American-ness

Lately, it’s been suggested that I might not be American enough. The reason? Partly because I am fan of ABC’s daytime television shows—namely soap operas. When I heard the network was planning to cancel two shows I was quite disheartened. I immediately joined the Facebook rally to boycott show advertisers until they threw their support behind keeping the shows on the air. (Thanks Hoover!)

When someone close to me asked why am I spending my free time Facebooking to save soap operas and not say, “other more important problems facing this country” I explained it this way: for 52 minutes a day it’s all about me. I’m not a wife, a friend, a colleague, aunt or anything else to anyone. It’s my time to immerse myself into a world where the drama flows freely and no one ever wears the same clothes twice. In short, it’s not the world in which I live. And I’m OK with that.

So I guess the question I should be asking this person in my life, is what defines an ‘American’ or their 'American-ness?' Is it the causes they support? And what are those important causes? And how do we measure –by what scale—do we rank the importance in how much attention we pay to them? Where does saving the whales, for example, rank on this scale of important causes? What about the national debt? Illegal immigration? Read my November 2010 blog post "NJ Slayings Underscore Need for Immigration Reform." How about mentioning the highest levels of unemployment rates this country hasn’t seen since the great depression? Trust me. Unemployment is high on my list of pet causes since I was once one of those people out of work.

Having listed just a few things I’m currently passionate about, I’m proud to be a soap opera-watching-anti-illegal immigration-save-the-whales-and-reduce-high-unemployment-rates-among-other-issues-AMERICAN!

NJ Slayings Underscore Need for Immigration Reform

The decision by a New Jersey Superior Court judge has once again pointed a spotlight on our need to greater control our borders against illegal immigrants. On Thursday, November 4, 2010, Melvin Jovel, 21, an illegal immigrant from Honduras, was sentenced to life in prison for the slayings of three New Jersey teenagers and the attempted murder of a fourth. Jovel received three consecutive life sentences in prison.
Jovel, and five other men, according to prosecutors, lined up the victims against a wall in Newark, NJ and shot each in the back of the head. All of the victims attended or planned to attend Delaware State University.
Jovel, according to newspaper reports, expressed no remorse as he addressed the court in Spanish. The lone surviving victim, angry at first, then calm, told Jovel he inspired her to inspire others to be closer to God.
What angers me most about this story is that Jovel has been allowed to live in this country illegally for most of his life. He has mooched off of the NJ school system and all of the resources at the teachers disposal --even more so since he didn't speak English--to prepare him to someday become a productive member of society. Then as if he hasn't taken enough from the state, Jovel, with the help of his friends, arbitrarily decided to take the life of three of New Jersey's brightest stars. Now the mooching continues as he gets to sit in prison for the rest of his life receiving three hot meals a day and a warm bed at night.
My final complaint is this: when will we decide to stop allowing illegal immigrants to cross our borders and snub their noses at our culture (he doesn't speak English) and our sense of right and wrong?