Essay 661

Monday morning’s MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Lark Voorhies (pictured above), former star of “Saved By The Bell,” filed a lawsuit against The National Enquirer. Voorhies says the publication of a 2005 story claiming the actress was being treated for a coke problem resulted in the loss of “potential acting and hosting jobs.” As if Voorhies didn’t lose the alleged opportunities based on, say, her “Saved By The Bell” performances.

• The nonpartisan Urban Institute conducted a study of taxes and immigrants in Washington. The results showed the area’s immigrant households match native-born Americans when it comes to paying taxes, but illegal immigrants contribute significantly less — paying less than $1 of every $5 they earn in taxes. But when you consider that many illegal immigrants are being paid “under the table” and many others are flat out lying about their employment status, one can only hope the study was not funded by taxpayers’ dollars.

• Bishop Tod. D. Brown, the most senior Roman Catholic leader in Orange County, caused controversy with a recent sermon calling for charitable immigration policies. “As Christians, Catholic Christians, we cannot let fear rule us,” Brown said. “Christ commands us to love one another — even our enemies. We cannot let the fear of losing jobs, of educating illegal immigrants, and healthcare costs be major reasons for promulgating laws that violate our Christian heritage.” Parishioners were divided by the comments. “My own personal opinion is the church should stick to spiritual matters,” one churchgoer said. “I just don’t think they need to be telling people how to think or vote. They sure shouldn’t be involved in politics.” Um, it’s a little too late to hope for that.