Jun 09 2007
Why The Far Right Is Out Of The Immigration Debate
The far fight, the immigration hypochondriacs as I like to call them, are working themselves to the margins. Especially when they complain about name calling, at which point I cannot help but think of these people – who call their conservative opposition ‘traitors’ and claim they the only “Real American” position – the whiny immigration hypochondriacs. Politics ain’t for those easily hurt. And hypocrites are just too much to stand after a while. But don’t take my word for it, take the word of Senator Kyl, who like me and many others want tough laws and a strong border, but will not go beyond fines and back taxes for those who have been here illegally for a long period of time:
Chief among the complaints has been the charge that the immigration compromise would offer “amnesty” to 12 million illegal immigrants. Law-and-order conservatives say these people are lawbreakers and shouldn’t be rewarded for cheating. That’s a position Mr. Kyl himself took in his last election. What does he say now about amnesty?
“Everyone has their own definition, I have found,” he says, “I think it is a dead-end debate. We have tried to do as many things as we can to ensure that for those that get to stay, they pay a price, and I don’t think it’s amnesty. For those who say, ‘This bill is amnesty, we shouldn’t pass it,’ one of my responses is, ‘OK, so do you like what we have?'”He means the current system, in which millions of immigrants are here illegally, and Washington does nothing about it. “This is de facto amnesty,” he says.
In addition to this nonsense from those who have no ideas but endless complaints is the issue of using violent crimes as a reasonable excuse to end our hospitality. The new bill makes it possible to deport people who commit or have committed violent crimes. Not for being here illegally, which is a process crime where fines and reparations (back taxes) are the norm. This is NOT amnesty by a long shot. But this ability to boot the real criminals is being held up by people who want to punish the process crimes more. So what is their lame answer? They say we will keep the hardened criminals until we get enough blood from the process crimes.
The immigration hypochondriacs are as incoherent as they are shrill. We have gang members and murderers and rapists here who we cannot deport under current law because of their violent crimes, but who we could deport tomorrow if this bill passes. No bill is perfect. No law enforcement is perfect. The hypochondriacs complain it will not be 100% effective. Nothing is. But even if it was 50% effective (my guess is it will be more like 85%), that means half the violent criminals who are uninvited guests can be given the boot. I will take that over more marginal hoops for the non-violent illegal aliens any day. But then I am not an immigration hypochondriac.
I would never leave something like 1-2 million criminals on our streets to stiffen penalties on 10+ million people doing nothing more than making a living. Making a living illegally, but still their crime is making a living here without our invitation or permission. But the far right is cheering how they are so much more American than the rest because they found some marginal warts on a bill and left 1-2 million violent illegal aliens on our streets. Imagine the twisted logic that has Malkin and Levin and others crowing about how they left us 1-2 million criminals to go after our children and neighbors. Incoherent? Absolutely. It borders on insanity. More from Kyl on what is going to happen now – and why the far right is properly going to be excluded from the equation:
This reality principle is a point he returns to frequently in our conversation. “There are a lot of things in the bill I’m still not happy with . . . It’s impossible to make the existing system work so we have to change the law, and changing the law requires Democratic votes, so you have to make concessions to Democrats.”
I agree. The far right has left this mess so as to make sure we, the un-American traitors, get a taste of these criminals in a hope we will become as obsessed and inflexible as them. The far right wanted us to “learn a lesson”, and a clear and obvious element of that lesson was to leave the violent criminals here as they diverted talk about lack of enforcement of our current laws. Our current laws don’t work, and they do not allow us to boot people for criminal acts here and prior to coming here. The far right knows this. And they are proud they have left 1-2 million of these criminals here to remind us why they are so pro-enforcement.
Hypocrisy is ripe on the far right. They call conservative opposition traitors as they tear asunder the governing coalition. They call Bush un-American because he stood by his positions he held for almost a decade now. And now they have with malice of forethought, left 1-2 million violent criminals on our streets because they don’t like the fines and back taxes on the non-violent criminals. No wonder we need to move these people out of the picture. Their next move to teach us a lesson could be even worse. They could propose we stop the airport security we put in place after 9-11, to teach us another lesson. This kind of twisted logic makes alliances with these people too high a price. The next citizen to die at the hands of a repeat offender illegal immigrant will have the far right to thank for their lesson. Because clearly it is more important to hammer the non-violent criminals than to get the violent ones out of here. It is so obvious why this is Pro-America, what is best for America, saving America. Can’t all you losers in the center who support the immigration bill see that?
