Dark Ages of PWC_Page01 by *CHZorro on deviantART
Artist’s Comments
“The Dark Ages of Prince William County” Episode 1, Page 1
Let the wild pilgrimage begin into the madness that has engulfed Prince William County, VA. In this episode, the Black Abbot Greg is asked for advice by lord Stewart, the ruler of Prince William County. Lord Stewart seeks to exile the foreigners, or Gypsies as he calls them, from the lands. The Black Abbot Greg devises a scheme drive away the Gypsies and gain total reign over Prince William County, but little does he know, his treacherous actions are being watched…
You know, I peaked at Greg’s almost confessional sounding post, and I detected some sadness and, perhaps, remorse for the fact that he is disliked by so many.
The artwork here is tremendous. Absolutely tremendous. And indeed it represents the proudest tradition of art … its raison d’etre (reason for existence) … which is in my view to express dissent in a society dominated by an oppressive regime.
However, coming on the heels of Greg’s essay of lamentation, I felt it was only human to express my one concern. It may be that his behavior is due to mental illness. I say this not as an insult. And if he is suffering from a mental illness, then in many ways we should not blame him any more than someone who has a physical disease, like diabetes or cancer.
Corey Stewart, I blame, and will blame until my dying day, for exploiting the extraordinary talents and tragic dementia of Greg Letiecq for his own political gain. But as I’ve said many times, there is a Greg Letiecq in every county in America. The Why Here and the Why Now of our story is that this is the county where the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors let the madman into his war room, and gradually allowed him to usurp his authority, to the point where he can no longer control him.
If this sounds like a defense of Greg Letiecq, you are free to sue me. I’ve defended others here who many dislike, and defended them better than this. But at the end of the day, we are all human beings as Patrick Garland said, even the ones who have harmed us the most.
Great illustrations and story!
WOW! Wish I had that kind of talent!
Great talent! Reminds me of my childhood favorite – Grimm’s.
Rasputin?
What is it about illegals that you people would sell your own mother if she didn’t support them? Do you look upon these people as your saviour or something. I’ve never seen so much admiration for a group of people who have so little in common with American citizens, and want to keep it that way. It’s quite amazing!
Someone please explain, and just being human is hardly a reason. Are you all related in some way? Sometimes I have to sit back and remind myself that the subject is people who have illegally entered this country, and not Greg L.
I think the difference is, we don’t see ethnic diversity as affecting our way of life in a negative way. Some do. And there in lies the conflict.
We do see McCarthism infecting our local government as affecting our life. With the Witch Hunt going bananas, calls for the firing of Chief Deane, the Communications Department, the County Excutive, attacks on fellow citizens, the religious community, not to mention all the racist and anti-American hatred that is thrown at Latinos! We’re just sick and tired of the Gospel Greg warped and degraded wicked ugly version of Prince William County we’ve had to live in since he came to town with his blog and his hate-mongering political action committee.
We’re going to counter him in any way we can. We are winning. He knows it. And that’s why he’s behaving like a lunatic.
WHWN, yes, I do have a tiny bit of sympathy for him.
I have to ask myself, how many of you actually took a drive down route 1 through Woodbridge in the days before the Resolution. It was a sight from some other land. It certainly wasn’t representative of an American town, or at least not one I’d want to live in. You don’t have to hate the people, but hating what they were doing to the community is more to the point. This is why we target the illegal immigrant, because before this phenomena of the illegal immigrant appeared in PWC we were at peace with all immigrants. There was no problem involving immigrants, and I’ve lived here since 1980.
SA, The route 1 corridor has been really gross for a long time. I haven’t seen it up close and personal for a while but back in the 90’s it was …well…ghetto.
Now, to address your question…about illegal immigrants. If you don’t know a person’s status, it makes it difficult to direct your rage against ‘illegals.’ I believe the hispanic immigrants are like any other wave of immigrants….assimilation is gradual. Nothing I have seen has indicated otherwise to me. Adult immigrants are the last to learn English and children are the first.
I prefer to attack problems in a different way. And I do not dispute that there are problems, just the methods being used to correct said problems.
