"Congressman Virgil Goode (R-Rocky Mount) got himself into a bit of national controversy in January when he wrote in a letter to constituents, "I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies I believe are necessary." Now our man in Washington is talking immigration again, and it's gotten the attention of America's favorite fake newsman, Jon Stewart. Well, not so much what he said, but the way he said it.

In a May 22 segment the Daily Show, as part of a series of Republican soundbites expressing opposition to the new immigration reform bill, Stewart aired a clip of Goode, in his trademark Southside Virginia twang, saying, "It's a destruction of our sovereignty."

It seems that Goode's voice was enough to provoke a laugh from the studio audience as a grimacing Stewart remarked, "I guess that was Leghorn-esque." To hit home his point, an image of Looney Tunes cartoon chicken Foghorn Leghorn appeared to Stewart's left as he mocked, "I say, I say, I say, I say, I say we gotta respect my sovereign-TAHI"

For the record, Leghorn is not Goode's favorite animated pullet. According to the Hook's 2002 HotSeat feature, he's more of a Donald Duck man.

Speaking of Charlottesville's association with famous cartoons, our fair city recently found its way into the 400th episode of The Simpsons. As reported by Waldo Jaquith, while ordering the types of toppings he wanted on his ice cream, Homer Simpson

listed a series of fictitious knock-offs of famous candies, including "Charlottesville Chew," which was pronounced CI-fARlottesville instead of the usual SHARlottesville, an obvious homage to the Charleston Chew." (The Hook, May 31, 2007)