Ok, I usually stay out of the political arena because I'm not all that knowledgeable, however, I just felt a little incensed by this e-mail that was supposed to be a joke. So for my very first ever "serious" post...
Here is the e-mail and following are the thoughts I had about it.
Dear Senator Sarbanes,
As a native Marylander and excellent customer of the Internal
Revenue Service, I am writing to ask for your assistance. I have
contacted the Immigration and Naturalization Service in an effort
to determine the process for becoming an "illegal alien" and they
referred me to you.
My reasons for wishing to change my status from U.S.Citizen to
"illegal alien" stem from the bill which was recently passed by the
Senate and for which you voted. If my understanding of this bill's
provisions is accurate, as an "illegal alien" who has been in the United
States for five years, what I need to do to become a citizen is to pay
a $2,000 fine and income taxes for three of the last five years.
I know a good deal when I see one and I am anxious to get the process
started before everyone figures it out. Simply put, those of us who
have been here legally have had to pay taxes every year so I'm excited
about the prospect of avoiding two years of taxes in return for paying
a $2,000 fine. Is there any way that I can apply to be "illegal"
retroactively? This would yield an excellent result for me and my
family because we paid heavy taxes in 2004 and 2005.
Another benefit in gaining "illegal" status would be that my daughter
would receive preferential treatment relative to her law school
applications.
If you would provide me with an outline of the process to become
"illegal" (retroactively if possible) and copies of the necessary forms,
I would be most appreciative. Thank you for your assistance.
Your Loyal Constituent,
Pete McGlaughlin
Ok, so it's supposed to be funny, but really, it might be one of the most ignorant things I've read in a long time. I'm sorry, those are harsh words I know, but the e-mail is just so offensive to me. Comparatively speaking, that $2000 fine and three years of back taxes is a whole lot more to an illegal alien than the "heavy taxes" forced upon this US citizen. We, as a country, have become so proud and self-serving and it has totally blinded us. Where is our compassion?? If Jesus were judging countries, we would be a goat. We would be the country that did not feed or clothe. These illegal aliens are here out of pure desperation. We can not possibly imagine a life so impoverished that we would be willing to leave our family and friends in another country, work at the lowliest job for terrible wages, and suffer such discrimination just for food to eat and clothes on our back. As if it's not bad enough that we penalize these people and whine because "they're taking 'our' jobs" (the last I checked, we're actually not entitled to a single thing except death), we write and laugh at horribly ignorant things like this e-mail.
I'll step off my soapbox and I'm sorry if you feel like you wasted your time reading it, but I had to vent. And I know at least Jessica and Tiffany will be proud of me for a "real" post. | 
