I’m Not The Only One

Well, every Latino blogger seems to have something to say about the whole mess in Arizona, so I might as well say my piece too.

The new law is ridiculous, for several reasons.  Let’s cut the bullshit and not pretend Arizona is looking to keep out illegal Canadians, Englishmen or Germans with this law.  It’s the illegal Mexican immigrants that have white Arizonans going nuts, and it’s that specific group for whom the law is intended.

Law enforcement are required to ask the legal status of anyone who “appears” as if they may be in this country illegally.  Aside from raiding the parking lot at Home Depot, how do they actually accomplish this?  How does one “look” illegal?  Furthermore, if such a thing existed as an illegal “appearance”, wouldn’t illegal aliens in Arizona deliberately change their appearance so as not to “look illegal”? (more…)

I’ve been working on some other things lately, but I just had to blog when I came across this New York Times blog by Paul Krugman titled, “Why Libertarianism Doesn’t Work“.  Normally, I don’t find Paul Krugman to be such a moron but reading this particular piece is precisely why columnists, commentators and bloggers get such a bad rap.

First the moron bashes the late great Milton Friedman in a quote in which Mr. Friedman stated that there is no need for product safety regulation, because corporations know that if they do harm they’ll be sued.  Paul then twists this concept around to draw from what he calls a “real world” example, implying that Friedman and/or libertarianism are inherently flawed and not realistic.

The example describes a “moderate Republican” from Alaska named Lisa Murkowski who recently opposed a bill that would have raised the liability cap from $75 million to $10 billion on the claim that it “would have unfairly hurt smaller oil companies by raising the costs of oil production.”

In his column titled, “Conscience of a Liberal” (apparently that conscience does not involve telling the truth), Krugman  smugly concludes:

“And don’t say that we just need better politicians. If libertarianism requires incorruptible politicians to work, it’s not serious.” (more…)

Remember John Rocker?

In 2000, John Rocker was a relief pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, and was actually enjoying a pretty successful career.  But that same year he said the following in a Sports Illustrated interview:

“Imagine having to take the 7 train [in Queens] to the ballpark [at Shea Stadium], looking like you’re in Beruit riding next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old Mom with four kids. It’s depressing……The biggest thing I don’t like about New York are the foreigners. You can walk an entire block in Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English. Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish people and everything up there. How the hell did they get in this country?”

That pretty much ruined his career.  He later apologized for the remarks, and upon playing the Mets later that year at Shea Staium, New York fans chanted “asshole” when he came onto the field.  Three years late his MLB career came to an abrupt end.

Fast forward 10 years.  It appears African-Americans are once again breaking the color barrier, not only in the White House but in bigotry and color prejudice as well.  In a move that probably makes John Rocker proud, Los Angeles Angels center fielder Torii Hunter, who is African-American, used an interview in USA to spew his own hateful thoughts for Latino baseball players, particularly those with dark skin, wide noses, thick lips and kinky hair. (more…)