The N-400 and Me

Mercurial Times ^ | October 22, 2001 | AnnaZ

[Mercuria]

When I was young, though born north of the 49th parallel, I loved America. I loved Jesus, too. And then I was given an education.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Canada. After all it was so... uh, clean. Pristine, actually. But it didn't have the zip, the panache of the land down below. Let's face it, even in Nature the bald eagles soar high above the maple leaves.

And we didn't have that patriotic passion, that much-heralded "Liberty", we had no Texas to threaten not to mess with. But we did have ABC and we did have Schoolhouse Rock every afternoon, and we sang along with that bill on Capitol Hill, even though that law someday wouldn't be our law anyway and that Constitution wasn't our Constitution. Spectators. That's how I saw us.

And you could come from anywhere in the world and still be an American. But, since being Canadian was not as stringently defined, most immigrants came in bringing their own countries along with them. Canada's biggest claim to fame may ultimately be the exaltation of the hyphenated citizen.

But then I got the real lowdown when I began my higher learning. (It's amazing how much it costs to hear someone say "Down with capitalism!") Entering the Arts was asking for trouble I suppose, and yes, Daddy, you were right, but those syllabi don't come with disclaimers -- Marx was cool, guns are bad and God is dead. Disagree and you'll get a B. Assimilate and you, too, can scorn beauty, hate your father and protect abortion rights for the next generation. The irony was lost on them.

For two years they had me. But the third was a charm. I eventually left Canada, toured Western civilization, and finally settled in Southern California, the ultimate revenge, I thought, against the commies of the Great White North. Until I realized that they were having the last laugh, surrounded as I was by their Left Coast brethren.

I had always wanted Canada to try to become more like the States. And instead I have watched America become more like Canada, which boggles the mind. Were legislators here somehow inspired by the pathetic exchange rate, the unemployment weight, the language wars? It it ain't broke why fix it, unless you're blind to the forest, and want the world to hug your personal tree. It seemed as though the socialized sneer for individual Liberty had somehow become more infectious than the Providential smile of freedom.

But what was the root of this disdain, this arrogance? In one of those strings of things one shouldn't do that are listed by a Prophet or an Apostle in the Scriptures, jealousy is almost always included, and I had never thought about it before. Adultery? Yep, that's a bad one. Lying? An easy guess for addition to the no-no list. Stealing? Understood. But jealousy, and envy, not being obvious sins, at least to me, and not feeling convicted when reading those words, well, I usually overlooked their reference.

But I have seen it many times in my life, even if I've only just begun to examine it. There are many possible reactions, I note, when one is faced with that which is, comparatively, superior, whichever way that superiority is manifested and acknowledged. Sometimes the reaction is admiration, and it can lead to emulation. Other times admiration engenders a cozying up to, a basking in the light of, a hope for osmotic transference and greatness by association. Most times a recognition of one's relative inadequacy is forgotten as quickly as it was recognized. And life in the comfort zone goes on.

Then there are times when the effect is competition, is study, not for one's enlightenment or advancement -- this isn't football, but for a search for the chinks and weaknesses, holes in the cheese, the actual unseen inferiority, in comparison to a false self-promotion. This tactic may employ lies if necessary, and it usually is, and jealousy, when full-blown, seeks not only to deride and distort, but to destroy, to snuff out the light illuminating the basis for the rivalry. It's easy to look good when the competition is annihilated, eliminated, erased. Ultimately, at its extreme, jealousy is evil.

A few months ago I downloaded the N-400 Application for Naturalization from the INS website, courtesy of the DOJ. Political events and shifts had provoked a desire to officially recognize my relationship to this Republic. But I didn't send it in. Perhaps I needed a guarantee that the change would last longer than a term. After all, if you're going to be a citizen of a socialist nation you might as well keep the passport of the one that garners the least animosity.

But as war and rumors of war escalate again today I printed up that application anew. If it is -- yet again -- the end of the world as we know it, I don't want to return to spectator status. Denouement, at least for me, in the face of evil revealed, is the realization that I will fight or die for that which I esteem over all else, including myself. And if some see that as buddying up to the Great Satan, so be it. I disagree. Besides, I defend the right to choose Satan, if one so wishes. I mean, hey! after all, even God lets us do that.

Mercurial Times exclusive commentary. Reprints must credit the author and Mercurial Times...that's not so much to ask, is it?

[lowbridge]

Ahem...she has THREE MEN in her life, you know...

...don't be so greedy!

Okay, 5 days then?

[Jeff F]

Schoolhouse Rock - Grammar Rock

Conjunction Junction

(67K)

Music & Lyrics: Bob Dorough
Sung by: Jack Sheldon
Animation: Phil Kimmelman and Associates

}} Conjunction Junction, what's your function?
Hooking up words and phrases and clauses.
}} Conjunction Junction, how's that function?
I got three favorite cars
That get most of my job done.
}} Conjunction Junction, what's their function?
I got "and", "but", and "or",
They'll get you pretty far.