Yeah – we see your logic. Explain it again when another child is attacked. Explain to the parent’s why it was so important to leave the predator we could have gotten off the street right here, to prey again.
Addendum: The supporters of the insanity are all upset I pointed out the fruits of their efforts! Welcome to tough love. Let me be clear, I am simply giving the far right all the credit they are due for stopping everything in this bill. They deserve to be recognized for their achievements. Too harsh? Damn, too bad. The one element of this bill, which made it worthwhile, was the ability to get the hardened criminals who are not citizens of this country out of here. The so-called “law and order” crowd left us with anarchy and criminals. Also known as the ‘status quo’. I will repeat the cold hard facts of life for all those out there upset I find their actions hypocritical and dangerous.
Let’s assume 1 million of the 12+ million here illegally are proven criminals a simple background check from US law enforcement would find immediately. This is actually a LOW estimate if (a) you believe the crime rate in the immigration is higher than the US population and (b) there are many more than 12 million illegal aliens in our country. But let’s just be conservative – in the true sense of the word. 1 million criminal aliens means that is one dangerous person for every 300 people in the US. If your school has 300 kids that means they have their own deadly alien nearby, ready to take one out. If you have 2,000 kids in your high school, you have over 6 of these animals to prey on your school. Cold hard numbers, not gibberish about how many miles of fence are being built.
If the new laws in the bill the far right so proudly derailed could take 85% of these people off the streets and ship them out of this country then that means 850,000 criminals off our streets. But that was ‘imperfection’ to the far right. Forget about their obsession about fines and taxes for the rest of the illegal aliens here, they said there was not enough law enforcement! Instead of leaving us 15 out of hundred, the left us 100 out 100! Their obsessive tunnel vision made it seem rational to them to leave 850,000 criminals on the street because we could not get 1 million? They did not give us anything that would take 1 million off the street; they just said it was better to keep 1 million foreign criminals in this country instead of what might come. Well, what might have come, what was likely to come, was the removal of all but 150,000 of those criminals.
This is the text book example of perfect being the evil of good. The so called American heroes who tout law enforcement over everything else left us with no new laws, no new legal resources and all the criminals we could have booted out of here. Sorry, but I just wanted to make sure those who suffer harm from the 850,000 or so criminals the far right left us knew who to thank. And even, as I said above, the actual performance was 500,000 (50%) reduction – that was 500,000 less victims too. This is the result of the hard work of the far right. I am just giving credit were credit is due. And honestly, I am sorry it hurts anyone’s feelings to be told the harsh truth so brutally. But the fear of the unknown left us the animals who prey on us and our children. Did they do this deliberately? Hell no. They did it because they were ideologically blinded to the ramifications of their actions. Just like liberals cannot fathom the ramifications of giving Iraq to al Qaeda, the far right could not grasp the ramifications of leaving all those foreign criminals here – since there are very few options to get rid of them now. The far right, crowing as the saviors of America, made that decision for all of us. They knew we would applaud their decisions to leave the mess and the criminals and do nothing.
Far right – take a bow. You deserve it. You are the “law and order” defenders. Except when you decide to leave 1-2 million deadly criminals on our streets.
Addendum: We can see the response from the oppoents of the bill that could have saved 100’s of thousands of victims. Denial. They claim current deportation laws would work just fine. Current deportation laws DO NOT expidite the red tape and limit the process for violent criminals. There is no fast track to the exits for violent criminals in current laws. They know this. They are pretending misdemeanor charges on illegal entry can be used to get at criminals. As I posted the far right is delusional in their beliefs in myths like the ones posted below. The fact is under the new law we could deport every repeat criminal we find. Of course they are not going to come forward – they won’t now. But at least when you have them they can get a fast track out of here with the new laws.. If deportation was so simple to do for convicted violent criminals they would be out of here already.
Clearly they are still here and will be until we change the laws so that committing a violent crime trumps all process and appeal otopms.. What we see from the far right is delusion and denial. They claim the new laws would not do anything! They claim the new laws would not be enforced.
