Back To Basics

  • Personal Accountability and Responsibility
  • Fiscal Reality: If you only have a dollar, you don’t spend two!
  • Fact: Life Isn’t Fair.
  • Live And Let Live – Mind Your Business

Don Thinks…Hello!

Hello!

You’ve found Don Thinks.  Yes, it’s been known to happen, Don sometimes Thinks.  This site is my personal site.  It’s express purpose is to have a place where I can put whatever I want out there in the world.  The world definitely makes me think.  Does it make YOU think?  It should, especially in these times of ours.  So, visit when you can to see what I’ve been thinking.

Undocumented or Illegal

A few hours ago I started writing this post. The approach I began with was about how “words matter”. Newcomer, Undocumented, Illegal. I was frustrated and upset by the semantics of the whole thing. Then I realized I had wandered into seven-plus paragraphs that have lots to do with how words matter and the pitfalls of taking those words too literally, out of context, and often with little consideration to the message behind the words. I had nothing related to what triggered my urge to write this new post. So, let me save the “words matter” post for another time and get to what I wanted to get to.

Last week, in his State of the Union address, President Biden used the term ‘illegal’ in reference to a specific alien and our immigration crisis generally. In an interview the next day he walked back his use of ‘illegal’ and said he should have said ‘undocumented’. The whole thing was enough to get time and attention on the major news outlets.

First, it’s clear that no matter his normal language, even our current President recognizes the people coming into our country without following the rules are doing so illegally. I respect his use of the term “illegal”. You may not like how it sounds, but it is essentially correct. His walk back to “undocumented” the next day just highlights his weakness. How quickly he caved to the political correctness we are suffering from today. There was no reason for him to apologize or walk back that comment. Honestly, he hasn’t changed his meaning or the facts, just the label. And in this case, the label is insignificant.

He may prefer to use a different term. Undocumented Immigrant or Illegal Alien. Guess what, they are the same things and everyone knows it. They both refer to non-citizens who have entered and remain in our country without permission or any type of processing. That is, of course, illegal.

Let’s face the fact. In this case the words DON’T matter. If you want to waste the time, you can argue the technical use of the words. But ultimately whether you call them illegal aliens, undocumented immigrants, or ‘newcomers’, the simple fact is these people have entered our country by illegal means. Their presence in our country is illegal.

Everyone gets it. We have a problem with illegal immigration and we have had a problem with it for decades. Wasting time on the semantics of the situation just takes away from solving the problem and is irresponsible.

I’m talking to the politicians, the media, and even the citizens of our country. Let’s stop spending time on the labels and start spending time on solving the problem!

Ford For Most Patriotic Car Company

Today I saw a news segment about a development in the current UAW strike against Ford, GM, and Stellantis. More work stoppages were implemented by the UAW today at GM and Stellantis facilities, but not Ford. The reason? The UAW feels that progress is being made with Ford, but not with the others.

One possible consequence I’ve heard of is that the auto manufacturers might move more manufacturing to Mexico. In the segment I saw, which was on the business channel CNBC, it was also noted that of the big three auto companies, Ford has the fewest number of employees in Mexico.

What I get from this is that Ford is the most likely to be willing to work with the American work force and is least likely to ship jobs and manufacturing out of the country.

From a business perspective and as an American company, I’ve always like Ford. Even during the Great Recession back in 2008, Ford was the only auto company that did NOT ask for bailout money. While I believe there was a government backed loan at some point, I believe Ford is also the only auto company to pay it back in it’s entirety in a practical way. What I mean by that is the government received back every dollar of value, not a diluted stock value like the GM deal. Here’s a good explanation of the GM deal on The Motley Fool.

Bottom line: Out of the big three auto companies, Ford is my pick for most patriotic American car company.