This goes into the file of sentences you never expected to see:
The Springfield Police Division said Monday morning they have received no reports related to pets being stolen and eaten.
If you have no idea what this is all about, count your blessings. It means you're a normal person who doesn't chase right-wing memes down rabbit holes. Naturally I'm now going to ruin this for you.
The Springfield in question is Springfield, Ohio, about 15 miles from Dayton. Something like 15,000 Haitian refugees have resettled there recently, and a year ago one of them ran into a school bus and killed an 11-year-old student. J.D. Vance made hay with this and everything spiraled from there. A few days ago someone in a Springfield Facebook group claimed that Haitians were catching and butchering local ducks and cats. America 2100, an anti-immigrant organization, followed up with a Twitter thread about the horrors of Haitian immigrants in Springfield, which was then picked up by Benny Johnson, Breitbart, Elon Musk, the GOP, and a vast host of others. Within a couple of days it had all gone viral.
Aside from the brutal racism involved in all this, it's ironic for two reasons. First, until recently Springfield was a dying town. Ten years ago it began a program to attract new business and it was stunningly successful: before long it had produced more jobs than the town could fill. According to the New York Times, "Many young, working-age people had descended into addiction. Others shunned entry-level, rote work altogether, employers said."
The Haitian community heard about this and rescued Springfield. They migrated from other states and filled the jobs, doing them so well that more and more businesses set up shop. By all accounts, the Haitian settlers were hard working, law abiding, and healthy. “It was incredible to witness the transformation of our community,” said Horton Hobbs, vice president of economic development for the Greater Springfield Partnership, which executed the plan.
The second point of irony is that this has nothing to do with either Joe Biden or Kamala Harris. Most of the Haitians were already in the country thanks to the Cuban Haitian Entrant Program of 1980. They moved to Springfield because they learned that it had lots of good jobs. "Haitians who heard that the Springfield area boasted well-paying, blue-collar jobs and a low cost of living poured in, and employers were eager to hire and train the new work force."
Now, there's no question that the influx of refugees over the past five years has taken a toll. Clinics and schools have been overwhelmed, and it's taken a while to adjust. Housing prices have gone up. Crime spiked in 2021, but that appears to be mostly a statistical artifact due to changes in how aggravated assault was defined.
So who's behind the viral meme about the immigrant horrors of Springfield? Good question. Semafor has reported on a secretive group being paid considerable sums to create right wing social media memes. Russia paid $10 million to create Tenet Media, a fake news outlet that released thousands of right wing videos. The FBI recently seized 32 websites that were part of a Russian disinformation program called Doppelganger, which produced realistic looking fake news sites as part of its “Good Old USA Project.”
So who knows? The Springfield meme could be one of those or it could be some other freelance group. In any case, there's very little about it that's truthful. The Haitians are in Springfield essentially because they were invited. Most of them had nothing to do with Joe Biden's Haitian parole program. Real-life crime doesn't appear to be up much. The Haitian immigrants are highly valued by local employers. It is true that the influx has strained public services, but even that is being steadily addressed.
But it doesn't matter, does it? Thousands of people have seen the viral Springfield stuff. Maybe millions. Conversely, probably a few hundred will see this post. The damage is done.
We really should just let these shithole towns die.
I’m so exhausted of their endless bitching and whining that the millions poured into them requires them to look at black and brown people.
Yecch.
Or maybe we could set up deplorable trailer parks somewhere where all these folks could go to complain and we wouldn’t have to listen to them. Something like The Villages, but on the cheap.
There are conspiracists who still think there's a Democratic pedophile sex ring. Stupid things like this are impossible to stop. Gullible, stupid people are gonna be fooled dozens of times and never catch on that their echo chamber is the problem.
This is why the folks who got caught taking Tenet Media money did it, probably. The whole right-wing media scene is so awash in dubious dark money that if you're unscrupulous enough to not ask questions, there's plenty to go around.
Kev, it's Springfield. With Homer working at the nuclear reactor, anything is likely to happen. And whatever does happen, Mr. Burns - who may be behind all the pet kidnapping and feasting - would undoubtedly have the means and wherewithal to cover it up. So I'm not surprised that the Springfield "police" are denying that anything is going on. They're probably on Burns's payroll!
