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 I've
been home sick for the last couple of days -- stop the
applause-- and I've had time to do a lot of thinking. I
thought about Iran and I thought about Anna Nicole and her
poor baby, but most of all I thought about this growing
feeling I've had lately that our government is just not
being honest with us anymore. Everywhere I turn, at every
level, I feel like I'm being lied too -- that there's no one
I can trust. Am I the only one who feels like that?
It's not just one issue, it's almost all of them...but I
guess nothing illustrates it better than the border. Like
most of you, I've been absolutely outraged at what's been
happening -- or I guess, more appropriately not happening,
with the immigration debate; but I've also been confused
because, to me, this has just never made any sense. Why are
we selling out our own security? And, more importantly, who
are we selling it out to?
And then, just yesterday I had one of those Jerry Maguire
moments. I woke up in the dead of night and it hit me all at
once. The Real Story is that the answer has been right in
front of our eyes the entire time, but it took a statement
from the President yesterday about a completely unrelated
issue to bring it all together. He said, "...let's put it
this way, money trumps peace, sometimes. In other words,
commercial interests are very powerful interests throughout
the world."
Money trumps peace. You just can't explain it any more
clearly than that. Keep those words in mind as I tell you
two unbelievable immigration stories that both now make
perfect sense to me.
First, we have Bank of America. The ad wizards over there
have decided that illegal immigrants would make a great
niche market for a new credit card program. But gee, how do
you reach that market, I mean you can't exactly buy an
"undocumented worker" email list, right? Nope, and it turns
out you don't have to. All you have to do is use the one key
phrase in your advertising that appeals to that market the
most: "no social security number required." And that's
exactly what Bank of America is doing.
Of course, they claim they're just trying to help, "These
people are coming here for quality of life, and they deserve
somebody to give them a chance to achieve that..." Stop it,
you're breaking my heart. But guess who made that heartfelt
plea? It was Bank of America's "Director of Latin America
Card Operations." Now what do you suppose his interests
are...the "quality of life" for immigrants or squeezing
every last drop of money out of the Hispanic market?
Money trumps Peace.
And then there's the NFL. They actually refused to allow a
U.S. Border Patrol recruitment ad to be run in their Super
Bowl program this year because -- ready for this? -- "the
immigration debate is a very controversial issue." Oh,
absolutely, and I guess that ad is controversial as well
because it says that border agents help stop terrorists,
weapons, undocumented aliens and drug smugglers from coming
into this country! Oh the humanity!
The Border Patrol says the rejection is "more than a little
puzzling" but -- honestly, no it's not. The Real Story is
that, in 2005, Mexico City was the site of the first NFL
game ever to be played outside of the United States; the
Real Story is that 20 million Mexicans watched the Super
Bowl this year; the Real Story is that Mexico represents one
of the largest potential new markets for the NFL. And most
importantly, the Real Story is that the majority of Mexicans
-- the very people the NFL is trying to hook on their game
-- aren't exactly huge supporters of the Border Patrol's
recruitment efforts.
It all fits together; and it all makes sense as long as you
remember the words of the President. And guess what? If he's
right - if money does trump peace; then it will definitely
trump common sense every single time.
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