9500Liberty Runs in Maximum Overdrive in Arizona

MoonHowler

An update on 9500Liberty from The Austin Chronicle   in Phoenix, AZ. Perhaps this review is the most accurate of all the different accounts of what really happened in Prince William County. Obviously, 9500Liberty has become very relevant in recent weeks and months as things heat up over immigration in Arizona.

This interesting documentary, which has spent the last half-year on the film-festival circuit, has achieved, rather suddenly, the utmost in topicality in the wake of Arizona’s passage of its infamous “show me your papers” law. Byler and Park’s film records the 2007-2008 events in Prince William County, Virginia, that surrounded the passage of a similar measure aimed at curbing illegal immigration.

The county board of supervisors there unanimously passed a law requiring police officers to stop anyone whom they had probable cause to believe was an illegal alien. Byler and Park, co-founders of the Coffee Party, were there to observe every public moment as the board wrestled with the fallout and concerned citizens galvanized around both sides of the issue. Events grew more complicated once the police chief calmly informed the board that new taxes would have to be passed in order cover the $14 million of estimated extra expenses to train his people in the details of upholding the law and to purchase cameras to mount on the dashboards of all police cruisers.

Most telling, however, was the eventual testimony of the leaders of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the group ultimately behind both the Virginia and Arizona initiatives. In Virginia, the group helped guide the efforts of the indefatigable blogger who founded Help Save Manassas, the group that led the charge against the illegal aliens.

In the end, this film exposes the calculatedness of politicians who exploit the immigration issue as a boon to their election bids. Part of what makes 9500 Liberty so special is what Byler and Park did with their footage before it was assembled into this feature film. They created a YouTube channel and posted all their interviews and clips online as they were gathered, and they encouraged viewer participation in shaping the material and steering the filmmakers toward unexamined aspects of the subject.

In time, the Virginia statute was amended to eradicate the “probable cause” provision, so that a person’s legal status could not be investigated unless the individual was first apprehended for another crime. The film has served as a cautionary tale, until the legislators in Arizona, of course, stirred things up again. Byler, whose previous narrative films Americanese and Charlotte Sometimes both won Audience Awards at previous South by Southwest Film Festivals. 9500 Liberty has little of the flowing grace of those movies and evidences the jagged video look and on-the-fly cinematography common to so many modern documentaries. Yet what this film has in urgency and timeliness makes it a unique witness to our times.

Eric and Annabel were certainly in the right place at the right time.

Immigration Resolution

Tea Party Poll

MoonHowler

From Huffington Post:

A University of Washington poll finds that a majority of “true” Tea Party supporters say it’s not the responsibility of government to guarantee equal rights to African Americans and other minorities.

According to the survey, 74% of Tea Party supporters say they agree with the following statement: “While equal opportunity for blacks and minorities to succeed is important, it’s not really the government’s job to guarantee it.”

Fifty-two percent of respondents also said that “compared to the size of their group, lesbians and gays have too much political power.”

The latest data on the Tea Party reveals that the anger coming from the movement isn’t unilaterally directed at government spending — one of the group’s core issues.

According to University of Washington professor Matt Barreto, who directed the poll, the Tea Party’s frustration with Washington “is going hand in hand with a frustration and opposition to racial and ethnic minorities and gays and lesbians.”

Other noteworthy findings from the University of Washington poll include:

  • 88% of Tea Party supporters approve of the controversial immigration law recently enacted in Arizona.
  • Only 18% of those surveyed say gay and lesbian couples should have the legal right to marry.
  • 73% of Tea Party backers disapprove of President Obama’s policy of engaging with Muslim countries.

    • Certainly polls can be very erroneous in the data they impart to us. Polls have certain criteria they must pass to be considered reliable. The polling sample must be relevant. Questions should be framed to eliminate bias. The sample must be large enough to be considered relevant. Those are just a few basics.  The poll is embedded in the article. (see poll in blue)

    I am going to be bold and suggest that these numbers really don’t represent the Tea Party, at least not on the east coast.  So there is no fight with me over these issues.  I don’t have an opinion.  However, let’s hear from those who might think the Tea Party represents their point of view. Tell us how you really feel on these issues.

    Centreville Gets Fugly

    MoonHowler

    Washington Post:

    A town-hall-style meeting Tuesday night about a proposed de facto day-labor work center in Centreville was expected to be fiery.

    It wasn’t just fiery. It got ugly.

    The two-hour-long meeting was organized by Fairfax County Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully) to gather community opinion about a planned day-labor center — privately funded and staffed by church volunteers — at the Centreville Square Shopping Center. Nonprofits and church groups have said a work center could address concerns from stores and neighbors, who say the bands of Guatemalan immigrants who look for work near shops and the nearby public library are intimidating and a nuisance.

    At several points, many in the crowd of at least 300 in the cafeteria of Centreville’s Centre Ridge Elementary School snickered, sneered and yelled at each other and at Frey, who moderated the forum.

    One man yelled, “You lie!” at Frey when he began speaking about Fairfax County’s partnership with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement jail programs. At another point, a shouting match erupted between a speaker and Frey, a moderate Republican who has represented the Sully section of Fairfax County since the district was created in 1991.

    “I’m not going to claim this is an end-all,” Frey said. “Do people feel like moving the workers to a location that’s less visible and less prominent, where it could be controlled? Does it make it better?”

    The question was met with a chorus of boos.

    Way to problem solve. NOT! This is the very kind of behavior that ‘howlings has been disdainful of–thug mentality. Where was the discussion? Where was the listening? Where was the courtesy?

