed Andiola’s wrist. “You’re very good at English. You know what I’m saying.”

“I was raised in the United States,” Andiola said.

King continued to insist that Andiola was misunderstanding him.

“I spoke of drug smugglers. Now, you’re not going to tell me you’re one of them are you?” he asked.

“Do I look like a drug smuggler to you?” she said.

Don’t worry if you missed Senator Rand Paul, or were waiting for him to weigh in on the conversation… he was only there long enough to take one bite of his sandwich, and the second he heard Andiola say the word “DREAMer” he bolted like he stole something.  Talk about a display of Presidential leadership!!

So he leaves Representative King to represent Congressional Republican opinion on the issue, and boy does he.  And that’s part of the problem with this exchange… King isn’t some Joe Blow protester holding up signs at the Capitol.  He carries the responsibility of KNOWING these issues inside and out for the 700,000 constituents we PAY him to represent.  This guy here, telling Andiola that she “speaks good English” and completely ignoring her when she said her mom left her native country originally to flee violence, is on the taxpayer payrolls making $175,000 dollars per year.  If he can’t have a more informed opinion on these sensitive issues, who can?

As ugly as the Congressman’s comments are, at least we have now heard them.  Kudos to Erika Andiola and Cesar Vargas for having the courage to confront these lawmakers, and to the DREAM Action Coalition for posting the video and exposing Steve King’s views to the world.  Hopefully the outcry over things like this will bolster President Obama’s urgency for an Executive Order.  If the President is waiting for people like King to “come around” on Immigration reform (and ripping families apart in the process just to prove he can enforce current law), it ain’t gonna happen.  Republicans have proven once again that they will not behave responsibly on these (or any other) issues, at least not in 2014. Time to act, Mr. President.

Politics, Texas Politics

‘Obama’s Katrina’? No, But…

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A true crisis just the same.

If you’ve watched any American news outlet in the last 48 hours, you are probably aware that President Obama will be in the Lone Star State today for a very brief trip… appearing at two separate Democratic fundraisers.  The timing simply couldn’t be worse for the Commander-In-Chief, as things on the Texas Border seem to be anything but in command.  The Right-wing media has been hugely successful in exploiting the tough situation, as evidence on Neil Cavuto’s Fox News program…

QUESTION: You say there’s an urgent humanitarian situation. Are you not at all concerned about the optics that the president can fly to Texas to raise political money, but he can’t go see this urgent humanitarian situation?

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We’re not worried about those optics, George, and that’s simply because the president is very aware of the situation that exists on the Southwest border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: Very aware, so he doesn’t need to see the border for himself.

That isn’t exactly flying with Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar from the fine state of Texas. He says the president is one step behind on this mess.

The congressman now joins me on the phone.

So, Congressman, by that, I take it you — you mean he should be seeing the border?

REP. HENRY CUELLAR, D-TEXAS: Well, I hope this doesn’t become President Obama’s Katrina moment.

I’m sure that President Bush thought the same thing, that he could just look at everything from up in the sky, and then he owned it after — for a long time. So, I hope this doesn’t become the Katrina moment for President Obama, saying that he doesn’t need to come to border.

He should come down. Not only Governor Perry has asked him to come down, but I know my colleagues Filemon Vela and Ruben Hinojosa invited him to come down. And I certainly would ask him to come in, even though I still think he is still one step behind.

But he should come down to the border to see exactly what is happening.

Will the current border crisis become Obama’s ‘Katrina moment’??  The simple answer is no.  These children aren’t being cared for in a way that is acceptable, but at least they are alive, and someone from our country is looking after them.  Millions of people starved, and thousands died during Hurricane Katrina due to poor planning of the Federal Disaster apparatus.

Even if it won’t be a Katrina moment as Congressman Cuellar so irresponsibly suggests, it’s still a crisis… one of the longest-running humanitarian crises in U.S. history.  We should not downplay how serious these issues are, nor should we try and use them to score political points that way Rick Perry and Congressional Republicans are doing.  Instead of securing the border with faux militias that are nothing more than trigger-happy domestic terrorists, we should be ‘securing the border’ by making it a refuge for children and families in dire need.  The legality of why they are here can be sorted out later, but the first thing we do as a country is to provide safety, in every case.  Each one of these families has an entirely different situation, and the only way to do justice here is to talk to them all and find out why there are here, then take the appropriate legal action.

