Jose Hernandez, the astronaut

Heck, these Mexicans are even taking our space jobs,  huh?  :)

This video clip was released by Jose Hernandez, who's running for Congress in California, after Republicans tried to keep him from listing "astronaut" as his profession. Nice response, huh?

From Indecision Forever:

It's pretty much the worst nightmare of every immigration restrictionist. They keep agitating for a higher and higher, double-walled, electrified border fence and here comes a son of migrant farm workers who can fly through space, fuck you very much. In any case, a state judge has ruled that Hernandez meets even the state's stringent guidelines for stating one's vocation on a ballot…

Judge Lloyd Connelly rejected Republican arguments that Hernandez did not work as an astronaut in the year before filing his candidacy and cannot list "astronaut/scientist/engineer" on the ballot as his occupation.

He said Hernandez is an astronaut for "more than the time spent riding a rocket." Hernandez left his job at NASA in January 2011, then worked at a technology company until October.

I, for one, am desperate to know what occupations the Republican presidential candidates will list for themselves on the California ballot, given the requirement to state "one's current profession, vocation, or one held during the previous calendar year." Traveling from state to state while begging for money is a requirement for running an effective campaign, but "professional vagrant" just doesn't have a presidential ring to it.

This shows what's good about America and a bit about what's bad. Hernandez is the son of Mexican immigrants, migrant farm workers, and according to his biography, he was not even fluent in English until age 12.

But he got an education, worked as an engineer and an astronaut, and is now running for Congress. A real success story.

Unfortunately, class mobility isn't as easy as it used to be, especially with college costs going through the roof. Indeed, America isn't even close to leading the world in social mobility these days, and with constant tax cuts, things are getting worse all the time.

You're in good shape if your parents are wealthy. If not, well, I guess you should have thought of that before you picked them, huh?

This picayune kind of maneuver from the Republicans is sadly typical, too. I'd like to claim that only Republicans do this, but all too often, Democrats do it, too - though usually even more ineptly. Well, that's politics, I guess.

The important point to remember is that America still works. Mexican immigrants, like every other immigrant wave in our history, have children who are Americans.

Republicans are actually proposing a permanent underclass for illegal immigrants and their children. No matter what, you can't be one of us. No, even the black president of the United States isn't a "real" American to these people.

I suggest we treat Hispanics just like every other ethnic group which has come here voluntarily - including all of my ancestors. Welcome them, treat them well, educate their children, and we'll end up with Americans just like you and me.

It's worked for America for hundreds of years, and it will still work. Or are we too bigoted, too cowardly, and too cheap to let it?