Life and politics are so intense and pressurized these days, the need for a hobby is critical – something to give you a break from life. My escape has always been sports. I have an interest in every sport imaginable – from baseball to cricket, football to soccer, tennis to golf, UFC to wrestling, and every other sport you can imagine. Yes, I included wrestling in the list of sports I watch, enjoy, and support…. and before you ask – yes, I know its results are pre-determined, and yes I am over twelve. However, for me, WWE is always fun to watch – a combination of sports and a soap opera/ real life. It has good guys, bad guys, comedy, and romance, and the end result is always a match.
Over the years, WWE has had some sick stories, but I never paid much attention because I had a fast forward button and always took comfort that it wasn’t real.
However, last month, WWE repackaged one of its stars and turned him into their version of the Tea Party. Jack Swagger started using phrases in his promos like “We the People” and “We are Real Americans” “I no longer recognize my country”and is shown standing in front of the “Don’t Thread on Me” flag. WWE has placed Jack Swagger right in the spotlight because he is going to headline Wrestlemania “fighting” for the World Heavyweight Championship against…. yes, you guessed it, a Mexican Alberto DelRio who is the good guy. Tea Partier, Jack Swagger, is playing the bully and bad guy.
In today’s world, it’s “cool” to attack the Tea Party. Liberals do it… the media does it… Hollywood does it… Karl Rove does it… Rino’s do it… So, it should come as no surprise when WWE (owned by the McMahon family – yes the Linda McMahon who ran a disgraceful and dreadful campaign in Connecticut) decides to have a say on the Tea Party and openly mock it. Thank God for Glenn Beck who brought attention to this subject and openly criticized WWE on his radio show last week. However, this Monday, (first live show after Glenn Beck’s comments) there was an interesting exchange between Jack Swagger with his manager and Alberto DelRio which I think is the key to understanding the mind set of WWE and Rinos across America:
Zeb Coulter (Jack Swaggers Manager): What is wrong with you people? I don’t want you to think this is personal, it’s not personal. What it is, is what you represent? Do you know what you represent to your people Mr Del Rio? You represent success, you represent the American Dream, and you encourage millions of illegal people to sneak across the border in search of that dream. But for those millions, there is only one Alberto DelRio success story (WWE character who plays a successful Mexican who is World Champion), and for all those millions that fail, they conveniently forget to leave this country. That’s exactly what they do, and if you think we are going to stand by and let this happen, we are not….. I am going to call them exactly what they are… they are criminals – to which Alberto tells him to shut up and the crowd cheers like crazy.
Alberto DelRio: America doesn’t belong to you, it’s doesn’t belong to me. This is the greatest country on earth, because it belongs to everyone….. I am no different from you, Jack, you and I, we descend from immigrants, we are here for the same reason, we want to provide our families with a better life…. And you two think you can come out here, disrespect everybody, bully everybody, HIDING BEHIND THE CONSTITUTION, are you kidding me?….. I had heard about people like you but I had never met one… but sadly now I have.
The Zeb Coulter part is interesting because it starts off with a generalization that could be argued as racist. Then, he makes comments that could be viewed as protectionist and scared of Mexicans, and also paints the American Dream as only for Americans – suggesting that Mexicans are rarely successful and most live off the country. For me, the more interesting comments are from Alberto DelRio (remember – these guys are given a script of exactly what to say) and there are three key points:
America does not belong to everyone, as they point out. It belongs to the American people. The most important component in International Law is STATE SOVEREIGNTY, which means that a country gets to decide what happens inside its borders and not anyone else. Just because America is both the world’s superpower and the greatest country on the earth, does not mean anyone and everyone is entitled to be part of it. Only Americans have that right.
The second point he raises (which the Lib media love bringing up) is about America being a land of immigrants. No one can deny that, and in my opinion, it’s one of the things that makes America great – different ideas and backgrounds help fertilize great ideas and innovation. However, in that statement there is a word missing – LEGAL. People can’t just choose which laws they obey and which they break, especially if they are not legal citizens.
The third point that Del Rio made is the most important because it highlights a shift in political thinking which affects everyone – you hide behind your Constitution. I was honestly shocked when I heard this comment; so shocked that I had to replay it three times (!!!). The American Constitution is one of the finest documents ever written – I believe it is one of the finest pieces of writing you will come across. The Founders were years ahead of their time, and set the standard for many Constitutions across the world. It makes me sick that Americans feel the need to speak ill and make a mockery of it. The Constitution is timeless and should be respected for the history it set, and not denounced on television.
Lastly, I would like to point out that this is not the first time WWE has had this type of story. Back in 2003 and 2004, there was a fight between an American and a Mexican and part of the story line (JBL & Eddie Guerrero) was about the American borders and how they were not secured. If WWE talks about being this global brand and has superstars from places like Canada, Ireland, England, India, and Latin America, then why does it only run this story about Mexicans and not the other nationalities I mention?