In his book Custer: Cavalier in Buckskin, former National Parks Chief Historian Robert Utley provides a vivid account of General George A. Custer’s famous “last stand” at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Before the battle, Utley intimates, Sitting Bull called the largest-ever gathering of plains Indians to Ash Creek, Montana to discuss a strategy for handling the whites. The native group was so large, they eventually migrated to nearby Little Bighorn River. The bloody battle that ensued between the natives and the US Army became one of the most famous of the Indian Wars; the name “Little Bighorn” was forever etched in the history books of this great nation.
Little Bighorn became the battlefield for this infamous confrontation because it was unfortunately in walking distance of Ash Creek.
All of this leaves me to wonder… will Santa Clarita become the Little Bighorn of the illegal immigration debate?
Make no mistake: the group that will congregate in the SCV on February 27 will mostly come from outside our valley. That nuance will unfortunately be lost on the local and national media, especially with the presence of City Council members and hopefuls who have apparently lost their sense of responsibility to the reputation of Santa Clarita. No matter where you stand on this issue – it’s hard to argue that our city is more attractive to businesses and potential families, of all colors, because of the ‘proud racist’ debacle sandwiched between two slices of familiar, stale protest bread.
Fewer illegal immigrants, more protesters
Save Our State, the group organizing the rally with the support of SCV Minuteman Roger Gitlin and Antelope Valley Minuteman Frank Jorge, has a history of invading suburbs in an attempt to capitalize on the fear and apathy that is so prevalent in towns like ours.
Despite essentially zero change in public policy since SOS’s founding in 2004, tens of thousands of illegal immigrants have already fled our state. But the economy has tanked since then, so there are more scapegoaters who blame their financial woes on those willing to work for less than they. In that context, it’s easy to see why a town like Riverside birthed this group, why a place like Fillmore sources the coordinators, and why areas like the Antelope Valley provide the numbers and rhetoric that give these rallies a certain, err, “flair.”
Oh… Hi…
If you want a preview of what you’re going to see in a couple of weeks, witness the malaise that took place in March 2008. In those days, local politicians generally kept their distance from such extremism. 12 individuals from Save Our State stormed sleepy Ojai, CA with pepper spray and bullhorns, only to be outnumbered by a larger group of pro-amnesty activists, also from out of town. I can empathize with poor Ojai, which is also guilty of being in driving distance of Fillmore and Antelope Valley, and some of the residents who resented the presence of the out-of-towners:
One spectator of the commotion … said, “They say they represent every American, but they don’t represent me.” She added that she disliked that the protesters mostly came from outside of the county and were making a “spectacle of themselves.” She added that she felt that Ojai was a place of peaceful coexistence and most of its residents would disagree with such protests.
Here’s some flavor from the Ojai event:
Same folks, same message – this time energized and legitimized with the juice from our local representatives and hopefuls. Hell, slap a ‘tea party’ label on it to make the pill go down easier (the SOS organizers don’t like that at all).
I admit being upset at this group for storming my town is somewhat inconsistent; I harbor more resentment toward businesses that hire illegally than those who live in our sanctuary state. It’s the businesses that ultimately validate illegal immigrants’ decision to trek to this great country. In that vein, my anger and disappointment are primarily directed at the politicians and wannabes that exploit the fear and anger of the masses in the hope of winning a few votes and establish a platform — especially the ones from Santa Clarita, by their actions validate the broad assumption that this rally represents us.
CHARGE!
The rally also stokes extremists on the other side of the debate, who we can fully expect will congregate on the other side of Valencia Blvd. Together, the groups will form a sort-of pincer movement on our valley, with a Custer-like David Gauny leading the charge. And the residents of SCV will be left with the stain of this ridiculousness long after each side retreats to their respective message boards.
It’s times like these I wish we weren’t in between Fillmore and the AV. And then Sunday comes… and I get to enjoy their bounty at the CoC Farmers Market. I can thankfully do that every other weekend of the year.
Maybe we should organize a third group. A “Protesters Go Home” coalition of liberals, independents and conservatives that have in common the desire to keep the out of towners . . . out of town.
