I share your rage. I spent 28 years working in the public schools. We never once asked kids and parents if they were legal, only for a birth certificate and transcripts. It wasn’t difficult to tell which parents weren’t legal, however; they’d never come back to the school for anything, because they were scared we’d report them. If I wanted/needed to talk to them, I had to go to their house. And, occasionally, kids would just disappear, never to return.
I have yet to meet anyone who disagrees with the premise that illegals who have committed crimes should be deported posthaste. Literally no one disagrees with that. And yet, this is what we have come to, jackbooted thugs and all.
And as I’ve said before, regardless of pleas and protestations otherwise: This is exactly who we are.
As I read the words on the Statue of Liberty, I did not see any mention of our only accepting legal immigrants. We have lost the message these words were meant to convey. Forgetting for just a moment the fact that we need immigrants to do the jobs we won't do for ourselves, to our low birthrate, to our need for the tax revenue they generate, to our need to be humain, I want to ask a simiple question, "Why do so many risk so much to come here? At least before the Mad King became President." Is it possible that we have so many illegal immigrants because we make legal immigration so very hard or impossible for so many people? We have always been a nation of racists, from our early treatment of Native Americans, to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, to the White Supremacists who still control many of our states, we fear the "Other." "Other" meaning people of a different religion, color, language, etc. Do you remember the religiously intolerant sayings that were prevalent when Kennedy ran for President? This sentiment was expressed not by immigrants but by existing American citizens. The saying, "The fault lies not in our stars, but in ourselves," should be a wake-up call to all of us. What drives people to travel so many dangerous miles to get here? I realize there are exceptions, but anyone who risks so much to get here deserves at least a fair chance to prove themselves. You claim to be against illegal entry to our country, and I say I am against anyone who claims to believe in any of the Abrahamic religions who turns their back on people in need. People are being arrested, beaten, and incarcerated without the benefit of a trial, all the while, many of us are applauding their mistreatment. I have no belief in any form of a supreme being, but if I am wrong, it created all of us. Since we are all creatures of this entity, then a sin against any of us is a sin against the entity itself. I can't say that I love all of my neighbors, but I sure can tolerate them and share a coffee or a beer with almost anyone.
All good points. One in particular drew my interest. Low birthrate. I think this is where "Catholic" JD Vance comes in. He and his pals like Charlie Kirk at Turning Point USA are extolling the virtues to a generation of young women about being a Trad Wife - aka one who ends her formal education at 12th grade, quickly marries a blue-collar guy from down the street who also ended his formal education at 12th grade and then they pump out the obligatory 2.5 to 10 kids while bitching and moaning about the price of groceries and the price of gas for his GMC/Chevy/Ford/Dodge monster truck that he uses to "haul" stuff for his trades job on their blue collar salary. (And there are now plenty of social media posts that say the plumbers make every bit as much as heart surgeons, if only Forbes and other career guidance articles would rank the trades at the top of the list). Then in a generation the 18 year olds will come of age and repeat the cycle. 40 years down the road we'll be a nation of HVAC, Electrician, Plumbers, Construction workers and all mostly white. Gone will be doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, computer professionals, marketing, human resources, accountants - generally anyone with a brain in favor of people who, at best can only use a brain in the limited scope of their specialty field. Critical thinking and curiousity about the world outside of the specifics that Bible articulates (and self-contradicts) will be gone in this country.
To add to our horror and disgust, Peter Thiel’s company, Palantir, has multiple contracts with ICE to remove immigrants. Stephen Miller owns more than $250thousand of Palantir stock. At least 8 Legislators have bought in and rode the stock way up. The grift and excessive Greed has fueled this unholy Cruelty. Now we read they are building an immigrant Detention Center among the boa constrictors in the Everglades. Outrageous! Multiple administrations of different political parties have contributed to our lack of a reasonable immigration law. However spending our tax dollars directed to FEMA on Palantir cruelty needs to be stopped.
