My dad was a straight-off-the-boat immigrant. I don't know if Hungary is considered a "shithole country" by Trump -- probably not since it's one of the most Nazi-ish nationalist countries in Europe now, and has become a disgrace -- but, I hope it counts as one of Trump's "shithole" places. I'd be proud of it.
I've seen conservatives scrambling to defend this thing by claiming, "Oh, Trump was talking about merit-based immigration." Perhaps his base (and if you want to talk about shitholes, there's where you start) will fall for that, because they don't think, they just obey, but that argument doesn't stand up at all considering what Trump said. If the statement was about being merit-based, then you don't discuss countries, you discuss individuals. Unless you are a racist, where you're from or the color you're born has nothing to do with your merit. Being born in Norway or Haiti says nothing about you as an individual -- your skills, intelligence, drive, potential, character, decency, your worth to the world. That's you, not the random accident of nationality. You can't help where you're born, so no country can be dismissed as a "shithole." Especially by the president of the country where the Statue of Liberty stands. So, no, Trump's argument isn't about "merit-based immigration," because if it were, countries would not be brought into it.
And, while we're on that... conservatives say they don't want to let anyone unskilled and unproductive into the country.
So... why are they against abortion?
Y'see, there's nobody more unskilled and unproductive than a baby. Even the dumbest guy in El Salvador can rake leaves or something, so, if you're really going for "we only want the rocket scientists," then ya gotta be against babies. Babies don't know shit, they can't do shit, they are literally on the teat. They don't have jobs, they can't speak the language, and where they come from is about two inches from a shithole, literally. So, if you don't want the unskilled immigrants, why the love for babies?
Is it because babies can learn? They can develop skills and become really productive citizens, if we just help them along a little, cut them a little slack, give them a few advantages?
Well, guess what, sunshine? So can immigrants. In fact, that's why a lot of them want to come here, so they'll have opportunities to better themselves.
People who are already accomplished in their countries have less need to come here. That's why the Statue of Liberty says what it says. This is the greatest country in the world, and it never had a policy of "we'll only take you if you're the top of your class." Nope... we let in the tired, the poor, and the huddled, and that's what we built on and this is what we got. On a human scale of nothing's-ever-going-to-be-perfect, I'd say we'd have to call the experiment a big success.
And Trump is not a smart enough person to convince me that the melting-pot operational model America has used throughout our history needs changing to support his bigoted vision. And neither is any piece of shit who supports him. I'll trust the success rate of America more than I'll trust a con man or the idiots who support him, who, quite frankly, are lucky we aren't letting people stay here based on merit, because I know a lot of 'em and most of 'em would be shipped out by Thursday if they really had to justify their existence.
And as far as those supporters go, well, Trump's people have been saying they're not worried about this because they think it will appeal to his base. Think about that a second, especially if you're part of that base and consider yourself a non-bigot. You may not think you're a racist, and maybe you aren't... BUT TRUMP THINKS YOU ARE. He thinks this is what you want. When he demeans whole groups of people based on their point of origin, he's expecting you to shake your pom-poms for him. He's put you in the same car with those torch-bearing, swastika-waving motherfuckers we all saw seig-heiling in Charlottesville. You comfortable with that? I wouldn't be. If somebody picked out that seat for me I'd want to know why the hell they'd think I'd want it, and get busy changing whatever it was that gave them that impression so I could get out of there.
Whether it's true or it isn't, Republicans have given up and now think that that's their base, those are the people they need to please. It's an admission. Republicans are going to have to decide whether they've been misjudged, or if Trump is right about them. And if he's wrong, then they'll need to change some things... bigly.