PDA

View Full Version : Media Letters


Ole Glory
02-07-2010, 01:10 PM
Nathan Imhoff: Fewer signs more thoughts are needed

Dear Mr. Imhoff:

Santa Clarita City Council candidate David Gauny suggested I contact you in an effort to better understand one another.

Of course, I have never met you nor you me.

Your Saturday Signal 2/5 commentary contains a number of inaccuracies and misrepresentations.

1) ... Your reference to Minutemen as being a "... scattered, unreasonable group of misfits who believe might makes right " paints a broad stroke that is woefully inaccurate. The MM movement is a multi-national, multi ethnic inclusive movement that views itself as a national "neighborhood watch group." Our neighborhood? The Border, Neither I nor any MM I know condone the taking of law into ones own hands, use of violence or intimidation in any manner, or any other perceived form of vigilantism. The carrying of firearms is guaranteed by the Second amendment. Those who carry weapons at the Border, do so for self-protection.

2) ... Your slighting of Minutemen wardrobe as " cowboy hats or handlebar moustaches " is insulting and juvenile and marginalizes your perception of the Movement. I sport neither cowboy hat or moustache but freely admit am guilty of proudly displaying the American flag. In April you will probably see me at the Cowboy Poetry Festival wearing some kind of western garb.

3) ... I do NOT condone plagiarism as you state. My defense of Lynn Vakay as an commentary writer for the Signal was clearly stated in a December, 2009 letter to the editor in which I felt, and still do, that The Signal's knee jerk reaction to the summary banning of Ms. Vakay from future writing for the paper was extreme. I do not condone her mistake, but that is what it was, a mistake. The Signal's action were swift and overzealous especially in view that Signal contributors are NOT professional writers. Perhaps the Signal might establish and communicate stricter guidelines to its contributors. I would also defend Carole Lutness' right to opine even though she was accused of a similar misdeed. I agree with little that Ms Lutness states but I do defend her right to say it. It is my continued hope the Signal will consider its ban on BOTH.

4) ... Your reference to my "confusion" about the exact number of illegal aliens in the United States is particularly vexing. Fact is, Mr. Imhoff, nobody knows the exact number and than therein lies the root of the real problem: The United States of America is NOT in control of its own border. IN 2003, Homeland Secretary Tom Ridge stated the number of illegal aliens in the USA was " about 12 million." Open Borders folks continue to parrot that number: 12 million " undocumented workers."How can that be? That would infer that millions who came here illegally have disappeared or gone back to their country of origin. That since 2003, there has been no further Border incursion. In 2005, the Border Patrol estimated were 5 million illegal border entries, alone. The Border Patrol admits it apprehends only one if five who enter the USA illegally. It is my opinion, and I have no data to back this up, but the real illegal alien population is about 30 million .Again, I state no one knows the real number, yet another reason to secure our border and make an accurate count.

5) ...I refer to the correct spelling of Antelope Valley Independent Minuteman Frank J O R G E . I would respectfully recommend you might contact him for some glaring inaccuracies your presented on him in your commentary.

Mr. Imhoff, in your search for truth, I ask you to treat ALL parties with fairness. I do not oppose immigration as you imply. I oppose ILLEGAL immigration. The Minuteman movement is NOT anti-immigrant as you state regarding the January 16 rally. The rally was an anti-ILLEGAL alien awareness rally and it was organized to oppose newly introduced Federal legislation by Chicago Congressman Luis Gutierrez' Bill to grant an amnesty to the millions upon millions who have entered the United States illegally. The Bill would offer a pathway to citizenship, I am of the strongest opinion,citizenship should not be marginalized, it should be earned not granted. Mr. Gutierrez; Bill presents a family unification component to bring millions upon million of impoverished poor aliens to the USA.

