Please do something to commemorate Memorial Day today.

My cousin, Greg

My yearly Cinco de Mayo rant.

WARNING: POLITICAL CONTENT

Yes, sports fans, I'm going to do it again this year. I'm going to annoy all of you (okay, both of you) by pointing out that Cinco de Mayo is NOT celebrated in Mexico, at least not to any significant lengths. In fact, the "state" in which the battle took place, Puebla, merely has a small parade in the morning on May 5th of every year. It is also NOT Mexico's Independence Day:
"The holiday commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely defeat of French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín." --- as per Wikipedia---


"However, a common misconception in the United States is that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day,^[10] which actually is September 16 (dieciséis de septiembre in Spanish),^[11] the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico. "


Yet, thanks in large part to immigrants from Mexico, both legal and otherwise, who believe that this great country should conform to THEM, this day which has nothing to do with America, and is considered somewhat minor in Mexico, is celebrated as an unofficial national holiday.
Thank you very much, but I once again will not be participating in any cinco de mayo festivities. Especially this year as how our government does not consider swine flu enough of a threat to close the border, while Mexico refuses to treat it's populace, sometimes going to such lengths as telling doctors to stay home.
Instead, sanctuary cities such as San Francisco are still welcoming illegal immigrants from Mexico with open arms and welfare, despite the entire state's financial welfare being flushed down the toilet several times over.
Interesting that the areas most affected by swine flu are those areas heavily populated by illegal Mexican immigrants, no? And no, CNN isn't going to report on that little morsel any time soon.


From an email I received:
(Hoax or not, the writer has it spot on)


From: 'David LaBonte'
My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to 'print' it myself by sending it out on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so inclined. Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County Register:

Dear Editor:
So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry (like over border fences, through underground tunnels, in hidden compartments, and other illegal means of entry).

Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to other people like Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.
They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture. Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity.
Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought alongside men whose parents had come straight over from Germany , Italy , France , and Japan . None of these first generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini, and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending the United States of America as one people.
When we liberated France , no one in those villages was looking for the French-American or the German-American or the Irish-American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.
And here we are in 2009 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges while maintaining their Mexican identity--including, apparently, a lack of respect for the country they should now call home. They want to achieve citizenship by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country.
I'm sorry, that's not what being an American is all about. Americans are American-Americans. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags.
And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty, it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the Immigration Bill; especially those Americans that became citizens through the proper procedures. And I certainly wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just yet!!
(signed) Rosemary LaBonte