Out-of-step w/America?

I was at my local natural foods seafood market today, and asked a silly question: Hey, where’s your shrimp?

As soon as I said it, I felt as if I should have a sign on my forehead that read: I’m sorry, I don’t get the connection between “fresh” and “seafood” and “Gulf of Mexico.”

Or didn’t you hear about the ginormous oil spill that’s gushing 227,000 gallons a day STILL ongoing in the Gulf, courtesy of our friends at BP?

Were I more adept at the mechanics of blogging, I’d embed a video here (my pal, Jackson, has tried to learn me), but you’ve no doubt seen the images. For our purposes, just imagine BIG. OIL. SPILL. HERE. DEAD AQUATIC LIFE HERE. For as far and wide as the eye can see.

Are you having an “OMG” moment yet?

If you are, you might be surprised to learn, as I was, that you’re “out-of-step” with 60 percent of the American public who, when polled AFTER THE BP FIASCO, said they are STILL in favor of off-shore oil drilling and do not believe the environmental dangers outweigh the economic benefits.

I’ll give you a moment.

The same MSNBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that nearly two-thirds of Americans back Arizona’s controversial anti-illegal immigration law. So, “us” against “them” is alive and well in the union, it would seem, and this time, it’s brown people who pay the price of indignity, alienation, and discrimination. (They’re not pulling over Swedes, you know.)

Oh, sure, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer says that racial profiling will not be the order of the day, and that only “probable cause of a crime” will get you asked to show your papers, but you watch traffic stops of brown people spike after the law goes into effect July 1.

Dawinder Sidhu
in a piece for Salon.com spoke astutely about why all minorities should take issue with this law. It’s worth a read — even for white folk.

Finally, why should this law bother me? I leave you with this most famous of poems.

“First They Came for the Jews”
By Pastor Niemoller

“First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

Until next time.
Keep the faith.
— Amy Yannello