Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Insomniac meanderings

Yesterday practically everyone at ELS Laramie showed up wearing green for St. Patty's Day, even Saudi students, who clearly aren't Irish. I wore orange and felt appropriately protestant, though I don't think there is any Irish in my lineage; I don't know for sure. I am fairly confident, though, that there is not a bit of Catholic anywhere to be found. Dad wouldn't allow me to date a Catholic boy in high school and called the Pope the Anti-Christ. I think he's softened his position in recent years, but he is semi-retired and has more pressing issues to consider personally, like the fact he's facing a daunting dearth of financial resources as he ages.

I do know that, despite the fact Future First Man Orlando makes a regular point of referring to my distinctly-Aryan-therefore-Nazi-appearing features, I am of American Indian descent. (I have decided not to fire the First Man. Being President will have its stresses; why would I choose to lose my favorite person to play, smooch and go get waffles with?) With a nod to Republicans, since I so frequently talk about Obama and Hillary in my posts, and have placed links to Progressive sites on my blog, I would like to point out that I said "American Indian," not "Native American," and that former US Senator Al Simpson, R-Wyoming, provided what has served as a mantra for me at times: "Political correctness is like putting ductape over your mouth." (That could be paraphrase and not a direct quote, but you get the idea.)

(I would provide a picture of a distinctly-not-me-looking Penobscot Indian, but they don't seem to be readily available online for copying and pasting. You're all smart enough to go look for yourself, if you're really that interested.)

For the record, Hillary wore green in yesterday's St. Patty's Day parade in Pittsburgh. According to Reuters, Obama claimed in Scranton that he "sort of lost track" that yesterday was the actual holiday, but showed up at a dinner later on in a mint green tie. McCain invited people to join the McCain 2008 Basketball brackets and become eligible to "win" campaign gear ("with the 'luck o' the Irish' on your side.")

1 comment:

Tom said...

Actually, it is my understanding that "American Indian" is now the preferred nomenclature, rather than "Native American". So, whether you like it or not, you were being PC.