The more I thought about it today the angrier I became. I never expected to write a post about Paris Hilton on this blog. I’m incensed whenever mainstream media thinks that her life is worth reporting to the masses, especially in light of the real events in our world that go ignored. She is a harbinger of the Assault on Reason. But finally, today, Paris became relevant to me. TMZ.com has had the best blow-by-blow on the internet:
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Paris Hilton’s medical condition was purely psychological and that she was in peril of having a nervous breakdown, and that’s why she was released early this morning.
Psychiatrist Charles Sophy visited Hilton in jail yesterday and the day before. We’re told after Sophy’s visit yesterday, word was passed to the Sheriff that Hilton’s mental state was fragile and she was at risk.
The reason for releasing her had nothing to do with a rash or other physical issues. It was purely in her head. [Link]
And the breakdown of our society is complete. Just think about this for a minute (if you haven’t been already). A rich white girl was convicted of being a drunk driver and sent to jail. She was convicted even after making use of the best lawyers that money could buy and having full and transparent use of the American legal system. After three days she gets out because prison was too much for her fragile mind and she wasn’t eating well. Meanwhile, you have so-called “enemy combatants,” some of them South Asian, who in many cases don’t get a lawyer or even get to hear the evidence against them. They are simply thrown into a cage. Not only do they not receive a get-out-of-jail-free card for mental illness, they get tortured in a manner meant to hasten mental illness. Even children. I know some of you think it might be unfair of me to compare Hilton to Guantanamo inmates. You are quite correct. The Guantanamo inmates have only allegedly committed a crime. And what about the thousands of non-rich women and juveniles in the American legal system? Many get raped or assaulted in prison without any justice. They don’t get to go home with an ankle bracelet if they cry about it or don’t eat the soggy vegetables on their plates. Mental illness is very real and shouldn’t be treated lightly (but it is unless you are rich). What we are witnessing here is a perfect example of the “Two Americas” that candidate John Edwards is always going on about.
This past week there has been a furious immigration debate around what some in Congress were calling the “Grand Bargain.” As of today the bill is dead. The reason many lawmakers give for opposing the bill is because they believe that in America the rule of law should come first. If illegal immigrants are breaking the law then they should get no concessions or amnesty (like, ummm Hilton). Other groups wanted the bill to fail because they saw it as a battle between the skilled and the unskilled (which can be translated to mean a battle between the potentially rich vs. the potentially poor). Why give an “unfair advantage” to poor huddled masses?:
Indian American legal experts and immigrant rights activists across the board have strongly opposed and rejected the comprehensive Immigration Reform Act 2007.
The compromise arrived at between the White House and the US Senate over the proposed Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act has been termed as a “sell out” by the Senate in the “grand bargain”…These are the worst set of immigration policies for high skilled immigrants in the civilized world.” According to Immigration Voice, the Senators that have crafted the new merit based system have announced that this model follows the legal immigration pathway developed in Canada and Australia, but the compromises that have been made have deluded the entire system into a cesspool of half baked immigration ideas. This bill takes away annual Greencards from an already low number of Greencards available to legal, skilled employment based immigrants and awards them to unskilled future guest workers and to the new untested merits based points system, as explained by Immigration Voice.
As an example, an agriculture worker can earn 25 points for working 100 days a year for 5 years, while a skilled individual will get 10 points for working the same number of years. [Link]
First off, the above article is a misleading load of crap. Especially the part I put in boldface. There are many South Asian Americans that wanted this bill dead (or modified) for reasons opposite to the ones listed above. A purely merit-based system might tear apart families and discriminate against unskilled labor (which many would argue America needs to stay productive). Again, it is the haves vs. the have nots.
So that brings me back to Paris Hilton. She is the tipping point. What she demonstrates is that as a society we are comfortable with two sets of rules and values: one for the rich and one for the poor, and that this often translates to “one for the natives and one for the foreigners.” If these are all signs of things to come and America strays too far from its egalitarian roots and the principles upon which it was founded (but has never practiced perfectly)…then we will all have more than Paris to worry about. We must throw Paris back into jail and simultaneously afford some real justice to those that deserve a fair trial.
There is some hope at the 11th hour:
TMZ has learned that a judge has ordered Paris Hilton back to his Los Angeles courtroom, telling her she must attend tomorrow morning’s hearing. She could be sent BACK to the slammer!… [Link]