Does it ‘look bad’ for the President to be coming to Texas for fundraisers, and not taking time to personally view the situation in South Texas?  On that point I have to agree with Republicans… yes it does.  A better outcome would be for Obama to change his schedule and see what’s going on first hand.  But unlike the GOP, Obama is at least willing to DO something about the crisis and about immigration reform.  They are the ones that have blocked legislation at every turn.  They are the ones that are protesting children in buses and crying for no amnesty.  If not for Republican obstruction, Comprehensive Immigration Reform would already be law in the United States.  All of these people that are demanding the optics of seeing the President on the border, when are you going to help him actually DO something on the border?  The White House has already asked Congress for $3.7 billion dollars of aid for the region.  If Congress agrees that we should send the money, then they need to pass a law.  If they disagree and think there is a better solution, then they need to speak up and put that solution on the table.

 

Politics, Texas Politics

The Immigration Fight: Protesting Children??

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For those that were around an American television in the year 2000, it’s quite possible you remember the name Elian Gonzalez… a little boy from Cuba that was the center of a massive international custody fight.  He originally came to the US by boat and his mother actually died en route to get to Florida.  When the six year-old Elian arrived here, he was greeted by a group of angry protesters that told him to turn around and go back to where he came from.

If you remember the story, you’ll also remember that the above is incorrect.  Because Elian was from Cuba (and yes, in part because his story made national news), he was not treated the way that so many undocumented people entering the United States have been treated.  Instead, the United States treated him as a refugee from the malicious Cuban government, and he was taken to family members in Florida.  Elian resided in the country all the way through a vicious court battle which eventually had him sent back to his native land (In case you’re curious, Elian Gonzalez is now all grown up and a faithful devotee of Fidel Castro).

This illustrates one sad truth of the United States immigration system… it’s completely unfair.  Elian, like many undocumented Cubans that have ventured to this country before him, was deemed a refugee thanks to the shaky relations between the two governments.  He was not locked away in a holding cell, and he was not met by screams from protesters.    But for the undocumented children on U.S. soil today, that’s exactly what they have faced.  As Houston Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee said this weekend, we should not be berating people simply trying to flee from danger.  Here’s more from the Houston Chronicle…

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee on Sunday called upon charitable and faith organizations to help the tens of thousands of unaccompanied Central American children who are pouring across the Texas border.

The Houston Democrat said a federal emergency should be declared to handle what she called a humanitarian crisis.

“These unaccompanied children are not America’s enemy,” said Jackson Lee, who spent three days touring detention centers turned into makeshift shelters that are overflowing with children in the Rio Grande Valley.

[…]

“It would not be humane to put these children on planes and buses to ship them back. They could be killed by the cartels and gangs at home. They are not a security threat to us,” Jackson Lee said. “What mother would not send their children here if they were told they had to join the gang or be shot to death?”

The congresswoman told of seeing “frightened children who just want to be comforted” at the shelters, stressing America has always received those who fled persecution.

Her comments come against a backdrop of rising tension this week in places like Murrieta, Calif., where protesters turned away three busloads of immigrants that rolled into their town. Efforts to set up a detention center there were thwarted, and the undocumented immigrants were relocated to San Diego.

As Jackson Lee states, this is a humanitarian crisis, not a national security threat.  Many of these children and families are fleeing unspeakable crimes in their homeland, including massive gang violence, murder and rape.

In a recent article, Diane Washington Valdez of the El Paso Times reported just how pervasive child sex trafficking is in the neighboring city of Juarez, Mexico…

Juárez is one of the Mexican cities where child-sex tourism persists, according to a U.S. State Department report on international human trafficking released Friday in Washington, D.C.

“Child sex tourism persists in Mexico, especially in tourist areas such as Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, and Cancun, and in northern border cities such as Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez,” the report said. “Many child sex tourists are from the United States, Canada, and Western Europe, though some are Mexican citizens.”

John Martin, director of Paso Del Norte Center of Hope, which assists human and sex-trafficking victims, said he’s learned from researchers that Anapra is one of four areas in the Juárez region where sex with children is available.

“Reportedly, people can get sex with a child for $5,” Martin said.

For all of those angry protesters demanding children go back to where they came from, are they also ok with them being sold into slavery or used as pawns for a gangland war? Do they want them sent back, even if it means a death sentence??

To those that complain about how the United States cannot afford to care for people fleeing imminent danger, they should also be asking how we can afford tax give-aways to massive corporations, or how we can afford to spend trillions of dollars nation building in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Protecting the lives of people within our borders, documented or not, should be a priority over trying to “force Americanization” of places not even in the same hemisphere.

