ProgressOhio

She's a gold-medal winning Olympian that is proud to call Ohio home.

She's paid her taxes and played by the rules.

Yet, thanks to our broken immigration system, faces deportation and separation from her children, who are US citizens.

We are faced with a choice.

Will we do nothing and watch as families like Natalia's are torn apart by a broken system? Or will we pitch in and help Natalia and others across the country?

The time to act is now.

Tell our Senators that any system that tears Natalia away from Ohio and her family is a broken one.

[Officials [police] said they were at the site to talk to a supervisor about undocumented workers, but while there Rodriguez and others were interrogated and asked to provide identification, said Rodriguez’s attorney, Al Gerhardstein. Gerhardstein said his client, who had lived in Butler County for 11 years, was arrested and charged with providing a false identification and was deported to Mexico, though he was later acquitted of the charge.

Rodriguez is seeking damages and also trying to establish the principle that there aren’t any exceptions to the Fourth or 14th amendments.

Jones is co-chair of Republican Senate candidate Rob Portman’s law enforcement coalition.

“Rob Portman understands that we are a nation of laws and that fighting crime requires efforts at all levels of government,” Jones said. “I am proud to support his campaign for U.S. Senate.”

More on Sheriff Jones Here

El viernes llevamos a cabo algo que no se había hecho antes en la Casa Blanca, una asamblea pública en español cuyo propósito era permitirnos escuchar las inquietudes de la comunidad hispana e informar al público sobre los esfuerzos del gobierno para controlar el impacto del virus H1N1. La asamblea pública contó con la participación de funcionarios de la Administración incluyendo a la Secretaria Hilda Solis, una audiencia de 130 personas incluyendo trabajadores del sector de cuidado de salud, activistas comunitarios, y ciudadanos preocupados, y fue moderada por la presentadora de Univisión Edna Schmidt, ya que su cadena trabajó con nosotros para lograr este importante evento.

Los presentadores de la asamblea fueron: Hilda Solís, secretaria de Trabajo de Estados Unidos; Esther Olavarría, subsecretaria adjunta para política de Seguridad Nacional; Dr. Felipe Lobelo del Centro de Control y Prevención de Enfermedades; Tino Cuéllar, asesor especial del Presidente sobre justicia y política normativa, y Edna Schmidt, presentadora de Univisión.

Watch It:

On Friday, a first-ever for the White House was held, a Spanish language town hall meeting to listen to the Hispanic community's concerns and inform the public about the government’s efforts to control the impact of the H1N1 virus. The town hall featured Administration officials including Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, and an audience of 130 or so folks including health care workers, community activists, and concerned citizens, and was moderated by Univision Anchor Edna Schmidt, whose network partnered up with us on this important event.

The speakers at the town hall were:  U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis; DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Esther Olavarria; Dr. Felipe Lobelo of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Special Assistant to the President for Justice and Regulatory Policy Tino Cuellar; and Univision Anchor Edna Schmidt.

Read the full transcript in Spanish or the President's remarks in English.

No one ever died of a maryjane overdose, but on the U.S.-Mexican border there's a brutal gang war over this plant material which has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people.

Marijuana -- or marihuana as the state legislators say, which only goes to show how backward and outdated our public policy is on this issue -- does not kill. The underground market for weed and accompanying greed, however, does.

Let's put an end to these needless gun battles by legalizing pot. It's supply-side economics: if pot is no longer rare, vicious gangs are out of business.

Collecting billions of dollars in sales tax revenue to fund, say, cop recruits and bridge repairs is just a little ol' side benefit of legalizing weed.

Time to plant the seeds of hope that this violence will end.

I remember reading some years ago that George Washington, although a Virginian, often thought about moving back to the Ohio frontier because of his fond memories of working here as a surveyor in his youth.

Now, in the New York Times Book Review (Feb. 4), it's claimed that Charles Darwin also once thought of becoming a Buckeye.

"Darwin visited Tierra del Fuego, Tahiti and Tasmania, along with other exotic locales, but he never set foot in the United States," writes reviewer Christopher Benfey in his appraisal of two new Darwin histories.  "Around 1850, charmed by popular tales of lush countryside and the exciting adventures of the Underground Railroad, and still withholding from public view his explosive theory of evolution, he flirted briefly with the idea of moving his large family, with seven children under the age of 11 and another on the way, to Ohio.  The middle states, he wrote, are "what I fancy most."

A quick Google check does indeed turn up this Darwin letter containing that "what I fancy most" quote, although at least here Darwin doesn't specify Ohio as the middle state he had in mind.

http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/darwinletters/calendar/entry-1362.html

But let's assume Benfey did more research on this than I care to contribute, and that "Beautiful Ohio" was in fact one of Darwin's dream destinations.  (It appears, however, that it was far from the only one.)

In any case, I don't want to destroy the delicious irony that Darwin, who in recent decades has stirred up so much debate in Ohio classrooms, once thought of moving here with his own brood.

Of course in the end, both Washington and Darwin stayed put and Ohio had to muddle along instead with its spawn of famous politicians, sports stars, movie actors and astronauts.

But still, it's nice to be the object of great mens' dreams.  So a big O-H-I-O to Darwin on the occasion of his 200th birthday (Feb. 12).

