In Hebrew, chutzpah is used indignantly, to describe someone who has over-stepped the boundaries of accepted behavior with no shame. Leo Rosten defines the term as “that quality enshrined in a man who, having killed his mother and father, throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan.”
Wikipedia
Now the Mexican government brings new meaning to chutzpah by filing papers in a US federal court claiming that Arizona’s new immigration law discriminates against Mexicans. (If you’re not up on the Arizona law, see Your Papers, Please, “Discrimination” in Albuquerque, and Making Obama Do His Job).
I don’t argue with their contention that the law discriminates against Mexicans. It’s probably unconstitutional. But it takes genuine chutzpah for the Mexican government to even open its mouth on the subject:
- I doubt that the Mexican government has any legal standing to challenge the law of a US state.
- It is no secret that the majority of illegal immigrants to the United States enter through Mexico.
- The Mexican government has done nothing to discourage its citizens from emigrating illegally to the United States.
- In fact, the Mexican government has encouraged emigration to the US, whether legal or illegal. The Mexican government has published pamphlets detailing ways in which its citizens can enter the US illegally.
- The Mexican government does virtually nothing to punish Mexican citizens who attempt to emigrate illegally nor do they do anything to those Mexicans who make a business of assisting illegal emigrants.
Mexico is out of control. It is run by drug lords, a corrupt army, corrupt police forces, and a corrupt government. It hangs like a tick on the underbelly of the US draining our country of resources at every opportunity. Their reaction to the Arizona law is akin to a tick complaining because too many people are using an insect repellent.
In their ‘friend of the court’ brief the Mexican government complained that “Mexican citizens will be afraid to visit Arizona for work or pleasure out of concern that they will be subject to unlawful police scrutiny and detention.”
I may be wrong here but it seems to me that Arizona passed the law precisely because they are tired of Mexican citizens “visiting” Arizona and then hanging around indefinitely.
Cajones is a possible Spanish translation of chutzpah, but it really lacks the richness of the Hebrew word.
Thanks