They claim a lot – and they have no proof they are right. They claim these outrageous things because they need to believe not a single violent illegal alien would have an expidited and immediate deportation for a violent criminal act, short-cutting the lengthy deportation process we now have for the crime of illegal entry. And let’s not even talk about the LEGAL aliens who commit crimes who too should be deported. We cannot do anything about those criminals, thanks to the far right.
The far right continues this farce because they have to. They went out on a limb and told themselves they were our saviors. They cannot live with themselves if they are, in fact, the force that left the criminals here to prey on our citizens. But they are the ones who did this. They knew this was in the bill. And they made up rationalizations to ignore this so they could be heroes.
They are not heroes. Heroes do not enable violent criminals the opportunity to prey on more victims. If I am right and roughly 850,000 future victims could be saved from criminal violence then it was worth passing the bill and fixing holes and warts with future bills. 850,000 potential victims are now out there because some inflexible people couldn’t believe that a law that would allow immediate deportation could work. Personally, I could not stand the guilt of not first seeing if it could do some good first. Why have any laws at all if you do not believe they will work? Answer that protectors of ‘law and order’!
You know, I don’t think all the opponents are “far right”. State Republican parties are beginning to oppose it and all the tier 1 Republican presidential candidates with the exception of McCain oppose it. And I will point out that McCain’s support is sinking by the day since this grand compromise saw daylight.
Everyone can call each other names all day long but it doesn’t change the fact that I see opposition growing in the American public, in the Senate and in the House.
Grassfire.org has a great TV ad running in states and nationally called “Where’s the Fence?” (http://www.wheresthefence.com/) that is really getting to the point – when do we see some of the promises already made.
I think that is where this bill is having issues – we keep getting promises and quite frankly people don’t trust congress to get anything done in this bill except the z-visas.
hehe….The Far Right…??? Have you consulted your Crystal Ball to come up with the idea that it is only the Far Right that opposed this bill? Rasmussen says you are full of it…but when have you ever let facts get in the way of your agenda. And that name calling thing is hilarious AJ. Especially when you point to the “Radical Right” having the audacity to call you a RINO…I notice that you are quite proud of being a Raging RINO.
Finally if you are going to try and paint the Rasmussen poll as being biased or some “Far Right” plot then you are left trying to explain exactly how the senate was intimidated by such a small number, by your account, of “Far Righters”.
For your edification:
AJ, I can’t stay long. Will stop back later to read your post carefully.
Just wanted to throw this out… I ran across a clip from O’Reilly interviewing Michelle Malkin (maybe his Friday show)… I heard Malkin use a curious phrase several times… she said she wanted “attrition through enforcement.” I found it sterile and cold, but it may be a little closer to the truth as to what the hard line enforcement first crowd wants… rid the nation of all illegals over time by making their lives miserable and offering them zero help assimilating and providing zero ways to attain regularized or legal status. The WSJ board touched on this approach in the recent video. Any thoughts?
SallyVee I saw the interview last night. It reminded me as well of what the WSJ had talked about: harrassing businesses and immigrants. Can you believe this? Even O’Reilly was taking Malkin on and she didn’t like it one bit. He had to ask her to stop talking…a big red flag goes up for me when someone is doing that!
There is something not right about her, imho….way too strident for me. And full of anger imho…like Ann Coulter…. Many like these just want to fight. They don’t seem content to just be happy. They have their own issues that they are acting out, imho, just like the hard left.
AJ,
As much as I respect and enjoy reading most of your posts, I’ve about had it with your sanctimonious, self righteous hysteria. I’ve tried to stomach your attacks on people who believe differently than you on immigration but it’s become unbearable.
I knew you reminded me of somebody else in the blogsphere but I couldn’t put my finger on who it was. But after reading this post I’ve finally decided who you’ve become. Andrew Sullivan.
Like Andrew did with the issue of “torture” (although it was nothing more than coerced interrogation’s) you’ve totally become unhinged in your insane and maniacal frenzy to criticize anyone who disagrees with you on immigration. And like Sullivan, an otherwise reasoned individual, you have become so venomous and hateful it’s hard to even read you screeds.
Best wishes.
Your Pal,
hypochondriac
I’ve been an avid reader of this site but never bothered comment until now. I’ve been shocked at the vitriol from you about this subject. I guess I’m one of the “far right” you hate so much. What I find amusing is that you say the “far right” are out of the immigration debate when it is the “far right” who drove the debate and in fact, won the debate. I would suggest this is what really drives you nuts.
