As David Bromberg once warbled, "I got someone else's blues, in the midst of.....an almost perfect day"
The day started without rain. Hallelujah. This was followed by a lovely walk through the neighborhood to get my last acupuncture treatment before I get on the plane. I love acupuncture and what a good thing to do on a Saturday. Can I get a witness?
An apres-poking fish taco was next on the agenda to fuel my walk down to the beach, where I would meet the TBG. By the time the taco had encountered my gastric juices, the sun, yes the actual warm orb itself, had decided to grace us with its presence. I warmed my bones on the walk down to the beach, reveling in the solar rays.
Once at the beach, the sun streaming down, I claimed my usual bench and pulled out a nice Cuban puro with which to heap scorn and smoke on the State Department. As I was trimming said puro, a guy sat down at the next bench and politely asked me if I minded a little Ukulele music? I informed him, quite the contrary and please play on. We had a nice chat as he played and I smoked, awaiting the TBGs arrival, which came soon enough.
Americano at hand and puro at the ready, she talked and I smoked whilst he strummed and the cute kids and hounds promenaded to and fro. Eventually our conversation wandered to current events, yes news, and the TBG informed me that the INS agents in Ellensburg had, in their infinite wisdom, dragged some thirty latinos from their homes, arresting many of them in front of their children, separating children from parents.
OK, here it is: "What the hell?" I am solidly with Steve Earle on this one. We ARE all immigrants. Not only that, the big societal "We" have created an economic need for farm and service labor that depends on our brothers and sisters from the South. Ask any orchard owner in Wenatchee. Take a peak in any restaurant kitchen in the US.
"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!"
As for the xenophobic nut-cases (yeah, ad hominem, you bet) who want to seal our borders, kick all of the "illegals" out, blah-blah-blah...... yeah right.
First, you cannot and never will be able to seal the land borders between the US and Canada or the US and Mexico. As for the walls and fences, who in the hell are you going to hire to build the damn things? Yes, you guessed it.
Second, if you don't want the migrant workers and cheap labor in kitchens, pony up for the extra costs of apples and prepared meals. While you are at it, stop creating the economic system that draws the labor from the South. I could go on about Monsanto bankrupting Mexican corn farmers, but that's a rant for another day.
Third: if you really think you are all that "American" whatever that means, let me have a few minutes to review your family tree. I can guarantee you that without going too far back there will be a boat ride in your family's history. And brothers and sisters, that boat, she came from somewhere else.
Finally, round up twelve million people? Have you taken complete leave of your senses you right wing loonies? You Homeland Security War on Terrorism folks can't even catch Osama Bin Laden and he's on dialysis. Do you really think you can round up twelve million people, seal off the borders and stem the tide of economic migration and at the same time fund all of the wars you want to fight against the other brown peoples? It don't pencil Bubba! Or as my good pal used to say, "That dog ain't gonna hunt".
So actually, I'm doing well, thanks for asking. I did have someone else's blues, but this rant has helped even things out. Even though I am not doing the news, just hearing about this from word-of-mouth makes me cringe with embarrassment at some of the stupid crap my country does.
I hope all of us immigrants can squeeze out a good day, even in the face of this kind of miss-guided and hurtful policy.
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