Happy Valentines Day!
Watch out for those sneaky cupids.
Guest Post by Lafayette
UPDATE
We are planning a Moonhowling’s Birthday Gathering. We’d like to see what dates below would work for the majority that would be interesting in attending. We’ll be at Mama Mia’s in Gainesville at 7669 Limestone Dr.. For more information visit their website http://mamamiapizza.net/ The time is firm 1pm to 4pm.
Chosen Date:
Sunday 2/27
1:00-4:00
Hope you can join us.
Cindy,
We still do not know all the details of what happend, but clearly alchohol was a part of what happened. Churches can play such a powerful role in reaching out to the community and helping prevent tragedies. Who knows how their influence and direct help has been able to raise people up and change the direction of their lives.
Moe,
I was just saying yesterday that Boehner may find many democrats as his best allies. These are crazy times for sure.
@Elena
Elena,
Perhaps I need to clarify my “fool” comment. I don’t think his comments wholly foolish. He is entitled to his opinion, just as is everyone else. What I thought foolish was his clear intentions to make the discussion about race ( Everyone (His)panic!) and his bashing of PWC (and by inference Manassas) for the actions taken thus far by these localities.
Moon, has brought up some good points about assessing the effectiveness of 287g, before rolling it out statewide, as there will be some implementation and operational cost burdens to be born by the locality. If a locality hasn’t been impacted by illegal alien crime to the degree that their citizens are demanding action (as is the case of Fluevana, Shaun Kenney’s county), then an argument against state 287g could be made, and Shaun Kenney would have not only a right to make it, but I’ll argue as an elected official, he would have an obligation to make this argument. I wouldn’t have a problem with that. Had he made this argument, while I may disagree with which should be the overriding consideration (cost vs. public safety), I couldn’t call the argument “foolish”.
But that isn’t what Shaun Kenney did in his post, is it? He bashed Jackson Miller, who is simply and passionately arguing that there is indeed a need for statewide 287g, because his community has been impacted tragically by the actions of criminals who are also illegally present in the country, and if an illegal alien had previous contact with LEO’s for minor incidents in a non-287g jurisdiction, the system would not flag him. He bashed the PWC BOCS, and by extension, bashed every citizen of these locales who is fed up and demanding action…and worse, he injected race into the discussion. We will never come up with an effecient system to deal with criminal illegal aliens, if everyone keeps getting sucked into the race argument. Kenney didn’t help things in this regard.
Now please indulge me while I get a little “inside baseball”: Considering that Mr. Kenney is an elected official, he has a certain responsibility to keep the flamethrower set to “low” when making public comments about another elected official, especially one from his own party. I would say an elected shouldn’t bash another locality either. Not only did Kenney try to charbroil Jackson, he tried to fry the PWC BCOS, where many of those who voted for 287g are fellow Republicans. I am convinced that had he the geographical understanding of Manassas in relation to PWC, he also would have included the City Council, who also unanimously voted for 287g, but he did include Manassas in his collective flame. Perhaps he doesn’t know the Manassas City Council is also majority GOP. But he didn’t stop there. He included the citizens as well. I believe this was a “fire, ready, aim” argument. But this isn’t the first time Shaun Kenney has set about bashing Manassas Republicans. Back when he was part of VCAP, he relentlessly attacked Harry Parrish and was part of the crowd trying to foist Steve Chapman on Manassas. For those who don’t know, Virginia Conservative Action PAC (VCAP) raised more hate and discontent within the GOP, in the name of driving a conservative agenda, than even the TEA Party. VCAP wasn’t a “grass roots” organization. It was a well-funded group of politicos whose sole purpose was to pick off “ideologically unpure” Republicans. They came into Manassas and tried to intimidate the leadership of the Manassas GOP, of which I am a member. So, in the past, Shaun Kenney wanted to influence who our representation was, and now he chooses to bash who our representation is…and he’s an elected official now…and he’s a member of the GOP. From my politico POV, this is very foolish. His bashing of PWC (and little ol’ Manassas) is also foolish. Thus my opinion of the man is formed, and I think rationally based. He knows who I am, and if he doesn’t, than he has a poor memory. If he does remember, then he knows why I think him a fool.
Cindy, Thanks for the plug for MAG!
In addition to what Cindy mentioned, MAG also offers budgeting and household financial management too, as money troubles are often the root of domestic disputes. I am part of this ministry at MAG.
But Steve, we have 287G and it did not prevent these murders. Futhermore, we have the crime stats for illegal immigrants, we know that 87% are traffic citations. What I would like is a cost benefit analysis before anyone else spends a penny of tax payer money.
Futhermore, Sean’s point of having the state legislature dictate what the whole of Virginia should adopt as far as 287G goes is an excellent point. Either you believe in the rights of the state and thus the rights of the specific localities or you do not. Jackson Miller advocating EVERY jurisdiction implement 287G hyprocrisy in my opinion.