Moon-howler,
Thank you for such a precise post. I guess I am just too tired to deal with the usual attacks tonight. I second your sentiment. I believe the lanuage we choose is as important as the solutions themselves! Hmmm, I think I said that already!
MH,
By all means please explain the alternative ways that the Resolution could have been avoided. As far as ‘you don’t know if they are illegal’ unless thousands of Hispanics became naturalized citizens overnight then you know as well as I that it’s a safe bet that they’re illegal. Hey, if legal residents are causing the problem then throw the book at them too. I believe in equal punishment as well.
Elena, you are doing a fine job.
SecondAlamo, assuming the 287G program was in place, I would not have created the criminal alien police unit. It is costly and takes officers off the street. I would have all 287g work done at the jail.
I would not have had the resolution because it caused hysteria and it appeared to target Latinos. It also was fairly restrictive when first written. That, I am assuming, was to create fear and to scare people. No library, no swimming pools, NO county services, etc.
After the county went through the thing with a fine tooth comb, it seems that most things could not be enforced. For instance, if the house of an illegal immigrant was on fire, no one would make anyone produce documentation before putting the fire out. Same thing with auto accidents.
I would not fund things I had no control over. I would put money into neighborhood services, social services, and zoning to get the neighborhood crap under control. You have to walk 7 blocks to your house because you are only allowed x number of parking places, you might want to live somewhere else. Get rid of the excessive cars. Make parking rules about trucks and work vans. Turn up the volume on junk cars, disabled cars, improper equipment. Address the behaviors, not the people.
Naturally, those would be a start. I have not seen even one thing the resolution has corrected. No one really wants to say what the resolution really did. Shall I say it?
Second Alamo, you wrote “unless thousands of Hispanics became naturalized citizens overnight then you know as well as I that it’s a safe bet that they’re illegal.”
These are the only two categories you admit? A person here is either a citizen or illegal? What about legal resident aliens with green cards? What about Temporary Protected Status, which is currently designated for registered Salvadorans through 3/09. Salvadorans are the largest single Latino group in this area. Hondurans and Nicaraguans are also among the handful of nationalities that have people under this program.
Maybe everyone you see is illegally here, who knows. The one certain thing is you don’t know and it has nothing to do with people becoming naturalized over night.
PS: This is not even to mention Latinos here who are citizens by birth or people here on a fully valid visitors’ or work visa.
I see no religious symbols in the cartoons. Just general cult looking cartooning. Would someone please point out the religious symbolism? It must be some symbols I don’t know about.
Thought this deserved a re-post. If nothing else, the artwork is incredible, at a minimum you have to recognize that. And by the way, it’s called political satire.
I wonder who is going to boo hoo about it.
I wonder if Corey S has recovered from being called out as one of the characters by a member of the red circle.
“We’re going to counter him in any way we can. We are winning. He knows it. And that’s why he’s behaving like a lunatic.”
If you are “winning” then how is it that you could only generate 72 signatures on your petition in a number of days, and among those are signatures from Florida, Georgia, Maine, Alabama, New York, California, Canada, Australia, and even 2 from Germany. At least one of your signatories has admitted on another thread that he is from Centreville. I doubt that more than a handful of your signatories are from Prince William County. I would hardly call this a mandate from the PWC voters. We could probably get more votes for a ham sandwich…and did.
AWCheney, all you have to do is a little comparative analysis.
Last year, the Board of Supervisors was entirely intimidated by Greg Leteicq, with support from Numbers USA and other national organizations sending emails and automated faxes.
This year, the Supervisors understand that emails can come from anywhere, as can automated faxes, and that while hate is a good motivator, it is not a sound basis for policy, and unscientific measures of hate such as automated faxes should not be the only factor in making policy decisions.
Last year, there was an impression that the entire county and indeed the entire nation was anti-immigrant, and as John Stirrup was fond of saying “illegal immigration” would dominate the 2008 Presidential election.
This year, we have two Presidential candidates who are decidedly NOT in the pocket of the Anti-Immigrant Lobby, nor are they intimidated by email blasts and automated faxes. In fact, the media and both campaigns have entirely ignored the issue ever since McCain defeated anti-immigrant flip-flopper Romney, because it is a foregone conclusion that a bill very similar to the McCain/Kennedy bill will pass.
