The Social Contract with Joe Walsh
Fears Shuts down Necessary Conversation. Springfield, Ohio. A Case Study.
Springfield, Ohio is a city of 60,000 people with a population of almost 20,000 Haitian migrants. This current situation raises a whole bunch of important issues. That demand conversation. But trying to scare people about Haitians "eating people's dogs & cats" won't get us to any meaningful conversation
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- Duration:
- 43m
- Broadcast on:
- 12 Sep 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
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Whatever you're ready. $45 up front payment equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first three month plan only, taxes and fees extra. Speed slower above 40 gigabytes of CDTails. If there's one thing that my family and friends know me for, it's being an amazing gift giver. I owe it all to Celebrations Passport from 1800flowers.com. My one stop shopping site that has amazing gifts for every occasion. With Celebrations Passport, I get free shipping on thousands of amazing gifts. And the more gifts I give, the more perks and rewards I earn. To learn more and take your gift giving to the next level, visit 1800flowers.com/acast. That's 1800flowers.com/acast. America, we got to get back to doing what's expected of us as free citizens in this democracy. That means being tolerant, being respectful, staying informed and being engaged. I'm former Congressman Joe Walsh. Follow me here and join the millions of Americans who are renewing their social contract with each other. The social contract, it's on us. Hey, good morning this Thursday. Fear. Fear is the ultimate killer of any sort of real or meaningful conversation. We have problems in this country, big problems. But whenever we lead with fear, whenever we try to scare people, it shuts down conversation. It kills conversation. It kills any meaningful dialogue when we use fear. Springfield, Ohio. A bunch of Haitians in Springfield, Ohio. And do you know what? They're eating cats and dogs. All these Haitians, these Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio. They're eating ducks, they're eating geese, they're eating, they're stealing people's pets and they're eating dogs and cats. That's what JD Vance would have you believe. That's what Donald Trump actually said at a presidential debate the other night. That all you've got to do is go into right-wing media. All you have to do is talk to so many people on the right as I do. And they believe this ship. Why is it such a big deal? Why do politicians on the right and why do media figures in right-wing media push the notion that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio are eating your pets? I mean, why push that? Whether it's true or not, why push it? Because you want to scare people. You want to scare the people living in Springfield, Ohio. You want to scare Americans all over the country that these brown and black migrants are eating your pets. The only reason you want to do that is to scare people. And the problem is that the sad thing here is there are real issues when it comes to all these migrants in this country. There are real issues with our broken immigration system. There are real issues when we let people into this country illegally. There are real issues in Springfield, Ohio. There are real issues in New York City. There are real issues in Aurora, Colorado. There are real issues in Denver, Colorado. There are real issues in towns and cities all over this country with this influx of migrants. This huge influx of migrants the last few years has caused real problems, real issues. And I guess what I'm saying at the top here is you ain't going to have a real conversation about trying to deal with this issue and fix the problems that this issue of migrants has caused in this country if you're going to try to scare people into believing that these brown and black migrants are coming for your pets. That's a conversation killer. Now, I want to say again at the outset here and thank you for everybody who's listening to me. Let me say this once again. I'm not a Democrat, boom. I am a conservative, boom. I am also someone who believes if a nation doesn't have a border, it's not a sovereign nation. If a nation doesn't secure and defend its borders, then that's not a sovereign nation. I'm someone who believes nobody should come into this country or stay in this country illegally. I have always been a border hawk. I want our borders as best as we can secure. I want our immigration system fixed so that nobody can come into this country illegally. You need to know where I'm coming from. And all you got to do is look at my history. Most people on the left and Democrats believe I've been an absolute wacko when it comes to the border. I still am a wacko when it comes to defending and securing our border. And I've been screaming about our broken immigration system for years. Now, I differ with many of my former Republican colleagues. I would greatly expand legal immigration. I'd make the process of becoming an American citizen, a hell of a lot easier, a hell of a lot shorter, and a hell of a lot less costly so that we can embrace dramatically increase the number of people all over the world who want to come to America. Man, I'm someone who's got my arms out welcoming any and all who want to come here legally. The problem with today's Republican party is they don't want immigrants coming here legally or illegally. Understand my record and my position here. When it comes to this issue of Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio. I'm a border hawk. Our immigration system is broken. We should not let people come into this country, claim asylum, and then stay here for a year or two or three until their asylum appeal is even adjudicated. That is a broken system. It's got to be fixed. That's where I'm coming from. But now let's look at Springfield, Ohio. Let's do something here for the next few minutes that too many people on the right and the lab don't do. And right now too damn many people on the right when it comes to this story of Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio eating your dogs and your cats, way too many people on the right aren't even dealing in facts. And by the way, Springfield, Ohio has problems, real problems because of the influx of migrants. You want to do something about those problems. You want to fix those problems. You're not going to fix those problems if you're trying to scare the shit out of people and claim that Haitian migrants are stealing everybody's pets. That's a bunch of bullshit. And that's not going to get to the problem. It's not going to fix the problem. Springfield, Ohio, a town of about 60,000 people has almost 20,000 migrants Springfield does. The vast majority of whom are Haitian. I mean, so just look at that. Just stop for a moment. Here's a Midwest manufacturing town. By the way, everybody listening to me right now on the right and the left, I want everybody equally listening. All you Democrats listening to me right now, there's a problem here. Okay, I know it's easy to laugh at the right to laugh at JD Vance and Tucker Carlson and all the rest talking about Haitian migrants, barbecuing cats and dogs. I know you Democratic friends of mine. That's really fun to laugh at, isn't it? Well, you know what? My Democratic friends of mine, there are huge real problems with this migrant crisis all over the country that unfortunately too much of the policies on the left have helped cause. I mean, just look at the numbers. Just stop there for a moment and look at the numbers. Here you have a Midwest manufacturing town of 60,000 people and they have 20,000 migrants now in that town, almost all Haitian, 20,000 migrants in a Midwest manufacturing town of 60,000 people. You can't look at those numbers and tell me there aren't going to be problems, real problems that need to be addressed. Why is it this way, by the way? Why are there so many migrants in Springfield, Ohio? Well, this is a problem in towns and cities all over the country. These migrants are primarily here seeking legal status, trying to get their asylum claims heard. And so they're in this country legally need to understand that my friends on the right. They're in this country right now legally. You come into this country and you claim asylum. It's a legal process. You claim asylum, you're here until your asylum case is heard. Many of these migrants are here on temporary legal status, almost 300,000 around the country. Haitians that are here legally because of a Biden administration program that gave them temporary legal status because conditions in Haiti are so dire. But these Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, many of them, by the way, are legal Haitian American citizens. Some are here with temporary work visas. And again, some are here having claimed asylum. But they're here legally. The fact that they're here, I agree, is the sign of a broken system. And the burden and the cost. Again, you don't have to be a rocket scientist listening to me right now and understand you got a town of 60,000 people in Ohio with 20,000 migrants. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to understand the problems that is going to cause. Companies in Springfield, Ohio, they need workers. But Springfield, Ohio has five night resources. And we're hearing and seeing this all over the country. The strain that these migrants in Springfield, Ohio and other towns and cities are placing on health care services, on emergency services, on schools, we're seeing this all over the country. There's a need. Employers in Springfield, Ohio need these workers. But you can't put 20,000 migrants in a town of 60,000 people and think that there aren't going to be financial problems. And there are financial problems. This has placed a huge strain on dollars and services in Springfield, Ohio. Which, by the way, my democratic friends again, so many Americans, understandably, are kind of concerned and pissed off about this. So many Americans who you, my democratic friends, might say reflexively, are just all closed-minded MAGA. That's bullshit. There are good decent Americans who live in Springfield, Ohio, who don't believe that Haitian migrants are stealing their cats and their dogs, but they're concerned about the strain these migrants are putting on their health care education and emergency services. It's led to in Springfield, Ohio, all these migrants. Dramatic increases in rent and home prices. It's led to delays in police, fire, and emergency services. It's led to huge language issues. You have now pockets of Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, and multiply this around the country who do not speak English at all. Right? You understand. Everybody understands there are problems here. Right? Everybody understands there are problems here. Springfield, Ohio, and any town or city. New York City's experiencing this. My god, Denver is going bankrupt right now, because of all the migrants they have in