    Obviously there is a problem with day laborers in Centreville. If a group is willing to assume responsibility for managing the problem, then why not at least hear them out. It seems better to do something rather than nothing. It seems better to listen and to try new things rather than to just sit around and bitch, piss and moan about something one has very little control over.

    Hats off to Michael Frey for looking for solutions to a thorny problem. Lastly, it is hard to respect any opinion when the delivery system is a series of boos and hisses. Intimidation is a bad form of government.

    Day Laborers’ Point of View

    Full story in the Washington Post

    [After looking at some footage provided by Rick, perhaps all conversation was not stomped out.  I will reserve judgement on what was said in the post until someone sees a video of the the entire town meeting.]

    AG Cuccinelli Refuses to Join 48 States in Amicus Against Westboro Baptist Church

    MoonHowler

     

    AG Ken Cuccinelli loves to file law suits and briefs.  He has several lawsuits against our country.  Please someone tell me why he didn’t jump on the band wagon against the funeral protesters, Westboro Baptist Church,  48 states filed an amicus brief.  2 states did not:  Virginia and Maine.  WHAT?  If there was ever a reason to file an amicus brief, WBC is it!

    According to Huffington Post:

    WASHINGTON — Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia have submitted a brief to the Supreme Court in support of a father who sued anti-gay protesters over their demonstration at the 2006 funeral of his son, a Marine killed in Iraq.

    Only Virginia and Maine declined to sign the brief by the Kansas attorney general.

    Albert Snyder sued over protests by the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church at his son’s funeral in Maryland. The church pickets funerals because they believe war deaths are punishment for U.S. tolerance of homosexuality.

    The Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether the protesters’ message is protected by the First Amendment.

    In the brief filed Tuesday, the states argued they have a compelling interest in protecting the sanctity of funerals.

    Mr. Snyder now owes WBC over $16,ooo because of a counter lawsuit.  Americans are outraged that the father of a fallen hero would ever have to pay this horrible group a penny.  Where is Virginia?  Once again, Ken Cuccinelli shames us all.  However, he now as one ally, according the the Richmond Times Dispatch–the ACLU.

    Cuccinelli’s office announced that it is not joining 48 other states in filing a supporting legal brief on behalf of Albert Snyder, the father of a soldier killed in Iraq whose funeral in Maryland was picketed by Westboro Baptist Church of Kansas, a hate group.

    Among other things, the church pickets funerals of American soldiers, claiming God has killed them for defending a nation of “sodomite hypocrites.”

    Snyder is suing Westboro and its pastor, the Rev. Fred W. Phelps, for what he alleges was a disruption of the funeral for his son, Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq in 2006. Church members have become nationally known for heckling at military funerals and hoisting signs that berate mourners with slogans such as “You’re in hell” and “God hates you.”

    After Snyder won a $5 million verdict in district court, an appeals court reversed the decision, saying the Westboro protestors were exercising their First Amendment right to free speech. The case is now moving to the U.S. Supreme Court.

    Yesterday was the deadline for filing a “friend of the court” brief in support of Snyder’s case. Every state but Maine and Virginia lined up behind Snyder.

    “The attorney general’s office deplores the absolutely vile and despicable acts of Fred Phelps and his followers,” spokesman Brian Gottstein said in a statement. “We also greatly sympathize with the Snyder family and all families who have experienced the hatefulness of these people.”

    The statement said Cuccinelli’s office chose not to file a brief “because the case could set a precedent that could severely curtail certain valid exercises of free speech.”

    Gottstein said Virginia has a law that balances free-speech rights but also protects people like the Snyder family by making it a crime to “willfully disrupt a funeral or memorial service to the point of preventing or interfering with the orderly conduct of the event.”

    Albert Snyder said Cuccinelli will pay a price politically for not joining other attorneys general.

    But the attorney general found an ally on the First Amendment issue from a frequent critic — the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

    “We completely agree with the attorney general,” said ACLU Executive Director Kent Willis, who called the issue a “fundamental gut check” of the First Amendment.

    “This kind of deplorable free speech must be protected in order to make sure all speech is protected.”

    The speech of WBC far exceeds any speech deemed tolerable by a civilized society. Their speech should be treated like yelling fire in a crowded theater or using the F word during prime time TV. The behavior of Westboro Baptist Church (sic) is totally unacceptable to conservatives, liberals, and moderates. What is Cuccinelli thinking? He should pay the political price, as father Albert Snyder states. Who ever thought the Cooch would be cozied up with the ACLU? I suppose politics makes real strange bedfellows in this case. Or…perhaps the Cooch agrees with WBC.

    Not Allowed!

    MoonHowler

    gores

    Al and Tipper Gore have just announced they are separating after 40 years of marriage.  No!  Not allowed.  I always thought they were the one couple who would make it.  They have not given reasons why and I suppose it isn’t any of our business.

    Hopefully we won’t find out that Al also has a zipper problem. I just wouldn’t like that at all. Tipper was a true leader is her efforts to hold entertainers responsible for the content of their art, especially if those artists had a main audience of kids. She also was instrumental in insisting on a rating system for music, similar to that at the movies.

    Every Day Should Be Memorial Day

    Elena

    Although this Memorial Day has come to an end, the journey for many fighting men and women continues on, long after the “holiday” ends.

    Let’s remember them, not just for today, but each and every day.

    http://www.uso.org/

    http://www.amvets.org/

    http://www.fisherhouse.org/

    http://www.pva.org/site/PageServer

    http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

    http://www.rollingthunder1.com/

    http://www.buglesacrossamerica.org/Pages/default.aspx