What Makes A Man Start Fires...?

While the rest of the world was on Pope death watch, and then dead watch, I've been more than a little interested in this whole new Minutement business. If I were a true culture warrior I'd point to this being a more significant sign of our decline than, say, Sin City(a review of which is forthcoming since I saw it on Friday). My general response runs like this: "A bunch of lazy bonehead white people who have nothing better to do than play cowboy (in a phony Old-West tourist trap, natch) as a show of nativism disguised as patriotism? ARE YOU EFFIN' KIDDING ME?" Sometimes nuance fails me, but not so with Incoherent Blather and Cooper; Cooper was actually there. The great news is that it turned out to be a bunch of desert-hot air. According to Cooper only about 150 showed up and didn't do much. It also turns out that, much like the Schiavo affair, there were as many media people as there were participants.

The scary thing, though, is the whole "protect our culture" message. American culture has always been an evolving entity. Our culture today is incredibly different from what it was when I was say, 13, and changes will only continue to occur. Like IC, I think there may be problems with illiegal immigration, but media stunts and lawn-chair activism - as well as overt racism from idiots like Malkin - are not apropriate responses. Of course, those kinds of responses have very little to do with addressing what might be the real problems. They're just a way for bigots to let off a little racist steam and get on TV. It'd be a laugh riot except that someone thought it was a good idea to take it seriously.

Update:Ok, so it's become a ragin' full-on laugh riot. Maybe the whole influx of illegals is just manifest destiny in action.