Denver. So like you with me? This is a real issue. And this real issue, by the way, didn't get dealt with in the debate the other night. You know why? Because Donald Trump said they're eating cats and dogs. Like Trump didn't get into the numbers of this issue. Trump didn't get into the problems in this issue. Trump didn't get into the balance, right? Our broken immigration system and how we handle this balance. Trump didn't get into at all the fact that these Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are going to church every week. And every employer, by the way, in Springfield, Ohio, praises their work ethic. But when it comes to real problems of health care services, schools, the fact that car accidents have skyrocketed in Springfield, Ohio, no talk about those real issues. Because Donald Trump, the other night, comes out in shouts. These Haitian migrants, these brown people, are eating your cats and your dogs. JD Vance has been putting that out. You go anywhere in right-wing media. And that's all you're going to hear. You're not going to hear a discussion right now of this issue, like you're hearing right now. You turn on right-wing media, the place that I used to live. It's all about scaring people. They're grabbing dogs and cats off the streets and they're barbecuing them. That's the shit you'll hear in right-wing media. And by the way, can we examine that fear? Can we examine this issue? Let's take a look at it right now. Is it true? Our Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, eating cats and dogs, are they stealing people's pets? No. There's no proof they are. There's zero proof they are. Local law enforcement has said zero proof. Local city officials have said zero proof. These are unsubstantiated claims. Period. But we live in a world where the truth doesn't matter. Trump's the worst example of this. Trump lies as he breathes, but he's not the only one. There's money in them. They're hills. There's money. There's money in people lying to you. But where did it come from? As best as I can figure, this fear-mongering, this rumor that Haitian migrants are eating cats and dogs came from a few places. There was one 9-1-1 call, supposedly, within this past year one in Springfield, Ohio, complaining about a migrant grabbing a goose. There was one guy at a Springfield, Ohio City Commission meeting in August who claimed that migrants were grabbing and killing ducks. That's it. So one 9-1-1 call in Springfield, complaining about a migrant grabbing a goose, and then somebody stood up at a city commission meeting and said they saw migrants grabbing, beheading, and killing ducks in Springfield to eat. These claims were looked into. No evidence at all was found to support these claims. None. So as you listen to Trump and JD Vance and all the others, talk about an epidemic in Springfield, Ohio of Haitian migrants eating pets. Just remember, as of right now, there's no proof. I also need to mention this because I think this is kind of funny. It's not, but it's funny. There was a woman in Springfield, Ohio a year ago who ate a cat. There was one. The only problem is she wasn't a migrant. She was an American living in Springfield, Ohio, who had severe mental issues, and she killed and she ate her cat. Not a migrant. Not a Haitian. You see the problem? You see the problem? Right now, none of this is true. And every Trump supporter who's saying, "Joe, it is true." And by the way, because I come from Trump World, because I come from right-wing media, because I still engage with Trump supporters every day, I have heard every day now for a couple of weeks. I've certainly heard every day this week from Trump supporters that it's true that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio are eating, killing, and eating dogs and cats. And there's no proof of it. None. So it's a problem. This is just the latest example of a problem. People getting all worked up about a conspiracy theory with no truth as its basis. This is a problem in our politics in general. It's more pronounced on the right right now. Because again, their leader on the right Donald Trump is utterly untethered to the truth, completely untethered to the truth. Selling a little? Or a lot? Shopify helps you do your thing however you chit-ching. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business, from the launch your online shop stage to the first real-life store stage. All the way to the did we just hit a million orders stage, Shopify is there to help you grow. Shopify helps you turn browsers into buyers with the internet's best converting checkout. Thirty-six percent better on average compared to other leading commerce platforms. Because businesses that grow grow with Shopify. Get a one dollar per month trial period at Shopify.com/work. Shopify.com/work. Ryan Reynolds here for, I guess, my hundredth mint commercial. No, no, no, no, no. No, no. Honestly, when I started this, I thought I'd only have to do like four of these. I mean, it's unlimited premium wireless for $15 a month. How are there still people paying two or three times that much? I'm sorry, I shouldn't be victim blaming here. Give it a try at midmobile.com/switch, whatever you're ready. $45 up from payment equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first three month plan only. Taxes and fees extra. Speed slower above 40 gigabytes of CD-Tails. But the bigger broader problem is this. Springfield, Ohio has a problem. A broken immigration system. Broken by both parties. Broken because neither political party has the