Last year, the Board tended to vote 8-0 in which ever way Greg Letiecq told them to.
This year, the Board voted 8-0 the OTHER WAY to neuter the Immigration Resolution and bring it into compliance with the equal protection clause of the Constitution, over Corey Stewart’s “dead body,” which was more like a over his desperate begging and pouting and crying in the back room for two hours while the other seven Supervisors waited for him to face reality and vote in the majority to escape further humiliation. And yes, three Board members voted against the appointment of Robert Duecaster, and five voted in favor of allowing discussion of that appointment.
The bottom line is that the bullying tactics aren’t working any more. Greg Letiecq and his 3 possibly 4 remaining blog posters have failed to intimidate citizens who chose to speak out. They have failed to intimidate Board members into voting as they demanded. And they have not succeeded in getting anything more than the usual suspects to Board meetings ever since the neutering of the Immigration Resolution on April 29th.
We are back to normal, in many respects, which leaves our Supervisors free to vote in the best interest of the county. The nightmare is over. And who’s winning?
Prince William County.
If it’s over, why are you all still whining…and constantly attacking Greg, Cory, and John in the process? Hardly sounds like winners to me.
I wouldn’t call it whining. When they stop doing stupid things that drag our county into the muck, we’ll stop pointing it out. We’re almost there.
I don’t know about strikes AGAIN….this was on his/her site when you posted the last one.
Yes, I just moved it to the top since it was the topic of conversation at last nights BoS meeting.
I too believe GL has mental illness. Robert Duecaster might also. Corey Stewart and John Stirrup….nope. Just your run-of-the-mill evil and probably grossly unhappy people who want to inflict their unhappiness on the rest of us.
AW, Duecaster, Stirrup and Corey need to GO. They are rotten to the core, they are ineffective, they are irresponsible, and they are in there long term. Until they are out, expect to hear some of us speaking out against their poor leadership and their bankrupting our county fiscally and otherwise.
AW doesn’t do homework.
I’ve done plenty of “homework,” kgotthardt…check out my site if you doubt that (I’ve checked out yours). I make no out-of-hand assumptions based solely on personal opinion as you do, and I’ve got a 40-year resume of political activism and experience on top of that.
AW your resources and analytical skills are skewed at best IMHO. Don’t care what your experience looks like. Duecaser has “experience” as well. So do Stirrup and Stewart and GL. “Experience” is a limited perspective.
My opinions come from collective knowledge, research, and reliable sources. I use personal examples to help demonstrate how some of this crap can happen to a “white” person which is why this issue is important to me. Hispanics first, then Asians, then Catholics and Muslims….you’re next, AW. Trust no one who hates this openly and widely.
AW I posted on your blog so you will know I have indeed looked at it in the past but didn’t comment.
This sure sounds like the BLOW AND CROW club here.
Anyone else want to pat themselves on the back?
It sounds like no one else will do it.
I amazed that anyone would accuse AWC of NOT doing her homework. Read her posts and her blog, and you will see just how out completely out of line that comment is. Not only has she done her homework, but she came to this country legally as a child. She’s also, has personal experience.
Yeah, and?
AW wanted to talk history the other day and couldn’t bother to finish the conversation. She can pat herself on the back as much as she wants. Her decision. My point: your resume is a piece of paper until you walk the walk. So are claims to serve the community and have its best interests in mind.
I have my own opinion of the gentlemen to which you refer, and it happens that John Stirrup is nothing like the loathsome human being you portray. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with ANY of the gentlemen to which you refer, your opinion is grounded in obvious hatred, which is hardly an objective perspective, and your verbalization of that perspective makes that hatred quite obvious. It has been you and several others here who have stirred the pot with this hatred so thoroughly that the idea of reaching any common ground with the vast majority of LEGAL voters in this county will be way beyond your reach.
You don’t know me, and I really have not the least desire to know you after so many of the venomous comments that I have seen come from you on these pages. YOUR way will never win in this county, I assure you…and it is most certainly NOT grounded in “resources and analytical skills!” Quite the contrary.
