Immigrant Song

You know what chaps me? Illegal immigrants, that's what. Not only do they sponge off of us taxpaying Americans, now they're winning gold medals that are rightfully ours. Sure, the kid was actually born here, but that's a loophole in the Constitution that right thinkers (and I do mean right) know should be closed. 

Seriously, here you have a kid so grateful for his opportunity in this country that he literally wraps himself in the flag despite. Henry Cejudo's mother works her fingers to the bone doing the kinds of jobs no one else will do to keep her family together. The family is so poor that Henry had never slept in a bed until he went to the Olympic Training Center. And yet the right would deport his mother in a second and denies her the small dignity of a driver's license. (Incidentally, wouldn't we all be safer if illegal immigrants could get licenses?)...

Joseph O'Connor, brother of Sinead and an outstanding novelist in his own right, remembers Ronnie Drew...

The Reuters-Zogby poll gives McCain a five-point lead over Obama. Before we sink into gloom and doom, let's remember that no other poll has McCain ahead. Also, this period is sort of like spring training: The regular season doesn't start until after the conventions. Any results either way have limited meaning. Author and Political Science professor Tom Holbrook explains why here...

In the R-Z poll, people give McCain the edge in handling the economy. I realize that people are looking for a reason to vote against Obama, but voting to extend the economic policies of the last eight years is a mighty slender reed...

Woo Hoo! Dept: Rachel Maddow gets her own show on MSNBC!...

I am sociologically curious to see how people respond to the Democratic convention. By any normal measure, I have no doubt that it will be well-staged and managed. However, the very sight of a young, charismatic African-American politician will scare some people. Hopefully, not enough to make a difference...

My niece in action: