Random musings on politics, society, and pop culture from the Internet's marketing curmudgeon.
Have you ever stopped to think about what makes America, “America”? I mean, what is it about this nation that took us from what amounted to a backwater colony to a world power in less than two hundred years? Why is it that so many people want to immigrate here? And why is America held up as a beacon of freedom across the globe?
Laws. Or more specifically, the U.S. Constitution. [Read more…] about A Nation of Laws.
At the base of the Statue of Liberty, a poem by Emma Lazarus reads:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
Historically, the USA has been the “land of opportunity,” where we welcomed those that wanted to come here to live, work and prosper, with open arms and big hearts. Like virtually everybody in this Nation who doesn’t have ancestors or relatives living on an Indian Native American reservation, my forebears came from parts beyond the USA. So it might seem a little hypocritical for anybody in America to say “Stop right there, buddy…we don’t want your kind.” But what if it’s the kind that wants to kill us all? [Read more…] about Refusing Refugees.
Full disclosure: I am a parent of a high school student. I have been both a teacher in the public school system, and of course, at one time, I was a student. I’ve seen education from at least three different perspectives. And let me tell you, education today has gone so far off the rails, I’m convinced that, save for a few dedicated teachers who bravely buck the system, kids learn in spite of their schools…not because of them. [Read more…] about Wanna know what’s wrong with education? Here’s “Exhibit A.”
Thank you, please be seated. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Abby Normale-Pharse, and I’m the Under-Under Secretary of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, and I am the bureaucrat in charge of the Bureau of Undocumented, Radicalized Islamic Affairs. I’m very pleased today to announce a new program, that we in the Obama Administration believe will have a dramatic effect on reducing terrorism in this formerly-great nation of ours. We call it, the Terrorist Reintegration and Immigration Program, or “TRIP” for short. [Read more…] about Terrorism with a Happy (Bureaucratic) Face
I’m not a huge golf fan. It’s genetic. My father, my grandfather, my great-uncle, and many other forbearers were obsessed with the game. And they were all equally-genetically ill-suited for it. My great uncle Tony was a good example. On one particular day at the 18th hole, he knocked one into the water trap. He was so angry about it, he marched down to the water and threw his entire bag of expensive clubs in the drink, then stormed into the clubhouse for some liquid refreshment. His young caddy took off their shoes, socks, and rolled up their knickers, then waded in and fished out the bag and all the clubs. He then dried them off, and brought them into the clubhouse, no doubt expecting a big tip. What I’m sure he didn’t expect was that Tony grabbed the clubs under one arm, the caddy under the other, and then marched down to the water trap, where he threw them both in. Genetically. Ill-suited. So I stay off the links. [Read more…] about President Mulligan
Words. We writers live by ’em. And sometimes (if you offend the wrong Muslim lunatic) die by them. But they are the essential part of how we do what we do. Words mean things. But not all words mean the same things to all people. And living in the Age of Political Correctness, not all wordsmiths are created equal, at least as far as permission to use certain words goes. Allow me to give you some examples… [Read more…] about What’s in a Word?
I grew up in the South, in the 1960s. It was a time of racial unrest. I remember seeing posters around Shreveport, advertising a concert planned by James Brown – the hardest working man in show business. What a lot of people don’t know about Brown is that he also helped to defuse the ticking time bomb of racial unrest, rather than work to exploit racial tensions, as so many self-styled ‘leaders’ do today.
Fast-forward to 2015. Two incidents in the news make me think that racism is still a huge problem in the USA, but not for the reasons – and the people – that you’d think. I’m afraid that this time around, it’s not Conservatives that have a problem with race. It’s Liberals. And there’s a litmus test that determines just how “black” or how “brown” you are, and it’s got nothing to do with a color swatch book. Let me explain… [Read more…] about Ranking Race.
I’ve been getting a lot of questions, messages, and comments about the incident that happened this weekend in McKinney (where I live), about a video posted to the ‘net, showing three McKinney PD officers detaining and arresting some kids at a pool party. If you watched the video, (shot on a cell phone by a bystander) you see very angry cops, one of whom pulls his gun (and then re-holsters it, when the other two officers flank him), and a young girl grabbed by her pigtails and forced to the ground, face in the grass and handcuffed. Pretty shocking stuff. So what really happened? And is this as bad a situation as it looks on the video?
Let’s everybody take a step back, and then take a deep breath. [Read more…] about Yes, Virginia…it CAN happen here…
Hello, and we’d like to welcome you to this emergency meeting of the Kiowa Council of the Boy Scouts of America. As the Chairman of your Equality Compliance Committee, I’ve been charged with overseeing the transition of our organization into one that will be a model of politically-correct thought for the new millennium. As you might expect, there are a lot of changes in store for the Scouts. I’m sure you’ve heard rumors. We’ll I’m here to put all those rumors to rest. We have a crack team of experts on ethics, working ’round the clock to insure that we move to the cutting edge of correct thought. [Read more…] about Scouting Today.
I’m on the mailing list of a site called “Change.org.” It’s a site that allows people to post petitions to lobby for changes in public policy. Some of them make sense. Some don’t. This morning, I received an impassioned plea from one Megan Perez, regarding food allergies and vending machines. Here’s a condensed version (emphasis mine): [Read more…] about Where Does It End?