courage to fix it. And also broken by democrats who have had less of an interest until a few months ago in fixing it. Led to this problem where you have one manufacturing town in the Midwest of 60,000 people. That one town has been inundated over the last few years with now 20,000 migrants, most of whom are from Haiti. We are a loving country. We should be. We are a compassionate country. We always should be. We are a country that embraces all who want to be here. We had better be. But man, we have to acknowledge that we have to take care of the people here as well. And if you take a town of 60,000 people and you put 20,000 migrants in that town, you better believe there are going to be issues and financial strains and problems. And you better be prepared to address these problems. Now the federal government created this problem. Federal government policies. The fear and the inability to deal with our broken border led to what's happened in Springfield, Ohio, in Denver, Colorado and New York City and towns and cities all over the country. The feds did this. So you would think the feds would help pay for it and they're really not. Which is why towns like Denver and Springfield, Ohio are so burdened. And again, Springfield, Ohio has finite resources. Yes, absolutely a need for workers. And by all indications, these Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio are looking for work and have gotten work and are really good on the job. And seem to be really good, decent people. There are churches throughout Springfield, Ohio praising how these folks go to church. But Springfield, Ohio has finite resources, like every town and city in America. And so the healthcare delivery system in Springfield, Ohio has a real strain on it now. The schools in Springfield, Ohio have a real strain on them now. Violent crime don't know whether this is due to the influx of Haitian migrants. But America, let's be frank, violent crime in Springfield, Ohio is up 142% from 2019 to just 2022. Again, the language issues. Again, car accidents in Springfield, Ohio have skyrocketed. And this is happening in towns and cities all over the country. Because in the main really good people want to live here. They'd rather live here than in other countries, or work and freedom and opportunity. I get all of that. We get all of that. But they come here and because we have a broken immigration system, all they have to do is knock on our door, claim asylum. The vast majority of them will not get their asylum claim heard for months, sometimes a few years. The vast majority of them will not get their asylum claim approved. But in the meantime, they are free to enter this country and live in the interior of this country. And this country is not having the real important, meaningful, difficult, tough, let's weigh both sides conversation on how we deal with this. How do we deal with this? How do we welcome people who want to be here with the best of intentions, but handle the financial costs? And we got to defend our border. And it's not a mean or cruel thing to say defend our border. I don't believe it's a mean or cruel thing to say. If you come here to claim asylum, I don't think you should necessarily be released into the interior of this country. We're doing that under Biden. We did that under Trump. We did that under Obama. That's been federal policy forever. The whole system is broken. The feds won't fix it. Neither party right now wants to fix it for political advantages. Right now, it's the Republicans who don't want to fix it because Trump and Republicans Trump didn't want a border bill, a border fix because he wants to be able to use this issue in November. But for three years, Democrats didn't want to fix this. Joe Biden got elected four years ago saying he would be the opposite of Trump. Joe Biden got elected telling the rest of the world telling people in sense in Mexico and central and South America, come on in, come on up. And they did. And for three years, our numbers at the border skyrocketed. And now we have problems like we do in Springfield, Ohio. A resident of Springfield, Ohio came out a couple of weeks ago, excuse me, a couple of days ago and said, I got nothing. This was a resident of Springfield, Ohio. I got nothing against these Haitian migrants. They seem to be good people. They want to work. They seem hardworking. They're religious. They seem like good people. I don't have a problem with them. This resident of Springfield, Ohio said. But is there a cutoff point? Is there a cutoff point? How many migrants can an American manufacturing town of 60,000 people take before the needs of its own people are not being met? That's not, that's not a bigot asking that question. Is there a cutoff point said some white resident of Springfield, Ohio? That guy's not a bigot. That guy's not a racist. He's not a fair monger. He's asking the important question. Is there a cutoff point? How many can we take? How many should we take? What about the people who live here? How do we balance all of this? A town of 60,000 and we got 20,000 migrants? Come on, everybody. Hello, world. What's going on? But we're not listening to him. We're not answering that question. Is there a cutoff point? Let's sit down. Let's have a conversation. This is a problem. This is a loving, generous country. But man, we can't take in everybody all at once. We can't take in everybody who wants to be here. So let's figure this out. And let's address the real issues. And I guess my point today is those real issues cannot be addressed