Immigration

I have a little sticky note beside my computer with an "eac" number on it. Every morning, first thing, I click on the "immigration" icon on my favorites bar (only because there is no "least favorite" bar) and then type in the eac with the 10 digits that follow. I know longer need to refer to the sticky note. The number is imbedded in my brain. Every day, the computer pops up the same screen

"Current Status: The fee was collected at one location, and the case is now pending at our processing site."

Last night I read an argument that the existence of "objective good" proves the existence of God. If there is no God, the argument goes, then there is nothing with which to compare our own subjective view of what "good" is. Is it bad to eat cows? In our Christian culture it is perfectly acceptable. In other cultures it is bad. Is it bad to subjugate women, treating them as second class citizens who cannot even reveal their faces in public? To us that is bad, to others it is part of their culture. Is there an "objective good" apart from our societal norms that determine whether these things are actually good or bad? The Latin terms for this distinction is "malum in se" (bad in and of itself) and "malum prohibitum" (bad only because society has declared that it is bad and therefore has prihibited it).

I have decided that Immigration and Naturalization services is "objectively bad." There is absolutely no reason in this world, or in any world, that they should take this long to do the job that has been delegated to them. Almost two years for God's sake! Do they just enjoy playing games with people's lives? Are they all 5th grade dropouts that need 6 months to read a two page petition? Are they sadists? Are these the same people who did such a great job at Abu Ghraib and have now been reassigned to torture other people?

Something needs to be done. I think I will write to my Congressman. No wait, I already did that. Apparently this stuff goes on all the time and the government thinks they are doing a perfectly fine job. Mexicans, including ne'er-do-wells, are streaming across the Rio Grande. The ones that are already here have jobs (some as housekeepers for government officials), get arrested and released, and send their children to our schools. I am not suggesting that is such a big deal. Mexico is an impoverished nation and most of the immigrants from that country, legal and illegal, contribute beneficially to our communities and economy, and help out the folks back home. But try to do it right: ask nicely, submit a ton of paperwork, submit to the bureaucracy; and they jack you around. No wonder the illegals don't bother to try to do it the right way.

As Howard Beale said on "Network:" "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore." No, wait again. Yes, I am. I have to. Dammit Cartman.