Free for all...

I'm going to write this blog post, and someday at some point in my life it's going to come back to haunt me. I know it will, and because I feel so strongly about it, I'm going to go ahead and say it anyway. One more note before I go on, this may affect my job search, it may affect my family, and it may affect my education goals, so when reading this take into consideration that I've put that out there and I know it's going to hurt.
I'm sitting here doing homework, and watching one of daytime TV's most popular shows (although I will never understand why) and I'm completely blown away by what I hear, as I am most days when watching The View. Now, I'm a fairly conservative person, however I do have some thoughts and ideas that sometimes make me feel liberal. I do feel though that above and beyond the politics I am fair. I tend to look at both sides of a situation and then I decide what I think is fair and morally right and I take that side. So, back to The View, they spend 2 minutes this morning talking about this child that told Michelle Obama that her parents don't have "papers", giving their opinions and of course having a laugh over something. I don't find this funny at all considering most of those women disagree with the law in Arizona saying it's OK to question those individuals that may be illegally in the US. They probably wouldn't find it so funny either if they were living in AZ and got questioned. I could probably move on and not really think about that portion of the show, as I do on most days when the show makes it to the screen of my TV. However, a few minutes later, they have a guest star George Lopez who take 10 to 15 minutes of his time on the show to make fun of Mexicans. He made comments about how Sarah Palin is like a Mexican because her and her daughter have a child the same age and her husband doesn't work. Now, that is a stereotype, I recognize that, and I can also recognize that to most people it's funny (things like this are often funny when they are partially true), and even I could laugh at it if I wasn't so annoyed about it. Sitting on the stage at that time were three black people, one Mexican and two white people. So, the majority of people are "minority", is that why it's OK to make those jokes? Are there rules on when it's OK to make jokes about the stereotypes of Mexicans or blacks or any minority for that matter? Does the population of the room have to favor the minority for it to be acceptable? How would that joke go over if a white person were to have said it, and if the answer to that is that it's not acceptable to have a white person make stereotypical jokes about minorities then why is it OK for them to make the jokes about whites and about themselves? Long question, not one logical response I can think of. No response to that could possibly make it OK. If minorities do not want discrimination, don't want laws out there to check to make sure they should be here, don't want anyone to make stereotypical jokes then I have logical answers. Don't make fun of yourself if you don't want others to do it too, and follow the rules. If I have to follow the law then so does everyone who is here. Now, outside of that show, I want to quickly state my opinion on this issue so that it is clear. I believe this is a great country, and I can see the appeal of being here, hell, I don't want to leave. I believe that if someone wants to come here and has the intention of doing well for themselves and supporting this country as well as their own they should be allowed. I believe opportunity is available for anyone and everyone and if it's necessary to be in the US to do it, then I'd welcome with open arms. My bottom line is do it legally. Do the work that is required, make an effort and have the understanding that rules are meant to be followed not broken. Reaping the benefits of this country without paying the dues is not OK....if I have to do it so does everyone else. It's the way it is. So, if you aren't here legally, and someone knows it, yes, they should turn you in and you should try again the right way and again, open arms. If the federal government would have taken appropriate action that yielded results then we wouldn't have the AZ law that we do. Way to go AZ, way to take the bull by the horns and get things done right.
(is it terribly sad that I'm terrified at how this could affect my life...free country and all...)

6/22/10 UPDATE
How can I write a post like the one above, and then not make a quick comment about the latest shananagans the White House is pulling by attempting to actually sue the state of AZ for creating a law felt to be unconstitutional. Three things about this that really light my fire...1.Please, do not spend MORE money that this country does not have suing a state within your own union that is doing something that we fought a war for them to be able to do. 2. Um, yeah, it is constitutional, that's actually exactly what it is, my 5th grader could tell you that, and 3. If the federal government would have done something about the issue prior to AZ taking it into their own hands we really wouldn't be having this conversation would we. Is this going to change anything? Will the federal government step in and take over this plan of action after it sues, or will it go back to being the way it was. Where there were no rules, no action taken, and a free for all in AZ? Just sayin.