I hold no ill feelings towards you and will continue to read your blog, but I have lost quite a bit of respect for you as a person.
Legrand:
It is almost funny to see the right use a push poll to support a position. Not to mention hypocritical. And Rasmussen is not even a little unbiased in all this. I used to hear the right say things like the only poll that matters is an election. Now when their hardliner candidates get their butts kicked in an election and they are left with a Democratic Congress they start talking about polls.
Well……
Poll afer poll have shown that most Americans support compromise. They have also shown that most Americans support regularization of some kind, something the hard right calls AMNESTY!!!!!!! in a loud shrieking voice.
And considering the amount of disinformation and nonsense about this poll being pushed by the right and their friends on the left as well I am sure a lot of people just want the whole issue to go away. I know I am beginning to.
But this is a process, it goes from the Senate to the House and then to Conference.. No Senate bill will ever be the final word.
If people are sincere about finding solutions they work within that process. If they are not they rely on push polls, propaganda and talk radio to get their way. Rather like the Dubai charade. They bully people and call them names and get all hurt when people respond in kind.
And if polls are what you want I can name a dozen polls that show majority support for different facets of that bill and rather than act in good faith and try to create a better bill the right took another route, they ate their own.
And watching them slobber all over some lefty anti war socialist union lap fog like Democratic Senator Dorgan was enough to gag a maggot.
I saw this post from Sister Toldjah and thought it was good. And the Anchoress has been sounding reasonable as well. Which means she is getting hate mail.
After all, good conservatives sound like Michael Savage.
I voted for Republicans because George Bush convinced me they were not all like Tancredo. Now they seem to be trying to run me off.
Can you imagine a debate between Tancredo and Obama? Obama would be quoting Lincoln and Tancredo would be talking Jorge Bush’s conspiracy to destroy America by turning into Mexico. sheesh. Crazy freaking people. they are trying to wreck their own party
I screwed up thaose links. Let me try again.
Sister Toldjah
The Anchoress
Unlike Malkin they strike me as nice women.
Screw you, AJ. Seriously.
I’m with coffee260, but with the caveat that I find you unbearably simplistic, blindly optimistic, deeply in love with George W. Bush when some simple analysis of successes and failures would serve you better, and one of the worst political analysts in the history of blogging.
Other than that, you present ideas I don’t read elsewhere so it’s nice to drop in. Granted, your wilder flights of fancy often prove to be wide of the mark, but hey, you’re trying.
Can you believe this? Even O’Reilly was taking Malkin on and she didn’t like it one bit. He had to ask her to stop talking…a big red flag goes up for me when someone is doing that!
Did I just wake up in Soviet Russia? Revisionism is not just a Leftist talent. Michelle was rightly upset because O’Reilly was doing what the President’s men do when trying to discredit those who stand against the Amnesty bill. He was trying to paint us as wanting to invade everyones homes and drag away and lock up all illegals. That simply is not true and I can certainly understand how aggravating that is when that disinformation tactic is tried over and over again.
What is bizarre is how much those who advocate this Amnesty nonsense depend on disinformation to make their point. That and villifying the opponents…anything but the issues.
“But don’t take my word for it, take the word of Senator Kyl, who like me and many others want tough laws and a strong border….”
oh really?
“STRONG BORDERS” when did that start. it certainly was not in the bill that just crashed and burned. there was no border enforcement. just todays version of snake oil–“triggers”..
by now you have read the Rasmussen report on why the bill failed.
http://tinyurl.com/2slu2v
let me put in very clear terms—we don’t believe you, AJ and others. after 42 years of government lying led by ted kennedy about border enforcement our trust is gone. you can buy all the lipstick in the world but it won’t change a thing. the chavez methods that kennedy and kyl, with a nod from the white house, tried to use to sneak this pass the american people have been unmasked. folks such as yourself were part of this. you backed a bill before you read it.
last october 854 miles of NEW fence was signed and funded. if the government is serious about border security let them build it. after that we will listen and pass comprehensive immigration reform–not before. all the dems, the eight repubs and assorted folks here will never agree to this. why? because they do not, have not and will not support closing the border. saying otherwise is their continued charade dating from 1965.
you all were warned starting back in august 05 that no bill was possible before the border was secured. sooner or later you will get the message. meanwhile keep making your excuses.
Only in AJ’s special “Bizzaro” Upsidedown world of Immigration, can 50% of the populace, who opposed the bill, as was, be “rightwing hypochondriacs (regardless of their affiliation!), and the 23% of the populace that supported the bill, be “moderate conservatives” like him!
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21045
Additionally, the analysis in this article, is FACT that directedly contradicts some of AJ’s assertions, which proves he never read the bill, and instead, was advocating the bill purely out of blind loyalty to some mythical “moderate conservative” coalition, blind support of President Bush on this issue, or just to stir up controversy, and drive traffic to his Blog!
“Sen. John Cornyn (R.-Tex.) was alarmed that the “grand bargain†would grant amnesty, green cards, and ultimately citizenship to gang members, sex offenders, alien smugglers who use firearms, repeat drunken drivers, and “absconders†(aliens who flout court orders to leave the U.S.). He tried to deny citizenship to these “fugitive aliens†(law enforcement officials estimate 636,000 are in the U.S.). ”
This directly contravenes AJ’s assertions, I’ll believe Cornyn on this issue, thank you very much!
Lesson: The “grand bargain†allows cities to shield criminal aliens from prosecution by granting them “sanctuary.â€
Again, AJ has this completely wrong!
Lesson: The “grand bargain†treats lawbreakers more favorably than those who obey the rules.
Again, AJ has this completely wrong!
Lesson: Those granted amnesty will be free to offload the costs they incur in emergency rooms and subsidized health clinics on others.
Again….AJ had this completely wrong!
Lesson: The “grand bargain†may entitle amnesty recipients to cash welfare payments
And again…..
Lesson: But for Cornyn’s effort, the “grand bargain†would have greased the path to citizenship for aliens with criminal records.
You guessed it!
The bottomline, as most of us here have argued, the vote AGAINST “Cloture”, to allow a cooling off period (NOT KILL THE BILL, as AJ asserts), and then to give it a try again, and see if it can be Improved, was, and IS the best course.
Not attacking those who disagree with you, not browbeating and name calling (exceptions for “Soothsayer” and his sockpuppet “Center”), etc.
Additionally, most of AJ’s other narcissitic assertions on this issue, passing as “analysis”, are actually contrary to the facts!
President Bush’s Approval Ratings for the day, are 34%, during this whole immigration debacle, his approval ratings have ranged from a high of 37%, down to 34% for today; for someone that low in the polls, even a single point drop is no good, but to fall only 3%, so far, considering how unpopular this bill was, is not that bad!
On the other hand, Harry Reid’s “favorables have fallen, from a high of 30%, down to just 19% today! Thus his “favorables” are down over 30% compared to the President’s 10%.
So, IF as AJ asserts, it’s the “hard right hypochondriacs” that were against this bill, would it not be logical that the President’s approvals would drop precipitiously, as opposed to Harry Reid’s? And certainly his constituancy is certainly NOT the “hard right hypochondriacs”; and he never really supported the bill anyhow, so why would his approvals drop? Hmmmmmmmm?
And finally, a bit dated, but 69% of ALL Americans, from a CBS/NYT poll (that’s really a “right wing hypochondriac” bastion, isn’t it??), believe that all ILLEGALS should be prosecuted, and deported!
That’s a position, that NONE of us “right wing hypochondriacs” on this board have even taken!
And that 72% of Americans say it’s Very Important for the U.S. to “improve border enforcement and reduce illegal immigration.†By a 2-to-1 margin (60% to 28%), Americans believe it is more important to gain control of the nation’s borders than to “legalize the status of undocumented workers already living in the United States.â€
When the questions are asked in different ways, we see the “deport ’em only” crowd, shrinks significantly, as they should:
Ultimately, while supporting prosecution, the poll shows that just 33% of Americans believe that most illegal aliens should actually be deported. Sixty-two percent (62%) say that most illegal aliens who have been here at least two years should be “given a chance to keep their jobs and eventually apply for legal status.†Giving them a chance to keep their jobs is a continuation of the status quo requiring no change in policy.
The bottomline: AJ has a hard time maintaing the facade, that only the “hard right hypochondricas” opposed this bill, and are the ones that killed it, when it is CLEARLY obvious that the majority of Americans, of ALL political stripes and belief, thing that we should enforce the Boarder first, THEN work on people’s immigration status.