It truly is sad...just so many people locked up in this illusion of Right and Wrong...as the man said...there is Right and Wrong for there is No Right or Wrong which is why there is Right and Wrong.
Locking on to this illusion of what is Right and Wrong is what got us all into this mess..
On our next song of the day I vote for Try A Little Tenderness....and if you have to ask which version ; all is lost !!
This is happening times a day allover this country. Mostly out of sight. Big thugs with guns and clubs snatching people up and disappearing them. Just like dictatorships over the world. I live remotely and have an undocumented family that lives not far away. Jesus did the block work when I built my home. Excellent work. All of the contractors in the area use him because he is good, hardworking and dependable. Also, less costly than most. Jesus and his family have been here for 20 years. I have already decided that if he fears ICE and needs a place to go, we will take he and his wife in for as long as it takes. There is no other fast solution in America today. Rise up America and do your part to protect these people, please. Do not let the song be, "Adiose me Amigos, Jesus ye Maria."
I am a None, who tries, very hard, to live by Christ's teachings. We need more attention paid to his teachings by ALL of us. This is a direct result of ignoring Christ's teachings in favor of wearing the Christ branded T-shirt.
My dilemma is that I will remain a None. I am not going back. Are those that remain within the church numerous enough and strong enough to stir up the revulsion needed to get us back on track?
Long time reader, first time commenter. I love every single thing you just wrote in your "Disgusting" Slack Tide. You captured my gut reaction quite aptly. Well done.
Being an atheist, I probably shouldn’t take the lord’s name in vain either, but all I can say is, “Dear God, what have we become?” As I have said before in these comments, Stephen Miller is a black-hearted ghoul. What happened to him in his youth to make him so completely dead inside? I weep for his progeny.
I'm with you, Matt. The anger that rises within me (and most of us) is because the name of the God we love is being made a laughingstock among unbelievers. And the nation that was founded and aspired (past tense) to respect the rights of all people with justice and truth is being torn apart by people who rejoice in destruction.
We tried to warn folks, we really did. But we were met with "oh that's not going to happen here" and "oh, that will only happen to criminals" and other tripe. I should change my name to Cassandra for all the good it did. I lost a lot of friends, but maybe this just revealed who they really are.
I think that our anger is a disguise that our grief is wearing.
And that thug Holman says “someone’s gonna die” if the rhetoric isn’t toned down. Is he so deaf he can’t hear his own hypocrisy? We have deported people for many years and thru many presidents without this disgusting display of cruelty and violence.
Is this the best way we can raise our good orchards?
Is this the best way we can grow our good crops?
To die and be scattered, to rot on the top soil?
To be called by no name except....Deportee?
I share your disgust. And thank you for reminding me of this beautiful tribute to those who have tended to the work Americans don't want to do for generations.
For a more haunting rendition that still makes me cry, check out Judy Collins' version from 1963: https://bit.ly/44xvS6z
And the abuse we witnessed when ICE agents captured Barranco didn't stop with his arrest:
"Barranco’s son Alejandro told Jacob Soboroff, Julia Ainsley, and Suzanne Gamboa of NBC News that his father is being held with at least 70 other people with one toilet and no privacy and that he has received very little water and even less food." https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/june-24-2025
“Any being’s suffering diminishes us because we are involved in humanity. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.” John Donne. (Modified)
Great piece, Matt!
While I disagree about the USA being a “Christian Nation” ( whadaboud Jews, Hindus, Muslims and more?) your point is well taken.
I’m first generation in the USA and thankfully don’t live in fear of being kicked out.
Kudos for calling out Stefan Muller chief among the the SD/Gestapo followers.
We are one people and I, for one, love the tapestry of our society .
Thanks for the piece!
