A True Lady Shares Her Jacket · 8:03pm Jun 23rd, 2018
I've made it no secret that Rarity is my personal best pony.
... Well, how can you not love someone who'd give a lock of their own hair to fix someone else's moustache.
And I do believe that, quite aside from the supremely ungenerous nature of the current US administration's new, harsh anti-immigration policies, Rarity would be just as appalled at the presidential couple's characteristic display of poor taste. Donald Trump hugging the American flag, following his speech at the National Federation of Independent Business this Tuesday – is that something a true patriot would do, or the act of someone trying far too hard to look patriotic? And despite what their press secretary may say, it's especially hard to swallow that Melania Trump wearing an army-style Zara jacket bearing the words “I Really Don't Care, Do U?“, while boarding the plane to the McAllen immigration detention centre on Thursday, could be construed as anything other than a provocative statement.
Speaking to The Huffington Post that same day, New York-based artist Justin Teodoro seemed to agree, in way of explanation for a picture he posted on Instagram, in which Lady Liberty holds the hand of the two-year-old Honduran asylum seeker whose tear-streaken face was caught on photo by John Moore at the US-Mexico border on June 12th.
“I wanted to illustrate the Statue of Liberty, a real first lady, wearing what we all feel and holding the hand of that little girl whose image we’ve seen everywhere and taking care of her because that is what she and all these children deserve.”
We've had a sobering reminder recently of how pictures can be something other than what we want them to be. It's going to stand as a source of shame, and deservedly so, that the picture of the two child detainees sleeping on the floor of a cage-like holding cell at Arizona, was in fact from 2014, not 2018. US Border and Control has, unfortunately, always been quite harsh towards those in its detention.
Still, no prior administration, neither Clinton, nor Bush, nor Obama, ever took the step of forcibly separating children from their parents. Though an executive order may have been signed three days ago to reverse the policy, the damage's been done as hundreds of families remain indefinitely separated, with parents and children stuck on two different sides of the border. And the order's instructions that the Department of Homeland Security should detain families together in camps is hardly an improvement. Overturning the Flores settlement of 1997 would not, contrary to presidential claims, remove an obstacle to the solution. Removing the Flores settlement would be to remove all standards of finding a humane solution.
I'm French, and France, while known as a country of high fashion, has its own unfortunate history of treating immigrants or asylum-seekers shabbily. The infamous case of the Jungle de Calais, unsolved since the early 2000s, provides a sad testimony to that. One chapter we prefer to overlook in our history books is the tale of the "transit" camps at Bias and Saint-Maurice-L'Ardoise, which housed thousands of Harkis – the people who had the most to lose at the end of Algerian War, as they were forced to flee their homeland for having fought alongside the French State in its efforts to retain a colonial footing in Algeria.
But take it from me that Paris, despite the occasional riot and the two attacks of 2015, has not been turned into a "warzone" due to an immigration crisis. Pictures underlined by statements which say otherwise are deliberately made to misinform, spread fear. Though I may not live in Paris, I have family who do. I've never had to sleep at night troubled by fears they'd get caught in an ongoing crossfire. I currently study at a university attended by many second- or third-generation children of immigrants. The worst ruckus I've ever had to face on campus was in response to the proposed Work Law reform of 2016, which is its own separate topic.
So, in conclusion, while the Attorney General of the United States cites the Bible, that old Book of mixed messages, to support obedience towards a government's inhumane actions – which feels like it clashes with American culture's inherent distrust of centralised government – what is it the Book has to say on showing generous behaviour?
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
– King James Bible, Isaiah 58:7
St. Martin, one of France's most beloved saints and an early example in recorded history of the conscientious objector, cut his cloak in two pieces, to give half of it to a beggar in the dead of winter.
If there's any truth to Lady Liberty, then she doesn't even need a snazzy jacket. Her robes should be great enough for all seeking her comforting embrace.
Well said. President trump is completely morally bankrupt. I’d never thought there would be a president who would do half of the insane things that trump has done. He is so repellent that my father who is very conservative is actually considering leaving the Republican Party and he has been a lifelong member. I had left years ago when I felt that my morals and ideals aligned more with the left but I always had a respect for the party. That’s vanished now that the orange idiot has taken charge.
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Aside from dodgy politics, the 2010s have also been a decade for remakes and reboots. 'Member that, 'member this, y'know? Maybe what we need is for Mike Judge to produce a reboot of King of the Hill. Bring back a little old-school conservative magic as a contrast to the alt-right in popular culture.
And I may not be much of a patriot to any of the countries I possess a passport for as a multi-national citizen, but I am pretty sure that pressing one's sweating body against it isn't how you honour the American flag.
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Oh the flag hugging. Yet another thing to put into my “oh dear god what has that idiot done now 2018 edition” file. As for king of the hill yes that does bring some memories. I was never that much of a fan but I do remember likening some of the episodes.
At this point, I really honestly am not that shocked anymore by this morally bankrupt "administration". Not to the point of apathy but just at the fact that they will bend over backward to justify themselves. Though if I may, at least one silver lining to this is that this has galvanized people to actually become involved in politics and their communities (as seen last year with the victories of Democratic candidates in several local elections, especially Danica Roem's victory; she's awesome).
And to cite the Bible, while I can't quite recall the exact passages, there are many instances in which it specifically instructs that you treat immigrants with the same courtesy as you would the native-born. Convenient how one can just pick and choose, eh?