PGH! PGH! PGH!
Scott Ervin,
Let’s do it! We should make signs to counter the “Go home illegals” and “Go home racists” signs.
How about, “If you don’t live in Santa Clarita, GO HOME!”
ScottEEEEEEE is with you. At least two of my kids will probably go with me.
So that’s 4 of us . .
Anyone else? Any sign making talent out there?
Seriously, I’m tired of just shaking my head when I read about this shit. I WANT TO DO SOMETHING!
How about TAKE YOUR MULLETTS SOMEPLACE ELSE!
“Make no mistake: the group that will congregate in the SCV on February 27 will mostly come from outside our valley.” Sigh. Tacking a “make no mistake” onto the front of a statement doesn’t make it so. Do a poll of where the protesters are from on the 27th, and I’ll believe you. Right now, it seems you’ve come to this conclusion based on YouTube videos and googling Frank Jorge & Co.
Similarly, your imagination of Santa Clarita as a place caught tragically in the midst of a fight it would rather avoid doesn’t match up with the sentiments expressed in TMS and at CC meetings. In both forums, Claritans have overwhelmingly welcomed the illegal immigration debate and the vast majority are opposed to illegal immigration.
There are going to be a lot of reasonable, non-crazy Claritans protesting illegal immigration on the 27th–make no mistake.
“There are going to be a lot of reasonable, non-crazy Claritans protesting illegal immigration on the 27th–make no mistake.”
Spoken like a true Claritan outsider…
IHeart:
The conclusion is based on analysis of the past rallies organized by SOS, the locations of the organizers of the rally, the admittedly anecdotal forum chatter of carpools arranged from Hesperia to Santa Ana to Mojave, and the percentage of SCV speakers in both rallies.
The promotion is all coordinated through the internet – there are no posters, phone call campaigns, etc., so it’s a safe assumption about the materiality. The “x-factor” is the level of participation that will arise from SCV, which I predict will be dwarfed by elements outside the area — especially in the context of the pro-amnesty side that I fully expect will make their stand.
Perhaps from your perch you would be able to provide more insight on the horde within our valley that will be in attendance.
At this stage, it’s on a federated collection of message boards publicized by those outside this area.
That is, with the exceptions noted above.
Outsiders, insiders, out of towners, born and bred….I couldn’t care less.
It’s the cocktail of hatred, intolerance, and obsession with keeping the SCV white, middle class, and stepford wife “clean” that gets me. Hiding behind the “it’s changing America, we gotta take it back!” banner is about as see though as rice paper. I know there are those that are capable of serious, level headed, and open minded debate on the issue of immigration. But they are overshadowed and pushed out by the “White Is Right” types. Or perhaps recruited.
In any case, it’ll be a laughable circus. I’ll be there, swimming amongst the vitriol and skin color obsessed, flag waving supremacists.
Scott:
The most effective use of your time (and vote) is to let the politicians know that speaking at this rally has guaranteed the loss of your vote.
Since there are predominantly SFV, Ventura, and LA hopefuls running for non-SCV spots, that will be a rather short list.
IHeart, what ND said. You haven’t been paying close enough attention.
IHeart,
I should add that if you take away friends of Bob and the many out-of-town minutemen, you aren’t left with many people speaking up on the issue in the council chambers. Ditto that for The Signal LTEs.
If some run-of-the-mill Claritans show up, that’s part of the problem. Our friend Bob bought the regular folks to the same table as the nuts. Together they will make peanut butter.
How about something like these signs that were at the Westboro Baptist Church protest at the twitter office in San Francisco.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubin110/4313654518/
I predict there will be a lot of ‘Honk for Bob’ signs…
And that will be the extent of the debate and/or discussion on the illegal immigration issue.
Thanks for the elevating rhetoric, and for bringing the circus to town, Bob!
It is obvious many of you don’t support Keller or his remarks, which is perfectly OK. You don’t want outsiders there supporting him, but are you also against outsiders attacking him? I believe that much of his outside support is in response to the demands made by external ethnocentric interests. Are those ethnocentric interests the interests of the SCV?
