just to finish the thought

this was the response i received from my step-great-uncle dave last night, re: my email, which i wrote about yesterday.

mind you, i correctly predicted the futility in even mentioning my disgust--i thought i'd get a sean hannity-type response, and i did. here it is:

Angela, you don't get it do you. When your 'abuelito' came from Mexico, I'm thinking it wasn't sneaking across the border. I'm also thinking that citizenship was the plan and that it was accomplished. The argument isn't with immigrants or alien's, it's with ILLEGAL immigrants or alien's. Anyone that doesn't come across legally is illegal.

If your illegal, you don't have any rights, except the right to be deported to where you came from. You don't have a right to free medical care, you don't have a right for government financial help except for transportation to where you came from, and you certainly don't have a right to demand anything.

As for the statement that they do the jobs that Americans won't do, that is right as far as it go's. If the Americans got paid a decent wage, they would do the job. There is enough work in this country for everybody that wants a job to have one. It might not be in the area that that person is in, but that doesn't mean that they can't go to another area. It also might mean that a person has to take a job that they think is below them. That's bull.

I've shoveled horse crap, scrubbed toilets, washed and pressed clothes, yes and even worked in surgery. I've run pathology departments, developed histochemical procedures, and worked as a security guard. I even developed a procedure for Technicon to run a simultaneous SGOT and SGPT. One is a liver function and the other is a cardiac function test. You know something, I've only drawn one unemployment check, and I was ashamed to do that.

The "debate" isn't over immigration, it's over ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. Your right, if the illegals were sent back, the lines at Walmart would be so long you would have to wait an hour to buy anything. But, that would only last so long, and they would eventually hire to refill those positions. And I'll bet they would hire immigrant/alien workers that are citizen's or have entered legally. Migrant workers are not the problem. They come across legally and they usually work for the same producer. They usually send their money home and when the picking is done, they go home. If they want to become a citizen there is a proper procedure to follow.

You made mention of the fact that "minorities (Mexican-Americans especially) enlist at a greater proportion than the general (white) population and die in greater numbers, in this and every war in modern history." Angela, they were MEXICAN-AMERICANS. Not someone that sneaked across the border, be it from Mexico or Canada, or came in from one of the Asian countries illegally, or any other country for that matter. At least they thought enough of their adopted country to fight for it. They were either green carded or citizens. The same can be said for the Porto Ricans and any other race that fights in the military.

I served with Filipinos, Guamanians, Mexicans, Viet-Namise, and other nationalities. We all put our butts on the line, we all got shot at, as did your sister and as her husband is now. Some of our friends didn't make it. It pi__'s me off when some dink sneaks into this country and demands anything. They need to get the hell out and go back to where they came from.

Every country is made up of immigrants at one time or the other. It's the way that a country is formed. Even the Native Americans came across the land mass that came down from the Bering Strait. This may not be the best country in the world, but it's way ahead of whatever is in second place. We've got our problems, sure. And we'll take care of those problems, one way or the other.

Don't worry about getting anymore e-mail from me. I'll take your name out of my address book. Your a smart lady. I hope things work out for you and you are happy.

DAve

i just have to note how entertained i am by the quotations around my abuelito's name--as though (to borrow from sex and the city) allegedly that's his name. and of course the grammatical errors.

i am officially disowned by a member of my family (use of family here is subjective) for being too liberal!

the last thing i will say here is that i have gotten, on average, at least one right-wings-r-us email from this man per two days for at least the last two years. i believe, as happens in chemistry, i reached my saturation point, became "super-saturated" and fell out of solution. (if you've never seen this happen in the lab, i encourage you to try it out. it's glorious!) i know i'm not the only one who has had it "up to here" with "have it both ways" conservatives. i think the response speaks for itself in terms of vindicating my frustration and proving my point.

i wonder if i can use this on my resume as proof that i've "suffered for the cause"?

suffered is also used subjectively, as i'm still laughing.