The Fiefdom

It seems, judging from this post by my friend Crystal Cotti, that the FOX 7 posse got mucho heat regarding my somewhat admittedly crude (but hilarious!) branding of the city of Mustang Ridge as a "redneck fiefdom" on their morning show. (Although I am curious myself as to the feedback – namely, whether it's the amount or the voracity of the complaints received that's troublesome; a stream of callers, or just a few real angry cranks?)

As one of the local talking heads pointed out, Mustang Ridge does indeed have a sizable Latino population, making Dipshit Pro Tem Charles Laws' statement and position all the more egregious. No, obviously, it's not all good-ol'-boys and Deliverance extras in Mustang Ridge. My apologies if that's how it came across.

Thing is, that's not what I implied. My point was that Charles Laws, along with a fellow family member, incorporated the city himself in 1985, has served as the Mayor Pro Tem ever since, and controls the tap through his water company out there. If anything, his subsequent digging-in, "Ahh-ain't-goin'-nowhere-ewe-city-slickers-can't-git-ridda-me" posturing has only gone to further my contention that yes, he has fashioned his own "fiefdom" in Mustang Ridge – redneck or no.

Now I respect Crystal and her dedication to local news. But the contention that "redneck" and "wetback" occupy an equal playing field is flat-out ridiculous. No one is going around, calling the former "illegal" and threatening them with "holding pens;" the disgusting vitriol and racism on display in the comments section here, for instance, speaks to the blinding hate of the "other" racially-polarizing immigration debates engender – and sorry folks, it's all coming from one (pale) side. It's a ridiculously self-serving false equivalence to tie one word synonymous with decades of ingrained prejudice and white privilege with a pejorative that's often used by its intended targets as a badge of honor – and shows you how sensitive us white folks really are.

(And yes, as one commenter accurately pointed out before descending into self-congratulatory finger pointing, shouldn't we be more concerned that we're building another detention center in the first place?)

The unfortunate thing is, such nuance is constitutionally incapable of coming across in the television format, where it's three minutes and you're done. And even if it were, I'm not sure FOX or anyone else would feel comfortable discussing anything that might result in "several negative calls" to the studio. Oh well. I'm surprised it took this long for my big mouth to get me in trouble.