LatinaLista — This week, the GOP launched online a new campaign touted as a “listening tour” to let Americans speak out and tell Congress what’s on their minds. The goal of the site is for Americans to propose ideas for a new policy agenda. Each idea is voted upon by visitors to the site.
The Republicans will then take the winning ideas and create legislation from them.
Dubbed America Speaking Out, the site is separated into several categories that the GOP knows resonate with Americans: American Prosperity, Fiscal Accountability, American Values, National Security and an area where people can create their own categories and discuss whatever else they feel is important to them.
Not surprisingly, immigration officially comes up under two of the categories: American Values and National Security.
In reading the so-called “ideas” about immigration left on the site, it’s easy to quickly become disillusioned with our fellow Americans. Some of their “ideas” are so mean-spirited and vile that it’s hard to believe these people are allowed to walk among us.
It’s not until you see how other people have voted on these disturbing ideas that there is a renewed sense of hope that the historical meaning of America isn’t completely lost or that, as some would like the rest of us to believe, that everyone believes like these disturbed individuals.
However, it’s not hard to imagine that the results of these votes are probably invalid anyway since it appears that the votes have been compromised with just about every idea having a greater percentage of thumbs-down than thumbs-up, which is odd for a site meant to attract like-minded people. As a result, the votes on most of these ideas are close and getting closer.
Yet, what’s more disturbing than anything is the idea that the GOP would actually succumb to the rants of some of these individuals and present their ideas as legitimate legislation.
If they did, it would be less of an example of listening to Americans and more of a confirmation that the GOP is pandering too much to the extremists and radicals in the country, too interested in saving their political clout rather than actually thinking of the best interests of the country as a whole.
All in all, this social media experiment may reveal more about the GOP than what Americans are really saying.