Thanks Chris…I was beginning to lose my temper. This woman was beginning to sound like Jimmy Young, and that’s like holding up a red flag!
Ha ha. Every time I think of James Young, AW, I think of you. Two peas in a pod which is why the email exchange was so entertaining.
kgotthardt, 24. September 2008, 9:24
“AW I posted on your blog so you will know I have indeed looked at it in the past but didn’t comment.”
A little over your head, was it?
A little gone to your head, eh, AW?
Oh GOOD LORD, AW. You don’t even know me. I don’t have a hateful bone in my body. I DO have an angry bone, however, and I intend to pick the BOCS’s bones as well as anyone they appoint who is unqualified to do the job. You don’t like that and neither do they. I’m blunt. You don’t like that and neither do they. Too bad so sad.
Over my head? Yeah. Okay. 40 years experience? I went to college, too, AW. Get over yourself and stop pulling the “I’m older than you so I know better” card.
It’s not my fault if you won’t listen to reasonable solutions (that give everyone what they need without hating particular communities). You don’t like the messenger, so you dismiss the message. Guess what? Donna W. isn’t my favorite messenger either, but her message makes sense when it comes to protecting the community to things like drunk drivers, criminals, and gangs.
Sorry, but your research is one sided IMHO. You have the choice to stop this conversation any time you want, but you would prefer to play academic-one-upmanship which goes nowhere except down the toilet. Duecaster is a bad choice and at least 3 of your supervisors agree. Obvioulsy, this is a matter of perspective and proof, isn’t it?
I have poked around outside of both blogs and stumbled across this lil nuggett posted on yet another web site….
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“If you are a person who does any traveling around your own country, then you are aware of the larger issue concerning illegal immigration.
The issue is not about people of a different color or people from a different country, it is about the invasion of culture.
In southern Florida you walk up to an ATM machine and English is not the default language, English is the second option, when out shopping in Miami, Tampa etc.. you better know Spanish. This is not isolated to Florida. Atlanta, GA is a booming Latino area as well, and so is Charlotte, NC, Mannassas, VA and hundreds of other cities, counties and regions in the United States. Some regions in the USA have been totally taken over by Latinos, all other ethnic groups have been pushed out.
The issues is that people are coming to this country and not assimilating, they are super imposing their own culture and language, using the system to set up shop and not be a part of the larger American demographic.
Some regions even do business in Pesos not US dollars.
La Raza ( a Latino political group) is openly racist, and they have considerable political clout.
No, the issue is that Americans are losing their neighborhoods, their cities and their very language and culture to a hostile and disassociated avalanche of illegal immigration, a growing demographic of Latinos who have no wish to assimilate into America, they want a separate system, separate representation and separate government all together.
All that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Once you start looking at the one-way road, special treatment and absolute apathy by our own local and federal government concerning illegal immigrants it becomes pretty obvious that YOU as a legal US Citizen are in reality a second class citizen, you are paying for the destruction of not only your immediate future, but the destruction of your very culture, language and your children’s futures.
History is littered with examples of what happens to a nation that allows its identity and language to be subverted.
This issue is too far gone. You can not round up 20 million + people and there extended family members and forcibly ship them any place.
What you can do is enact laws that require English, laws that do not allow for English as a second language. Laws that do away with or totally eliminate subsidies and services. Laws that disallow non-English radio and TV etc..The battle can be won on the cultural front quietly with out incident, but it will take smarter men and women in government and law, individuals that see the bigger long term picture, sadly the people in charge now are blind and self serving.
The alternative is the inevitable clash of cultures, the rise of race based bigotry on both sides of the fence and eventual civil war, read your history books and see how that worked out for the Romans & the Gauls”
Just Cause,
English is the official language of Virginia. That does not exclude other languages from being spoken. I would not want to live anywhere where there were laws that disallowed other languages to be spoken on radio or tv. Would you really want this?
I have read quite a few history books. None of them warn of the dangers of Spanish TV, operas being sung in Italian, or french lessons out of GMU.
Mh- I think you missed the point the person was trying to make..I read the exact same thing you did and interpreted it much differently….