And therein lies another inherent problem with the immigration fight… some that are against comprehensive immigration reform don’t feel that certain lives warrant the same need for protection as others.   Here’s what Bud Kennedy of the Ft. Worth Star Telegram had to say regarding a right-wing Facebook page…

 if you read the “Protect” delegates’ convention Facebook page, they reprinted this Thursday from a California restrictionist group protesting at Murrieta, Calif.:

“Americans are not breeding while ‘the bronze master race is.’ … We will die out and they will win.”

There you have it. A major Texas Republican faction that just successfully rewrote the platform is publishing warnings about Central American child detainees arriving as part of an “agenda” for a “bronze master race.”

It’s not about legal or illegal.  It’s about bronze.

The Protect page has 932 followers, including several Tarrant County Republican precinct chairs and party officers. It does not identify an author, editor or administrator.

According to the Protect Texas page, at least some of those protesting the children in Murrieta are concerned about much more than just what papers they possess.  Sounds familiar to a previous post discussing the unspoken fears that many on the right have about America’s future. At least they used to be unspoken.

No matter what one’s political views, we should all feel ashamed that innocent children would be treated with such disdain.  Whether they have 50 press cameras on them like Elian or zero, these children are in need right now, and the least we can do is help them.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/07/05/5950561/on-child-bashing-republican-facebook.html?storylink=addthis#.U7hy2dxjdW4.twitter&rh=1#storylink=cpy

 

 

(photo credit:  KTLA)

Houston Politics

Immigration Reform from the GOP Side

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As returning readers know, Texas Leftist is a site that makes no issue with having a Left-leaning perspective (as though the name was not sufficient enough to decipher that). But even with that acknowledgement, there are many issues that are simply too big to confine to a singular point of view. I also believe that whatever one’s personal viewpoint, it is important to continue conversation with the other side of the political spectrum.

Given all of these things, I was very pleased to be invited to a recent special event. Last month, the Houston chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans hosted an immigration forum for their members. The forum panelists were Tony Garza from the Republican Hispanic Citizens in Action, and Marcus Pena from the Federation of Hispanic Republicans. The forum’s moderator was Christopher Busby, Vice President of Houston LCR. Finally, I had an opportunity to not substitute a left-leaning narrative for the GOP’s opinion on this issue, but hear from real members of the party themselves.

Of course some very quick background… this is the Log Cabin Republicans, one of the branches of the party that believes in full LGBT equality. And this was a small event, held in conjunction with their monthly meeting. No Rick Perry, Ted Cruz or any other “big wig” in attendance here.

Nevertheless, what the group may have lacked in size, they did make up for in substance. The panelists seemed quite knowledgeable about the issues facing the Republican Party no matter what legislation was ultimately achieved. Though there was a lot of “party-line narrative”… talking about how Democrats are doing everything wrong, and don’t believe in solving the issues, a couple of truths were able to be revealed.

The first question was regarding border security…
Given all the discussion around various methods, costs, etc. to secure the border, do you feel that such provisions are feasible and a good component of the legislation?
Pena: As for my organization, we believe that our primary objective is to secure the border. And those that are here illegally… have them pay fines and back taxes for 10 years or whatever necessary. But another issue? The federal government takes forever to process immigration paperwork. They can process our income taxes quickly and passports within a month, immigration is a 10 to 15- year process. Those here illegally must go back to the line, but there’s got to be a way to speed up the process for those who have done everything right.
Garza: it’s important that we establish a path to citizenship for people that are already here, however stringent and however long it takes. The border goals are important, but we have to get this process moving. Once they become… well, not “legal” but recognized members of our communities, we can provide a way for them to stay in the country, pay taxes and not live in constant fear of being arrested and deported.
In dealing with those undocumented persons, do you support the expansion of the guest worker program? 
Pena: Guest workers have to be accounted for, and should not be allowed to overstay their visas. I believe that we should expand the guest worker program, but be more aggressive with visa monitoring and enforcement.
Garza: the guest worker program is not working now, and would be even worse if we were to expand it. In many cases, work VISAs are used as a discriminatory tool… Why is it that some people who overstay and are discovered are simply offered extensions (typically the upperclass), while others get sent to detention camps or are deported? If we expand this system, where would it lead? Privatization of VISA enforcement? Bounty hunters? It’s a bad system overall.
If CIR passes, how will it affect GOP politics? Do you think it’s going to help the Democrats, help the GOP, or would it be a wash? 
Pena: I think it would be a huge help to the Republican Party, as long as we demand border security. It sends a message to voters that Republicans actually care about their safety. We (as the GOP) spend so much time stressing national security, and we need to recognize that immigration reform is a big part of that. The United States can’t truly be secure until we account for all of the people that are here. Once that’s done, we can better protects those illegal immigrants who are here and doing nothing wrong, and separate out those that are committing crimes. In the Harris County jail right now, there are a lot of illegal immigrants, and what does ICE do with them? They pull them out, process them, and then let them back onto the streets to commit more crimes. That system isn’t making anyone safer.
Garza: I think in the long-run it will be good for the GOP, but in the short-run I’m not so sure. It all depends on how the party is able to get the message out. If we show that Republicans have a genuine interest in making the country a better safer place to live, that will be reflected by the voters. But if we let racism, discrimination and fear dominate the party’s message, it’s not going to be good for the GOP.

