THIS IS GETTING REALLY NUTTY.

Trump sign in East Boston. Photo from The Boston Globe. 

This morning I was treated to a story on one of my local National Public Radio stations, WGBH. I would link the story, but it was unavailable on their site search engine or Google. I found that nutty too. But the gist of the story was the "plight" of illegal Latino immigrants in East Boston who are feeling oppressed by Trump election signs in their neighborhood. No kidding.

It seems the local NAACP, an organization which is grappling for relevance in an information-laden world, has latched onto and encouraged anti-Trump sentiments and fears in the Latino communities of East Boston, which is 55% Latino, a majority. So, who are the fascists in this scenario? One business owner in East Boston was interviewed.  He moved out of Massachusetts after feeling he was being displaced by immigration in his native neighborhood. He still operates a laundry business in East Boston, and he has been harassed by local Latino residents for posting a Trump sign. He has been told to remove the sign by people he once considered friends as well as customers.

A Latino organizer from East Boston was also interviewed. She whined on that the Trump signs were somehow oppressing the Latino people of East Boston. What was her best stupid comment? She implied that many Central Americans fled to East Boston because of the lack of freedom and democracy in their home nations. Really? My reaction was two-fold. First, as a former property owner and resident of East Boston, my experience of the Latino residents was colored by their total detachment from the Anglo community as they assembled a facsimili of their native land. Second, freedom and democracy are maintained by contested elections in which actual citizens, not illegal immigrants, participate. 

To the offended illegal immigrants of East Boston, I say, "Mind your own business. If you decide to go to a country where you cannot or will not legitimately participate in its political process, butt out. Enjoy our freedom of speech, but threatening people for practicing their Constitutional civil rights in not acceptable." To the Trump supporters of East Boston, I say, "While I think supporting a billionaire for President is ill-conceived in your social class, I totally support and encourage your legal participation in the electoral process. Stay strong in that, but please do more research on the candidates."