The town of Pahrump, Nevada recently passed legislation to disallow the flying of foreign flags.  The Reuters article points out the reasons:

Supporters said they passed the measure to hit back at Hispanic demonstrators who carried Mexican flags when they marched in U.S. cities earlier this year to press for rights for 10 million to 12 million illegal immigrants living in the shadows.

“All of the illegal alien protesters are waving Mexican flags, and we just got tired of it,” town board clerk Paul Willis told Reuters in a telephone interview.

“This is the United States, and the Stars and Stripes should fly supreme,” he added.

     I’m with Emperor Misha from the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler … The Art of Shunning has been lost in our Politically Correct Society:

I have no use for yet another group of entitlement-addicted, divisive assclowns who have no understanding of the words E Pluribus, Unum.

“Unum” does NOT mean “a collection of cliques, gangs and identity groups fighting over special privileges and handouts.”

Nobody is saying, at least I’m not, that you shouldn’t be proud of your cultural heritage. What I am saying is that if you want to be one of us, if you want to be part of the family, if you want for yourself and your family the privileges, rights and duties of being an American, then you have to be an American. You have to accept, welcome and internalize the fact that you’re an American first, and everything else second.

     Couldn’t’ve said it better myself.  

     But then again, maybe I already have said it better, given that I’m a bit closer to the situation.
     I brought my ex-wife to the U.S. from a foreign country.

     Legally.

     So… If they’re going to grant amnesty to illegals, waive all police clearances and language requirements, and give them all the rights of citizens, then I’ll agree with it, if and when my demands are met.

     I want back all the money that it cost me to get her here legally.  All of it!  Including the plane ticket!
     I want paid for the time involved in jumping through the immigration hoops that we had to jump through.  I had to take off work very often before the visa was granted, and then again after it was granted — to remove the Conditional Permanent Resident status.
     I also want a per-diem based on the fact that I was forced to stay longer in a foreign country than necessary while preparing for it all.  Ever try to get into a foreign consulate just after 9/11?  That was a pain in the rear even when I had an appointment.
     And … they can go ahead and grant her citizenship, just to show that they really mean it.  I mean, hey, we both jumped through all of those hoops.  It just seems like the right thing to do.

     Legal Immigration attempts to make sure that people are of decent moral character by checking their background with law enforcement agencies and making sure they’re not murderers, drug dealers, terrorists, rapists, slave traders, kidnappers and/or child molesters.
     We have enough of our own to deal with! 

     Legal Immigration also attempts to ensure that anyone coming to this country can speak our national language — English!
     I am an American.  I don’t want to press 1 for English!

     The whole issue really is this simple: You can’t go into your neighbor’s house and start rearranging the furniture because you don’t like it.

     How can anyone in their right mind argue with that?

     Anyone else remember Bernhard “Subway Vigilante” Goetz?

     Back in 1984, he was accosted on a New York subway train by at least three in a group of four black men who intended to rob him (suppose I should give Darrell Cabey the benefit of the doubt, even though he made no attempt to alert Goetz).  Goetz produced a .38 Smith & Wesson and shot all four of them — non-fatally, which wasn’t his intent.
     The subsequent case against Goetz was a huge media event, which quickly engrained itself into American pop culture.  Goetz was eventually acquitted of the crime under New York’s self-defense statutes, although he did serve a few months for having an illegal weapon.
     Some twelve years later in 1996, Darrell Cabey was awarded $43 Million dollars in a successful Civil Suit against Goetz.  Goetz, of course, filed for bankruptcy.

     Even though there are many people who feel Goetz was a racist in using excessive force against his assailants (let’s be honest — that’s what they were), it is widely speculated that this single, highly publicized incident was responsible for the sharp drop in robbery and muggings in 1980’s New York City.

     And why on Earth would I be thinking of Goetz today?

     Blame Captain Ed…

     Two Pratt Institute students were arrested for planting “fake bombs” around the New York City subway, to rage against the machine, to show of the “farce” that is Subway security … just to prove that they could.
     Apparently, umm, they couldn’t.

