Monday, May 3, 2010

Funny thing happened

to my wife this morning. In the comments section of this story on the Vicad site, she posted to ask the immigration status of the principals in the shooting. The victim has a Nahuatl-sounding name, Caltzontzin, and the little gem pictured in the story, the one accused of doing the shooting, has facial tats like those you see on Mara Salvatrucha gangsters. So, her question, respectfully put, seemed worth asking. She was zapped from the site with a note that she had violated terms.
In this time when the racialist pressure groups are working themselves into a purple frenzy about the new Arizona law and the big papers are damning proponents of the law as evil racists, it seems a reasonable question to ask and bears directly on current events, maybe even illustrating some reasons for a wish for stricter border enforcement. Too bad the Vicad management didn't think so. Maybe the two were born right here in DeTar and went to school at Memorial, right? Truth is, most newspapers will twist themselves into pretzels to avoid telling us details that show immigrants, papered or unpapered, as anything but hard-working saints, just toiling away in their vibrant neighborhoods but ever fearful of the wicked and oppressive immigration enforcers. The story has a new little tag in a short graf telling us that more info will be coming later. The comments section seems to be closed. They really, really, truly want to foster an open discussion of current questions, but don't ever say anything they don't like in this open discussion.

4 comments:

Sugar Magnolia said...

I wish I could say that really WAS funny, Mr. Loon, but it is rather sad, actually. I think most of us have felt the "ZAP" by the powers that be at the VicAd, especially lately. Most times, I can find no offense meant or even attempted. Except for those with, as my mother used to say, "feelings on the ends of their noses". So much for intelligent discourse, right?

It seems to me the subject of illegals is particularly touchy for the VicAd. I can't for the life of me understand exactly why. I do wish I were privy to their reasoning process.....

Truth Ferret said...

Sugar, you don't want to be privy to the Advocate's reasoning process, as I am afraid that the vaccuum that is there would suck all your intelligence; much like a black hole. The Victoria Advocate is a black hole for logical, reason, and editorial perfection. Stay away from trying that wish, kind of like looking into a solar eclipse.

Loon, when I saw the picture of the scumbag who did the shooting, my first thought was "what gang?"
Your wife asking the question about the legality of residence shouldn't be basis for zapping. But we all know how the zap button is pushed sometimes for no apparent reason at all. More reason for this site, so we can post the truth without fear of being shutdown.

Edith Ann said...

"Truth is, most newspapers will twist themselves into pretzels to avoid telling us details that show immigrants, papered or unpapered, as anything but hard-working saints, just toiling away in their vibrant neighborhoods but ever fearful of the wicked and oppressive immigration enforcers."

Fatal Funnel, anyone? I think we saw more than one story on those hard working immigrants. I think I wrote a blog about it.

Some seem to be a bit touchy, perhaps?

Pilot said...

'Tis a Futile Funnel scenario I fear. As I told your gal earlier today, when I was querying her as to what she said that got her zapped, I'd have thought I'd see rivers running backwards, and dogs cohabitating openly with cats, before she would ever incur the wrath of the word Nazis as it were. In finding out that she casually and quite innocently inquired as to the nationalities of the shooter and shootee, I got a shiver, recalling the ire that I once felt toward that bunch over my own deleted and banned self. I was quite a bit more vocal, even taunting at times though, and I basically dared them and goaded them into axing me. (Don't say axing me what?)
I think that they still have their star hitched to all things Hispanic, counting on getting a lot more mileage out of future stories using that slant, and to some extent, her innocuous remark just rubbed someone with an itchy trigger finger the wrong way. It didn't help that in addition, quite a number of other comments by some of the usual suspect redneck peckerheads, were pretty tacky("make tamales out of him", etc.)as well. I have given up trying to figure those folks out over there. I have tried to temper my words in such a way as to not cause a ruckus, but never in a million years would I have guessed that she would ever have her comments nuked.....maybe it is just hanging around the likes of you and me that got her gonged.