I share your rage. I spent 28 years working in the public schools. We never once asked kids and parents if they were legal, only for a birth certificate and transcripts. It wasn’t difficult to tell which parents weren’t legal, however; they’d never come back to the school for anything, because they were scared we’d report them. If I wanted/needed to talk to them, I had to go to their house. And, occasionally, kids would just disappear, never to return.
I have yet to meet anyone who disagrees with the premise that illegals who have committed crimes should be deported posthaste. Literally no one disagrees with that. And yet, this is what we have come to, jackbooted thugs and all.
And as I’ve said before, regardless of pleas and protestations otherwise: This is exactly who we are.
The US is on track to lose $12.5 BILLION in tourist revenue this year. . .
Nobody can understand why. . . /s
My first thought when I saw Trump’s bleet about “regime change” was “hmm, ‘regime change’, I’d be down for some regime change all right.”
As I read the words on the Statue of Liberty, I did not see any mention of our only accepting legal immigrants. We have lost the message these words were meant to convey. Forgetting for just a moment the fact that we need immigrants to do the jobs we won't do for ourselves, to our low birthrate, to our need for the tax revenue they generate, to our need to be humain, I want to ask a simiple question, "Why do so many risk so much to come here? At least before the Mad King became President." Is it possible that we have so many illegal immigrants because we make legal immigration so very hard or impossible for so many people? We have always been a nation of racists, from our early treatment of Native Americans, to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, to the White Supremacists who still control many of our states, we fear the "Other." "Other" meaning people of a different religion, color, language, etc. Do you remember the religiously intolerant sayings that were prevalent when Kennedy ran for President? This sentiment was expressed not by immigrants but by existing American citizens. The saying, "The fault lies not in our stars, but in ourselves," should be a wake-up call to all of us. What drives people to travel so many dangerous miles to get here? I realize there are exceptions, but anyone who risks so much to get here deserves at least a fair chance to prove themselves. You claim to be against illegal entry to our country, and I say I am against anyone who claims to believe in any of the Abrahamic religions who turns their back on people in need. People are being arrested, beaten, and incarcerated without the benefit of a trial, all the while, many of us are applauding their mistreatment. I have no belief in any form of a supreme being, but if I am wrong, it created all of us. Since we are all creatures of this entity, then a sin against any of us is a sin against the entity itself. I can't say that I love all of my neighbors, but I sure can tolerate them and share a coffee or a beer with almost anyone.
All good points. One in particular drew my interest. Low birthrate. I think this is where "Catholic" JD Vance comes in. He and his pals like Charlie Kirk at Turning Point USA are extolling the virtues to a generation of young women about being a Trad Wife - aka one who ends her formal education at 12th grade, quickly marries a blue-collar guy from down the street who also ended his formal education at 12th grade and then they pump out the obligatory 2.5 to 10 kids while bitching and moaning about the price of groceries and the price of gas for his GMC/Chevy/Ford/Dodge monster truck that he uses to "haul" stuff for his trades job on their blue collar salary. (And there are now plenty of social media posts that say the plumbers make every bit as much as heart surgeons, if only Forbes and other career guidance articles would rank the trades at the top of the list). Then in a generation the 18 year olds will come of age and repeat the cycle. 40 years down the road we'll be a nation of HVAC, Electrician, Plumbers, Construction workers and all mostly white. Gone will be doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, computer professionals, marketing, human resources, accountants - generally anyone with a brain in favor of people who, at best can only use a brain in the limited scope of their specialty field. Critical thinking and curiousity about the world outside of the specifics that Bible articulates (and self-contradicts) will be gone in this country.
To add to our horror and disgust, Peter Thiel’s company, Palantir, has multiple contracts with ICE to remove immigrants. Stephen Miller owns more than $250thousand of Palantir stock. At least 8 Legislators have bought in and rode the stock way up. The grift and excessive Greed has fueled this unholy Cruelty. Now we read they are building an immigrant Detention Center among the boa constrictors in the Everglades. Outrageous! Multiple administrations of different political parties have contributed to our lack of a reasonable immigration law. However spending our tax dollars directed to FEMA on Palantir cruelty needs to be stopped.
