Thanks, and Farewell Coach Walsh (November 30, 1931 – July 30, 2007)

I watched “the Catch“, live, and still remember me and my best friend in the world hugging each other and jumping up and down in unison. You can ask ANY 49er fan what the happiest years were for the organization, and they will all point to the Walsh years. I think it was more than winning, more than the precision and beauty of the West Coast Offense, and even more than the caliber of player that Coach Walsh brought to the Bay Area. I think he had to be one of the classiest guys in the league. I think that even fans of other teams liked him. My brother, a long-time Ram fan, and who thought Joe Montana was over-rated, had respect and admiration for Bill Walsh. I was proud of the Niners during those years, and I was proud to be a fan. Thanks Coach Walsh.

Asked and Answered

Recently, our sorry excuse for a newspaper put out a call for opinions on this question: Is the IMMIGRATION DEBATE TOO HATE-FILLED? Illegal immigration is an issue that has made a lot of Middle Tennesseans angry. Do you think the tone of the debate becomes so harsh at times that it qualifies as hate speech? Send your thoughts to Tennessean op-ed page and issues editor Terry Quillen at tquillen@tennessean.com.

I actually know a couple of people penning responses even as I write this.  I opted out, because it was obvious to me that the Tennessean has no real concern whether or not the “tone is too harsh”, but is indeed happy to pose the question and wait for the inevitable avalanche of responses from both sides.  Was it intended irony for them to list this “article” on their blog watch?  How do they decide what blogs to feature?  Does anyone know this?  I read alot of Tennessee blogs.  I think I know who the most prolific bloggers are, on both sides of almost any issue. (Thanks, in part, to Nashville is Talking and now Music City Bloggers)  But I have never heard of ANY of these bloggers the Tennessean regularly features.  At first, I thought, well, perhaps the editors combed through local blogs, found some obscure but well informed writers to link to on their “blog watch”, but after reading Kevin Fisher, I’m convinced this isn’t the case.  First, it is so poorly written I find myself embarrassed for whatever University gave this guy a diploma, and, beyond that, it is chock-full of sweeping generalizations and jingoistic nonsense.  For instance, he states:

” There is nothing(repeat NOTHING!)racist about law abiding, tax paying, flag waving Americans wishing to protect, secure and safeguard our culture, heritage and our very way of life.”

I’m always curious, what particular parts of the culture, heritage, and way of life do  the undocumented people threaten?   My parents, for instance, undocumented when they arrived here, worked, paid taxes, raised a family, donated to charity, and even hung an American flag on our front porch on the appropriate days.  What part of the “culture” were they not participating in?  Also, when Mr. Fisher speaks of heritage, what practices is he speaking of?  He then tries to justify his stance by taking a stab at acknowledging that the 9/11 hijackers were not Hispanic, and neither was the “Korean shooter at Virgina Tech.”  But this line gives him away:

“So, it’s unfair to disregard argument s made against illegal immigration as racist against any one particular group when we see that crimes are being perpetrated by illegals (emphasis mine)of every race.”

Um,  Cho was a legal permanent resident.

Then, he says:

“Because ,my friends, our system of social benefits isn’t set up to handle the need s of  some of our natural born citizens. We have people born here in America who go to bed hungry every night. We have children born here who don’t get necessary medical care, immunizations, well care checkups. We have elderly citizens having to choose between meals and medicine. We simply don’t have the resources to take care of everybody in the world.”

I had to laugh at this, if for no other reason that Mr. Fisher is a self described “Conservative activist.” Good Lord, I see us Libs have made progress getting Conservatives to acknowledge those things!  Yea!  But see how clever this argument is? The “illegals” are to blame for these social maladies, not myopic social policy!  Theres more:

“Our Judeo Christian ethic teaches us to be compassionate about one another. ” and, “But, we as a nation, cannot afford to continue our efforts in this manner until we first “Set our house in order” (2 Kings 20:1)

Anyone want to take a swing at that? I just want to ask, whose Judeo Christian ethic?  I ask because he then goes on to state this:

“America is strong because of our diversity, not in spite of it.“  Indeed.

Lastly, to the Editors of the Tennessean, here’s all you need to read to answer your question, I found it in his last paragraph:

“Unless we are willing to take necessary steps, like leeches attaching to a new blood supply, illegals will continue to overrun our borders, draining valuable resources earmarked for your children and mine, paid for with our tax money. “

Too harsh?  Nah….