I still don’t quite understand this obsession with securing the border (the SOUTHERN border… as though the United States only has one). Last time I checked, we live in the 21st Century now… if people want to get to this country illegally, it’s as easy as paying someone to make them a phony passport, take a flight, go through Customs and overstay a fake VISA. We can build a fence halfway to heaven, and put 1 million guards along the Rio Grande. It’s still not going to keep determined people from getting to this country illegally. The GOP needs to save the American people some time and MONEY by dropping this border ridiculousness.

But that point aside, I was glad to see that there is some constructive dialogue going on within parts of the GOP. And perhaps that’s the most disappointing aspect. This was the Log Cabin Republicans… as an organization, still far-removed from the most influential voices of the party. Mr. Garza and Mr. Pena’s organizations probably fare better in the mainstream, but it’s pretty clear that this type of dialogue isn’t taking place on the national stage, or with the people in Congress who are making these decisions. The point Mr. Pena made about linking immigration reform with safety within the country… helping to protect undocumented people by bringing them out of the shadows… is one that I wish was being discussed more by both sides. And Mr. Garza was absolutely right that if the GOP continues to approach reform from a standpoint of racist attitudes and fear of the Hispanic Community, they will never succeed in continuing as a viable party. I know… As a Liberal, destroying the GOP is a good thing, right? Actually, what’s most important is that both sides operate from a point of logic and reasoning so that we can actually solve real problems in this country. This forum was a surprising sign of progress, but I suspect that Democrats are still much farther down field on the issue.

My sincere thanks to LCR for hosting an important discussion.

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Before You FREAK OUT About Obama’s Budget…

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Take two seconds, breathe, and use that noggin of yours to gain some long-game perspective. One thing is clear… It’s a busy time in our Federal Government right now. Probably the busiest time that we’ve had since Democrats controlled both houses of Congress. We sit on the precipice of having Our Legislators do some REAL work on both Gun Safety and Immigration Reform. We may (fingers crossed) even encourage these people to SOLVE some of these problems.

But then on Wednesday, this happened. President Obama released his budget proposal… the third such go at a Federal Budget after previous ones by both the House and the Senate. And yeah, he attacks Social Security directly by slowing the increase Seniors get each year due to expected inflation.

To ward off the cardiac issues (remember we’re trying to LOWER health care costs here), let’s put this bitter pill in perspective with three main points.

1. The President’s Proposed Budget is just that… a PROPOSAL. Remember this is the Washington fantasy world we’re talking about here.. A place much is said, and very little is DONE. Absolutely nothing regarding the budget has been passed by both Houses of Congress. And no one has voted on even a single word of the President’s proposal.

2. We need to create some SPACE right now. That’s the most important thing that President Obama can do if he has any chance of getting a gun safety bill and immigration reform passed. This budget does that because it makes Republicans feel like they are not being ignored. Look at it in perspective. Remember how the GOP said that the President isn’t serious on entitlements? Well they can’t say that now.

3. TIME is running out for gun safety and immigration reform, . As soon as we get to the summer, the only thing that will matter to Congress will be the 2014 elections. That’s another reason this proposal was critical at the time it was released. Before the lawmakers go back into campaign mode, we need to get these things done.

Progressives should be infuriated at the notion that President Obama would propose these cuts to our nation’s most vulnerable, while continuing to protect the wealthy. The time is surely coming for the Left to push back. But with gun safety and immigration reform hanging in the balance, now is not that time. But it is the time for us to hold our tongues, raise some money, and look ahead to 2014. If these initiatives pass, Democrats score a major victory and ride that into 2014 and take back the House. If they fail, they will do so because of the Republicans, and we ride THAT into 2014 and take back the House.

So for now, the best we can do is to grin and bear it. We’ll know when it’s time to bring the real bears out.