If one examines the context of the remark, then one understands that the comment was made in direct response to the misapplied and over used term racist.
Why do you folks live in the SCV, rather then other parts of LA County or the city? The argument could be made that all of you are racist, because you choose to live in not such an ethnically diversified area!
The label of racist can be easily thrown at just about anyone who believes in border security, law enforcement, family safety or national sovereignty.
Bradwhg very well put.
To you others:
I watched the video of the rally in Ojai. I know the usual suspects will attack me but I honestly think the pro illegal group and especially the Black girl behaved much worse than any of the SOS folks. She came over to the side of the street they were protesting on and got in the one woman’s face. Then the group chanting “racist” while waving the Mexican flag. Please….
They would not be protesting like that in México waving an American flag, I guarantee it!
In addition, whoever made the comment about “Spics” from the SOS or whatever group is a VERY ignorant person since that particular slur applies to those of Puerto Rican ancestry, not Mexican. Idiots…
“the Black girl behaved much worse than any of the SOS folks.”
I am shocked! What no accusations of gang affiliation?
“In addition, whoever made the comment about “Spics” from the SOS or whatever group is a VERY ignorant person since that particular slur applies to those of Puerto Rican ancestry, not Mexican. Idiots…”
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=spic
“A highly offensive term referring to a Spanish-speaking person from Mexico, Central or South America, Spain, or Portugal”
“racial slur for people of Latino descent”
“highly offensive term referring in a derogatory manner to a Hispanic person, i.e. born or descendant of natives of Spain and/or any Spanish-speaking country or territory in Central America, South America or the Caribbean.”
The self proclaimed language expert is wrong again..
Listen kid, I am very well aware of all of the slurs relating to Hispanics of Mexican descent. Some jerks just like you have spewed a whole bunch at me during my many years on this planet. Spic is not one of them. That term became widely used when the movie West Side Story was released in 1961 and became a huge hit. The odious word Spic referred to Puerto Rican kids since there were few if any Mexicans in the New York area especially in those days. I do not care what dictionary you pull out. Latino is also a term I do not use or recognize as applicable to me simply because the US Census Bureau says so.
In any event, I certainly do not defer to you on ethnic slurs directed at Hispanics. Are you now trying to tell me you are an expert on ethnic slurs?
You must be jealous or something though because you take every opportunity to attack me, even when I am not posting. What is the matter, little Nate feeling left out?
Berta:
I want you to come over tomorrow for a family BBQ. You can complain that the food is undercooked, the company lousy and overly judgmental, the weather not what it seems to be, and be offended by the mispronunciation of various words by the children present. And then we can go throw some sticks in the mud. Sound like fun? See you soon, sugarpants.
Hey, Gangfang why not cook the food just right? I am a good cook, let me cook. The weather promises to be great. It all depends on the words the kids use dear. Can we make mud pies instead?
We just will not talk politics, religion, perfume, or about grouchy old men…
No, I better not. You might be a serial killer looking for his next victim.
You don’t need a serial killer to play the victim, honey.
“Some jerks just like you have spewed a whole bunch at me during my many years on this planet. ”
HAHAHA… I would be more incline to make fun of that mullet then your ethnicity. Do you have a Trans Am?
“What is the matter, little Nate feeling left out?”
I do… Someone hug me.
Gangfang: I am no victim and certainly not yours.
Blazing: It is Valentine’s Day so sending a hug your way. All better?
I need some of those candy hearts
Blazing: Do not have any but I have homemade cinnamon rolls. Maybe next year…
Good night.
Omg. This thread is awesome.
Thanks for all the laughs people.
Hugs and cinnamon rolls for all!
Rally attenders talk about non-personal topic & issues, troll posters talk trash about people. Those ‘haters’ who wish to personally attack to destroy others, show readers they have NO confidence and initative of those that they childishly and jealously attack.
Speaking of Childish attacks… you should read
http://www.blazingmonk.com/2010/02/extremist-frank-jorge-responds/
You also might want to ask about the Physical Threats various people have gotten from these save our state people include one death threat.
You can try to put lipstick on this pig but it still is a PIG.
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