Who speaks mean-spirited and divisive?
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Peggy Giltner
Published: April 13, 2008
The most mean-spirited and divisive language I have seen regarding the illegal immigration resolution has been in your very own editorials. That is where the fuel for the animosity and fear that you speak of is coming from. It seems that you prefer to scare rather than to assure the public that this resolution has no effect on anyone who is in this country legally.
Our county supervisors were elected to represent the views of the voters who put them in office. They do not represent the local newspaper.
You have continually insulted Chairman Corey Stewart on a petty, personal level for doing what his constituents have demanded of him. Isn’t that a little mean-spirited?
You say that you are done exhorting Stewart to change his ways. That is the good. He was not elected to be a puppet of this newspaper.
PEGGY GILTNER
Woodbridge
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( raywilliams ) on April 15, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Vic, if you’re unhappy with illegals, then let’s push for federal funding to the seal the borders, train and equipe ICE, built holding facilities and once stablized, work on PWC. If you unhappy with the social behaviors of our residents, let’s work to educate our newer population, perhaps encourage the Mexican Consul to intervene, tasking Mexicans without Borders to hold workshops and request Hispanic radio stations to preach the word of “how” to blend in with American culture. Of course, driving through some of our established neighborhoods, we might want to put the same message out in English also.
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Posted by ( raywilliams ) on April 15, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Vic, as I’ve said many times here .. when one generalizes about a race or income group, one is making racist or prejudiced comments. If you were to say “many of” or “it appears that” then I would cut you (and others) some slack. But to make a broad sweeping comment to me is attacking a group of people on the whole and I don’t like that. If you are who I think you are, you remember the ‘old days’ when if we talked about the ‘shiftless, lazy, simpleminded, malt liquor drinking people’, you knew exactly of whom we spoke. This should not be happening in 2008. Support the PWC Resolution if you wish, but please chose you words more carefully.
And yes, I can introduce you to a lot of bright, hardworking, family-valued illegal immigrants. Working in the construction industry, I come in contact every day with more that fit my values rather than the image often protrayed by HSM supporters. And no question many of our immigrant residents - legal or not - do not share our accepted social behaviors regarding trash, litter, parking etc. But to automatically lable these people as illegals does not make sense to me. Would you accept these behaviors from a redneck or if the immigrant in question was legal? No. So let’s focus on illegal being illegal, then poor social behaviors being poor social behaviors in need of education and try not to mix the two. And ... if you see me driving my pickup equipped with the ladder rack, please don’t think less of me! I can assure you my trash is contained.
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Posted by ( Vic ) on April 15, 2008 at 11:59 am
Ray:
Thanks for your offer, but I already have a job—and a good one, thank you. And lately, I also have a hobby. Coincidentally enough, it’s picking up trash.
Each evening, when I am out walking around the neighborhood for my daily exercise, I take along a few garbage bags. It bothers me to see so much trash just piling up along the roadside so I try to do my part to keep America beautiful. I call it them my “bend and stretch” exercises and given the amount of garbage around here lately, I get a pretty good workout most evenings.
I can’t say for certain where all the trash is coming from, but I can tell you that I have personally witnessed a lot of it coming from white panel vans with magnetic placards on the side, and pick up trucks with ladders on their roofs. They seem to be common carriers for a lot of trash.
As for the rest of your comments—I cannot understand why you would take exception to my observation that illegal aliens bring poverty, crime and diseases to our community. That seems pretty evident—just look at today’s newspaper (or any other day for that matter). Many of these people are poorly educated, poorly skilled and impoverished. Many of them commit crimes. And unfortunately, many of them illegally entered our country or overstayed their visas without going through the simple health checks, vaccinations and other health and safety controls that legal immigrants go through, and what’s more—many illegal immigrants lack even basic health insurance coverage, so they just work on through many chronic complaints and conditions—like tuberculosis and hepatitis—with no thought or regard about spreading it to others.
You shouldn’t ask whether I personally know each and every illegal alien. Rather you should introduce me to just a few who challenge my contentions. I’ll even grant there may be a few exceptions—but all that proves there are no absolutes. And if I am being racist, please tell me exactly which race I am criticizing.
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Posted by ( raywilliams ) on April 15, 2008 at 10:26 am
vic, I feel bad you lost a job to an illegal. Please give me a call and I find you something picking up trash, digging ditches or flipping burgers. Just let me know what field it is you want to enter and I’ll help.
And, oh sigh, we once again have to point out the racist comments made by a pro HSM supporter - “enough of the thousands of illegal aliens who continue to invade the county with their proverty, crime and diseases ..“ Do you KNOW each and every illegal alien brings proverty, crime and disease or is this just a racist stereotype being used ONCE AGAIN? And of course 80% of jailed inmates are American citizens, so I don’t know if I feel safe to venture out just yet or not. I love you guys, better than Stand Up Comedy on late night TV.
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Posted by ( phdee ) on April 15, 2008 at 9:30 am
Here goeds ZCX again with his bag of lies. Every poll in Vca. that I ever saw before the election did NOT have immigration as a major part ofthe problems facing Va. today. Plewase cite the source of your info, ZCX. You can’t!!!! Transportation sure comes to my mind as a major source of concern.
