Minutemen Insanity at Columbia

Another case of immature college students who apparently believe "my right to free speech trumps your right to free speech."

fwaefawef got it so right. Back in my day the issue was South African divestment. We built shantytowns, had die-ins, forced the college to divest. Then some of those same protestors put on their suits, went off to the big city, and got jobs with Solomon Brothers and Merrill Lynch, etc., organizations that probably weren't on the divestment bandwagon.

"We celebrate free speech: for that reason we allowed the Minutemen to speak, and for that same reason we peacefully occupied the stage and spoke ourselves."

WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

holy shit guys, c'mon. the minutemen are ridiculous, but helping them feel like martyrs is even more counterproductive.

emotionally satisfying, however, sure.

Why would anyone want to be a college republican in a liberal college? It's like being a nazi at a hasidic village. It's like you are just being there to piss other people off and not only that but being around liberals would probably just piss you off more. so you have this sado masoschistic relationship with your ideology. sad.

"We celebrate free speech: for that reason we allowed the Minutemen to speak, and for that same reason we peacefully occupied the stage and spoke ourselves."

This has got to be one of the most stupid things I've ever read.

by the way, i wonder how those kids will feel in 20 years when they are paying higher taxes than we do now for less benefit. it won't be just the fault of illegals, but they'll definitely be compounding the issue. especially by running down the hospitals and schools. maybe if those kids are lucky some homeless illegals will even set up camp a few hundred feet from their house under the highway or along the train tracks. already happened to me.

This protest seems more like an opposition to the College Republicans who invited the Minuteman - than to the Minutemen themselves. These Republicans enable the corporate agenda in this country - and allow Bush and Co. to devour the planet...they actually help them to do it (while chanting God Bless America). So it is with them that we start our revolt. Then we move up the ladder.

Their policies are violent - the least we can do as human beings is rush the stage eh?

Bravo Columbia! Wish I was there.

Given the predatory nature of our predatory species -- black participation in the anti illegal immigration problem is ... racially motivated.

So, why not hug a white guy who is promoting the ethnic interests of black people too?

How many stories can you read of blacks facing increased competition from Chicanos for working class jobs, being pushed out of formerly black neigborhoods, and engaging in ethnic conflict with Chicanos in public schools?

So, are there white Gentiles who want to end illegal immigration for ethnically motivated reasons? -- racists? While blacks -- as well as all Jews and nonwhites in America -- could openly say they oppose amnesty, or illegal immigration, because these things specifically harm their race, (in other words, for ethnically motivated reasons) -- white Gentiles can only promote or oppose something strictly for universal reasons.

Why?

Given that our species is predatory, by nature, discrimination is normal. Races that see themselves as a sovereign people, an alpha race, will be racially conscious and will openly promote the ethnic interests of their people.

In America, Jews and nonwhites are encouraged to be racially conscious, to organize along racial lines, appoint racially defined leaders, and to openly promote the ethnic interests of their people.

They are acting as alpha races, sovereign races.

White Gentiles, though, fear being seen as racially conscious and are terrified to be seen as racially aggressive. They are the typical beta race, or beta tribe. As such, when tribal aggression is shown by a white Gentile he must figuratively "roll over and expose his vitals" for Jews and nonwhites. This is the age old behavior between alpha races and beta races.

So, its very possible that some white Gentiles in the minutemen have the same motivation that any Jew or nonwhite would have -- ethnic motivation.

But I would imagine -- given the racially emasculated state of just about all whites -- that just about all whites involved are doing so for universal reasons.

As a graduate of Brown University, I am well aware of the intimidation tactics and Orwellian speech employed by many "activist" groups at liberal colleges. It is instances like this one at Columbia that actually made me far more conservative after my four years of college than before (I grew up in the South, mind you). Conservative groups on campus were actually far more open to dialogue than the supposed "liberal" groups, most of which relied on naive freshman to shout slogans and interrupt speakers of opposing viewpoints with the most outrageous accusations imaginable. Perhaps the Conservatives were forced to be more open to debate because of their minority status. In any case, yes, most of these kids won't give a rat's ass once they graduate and move on to ibanking, consulting, or law.

what what what whaa?
The division has only grown larger in the past decade or so.
Can we please get back to Mark Foley and his search for young boys and rulers for measurement tools?

hey Matt, to change your political ideology because of the 'tactics' of some activists is ridiculous.

Do you now support union busting, unending war, RFID chips for everyone, environmental destruction, government giveaways to oil companies, torture!!!

