Friday, April 28, 2006

Shut Up and Put Out The Welcome Mat Already

I heard the Spanish version of The Star Spangled Banner today for the first time.

Before I actually heard it I was offended, annoyed, and suspicious of translating OUR song into THEIR language.  I was going to agree with everyone who says the anthem should only be sung in English, but boy did I change my mind.

It rocks. It's more exciting and uplifting than any English version I've heard in years, including Whitney Houston's.  I also think the words are more apppropriate, since they took out all the references to war. 

Listening to this impassioned new version of America's classic song of freedom made me start thinking about what it means to have 12,000,000 undocumented people living here.

Peacefully.

Any other time and any other place that many millions of immigrants coming into a country would constitute a wholesale invasion. But they walked in on little cat feet. So, for the most part, most of the country hardly noticed. And they insinuated themselves into our lives by working hard and making themselves indispensible. 

Of all the immigrants, Latin or otherwise, who have come to this country, never have so many been so successful so fast, while insinuating their colorful culture and tasty cuisine into our lives in exchange for a chance to pursue the American Dream.

Do you think for one minute we would have been able to put up with twelve million undocumented Frenchmen coming here?

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you Mrs L, very well said ;)  Many people forget that we all come from immigrants, with exception to the Native Americans.  The prejudice towards the Mexicans just amazes me.  Of course there are some bad seeds, but you'll find that in any "race," not just with the Mexicans.  For the most part, they are excellent people with awesome values and VERY hard workers, often taking the jobs that no one else will.  It's a shame that they are getting such a bad rap for wanting to pursue the dream that this country was founded on.

Nicole

Anonymous said...

Hold your horses there missy...................and do they pay taxes? nooooooooooooooo  and do they use our hospitals? yessssssssssss and who pays for that?   WE DO!   Come in legally and I have no problem with that. I have seen to many cross the border JUST to have their babies and then to go back. FREE medical care for all and let ME pay for it, while millions of our own are denied. IF we make an exception for one nationality then we have to let everybody in without documentation.  (just bet Remo agrees........God love him!)    ANNE

Anonymous said...

I know you think you're right, so I'll just leave you with your happy thoughts. Mrs. L

Anonymous said...

You must not live in California.

Anonymous said...

I live in Chicago and we are expecting 300,000 Latinos at a rally on Monday. I work with Cubans, Mexicans, and Puerto Rican professionals in my business every day. California isn't the only state with a large Latino population.  Mrs. L    

Anonymous said...

You must be out of your mind.

I'll drive to your city, trespass into your house, use what I want without paying for it, then claim racism and discrimination when you threaten to call the cops on me.

Oh yeah, then I'll sue you and take your house for harassing me and violating civil rights I'm not entitled to.

What do I know? I only live next to the border.

Anonymous said...

Geez, Remo, what took you so long to get here?    Mrs. L

Anonymous said...

let's face it ... as a piece of music, our National Anthem sucks little brown rocks.   It's about as rousing as a C.P.A.'s trial balance.     ANYTHING to make it more stirring is okay with me.

Anonymous said...

My own admittedly limited experience with Latino immigrants has been positive.  They are often skilled, hard-working, meeting high standards of quality and productivity (although I don't agree they've added anything worthwhile to the national cuisine).  And they DO pay taxes.  The law requires an employer to withhold Social Security and Income Taxes and pay them over to government...unless, of course, they're being paid under the table.  Then the employer is being equally dishonest and is complicit in cheating the rest of us taxpayers.

I haven't heard the Spanish version of our national anthem, but I would agree that it can use a lot of improvement.  

Anonymous said...

They DON'T pay taxes, since they DON'T have legititmate SS #'s. What they do is use the number of someone else, which causes serious headaches with the IRS for the legal resident. It's called identity theft. I wouldn't mind if they sang the Anthem in Spanish, verbatim, but to change the words and intent of the song just to fufill a political agenda is straight horseshit.

Before you start counting the blessings of having 12,000,000 new friends, remember that every week the Border Patrol arrests Indonesians, Chinese, Iranians, Pakistanis, Iraqis, Syrians and Egyptians along with your newfound fuzzy friends.

What took me so long? I had to stay late at work to help serve a search warrant on a house filled with illegal immigrants who were selling crystal meth to locals. They're also responsible for home invasions, two murders, and a half-dozen stolen vehicles.

But I'm sure they really nice people, deep inside.



Anonymous said...

Mrs. L., you rock! Had you called for really, truly securing the borders now, right now, I mean it and welcoming the folk that got here before that, you would totally rock.  

Anonymous said...

Sure the borders ought to be secure. If they were we wouldn't be in this mess.  But what makes anybody think we can shut down the borders now with any confidence?  Our government doesn't exactly have a steallar track record in these matters.

Ultimately, I'm only suggesting that we make the best of a bad situation. Any thoughts besides shooting them, throwing them in jail, or putting them on buses and dumping them back in Mexico?



Anonymous said...

Securing the border is an engineering problem. The US has some of the best engineers in the world.  Granted, a goodly portion of them weren't born here, but they were educated here. The People provide the will, engineers provide the how, politicians do not much of anything as usual.  Potential border jumpers already know that the crossing is going to be difficult and they come anyway, we need well advertised near impossible. Didn't the US dig the Panama Canal?

Anonymous said...

I'm not so much worried about the 12 million that are already here, but what about the next 12 million and the next and the next.  From what I understand, they are pouring in.  And not just from Mexico, deeper south than that.  I guess the only thing I can say in their defense is that we are stupid.  I mean, why do we let this happen.  Why do we let them live here 10 or 20 years and then expect them to go back home.  And what about the drug cartel that is pouring more drugs into our country from that same border.  I am on a Grand Jury this year.  I'm hearing lots of cases with our friends from the south that have been deported, and deported, and deported....etc.  We can't keep them down south of the border, it seems.  They keep coming back.  I know there are a lot of nice family people, but does that make it right that they now become citizens when they have actually been breaking the law for years?  Doesn't that encourage more to keep coming here.  Of course it does.  I don't think our economy can handle it.    -Margo