Wednesday, January 16, 2008

The Dallas Morning News' 2007 Texan of the Year

…the pimple on my buttocks is more Texan…

Disclaimer: This blog in no way represents, describes, proves, or disproves a pimple is present, has been present or will be present on the posterior of the blogger. However, if it did, does or will be present, said pimple is definitely more Texan than the DMN's choice for the 2007 Texan of the Year.

Drum roll, please. The DMN’s Texan of the Year is: “The Illegal Immigrant”.

My response to this tidbit of information heard on the 10:00 PM edition of the local news (owned by the same corporation as the Dallas Morning News): “You have got to be @#$*)&% kidding me!”

The editorial board of the DMN must have misplaced their communal brain, if they had one in the first place. To be a Texan, you are a valid citizen of the state of Texas. Applying simple logic, if you are an ILLEGAL immigrant, how can you be a Texan? It’s tantamount to me saying because I vacationed in Ireland for a couple of weeks, I am Irish. I love Ireland, anything Celtic actually, but I’m certainly not Irish because of that!

Obviously the article is biased toward the illegal immigrant. I’ll pause while you get over the shock. However, in all fairness, it does point out some of the negatives of illegal immigration in very glossy terms; as if the negatives should be analyzed with a “ho-hum, so what, who cares” attitude. Why should it matter that our schools are busting at the seams, our social services are being depleted, and our laws are being broken?

Notwithstanding the illegal status of the Texan of the Year, I find the article particularly pointed regarding the nationality of the illegal immigrant. The mentioned illegals are those of Hispanic heritage. Gasp! Hasn’t it been pounded into our collective consciousness that Mexicans are not the only illegal immigrants and by singling them out, we are xenophobic?

Say it ain’t so! The DMN is discriminating against illegals of other nationalities. Where is the hue and cry over the Vietnamese, the Ukrainian, the Canadian, the _______ (fill in the blank) illegal immigrant? Why is the focus of the article solely on those of Hispanic descent? Doesn’t Texas harbor illegal immigrants of diverse ethnicities working jobs which Americans don’t want to perform at the (substandard) wages the employers want to pay?

The crux of the matter is proximity. By virtue of geography, Mexico is the only nation with which Texas shares a border and lest we forget, Texas was once a part of Mexico. Maybe the Dallas Morning News wants us to welcome the prodigal flocks back home. After all, according to the article, Texas’ thriving economy is being built on the backs of these illegal immigrants and we elitist, non-Hispanics are reaping the rewards.

I am at my wits end. As a taxpayer, I have to fund the costs of their medical care while I pay for my own; and no, I do not advocate a national health care system. As an automobile owner, I have to carry non-insured/under-insured coverage as the propensity for illegals who drive (and they do drive) is not to have insurance. As a citizen, I have had to endure endless protests and marches by illegal immigrants and their supporters; calling for civil rights and privileges which are not theirs to have. I have watched as my flag was removed from a school flag pole and the flag of Mexico flown in its place. I have read articles about a school district which handed out the Mexican flag and asked all the students to recite the Mexican Pledge. I drive down the highway viewing billboards in Spanish. I travel through parts of Dallas that are beginning to remind me of Mexico. Official documents are in both English and Spanish. Where are the other English/”pick your language” documents?

Don’t misunderstand me; I sympathize with the plight of the downtrodden and poor. I feel for the people who cannot take care of their own. I understand the desire to escape from poverty. However, with all that said, I have lost my sympathy for the illegal immigrant. I simply see a group of people who have no pride in their own country; willing to suck the teat of our goodwill at any cost. There is no desire to be American, only the craving to take what we have and call it their own. Why won’t they fight to make Mexico a better place?

To those who would have us believe that illegal immigration is a good thing, I say: Don’t play the “poor illegal immigrant” card. Don’t call the cities that try to pass/enforce laws “villainous or hateful.” Don’t cry when you have to face the consequences of breaking the law.

Most of all, don’t insult us by nominating a Texan of the Year who is not remotely Texan nor American for that matter.

1 comment:

In Russet Shadows said...

Hoorah! I think you're alone on that battlefield, having laid low every foe.

What I don't understand about the article was that its whole rationale was anti-rational. Why didn't any one of the writers, proofreaders, copy editors, or managing editors stop and think, "Wait. If they are illegals, they aren't citizens of any state of the union, much less Texas!" It's a process failure, which illustrates why the old media is dead, dead, dead. No-one is left to steer the ship from the storm, because every hand on board has spent their lives steering ships into the very adversity that now consumes them.

Or, and this is a more frightening thought -- did they run this puff piece because they were afraid of the illegals? Are the illegals taking a cue from the Islamists?