In a euphemism-heavy Post story on the "personal difficulties" imposed on the Prince William police chief charged with enforcing the "crackdown on illegal immigrants" (otherwise known as a nativist backlash which makes us all fondly recall great moments as 'Mericans, such as the anti-Guinea laws of a bygone era) the reporter noted, in the lead, that the police chief was forced to seek solace from his immigrant head-busting day job... in a blue grass show.
Then said chief returned to his job, "Struggling to maintain the simple, honored traditions of police work..." enforcing a law which requires police to check the legal status of any criminal suspect, whether arrested or not, if "There is reason to think suspect may be in the country unlawfully."
Sure, cynics may think that means the lil' music lover's job is to target brown, beige or tan "suspects" who wander our streets uncharged - yet - with any crime. But these cynics MUST be forgetting the criminal wave of pretty pink Serbs and Croats presumably clogging the shit out of the streets of Prince William County.
Hope Lucinda Williams made him feel better. If not, then maybe he was comforted by all the other police chiefs who, and I really am quoting from the damn story, "Whispered in his ear that they liked the way he was handling illegal immigration enforcement."
I guess they would speak up, but people might take it the wrong way.
7.24.2008
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I always said blue folk is good folk.
ReplyDelete^ I did not ever say this.
Smurfs ARE good folk.
ReplyDeleteno link the post story?
ReplyDeletesorry. no link TO the post story?
ReplyDeleteYes, link please! :D
ReplyDeleteOh, my goodness, here we go again. Unless I want three billion Mexicans in my backyard, I am a racist.
ReplyDeleteTripe.
Huh? Why do we hate DC again?
ReplyDeletePrince William County ~= (or !=) Washington, DC
ReplyDeleteBob Novak?
ReplyDeleteI'm finding it difficult to get worked up about Bob, probably because I too am a driver of very poor depth perception.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I hope to god I'd notice a person on my windshield.
Oh, and the link is up. Sorry about that.
ReplyDeleteThe reporter makes a much more sympathetic case for the chief than I do. It does sound like a shitty job. The whole, "Sometimes life busting mexicans is so hard I have to seek solace in music" angle just bugged me. (second graf, still the intro, and a nicely worded kicker if it weren't so absurd). Then the last page, where they talked about the whispering, sent me over the edge.
Btw, M@, you have presented a classic false dilemma. Way to miss the point while still expressing disdain for an entire category of people. I'm kind of thinking, with all the Novak karmic retribution in the air, that you will likely be repaid in kind by a restaurant busboy with a similar disdain for wasps.
As a Mexican-American, I'm highly offended by your "busboy" stereotype.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I think you have too much anger! Beware righteousness, it is an enemy of reason and joy. Venting is marvelous and must be done from time to time but sarcasm and vitriol wear on a soul if they are taken to heart.
ReplyDeleteAlso!
Please do not take this as a troll attempt but you should study writing! There is voice in your work but clumsy structure is getting in the way of that voice. This is regrettable.
I would like to suggest an exercise that helped me. Free yourself from the clumsy waterwings that are parenthesis. It will be more difficult to nest thoughts in this strange new non parenthetical world but your flow will improve for it!
As for chief jackass, I have nothing. His actions and thoughts speak for themselves. I fear that in a world that is increasingly hostile and insular xenophobia will become more pronounced.
Can you propose a solution?
Did anyone read the related news story that crime in Prince William has dropped by about 20% since the crackdown (and gone up in Fairfax by the same amount)?
ReplyDeleteLiz, have you given up already? If so, please do the right thing and pass this blog onto someone who can update it regularly.
ReplyDeleteMore posting.....we DEMAND it dammit.
ReplyDeleteHATE HATE HATE HATE HATE
I disagree. I don't think that's a false dichotomy. The fact of the matter is that we'll have 450 million Americans here in short order. OK, I exaggerated on the numbers a little bit but that's it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you people don't seem to understand that unmitigated immigration poses an environmental problem. Sure, the environment is a global problem--but it's also a local problem. And on and on....
And what makes you think I'm a WASP?
I meant false dilemma, not false dichotomy, which is something else.
ReplyDeletePutting a label on someone else is a good way to win an argument. The best label is "racist." Xenophobe also works.
So let me get this straight. You hate DC because it's not Mexico?
ReplyDeleteYep. That's right. I hate d.c. precisely because it's not Mexico. That is in no way a straw man or even a slight exaggeration of my position.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I appreciate the writing tip. I haven't written regularly in a while. Structure is something that's more obvious on a blog than in print. I'm still working it out.
And I'll post more once I get past a personal commitment which necessarily involves a certain amount of time spent away from internet access.
PS - I went with "wasp" based on the head tilt in the pic. It's very WFB Jr. ;)
"And I'll post more once I get past a personal commitment which necessarily involves a certain amount of time spent away from internet access."
ReplyDeleteExercise? Learning Swahili? Confirming the arsenic levels at Ft. Reno park with your handy Junior Science Kit? Clit piercing?
LOL on the head tilt. That's what I was going for.
ReplyDeleteMight surprise you that I am a liberal supporter of Obama.
A false dichotomy: setting up the premise that one must either wholly support unmitigated immigration or completely oppose ANY immigration, legal or otherwise. You should talk about the straw men.... Next you'll be telling me I'm making a "Chartusian argument," whatever the hell that means.
You should start a Web site about how much you hate Honkies.
It's been a week.
ReplyDeleteCan't you get a guest poster to hate on Metro or something?
Wow. Liz royally sucks. Truly a shame for all of us D.C. haters.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this is getting sad. No posts, no hate, no crazy comments. Party over? ;(
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI wavered, but eventually decided extensive whininess counts as trolling too.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete