stephanie
02-26-2007, 02:28 AM
By Cathalena E. Burch
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.25.2007
— George Lopez has a message for George Bush and all those folks who want to ship the immigrants back home:
"We ain't going nowhere," he told a soldout crowd of 5,000 at the Dodge Theater Friday night, on the eve of his first-ever HBO Comedy Special Saturday.
"They said that 700,000 people in Phoenix would be affected by immigration and have to back to Mexico. That ain't (expletive)," he said, setting the tone for the theme of "America's Mexican," the hourlong special that will repeat Tuesday. "That's seven quinceañeras and two weddings. (Expletive), we'll be back before the dollar dance."
Pacing the expansive stage in a dark suit and tie, the 45-year-old salt-and-pepper-haired comic laid down a plausible argument that immigrants, Hispanics among them, were vital to America's fabric and economy.
"This country will not exist without immigrant labor," he noted. "Man, I ain't gonna mop. You see an immigrant mopping, it's a career."
Lopez, who strolled on stage to War's song "Low Rider" moments after opening act Bryan Kellen, reasoned that Mexicans already have worked around most of America's answers to illegal immigration: Build a fence? The Mexicans dug tunnels. Put alligators in the border rivers? "Go ahead. In an hour, they'll be shoes and belts." Ship them home? To where? Mexico won't take them back, Lopez argued, and then reminded the audience that the immigration problem isn't just from Mexico. Amid the belly laughs and nervous chuckles Friday night,a chorus of "oh yeahs" and "uh-huhs" filled the theater. Lopez was preaching to a choir that seemed to delight when he bashed President Bush's policies and took California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to task for his proposed English-only law.
"You know what? You don't speak English," he chided, as if he were speaking to the governor in person. "I've had uncles who were drunk who I can understand better than Arnold Schwarzenegger."
The bottom line, Lopez argued, is that America has changed. There is no going back.
"The America we used to know is gone. It doesn't exist anymore. You know who's running America?" he asked, then paused while mariachi music blared.
"That's who's running America."
"Everything you touch we touched first," he went on. "Taco Bell? The onions that went bad? Who do you think picked the onions from the field?
"The tainted spinach? Same thing. You pay us $3 an hour. We're not going to wash it, too."
What those critics don't seem to understand is that immigration is imbedded in America.. Everyone came from somewhere else to pursue the dream of endless possibilities and potential.
"I had an aunt who told me I would end up on the streets," Lopez recalled and said the aunt was right. "I ended up in the street: the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
"That's why we came here. Anything can happen in this country. You can be whatever you want to be."
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/170797
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.25.2007
— George Lopez has a message for George Bush and all those folks who want to ship the immigrants back home:
"We ain't going nowhere," he told a soldout crowd of 5,000 at the Dodge Theater Friday night, on the eve of his first-ever HBO Comedy Special Saturday.
"They said that 700,000 people in Phoenix would be affected by immigration and have to back to Mexico. That ain't (expletive)," he said, setting the tone for the theme of "America's Mexican," the hourlong special that will repeat Tuesday. "That's seven quinceañeras and two weddings. (Expletive), we'll be back before the dollar dance."
Pacing the expansive stage in a dark suit and tie, the 45-year-old salt-and-pepper-haired comic laid down a plausible argument that immigrants, Hispanics among them, were vital to America's fabric and economy.
"This country will not exist without immigrant labor," he noted. "Man, I ain't gonna mop. You see an immigrant mopping, it's a career."
Lopez, who strolled on stage to War's song "Low Rider" moments after opening act Bryan Kellen, reasoned that Mexicans already have worked around most of America's answers to illegal immigration: Build a fence? The Mexicans dug tunnels. Put alligators in the border rivers? "Go ahead. In an hour, they'll be shoes and belts." Ship them home? To where? Mexico won't take them back, Lopez argued, and then reminded the audience that the immigration problem isn't just from Mexico. Amid the belly laughs and nervous chuckles Friday night,a chorus of "oh yeahs" and "uh-huhs" filled the theater. Lopez was preaching to a choir that seemed to delight when he bashed President Bush's policies and took California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to task for his proposed English-only law.
"You know what? You don't speak English," he chided, as if he were speaking to the governor in person. "I've had uncles who were drunk who I can understand better than Arnold Schwarzenegger."
The bottom line, Lopez argued, is that America has changed. There is no going back.
"The America we used to know is gone. It doesn't exist anymore. You know who's running America?" he asked, then paused while mariachi music blared.
"That's who's running America."
"Everything you touch we touched first," he went on. "Taco Bell? The onions that went bad? Who do you think picked the onions from the field?
"The tainted spinach? Same thing. You pay us $3 an hour. We're not going to wash it, too."
What those critics don't seem to understand is that immigration is imbedded in America.. Everyone came from somewhere else to pursue the dream of endless possibilities and potential.
"I had an aunt who told me I would end up on the streets," Lopez recalled and said the aunt was right. "I ended up in the street: the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
"That's why we came here. Anything can happen in this country. You can be whatever you want to be."
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/170797