6) ... IN 2005, then-president George Bush incorrectly identified Minutemen as vigilantes at a Florida meeting of the parties of the North American Union ( NAU). The prime minister of Canada and Mexico were on hand when the president demonized the MM. Fact is, Mr. Imhoff, we ask all of our elected officials, from City Council, County, State, and Federal to uphold the rule of law. Regrettably, president Bush failed dismally to enforce Article 4 Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution , to protect and secure our borders.

I invite you to attend the next rally sponsored by SAVE OUR STATE, Saturday, February 27, 2010, in Valencia. It is at the rally you will learn about the darker side of illegal immigration, the devastating effects illegal alien criminals have wrought on our community: rape, murder, driving drunk and killing, maiming innocent American citizens, the wide spread distribution of drugs,and similar serious felonies committed by so called " undocumented workers." . The numbers are staggering and sobering, Mr. Imhoff. Until you personally suffer as a victim or relative or friend of one ( and I hope that never happens to you) , you will not fully understand that many who are here in the USA is not here to work.

If you feel so inclined I would invite you to join me at the Border for a look / see and observe first hand the problems created by the illegal alien problem. I plan to go to Camp Vigilance in Boulevard, California the end of March.

I will not engage you in a war of words in responding to letters@thesignal.com, though I suspect many who read your commentary might do exactly that write the Signal letters to the editor.. I hope you stick to the issue of illegal immigration that succumb to the pettiness of disparaging the parties that participate in trying to bring awareness of this huge problem.

You can reach me, anytime

Roger Gitlin
SCVIMM

Jeanfromfillmore
02-07-2010, 01:16 PM
Thanks Glory, I was just ready to paste this email here. It is written very well and I will surely let Roger know what a great job he did.

Ole Glory
02-07-2010, 01:25 PM
Thanks Glory, I was just ready to paste this email here. It is written very well and I will surely let Roger know what a great job he did.

Great Minds, think a like!:cool:

Rim05
02-07-2010, 02:08 PM
Some people can really blow a nothing to almost international stature. The Invaders and their supporters have called us everything they can think of and still think we should not even respond. You guys and gals did a fantastic job in Santa Clarita. You can tell by all the howling they are doing. May the Feb 17th be as good or better.

Jeanfromfillmore
02-07-2010, 02:38 PM
Some people can really blow a nothing to almost international stature. The Invaders and their supporters have called us everything they can think of and still think we should not even respond. You guys and gals did a fantastic job in Santa Clarita. You can tell by all the howling they are doing. May the Feb 17th be as good or better. Actually Rimo it happening on Feb 27th. I don't want anyone to miss the date. Sure would be nice to see you there little lady, but I do understand. We miss you.

Rim05
02-09-2010, 05:35 AM
Delete

Rim05
02-09-2010, 05:52 AM
Actually Rimo it happening on Feb 27th. I don't want anyone to miss the date. Sure would be nice to see you there little lady, but I do understand. We miss you.


Sorry about the date mix up but maybe it will be a reminder to someone else. I miss all the things we used to do also. Go SOS.

Ole Glory
02-09-2010, 09:56 AM
Kellar talks about the wrong kind of pride

By Doug McIntyre
Updated: 01/30/2010 09:55:15 PM PST

Like most of you, I'd never heard of Santa Clarita City Councilman Bob Kellar until he appeared in the Daily News proclaiming himself a "proud racist." Given an opportunity to clarify his remarks, Councilman Kellar repeated his claim, so I guess he means it.

"Proud racist" and "city councilman" go together about as well as making toast in the shower. In addition to violating all 10 of the "Top 10 Things Not to Say If You Want to Hold Elective Office," Kellar has another strike against him: He's a white guy and white guys can NEVER invoke racial pride. Not in modern America.

Then again, I've never understood racial pride. My family's roots go back to Ireland, yet I don't feel my breast swell or get all tingly if a McGirk or Fitzpatrick win a race, write a novel or score a goal. "Good for McGirk," I might say. Or, "Hooray for Fitzpatrick!" but I don't take a curtain call for someone else's home run.