Steve, we know, that when illegal immigration is discussed, “border enforcement” is almost always inlcuded in “stopping” illegal immigration. We all know that it is about our southern border, and who comes across our southern border? Hispanics. We also know that during the hayday of immigration debate on BVBL, it was virtually impossble to separate illegal immigration from spanish speaking “criminal illegal aliens”. In fact, what brought me into this whole debate was that very explicit connection, hispanic = illegal immigrant, and the overwhelming support of that connection by BVBL posters.
A completely separate question, does MAG require proof of citizenship before they offer help?
Elena, amen! The ugliness on BVBL and posters’ attempts to tie all immigration matters to Hispanics is what drew me into the fray as well. Reasoned debate wasn’t what Greg wanted – he deleted opposing views and supported the battiest of name-calling. The same crapola continues today on his blog.
My reaction at watching the video of HSM meetings and of reading BVBL was that of shock and I’m not shocked easily. I grew up in an age when politics and religion were generally not discussed in polite society and now I could easily see why!
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=41sid=2275613
Apparently another “domestic dispute” tragedy.
@Steve, thanks for sharing your point of view. Regardless of whether we agree, disagree, or have no opinion, it is helpful to see where you are coming from. Your fool statement did seem to come out of no where. I appreciate your explanation.
Big Dog, is that link correct? I can’t get it to open.
MH, this one works. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/homicide/woman-killed-in-woodbridge.html
Elena,
MAG does not require proof of citizenship prior to providing any services to the community, nor should they. If the membership objects to this, the membership can resolve to have it be a requirement. If that was proposed, I would vote against it. However, I couldn’t see the church members proposing this to begin with. “Render unto Ceaser what is Ceaser’s. Render unto the Lord what is the Lord’s”.
There are simply too many killings (intentional, unintentional or through carelessness) in our community. It almost takes your breath away to think how many there have been in the past few years. I believe that the killers have been of all stripes and that we cannot single any group of people out as having more of a propensity towards killing any other.
Sounds to me like these tea party Republicans are finding their task of cutting spending a lot harder that they thought it would be.
President Obama vs. Republicans = zugzwang.
“I believe that the killers have been of all stripes and that we cannot single any group of people out as having more of a propensity towards killing any other.”
Moon,
I can agree with this. Murder, for a multitude of reasons, crosses all ethnic and socio-economic boundries. I will also say that if there is anything we can do as a society to prevent this, then we should. If it’s drug related, crack down on the dealers, but put prevention and rehab programs in place to decrease the demand. If it’s gang related, then the same rationale applies. I think 287g, while it targets a specific sub-group of all criminals, is one tool that should be used, but I will conceed your point that if the program can be improved, it should be. If it’s not, it should be replaced with something that does work. However, for the moment, it’s one of the few tools we have.
Some tense action in Wisconsin… I smell civil unrest and near rebellion. 😉
: ) This is why I like you Steve.
Steve,
Your comment #18 is such common sense. The real way to change many social ills that end up effecting us all is prevention, and rehab would be the most cost effective tool we have as a society, a lot cheaper than jail and crime that tends to be as the result of drug and alchohol abuse. But if memory serves me correctly, didn’t the county make that impossible for illegal immigrants?
Elena,
I don’t think it’s that clear cut. Yes, there are certain government funded services for alcohol/drug rehab and such, offerred through the Dept of Social Services, that may be denied illegal aliens, but I do believe that much of this type of service is offerred through churches or other charitable organizations, so the help is out there, for no/low cost. MAGs outreach, as well as that of other churches is a great example. I also know the gang prevention/intervention activities offerred through the NoVa gang taskforce are open to everyone, which makes perfect sense, and I have yet to hear a citizen squawk about tax dollars being used to help illegal alien gang members get their gang tatoos removed (which I hear is an effective program).
Moon,
In retrospect, I should have done a much better job of qualifying my statements to begin with, and I think it perfectly OK that I was challenged to defend them. I can also understand why others would disagree with my assessment on its face, and can respect those who continue to disagee, post-qualification.
an amendment by Rep. Steve Womack to defund the President’s teleprompter…. I think that is getting a little ridiculous (he cannot even figure out how much money that would save). Another amendment by Rep. Randy Neugebauer to defund the alteration, repair or improvement of the Executive Residence of the White House. If something needs to be fixed, it needs to be fixed. To let the White House slip into disrepair is nearing treason. Puhleaze.
@Steve Thomas
I don’t disagree at all. I have always supported the 287g program. And if it is being used as a revolving door, then perhaps we need to look for other solutions. But, as you said, its all we have right now so….
No one wants criminals in the neighborhood or community.
@Pat.Herve
Rep. Steve Womack wastes our time. So does that other A$$-hat. Defund the telepromptor? Surely they know that many presidents have used a telepromptor, long before President Obama. In a global world, any US president doesn’t have the time to memorize speeches.
Steve Womack is truly an ass. You have convinced me. And if the residence of the White House gets a gas leak in the kitchen, should the president just write a check or say screw it and let the place blow up?
another shooting in Woodbridge – http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/17/AR2011021705660.html – another domestic situation. Pretty soon, I will have to move to DC where it is safer.
@Pat, did you catch the chick fil a shooter’s middle name? How ironic is that!