29 Comments
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Poornima Wagh's avatar

I speak as a legal immigrant from India who got her naturalization papers in December 2009. I have firmly believed since 2010 and have said it aloud, inspite of people calling me racist, hypocrite etc...that we in the United States should stop all immigration into the country for a period of at least 7 years, take a much needed breather, seal our borders in the north and south, get a head count of all illegals and legal immigrants in this country, mass deport the illegals and only take extraordinary legals into the country after all the dust has settled. All H1B visas, all chain migration and even F1 student visas need to be stopped for a period of 7 years. We need to take care of American citizens FIRST. No more charity and handouts to anyone else, and that includes exceptionally strict immigration laws.

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Earl Brown's avatar

Poornima, agree 100%, but why only 7 years? We need all foreigners to come into our country legally and qualify to stay.

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rita murdoch's avatar

Great read. I was right in the middle of LBJ. When President Kennedy was assassinated I was at the University of Texas as a freshman. The Secret Service moved into my dorm because Linda Bird was there. It was a very sad and difficult time For all of us

The Vietnam war took so many young men that were my age and destroyed many relationships and lives.

Hopefully, in the coming years of Trump‘s presidency , we will see some major changes that will affect America for the good.

Illegal immigration and birthright citizenship, I pray will be changed forever and we will get our country back

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Polly Frost's avatar

Thanks, Denice. Wonderful piece. Very moving to read about your family. It's hard for me to get moral inspiration from LBJ, though, given his perhaps role in JFK's assassination and definite role in escalating Vietnam, but this from Trump today did make me get up and do a disco dance. “Happy Thanksgiving to all, including to the Radical Leftist Lunatics who worked so hard to destroy our Country, but who have failed … our Country will soon be respected, productive, fair and strong and you will more than ever be proud to be an American!”

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Earl Brown's avatar

Right-on Polly.

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Julia Gonzales's avatar

Polly, thank you so much for doing what you can to unify the country, along with trump giving his usual Thanksgiving speech. Such inspiration to unify the country, his thanksgiving speech included, how did he put it, “the haters and losers”, very inclusive and heartfelt.

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Nov 28
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Bill Russell's avatar

Guess who's back? My AI analyzer is working overtime trying to figure out what you said!

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Polly Frost's avatar

Trump is responsible for the Vietnam War. You didn't know that, Bill?

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Bill Russell's avatar

That's right! I forgot about the fact Trump wasn't in the Vietnam War and therefore he had to have started the war. That should make a lot of sense to S. 2!

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Julia Gonzales's avatar

That’s right, Bone Spurs. It’s a miracle they don’t bother him with all the dancing he does.

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Bill Russell's avatar

Bone spurs was the reason Trump got out of the draft? My wife had them the past year and it was solved by wearing a special boot for a month or so. Spurs can be painful. I got out of the draft with deferments, both student and occupational. I'm not a war machine, I would've been dead within a month in Vietnam.

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Bill Russell's avatar

The "lie of 'Covid'" ... please explain.

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Nov 29
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Bill Russell's avatar

Why were so many people dying? Everyone in the world drinking the same deadly Kool-Aid. You really don't believe there was a virus named Covid (or whatever) involved? If you really don't believe there was a common sickness worldwide, then we are operating on a different wavelength.

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Nov 29
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Bill Russell's avatar

Maybe the standardized test for Covid was simply I feel like the other guy in the hospital bed next to me and the other hundred people that are sick in this hospital. Neat thing about the Internet you can see others that are actually sick, and then be able to make a judgement, "Is Covid real?"

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hope4gaia's avatar

Wonderful article - it warmed my heart to remember that time.

The time before 'entitlements'.

I'm old now but I don't think my 4 grandchildren, from 16 -24 has ever spoken the words, "Can I help you, Nana, is there anything you need?" They can't put down their phones long enough.

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Bill Russell's avatar

The world will expire itself with everyone holding a cellphone because they forgot everything else to stay alive.

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Montecito93108's avatar

We’re a product of the times, now versus then. The simple answer to a concern is ‘call information and referral, let Aging or the government know what you need’. Another response has been, ‘Is it time for you to move into government housing or a care home? Get on the wait list.’ Seems dependency on government is now taught or assumed; whereas previously the response to a need was met by family or left unmet. Our government is expected to meet individual needs for financial security, affordable housing, food, education, medical care, day care, the arts, etc beyond protecting our borders and sovereignty. The currency printing press runs on high gear unless and until it stops.

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jessica brown's avatar

Loved your article!!!

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Janet conrad's avatar

Amen to be thankful for the election 11/5/2024.

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daniel Heald's avatar

Can our European-founded-and-settled Judeo-Christian nation assimilate millions from Eastern and Middle Eastern cultures, practices, and beliefs? How many immigrants seek assimilation or rather chose to maintain the culture and traditions of their country of origin in our country that is now also their country?

Can a genie be put back in the bottle?

I get, we steel a country, destroy a civilisation and then restrict who can join our world.

This is racist and elitist. AND FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG.

Are Cubans ok becuase they are exiles from a socialist regime? To my eyes the corruption in Florida and Miami is a direct result of the new Cuban immigrant.

People are leaving their home lands for a country in relative peace and prosperity. This is true in Europe too.

A country has and must control its borders. The above weaves lovely nostalgia with out right bigotry.

In the past this country has been anti Irish, Jewish, Greek. I am sure there are many monre.

Let us have an immigration policy that has criteria based uppin what we need for our county to prosper.

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Julia Gonzales's avatar

Mr. Heald, I agree with most of what you wrote. It is true, once the Anglo-Saxons arrived on the shores of America, they forgot why they came. Some people like to forget their American history. Their family whether it’s one generation, four generations, six generations, or more, it all started with an immigrant. The country they called theirs was stolen, yet they tell people they think are immigrants to go back where they came from.

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Montecito93108's avatar

I missed the “out right bigotry”to which you refer. 1965 Immigration Law provides a quota for legal immigration from all countries without prejudice. Established community members typically are curious of newcomers born and acculturated in a foreign land, and also their level of interest in assimilating as America evolves as a nation. The responsible immigrant sponsors of past centuries, have been replaced by government entitlements. How do we assimilate new adult residents to learn American ways?

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LT's avatar

Great article and very thoughtful, Denise. As a native of Texas, the mention of LBJ got my attention immediately. As you can imagine, LBJ is legendary in south Texas. Depending who you talk to, LBJ was mostly seen as a scoundrel and “fixer.” Everything from fixing the 48’ senate race, owning the local TV station in Austin, school teacher, to possibly running a murder-for-hire ring, Johnson had quite a career. I’ve been to his ranch and Johnson City, Tx. many times. And his bigger than life library at the University of Texas.

Not withstanding with his alleged involvement with the murder of a sitting president, Johnson was responsible for the present day nanny state, big government and cradle to grave entitlements. Yes, the crushing debt we now have can be traced to LBJ’s good ol’ boy politicking. As we say in Texas, “he was about as crooked as a dog’s hind leg!”

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Polly Frost's avatar

“Does Ho Chi Minh have one of these?”

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Julia Gonzales's avatar

Ms. Adams, I’m just speaking for myself, but there might be other people that would have appreciated this history lesson on another day. It would’ve been so nice if we had just had a simple sincere Thanksgiving greeting.

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