I am, however, enormously proud of my American heritage. And here's where Kellar blundered. He confuses national pride with racial pride. The "scandal" shouldn't be that Kellar said something politically incorrect; what he's said is factually incorrect.

And he's hardly alone.

For years on radio, TV and in this newspaper I've been up to my nostrils in the immigration debate. Frankly, I'm sick of it. Google "McIntyre = Racist" and see how many links you get. As the whitest of white men, I've been caricatured by radical Web sites like La Voz De Aztlan as a "Nazi," a "fascist" and "hate monger." I've been sued (and won) and had my life threatened, but my story is nothing compared to Hispanics who dare speak up for America. They're routinely branded an "Uncle Tomases," race traitors, or tagged "Pocho" - brown on the outside white on the inside. It's ugly stuff.

The open border demagogues understand how paralyzing the charge of racism is. I'm sure it was news to Jamiel Shaw Sr., an African-American whose son was allegedly slain by an illegal immigrant gangbanger, to discover he's also a "racist." Mr. Shaw continues to speak out while countless Americans and legal immigrants have been bullied into silence.

Predictably activist groups like AnswerLA.com have jumped on Councilman Kellar's cement-headed gaffe to discredit and further demonize everyone who believes the sovereignty of the United States is precious.

Kellar's blunder provides a distraction from the real issue: The sanctuary city policies of Los Angeles (and virtually every American city) have had terrible consequences not only for the country but for the immigrants themselves.

By encouraging the influx of millions of illegal immigrants, we've hurt America's poor and lower-middle class, including legal immigrants from any country.

We've forced the poor to compete with the poorer. We've created an enormous pool of cheap labor, with Los Angeles as the nexus of immigrant exploitation.

Our schools have become a gigantic remedial program with hundreds of thousands of kids who barely speak English. Neighborhoods have disintegrated as single-family homes became de facto apartment buildings and unpermitted garage conversions spread like the swine flu.

Small businesses struggle to abide by a slew of codes and taxes and permits, but lose customers to unlicensed street vendors. Prolific and horrific gang violence arrived in the wake of a tsunami of graffiti.

The abundance of cheap labor has made it possible for a generation of kids to grow up who never pushed a lawn mower, never raked leaves, never cleaned their own house. We've devalued sweat.

These are real issues our so-called leaders refuse to address and rarely even acknowledge.

Banned from an honest debate, the issue rages on blogs, Web site comment boards, talk radio, barbershops and backyard barbecues and the rhetoric is often nasty and frequently racist.

Get over it.

If we're ever going to move past the same debate we've got to allow the people to be heard, all the people, including Kellar. The truth is not always pretty.

The vast majority of Americans of all ethnic backgrounds embrace our historic struggle for inclusion. But they also understand we're more than a nation of immigrants; we're also a nation of laws. Every country has not only the right but also an obligation to control its borders. A country that doesn't control its borders is a country in name only.

For the record, the United States has the most generous immigration quotas on the planet, a million a year. That's not an opinion. You can look it up.

Allowing the most ambitious people on earth to give up their language and laws, families and friends to make a fresh start here has made America a stronger and better place. But our immigration policy is supposed to benefit the nation, not just the individual immigrant. Obviously, we want new arrivals to prosper - a rising tide lifts all boats - but that doesn't obligate us to embrace everybody who chooses to jump a fence, dash a freeway or pay a drug cartel coyote to smuggle them across the border.

United States citizenship is the highest gift a person can receive. Some of us were born lucky thanks to the happy accident of geography. Millions and millions of others come here through legal means after years of struggle. We disrespect legal immigrants by rewarding the line-jumpers. We devalue citizenship itself by offering the rights and privileges of America without the responsibilities.

While Bob Kellar may be a "proud racist," I'll remain a proud American. Race isn't the issue. It's the alibi.

Doug McIntyre's column appears Wednesdays and Sundays. You can reach him at dncolumnist@dailynews.com.