Bring Back the Ringtone!
Most any reader of this site will know that I am a strong supporter of free and open immigration. However, I am sad to see Cingular pull this particular ringtone off the market. The ringtone went as follows:
The ringtone started with a siren, followed by a male voice saying in a
Southern drawl, "This is la Migra," a slang term for the Border Patrol."Por favor, put the oranges down and step away from the cell phone.
I repeat-o, put the oranges down and step away from the telephone-o.
I'm deporting you back home-o," the voice continued.
For years I have been a strong supporter of the complete freedom to engage in what is often called "hate speech." Beyond the usual slippery-slope threat-to-free-speech argument, I have always thought it was important to let idiots publicly identify themselves. I mean, what could be better than a cell phone ringtone that just shouts out "I'm a racist moron" to the world? This is an even better idea than the comedian Gallagher's (he of the cuisinarted vegetables) idea for shoot-able stupid flags. It is the same reason I allow free commenting on this site and love to get opposing email.
Publius:
A strong supporter of free and open immigration? What other country in the world has free and open immigration? They are trying it in Europe with the EU, and if you have seen what it is doing in Germany and France and the reaction is causes there, you would know it is causing major problems and outrage within those countries country. We are already headed down the same slippery slope here.
May 10, 2006, 11:00 pmPublius:
A strong supporter of free and open immigration? What other country in the world has free and open immigration? They are trying it in Europe with the EU, and if you have seen what it is doing in Germany and France and the reaction is causes there, you would know it is causing major problems and outrage within those countries country. We are already headed down the same slippery slope here.
May 10, 2006, 11:00 pmMost:
"what could be better than a cell phone ringtone that just shouts out "I'm a racist moron" to the world?"
It's hateful toward illegal immigrants and mocks the Spanish language, but how is this racist? What's your definition of "racist?"
May 11, 2006, 10:17 amEric H:
Canada and a few other countries have free*er* and open*er* immigration, but what difference does that make?
Actually, the problem in France is not the immigration, it's the third class status of the immigrants.
May 11, 2006, 6:58 pmDave:
Your argument makes no sense.
Cingular should sell what it wants to sell and not sell what it doesn't want to sell.
Certainly, the freedom to make those choices without judgement from you is as valuable a freedom as the freedom to make hate speech, no?
Your priorities seem to be misplaced here.
May 12, 2006, 4:50 amEric H:
Among others, Canada has free and open (maybe freer and opener is better?) immigration. France's problem is that they treat their immigrants like 3rd class citizens or worse.
May 12, 2006, 6:35 amhonestpartisan:
I don't see any implications here for freedom of speech. A private party operating in a private market with a certain sense of public relations is deciding that it would be better for them not to offer this ringtone. Just like it doesn't implicate freedom of speech for Cingular to refrain from having a ring tone that says, "go with T Mobile instead." I don't have too much of a problem with the proposition that boors should be free to expose their boorishness, but that doesn't mean that a cell phone company has to go along with it if they don't want to.
May 12, 2006, 7:59 am