Dude,
ICE is not for you...much to cool for them !
It truly is sad...just so many people locked up in this illusion of Right and Wrong...as the man said...there is Right and Wrong for there is No Right or Wrong which is why there is Right and Wrong.
Locking on to this illusion of what is Right and Wrong is what got us all into this mess..
On our next song of the day I vote for Try A Little Tenderness....and if you have to ask which version ; all is lost !!
This is happening times a day allover this country. Mostly out of sight. Big thugs with guns and clubs snatching people up and disappearing them. Just like dictatorships over the world. I live remotely and have an undocumented family that lives not far away. Jesus did the block work when I built my home. Excellent work. All of the contractors in the area use him because he is good, hardworking and dependable. Also, less costly than most. Jesus and his family have been here for 20 years. I have already decided that if he fears ICE and needs a place to go, we will take he and his wife in for as long as it takes. There is no other fast solution in America today. Rise up America and do your part to protect these people, please. Do not let the song be, "Adiose me Amigos, Jesus ye Maria."
I am a None, who tries, very hard, to live by Christ's teachings. We need more attention paid to his teachings by ALL of us. This is a direct result of ignoring Christ's teachings in favor of wearing the Christ branded T-shirt.
My dilemma is that I will remain a None. I am not going back. Are those that remain within the church numerous enough and strong enough to stir up the revulsion needed to get us back on track?
Hello Mr. Grumpy, Hope you don't mind a humble response to your question.
The Church members (Eph 2: 19-22) will always be well outnumbered. (Matt 22:14, Matt 7:14)
You will know them by their fruit, and they are on track.
Long time reader, first time commenter. I love every single thing you just wrote in your "Disgusting" Slack Tide. You captured my gut reaction quite aptly. Well done.
Being an atheist, I probably shouldn’t take the lord’s name in vain either, but all I can say is, “Dear God, what have we become?” As I have said before in these comments, Stephen Miller is a black-hearted ghoul. What happened to him in his youth to make him so completely dead inside? I weep for his progeny.
I think we are already at that destination. The smart ones are not going to brain drain anyways.
I'm with you, Matt. The anger that rises within me (and most of us) is because the name of the God we love is being made a laughingstock among unbelievers. And the nation that was founded and aspired (past tense) to respect the rights of all people with justice and truth is being torn apart by people who rejoice in destruction.
We tried to warn folks, we really did. But we were met with "oh that's not going to happen here" and "oh, that will only happen to criminals" and other tripe. I should change my name to Cassandra for all the good it did. I lost a lot of friends, but maybe this just revealed who they really are.
I think that our anger is a disguise that our grief is wearing.
yes it is our grief
our grief for our precious fellow humans
being sadistically destroyed
before our eyes
and our grief and shame
for all of us
for passively allowing it
And that thug Holman says “someone’s gonna die” if the rhetoric isn’t toned down. Is he so deaf he can’t hear his own hypocrisy? We have deported people for many years and thru many presidents without this disgusting display of cruelty and violence.
Is this the best way we can raise our good orchards?
Is this the best way we can grow our good crops?
To die and be scattered, to rot on the top soil?
To be called by no name except....Deportee?
I share your disgust. And thank you for reminding me of this beautiful tribute to those who have tended to the work Americans don't want to do for generations.
For a more haunting rendition that still makes me cry, check out Judy Collins' version from 1963: https://bit.ly/44xvS6z
And the abuse we witnessed when ICE agents captured Barranco didn't stop with his arrest:
"Barranco’s son Alejandro told Jacob Soboroff, Julia Ainsley, and Suzanne Gamboa of NBC News that his father is being held with at least 70 other people with one toilet and no privacy and that he has received very little water and even less food." https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/june-24-2025
“Any being’s suffering diminishes us because we are involved in humanity. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.” John Donne. (Modified)