You are supprting the conservatives because you didn't like the activits hair and tattoos?

One has nothing to do with the other.

Strong ideas require action to get them done. The Republicans understand this, Rove has broken every law in the book to get his boys in power. And you act like its the liberal activists at fault.

Get real. And I suugest staying out of this fight man - you will get eaten alive.

But wait... was it the Republicans who rushed the stage after the protestors went up there? I'm a bit confused on who did the "rushing"...

rushing a stage is a hell of a lot better than rushing a border armed to the teeth intent on shooting to kill!!!

free speech? at least gilchrist got 3 minutes. that is a lot more time that he and his band of thugs will allow any so-called "illegal" to live.....

by they way, from what i have read and heard direct from those who were there, the minutemen could barely sustain an intelligable presentation except rant and quote the bible. this is a major university not some freakin' bible or community college!

i wish i would have been there just so i could have kicked someboyd in the head. doesn't really matter which side, im a non-partisan headkicker.

but as someone asked earlier, can we please have proof about these 3000 deaths?

The fight wasn't started by students. Go watch the tape. The students were standing and shouting, and the Minutemen are throwing punches and kicks and tearing stuff down. Whatever.

Hi Jason,

Thanks for putting a lot of words in my mouth. I never said I was anti-union or any of the other ludicrous accusations you threw at me. Perhaps I wasn't entirely clear in my message, but the tactics that leftists use to support their cause disgust me but were not the reason I have changed my political idealogy.

These days I actually consider myself moderate, which to many students at schools like Columbia and Brown appears borderline facist right wing. I support gay marriage. I don't support affirmative action (the only legal "insitutionalized racism"- favorite buzzword of the left- that exists today in the U.S.A). I was against us going to war in Iraq and am horrified at the mess that has resulted. I think Blacks are hurt a lot more by the victim ideaology the left teaches them than by "white privilege."

Oh, and I'm sure I would be much more offended by your ideas than by your hair or tattoos.

what a liar zach. i was there. the minutmen's supporters were on the front right. the first thing that happened was two student came from the back stage w/a poster (where was security?). Then students broke throuugh the rope and came up through the front left. The video clearly indicates this. Then another wave ran up before security could do anything. All of this appeared to be coordinated by two old women who were moving to the front.

You're a liar, apologist and jerk zach.

its pretty obvious that some guy in a baseball cap started the physical altercations - he came from the front right

just watch the tape

however i dont care who started the altercation, as long as the minutemen are taken down

Moderates are republicans who choose to throw-away a portion of their beliefs about issues that have no importance to promote crucial issues with misinformation. I'm not saying gay marriage is unimportant, I'm saying that it's claerly riduculous that two people who love eachother can't get married and I refuse to discuss it further. It's smokescreen for issues that epublicans want to fast track to the right, like a right to abortion.

Jason- the Boston Holocaust Monument has a great quote that reminds me of your comment. When will all the average joe's in our country realize that whatever you want to call, it will one day come for them, too?

free speech is wack! yeah! yay!

hr... wow... Could your post include more code words for Socialistic Anarchistic Art-loving Educated Elites?

Or you could have just said Democrats. I guess lumping all those words together to form an incomplete sentence was too taxing, eh?

The discourse (and I hate that word) in this country about this and a host of other subjects is really getting to the point of insanity. We can't even talk with one another without name calling and fingerpointing... and yes, I'm guilty of it, too.

Oy. We're in for some bad times ahead.

Hey hr... uh... oh... I would respond if only I could understand what you meant. And who's elerta?

oohh... wait... I'm a wet towel! Whew... that took a while.

Anyone who's been to college in the last 20 years has to admit that there's a certain level of brown shirt-style fascism on campuses. I'm not yanking that F-word out my bag reflexively. When I read that German author Gunther Grasse joined the SS when he was a teenager, I wasn't surprised at all. Kids are passionate, have essentially no responsibilities, and very little life experience from which to draw moderate frames of reference. Kids are volatile and true believers to whatever passion they've recently attached themselves to. In their minds, the justness of their cause absolves them of any ridiculousness. In adults, that's characterized as mania. In young adults, that's characterized as being a college student--left, right or center.

MattMichael-
Why is that people feel having any amount of experience within a flawed institution via academia, law, or politics consitutes some amount of validity in the points they make?

Respect. There needs to be more respect for real dissent very soon on the topics of war, immigration, and poverty in this country and throughout the world. All three of the above are unwanted side affects of spreading democracy.
I certainly did not take that perspective from participating in the political process of our country, although I do that too.

