Category: The Opposition

Where is the love in Lewiston?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

No more “layabouts and deadbeats” in Lewiston, says mayor-elect Bob Macdonald!   And, needless to say the Somalis took offense.

After years of the mainstream media and Maine (and Washington, DC)  liberals trying to tell us that everything was lovey-dovey in Lewiston, the election of another mayor signals that all is not going smoothly between the locals and the large (and growing) Somali population.

Readers may recall that the city was embroiled in controversy ten years ago when Somalis (mostly from Georgia where they were originally resettled by the US State Department) scouted out the welfare haven of Maine for a mass migration.  New readers may wish to read this post—Somali migration to Maine: it’s the welfare magnet, stupid— to catch up on the story.

In 2002, then Mayor Raymond did the politically-incorrect thing and sent an open letter (scroll down wiki page) to Somalis begging them not to send more of their people to the overloaded city. (google this because there was lots of news coverage of his “racist” letter).

The next mayor, Laurent Gilbert,* pandered to the Somali population and even went to Washington at the behest of none-other than Soros-favorite John Podesta (Center for American Progress) to proclaim how lovely everything was in Maine where diversity was now its strength (Here is our coverage of that trip in December 2010).

This after Newsweek trumpeted a 2009 piece, with the improbable title, The refugees who saved Lewiston where the reporter paints a picture of a veritable love fest in Lewiston now that the folks (the Mainers and the Africans) have gotten to know each other better, here.   (This is how propaganda works—I have seen this Newsweek piece mentioned repeatedly).

Rumblings out of Lewiston since then (from individual contacts) confirmed that the love affair might have been a Leftwing media fantasy.  Now, with the election of Bob Macdonald as Mayor just a couple of weeks ago, it looks like the citizens there might be signaling with their vote that they have had it with the drain on the welfare system in Lewiston.

While running for office MacDonald reportedly referred to the section of town where Somalis live as a “fourth-world country” (quite a contrast to how it was characterized in Newsweek!):

During his campaign, Macdonald made a number of remarks that some people characterized as racist, while others said they were merely ignorant and insensitive. He referred to downtown Lewiston, where many Somali immigrants live, as a “fourth-world country.”

Then Mayor-elect Macdonald seems to have  really stepped in it on his victorious election-night (in a strange turn of events his “moderate” opponent in the race died a couple of days before the election!) when he made his remarks about “layabouts and deadbeats.”   Hat tip:  Friends of Refugees

From the Bangor Daily News:

LEWISTON, Maine — Mayor-elect Bob Macdonald apologized to the city Thursday for his election-night comments — but his apology wasn’t enough for some members of the city’s immigrant community.

Abdifatah Ahmed, a local landlord and pharmacist, said Macdonald ought to apologize for his tone throughout the mayoral campaign, not just his election-night comments.

During his campaign, Macdonald said he wanted to make the city less attractive to layabouts and deadbeats, many of whom didn’t speak English.

“Enough is enough,” Ahmed said. “Very few people in our community get assistance, but when we get selected and called names, enough is enough.”

Macdonald must stop such talk and explain himself, to go forward with healing, Ahmed said.

“There was a lot said, and a lot of it was on camera,” Ahmed said. “You said people like me are great. But there are old people and children, and you’ve said to them that you have a problem with their fathers. As the mayor, how can you be a role model to those young children?”

Macdonald said his target was not immigrants but welfare recipients.

“If you are working here, I was not talking about you,” Macdonald said. “I was talking about the people that take money, money, money — and they come in all colors.”

Afterward, Ahmed said he and other members of Lewiston’s immigrant community believe they still deserve a more thorough apology from Macdonald.

The apology was not enough for the Somali activists (I wonder what constitutes a “more thorough apology”?).  Watch this Youtube clip and see for yourself.  It is very enlightening.  When I watched it, it had only 37 views so please send it around far and wide.  Pay attention to the beginning when the person doing the filming pans the ‘massive (not!)’ audience.

For more on Lewiston, just type the word into our search function.  It has been a favorite topic here at RRW.

* By the way, out-going Mayor Laurent (sometimes Larry) Gilbert said in August that he was going to Somalia in December to deliver needed humanitarian supplies, does anyone know if that ever happened?

