Apparently, John McCain has selected Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska as his Vice Presidential running mate.
Chairman Corey Stewart’s Political Aspirations
With much discussion over whether or not Virginia Governor Tim Kaine could become Barack Obama’s Vice Presidential running mate, it started me considering the political aspirations of Chairman Corey Stewart. We do know that according to a Washington Post article in February that Stewart did have intentions on seeking the Lieutenant Governor’s position even declaring himself the ‘preeminent Republican in Northern Virginia’. Now, while I don’t proclaim to know what his long-term objectives are, could he conceivably envision himself as a possible candidate for a national office?
Patrolling with the Mounted Police
Here you go.
WP: Final Salute to a Navy Pioneer
The Washington Post has an article about the grand opening of a Prince William County Public School – Samuel Gravely. The school is named for the nation’s first black Vice Admiral, Samuel Gravely.
According to his widow,
“There were people who didn’t want to be on a ship with him. There weren’t many blacks in the Navy,” Gravely said. “One time, he was taken to jail in Key West, Florida, for impersonating an officer. He was an officer, and he was in an officer’s uniform.”
“Anchor Baby” wins Gold for US
Photo: Saurabh Das / Associated Press
The New York Times reports that Henry Cejudo the son of illegal immigrants from Mexico wins the Gold Medal for the United States in wrestling. Congratulations Henry!
The American flag landed on the scorer’s table, launched by a family member with exceptional aim. Henry Cejudo grabbed it from his coach and draped it around his body. He stood there for the longest time, fighting back tears, the son of illegal immigrants wrapped in stars and stripes.
BVBL Strives for High Standard?
Greg L said on 19 Aug 2008 at 12:37 am:
Monticup, I understand your frustration and outrage, but try to refrain from characterizing all illegal aliens as nascent criminals. Some are, but it would appear that they’re a pretty small minority. With somewhere around 12 million illegal aliens in the US by conservative estimates, if they were all predisposed to criminal behavior we’d be far worse off than we are. There are about 300,000 illegal aliens in Virginia, and we certainly don’t have a crime explosion that such numbers would create.A big problem however is that of those 300,000 we have no idea who they are. Among them are certainly some of the worst folks you could imagine from both a crime and a national security perspective. In order to ensure these bad actors aren’t present, the lawful deportation of as many illegal aliens as possible is a way to ensure we remove those who pose the most significant threat as well as (perhaps more significantly) discourage other bad actors from unlawfully entering the country.
If we cannot control our borders, we are no longer a sovereign nation, and our democracy is in grave peril. As we seek to do so, we have to be certain that what we ask for is reasoned and responsible. We can’t do that very well by saying all illegal aliens are invariably rapists and murderers without undermining our arguments. There’s enough provable and unambiguous data out there to support our arguments without stretching so much, and in ways that can become counterproductive.
We have to maintain a higher standard than anyone else, and while it might not be fair, that’s just how it is. Let’s do our best to be better than those arguing the other side.
Acutally, it’s almost refreshing to see Mr. Leteicq make this kind of statement. It’s in sharp contrast to his infamous ‘Dog for Sale’ thread. Apparently he is coming to the realization that in order to be considered a rational voice in the immigration debate he can no longer permit the previously employed rhetoric and mischaracterizations of all ‘illegals’ as being rapists, murderers etc… To what extent this transformation is a result of our efforts might never be known but I feel confident that we have contributed to forming the terms of this discussion. Congratulations to everyone for their continued participation.
Help Save Manassas Summer Edition Newsletter
After a 4 month hiatus, a Summer edition of the Help Save Manassas – Frontline newsletter is now available, entitled – Prince William: An Oasis in the Desert. Obviously, the HSM camp suffers from hallucinations where the mantra about the ‘Rule of Law’ Resolution aka the Immigration Resolution abound and where the resolution is both working well but yet not working at all.
