COMMENTARY : THUMBS DOWN ON BORDER FLICK

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Thumbs down on border flick

By: BRIGID BRETT - for the North County Times

Thursday, December 13, 2007

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The recently opened American Spirit Theater at Escondido Charter High School is beautiful ---- it could be a wonderful addition to the community. You'd think that as a parent of two kids who thrived at ECHS I'd have felt a sense of pride, sitting on those comfortable seats, breathing in that still new smell. But my experience was quite the opposite.

It all started when I heard that the school had rented out the theater for a screening of a documentary called "Border" , presented by radio talk show host Roger Hedgecock and endorsed by various Minutemen groups. When I questioned the director of the school, Dennis Snyder, about supporting a film promoted by aggressively anti-immigrant individuals and racist groups, he disagreed with my assessment of the Minutemen and said he'd seen the film and thought it was "very good, educational and worth seeing." He said I should see it for myself before passing judgment. I agreed.

Roger Hedgecock is the former San Diego mayor who was forced from office in the 1980s after being found guilty of 13 felony convictions related to improper campaign contributions. In a deal with prosecutors, he eventually pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor conspiracy charge. He was in the lobby of the theater, signing copies of his new spiral-bound book "The 2008 Conservative Voter's Field Guide: Immigration."


He welcomed the audience before the film, announcing that it had no agenda and was simply a portrayal of the truth. The editor of the film then spoke, repeating the non-agenda, fair-and- balanced message multiple times. Did I mention that the subtitle of "Border" is: "A Man, His Dog and the End of America"?

The agenda of this film is blatantly clear: to scare the (insert expletive) out of you and make you think that unless you support the Minutemen, their border activities and the full-scale military protection of the border, Americans are doomed to a future of crime, filth, disease, hospital closures, rapists, drug dealers, unemployment and people who hate the American flag. The Minutemen were portrayed as golden heroes on horseback: saving lives, hunting down the bad guys, and bringing goodwill and security to all. And Chris Wilcox, the co-founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, was the star.

A film with a fair-and-balanced agenda would have included the multiple ways that illegal immigrants have contributed to the economy of this country. But only the most alarming of statistics regularly flashed across the screen, eliciting gasps from the audience. One of them was attributed to both the U.S. State Department and the Department of Justice: "10,000 people lost their lives since 9/11 at the hands of illegal aliens." I spoke with representatives from both agencies and was told that they have no idea where these statistics came from. I intend to verify the others and suspect that most are inaccurate.

According to hate crime statistics published annually by the FBI (I found them on the Web site of the Southern Poverty Law Center) anti-Latino hate crimes rose by almost 35 percent between 2003 and 2006. In California, the state with the largest population of Latinos in the country, anti-Latino hate crimes almost doubled in the same period. It is films like this that fuel the kind of fear leading to hate.

Valley Center resident Brigid Brett is a freelance columnist for the North County Times. Contact her at brigidbrett@aol.com.

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Local residents weigh in on documentary depicting border struggles

By: JENNIFER KABBANY - For the North County Times

Award-winning film shown in Escondido tackles both sides of divisive issue

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

ESCONDIDO -- Local residents got their first look this week at an award-winning documentary called "Border," which depicts the harsh realities found along the long stretches of desert and small towns that make up the U.S.-Mexico border.

The nearly two-hour film, which debuted in September 2006 and has since been shown at schools and community theaters across the country as part of a national tour, was presented Monday night to about 200 people at Escondido Charter High School.

The documentary blends interviews, footage along the border and statistics to present its case that there is an illegal immigration crisis largely ignored by a majority of Americans. The film also places most of the blame for the crisis on the U.S. and Mexican governments, so-called 'coyotes' and drug cartels instead of on illegal immigrants. Ã

It's unfortunate all (illegal immigrants) are being used," Rancho Penasquitos resident Mano Appapillai said after watching the movie. "Stopping the people is not the solution. The governments need to change."

I MEANT TO ADD THAT THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO CHANGE TO REMOVE THE PEOPLE .THAT IS THE SOULUTION.

. "Stopping the people is not the solution. The governments need to change."

