{"id":34667,"date":"2018-12-12T08:05:53","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T16:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=34667"},"modified":"2018-12-12T14:27:16","modified_gmt":"2018-12-12T22:27:16","slug":"squatchs-open-thread-12-december-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2018\/12\/12\/squatchs-open-thread-12-december-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Squatch’s Open Thread 12 December 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

TomCat dropped by\u00a0 the site yesterday around noon to say that his move was a nightmare and he would likely be scarce for a few more days.\u00a0 Hopefully, he’ll remember to take it easy and preserve his sanity.\u00a0 Today is physio and teaching so my time is very tight.\u00a0 Hopefully I’ll have an OT for Thursday.\u00a0 Well all, have a great day!<\/span><\/p>\n

Jig Zone Puzzle:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s took me 6:03 (average 7:13). To do it, click here<\/a><\/strong>. How did you do?<\/span><\/p>\n

TC\u2019s took me 5:11 (average 7:51). To do it, click here<\/strong><\/a>. How did you do?<\/span><\/p>\n

Short Takes<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sojourners<\/strong><\/span><\/a> —\u00a0Every year from Dec.\u00a016 to 24,\u00a0Las Posadas<\/em>\u00a0begin in many Latin American countries and immigrant communities in the U.S. Roughly translated,\u00a0posadas<\/em>\u00a0means \u201cinn\u201d or \u201cshelter.\u201d\u00a0Las Posadas<\/em>\u00a0recalls the events in Luke\u2019s Gospel leading up to Jesus\u2019 birth. It\u2019s a Catholic Christian observance with a sung liturgy that\u2019s performed on the streets rather than in church.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0posada<\/em>\u00a0begins with a street procession that reenacts Mary and Joseph\u2019s search for shelter at an inn. Those playing the protagonists of the story, Mary and Joseph, are dressed in costume and carry candles as they follow along a prescribed route, knocking on doors. At each door they ask, through special\u00a0posada<\/em>\u00a0songs, for room at the inn. In rural areas, Mary may even ride on a donkey.<\/p>\n

The verses of the song are sung alternately by those outside and those inside the home. This creates a sung dialogue between Joseph and an innkeeper.<\/p>\n

Joseph:<\/strong><\/p>\n

En el nombre del cielo\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>In the name of heaven<\/p>\n

os pido posada,\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/em>I ask you for shelter,<\/p>\n

pues no puede andar\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>for my beloved wife<\/p>\n

mi esposa amada.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/em>can go no farther.<\/p>\n

Innkeeper:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aqu\u00ed no es mes\u00f3n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/em>This is not an inn<\/p>\n

sigan adelante,\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/em>Get on with you,<\/p>\n

yo no puedo abrir,\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>I cannot open the door,<\/p>\n

no sea alg\u00fan tunante.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/em>you might be a rogue.<\/p>\n

Many people from the community follow behind, singing along with them. The neighbors participating in the\u00a0posada\u00a0<\/em>open their doors, and each one purposefully sings their refusal to Mary and Joseph. Only at the very end of the route is there a designated household that finally allows Mary and Joseph to come in. There, too, is a party with Bible readings, food, and pi\u00f1atas for the children. Now that the holy family has found their welcome, it is time to celebrate.\u00a0 …<\/p>\n

It is also one that ministers and immigration advocates have begun to use to represent the lack of hospitality at the U.S.\u2013Mexico border. Their version is called\u00a0La Posada Sin Fronteras<\/em>: Shelter without Borders.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

La Posada Sin Fronteras<\/em>\u00a0uses the exact same songs as the traditional\u00a0Posada<\/em>\u00a0liturgy. But rather than walking through a neighborhood and knocking on doors, immigration advocates, faith leaders, immigrants, and other supporters gather on both sides of the U.S.\u2013Mexico border. There they are watched carefully by the Border Patrol as they begin their reenactment of the journey of Mary and Joseph. The group on the Mexican side represents Mary and Joseph asking for shelter, while those on the U.S. side play the innkeeper, who repeatedly rejects their request for shelter. It\u2019s a reenactment that \u201ccontextualizes the bitter drama\u201d of displaced immigrants, writes Ched Myers in\u00a0Our God Is Undocumented<\/em>. And it brings participants inside the sacred story of God struggling to enter an inhospitable world.<\/p>\n

Click through for the remainder of this fine article.\u00a0 Now I know that not everybody is Christian, but one does not need to be Christian to be filled with love and compassion at this time of year, indeed at any time.\u00a0 In the context of the Trump Republican r\u00e9gime, I think everyone can relate to this story, or should be able to relate in some fashion, even if they have not experienced such treatment first hand themselves.\u00a0 I know my Muslim friends can.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Men, women and babes in arms are gassed by US Border Patrol agents lobbing teargas canisters across the border.\u00a0 When will the US live up to its words at the Statue of Liberty — The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\u201cGive me your tired, your poor,<\/div>\n
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,<\/div>\n
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.<\/div>\n
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,<\/div>\n
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!\u201d<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Daily Kos<\/span><\/strong><\/a> — Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer\u00a0went to the Oval Office<\/a>\u00a0Tuesday to serve notice to Donald Trump that the days of doing and saying whatever he damn well pleases with zero facts to back it up are done. Trump\u2019s factless antics had\u00a0worked fine with a complicit Republican party that did everything possible to keep their Dear Leader\u00a0pampered and happy, but the pamper party is over.<\/div>\n
\n

The two Democrats\u00a0went to the White House to “negotiate in good faith,” as Pelosi put it, over funding to keep the government open. Trump wants $5 billion for the border wall he originally pledged Mexico would pay for but is now demanding the American taxpayers fund. But\u00a0pouring that much money into a border wall is a nonstarter for congressional Democrats, who will happily put more money into border security, but not a wall that experts say will accomplish very little, if anything.<\/p>\n

Pelosi clearly went into the meeting hoping for decorum and, perhaps, even some progress in the negotiations.\u00a0Schumer wanted\u00a0to make it clear that Democrats hoped to avoid a shutdown, but not if the price tag was\u00a0$5 billion for a wall.\u00a0Trump planned\u00a0to ambush them<\/a>\u00a0with all kinds of\u00a0fantastically false\u00a0statistics<\/a>\u00a0written on flash cards about how the border wall would solve nearly all of the nation\u2019s\u00a0immigration problems (the fact checks will be fun). That’s where the fun began.\u00a0 …<\/p>\n

Trump\u00a0continued<\/a>, “You know what I’ll say:\u00a0Yes, if we don’t get what we want<\/strong>, one way or the other\u2014whether it’s through you, through military, through anything you want to call\u2014I will shut down the government, absolutely.<\/strong>” Trump then added, puffing out his chest a little further, “And I’ll tell you what,\u00a0I am proud to shut down the government for border security<\/strong>, Chuck.\u00a0[…]\u00a0I will take the mantle, I will be the one to shut it down<\/strong>. I’m not going to blame you for it. […] and\u00a0I’m going to shut it down for border security<\/strong>. Okay.”<\/p>\n