Forgive?

Paula Deen is being buried in a mountain of scorn by all those people out there who are without fault themselves.  I'm not a Paula Deen fan, but does this punishment fit the "crime"?  

From what I gather, she uttered the "n" word years ago.  I'm not defending that, as I understand what a hurtful, hateful word it is and the feelings I know it engenders.  However, when is enough, enough?  

She has lost her television program, Sears and JC Penney are dropping her and now it's been learned that her upcoming cookbook has been cancelled by the publisher. All this for a word she uttered many years ago.  

The self-righteousness of the people doing the punishing here is truly nauseating.  Can all of them truthfully claim that they themselves have never uttered a hateful word?  The thing that's really galling is the way so many people are willing to overlook or quickly forgive behavior that is truly despicable, e.g., Anthony Weiner's sending of pictures of his genitals, but condemn someone like Paula Deen for saying something that's offensive. This seems totally disproportional to me.  Enough is enough, folks.  Give her a break. After all, those casting stones are surely not without sin themselves.

A Radical Idea

Suddenly, Republicans are in a panic about passing immigration reform legislation.  Why?  We've been rolling along with things the way they are for years now, so why all at once does this have to be done?  Why, also, does it have to be done in one big piece of comprehensive legislation?  The answer is simple:  votes. The Republican leaders seem to think this is the only way to win Latino votes.   I believe Latinos will still, by and large, vote for Democrats no matter what legislation passes. Republicans will never be able to outdo Dems with the freebies, so why try?

Representative Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, opposes the Senate's comprehensive bill and plans instead to advance a series of more narrowly focused immigration bills.  This is the best way, in my opinion, to accomplish true reform and come up with good legislation.  The Senate always seems to want to come up with huge, sweeping legislation; unfortunately, what we usually end up with is a 2,000 page bill that is incomprehensible and causes more problems than it solves.  

I believe there is a way to win Latinos over to the Republican side, and it involves what some Republican leaders may consider to be radical.  How about actually going into predominantly Latino areas and talking to them?!  Hispanics are like the rest of us:  they want financial security and freedom to pursue it.  Republicans should conduct an enthusiastic outreach to Hispanic communities and explain to them why conservative policies offer them what government handouts cannot:  the best opportunity to take care of their families and become financially stable and secure.  People who are dependent on the government for their income and care are in a very vulnerable position, and dependence on the government will keep people poor forever.  Once Latinos understand that, Republicans can win them over.