Ajai Raj, who was arrested after questioning Ann Coulter about her favorite orifice, offers his side of the story in an open letter on Poor Mojo’s Almanac(k) (via Wonkette):

So yes, the Q&A session came around, and it was pathetic. Her slack-jawed fans got up and licked her face so she could pat them on the head–one schmuck offered to be her bodyguard, and she smiled, doubtlessly making a mental note that she wouldn’t touch his nether regions if she were King Midas. Liberal protestors posed well-intentioned but woefully timid questions and got shot down in a hail of ignorant shitfire from the She-Dragon. Standing in line awaiting my turn, I watched her send a moderate Republican, who had questioned the sheer incendiary magnitude of her rhetoric, walk away in tears when she tore him apart for daring to question her. So yes, I saw my “opportunity to say something lewd and offensive.” And I took it. She had just said something about gay marriage, the typical rightwing bullshit spiel that is still convincing people that the Bible is really the Constitution. Knowing that taking the time to say something insightful, specific, or even slightly critical would get me a lame comeback and a ticket back to my seat, I realized that the only way to win this battle was to fight fire with fire. Or bullshit with bullshit. [Poor Mojo’s Almanac(k)]

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Saurav sends us a press release from SAALT about exit poll data from last November’s election as interpreted by them:

“Striking conclusions can be drawn from the data,” said Deepa Iyer, Executive Director of SAALT. “For 42 percent of the South Asians polled, this was the first election in which they had voted. Additionally, 88 percent of the South Asians who voted are foreign-born. This emphasizes the need for voter education and registration campaigns to include strategies such as naturalization drives and outreach tailored to South Asians who have arrived more recently.”

The data also revealed that South Asians chose “civil liberties” as the civil/immigrant rights issue most important in their lives. “The South Asian community has endured increased incidents of bias and immigration enforcement since September 11th,” added SAALT Board Member, Jayesh Rathod. “Our own work through dialogues with community leaders also echoes the importance of civil liberties as a prominent issue in the lives of South Asians, one that needs to be addressed in various contexts by policymakers, candidates, and advocates.”

Of particular interest in the .pdf document are the findings and recommendations. There is one line that I find revealing however, and should probably be used as a caveat:

Voters who participated in the exit poll were asked to choose the civil/immigrant rights issue that was most important to them [6]. Interestingly, most South Asian groups chose civil liberties as the issue of most importance, with the exception being the Indo-Caribbean community, which selected workersÂ’ rights.

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As reported by many news organizations yesterday, Congress appears ready to “discourage” driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants. The LA Times reports:

Congressional negotiators agreed Monday to measures that would discourage states from issuing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, tighten asylum requirements and complete the border fence between California and Mexico, sources involved in the talks said.

The agreement by House and Senate negotiators made it all but certain that the measures would become law.

Under the legislation, driver’s license applicants would have to take more information with them to motor vehicle offices. They would be asked to show birth certificates, a photo identification, proof of their Social Security number and a document with full name and home address. It was unclear how the legislation would affect renewal of licenses for citizens and legal residents.

The negotiators also agreed to a provision that supporters said would keep terrorists from using asylum laws to gain entry to the United States. The revisions would require asylum seekers to offer more proof that they were fleeing persecution and would limit their right to judicial review if their petition were rejected by immigration officials.

This is an unmitigated disaster. Yes, I know that being an illegal immigrant is breaking the law, but this horrible piece of legislation is NOT the right way to deal with it. South Asian cabbies (many of whom might be illegal) are now going to be breaking the law by driving without a license in an attempt to put food on their family’s table. What’s more is that legal residents are undoubtedly going to have to pay higher car insurance rates. ALL illegal immigrants that require a driver’s license for work (and there are a countless number) are now going to drive without one rather than risk going to the DMV and getting deported (or thrown in jail indefinitely as material witnesses). That’s a hell of a lot of uninsured drivers on the road. Continue reading →

University of Texas at Austin student Ajai Raj was arrested after asking Ann Coulter the one question on every American’s mind:

Coulter said she supported the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman on the basis that a good woman civilizes and inspires a man to strive for something better, leading to a question that was met with a stunned silence. “You say that you believe in the sanctity of marriage,” said Ajai Raj, an English sophomore. “How do you feel about marriages where the man does nothing but fuck his wife up the ass?” UT Police officers approached Raj to arrest him, resulting in a mass exodus of protesters chanting, “Let him go” … According to Jeffrey Stockerwell, a friend of Raj, officers violently seized Raj and illegally searched him after his question. Police have charged Raj with disorderly conduct, a Class C misdemeanor. [The Daily Texan]

Raj had no idea that innocently asking Coulter about her secret passion would land him in so much hot water. We can only pray that he doesn’t become forcibly acquainted with the practice while doing hard time in the college pokey. For more information on Coulter and anal, visit this blog by another one of her fans (NSFW).

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