An afterthought:  I should have mentioned that Lynn, Mass is having similar problems with refugee overload.  I wrote about it here the other day.

Welcoming Communities Initiative uses Shelbyville propaganda film

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

….and gives tips on how to use the media to “change the conversation” in “communities” overloaded with immigrants.

Here a Canadian group reports on a conference held in October in Seattle.

The Fourth Annual U.S. National Immigrant Integration Conference took place in Seattle,Washington from October 24 to 26, 2011. The conference brought together policy-makers, practitioners, researchers, elected officials, government employees, business representatives, and faith communities for three days of dialogue. Keen to benefit from the discussion, the Welcoming Communities Initiative participated in a number of conference sessions. In the weeks that follow, we will share some of the key findings and best practices from the conference. This article is the first in the series and puts the spotlight on a session entitled, “A Buzz for Welcoming: Using New and Traditional Media to Change the Conversation.”

Here we go again with that deceptive Shelbyville film.

The second, Welcome to Shelbyville, looks at a small American town as it adjusts to a growing Latino population and the influx of refugees from Somalia. The project is based on a film and a set of companion activities, including a series of YouTube videos, discussion guides, and training modules. You can learn more here.

Longtime readers know that we chronicled the creation of that film from the earliest days in Shelbyville and have reported that the film is a prime example of how editing with a certain goal in mind becomes propaganda.  One post from a year ago is here.  But, check out our whole archive on the film here.

The article does give us ten tips for manipulating the media that are useful:

Top 10 Tips for Engaging the Media

*Change cannot be a “one off.” Activities must be linked, integrated, and ongoing. For example, Welcome to Shelbyville advanced the notion of an “ecosystem of change” that included funding, research, leadership, grassroots organizing, policy, and philanthropy. These pieces fit together, as did their strategies and products; nothing was stand-alone.

*The focus must remain on the community. Communication strategies must be place-based in order to resonate emotionally with their audience. The emphasis must be on why activities matter to the community. If videos or projects with a more national or regional focus are produced, local screenings and discussion groups should be organized to involve the community.

*Multiple channels are needed to reach multiple audiences. These include having an active website and a Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube presence. Short, punchy video clips and small news articles can be forwarded, shared, and “liked.” People are more likely to pay attention to items that come from their friends.

*Traditional media can be engaged by simplifying their work. In place of simply sending out media advisories about activities and events, the media should be provided with professional copy and ready-made clips and images that can be printed or aired. This meets the need for interesting stories about people in the community.

*Communities have a voice. Supporters and contacts can be encouraged to submit op-ed pieces or write letters to the editor about community activities and the contribution that newcomers are making to the community. This helps spread the message and builds connections with the mainstream media.

*Stories matter. Though facts and data are essential, stories will be remembered more easily and powerfully. Stories engage receiving communities and show them the diversity of the immigrant experience.

*Media engagement is possible even with limited resources. Communities should use the skills and resources of their network and supporters. Supporters can help make films, serve as actors in public service announcements, and call on their contacts in traditional media.

*Communities should find ways to identify their supporters. At a minimum, communities should develop electronic distribution lists, but they can also employ more creative techniques. For example, Uniting North Carolina had supporters sign an online pledge to support immigrant integration; they were then added to the organization’s email list and now receive all communications.  

*Communities should take advantage of the power of leveraging. Communities should create engaging, fun content that supporters can disseminate to others.

*Communities should not forget the “and then what?” question. Engaging local communities in immigrant integration is a long-term project. Videos, news clippings, and radio ads all have a shelf life. To go from story-telling to action, it is necessary to bring together groups, not just to listen and learn but to work together to welcome newcomers.

Minnesota “love and peace” crowd defends women who told court to “go to hell”

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Oh, geez.  The political hard left in Minnesota is rallying around the Somali women recently convicted of sending material support to the terror group Al-shabab in Somalia.  I first told you about them here where they dissed our legal system and said infidels would die.

Now, from Fight Back News (LOL! don’t you love it when peace people have publications like Fight Back News) we see that peace and justice activists are organizing to rally around their cause in the months leading up to their sentencing.

