What. A. Cunt.

Mark Zuckerberg - the internet billionaire and sex symbol to the sexless - has... well... I dunno what he's doing.  Making a play for future political office?  Basking in a power trip?  Seeking to be the driving force for human rights in the millennial age?

Or maybe just looking to get richer by hiring more cheap foreigners?

 Zuckerberg came out swinging - or maybe more like flailing his arms like a girl in a slap fight - in a speech at a rabidly pro-amnesty event, documented by a rabidly pro-amnesty reporter (Carla Marinucci) for a rabidly pro-amnesty newspaper (the San Francisco Chronicle).  

The text of this mutual strokefest commences...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took his first step on the national political stage Monday night when he joined publicly with tech leaders, civil rights activists and undocumented immigrants to call for a comprehensive overhaul of the nation's immigration policies - an issue he said does not just touch Silicon Valley but "the whole country."

"This is something that we believe is really important for the future of our country - and for us to do what's right," the social media innovator told a crowd of several hundred at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. 

Zuckerberg, wearing his trademark hoodie and sneakers (we are all Trayvon...), defined Silicon Valley as "an idealistic place" that aims to "make an impact on the world" (so did Hitler) in his first public remarks on immigration, which were delivered to an ecstatic reception at the invitation-only forum. He appeared alongside his former Harvard roommate Joe Green, who co-founded the issue advocacy group, Fwd.us (and who is basically a rich Democratic Party lobbyist.  Check the link).

They co-sponsored the event with Define American, an the immigrant rights group founded by Jose Antonio Vargas, a former San Francisco State student and Chronicle staff writer (and current good pal of Zuckerberg) who made national headlines by revealing in a New York Times magazine article two years ago that he was an undocumented immigrant.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, angel investor Ron Conway (Ed Lee's biggest campaign contributor), entertainer and tech investor MC Hammer, hundreds of young undocumented students known as DREAMers and dozens of undocumented day laborers from the South Bay turned out to witness Zuckerberg's debut on the stage of public affairs.

A big step

Political observers said the gathering represented a dramatic step in the immigration debate.
"You have Mark Zuckerberg, who is not known for being a big player in politics, stepping out quietly and, now, stepping out publicly," said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, a leading immigrants rights group in Washington, D.C. 

And now Zuckerberg has publicly aligned himself with Vargas, "the country's most famous (non-criminal) undocumented immigrant," Sharry said. "It's not surprising this kind of political innovation is coming from Silicon Valley. They're playing to win."

The evening was also the West Coast premiere of "Documented," a film that Vargas wrote and directed. Vargas said he founded Define American to fight for citizenship for young undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, like himself. 

"I am an American. I am just waiting for my country to acknowledge it," Vargas said Monday. Vargas noted that while he was born in the Philippines, because of his immigration status he has not been able to return there to visit family in more than two decades.

A teaching moment

Zuckerberg told the audience he first became personally aware the need for comprehensive immigration reform while volunteering to teach a class in entrepreneurship at an eastern Menlo Park school.

After asking the kids "what they were most worried about," he recalled, he was "really touched" to hear one boy's answer: "I'm not sure I'm going to be able to go to college because I'm undocumented." 

The Facebook CEO said he realized the undocumented students in his class "weren't going to be given equal opportunity." (y'know... there's a reason for that, Mark...)  Zuckerberg said that all issues related to immigration reform - whether they be the H1B visas that Silicon Valley sees as critical to drawing (CHEAP) tech talent or student visas for DREAMers - are equally critical to the country's (and, not uncoincidentally, his company's) future.

"No matter where they were born, (these students) are going to be tomorrow's entrepreneurs and people creating jobs in this country," he said. "These are issues that don't just touch our part of the industry, but really touch a whole country."

Getting to the issue

With immigration reform stalled in Congress, Zuckerberg and Green's high-profile move in pairing with Define American drew praise Monday. 

Ro Khanna, a former Obama trade representative who is now a Democratic candidate for Congress in Silicon Valley - and the son of Indian immigrants - said that Zuckerberg is dramatizing that comprehensive immigration reform "is a no brainer, an issue of economic competitiveness." (so is cutting wages down to nothing)  Janny L.,  a 23-year old undocumented student from China, who was at the showing with her twin sister, May, praised tech leaders for shining a light on "a very important aspect of the immigrant rights movement."

Vivek Wadwha, author of "The Immigrant Exodus: Why America is Losing the Global Race to Capture Entrepreneurial Talent," said he has been highly critical of early moves by Fwd.us to woo conservative votes on Capitol Hill with ads supporting gun rights and the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. (no need to check it... "he said so.")

For years, Facebook was widely viewed as having "a reputation for not having a social conscience," he said. "They were so focused on Facebook's needs for skilled immigrants.'

But Wadhwa said it's clear "now they've broadened the focus. They're doing something unselfish." (Yeah. Right.)  The move suggests Zuckerberg now understands that, on this key issue, "you will win people over in their hearts," he said. "Buying politicians is the wrong way to do it." (cuz we've tried that...)

And there is still plenty of work by tech leaders to be done, Wadhwa cautioned, adding "this is one baby step along the way."





 

Amazing isn't it how much Liberals rail against the rich... and then turn right around and fawn all over them when they behave the way they want them to.  Kind of makes you wonder whether the rich really are their enemy?  After all, the San Francisco Bay Area is full of very very rich people, and, with virtually no exceptions, they all worked, campaigned, contributed, and voted for Obama.

Anyone who's ever read this blog knows I've railed about this before, but as I've always said, the Left try to sell this lie about how much they hate the rich, when it is - and has always been - the middle class that's their true enemy. 

Just look at San Francisco... "Liberal Utopia." Free of the influence of the rich, right?  *cough*  Hardly.  What San Francisco is being purged of are the things that Liberals hate: the Middle Class, children, God, white people... 

 It amazes me that people view Zuckerberg as some kind of visionary, just because he created a fad.  A very lucrative fad to be sure, but like all fads it will eventually die.  As for me, I couldn't give a fuck; I did Facebook of course like everyone else in the beginning.  It lasted maybe a few months, and then I deleted it.  Or tried to.

I just couldn't stand the barefaced phonyness of it all. 

Facebook, of course, appeals to the narcissistic character of us all, where just like the mythical Narcissus, we are perpetually fixated on our own image.  We don't put down our thoughts, we simply put out press releases.  We don't express our joys and fears... just those that (we hope) will garner the most sympathy (or "likes").  It got to be pathetic reading.