Immigration – Douglas Ernst Blog

Regular readers of this blog know that I am a U.S. Army veteran. What they might not know is the last thing I did before walking into the recruiter’s office as an 18-year-old — I sat and stared at a Captain America comic book in my local comic shop. I thought about what it would mean to serve my country, where it would take me, and whether or not I should take that leap into the super-unknown. That is why it saddens me when a writer like Nick Spencer infuses characters with his own petty politics.

I went on record when it was first announced that Sam Wilson would be Captain America that I was on board with the decision. I wanted to support Marvel financially. Why would I do that, however, when the first issue of Sam Wilson: Captain America turns conservative Americans into the enemy over an issue like illegal immigration?

The Daily Caller reported Friday:

The action — and the political preaching — unfolds in the Marvel-produced “Captain America: Sam Wilson #1,” as noted in a video released by the MacIver Institute.

In the issue, Captain America beats up members of a white supremacist militia called the Sons of the Serpent as they attempt to apprehend a group of illegal aliens crossing the desert from Mexico into Arizona.

The leader of the group, the Serpent Commander, makes statements that are similar to what Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been criticized for saying during his White House run. The Commander longs for the construction of “the mighty wall” and laments the “trouble and disease and crime” that the border-crossers are bringing with them.

When Captain America isn’t on stage at a gay pride parade, he now fights silly depictions of conservative Americans. A similar thing happened in 2010 when Steve Rogers took on … the Tea Party.

Where are Captain America’s missions with Joint Special Operations Command?
Why isn’t he working with Ranger-run task forces to take down individuals in the Haqqani Network?
Why have we never seen Captain America in Kandahar province, Afghanistan?
Why have we never seen Cap on a mission in the Sulaiman Mountains?
Why have we never seen Steve Rogers perform a HAHO (high-altitude, high-opening) jump into Abbotttabad, Pakistan?

Shall I go on?

It is embarrassing that Marvel regularly wastes potential of a character like Captain America on the myopic tit-for-tat politics of men like Nick Spencer.

In the one book that should attempt to unite all Americans, we now have immature political pot-shots that a.) will not stand the test of time, and b.) turn off readers who would otherwise be interested in purchasing the product.

Perhaps Sam Wilson or Steve Rogers will eventually be written by someone whose mind operates outside the domestic public policy squabbles of short-lived news cycles. Until then, I won’t be picking up Sam Wilson: Captain America.

Three cheers to Marvel, and its highly unique business model of needlessly alienating potential customers.

Only days after Donald Trump essentially painted the vast majority of Mexican illegal immigrants as rapists and murderers, Kate Steinle, 32, was gunned down by one in broad daylight. The federal government had deported the man five times. San Francisco is a sanctuary city and refused to hand over the suspect when it had the chance.

Reporter Cornell Barnard was able to interview apprehended suspect Francisco Sanchez on Sunday.

A local ABC Affiliate reported:

[Francisco Sanchez] says he was wandering on Pier 14 after taking sleeping pills he found in a dumpster.

He claims he kicked the gun into the San Francisco Bay, lit up a cigarette, and walked off, not knowing he shot someone until he was arrested by police hours later. Sanchez reportedly first told police he was shooting at sea lions.

He appeared frail and nervous when he talked about returning to the U.S. after being deported back to his native Mexico five times.

Barnard: “Why did you keep coming back to the U.S., why did you come back to San Francisco?”
Sanchez: “Because I was looking for jobs in the restaurant or roofing, landscaping, or construction.”

Sanchez said he knew San Francisco was a sanctuary city where he would not be pursued by immigration officials.

Mr. Trump was one of only a few high-profile individuals to bring attention to this story when he tweeted it Friday night. Sadly, it doesn’t matter how much truth there is to a man’s message if his delivery convinces others that he is a bad person.

Consider what Francis de Sales said in “Treatise on the Love of God”:

“We dislike imitating those we hate even in their good qualities. The Lacedaemonians would not follow the good counsel of an evil man unless some good man stated it after him.

On the contrary, we cannot help conforming ourselves to those we love. It is in this sense, I think, that the great apostle says that ‘the law is not made for the just.’ In fact, the just man is not just unless he has holy love. If he has love, there is no need to urge him on with the rigor of the law, since love is a more cogent teacher and solicitor to persuade a heart possessing it to obey the will and intentions of its beloved. Love is a magistrate who exercises his authority without noise, without bailiffs or sergeants-at-arms, but merely by that mutual complacence whereby, just as we find pleasure in God, so also we reciprocally desire to please Him.” — Francis de Sales.

Yes, it is possible to learn a thing or two from men who lived in the late 1500s and early 1600s.

If you have an important message to deliver to a skeptical audience, then it is crucial that the vehicle for that message not come across as a bully, a jerk, a racist or an evil man.

I am not saying that Mr. Trump is any of those things, but the way he carries himself in front of a microphone makes it incredibly easy for his detractors to make such a case.

Large scale illegal immigration brings with it a whole host of (often deadly) problems. When you have “sanctuary cities,” criminals will gladly take politicians up on the offer. Innocent people pay the price for officials who do not take the rule of law seriously. That is why we need serious and articulate men and women to explain what is going on to the American people.

It is not good enough to simply be correct when speaking on public policy issues like illegal immigration; one must also be able to show empathy. Sadly, too many people who are right on the issue seem to have little to zero empathy for the millions who are trying to flee dysfunctional and oppressive hell holes.

People will often vote for a man with horrendous public policy ideas if he seems like he cares about his constituents. People will often not vote for the man with great public policy ideas if he seems cold, detached or weird. Wouldn’t it be nice if the Republican Party could run a candidate who actually had good ideas and he or she exuded the kind of empathy skills that could win over Independents and Democrats?

Perhaps if Donald Trump read the works of Saint Francis de Sales years ago, then he could have been that man.

Tag: Immigration

Nick Spencer’s Captain America: No time for Ranger-run task forces — conservatives are the enemy

Imagine if Donald Trump read Francis de Sales: Man deported 5 times admits to Kate Steinle murder