Minneapolis, MN – About 100 people gathered for a “Speak Out in Support of the Somali Community” Dec. 3. The organizers were inspired to do the forum after the Oct. 20 conviction of Amina Ali and Hawo Hassan, two Somali American women who raised money for charities assisting Somalia’s poor. The women’s conviction was related to providing “material support to foreign terrorist organizations.” During jury deliberations, supporters of the women made it clear that the situation for people in Somalia was dire and that people required help for basic survival.

Remember readers, these were women who did not say they acted out of naivete’.

In the AP story about their conviction, here, we learned that the government had recorded their phone calls and prosecutors reported this at trial:

Prosecutor Steven Ward contended that Ali and Hassan were in contact with key al-Shabab leaders and getting frequent updates on the fighting. He said their conversations showed they knew al-Shabab was a terror group, sometimes celebrating casualties.

In one of those calls, Ali told others to “forget about the other charities” and focus on “the jihad.” In another, she said, “Let the civilians die.”

Now that they have been convicted, Minnesota hard Left groups, saying the FBI is on a “witch hunt,” are making them a cause celebre’!

Both women were convicted of conspiracy to provide material support for a foreign terrorist organization. In addition, Ali was convicted of 12 counts of providing material support and Hassan was convicted of two counts of lying to FBI agents. Each count of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization carries a 15-year sentence. On the day of the conviction, there were huge protests in Somalia over the women’s cases.

The women were accused of helping al-Shabab, an Islamist organization that fights to free Somalia from foreign domination.

Participants at the forum were urged to pack the courtroom for the sentencing of Amina Ali and Hawo Hassan. The sentencing is expected to happen in the early spring. Before that, there will be other actions and campaigns around the case.

Why so many Somalis in the US?   That is what people are googling everyday and they end up here at RRW where top posts continue to be this one about how and when we admitted so many Somalis to the US and this one about how come there are so many Somalis in Minneapolis (Minnesota generally).

Grover Norquist under fire on House floor yesterday

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

If you don’t know who Grover Norquist is, good for you!   However, the rest of you may know him as the supposed Svengali of the ‘no new taxes pledge’ and a reputed big shot and king-maker among the Republican establishment in Washington, DC, but he is a lot more than that.

We first told you about Norquist pushing fellow Republicans to support bringing tens of thousands of Iraqi refugees to the US, here in 2007.   Subsequently we have written about him on many occasions because he calls anyone who dares question his unsavory associations with now imprisoned terror funders—Islamophobes—and says Shariah law is compatible with the US Constitution (here).  Most people don’t know that he and Americans for Tax Reform (the group he founded more than 20 years ago) supported the Bush/McCain/Kennedy amnesty bill that the grassroots defeated in 2007, here.

Yesterday Virginia Republican Rep. Frank Wolf went after Norquist on the House floor.   Of course, Wolf is attempting to discredit the Pledge, but in so doing he exposes Norquist’s questionable activities over the years.   You can see Wolf’s whole speech and report, here.

Search RRW for ‘Grover Norquist’ to learn more.

Update on the legal case surrounding the so-called Maryland “Dream Act”

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Since there has been so much in the news lately about Governor Rick Perry and his support for taxpayer subsidized educations for illegal aliens, I thought some readers here at RRW might want to know that the issue is one of the hottest political issues in Maryland these days.

Briefly, the State Legislature narrowly passed a bill to give in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens and Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley signed the bill into law.  A grassroots, largely Tea Party, campaign got underway to put the law on the 2012 ballot as a referendum and let voters decide if they wish to spend their tax dollars this way.  Referendum petitioners succeeded beyond their wildest dreams to get enough signatures.  Then CASA de Maryland,* with the help of the Democratic National Committee’s former head honcho lawyer filed suit to stop the ballot initiative.  Here is a post at my other blog describing how Joseph E. Sandler brought suit (and who he is!).

Now, Judicial Watch has stepped in to defend the citizens right to be heard and the story is growing, here, at Big Government.

* Learn more about the multi-million dollar immigrant advocacy group CASA de Maryland, here, at Accuracy in Media.