Tuesday, March 01, 2016

Know What's Worse Than Insulting Someone in a Political Argument? Government Force Itself

Stuart K. Hayashi

I sent a pro-immigration tweet to the actor Mark R. Pellegrino, who plays Lucifer on the CW Network's Supernatural.

I typed, "When people whine about Mexicans coming to US w/ gov permission slips, plz show them this doctor:" I meant to type: "When people whine about Mexicans coming to US w/o gov permission slips, plz show them this doctor:" (emphasis added).  I was referring to undocumented immigrants coming to the USA without "government permission slips."  My tweet links to this video about Dr. Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa, who came to the USA from Mexico illegally as a migrant farm laborer and eventually became a life-saving, world-renowned brain surgeon.

Pellegrino was generous enough to retweet my tweet, and he added his own caption:  "Hey [Donald] Trump. Suck it."

In reply, someone on Twitter lectured Pellegrino to "grow up" based on his "immature comments" concerning Mr. Trump.

Everything else being equal, I would not mind it if, in general, people switched to political rhetoric that was overall less charged, less accusatory, and less altogether insulting. Nonetheless, I think some perspective is in order.

Many impoverished people come to the United States without visas, escaping from drug cartels and kleptocratic governments, and their sole "crime" is the absence of a visa.  And forcibly deporting those people means sending armed men after them.  In comparison, I think Pellegrino telling Trump to "suck it" is quite minor.

Therefore, here is my response: