A h
earty congratulations to Chinese-born Liang Chow who coached American Shawn Johnson on to Olympic Gold on the balance beam. This has been a homecoming as well. Chow has not been home in 14 years and he had not seen his grandparents in all that time.
Chow was the captain of the Chinese gymnastics team in the 80s and now runs a gym in Des Moines, Iowa. The cheerful coach (and did anyone see that jerk of a pole vault coach who was caught on tape dressing down his student who had just won silver?) has not only helped his student develop the skills needed for gold, but he also has helped her develop the confidence to execute perfect routines.
Chow overcame adversity in the year leading up to the games when his gym became a victim of the Iowa floods that made world headlines. He was forced to relocate his business at one of the most critical and high pressure points in his career.
Sid, Clinton pushed for AC21 and wanted this legislation to be enacted, and he skillfully worked the Congress so it happens (you may pull up the records on who said what, but it is mostly REPUBLUCANS who opposed AC21). The proof is indead in the pudding - this pudding has been 8 years in the making, and it tastes like cr@p, pardon my French.
Posted by: Legal and no longer waiting | August 22, 2008 at 10:16 AM
Clinton was as much a lame duck president in 2000 after the scandal as Bush has been for most part of his second term so I doubt that his leadership skills had much to do with the passing of AC21. He obviously supported it just as Bush supports the CIR. Republicans also believe in free trade and the opposition to it has mostly come from the middle-class Democrats (liberal or not). The Republicans have been more vocal in their opposition to illegal and family based immigration, which they claim leads to chain migration and to end it they pushed for the point-based system.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating, so, I'll wait to see what the Democrats do from 2009-2011. I doubt that they'll pass a legalization bill without strong support from the Republicans even if they have a filibuster proof majority.
Posted by: Sid | August 22, 2008 at 08:35 AM
"In 2000, when AC21 was passed under Clinton, the Republicans were the majority in both the Senate and House"
And so they were in 2001-2006, 6 years of Republican majority in both legislative and executive branches. Results - not so much. Clinton was a better leader (well, duh, I guess that's undisputable), so he steared Republican Congress toward legislation he needed. He believed in free trade and winning based on better products, not on menial jobs, was a good friend of the Silicone Valley, and he sure liked AC21. This position is actually quite consistent with most liberal views.
Posted by: Legal and no longer waiting | August 22, 2008 at 06:22 AM
off topic - self-deportation program has been scrapped.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26338910
I wonder why though - 8 people volunteered in a 3 week trial period. It should be considered a grand success - certainly exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds.
Posted by: Sid | August 21, 2008 at 11:54 PM
Found this useful link where the composition of the congress from 1867 - 2000 has been compiled -
http://arts.bev.net/roperldavid/politics/congress.htm
In 2000, when AC21 was passed under Clinton, the Republicans were the majority in both the Senate and House. Let's see what the Democrats do (from 2009-2011) after they gain a few seats in the Senate this year.
Posted by: Sid | August 21, 2008 at 04:26 PM
The POTUS can only sign bills that are passed by the Congress. There are Senators/HRs on both sides that oppose some form of immigration - legal/illegal/skilled/unskilled.
Posted by: Sid | August 21, 2008 at 04:16 PM
Alix, except most self-described liberals will absolutely agree with you. I do - in fact, I was making a joke about Nastia "stealing" the gold from Shawn just the other day. Interestingly enough, "free trade" is more of an issue among self-described republican voters, end whenever you see Democratic politicians pandering to the "jobs going abroad" crowd, they usually do it to attract those in the middle of the spectrum, not liverals. Yet, if you look at the actions of Democrats, their pandering rarely results in anything - Clinton was the last one making the H1 and EB rules more... well, liberal, just on his way out of the office in 2000. And we all know how much self-described conservative Bush has done for the immigrant workers - nothing. Populism (and that's what it really is) has no color, and recently all pubs actions were based on populism only.
Posted by: Legal and no longer waiting | August 21, 2008 at 03:31 PM
"There are a lot of American coaches that are quite capable and willing to do this type of work for the right type of money."
Just like there are enough American born CEOs who are quite capable of running the airline, construction and banking industries such as Dan Mudd of Fannie May...and oh yes, there are enough capable and top notch engineers and scientists who built levies in New Orleans to withstand the floods, bridges in Minneapolis to keep the traffic moving safely and of course, oh yes, and they deserve the gold medal for bringing the space shuttle Columbia back to earth...all this according to Mark Kirkorian of the Center for Immigration Studies and Dan Stein of the Federation of American Immigration Reform.
Enough sarcasm for a day!
Posted by: George Chell | August 21, 2008 at 12:57 PM
I cannot believe the liberals are confused and clueless on this one as well! That Chow guy took an American's job, err..business! There would have been an American coach running that gym if he hadn't taken it away. There are a lot of American coaches that are quite capable and willing to do this type of work for the right type of money. Why with the recent budget woes and schools cutting funding for sports, the pool of available American coaches is on the rise. Heck I am sure that the recently fired coach from my son's school could have gotten that gold medal. How tough can it be?
Ok I think this is enough sarcasm for one day :)
Posted by: Alix | August 21, 2008 at 10:52 AM
I am sure America is blessed with immigrants and their skillset. And everytime, I see the site it has more information on Immigrants and their success. T
Posted by: | August 21, 2008 at 09:40 AM
One more thing, the Singapore Table Tennis team made it to the finals against China with the help of Chinese immigrants to that country, yes from the PRC. They won the silver, could not beat the Chinese. But, this is the first Singapore medal in olympics since they became a nation in 1965.
Posted by: George Chell | August 20, 2008 at 04:45 AM
As I have emphasized if we want to catch up with the Chinese in sports such as gymnastics we need more Chinese becoming US citizens and competing for the US.
Posted by: George Chell | August 20, 2008 at 04:43 AM