Our government needs to secure the borders and uphold our laws and the Mexican government needs to start listening and helping their own people thrive in their own country. The same goes for the other illegal aliens and their countries.

I forwarded this story to Roger Hedgecock and he wrote back the following:

Quote:

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----- Original Message -----
From: Hedgecock, Roger
To: Skip
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2007 5:32 PM
Subject: RE: Thumbs down on border flick


she left out the small fact that the Cal Supreme Court reversed the convictions because of jury tampering by the court bailiff !!! Roger

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Skip [skip@ca.rr.com]
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2007 5:29 PM
To: Hedgecock, Roger
Subject: Thumbs down on border flick


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LOS ANGELES, MEXICO wrote on Dec 14, 2007 5:17 PM:
" The Los Angeles Times Webpage carries a Daily Blog Entitled: "THE HOMICIDE REPORT". This should be required reading for everyone who wants open borders, and is in denial about the United states slipping into a third world country. The more Illegals that come here, the more they bring the things that were wrong with their own country right along with them. "

Adam wrote on Dec 14, 2007 5:18 PM:
" A few hard working Illegal Immigrant families are cute, but my God we are talking about millions and millions. "

As President Felipe Calderon would say-- wrote on Dec 14, 2007 5:22 PM:
" keep wiring the money home! "

Gary in Murrieta wrote on Dec 14, 2007 5:25 PM:
" I have been listening to the Roger Hedgecock Show during my commute home from San diego for the last ten years. I have a lot of respect for Roger Hedgecock. I cannot put in print what I think about Brigid .............. "

Add Your Comments or Letter to the Editor

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Quote:

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Thumbs down on border flick
By: BRIGID BRETT - for the North County Times

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This is one of the worst pieces of writing that I've ever seen. A total piece of crap, unaccurate, and totally biased. Absolute irrefutable proof that liberalism is a mental disease. The libidiot must have invaders cutting her grass and cooking for her 'cause the only way to write with this type of bias and agenda is to eat tamales morning, noon and night.

How can we get this movie to show in ALL states?

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Buy BORDER on DVD Safely and Securely Below

1 DVD Director's Cut (Uncensored)
$24.95

Conservative Voter's Field Guide PLUS 1 BORDER DVD Only $29.95

http://www.bordermovie.com/buy-dvd-border-movie.html

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111 COMMENTS AND GROWING

Comments On This Story

To Remember Maria Guadalupe Beltran wrote on Dec 14, 2007 11:50 PM:
" She was not killed by an Illegal American. "

ILK wrote on Dec 14, 2007 11:57 PM:
" When one uses ilk, as in the phrase men of his ilk, one is using a word with an ancient pedigree even though the sense of ilk, "kind or sort," is actually quite recent, having been first recorded at the end of the 18th century. This sense grew out of an older use of ilk in the phrase of that ilk, meaning "of the same place, territorial designation, or name." This phrase was used chiefly in names of landed families, Guthrie of that ilk meaning "Guthrie of Guthrie." "Same" is the fundamental meaning of the word. The ancestors of ilk, Old English ilca and Middle English ilke, were common words, usually appearing with such words as the or that, but the word hardly survived the Middle Ages in those uses. http://www.nctimes.com/content/articles ... 052007.jpg "

Chris wrote on Dec 15, 2007 12:09 AM:
" At a time when America is in crisis, one man ventures to the southern border of Mexico in a big blue bus to discover the truth about illegal immigration. Filmmaker Chris Burgard’s movie is a striking and awakening vision of the true immigration story on our southern border. "Border" is a fresh and controversial documentary that takes a firsthand look at America’s failure to secure its borders and at regular citizens trying to take control again. "Border" takes you on a journey from state to state and exposes a failed system and a failed policy who few dare to unveil. Burgard’s courageous journey includes powerful footage in the border crossing regions of America where dead bodies, armed Mexican military incursions, “rape treesâ€

Mercado said his wife had health insurance, provided through her U.S.-born children

Does that mean her US born children are paying for her health insurance - or does it mean because she has US born children, she is getting taxpayer funded healthcare?

I do wish they would be accurate and specific.