😂😂😂
Sadly, this stuff is going to work. People all over the world are freaking out of migration and immigration as people flee sh*thole countries to make a better life.
Some of those people will have relatives traveling with them who are less than admirable. Ship the relatives back if they can't behave.
Long term, the "close the doors, we're full" people will win. Maybe Harris will squeak this one out, but eventually every first world country is going to deny migration unless the applicant has a job waiting for them - and the employers will be under enormous pressure to not hire from outside the country.
We stink at nation building, but at some point we're going to have to do it as the humanitarian crisis worsens and the US citizens refuse to share - it will be a huge fight.
"...eventually every first world country is going to deny migration unless the applicant has a job waiting for them - and the employers will be under enormous pressure to not hire from outside the country."
This is true, and yet, developed countries also want things like "well-stocked supermarkets" and "cheap janitorial/landscaping services" and "people to wipe my ass when I can't do it myself" and "hospitals with real doctors in them." Employers will likely be under enormous public pressure to not hire from outside the country, and we'll just return to quietly issuing "temporary" work permits again to fill the jobs that voters - especially senior citizens - demand be done.
Yep. This is precisely why "immigration" is a red herring. Business owners like immigrant labor to keep their overhead low. Homeowners like immigrant labor for cheap child care and landscaping. Consumers like immigrant labor to keep fast food prices low. etc etc.
Now I get that if you are an American citizen with a landscaping business and you charge $30 in L.A. to mow a lawn and water the plants and an immigrant with a landscaping business charges $20, well, you aren't going to get much business. The problem is the American (consumer, small business, corporation) who has money in his pocket will always want to get as much stuff as he possibly can with this money.
re Employers. I have an acquaintance who used to work for the INS and his take is that the INS never goes after the people who employ the illegals. When the INS rounds a bunch of illegals up and deports them the employers go get another batch. It's like drug smuggling. As long as Americans with money are willing to pay for imported drugs, someone will supply those imported drugs.
So here is the bottom line: "Securing the border" is just so much bullshit. Neither party is going to actually eliminate the flow of illegals because there is too much money in the U.S. that wants the illegals here.
"The Haitian community heard about this and rescued Springfield. They migrated from other states and filled the jobs, doing them so well that more and more businesses set up shop. By all accounts, the Haitian settlers were hard working, law abiding, and healthy."
Obviously, that kind of behavior must be punished. Ohio (like so many other red states and red parts of blue states) only wants white people (and maybe a small number of Asians, maybe) rescuing their declining urbanized areas.
We should clearly distinguish between the cats and the ducks. The alleged duck killing involved park ducks, which is to say quasi-domesticated wild animals (wild ducks that live near humans quickly learn that humans are a fairly reliable food source). Lots of hunters kill and eat wild ducks. In my region of the world, there is convincing video footage of poor appearing white people catching and killing park ducks and Canada geese; being quasi-domesticated they're fairly easy to catch, although catching a goose can be risky; they fight. Ducks and geese reproduce fast enough that park flocks can often use thinning, so I don't particularly condemn poor people who catch them for food.
Cats are another story. They're pets, and NOT to be eaten.
"Cats are another story. They're pets, and NOT to be eaten."
Then we need to deport coyotes. According to the US Fish & Wildlife Service, coyotes living on the fringes of cities get 30% of their calories from household pets.
I've heard a version of this where they were killing and eating geese. It's amazing what people will either believe and spread as the truth.
I can believe that. A neighbor of mine, white and native-born, used to catch Canada geese from a flock that had decided not to migrate any more because humans were keeping them fed through the winter. They're quite tasty.
Sadly a large portion of the American public sees this and plenty of similar crap and votes accordingly. Elections are won and lost not on actual policy or even real life events. With the population we currently have I’m not really sure we’re capable of self government anymore.
JD Vance: "Somebody said it, so it must be true!"
https://wapo.st/3z2rsrD
Hiding your women from the scary brown people has long been an election year classic. It might be the entire purpose of elections for many people.
Given how big of a loser issue immigration is for democrats, I’m continually amazed that they refuse to adjust. Why not just give tax cuts to the super rich too?
This part is hilarious…
"Many young, working-age people had descended into addiction. Others shunned entry-level, rote work altogether, employers said."
White privilege at it's best. I feel for their hopelessness but it's a learned behavior. Too white to learn this. Too white for that menial work. Just too white.
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