"And":
That's an additive, like "this and that".
"But":
That's sort of the opposite,
"Not this *but* that".
And then there's "or":
O-R, when you have a choice like
"This or that".
"And", "but", and "or",
Get you pretty far.

}} Conjunction Junction, what's your function?
Hooking up two boxcars and making 'em run right.
Milk and honey, bread and butter, peas and rice.
}} Hey that's nice!
Dirty but happy, digging and scratching,
Losing your shoe and a button or two.
He's poor but honest, sad but true,
Boo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

}} Conjunction Junction, what's your function?
Hooking up two cars to one
When you say something like this choice:
"Either now or later"
Or no choice:
"Neither now nor ever"
}} Hey that's clever!
Eat this or that, grow thin or fat,
Never mind, I wouldn't do that,
I'm fat enough now!

}} Conjunction Junction, what's your function?
Hooking up phrases and clauses that balance, like:
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
He cut loose the sandbags,
But the balloon wouldn't go any higher.
Let's go up to the mountains,
Or down to the sea.
You should always say "thank you",
Or at least say "please".

}} Conjunction Junction, what's your function?
Hooking up words and phrases and clauses
In complex sentences like:
{"In the mornings, when I am usually wide awake,
 I love to take a walk through the gardens and down by the lake,
 Where I often see a duck and a drake,
 And I wonder as I walk by
 Just what they'd say if they could speak,
 Although I know that's an absurd thought."}

}} Conjunction Junction, what's your function?
Hooking up cars and making 'em function.
}} Conjunction Junction, how's that function?
I like tying up words and phrases and clauses.
}} Conjunction Junction, watch that function.
I'm going to get you there if you're very careful.
}} Conjunction Junction, what's your function?
I'm going to get you there if you're very careful.
}} Conjunction Junction, what's your function?
I'm going to get you there if you're very careful.

Schoolhouse Rock Page

[lowbridge]

Ahem...she has THREE MEN in her life, you know...

Can she use a fourth one in her life? I'd like to apply.

[Sabertooth]

A "Welcome bump" for AnnaZ.

[MissAmericanPie]

Thanks for the bump, she's done it again. This war has pulled the shades off of alot of people that just thought they were liberal/democrat. Hillary being loudly booed was just amazing, it really was.

One thing I think I see, is that the right will not sit quietly in the corner any longer and let socialist get away with their stupid skreed. The population has shifted right, who knows which direction at this point that the government will take. We want accountability, starting with, why no deportations, why no closed borders, why were 30 million visas issued?

[Great Dane]

Excellent Annaz, a bit of a giggle too, thank you.

[Great Dane]

Hi 5, thanks for the flag, good read. :-}

[habs4ever]

As long as your heart remains on Ste Catherine St with memories of the Flower hoisting the Cup...you may go to a better land.

You missed the epic this weekend...Red Army/Habs 1975 New Years Eve game...c'mon, you know the one, the greatest one ever played.It was the late late late game on CBC.Think of this when you make the plunge...lol

[mostlyundecided]

Bump

[!1776!]

The great thing about the Constitution is it's simplicity that it is nothing more than a set of ideals. In the United States those ideals are a way of life, the highest law of the land, but they can easily apply anywhere people wish to be free (even Canda...).

Every time I read the Constitution I am floored by the jump that our forefathers took. I mean look at it, it ensures each of the basic fundamental rights that so many had fought for and never achieved over the millenia. I mean, really, most of us probably take it for granted, but the idea that you can bad mouth your leaders (and get away with it) is pretty new in the whole scheme of things.

Then to gaurenteeeee the right for the "peasants" to keep and bear arms...

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"is the realization that I will fight or die for that which I esteem"

It is that courage, and the courage of others that will ensure that this is NOT the end of the world.
Thank you for your courage and all you do to fight for Freedom!

[mississippi red-neck]

AnnaZ

Welcome, home.

[lowbridge]

bump

[AnnaZ]

Time for Globalist Uncle Sam to examine his conscience with a little "Conjunction Junction ... WHAT'S your function?"

 

Arrrgggghhh... if only they'd remember!!

 

For "them"... a refresher course (in case they missed the reruns... )

Constitution of the United States of America

Article. IV.

Section. 4.
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence.

Hate to say it, but they've failed.

[DoughtyOne]

Welcome to our

[Mercuria]

BWAHA!!! (I was actually IN that play in high school...)

[Mercuria]

Mmmmmmmmm...waffles...

[nunya bidness]

You have no excuse not to run your little butt down to Sunset and Gower and get you some.

Don't let the bright lights of Jack In The Box blind you (I know, I know) and keep you from:

"Come to Roscoe's for delicious food,

We've got fuel for your attitude.

We've got delicious waffles and cluck,

And you'll get a good value for your buck."