Enough Already

Eight days ago, Michael Jackson died. Ever since, the news media has exploited his death ad nauseum. I have had it, and I know I am not the only one. To the media I want to say, "Enough already. Give it a rest." From now on, when coverage is given to Jackson, I am switching channels. If this weekend is anything like last weekend, I may be watching the Weather Channel.

Now, I will admit I have not been a Michael Jackson fan. His and the Jackson Five's music is okay, but I never wanted to buy one of his albums. The moonwalk is amusing to watch, but I would never have bought a concert ticket to see him.

To me, Jackson is just another case of an extraordinarily fortunate but narcissistic entertainer who ruined himself with drugs and self-indulgence. Reportedly, he died over $400 million in debt. Sackfuls of drugs were removed from his home by investigators, according to press reports.

Jackson's death is sad but not tragic. He made wrong choices, and he reaped what he sowed. Faced with life's pressures, he was a coward, as every addict is.

On the same day Jackson died, Farrah Fawcett died. Now, that was tragic. Farrah did not choose cancer. Yet, when faced with it, she responded with courage and bravery. She was a good example to people of all ages of how to deal with life's struggles.

Fawcett's death received about two hours of coverage before Jackson's death was announced. After that, she received hardly any mention. Now, I am not suggesting that her death should have received the amount of time spent on Jackson's by the media.

In a world rife with real crises and important issues, neither death deserved more than short reports for a couple of days. We have an economy in a death spiral with mounting unemployment and a collapsing dollar. The legitimacy of two governments, Iran and Honduras, are in question following a disputed election and a coup, respectively. While troops are withdrawing from Iraq, war efforts in Afghanistan are ramping up. Korea is threatening to launch long-range missiles at Hawaii. Korea and Iran are thumbing their noses at the world as they pursue development of nuclear weapons. Congress is debating health care reform and global warming measures. The list goes on and on. Yet, for the weekend after Jackson's death, a viewer was hard-pressed to find any coverage of any of these stories. No, it was Michael Jackson all the time. Even Fox News fell into this trap. As one commentator said, "We have become the United States of Entertainment."

The media's coverage is lazy journalism. It is much easier and cheaper to let one story consume all their time and resources. This cult of celebrity provides an escape from the tough issues for both reporters and viewers. What makes it dangerous is it gives cover for nefarious politicians. While our collective attention is diverted, what are foreign and domestic leaders doing? Are they working for or against us?

Finally, this worship of Jackson is particularly disgusting because of the allegations of child abuse. I cannot know if Jackson ever molested any children when they visited his Neverland home. A jury acquitted him when some charges were brought against him. On the other hand, he made multi-million dollar settlements with some of his accusers. The one thing I do know is that, if he did molest any children, he answered to God for it. If he faked out that jury with the help of his lawyers, he did not fake out God. If his victims did not get justice here on earth, they can know they have it now.

It's About Time: Chertoff Announces Tighter Enforcement of Laws that Prohibit Employing Illegal Aliens

Friday, August 10th, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced that his department would ramp up enforcement of laws that forbid employers from hiring illegal aliens. It is about time. "The changes, which would stiffen work-site enforcement, add border agents and increase penalties for rogue employers, could cause havoc in immigrant-dependent industries like agriculture, hospitality and healthcare, Chertoff acknowledged. 'There will be some unhappy consequences for the economy out of doing this,' he said in an interview with The [Los Angeles] Times." (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immig11aug11,1,3189676.story?track=rss )

Does this mean that President Bush and his administration have had a change of heart regarding comprehensive immigration reform? Don't bet on it. In fact, the above article in the Los Angeles Times hints that this new enforcement crackdown may be a deliberate attempt to punish and threaten those who opposed the recently defeated immigration reform legislation. Bush may be hoping that the Congress will be pressured to reconsider his comprehensive immigration reform, including a "pathway" to citizenship for the 12-20 million illegal aliens already here by causing serious damage to the economy.

Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez remarked, "We do not have the workers our economy needs to keep growing each year. The demographics simply are not on our side. Ultimately, Congress will have to pass comprehensive immigration reform." He echoed Chertoff who said, "I'm not a lawmaker, but I presume, at some point, somebody's going to take a look and say, 'We've got to find a way to address this problem,' and that's probably going to require some legal changes."

Will this new enforcement effort cause economic hardships? Most likely, it will in the short-term. Industries and businesses who have become hooked on employing cheap illegal alien labor will have to adjust their employment practices. They may struggle to find enough new hires to replace their illegal employees. They will have training expenses that will impact productivity. They may have to increase wages to find qualified legal workers, which would require adjusting their prices or cutting their profit margins.

Consumers are equally addicted to the cheap prices that accompany the use of illegal aliens as employees. U.S. consumers may need to accept that prices will increase if they want to rid this country of illegal aliens. Stricter enforcement of these anti-illegal immigrant employment laws may result in some increase in the rate of inflation. However, this tendency will be modified by the laws of supply-and-demand if more illegal aliens self-deport, a trend that is increasing according to ALIPAC. It should be obvious that the presence of 12-20 million illegal aliens puts pressure on the supply of goods and services and that means pressure on prices, too.

However, the long-term impact on the economy and the country as a whole will be nothing but positive. The evidence is overwhelming that illegal immigration is costing us far more than it benefits us. I agree with Rep. Brian P. Bilbray (R-Solano Beach) who said, "If there's some pain, it's not because we didn't have amnesty. It's because we didn't enforce the law 20 years ago when we should have."

Those of us who oppose this administration's amnesty scams for illegal aliens must keep very vigilant. We need to closely watch that Congress does not waffle when unions, businesses and illegal immigrant supporters pressure them. The first thing to be on the alert for would be efforts to increase the number of temporary agricultural workers or skilled IT workers. Those need to be blocked by quick lobbying responses from those of us who want illegal immigration to stop.