Interestingly, some of the regular names including Steve Thomas no longer appear and there’s no mention of his whereabouts. We do learn that both Greg Letiecq and Dan Arnold of the nightmarish – Cultural Chaos fiasco of the March edition have both been ‘re-elected’.
We also learn that after exhausting local businesses, the ‘Do the Right Thing’ pledge has now ‘expanded’ their reach to areas such as Stafford & Spottslyvannia. One needs to ask whether or not local businesses are being deceived into pledging their allegiance to HSM?
The zeros and heroes section seems to be repeated from past editions.
And then there’s the ‘Crime Prevention’ Team which perhaps has replaced the Special Ops group? According to the newsletter the police department believes the Crime Prevention Team is a ‘valuable resource’. Surely if the police felt such a ‘team’ of local citizens was needed they would have requested volunteers. Instead, Letiecq and cohorts have most likely put the police in the undesirable position of having to mediate any incidents that could result by having this antagonist force thrust themselves into this situation.
Immigration Film Series this Weekend
Unity in the Community in collaboration with George Mason University, Prince William Campus
University Life presents – Crossing the Line: An Immigration Film Series at the Verizon Auditorium at George Mason University’s Prince William Campus
Saturday, August 16 at 7:30 pm – a double feature
“Alienated: Undocumented Immigrant Youth”
This film is about undocumented immigrant youth facing the challenges of life after high school without options for legalized work or college
“Beyond the Border”
Latinos seeking a better life have migrated to Kentucky, for low-paying jobs in the tobacco, manufacturing and horse racing industries. As Latino communities swell, so does the xenophobia and discrimination they face.
Sunday, August 17 at 2:30 pm
“Under the Same Moon”
The reunion of 9-year-old Carlitos and his mother Rosario, Who works as an illegal domestic in Los Angeles.
“Stewart’s Wife Strains Resources and Causes Sprawl” What?
From FAIR’s website, where they once again accuse legal immigrants of causing economic hardship on localities. How did Corey allow himself to become a tool for this organization? So, if we believe Federation for American Immigration Reform(FAIR), then Corey’s own wife, who is a legal permanent resident is to blame for straining resources and causing sprawl!
Can you imagine these organizations like FAIR & Immigration Reform Law Institute(IRLI) claim to be for legal immigration but at the same time have their representatives write books like – “The Case Against Immigration” which is currently being hauked by Mark Krikorian from IRLI.
Listen, if you want to write a book like that fine, just don’t lie to me and tell me that you’re pro-immigrant!
Around the Country
Virginia
The northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. have become a hotbed of immigration reform activism in recent years. In 2006, the city of Herndon voted out of office all but one local official who had supported a day labor hiring site for illegal aliens. More recently, Prince William County has attracted national attention by instituting local immigration enforcement policies and cooperating closely with federal immigration authorities. A new report by the University of Virginia demonstrates why local residents are so concerned about mass immigration. The report finds that one in five northern Virginia residents is now foreign-born and statewide the immigrant population has doubled since 1980. This rapid influx of both government sanctioned and illegal immigrants has strained local resources and contributed to population driven sprawl in the region.
9500Liberty Screening at McCoart Tonight / Powerful Words Defend Marty Nohe
9500Liberty Special Screening
Thursday August 7th • 6:30 PM
James J. McCoart Administration Building • Occoquan Room
1 County Complex Court • Woodbridge, VA
6:30 PM
Immigration Policy Change in Prince William County (6 minutes)
Followed by a 20 minute Q/A about PWC’s current immigration policy
7:00 PM
9500Liberty Special Screening August Update (80 minutes)
Followed by a one hour discussion and Q/A
Added scenes will include Chris Pannell, a former Help Save Manassas Executive Board Member, explaining why she left Help Save Manassas, the first "Save Prince William County’s Economy " Party, and Chief Deane’s official response to the Letiecq/Stewart charges of treason before the Board of Supervisors April 1, 2008.
