I hadn't grasped the real significance of Bell, California's financial scandal (astonishingly rich salaries for some top city employees) until I read James Fulford's recent blog entry on the subject.

Readers properly disgusted by the Bell case — the gist of which is that Mexican immigrants and illegal aliens, en masse, bring Mexico's civic "culture" with them — may also want to read Roger McGrath's classic South Gate: Mexico Comes to California — How an all-American town became a barrio (The American Conservative, May 19, 2003).

To whet your appetites for digging into what McGrath wrote, here is his opening sentence ...

While we are engaged overseas in a mission to recreate countries in our own image and likeness, many of our own cities are being transformed into the image and likeness of Mexican villages.

...and here are his two final sentences:

Although recently convicted for violating a California gun law, Robles is by no means down for the count. He will be back, if not in South Gate then in another California town that is on its way to becoming a Mexican village.

The 1,895 words in between are also quite memorable.