[This article was originally published on 5/1/06. It garnered national attention for this site after it was read on air by WSB Radio talk show host

I am becoming more nationalistic by the day.

I have always believed that I live in the greatest country in history, and I am unapologetic for the blessings that God, a pioneer spirit and a favorable climate have bestowed upon us. But, day by day, I become more aware of the forces, from within and without, that want to destroy my homeland or, at the very least, abuse its resources. And I am growing angry.

For example, I have finally reached the boiling point on illegal immigration. We are a nation of laws, including those that control how visitors can enter this country, how long they can stay and how they can become permanent citizens. I expect those visitors to obey the same laws that citizens are expected to follow; and I expect my government to enforce the law when those visitors choose to ignore it.

It’s bad enough when the invaders (and that’s what they are) sneak across the border by night, then hide in the undocumented crevices of society. It is quite another thing to then demand, by the light of day, that their lawlessness be excused. Such have been the marches staged across the nation and in my Capitol– thousands of lawbreakers protesting my representatives’ efforts to control our borders and stop the lawlessness.

It angers me when the interlopers so brazenly demand the protection of the same law that they flaunted with their very first steps on American soil. My blood boiled as I watched student illegals skip the classes that you and I paid for to protest that you and I aren’t doing enough. I fumed as I watched illegals, waving the Mexican flag, insist that I “treat them like Americans.”

America is my home. I consider myself a generous and hospitable kind of guy, but you have overstepped your bounds when you break into my house… eat my food and sleep in my bed, and then demand that I “forgive and forget” and treat you like a member of the family.

It is not like we ask the impossible of the illegals. Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world have come to this country legally, persevered through the process, “studied to show themselves approved” and earned the precious honor of American citizenship. It can be done; the invaders simply choose not to make the effort.

I probably wouldn’t be so angry if I trusted my elected officials to do the right thing– but I don’t. I have never seen so many spineless and self-serving excuses for leadership as I have in elected office, primarily in the U.S. Senate. Some of proposed “solutions,” especially the ones that include amnesty for lawbreakers, cheapen the freedom that we hold so dear and are a slap in the face of those immigrants who came here legally.

Many state and local officials– the folks who actually face the chaos caused by illegal immigration every day– have a better understanding of the crisis than do the clueless in Washington, DC. The locals see the gang warfare, the declining neighborhoods, the glutted job market and the hospital emergency rooms crowded by sniffling children.

The problem, unfortunately, has grown so large that it demands a national solution. And I don’t think that the incompetents in Washington have the fortitude to do what must be done.

“Nothing Gringo on May 1″

I finally reached the end of my rope when I read of yet another protest, a “Day Without Immigrants” boycott scheduled for May 1, 2006 that was marketed by activists as “Nothing Gringo on May 1.” Judging by the conversations I have had with friends and family, I know that many of you have had enough as well.

As I said, there is not much that we can do on a local level to combat the illegal immigration problem except support like-minded elected officials with our dollars and our votes. But I plan to do something that may make me feel just a little better. And I invite you to join me.

“Nothing Mexican on Cinco de Mayo”

This year, “Cinco de Mayo” (“the 5th of May”) falls on a Tuesday. Normally, I would be in my favorite Mexican restaurant enjoying a “burrito supremo” and a couple of monster margaritas. This year, that ain’t happening.

For the most part, the holiday of Cinco de Mayo is a limited, regional holiday in Mexico, celebrated most vigorously in the state of Puebla where the Mexican militia repulsed a French invasion attempt in 1862. The holiday has actually become a bigger deal in the U.S. where commercial interests have promoted the holiday with products and services focused on Mexican food, beverages and festivities.

This year, Cinco de Mayo will be a celebration of my hope that America will repulse the current invasion of illegal aliens. I will not patronize my favorite Mexican restaurant nor any other Hispanic-owned or “Mexican-themed” business on May 5 or the week thereafter. Neither will I employ the services of any company that I know to employ illegal aliens.

If you feel as frustrated and as voiceless as I do, please join me in my mini-protest and support America’s sovereignty with your dollars on Tuesday, May 5. You are also invited to comment on this article or express yourself in my home county’s oldest and most respected discussion forum, TalkGwinnett, by clicking here.