A Conservative Argues for Immigration Reform
According to News America Media,
Businesses rely on immigrant workers for their existence as viable enterprises, argues Jacoby. It is nearly impossible to hire U.S. workers for many jobs (as farmhands, meatpackers, dishwashers, etc.). Unlike in 1960, when about half of all American men dropped out of high school, today nine in 10 graduate. Without a critical mass of unskilled U.S.-born workers, there’s a labor shortage in many sectors of the economy.
In the introduction to her 2004 book, “Reinventing the Melting Pot: the New Immigrants and What It Means to Be American,” Jacoby refers to this problem with the same unsentimental pragmatism that characterizes her general approach to the debate.
“Of course, however hard they work, many poor, ill-educated immigrants who start at the bottom of the ladder remain there throughout their lives,” she writes. “This is not particularly surprising, and it may seem to vindicate those who claim that the United States today is importing a new lower class.
“But that’s part of the point of our immigration policy: America no longer has this kind of working class, and it turns out that we need one.” That’s why Jacoby says employers are passionate about this. “Who’s going to be telling their representative how to vote on this? The people who have a real stake in it, and that’s small and mid-sized business.”
Yet, as the current system works, American employers seem to be facing a choice between growing their business and obeying the law. According to Jacoby, the government issues about one million work visas a year, when the market’s real need is probably closer to 1.5 million.
Her organization calls for tougher enforcement at the workplace and along the border. Jacoby is against the border wall, calling it “ridiculous” but adds, “I think we need a virtual wall, we need to know who’s crossing the border.”
9500Liberty: Taxes and Immigration, Sept. 18, 2007
Stewart claims $3 million in an $850 million budget is not significant. Excuse me, wasn’t that the initial costs that the County identified as being attributable to illegal aliens? How could it be significant in one instance but insignificant in the other?
And what is it with Stirrup and this point of order?
Aug. 5th Board of Supervisors Vote : Questions Asked and Answered
Just finished watching the board meeting and there was some confusion about whether the ICE reimbursement budget item required a public hearing or not. Caddigan didn’t believe this was a hearing item but according to Craig Gerhart it exceeded a budgetary threshold and therefore it was required. Then on the tail of this confusion, Supervisor Jenkins commented about the lack of public participation in the process which he believes demonstrates a general lack of interest.
This money is a reimbursement from the federal government that goes back into the jail fund to support any additional expenses that they might have. This is not the total cost of the program 287(g). My question is what additional costs have we outlayed that are non-refundable? My presumption is that this would be better use of our tax money than restricting services.
Secondly, according to Pete there have been 860 detainers issued by ICE and 747 transfers with 154 currently doing time. Anybody else have questions about the math?
Additionally, it sounds as if they are still not at 100% for checking the status of foreign born inmates dispite being mandated to do so? Or is the proclaimation that they are checking 99% of the time just a CYA in case something goes wrong later on?
Also, Maureen asked long ago what this was going to cost and Corey bashed her over the head for asking. Is that on video somewhere? Today she commented that ‘we’ knew this was going to be expensive. I distinctly recall some Supervisors suggesting it would not be costly.
Lastly, what has been the true cost of this initiative, not the reimbursed portion but what is the County taxpayer responsible for?
Blog Rules
Reposting of Rules as a reminder, we are more than willing to discuss issues; however continued personal attacks will result in permanent banning.
Here’s how the blog works –
- First time commenters are held in moderation and need prior approval.
- Comments with 3 or more links are held in moderation and need approval, this is used for filtering spam.
- Personal attacks are strongly discouraged and could result in permanent banning.
- Users can be put into moderation for extra supervision but thus far none have been censored but it does mean that your comments might not be immediately viewable.
- International ipaddresses will be blocked from viewing the site as many spam originate from these locations.
‘Censored’ List as of 05/05/08 –
- Steve Thomas’ home address – REMOVED
- Name of School where Supervisor’s children attended. – REMOVED
- Elvis/Chameleon/Ching – BLOCKED