Oh well….
This exchange, kgotthardt, has had NOTHING to do with the issue of illegal immigration. I have not even offered my personal opinion of any of the gentlemen that you so vigorously slam, with the exception of John Stirrup, for whom I have a great deal of respect. My comment was purely an indictment of the virtually libelous personal attacks against these gentlemen (mental illness?? rotten to the core??…to name but two, on this occasion), and it was of course fueled by your suggestion that I’m stupid (“AW your resources and analytical skills are skewed at best IMHO.”). If you want a flame war, I’ll be more than happy to provide it…you certainly have no desire to actually discuss an issue without devolving into personal attacks. You call your indulgence being blunt…I call it being rude and inappropriate. It IS actually possible to discuss issues without incendiary comments…of course, you must have the ability to at least respect some opinions other than your own. It is possible to disagree without continually attacking people…at least it is for most people
AW, I don’t see why you think you’ve made a point when you say people on this blog often point out bad decisions and untrue statements made by our elected officials (and quasi officials like Greg). This is done consistently, in good measure, with factual evidence, not with a panic-filled paranoia, like the Witch Hunt that Gospel Greg fires up any time he senses he is losing another battle.
And JC that is my point with research as well….our applications of it can be different depending on what we are trying to defend. However, more objective, hard data like the PWC report on citizen dissatisfaction says more than we all can as individuals, no matter how much research we do.
Collective data from all sides is what we need to use to come to a reasonable solution.
AW, if you really have principles to speak of, where were you when Jeanette Rishel was being attacked in the most hateful, bigoted, libelous, and insincere manner possible. Mind you, this was not even in the best interest of the county, but as a political tactic for an election. Did you speak up then? Seriously doubt it.
So don’t pretend there is a principle of any kind at the heart of your whining.
We have no candidate in mind when we criticize John Stirrup. There is no Jackson Miller behind the curtain of THIS blog. We are non-partisan. We support candidates who have the best interest of the county at heart, regardless of party. We are not a Republican founded blog designed to further Republican causes that latched on to the anti-immigrant movement as a way to distract from issues more relevant to our county’s future like public safety, schools, and transportation.
That’s your real beef was this blog. It has nothing to do with word choice. We don’t have enough of a right wing slant for you to feel comfortable here. So you took your toys and started your own blog. That’s fine. But don’t whine and cry and accuse just because we don’t share your ideology.
AW I don’t think you are stupid at all! I never said that. What I am saying is the same thing I just said to JC: research can be skewed. The media can be bias. So what? There’s nothing “libelous” or “attacking” about it. I respect all kinds of opinions–even Rick Bentley’s! SA and I have had a number of reasonable dialogs. When I said you don’t do your homework, I was referring to our previous discussion on history when you took the “I’m smarter than you are because I’m older tact.”
You can think I’m rude if you want. That’s your perogative. I don’t think anything of you except that your research IMHO is skewed and that you dismiss anyone you think isn’t old enough to know better or as smart as you which I find arrogrant, but whatever.
KG,
40 years of political activism…I’m not sure what’s less suprising….that or that Clay Aiken is gay.
BTW, no discussion here about the bailout?
I should not have said “candidates” since really this blog has not had a chance to prove itself during a local election cycle. I mean to say that we offer praise or criticism of ELECTED OFFICIALS without worrying about what party they represent.
Truly, if not for partisan selfishness, the immigration issue would not have been brought to this county for the 2007 election.
Yeah what about that bailout, Slowpoke? Isn’t that scary? What do you think of that? Personally, I’m tired of government bailing out these scumbag businesses and putting the burden on US once again.
MH-
I guess the point I got from it was that if you are an immigrant and you wish to become a Citizen of the United States of America, you take an oath….and according to this oath, you agree to assimilate as an American and obey the American laws and pledge to the American flag etc etc…
Seems waving a flag from a different Country, speaking a different language, demanding sources ( tv, radio stations etc) to be subverted away from the english language, conducting business in mexican pesos vs. US dollar etc etc etc…..
is all against the oath a person took and promised to uphold to become an American Citizen…
Which I never thought of until I read this post….