Thread: Blogger holds sway in no. Va.,helps shape immigration debate

dailypress.com
Blogger holds sway in no. Va., helps shape immigration debate
By NICK MIROFF

The Washington Post
July 28, 2007

MANASSAS, Va.

Illegal immigrant ice cream vendors might be spreading leprosy in Manassas. Prince William County has been infiltrated by "unassimilated marxist radicals." Manassas Park police covered up the predations of five Hispanic men who gang-raped a woman in the street in June.

These claims, among others, have been made in recent months by Greg Letiecq, whose popular blog, Black Velvet Bruce Li, offers "Blog-Fu for Prince William, Manassas and Manassas Park politics" _ often making up in passion what it lacks in proof.

But Letiecq (pronounced LUH-teek) is not some mouse-pushing crackpot with a keyboard and an Internet connection. In the past 18 months, Letiecq has leveraged his blog to help elect allies, kill off opponents' campaigns and shape local public policy. Peers call his site the most influential local blog in Virginia.

Since April, Letiecq has used his blog to sign up more than 500 members for his anti-illegal immigrant organization, Help Save Manassas, quickly building it into one of the region's most effective social movements. He and his group researched, facilitated and wrote parts of the illegal-immigration resolution that Prince William officials adopted this month, working with the Washington-based Immigration Reform Law Institute.

The resolution--approved unanimously July 10--seeks to deny services to illegal immigrants and sharply increase immigration enforcement by police. Its sponsor, John T. Stirrup Jr., R-Gainesville, is Letiecq's district representative and also a member of Help Save Manassas.

"We worked with Stirrup" on the resolution, Letiecq said. "Our legislative committee helped transform it to fit Virginia codes."

Said Stirrup of the group's role: "I felt comfortable with what they were doing, and we vetted it with our county attorney."

A former insurance salesman who works as a programmer in the defense industry, Letiecq has seemingly been everywhere lately--on national and local television, at local Republican party events and rallying his troops to "victory" at the July 10 board meeting.

His movement has tapped into a wellspring of simmering anger over illegal immigration and a general unease about the large influx of Hispanic residents who have moved to the region in the past decade, sparking suburban clashes over such quality-of-life issues as overcrowding, language, even lawn care.

Much of the illegal-immigrant backlash that has spread to Loudoun County and elsewhere in Virginia can be traced to the computer annex in the basement of Letiecq's suburban Manassas home. There, behind the stairs, he runs his two deeply entwined operations as blogger and activist leader amid a clutter of camping gear, papers and his young daughters' toys.

"We're inspiring people," Letiecq said. "A lot of citizens felt like there was nothing they could do."

When Letiecq isn't helping write county policy in Prince William, he can be found writing material of a different sort as Black Velvet Bruce Li. Among the ranks of the online martial artists who spin and strike across the so-called blogosphere, Letiecq is a virtual ninja, practicing character assassination, innuendo and exhortation with the skill of a black belt.

"He has by far the most well-trafficked local blog in the state and, as far as influencing public policy, one of the most influential blogs in the country," said Ben Tribbett, whose Not Larry Sabato blog covers Virginia politics.

David Mastio, who tracks 200 Virginia political blogs on his Blognetnews.com, ranks Letiecq "the most influential conservative blogger in Northern Virginia" and among the top three most-influential political blogs in the state. Letiecq's site tallies about 47,000 distinct page views a day and counts 5,000 unique visitors, although he said he earns only about $1.50 a day from the operation because he doesn't have time to sell much advertising.

"He's a hard-hitting, blunt, tough commentator on politics, and people like that," said Mastio, who is also an editorial writer for the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk.

"Fairfax County Harboring Illegal Aliens" was the title of a recent, and typical, Letiecq posting. Another warned "Zapatista Army Affiliate to Protest in PWC Today"--taking yet another swipe at a favorite target, the immigrant rights group Mexicans Without Borders.

Letiecq even stars on the Web site of Mexicans without Borders _ playing the villain, of course. A photo of him smoking a cigarette and looking smug outside the Prince William County Board's chambers carries a caption that reads in Spanish: Greg Letiecq, "leader of the racist, recalcitrant anti-immigrant group 'Help to Save Manassas,' savors the hate, satisfied at having delivered a racist law for his group."

But to dismiss Black Velvet Bruce Li as the rantings of a fringe extremist underestimates Letiecq's reach and appeal. When he isn't fanning anti-illegal immigrant sentiment--and providing a venue for raw, sometimes bigoted views, on his comment pages--Letiecq reports on the minutiae of local news and politics to a degree no other media outlet has matched. Gossip, school board meetings, rumors, tax rate analysis--it's all there on his site.

"He's filling a need for news at the local level," said Manassas City Council member Marc T. Aveni, who also is a member of Help Save Manassas.

