May Day Roundup

The "Day Without Immigrants" marches went on today, although it seems most of the impact fell on Hispanic-owned businesses and companies who give immigrants (illegal or otherwise) jobs. I saw no marked results here, except if you had a craving for Mexican food at lunch, you were out of luck.

Elsewhere, people marched in the street, chanted slogans and in general had a grand ol' time:

More than 1 million mostly Hispanic immigrants and their supporters skipped work and took to the streets Monday, flexing their economic muscle in a nationwide boycott that succeeded in slowing or shutting many farms, factories, markets and restaurants.

From Los Angeles to Chicago, Houston to Miami, the "Day Without Immigrants" attracted widespread participation despite divisions among activists over whether a boycott would send the right message to Washington lawmakers considering sweeping immigration reform.

Just a random wonder ... what would happen if the more than 10 million gay people in the United States -- all of whom are citizens, as I am taking a conservative estimate of 5 percent of the total 209 million people in the last U.S. Census -- stayed home in protest of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue"?

And another random wonder ... how many of those people marching today -- if they had a vote -- would cast a ballot in favor of gay marriage or civil unions, standard rights they would inherit the day they gain citizenship while we remain second-class citizens?

What do you think: yes or no?

---

Why is it that most of the marchers are Hispanic? I would assume it's because the overwhelming majority of legal immigrants and illegal aliens are from Mexico and other places south of the border.

On Anderson Cooper's blog, here's an amusing tale of why New York's Chinatown, "where nearly everyone is either an immigrant or a child or grandchild of an immigrant," seemed disinterested in the march:

As his employees stir giant vats of dough, Richard Eng, manager of the Canton Noodle Corporation, tells me that he and his employees are too busy to step out and join the human chain planned down the block just after noon today.

"We have too many noodle orders," he says. This company on Mott Street in New York City supplies lo mein and wontons to local restaurants -- all of which are open today.

Maybe I should have tried Chinese today. Instead, I had a club sandwich from the local deli.

---

I felt sorry for my friend Eric today. He came to the United States from Mexico legally as a small boy. He later became a citizen, graduated from culinary school and now works two jobs. He was very upset today -- in tears at times -- as he watched news coverage of the marches.

"They are ruining it for all of us who come here to be Americans," he said. "Look at those flags. Mexican, Guatemalan, El Salvador ... why do they wave those flags? People like you who are Irish or who are German, they do not wave those flags on the Fourth of July. This is very, very sad. Now everyone will think I am illegal because of my skin and my accent. I was born Mexican but now I am American."

He, too, fears a backlash against the people who come to this country and live and work legally, while people march for phantom "rights" to enter the United States illegally and be rewarded for it with amnesty.

---

Meanwhile, the libertarian types over at Catallarchy are remembering Communism's victims this May Day. And they aren't forgetting that gays were and are frequent targets as dictated by Marxist philosophy -- discrimination supported by Communist Manifesto co-author Friedrich Engels:

Many communist and socialists activists in free countries today decry the treatment of homosexuals under Stalin, Castro, Mao, and other Marx-inspired dictators as inconsistent with the ideals of Marxism. However, a consistent pattern has emerged in countries that aspired to the ideals of Marx. Those governments claiming to elevate the workers and proleteriats of the world also subjugated those who did not fit their idea of an ideal citizen. Prejudices already prevalent in the cultures became intensified and led to the oppression and fear of those who were different. Rather than being self-contained incidents, this sort of oppression of sexual minorities and other dissidents has been and still is a hallmark of governments that claim inspiration and affiliation with the ideology of Marxism.

You should read it all and understand why in this country we discuss building a wall to keep people out, while the Marxists build walls and raise barbed wire to keep their people in.