But NOT everyone is a “hard right wing hypochondriac deport ’em only” nut, as AJ has tried to assert for weeks!
And, the Republican part is not falling apart, nor the Conservative movmement over this, and the President’s numbers are not tanking due to flight of the “hard right”, etc., etc.
Now, I’m not saying AJ HAS to follow “popular” opinion, if his personal beliefs are, what they are, on this issue!
It’s AJ’s Blog, and he’s free, obviously, to have his own views, and to post them as he wishes, with his “analysis”; and I’ll defend his right to do so, even though I disagree with his personal opinion on this.
That said, aside from AJ’s opinions though, he has clearly mangled the facts, and attacked the polls, when they don’t agree with his personal assessments, and that is wrong.
What I did above, is the correct way to do analysis, your conclusions should be derived from the FACTS, not come up with a Preconceived set of Conclusions, then fit the facts around them!
AJ can, and will attack Rassmusen again, probably, which is funny, be quotes him alot when he has a poll up showing something AJ likes.
If AJ were attacking Zogby, I’d understand, his brother is a Jihadi supporter, and Zogby is clearly a Leftwing political hack. People have accused Rassmussen of being “rightwing”; he may be, I don’t know, but it’s hard, from a historical perspective, to dispute his poll results, unlike Mr. “Kerry-will-win-in-a-landside” Zogby!
Regardless, on the Immigration issue, this is the correct analysis; AJ drowned in his own personal opinion long ago on this issue, and now in order to NOT admit he was wrong, he’s grasping at straws, unfortunately!
Aj,
Call us whatever you like. The point being is that amesty is not a conservative position or ideal it is liberal. My preference however is that you call us closed borders crowd as I feel that is the most patriotic stance at this point.
Those of us who have been against the amnesty bill have won this battle but make no mistake this war isn’t over. This is a war against liberalism, both democratic and republican.
conservativesuperiority.com
Immigration Isn’t the Problem…
It isn’t often that I agree with the Center for American Progress, but the CAP report to which the Health Affairs blog links today is absolutely right about the health care impact of immigrants. The report debunks the widely held belief that immigran…
Brandon:
So what do you prefer? Mass deportation? of course not, we will just sort of ignore them and let them go their merry way.
Tell me, why would the Democrats do you any favors? That is the deal, it seems certain people the right can not count. Without a compromise nothing happens and if nothing is what you want, don’t bitch about the way things are.
I like this idea. If they still have the desire to improve this bill and get it enacted, I may be for it. I did like many ideas that were in the original bill but many of them were too costly.
I think Hugh Hewitt or somebody proposed two bills. One bill is to get the fence built. Some people don’t like it but at least it will reduce the number of illegal immigrants from entering our own countries and make it harder for those Muslims from transporting their own weapons into our own country.
Second bill is the rest – providing the means to get them all recorded…guest worker program, visas, AND deport them back when their visas expire, et. al.
As for penalites, why not ranges of penalties as guidelines. Perhaps that will satisfy many of the congressional complaints and objections?
Truly, truly, truly, there can be absolutely no complaining about the borders from those who won’t compromise. And don’t tell me that Michelle’s position is any different than the “deport them all” position..she just uses a sly way of stating it.
I agree with Pierre
The clip is available over at HotAir replay it if you need to.
O Reilly was playing devils advocate about the deport them all extremism and the attrition by enforcement Malkin was talking about was removal of convicted criminals after their jail terms and gang members and such.
The worst of the worst.
Indeed historical alteration or poor comprehension are the only two logical causes for this result.
Maybe AJ you’d be more persuasive if you did not assume all the opposition to the bill came from nativist racists..Sovereignty is a predicate for national identity and security and the failure of the federal govt to enforce it gives people like me the idea that this Bill would end our dominion over our own land.
If we secured the border, contracted out what INS does to private companies that can do the job, increased the numbers available for legal immigration (and based that on demonstrated responsibility and education and means) and forced Mexico to take a responsible role in limiting illegal immigration and accepting and trying illegals who violated the law here and should be deported, I’ll listen. Right now, with no border security and no capable enforcement of existing laws and desirable, law abiding legal migrants waiting for years to get in, this entire notion is an abomination.