Thread: BEDLAM ON THE BORDER

http://www.etherzone.com/2005/stra041505.shtml


BEDLAM ON THE BORDER
UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS GONE WILD By: Greg Strange


"A right-wing militia patrolling the Mexican border to catch illegal immigrants is pitting some residents in favor of old-style frontier justice against critics who say the militiamen are the real threat." --- Opening line from a Reuters article written by Tim Gaynor about the Minuteman Project, an all-volunteer effort being conducted in Arizona by a group of citizens to call attention to the problem of the porous border between the U.S. and Mexico.

Such colorful journalistic phrasings as the ones above can be great for reeling in readers tantalized by the prospect of a chaotic and violent skirmish between militant rightists, illegal aliens and the U.S. Border Patrol. In reality, however, what the Minuteman Project is engaging in is more akin to a neighborhood watch than a lawless spree of vigilantism, so readers looking for journalistic accuracy ought to look elsewhere.

You have to wonder if Tim Gaynor either slept through or totally missed the first day of Newswriting 101, which must have included at least some little tidbit about not writing biased and misleading lines. Giving Tim‘s work just a cursory going over, one notices factual inaccuracies popping up like mushrooms in cow dung.

For instance, consider the very first words: "A right-wing militia . . ." The obvious question for Tim is, what makes the Minutemen either "right-wing" or "militia?" "Right-wing" smacks of negativity and infers an extreme degree of conservativeness, but by whose standards is it overly conservative to want to see the simple enforcement of our country’s immigration laws?

As for "militia," granted the Minutemen took their name from a very famous one, but they are still not one themselves. A militia is basically defined as an organized group of citizen soldiers, but these Minutemen have no soldierly or military objectives at all.

Skipping along a few words we come to "old-style frontier justice," which suggests to readers that the "right-wing militia" is looking for some kind of violent showdown with illegals. In reality, the Minutemen have specifically stated that they will neither confront nor apprehend anyone themselves, but instead only report lawbreakers to the proper authorities. The same can be said about a reference to "vigilantes" further on in the article.

So, are you beginning to see a pattern? We’ve just dissected basically one sentence from one article on a politically sensitive issue and it absolutely reeks of misinformation and bias. And you can bet your sweet bippy this wasn’t just an aberration that fell through the cracks of an otherwise well-oiled journalistic machine that efficiently weeds out bad information.

Interestingly, the journalism problem and the border problem both have similar underlying causes. The reason the border problem is allowed to ceaselessly rage out of control--and the reason that people who want that to change are branded by the media as right-wing, racist, militia extremists--is because of the politically correct thinking that rages out of control at all levels of society, even, unfortunately, all the way up to the highest office in the land.




That thinking says that if we crack down on the southern border, it might be offensive to members of what is a nonwhite ethnic group and that wouldn’t be kosher no matter how many millions of them blatantly violate our laws and sovereignty.

The Minuteman Project would like to shatter that imbecilic paradigm into tiny irretrievable pieces before illegal crossings become so numerous and crowded that bin Laden himself could waltz across the border unnoticed amongst the multitudes. As sensible as that should sound to any rational person, it will be fought every step of the way by the ACLU, the U.S. Border Patrol, hordes of American politicians, el presidente de Mexico and myriad others.

First, the ACLU, America’s most infuriating gaggle of lawyers, is looking for any excuse to slap a lawsuit on the Minutemen, warning that they might come to Arizona "as vigilantes and end up leaving as defendants." Of course, illegal aliens can flood into Arizona until doomsday and never be looked upon as "defendants" by the ACLU, but rather as innocent economic migrants just looking for honest work.

ACLU of Arizona spokesman Ray Ybarra went so far as to say that the very presence of the Minutemen at the border constitutes "unlawful imprisonment" of "undocumented migrants." Huh? Strait-jacketed bedlamites in rubber rooms routinely make more sensible statements.

The U.S. Border Patrol has its own complaints, among them that the Minutemen have inadvertently set off devices placed in the desert that are designed to detect illegals. Well, sure, there’s a big problem. The normally stellar performance of the Border Patrol is being loused up by a bunch of klutzy, interfering vigilantes setting off false alarms in a system that is otherwise so efficient that only a million or two illegals cross the border every year unimpeded.

American politicians are scared witless of offending Hispanic voters and Presidente Fox isn’t about to do anything to stem the flow of illegals from his own country to the U.S. since they provide the single biggest source of money for his basket case of a country.

Aligned with everyone else against the Minuteman Project is a vicious Central American gang known as MS-13, which has reportedly made threats against the Minutemen for daring to bring attention to the border problem (and possibly messing up their smuggling operations). A perfect illustration of the problem is the leader of the gang who has been arrested eight times since 2001, deported on numerous occasions, but keeps coming back as if, instead of having to cross sovereign national borders with some sort of legal restrictions, he’s traveling from Peoria on a frolicsome motoring trip to the Wisconsin Dells.

Make no mistake. There’s bedlam down on the border and for various perverse reasons, nobody in authority wants to do anything about it. The Minuteman Project, despite the grotesque inaccuracies and caricatures in the media, stands some sliver of a chance of inspiring change. If something doesn’t change, however, someday we’ll be looking back on 2005 as the good ol’ days before things really got out of hand.



"Published originally at EtherZone.com : republication allowed with this notice and hyperlink intact."

"Interestingly, the journalism problem and the border problem both have similar underlying causes"

AMEN!

Go Minutemen! We are all proud of you!

Tim Gaynor

If you look in the dictionary for the word "jackass" his picture will be next to the word.

The Minuteman Project would like to shatter that imbecilic paradigm into tiny irretrievable pieces before illegal crossings become so numerous and crowded that bin Laden himself could waltz across the border unnoticed amongst the multitudes.