     What they did prove, however, was that a couple of snivelling, priveledged, caucasian children can stuff newpapers into duffel bags and still be arrested.

     I’ll bet ol’ Bernie Goetz would have made quick work of these asshats.  😉

     In the amazing race to hold onto a fleeting fifteen minutes of fame, many celebrities realize one simple truth: Publicity is Publicity, even if it’s bad. 

     It’s always been my contention that Rush Limbaugh was an entertainer, a bad comedian.  I’ve seen Ann Coulter the same way.  And to be fair, Al Franken, too.
     They stand up, tell a bunch of jokes, get people pissed off, and an angry mob of people who hate them go out and buy their books.  It’s freakin’ brilliant, really!
     However, being balanced, there are just as many people who hang on their every word, treating each outrageous statement as the Gospel Truth (of course, I think there are more people following Al Franken, but that’s beside the point).

     I can’t help but wonder — how would people have reacted if Ann Coulter had first been presented on Saturday Night Live, and Al Franken had been a speaker and author?  Or if Rush Limbaugh had been a character in many popular comedies (including the Simpsons) and Harry Shearer had been a radio talk show host?

     In checking out one of Sam’s finds from a while back (last December’s “Ned Flanders Roasts Ann Coulter“), I ran across yet another great article on Eat the Press (thus the Harry Shearer reference).
     Entitled “The Stephen Colbert-Ann Coulter Challenge,” the article (excerpted from New York magazine) draws some interesting parallels between the two entertainers.  It also brings up the question of why Liberals will bash Coulter so fervently, when the fact is that she and Colbert may be very much the same sort “character.”
     Of course I completely agree with that, having held the opinion that she’s nothing more than a bad comedian for several years.  And the same goes for Rish Limbaugh.  And Al Franken.

     But those Dixie Chicks — they’re just damn Communists!

     Penn & Teller’s television show, “Bullshit!“, really covers a lot of material with little more than simple logic.  This particular episode, from 9-May-2005, carries with it the same type and amount of raw disbelief and vitriol that I’ve ranted when discussing 9/11 Conspiracy Theorists, right down to the choice of nouns and adjectives.
     People can say foul language, name-calling and violence never solve anything, but in certain situations, they certainly make you feel better. Besides — why should I show restraint to people who none? The Golden Rule does apply.
     If you agree, watch it, because it has all of those things.  If you don’t, then … well … don’t watch it.

     Someone told me recently, “Calling them idiots and dumbasses doesn’t do anyone any good! You catch more flies with honey!”

     I’m sorry, but, why should I have to catch flies here?

     In the immortal words of Penn Gillette, “Are 49.3% of us just f$&*ing crazy?”

     Detractors of the Military, and of War, always come up with a list of reasons why so many people sign up.
     “Inbred rednecks with no future!”
     “Idiots who can’t cut it flipping burgers!”
     “Gung-ho morons who just wanna kill!”

     When I lived in DC, there was a lot of Military bashing going on. It wasn’t uncommon to some moonbat nutjob screaming, “Baby killers!” or knocking down an old lady for not taking an anti-War flyer.
     I’ve never been one to sit idly by and just “watch” that kind of thing happen.

     The overall feeling towards military in Tennessee is a hundred and eighty degrees different.  Being the “Volunteer State,” a lot of people end up signing up for Service, especially given a time of crisis or war.
     Tennesseeans usually don’t sit idly by “watch” things happen.

     It’s a mentality that we learn growing up here.  Talk to your neighbors, random people on the street.  Get involved.  Be a part of something larger than yourself.  There’s no such thing as unbeatable odds when we all work together.

     In catching up with my reading this morning (I’ve been sadly negligent in reading other blogs the last few weeks), I ran across a great article on Blackfive that kinda hit home for me…
     For all the anti-Military complaining going on, I can’t help but wonder if they’d still be running their mouths if they’d had a little bit of that Military structure and discipline.

     Maybe I could’ve used some of that, myself…

     But I’d still’ve ended up kicking that young punk’s butt for knocking down an old lady, so maybe I didn’t turn out so badly in that respect.  Or maybe I just have some respect.