What is with this nation?

A brief trip to my ever-fading youth:

I'm flying in an airplane from Amsterdam to New York during the summer of 1994. The first time I had been to the US in about two years after living in Vienna, Austria. As we are heading in, we fly over the Statue of Liberty. My dad says: "Look!" And, I turn and say "Liberty from homework." Little did I know what that statue actually meant. All I knew was that for a couple months I did not have to worry one iota about homework.

Now I understand. But do I really? Is that statue part of a forgotten legacy? Is it symbol telling perfectly decent immigrants to turn back around? Is it a symbol of hypocrisy? I believe that as a nation we have forgotten. We have forgotten that Lady Liberty wants Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America to bring her their tired, their poor and their sick.

In case you didn't know, the United States bans those with HIV/AIDS from can have their visa applications denied if the U.S. government learns of their HIV status. It just makes me sick that this country's track record regarding this issue is so horrendous.

In 2006, our beloved former alcoholic/cokehead president promised to lift this ban. It's July 2008 and it's still there. Many of the world's brightest minds are barred from this so-called land of opportunity. Yes, I include Andrew Sullivan in this group of characters.

We are really good at banning those who are in need of our so-called excellent health care, but fail to really keep out immigrants from crossing the southern border that have criminal records. Heck, more cocaine and marijuana cross our borders without any problem.

Last month, the UN Secretary General called for the lifting of this ban, but we still have to rely on George Bush's word...for now. The U.S. is one of only 12 countries – the others being Armenia, Colombia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sudan, and Yemen – to have such harsh travel restrictions on people living with HIV/AIDS. Wow. What great company we are in.

Again, this country likes to give fading hope to those waiting to come to this nation. I really have no faith in the lifting of the ban. I had faith that this nation of "human rights" and "equality" was going to grant same-sex marriages. I had faith that Bush would not be re-elected. That faith has all been flushed down the toilet. I'm going to have to wait. Until then, do what you can.

Support Section 305 of the Tom Lantos & Henry J. Hyde U.S. Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 (S. 2731).