rendition

Before I get off into the weedy central reservation of political timebombs I need to make something very clear: Eddie Izzard is a genius. There, it's said, I've said it. The wonder of comedy (Izzard, Stewart, Mahar, D. Miller, Mencia, et al) is that it provides the only remaining outlet for serious discussion in our politically stigmatized, FCC-controlled daily lives. Neither the media nor the politicians have any forum to let loose and call a duck a duck. I'm not even sure they want to, but if they did...they won't. More than other options comedy is a wide boulevard of open debate. It may not be always be pretty but it is effective. I see that my list is a bit to the Left but at least I threw Dennis Miller into the huddle for the Cons. (Can conservatives be funny?...probably not...too busy persecuting.) Izzard's take on empire is enough to make anyone see just how bad things get when immature ideas cross with alledgedly decisive action.

So, immigrants. If you've already heard from me then you're free to take this period off and hang around the quad playing hackey-sack. I don't know that I can put into words the perfect thought but I can certainly say some things that aren't normally allowed. First, you cannot claim the immigrant experience of your great-grandparents as a basis for your expertise on the issue. I don't know what it was like to come to America and process through Ellis Island. I've no idea what your responsibilities were to the Republic. I've no way to know whether or not your ancestors followed the letter of the law. What I do know is that I don't know. Anyone who puts forth the "my great-grandparents did it the right way" argument gets the you-misspelled-that-word bell rang, is ejected from the game, and consideration of opinion denied. To draw a parallel; think about all the nutty adults living vicariously through their kids. You know, the revolting ones we see at little league games, those guys living the days of high school football heroics gone by, screaming at umpires...those people. They claim other's lives as their own and we turn away in shame trying to contemplate what's gone wrong. We don't let them get away with that behavior....ever. The idea that any other person's life validates your opinion is an ugly ideal. It cheapens the entire process. Second, if you claim to have Hispanic friends ("some of my best friends") and that "they've been to the house", you're only substituting 'Hispanic' for every other minority that's been cornered in this country; "really, some of my best friends are gay..." It's been done before and it has always ended up on the wrong side of humanity. Them's the rules.

So, you either have a solution to the problem or you can't participate in the discussion. This all runs to what I think is at the root of the immigration issue: the diminishing majority that the European American has in this country. That was a lame way out... the White American. We've gone from a European melting pot back into a fire that includes Asians, South Americans, Africans, and (dare I say) other North Americans. To even imagine that the issue is employment, the minimum wage, or a stagnant economy is ludicrous. Even our beloved right-handed scissor administration doesn't believe these are the issues. So, what is the problem? I'll put forth that the endless recording announcing the prevailing 'days of fear' routine has come home to roost. The endless clattering and banging of pots sayint that we are 'under attack' leads to an essay saying we can't survive if we don't do something... onto the desire to get anything done. How about this novel idea, we got we voted for, we bought into the fear (again in 2004), and here we sit. We've done nothing yet to combat the fear and suddenly, poof!, here it is... any foreigner crosssing our borders is certainly horribly wrong and dangerous. Like Europeans over the last two hundred years they are chasing the promise of a better life. Does it make their actions better if they've come illegally? No. Does it make them wrong? No. The process needs to be fixed, not the people. The easy-way-out ideals of the fringe will never serve a final answer. The dialogue that calls for opportunity to those in this country is the only real hope. If we now decide to change and lockdown the border, build a fence, and isolate ourselves from the world, then so be it. But the left-handed smoking idea that 11 million immigrants can be sent home is as crazy as ideas come; we need to recognize the situation and come up with a plan to make our business and economy strong while taking care of those doing the work that made us strong. Give them the same opportunity that your great-grandparents and gay friends had when they came to this country. Or to your house...

As an aside, sometimes a lot of people come together for something and it's perfect. Why we question those who use their public platform for good is beyond me. Here's a link to a great story and a better cause. I have no idea if I'd sit down and have dinner with Rick Reilly but I read his stuff (he's a great writer) and I think I'll trust him on this one.

peace.

tx