Of French Canadian descent, Letiecq, 43, grew up outside Syracuse, N.Y., and majored in international relations at George Washington University. A year studying in France--and assiduously adapting to French language and customs, he said--cemented his perception that illegal immigrants are unwilling to adapt to U.S. culture.

In fact, Letiecq would not say that the anti-illegal immigrant campaign began in his basement so much as on his lawn. From there, he points to his neighbor's house, emanating loud salsa music, where he believes two "illegal aliens" are living. He doesn't have proof of this, of course, but pronounces his assumption as fact anyway.

Letiecq then points to a house two doors down, saying three families are living there with "six to eight" kids. He worries about crime, he said, and about his daughters, Lillian, 5, and Marian, 2, and whether public school resources are being diverted to English as a Second Language programs.

"This isn't the kind of neighborhood you'd think would be ground zero for this hot political issue," he said. "But there's no safe place anymore."

He has also waged a withering offensive against Faisal Gill, a Republican naval officer and former Homeland Security official of Pakistani descent who is the first Muslim nominee to the Virginia General Assembly.

"He's like a schoolyard bully," said Gill, a partner in the law firm representing a former Republican House of Delegates candidate, Steve H. Chapman, who is suing Letiecq for defamation. "He clearly plays to the prejudices people have."

Letiecq has repeatedly derided Gill as a "terrorist" because Gill once worked for a U.S. Muslim group whose former leader was convicted of having illegal ties to the Libyan government. Gill was cleared of any wrongdoing by Homeland Security investigators. He calls Letiecq's Web site "yellow journalism."

"Yellow journalism?" Letiecq repeated, grinning, when asked to respond to the characterization. "That's true. I don't try to make myself out to be a newspaper."

Instead, Letiecq said, he is like a 19th-century pamphleteer, advancing his views and urging others to action. "I don't like clean, sanitized don't-upset-anybody kinds of discussions," he said. "We shouldn't pull our punches."

Information from: The Washington Post

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/vi ... 7699.story

HELP SAVE MANASSAS
http://helpsavemanassas.org/mp.php
While other localities in the area are making honest attempts to address the issue of illegal aliens, the City of Manassas Park has steadfastly refused to address the issue in any way. This has resulted in huge problems in Manassas Park which affect public safety, the city's finances, it's schools and the quality of life in the city's neighborhoods. Manassas Park is the only locality in our area which is refusing to participate in the Section 287(g) program, and it hasn't attempted to control residential overcrowding at all.

Mayor Frank Jones and the city council have told Help Save Manassas that they do not have an illegal alien problem in Manassas Park, despite the firm conviction held by many of their consituents that the city is inundated with illegal aliens. The policy of the mayor and city council is to undertake no action, complain that the Commonwealth hasn't provided them with any tools to address the problem, and explain that Manassas park does not have a contingency budget to bear the costs of potential litigation. The Mayor and City Council refuse to consider participating the Section 287(g) program, claiming that this federal program would expose them to lawsuits despite the fact that no one has ever successfully opposed this program in a lawsuit.

The Mayor claims that their quiet and more deliberate approach they are employing to control the illegal aliens they deny exist in the city has yielded more success than any other jurisdiction in Virginia, although they won't divulge what it is that they're supposedly doing, and judging by the results that are plainly apparent to anyone who visits the jurisdiction, isn't effective at all. The only program evident is the city's approval of building permits for the conversion of more than a dozen residences in this small city into virtual apartment buildings, complete with multiple private entrances and subdivided living spaces in some instances.

If you are a resident of Manassas Park and are concerned about what your city has become and the steadfast refusal of the Mayor and City Council to protect the interests of the residents, please consider joining us so we can help improve the situation in this troubled locality. If we can sign up 200 residents of Manassas Park for Help Save Manassas by October 1st, 2007, we should be able to inspire more constructive engagement by the Mayor and City Council on this issue.

Legislative Action Plan For Manassas Park
Adoption of the Section 287(g) Program
Require proof of legal status by all applicants for city licenses, permits or statutory public benefits
Effective enforcement of federal anti-harboring laws
Reform of the city's zoning ordinances
Reform building permit issuances for residential properties
Hold elected officials to account in the 2008 Municipal Elections
Stay tuned for additional details regarding Help Save Manassas' proposals to put an end to one of Northern Virginia's most notorious sanctuaries for illegal aliens.

After you are finished and get it done ther....can you come to Las Vegas....The hotel/Casinos brag in the NV Review Journal (2 Sundays ago) that they employ lots of illegals...the State does not enforce the non hiring law....so we need you here...Thanks

the State does not enforce the non hiring law

...that's the way distinguished Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) likes it.

Welcome grandmasmad from West Central Jawjah. Glad to have you here.