You Make It Too Easy, Angela

Today, German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that German multiculturalism "utterly failed". Now, there are waaaayyyyyyy too obvious jokes we can make here ("Are we talking 1940 or 2010?" "Have you come up with a Final Solution yet, Angela?") that I'll refrain from making (oh, wait a second ...). I can deliver a whole bunch of rants about how Europeans love immigrants to lighten their load but not darken their doorsteps or, worse yet, their bloodstreams. I can go on and on about how fucked up race-baiting for votes is. I can even get smug and scoff about how this is just your colonialist past coming to bite you in the ass (though that wouldn't be too accurate in Germany's case--but when has being factually wrong stopped a blogger from ranting?).

Instead of all that, though, I simply want to ask a question to all these anti-immigrant white Europeans and European-Americans:

"New Americans"??? Try Again, O'Malley

Now look, I often say and/or write the wrong thing. I often even revel in my own irreverence. But, truth be told, I actually do believe in the mission of the "Politically Correct." I believe that language can indeed influence and betray thought. If someone constantly uses the word "fag" in "polite" conversation, we can pretty much surmise how they feel about homosexuals, and, if I constantly called white people "honky," you'd know I was a 60-year-old former Black radical who lives in Hawaii with his Norwegian wife, eating tofu barbecue while puffing on that patchouli.

So, I am actually supportive of the whole PC movement, though I do confess I'm a bit conflicted. Anytime the PC factory comes out with a new term, I often find myself scoffing. As I did earlier tonight listening to the Maryland gubernatorial debate between Gov. Martin O'Malley and his Republican challenger (and former Maryland governor) Bob Ehrlich.

Tonight's new gem came from O'Malley, who has now decided on calling immigrants (legal or otherwise) "New Americans." It's so hard for me to figure out what my initial reaction to this new bit of political manipulation was since I got pissed at Ehrlich's own reaction to the new slogan.

"If someone breaks into my house, is that a new member of my family that night? It's not new Americans. [It's] illegals."