The Duke

By Capt. Fogg

"There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.”

-- John Wayne

The picture of John Wayne dressed as a cowboy stands, thanks to Photoshop, in front of a huge flag, proudly asking us why in the hell we have to "press '1' for English."

A week does not go by and often not a day when I don't get some smirking e-mail about the efforts of the business community to make it easier for native Spanish-speaking people to buy things or get information about things or put money in the bank. Pressing '2' to continue in Spanish seems to have had more of an effect on America's sense of security than anything since Pearl Harbor, and people who profess passionate love of flags, John Wayne, and the Republic for which they stand often fail to see this sleazy campaign as the direct attack on freedom of speech that it is.

“Women have the right to work wherever they want, as long as they have the dinner ready when you get home.”

"My favorite e-mail ever," says the person who sent it to me, and he concludes with "Enough said". I don't think enough can be said. I have never been a fan of Marion Morrison, although I have enjoyed a couple of his movies. His support for the Vietnam War and his attacks on the doubters of its necessity, his McCarthyism and his belief in white supremacy left me with a lasting distaste for his stupid kind of patriotism and bigotry. It may be ironic, however, that the anti-Mexican rabble-rousers chose him as the boy for their poster.

Wayne was married three times: to Josephene Saenz, Esperanza Baur, and Pilar Palette. They were all Spanish-speaking women. As he was dying, Wayne requested that his headstone bear an epitaph in Spanish: Feo, Fuerte y Formal. No English translation was offered.

“Life is hard; it's harder if you're stupid.”

I have to disagree. It's hardest for those who have to deal with the stupid.

(Cross-posted at Human Voices.)