He might already be here, not that we would know. And the illegal crossings have already become so numerous that we can't keep up.

First, the ACLU, America’s most infuriating gaggle of lawyers, is looking for any excuse to slap a lawsuit on the Minutemen, warning that they might come to Arizona "as vigilantes and end up leaving as defendants." Of course, illegal aliens can flood into Arizona until doomsday and never be looked upon as "defendants" by the ACLU, but rather as innocent economic migrants just looking for honest work.

The ACLU has already become irrelevant to mainstread America.
They are the legal representatives for Jackass City, Mexico.
They sure do not represent Americans.

ACLU of Arizona spokesman Ray Ybarra went so far as to say that the very presence of the Minutemen at the border constitutes "unlawful imprisonment" of "undocumented migrants." Huh? Strait-jacketed bedlamites in rubber rooms routinely make more sensible statements

He would have to get an upgrade to be in a rubber room.

American politicians are scared witless of offending Hispanic voters and Presidente Fox isn’t about to do anything to stem the flow of illegals from his own country to the U.S. since they provide the single biggest source of money for his basket case of a country.

Bingo.

Aligned with everyone else against the Minuteman Project is a vicious Central American gang known as MS-13, which has reportedly made threats against the Minutemen for daring to bring attention to the border problem (and possibly messing up their smuggling operations).

Haven't heard much from MS-13. Wonder why? All that machismo?

Make no mistake. There’s bedlam down on the border and for various perverse reasons, nobody in authority wants to do anything about it. The Minuteman Project, despite the grotesque inaccuracies and caricatures in the media, stands some sliver of a chance of inspiring change. If something doesn’t change, however, someday we’ll be looking back on 2005 as the good ol’ days before things really got out of hand.

The Minuteman Project has lit a fire under some, and will light a fire under others. Those in authority are listening and are starting to realize that the majority of Americans want ACTION. Keep the fire hot!!!

I write as a patriotic Mexican-American (Chicano). IMO: Many of our politicians are NEEDLESSLY scared of backing and promoting policies and programs to preserve the integrity of the USA.

There are many Latinos, Hispanics, Chicanos who are alarmed at the invasion of illegal aliens from Mexico and other parts of the world. We. patriotic Chicanos are often the most hurt by the illegal alien invasion. Our communities are being overwhelmed with "Tiajuana" like changes that include blight, overcrowding, drug abuse, violent gangs, and hostile to the USA attitudes.

Many of us Chicanos are being hurt bad but find it risky to openly make ourselves heard. Should we speak out without protections we are intimidated and even threatened. Kind of like Hitler's Nazi Geermany in the 1930s when Jews were intimidated. We patriotic Chicanos are in some ways like the passive German Jews of the 1930s.

Here, I am suggesting that our "Chicken" politicians stop worrying about Latinos and do what is best for America. JUST DO IT!

There is a sucinct phrase among Mexicans when they are fed up. It is "YA BASTA!" ( "Enough Already!"). I suggest that bumper stickers, posters, be designed with this phrase set on patriotic American artwork.

Also, I think that Washington D.C. needs a massive demonstration "wake-up" call before to long to take advantage of the Minutemen momentum.

Thanks.

PatriotChicano,
welcome back, great comment.

PatriotChicano,

That was an excellent post. Silence can be deadly. Yes raising one's hand or voice, can bring a lot of imtimidation (or worse), however, keeping silent in the long run will do far more harm to other patriots like yourself. By keeping silent (out of fear or any other reason), you and other patriots like yourselves, will be viewed by the masses as being in legion with the invaders.

as an example, look at how many are viewing muslims in general. Only a very small fraction are doing some pretty terrible things, but the masses are moot about the point. thus the masses here are casting all muslims into the same mold as the radicals. DO NOT allow yourself or your fellow patriots to fall into this same incorrect image. A single person (yourself) standing up, and denouncing the invasion does help, but what is really needed is the large masses of Chicano/Latino citizens who have fought long and hard and are proud to call themselves citizens of the US, to stand and denounce this invasion.

It is great to be associated with you in these "safe" forums, however, the "masses" also need to hear the words of wisdom which you, and probably millions of other Latinos have about this situation.

H.

Thanks very much for your insightful comment. I think your Ya Basta bumper sticker is a great idea. Maybe ALIPAC can precipitate some action along these lines.

[

Here, I am suggesting that our "Chicken" politicians stop worrying about Latinos and do what is best for America. JUST DO IT!

There is a sucinct phrase among Mexicans when they are fed up. It is "YA BASTA!" ( "Enough Already!"). I suggest that bumper stickers, posters, be designed with this phrase set on patriotic American artwork.

Also, I think that Washington D.C. needs a massive demonstration "wake-up" call before to long to take advantage of the Minutemen momentum.


Great Post![/quote]

The U.S. Border Patrol has its own complaints, among them that the Minutemen have inadvertently set off devices placed in the desert that are designed to detect illegals. Well, sure, there’s a big problem. The normally stellar performance of the Border Patrol is being loused up by a bunch of klutzy, interfering vigilantes setting off false alarms in a system that is otherwise so efficient that only a million or two illegals cross the border every year unimpeded

I don't have the home page of the Minutemen handy and I have got to go back to bed. But if you read that home page, you discover that the Minutemen made arrangements with the Border Patrol before they deployed, and they are patroling the areas that do NOT have sensors. It is in their web page... go look.. spread the news.

BUT.... the ACLU was trying to catch the Minutemen and harras them and as they wondered around in the desert, they set off sensors galor. So not the Minutemen... and apparently they are not setting them off... it is the ACLU. Goooooo Minutemen!