· Needless to say, I'm thrilled about this -- not because DeLay's going to do any jail time, because he won't; he'll pay some fines, maybe do some community service, then get hired as a lobbyist and proceed to earn thousands more per year than he ever did as a congressman. What thrills me about this is the fact that DeLay won the primary in his congressional district and resigned anyway, meaning that someone -- either DeLay or the GOP -- decided they didn't have enough confidence that DeLay could skate past his indictment. (Given the size of DeLay's ego, I'm guessing it was the party.) If nothing else, this shows that the whole "ethics matter" meme has finally gotten to the Republicans. On the one hand, yes, I realize this deprives the Democrats of an easy (and very high-profile) punching bag, but I think it's worth it to puncture the air of invincibility surrounding the Republican leadership, and to send a message to the country that yes, corruption and abuse of power does get punished every once in a while.
· But I'm even more excited about the above single, "I'm With Stupid," tagged as the first single to be released off of the Pet Shop Boys' new album (the single hits on May 8; the album, "Fundamental," two weeks later). This momentous event got play from none other than Andrew Sullivan (OK, I guess I'm not that surprised), who was kind enough to get the joke that the song is a very cheeky poke at the strained, uh, relationship between Tony Blair and George W. Bush. I have talked about my love for the Pet Shop Boys enough on this site that I will neither explain nor apologize for it here; I will simply declare that yes, straight guys can love the Pet Shop Boys too, and leave it at that. You can listen to the new single here. (And if you think I'm not buying the special-edition double-CD when it comes out, you're crazy.)
· Two things that may put me at odds with the rest of my ultra-liberal brethren, but so what, they need to be said just the same: First, Cynthia McKinney is a douchebag. Second, I got a big problem with a bunch of illegal immigrants taking to the streets and waving the flags of the country they escaped from to get here. This is not, as many of my fellow libs would have you believe, a matter of "appreciating immigrant culture"; this is a bunch of people who broke the law to get here and now expect me to kowtow to them in ways they have no legal right to. Let me make this very clear: If you've gone to the trouble of coming all the way over to America because your life is better here than the shithole you came from, guess what? Your primary loyalty is to America, and the problems you need to be most worried about are America's problems. That means that if you're waving a Mexican -- or Guatemalan, or Cuban, or Israeli -- flag and demanding that we put those country's citizens (the citizens you apparently didn't think were important enough to continue sharing a country with) before our own country's citizens in importance, you can officially piss off. I'll help you find medical care and I'll defend your children's access to a decent education, 'cause I'm a nice guy and everything, but I don't owe y'all anything, got that?
· That said, appreciating other nations' cultures is important and should be encouraged. Baby Sis sets an excellent example vis a vis our neighbors to the north here.
· Yeah, the whole NCAA basketball championship thing. On the one hand, I was, along with perhaps 97 percent of the rest of the country, rooting for George Mason. On a second hand, I'm all but physically incapable of rooting for the Florida Gators in anything. But on a third hand, it has been quite entertaining witnessing the exquisite irony of Florida fans winning a title in a sport they don't actually give a shit about. When's the women's golf championships, playa?
· I know what you're going to say before you even say it: "This coming from the guy who pretends to get excited every year when the Gym Dawgs win the title." I'll have you know, sir, that I do follow, and get excited about/for, Georgia's gymnastics team, and as with the Pet Shop Boys, I will neither explain nor apologize for this. Let's just say I have my reasons and leave it at that. And unless your school's gymnastics team has beaten Georgia this year -- which they haven't -- you can shut it.
To bogart a phrase from Orson: Badonkadonktastic.
· Before I forget: Tailgate, bitches!
7 comments:
Yeah, waveing the flag of Mexico makes no more sense to me that waiving the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia. And while I concede that immigration is an issue that should be addressed, does anyone else think it odd that it should suddenly, after years of being ignored by Congress, come up in an election year?
BTW, there are some great pics of George II waiving a Mexican flag floating around the net. Are you again undercutting our commander in chief during time of war?
It's so nice to read Kyle wax paleoconservative again. It almost comforts me over YOUR SISTER CLAIMING TO STEAL MICHAEL BUBLE FROM ME. HE'S MY HUNK OF CANADIAN BACON.
If it makes you feel any better, Benj, he did mention that he'd never have left you if I wasn't so thoroughly irresistible in every possible way.
I'd really like for you to express specifically how your life has been negatively affected by an illegal immigrant. I'd also like to know how many illegal immigrants you know or have ever worked with. Or even legal immigrants. And I do think there is something hypocritical about the argument above coming from someone who wrote "When the USA faced off against Slovakia in hockey on Saturday, I was rooting for the motherland, and you know I'm talkin' 'bout the guys with a whole bunch of consonants in their names." Apparently, you're only allowed allegiance to the "motherland" if you, like Doug, were lucky enough to be pushed out by an American in America. Then it can be a source of pride and the punchline for a blog. Great, Doug. I plan on fully taking you to task for this post on Saturday.
I respect your position, Megs, and fully expected that that might be brought up. However, there is a difference, and that is that I am an American citizen who did not break any laws to come here, and am not demanding that the government excuse any law-breaking I may have committed in the past. I didn't come over here illegally and then demand that the government make concessions to me solely based on my ethnic status.
As I tried to state (but may not have made clear), I think there's a difference between taking pride in one's ancestry and coming over here to demand concessions and lenience from a country whose laws you apparently feel no need to respect or embrace. Look, I'm not one of those people who wants to lock down the borders entirely to keep the brown people out -- if anything, I think the current bureaucratic process surrounding immigration and naturalization is absurdly over-complex and drawn out, and needs to be substantially simplified. Until that happens, though, the fact remains that there's a protocol for entering this country and becoming a citizen, and you have the choice to either attempt to follow it or to not make that attempt. If you make that attempt, if you pay taxes and recognize that your primary responsibility is to your new country, not the one you left, then great: I admire you, respect you, and will help you in any way I can. If you haven't done any of those things, though, then my original statement still stands: I don't owe you anything.
Honestly, I can't say my life has ever been directly, negatively impacted by an illegal immigrant, though I don't believe I ever said it had. What I have had to do, however, is watch as people from all kinds of different places (Croatia, El Salvador, the UK, Colombia, you name it) -- people I consider my friends -- be forced by the government to jump through hoops and wait, and wait, and wait for American citizenship that may never be granted, and it drives me crazy. It drives me even crazier that the government is apparently unwilling to make any concessions for them, yet is considering granting blanket amnesty to millions of people who didn't undertake any of the responsibilities that they did. If I'm wrong for being upset about that, then I plead guilty.
Gymnasts do not have badonkadonks. Hot Southern chicks who get wasted with you on Friday and participate in your Mexican food hangover remedy the next day, do.
One good thing to come from the Georgia athletic program is bendy women. On this we can all agree.
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