Spare Me The Phony Concern...

Like "Cheesesteak wiz wit" is actually English in the first place.

The owner of Geno’s Steaks, a landmark in South Philadelphia, is refusing a city councilman’s request that he take down a sign telling customers to order in English.

Joey Vento, owner of Geno’s Steaks, has a sign in the window saying, “This is America. When ordering, speak English.” Vento feels strongly that immigrants should learn English, and he considers this a bit of public service:

“I’m trying to help these people. You teach them how to say 'cheesesteak,' then they go home and learn another word. That’s how every other group (of immigrants) did it.”

Yup. That's exactly how every other group of immigrants did it: By barking out "CHEESESTEAK WIZ WIT" at a xenophobic asshole who would gladly refuse them service for no reason. That's a regular "Hooked on Phonics" right there.

Mr. Vento really sounded like a concerned citizen about 15 minutes ago when I heard him on Opie & Anthony bitching about all the negative attention he's getting and playing the victim almost as convincingly as Ann Coulter and countless other loudmouthed conservatives.

I should've known this guy was off the deep end when I realized he's still hanging on to the whole "Freedom Fries" schtick roughly a year after Walter Jones decided it was a stupid idea. Yuck. He's not concerned about helping immigrants coming to this country. He's a venomous old bigot who's looking to make a bigger name for himself by tapping into America's new favorite pastime: scapegoating immigrants and foreigners.

And that's probably his right. I just hope the many foreign tourists that frequent the Italian Market (or should I call it the English Market?) area in Philly take their business elsewhere.

It's clear that Mr. Vento doesn't want and/or need their business...

UPDATE: Unbeknownst to me, Winston beat me to the "is 'cheesesteak wiz wit' English?" punch. All apologies...
- posted by Brian @ 8:24 AM