The National Journal's WakeUp Call (sub. link) reports today that Ken Blackwell has thrown his hat into the ring for RNC Chair.

Before this farce goes any further, I'd like a statement from Mr. Blackwell on this lovely, pre-packaged burning cross, that his friends at the American Family Association (AFA) are peddling:

What does Blackwell have to do with the AFA?

• Blackwell gladly accepted an endorsement from the AFA during his 06 race for governor.
• Blackwell was selected to join the Arlington Group "a powerhouse, by-invitation-only organization whose roughly 60 members have direct access to the White House", which was started by AFA founder Don Wildmon.
• Blackwell is a member of an ultra-secretive, extremist group with Wildmon ties - the Council for National Policy. In fact, Blackwell actually paid his membership dues out of his 2006 campaign funds.
• Blackwell has also done campaign events (video) with people with hate-group hanger-on Larry Pratt.

• The burning cross has gained such notoriety, that as of today a Google search for 'American Family Association' produces 18.7 million hits. Number five is the burning cross. The AFA are certainly aware of this issue and have not removed the item from their site, even though the item's noteriety is based on the disbelief that a "family" group would sell something that so clearly is a symbol of hate.
• They are based in Tupelo, Mississippi. This former Confederate town of 35,000 has played host to a KKK rally (video) as recently as last October and have a history that goes back much farther.
• Wildmon made his name taking offense and taking names over things that offend him.
• They have been an outspoken opponent of other minority groups. His most recent faux-outrage was a 5 month boycott of McDonald's organized because a Canadian executive of theirs was on the board of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

Columbus has had a wonderful African American leader in Michael Coleman. Most recently, our mayor has refused a pay raise for himself as well as 400 other city employees in preparation for a tight city budget. He did the same in 2003 as City Council President. It's a small gesture, but a meaningful one.

Apart from his politics, Mayor Coleman seems like an all-around good guy. He's been in the C-bus public eye for a long time, and I've been impressed with him as a husband and father. He's a handsome man too -- he reminds me of Billy Dee Williams, especially in his Lando Calrissian persona, and not so much as the Colt 45 pitchman.

Mayor Coleman fits right in marching in the St. Patrick's Day parade. Like President-Elect Obama, he's a black man we Caucasians can trust -- oh, I didn't mean to infer that black men are untrustworthy, um...this is why it's best not to discuss race issues if you're white. But since I am gleefully unemployed and don't have to worry about getting fired, I shall continue to blather....

I was touched by the tears of joy and expressions of "I never thought I'd live to see the day..." from people of color in the aftermath of Obama's election. I'm sure I have never fully appreciated their struggle.

Just as a thought experiment, I tried to imagine Hillary Clinton being elected. Would women be jumping for joy in the streets for their first woman president? No. The young girls I know have no doubts that they could grow up to be president. You really can't compare gender to race.

African Americans -- and it is cool that Obama is a genuine African American -- have certainly made great strides and we whites are happy for them. However, while we readily accept blacks in the public sphere, we lack personal relationships with them. Personally, my immediate neighborhood has exactly one black family in it, and I no longer have contact with the black people I used to work and occasionally lunch with.

My lack of black friends makes me feel a bit guilty. On the other hand, I haven't made any new white friends in the last 20 years either -- no discrimination there.

I cringe when I think of racist remarks my parents used to say, and it's unfortunate that those rare negative memories have stuck with me. But lately I've been self-aware of my own prejudices against Hispanics. Why do Spanish-speaking workers in my neighborhood annoy me so much? Could it be that I don't understand Spanish? I have obsessive thoughts about their immigration status.

My neighborhood is about 10% Asian American -- their immigration status never crosses my mind. These are super-studious people who dress their children nicely and walk them to school. Asians -- a really broad, catchall ethnicity -- are great neighbors in my stereotype portfolio.

One of my favorite websites in Stuff White People Like. It's so funny. It has spawned Stuff Asian People Like and other knockoffs. SWPL is funny because it's so true for me -- I love New Balance shoes (#96)!

I voted for Obama and I support Mayor Coleman, but not because they are black. It's just an added bonus.

In the Opinion Page of today's Wall Street Journal Rush Limbaugh claims an Obama radio ad is using "incomplete, out-of-context lines from two radio parodies."

His amazing exculpatory evidence? It's all parody! Just like when he referred to Obama as "the little black man-child."

The first sound bite was extracted from a 1993 humorous monologue poking fun at the arguments against the North American Free Trade Agreement. Here's the context:

"If you are unskilled and uneducated, your job is going south. Skilled workers, educated people are going to do fine 'cause those are the kinds of jobs Nafta is going to create. If we are going to start rewarding no skills and stupid people, I'm serious, let the unskilled jobs that take absolutely no knowledge whatsoever to do -- let stupid and unskilled Mexicans do that work."

And the other one?

I took the restrictions Mexico imposes on immigrants and appropriated them as my own suggestions for a new immigration law.

Here's the context for that sound bite: "And another thing: You don't have the right to protest. You're allowed no demonstrations, no foreign flag waving, no political organizing, no bad-mouthing our president or his policies. You're a foreigner: shut your mouth or get out! And if you come here illegally, you're going to jail."

Notice the final sentence, which indicates that even "foreigners" who are here legally should shut their mouths or leave.  Not to worry, that's all part of the parody too.