when alcohol companies make maps...

It would seem that Absolut vodka has po'd a number of people (again) with this cheeky advert. This time, an ad designed for the Mexican market that shows Mexico's borders with the US before the Gasden Purchase of 1838 and Mexican-American War of 1848 has offended American sensibilities in the southwest and has "patriots" pouring Absolut vodka down the drain.

Wow.

This is merely an expression of people's unease with the fact that Mexicans and Central and South Americans are drawn to the US for our high standard of living, political and social stability and, until recently, an economy that had lots of work, formal and informal.
And we need these workers as much as they need us. We have lots of work to be done that natives are not queuing up to do, an ageing population that will require lots of younger workers to pay all of those Social Security and Medicare taxes and an open, mixing-pot culture that invites new foods, music and people (if not ideas) in.

However, in the Southwest, many people seem to feel that they're being "overrun" by dangerous Mexicans who are all some form of terrorist, waiting to strike at the heart of America (Kansas?) on behalf of Al-Qaeda.

Please.

The drug trade is a problem in that region, and further measures on both sides of the border would be welcome to stop the flow and the associated gang violence. But do we *really* need a 3000-mile wall to keep out aspiring nannies, gardeners, construction workers and kitchen staff? Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to just grant them non-immigrant work visas (either in the existing H-2b category or a new category), let them come with their tasty recipes, work to send money home then leave when they're ready in a couple of years?

Second. What's with these idiots who do silly things under the banner of "patriotism"? Does it mean that I love my country and culture less than the "patriots" who are staging mini-Houston Vodka Parties? They're just stupid and wasteful. I enjoy my Absolut, and am reminded that even my duty-free bottle from my lolToronto trip and lolNigara crossing production was 18 bucks. Howzabout this. They can send me their "unpatriotic" vodka and clear their minds. I'll be sure to serve it on Cinco de mayo. In a margarita.