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Posted by ( blue_doggette ) on April 15, 2008 at 6:20 am
No, we all do not agree with spending money we don’t have.
And we do not know that the students who are no longer in ESOL classes were illegal. That is the crux of the problem. Who is illegal and who is not. Tell me how to tell the difference.
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Posted by ( raywilliams ) on April 15, 2008 at 6:13 am
I once again remind you the hand-picked HSM canidates were soundly defeated in the Manassas Republican caucus, making those with a moderate position on immigration the MAJORITY. All in how you slice the numbers.
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Posted by ( zcxnissan ) on April 15, 2008 at 12:20 am
Corey Stewart also ran on the illegal immigrant resolution just a major part of the problems facing Virginians today. Great post Vic and very factual. Chris Cummings
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Posted by ( phdee ) on April 14, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Looks like we have a new “columnist” to this website, and a historian and “minister of propaganda” for thbe resolution. “Tell a lie long enough and the people will believe it.“
Doesn’t Vic know we all read the papers and aree aware of the background? I guess he believes he has to be sure the right slant and interpretation gets in.
Vic’s main point or goal is to pre3sent an argument that the resolution is working. This “proof” unfortunately does not con tain any supportative documentation (polls, studieds, sources, etc.) to lend any credence to it. What it really shows is that the anti immigration and pro-resolution crowd HAS to show some success, else they’ll be exposed for what they are: fools.
The premise on which thne resolution was based NEVER had anything other than antedotes - by BOCS admission - and Vic is merely providing more of the same.
Maybe people are venturing out more into the “ghost town”, touring the foreclosed homes, and just having a grand time with the recession/depression.
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Posted by ( Vic ) on April 14, 2008 at 1:16 pm
PROGRESS IN PRINCE WILLIAM
By arresting and deporting illegal immigrants, the county begins to heal itself.
LAST SUMMER, the citizens of Prince William County, Virginia, declared they had enough already. Enough of the thousands upon thousands of illegal aliens who continue to invade the county with their poverty, crime and diseases. Enough of their unchecked demands for tax-free education, health care and other community services. Enough of their overcrowding of local housing, as well as their lawlessness, filth and blatant disregard for any sense of propriety, morality or common decency.
So county leaders drafted a resolution that committed the county to work more closely with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Branch of the federal government. The Board of County Supervisors held multiple hearings on the subject, heard a wide range of viewpoints, and eventually and unanimously passed the resolution into law.
As part of the plan, county law enforcement authorities committed to work with ICE and get the necessary training and certifications on immigration law and detention procedures. The county also decided to reach deep into its own budget coffers and commit to spend about $6.4 million in the first year, as the first installment of an expected total program cost of about $26 million over the next five years – to support additional staff, facilities and equipment. And recognizing the need to immediate action, Prince William’s elected supervisors opted to drain $800,000 from the county’s reserve fund to get the program up and running before the new fiscal year starts July 1.
In launching its long overdue crackdown on illegal aliens, Prince William County realized it must do what the State of Virginia and the national government have thus far failed to do—that is, enforce state, national and international laws on immigration and border security, promote appropriate health, safety and labor practices, and stem the rising tide of human trafficking in those who steal jobs and livelihoods from honest citizens, disrupt neighborhoods and communities, pay less than their “fair share” of taxes, don’t invest in local community services and generally, remit most of their ill-gotten monetary gains to other countries.
While some county leaders and citizens continue to worry about the high cost of the initiative, most also realize that the cost of inaction would be so much greater – in such things as declining property values across the county, lost jobs and livelihoods for honest citizens, higher costs for running county schools, hospitals and other community and social service activities, higher crime rates, and fewer revenues from the county tax structures.
Since the resolution took effect earlier this year, there have indeed been a few more arrests of suspected illegal aliens in Prince William County. According to county police chief Charlie Deane, most of these arrests would have taken place anyway—regardless of the resolution—because those being arrested are also accused of other crimes.
The only real difference now is that county officials are also looking into the citizenship of their suspects, and checking with ICE to see if the federal agency has placed any retainer on these suspects. And unfortunately, given the high number of illegal aliens in Prince William County, the number of arrests has managed to exceed the “amount of available bed space” that ICE has for detaining illegal aliens – and forced a slowdown of some inmate transfers.
County officials have been working with ICE to develop some options—and both sides are encouraged that they will come up with a fair and equitable solution. Yet, those who would like to see this effort fail are seizing on this temporary turbulence and using it as an opportunity to say, “I told you it would be difficult, so why did you even bother to try?”
Yet, even the critics of this effort cannot discount the fact that it has already resulted in some desired effects and outcomes. Independent reports from around the county indicate that many illegal aliens are realizing their days are numbered, and so they are voluntarily leaving. County school leaders report substantial drops in the numbers of illegal alien students –and fewer requirements for English as Second Language classes, additional teachers, equipment and instructional materials. The county’s emergency health care facilities are no longer as crowded with illegal aliens as they once were, nor are there as many lost costs and other unreimbursed expenses to be written off or passed along to paying customers.
Finally, county citizens are starting to feel that it just might be safe to venture out again and enjoy life within their neighborhoods and communities. And that, perhaps most of all, simply infuriates the critics of law and order in Prince William County.
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