Shlemiel, shlimazle, shoot me now

Good question, cory [see link 2, 2:48 pm] - but just as compelling: what on earth is the shade of Cap'n Crunch doing looking on from top right with such avuncular solicitude? Not since Foghorn Leghorn dumped his hen the better to take Judy Jetson as arm candy -

http://www.unclemelon.com/judyandfog.gif

- a woman less than half his age, a century or more in the future, and several trunk lines up the evolutionary tree, has 'toonic time-travel proved so unsettling.

Larry Parker
However, I am not nearly as troubled by said changes as Rod and the rest of you are. (Illegal immigration being another touchstone of this debate, of course -- actually, a proxy for this debate, IMHO.)

I happen to think the eventual changes, at least in the U.S., will be neutral to positive. I won't deign to speak to Europe; there the birth rate is so low and immigration from hostile sources is so high, yes, there will inevitably be more social friction. There already is, after all.

This is where I am, too. So this country might look more Hispanic in four generations. So my grandkids might look around and marry someone who's browner than them or I. Who cares? When did this become a contest?

We've demonstrated over and over that we can integrate people into our ideals and values. And, incidentally, by 'browner' I mean 'Hispanic', not 'Arabic'. Anyone who thinks Arabs and Muslims will outnumber us is delusional. It's entirely possible there are more self-described pagans than Muslims in this country, and most of them are African-Americans, who culturally are Americans.

There are problems because, right now, we've set up deliberate systems to separate Mexican and Latin American immigrants from us, but once we actually fix this stupid system where we allow businesses to use a workforce with no rights, those systems and problems will vanish.

And, yes, on the right talk about 'illegals' is code for some sort of racism, because yammering about it makes no damn sense otherwise. It's the right that's keeping them in legal limbo by constantly proposing insane solutions. With our resources, we couldn't forcibly relocate 4% of the population two miles down the road, much less into an entire other country.