I awoke this morning to two things: Justin Amash has left the Republican Party. Great respect for what he did. Nine more and we won’t all turn to salt.

The second thing was a post on a Facebook feed I normally don’t read. The woman was talking about “Illegal Immigrants”. While working to comprise a response that didn’t include the words “racist” “idiot” “moron” “troll” etc., I flashed back to last summer, when I spoke at an immigration rally.

At that rally, I had the opportunity to use a line I’d formulated in my mind earlier. Of every line in every speech I’ve ever given, it was my favorite. Here it is:

“When I first heard the term “Illegal Aliens” I got very excited. I figured we could work out the illegal part later, but “Aliens”? All I could think of were Klingons, and Romulans, and Tribbles. I just can’t wait to meet the Tribbles.”

Human beings cannot be illegal. They’re just human beings. All the human beings are just like you and me….we want to live in a house with a roof that doesn’t leak. Have enough food so everyone can eat every day. Be able to see a doctor when we’re sick. Live with people we love who love us back. Go to work in the morning, come home at night, exchange kisses, pet the dog, go to bed in safety. We humans are simple. Sure, there are bad people who want to cheat other people, and harm other people, but mostly, we’re just people.

I have nightmares about the concentration camps. In it, I’m my 22 year old self and they are ripping my son from me while I am breastfeeding him. I die trying to get him back.

I wake up screaming.

The things that cause despair over the conditions at the camps are in the photographs and the stories. I won’t repeat them, I’m sure they cause you nightmares, too. What I want to talk about is how the minions of the short-fingered vulgarian have been inculcated by him to see people who are not white as sub-human. This is unconscionable.

When he was “The Chaos Candidate” (name courtesy of Jeb) he promised to do the things that’s he’s doing and it sold to a segment of Americans who view all their own problems through the lens of blaming their condition on women, people of color, and immigrants. Think about it – he has only two constituencies: the uber rich, whose only concern is becoming more rich, and that swath of white America that lacks jobs, lacks hope, and carries a deep vein of anger. They tend to be misogynistic, racist, Anti-Semitic, homophobic, and uneducated.

They actually come to the camps to protest IN FAVOR of bad treatment of humans. Some say that drinking out of a toilet is “better than what they have at home.” Let’s be clear: NO HUMAN BEING would wish that on ANOTHER HUMAN BEING. I have friends whose dogs try to drink out of toilets, and they keep the lids down because it’s a bad practice. (I will digress and in the interest of complete disclosure, point out that Fiona likes to drink mud water, from which she gets Giardia, and dogs are not smart about what they put in their mouths…point is we know toilet water is bad for all living things…..)

So let’s circle back to Amash. I have disagreed with him over the years on many of his political positions (especially those related to economics and fiscal policy) but he has always been true to his belief system. And in that regard, he has always been honorable. So my question is: where are the other Republicans?

You know the ones I mean – the ones who say “I need to stay a registered Republican even though I vote Democratic because (a) I need to stay registered this way to get/keep my job, (b) I’m there to keep an eye on them (c) I’m going to change things from the inside (d) <other nonsense>.”

Where is their outrage?

Where are their voices?

I have reached the point where I no longer accept that someone can stay a registered Republican. Even if they say they’re only doing it to vote for William Weld next year in the primary. By staying a member of that party, they say that they subscribe to the GOP platform. You can read it here, and you’ll find it offensive in many ways. But they do say one thing with which I agree: “America’s immigration policy must serve the national interest of the United States.” (page 25)

However, MY interpretation of the national interest diverges from theirs. I start with “All men are created equal” (you should know the rest of that quote) and go onto “We the People” (you should be able to recite that, too.) National interest starts with “WE” and “EQUALITY” — in how we view people, how we treat them, and how we find solutions that are non-zero sum.

We are a nation of immigrants, and have been since the first Europeans descended on the land. Unless you are 100% American Indian, you too are either an immigrant or descended of immigrants. Did you want for yourself or your ancestors to be locked in concentration camp cages with no water? I thought not. And that’s the place we must all start – we are HUMAN BEINGS and must see and treat all the other humans as we want to be treated.