Genie in a tequila bottle
Writing by treason on Wednesday, 30 of May , 2007 at 10:51 pm
I admit it. I found myself watching the Miss Universe pageant the other night. It was two things: I was surfing and saw the spectacular costumes – oooh! one girl had big dolphins over her head! — and I’d heard earlier in the day that Miss Tanzania had shaved her hair off (YES!!!). The Ellis Island meatloaf was in the oven and I had time on my hands.
“Whoa! Miss Brazil has some big bombocados!”
No response from T, who was busy working at the computer.
“That one’s pretty, but too skinny.”
Still over there typing.
“Miss India’s very pretty!”
Still ignoring me.
“I think she might have blown it on that evening gown choice, though. But Miss Venezuela picked a good one. Oh — Miss Japan is bold! She’s got sleeves!”
Type-type-type-type.
“Oh no! Poor Miss USA just fell on her ass!”
Type-type-type.
But during the interviews, when Miss USA was introduced, the booing began. T, oblivious to the pageant and my non-stop remarks up to this point, was out of his chair in nanoseconds: “WHAT THE F*CK?”
“It’s just such bad behavior. Remember the World Cup?”
Newspaper reports the next day pointed out that when the show went to a commercial break, a representative from the network chastised the audience and suggested that they behave themselves, because “this gives the world a bad image of Mexico.”
Yes, it does. One thinks of barbarians at the gates. Bar the doors and hide the silver, here they come. And this, we’re being told, is the future of the Republican Party? I know blacks and Hispanics in Texas voted for George W. Bush when he ran for governor, but has it ever occurred to anyone that maybe they were simply voting against the boozy old white woman?
I watched C-SPAN 3 on Memorial Day – four straight hours of biographical sketches of the presidents. These were completed in 1999, before our current one had been elected. Still, there was a segment on Bush, and there he was, looking much younger, delivering a speech about prosperity. No one, he said, would be left behind. The American Dream would be available to anyone who desired it. Criminy, the writing was on the wall; how could anyone have misread it?
But it made sense at the time. What we on the Right heard was what we believed about Conservatism. It was compassionate – always had been. It was all about creating one gargantuan pie so that everyone would have a slice. Our goal was to eliminate the underclass, to educate and elevate every individual, and to ensure that each person who works towards the Dream is rewarded with that big slab o’ pie.
But our just dessert has become one big pie in the face. I knew Laura Ingraham would have something to say about the booing in Mexico City, so I tuned in and heard a caller — Alejandra – who was raised in Mexico but is here, legally, waiting tables and homeschooling her child. She explained that what they teach in south of the border schools is hatred for America – hatred for us, she said.
She was concerned about the “brown tide” headed our way because she herself had waded through it. Too many Communists, too much anti-American sentiment. It’s just not going to be a good thing for our country.
But what about the assertion that these people will bring a new spirituality to America? No, she said. Do not be fooled. Religion is different for these people. They pray to God expecting to get something, as if God were a genie who grants wishes. That’s their version of religion.
I have lived in the American Southwest for most of my life, and most of that time was in Northern California. It is offensive that those who are concerned about this amnistia bill are being called racist. And shame on Linda Chavez, a native Nuevo Mexican. Not only did she underpay her Guatemalan illegal (room and board and a measly $1500 over two years?), but she has written an absolutely vile column.
“Some people just don’t like Mexicans — or anyone else from south of the border. They think Latinos are freeloaders and welfare cheats who are too lazy to learn English. They think Latinos have too many babies, and that Latino kids will dumb down our schools. They think Latinos are dirty, diseased, indolent and more prone to criminal behavior. They think Latinos are just too different from us ever to become real Americans.”
Linda, Linda, Linda. Don’t even. But, unfortunately, she continues.
“… We need to quit pretending that the ‘No Amnesty’ crowd is anything other than what it is: a tiny group of angry, frightened and prejudiced loudmouths backed by political opportunists who exploit them.”
Prejudiced? Excuse me, Linda, but when my grandparents came through Ellis Island after huddling on a boat with masses from Europe, all yearning to be free, the same things were said about them. Dumb dagos – they breed like rabbits. Was that offensive? Yes, in that my grandparents weren’t dumb. But, truth be told, they did breed like rabbits. However, they – and all their bunnies – quickly became Americans, embraced their new culture, and learned not only a new language, but also what it was to be an American. They assimilated. They melted into the big pot.
To be fair, Chavez does mention that what she says about Mexicans was said about every other group that settled here. Gee, if we are such racists, how is it that we are the most diverse nation on the planet?
The article, and her assertion that anyone who is against this legislation is a hateful bigot, is disappointing because I like her. But it’s even more disappointing that the president who I’ve been defending for so many years has just accused me of the same thing. This, I fear, is going to put a damper on our relationship.
But Linda Chavez is correct when she says that the anti-illegal immigration people are “angry” and “frightened.” I’m seriously pissed off, no doubt about it. And, yes, I’m frightened, too. Because, unlike Linda and the rest of those who are lost in a romantic haze on this topic, I live in the real world.
Another article that’s raising some hackles is from one of my favorite atheists, Heather MacDonald. In it, she explains that it is not nativism that is causing conservative opposition to the Senate bill – it’s facts.
Again, as someone who has spent thirty-seven years out here in the West – most of it in a post-Reagan California – I can say that MacDonald’s facts are accurate. I know what’s going on in the schools and hospitals and government agencies and barrios. I’ve spent a lot of time in these real world places.
I cordially invite those, like Linda Chavez, who think we’re just being xenophobic and mean-spirited to spend a little more time in this world, too.
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