without real conversation. And there ain't no freaking way you're going to get real conversation that addresses these issues as long as we're trying to scare people, as long as it's all about fear. Because if that's what you're talking about, if you're spreading lies, you're spreading disinformation, you're purposely trying to scare the white residents of Springfield, Ohio, that their pets are in danger. If you're trying to do that, you have zero interest in fixing this problem. You have zero interest in addressing this issue. And when Trump stands up at a debate and says they're eating your cats and your dogs, Donald Trump has zero interest in fixing this. All he wants to do is scare the shit out of you, out of his voters. And the Democrats who can only laugh at the lies and the disinformation about these pets, about these Haitians being spread by the right, if all you can do Democrats is laugh at them. And I know it's easy. But if that's all you're doing, and you're not taking a deep look at the problems that your policies have helped to create, then you have no interest. You have no interest either in fixing this problem. See, here's the deal. And I'll close with this. When it comes to immigration in America, Republicans and the right demagogue the issue, I fully acknowledge that because I used to do that as well. Oh man, the border is open. Brown and black people coming over. Everybody's pouring into this country illegally. They're on your streets. They're in your neighborhood. They're committing crimes. They're going after your pets. That's what the right does. I used to do some of that. And it's meant to scare you. Because good people on the right have good legitimate concerns about our broken immigration system, about our broken border, about all these people coming into this country, many illegally, many legally because of a broken system. And the average American says, wait a minute, this isn't right. This isn't fair. This is broken. That's the truth. The right demagogues, those people, tries to scare them. But the truth also is that the left has not paid attention to this issue. And don't, don't, don't love you. Don't, don't dispute me now, my friends on the left. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris did not give a damn about this issue until four or five months ago, when they knew it was an election issue. The left, if the right demagogues the issue of immigration, the left has never understood it and has ignored it. And regular average Americans have had to live with it, have had to live with a broken system. Regular average Americans living in Springfield, Ohio, 60,000 of them, the vast majority of them, good, good people who've seen over the last few years, 20,000 migrants enter their town of 60,000 people. And they've seen the problems it's created, the financial strain it's created. And you've got folks in Springfield, Ohio raising their hand saying, excuse me, we have a problem here. I'm not an ass. I'm not a bigot. I got nothing against people. But we got a problem in this town. Can we fix this? And you get JD Vance and Trump and Tucker Carlson and all these crazy ass people on the right with their podcast and their, their YouTube channels and their TV and radio shows screaming about they're coming for your cats and your dogs. When the problem is, when the truth is, here's the truth. Can you handle this truth? Here's the truth, the ironic truth, the vast majority of Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio are good, decent folk looking for an opportunity looking to live a good life. The 20,000 migrants in Springfield, Ohio, that's them. That's the vast majority of them. Good, decent people wanting a job, wanting a life, wanting to have a good life, wanting an opportunity. And the vast majority of those 60,000 Americans living in Springfield, Ohio. Same, the vast majority of them, good, decent, hard working people who want to live a good life and want what's best for their kids and their community. So there you have it, Springfield, Ohio, good people on both sides, 60,000 Americans, 20,000 migrants in one Midwest manufacturing town. They're not the problem. They're not the problem. The problem is the fear mongers on the right. And the problem is the folks on the left who don't even want to deal with this issue. And the problem is our political class, our politicians on both sides who've created this broken system and don't have the courage or the balls to fix it. Thus endeth my lecture today. Fear is the absolute killer of meaningful conversation. Springfield, Ohio right now is an absolute case study of that. God bless. Have a good Thursday. Thanks for listening. Be brave. Remember to listen, share and follow the social contract with Joe Walsh on Apple podcasts, Spotify and everywhere great podcasts are found. And be sure to leave a five star review. This has been the Social Contract with Joe Walsh. If there's one thing that my family and friends know me for, it's being an amazing gift-giver. I owe it all to Celebrations Passport from 1800flowers.com, my one-stop shopping site that has amazing gifts for every occasion. With Celebrations Passport, I get free shipping on thousands of amazing gifts. And the more gifts I give, the more perks and rewards I earn. To learn more and take your gift giving to the next level, visit 1800flowers.com/acast. That's 1800flowers.com/acast. Acast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. Hi, I'm Leti Tagun. And I'm Ashley Frange. 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