Rage. And a good deal of sadness, too.

My family and I rarely communicate. (By "my family" I'm referring to my father, my stepmom, and stepsister) Despite living in the same city - only 20 minutes drive, and despite us having the internet, we really only get together for birthdays, and holidays. The reasons for this are numerous and complicated and I won't bore you all with the history of how it came to be this way. Suffice to say that despite the way things are, I sometimes feel bad that I've not gotten to know my father better.
Obviously, I don't feel bad enough to change, but that's a whole 'nother post.

Anywhat, the extent of online communication I get from my family is forwarded emails. Maybe one out of every 30 are even worth opening, yet I do, each and every one, just because. Also of note, is that 99.999% of these come from either my stepsister, or my stepmom. I think in the time that we've had the computer, I've gotten maybe 3 emails from my dad. And none of those were forwards.

Until today.

[sigh] It was one that I've gotten before - in fact, I remember when I got it originally (from my sister) I made a righteously angry post about it on the WD. The Fwd is the one that starts off about how "Immigrants, not Americans, must adapt."
It blah, blah, blahs about how immigrants are watering down the "American culture", and...well, I'll go ahead and post the whole thing again:
It was titled "This says it all!"
After hearing that the state of Florida changed its opinion and let a Muslim woman have her picture on her driver's license with her face covered this is an editorial written by an American citizen, published in a Tampa newspaper. He did quite a job; didn't he? Read on, please!

>IMMIGRANTS, NOT AMERICANS, MUST ADAPT. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Americans. However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the "politically correct" crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others.

I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to America. Our population is almost entirely made up of descendants of immigrants. However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand. This idea of America being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.

We speak ENGLISH, not Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!

"In God We Trust" is our national motto. This is not some Christian, right wing, political slogan. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.

If Stars and Stripes offend you, or you don't like Uncle Sam, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. This is OUR COUNTRY, our land, and our lifestyle. Our First Amendment gives every! citizen the right to express his opinion and we will allow you every opportunity to do so. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our pledge, our national motto, or our way of life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great American freedom, THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.

If you agree -- pass this along; if you don't agree -- delete it!

>AMEN
I figure if we all keep passing this to our friends (and enemies) it will also, sooner or later get back to the complainers, lets all try, please

[rolleyes]

Normally, I would have simply said, "DELETED!!" and moved on. But it was from my dad.
Which upset me enough that I had to blog about it. So I had to copy the whole thing...but then I noticed that my father had added a postscript at the end:

And, may I add, the inscription that accompanies Miss Liberty in NY harbor says "Give me your tired...." No where does she offer to pay immigrants to come. In short, if they come here looking to work and earn a better life then here's my hand in welcome, but if they come for a handout then keep on walking, riding, swimming, or flying!

Obviously, he's not been reading my blog of late.

I feel so... I don't know. He's my dad, but ...gah. Stupid forwards.