Wasn’t planning a trip to sunny Arizona, but now that so many self-righteous city councils, members of Congress and associated busybodies are boycotting the Grand Canyon State over its immigration law, I may head west for some R&R after all.
I wouldn’t be the only one. A Vietnam vet from Washington state is so fed up with the amnesty crowd’s threats that he plans to vacation in Arizona instead of South Dakota this year.
“When I heard about this boycott stuff I said, ‘I don’t think so,'” Rich Meyers told The Arizona Republic. “I believe in states’ rights. So I’m going to spend my vacation supporting the people of Arizona.”
Good idea, Mr. Meyers, and thanks for your service to your country.
Happily, we might not need to worry that all the boycott flapdoodle from places like Los Angeles and Boston will amount to anything. Recall the similar melodrama when John Mackey, a co-founder of Whole Foods, criticized ObamaCare last August. The whine went out for a boycott of his chain – yet sales skyrocketed.
Mr. Mackey’s critics forgot the cardinal rule of successful boycotts: Make sure lots of people agree with your position before you get all bossy about where they should spend their dollars. With ObamaCare approximately as popular as balloons at a funeral, embargo advocates might actually have boosted Whole Foods’ fortunes.
Fast forward to today. The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll finds 64 percent of Americans support Arizona’s law while only a third oppose it. And lo! Out-of-touch hipsters are demanding a boycott of the state. For which the (legal) residents of Arizona may wind up thanking them before it’s all over.
Lawbreaking declared illegal
Reporting on Arizona’s immigration law, the brain trust at MSNBC posted this headline: “Law Makes it a Crime to be Illegal Immigrant.”
(As opposed to all that legal illegal immigration.)
Future MSNBC specials will include, “Berkeley professor declares Antarctica ‘chilly'” and “Calories linked to food.”
Hate-free
More proof our nation is losing its marbles: “NEW YORK (AP) – A man was convicted Thursday of manslaughter in the beating death of an Ecuadorean immigrant and of attempted assault for chasing the victim’s brother with a broken beer bottle, but the jury decided the encounter was not a hate crime.”
Let me repeat that last part: “(T)he jury decided the encounter was not a hate crime.”
Hooray!
I’m sure it comforts the survivor that no “hate” was involved in a crime that left his brother’s skull shattered by a baseball bat. Brutal, unjustified, deadly violence is one thing. But brutal, unjustified, deadly violence plus a bad attitude? Now that crosses the line, doggone it.
Segregation
In Ann Arbor, Mich., a public elementary school thought pupils might benefit from meeting a rocket scientist. So it took them to meet one at a university.
Well, sort of: Only black students were permitted to go. White students had to stay in class.
The scientist in question was black, and school administrators figured a visit with him would inspire the black children. It apparently didn’t occur to them that white children could be equally inspired by a black rocket scientist.
There’s a reason people say, “It’s not rocket science” when they want to explain that something is easy. A rocket scientist – black, white or emerald green – is almost by definition brilliant.
Which is more than can be said for the principal at the school. When the racially excluded students got upset, he evidently yelled at them.
He must have questioned the content of their character.
To reach Steve Barrett, call 423-757-6329 or e-mail sbarrett@timesfreepress.com.