You have forefathers who go to the edge of their country and put up a stone billboard that says "Give me your tired, your poor . . . huddled masses . . . wretched refuse . . . tempest-tossed . . . homeless . . .", and you're not exactly going to wind up with the membership of the Piping Rock Country Club. Those were blatant insults, and upon seeing them anybody with an ounce of dignity would have palled, come about, flushed their holding tanks, and head- ed back to from whence they came. Most self-respecting people did. So what we wound up with were the very Huddled Masses, the most Wretched Refuse, the totally Tempest-tossed, and the homeless Homeless, all of whom were illiterate and did not understand one word of our snotty sign. For all they knew, it could have read, "If you are close enough to read this, your ship has run aground. Ha ha— the Founding Fathers." And probably should have.
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But did they remain to notice that a Homeless totally lacks the herding instincts of the Huddled Masses, and that when the Huddled Masses move off in unison the Homeless will remain behind and, upon seeing this, the Huddled Masses will return and all kick the Homeless for secretly infiltrating their group? No. That part we don't hear. All that is heard are whines from unrealistic liberals who adhere to some egalitarian concept of unity, probably based on their one encounter with a Wretched Refuse, who they more likely than not mistook for a waste basket.
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Editorials should give solutions. And those are not easy. Aside from taking down the sign or at least planting a lot of tall bushes in front of it, we can only be tolerant and soft-spoken. Even in times when those Huddled Masses happen to be huddling in front of that movie you can't get into.
Perhaps one day some other country will put up a bigger and more offensive sign.
Let's hope so.
Other featured "articles" from that issue
Ivory Magazine, All in de Fambly, Our Greatest Jewish Presidents, Tales of Uncle Ho, and Canadian Border Towns-the Shame of the North
