President Neelix tries to void birthright citizenship through executive order

[Steve]

...but after we showed Johnny Reb to mind his Uncle Sam in the War of Southern Aggression

Hey hey HEY! That's my moniker for the war and has been for years, get your own !

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

I would add that this line of thinking is also predicated on the idea that the only people who would be illegal are the people CURRENTLY considered illegal.

Excellent point. There are a lot of potential downsides to this proposed policy, and very few benefits that I can see.

I mean, if your concern is that we have too many illegal immigrants...fine. There are ways to address that. We can put more resources into enforcement, crack down on employers, whatever. But ending birthright citizenship to combat illegal immigration is like setting a controlled blaze inside of your house to flush out spiders.

Don't know if it's relevant to your simile, but I have heard multiple news accounts of people who burned down their house just trying to kill ONE spider.

[Deledrius]

I mean, if your concern is that we have too many illegal immigrants...fine. There are ways to address that. We can put more resources into enforcement, crack down on employers, whatever. But ending birthright citizenship to combat illegal immigration is like setting a controlled blaze inside of your house to flush out spiders.

Don't know if it's relevant to your simile, but I have heard multiple news accounts of people who burned down their house just trying to kill ONE spider.

It's a good way to show that even for an absurd example, (assuming they aren't apocryphal) it still happens in real life because humans sometimes do incredibly stupid, destructive, short-sighted things to solve their problems.

[Worffan101]

...but after we showed Johnny Reb to mind his Uncle Sam in the War of Southern Aggression

Hey hey HEY! That's my moniker for the war and has been for years, get your own !

It's actually the popular name for that conflict on alternatehistory.com (which I frequent)--other common terms include the War of Southern Treason, the War of Treasonous Southern Butthurt, and James Buchanan's Legacy.

There's a reason why James Buchanan is the worst President we ever had, INCLUDING Trump. James Buchanan nearly destroyed the entire American system of government and the USA itself.

[Steve]

It's actually the popular name for that conflict on alternatehistory.com (which I frequent)--other common terms include the War of Southern Treason, the War of Treasonous Southern Butthurt, and James Buchanan's Legacy.

There's a reason why James Buchanan is the worst President we ever had, INCLUDING Trump. James Buchanan nearly destroyed the entire American system of government and the USA itself.

Ah. I don't frequent AH.com, didn't know that.

I'm not sure you can lay the whole thing on Buchanan. The sectional forces were going to produce a division inevitably, and he ultimately kept the illegal pro-slavery Lecompton government from bringing Kansas into the Union as a slave state.

[Worffan101]

It's actually the popular name for that conflict on alternatehistory.com (which I frequent)--other common terms include the War of Southern Treason, the War of Treasonous Southern Butthurt, and James Buchanan's Legacy.

There's a reason why James Buchanan is the worst President we ever had, INCLUDING Trump. James Buchanan nearly destroyed the entire American system of government and the USA itself.

Ah. I don't frequent AH.com, didn't know that.

I'm not sure you can lay the whole thing on Buchanan. The sectional forces were going to produce a division inevitably, and he ultimately kept the illegal pro-slavery Lecompton government from bringing Kansas into the Union as a slave state.

Sure, but he also actively supported the Dred Scott decision, tried to start a war in Utah, and then moved the fucking federal arsenal to the deep South. His incompetence, corruption, and general ineffectiveness were infamous even during his administration.

The way I like to say it is, Franklin Pierce and Millard Fillmore set the fuse. James Buchanan tossed a few more matches at the gasoline-soaked pyre.

You should try AH.com, the moderation's careful to keep the neo-Nazis, racists, Israeli ultranationalists, and Leopold of Belgium apologists out (yes, I've seen people try to excuse the Congo Free State's atrocities), and the user base is generally very knowledgeable and friendly.

[Yukaphile]

I tried it once. It was very hard fitting in. But then, I have my own issues, as you guys have no doubt seen.

[Worffan101]

I tried it once. It was very hard fitting in. But then, I have my own issues, as you guys have no doubt seen.

It might be because the mods at AH.com frown upon prejudice against any group. Including against Russians.

[Yukaphile]

That was only a small part of it, though it's not prejudice so much as a determination to try and get people to accept when someone does something bad, in all corners of the world, they had every opportunity to choose not to do so. It was a conscious decision. Though obviously for people who don't believe in free will, I can't help them. No, regarding AH.com, I think a much larger part had to do with my feelings towards the 2016 election and Bernie Sanders.

[Deledrius]

I read a pretty extensive write-up on one aspect of this legal question: https://law.stackexchange.com/questions ... 3057#33057

It might be because the mods at AH.com frown upon prejudice against any group. Including against Russians.

I think a much larger part had to do with my feelings towards the 2016 election and Bernie Sanders.

One of the two seems like a safe bet. Or maybe even both.