The People* are starting to not only turn-off to the propaganda, but I think a lot of people (this serving as an example) are starting to feel the need to say 'SHUT THE FUCK UP!' Especially the college kids...

*I do not include you in the term 'The People', as you are clearly either a cog in the machine or a computer program created by Republicans to post right-slanted automated responses on this page.

"Don't even get me started with the smarmy attitude of 19 y/o students who have taken 2 political science courses during Q/A talking down to people who have made lifetime careers in academia, politics or the law. Disagree with them, yes... but show some respect."

You're right. I've never once seen somebody conservative do something like that.

While it's generally true that college kids trumpet idealism while lacking 'real world experience,' (where 'real world experience' = the kinds of inane, unimaginative soundbytes spewed by countless politicians on Meet the Press every Sunday morning), I'll take the idealism thank-you-very-much.

It's not like today's college students are any more polarized than, say, those who regularly watch Fox News.

These guys are absolutely in charge of shaping public opinion, which, if you have not been paying attention for the last 6 years, is what decides elections. Clearly not logic.

Politicians are too busy raising cash.

The People are idiots on the average, and the concept of nuance does not exist in their concrete world. I'm fine with that and I still love em for it. But that changes my approach to hammering some of my thoughts through their thick little skulls.

Revenge is defense and for pussies who should have spoken up the first time and now regret that they didn't. This was not revenge. This was offense. Which is the side of ball the Dems need to get on if they think anybody who considers themselves liberal will vote for their candidate.

samantha t-

I can cite plenty of instances where conservatives deliberately disrupted speakers whose positions they disagreed with.

Perhaps you tend not to notice it because it doesn't take the form of students jumping on to a stage. Instead it usually manifests itself in government fear-mongering (the public intolerance of dissent in the aftermath of 9/11) and marginalization of dissenting voices by the mainstream media, which (up until very recently) tends to toe the official line and which at the least is owned by major corporations, which tend not to foster free, critical debate.

There is nothing more nauesating then a minority conservative...

"god knows why the republican invited him."

they invited him because they knew it would have this kind of reaction.

"and what is the sense in having priciples if you are going to let people walk all over them dhex?"

you do realize this is applicable, then, for the minutemen to use violence against people who protest against them as well, right? unless you're one of those folks who counts speech you disagree with as an attack, in which case i can only shrug. if speech is an attack, then all forms of dissent against dissent are an attack, which is great authoritarian logic but not very useful for civil society. (and i'm sure you can post reams about how civil society either does not exist nor applies to you, but as a video installation artist surely you can appreciate some of the niceties such social fictions provide)

if you think the minutemen were some sort of frisson for this idea, you may be a few years behind the times:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gatekeeper

they are a symptom, as with any culture war battle.

what i'm saying, in a nutshell, is attacking speakers - especially gimmick speakers like these chuckleheads - is a) unprincipled b) stupid and c) authoritarian. it surely feeds your emotional need to feel excitement at doing something, no doubt, but the end result is meaningless.

i wouldn't advise they travel to the border and pick a fight with the minutemen either. nor i would i tell you to, in any seriousness. someone would get hurt, and i don't think it would be the minutemen. the war of all against all is great on paper - or voyeuristically through youtube - but it is less fun in person. (which is why for all the frisson on this issue, we neither have minuteman death squads hunting people in mexico nor pro-immigration activists hunting the minutemen. this is culture war, not a real war - at least, not yet)

which is no doubt why you're not there as well. i would like to think part of you recognizes, quite reasonably, that such actions would be fruitless (in any real sense, but as there's no price on emotional satisfaction, etc...)

like i said, i like open borders. probably more than most people - i think it would have a destablizing effect on the war on some drugs, amongst other things. and more to principle, people should have the right of travel, to work or whatever else they decide to do.

but these sorts of tactics are as stupid and irresponsible as the idea of citizen militias messing with people desperate enough to cross miles of desert to get the hell out of mexico.

As an attendee, or rather more than an attendee, I would like to clarify some things before commenting.
The event was co-sponsored by the Columbia University College Republicans (CUCR) and the Columbia College Conservative Club (C4). I was the founder of CCCC and served as its president from 1999-2001.

Mr. Stewart gave a long impassioned and meandering speech, which riled up many students. Between his being an African-American Preacher and his support for both restricted immigration and the founding ideals of this country, Steward really angered people. Some of the attendess interupted him by chanting "wrap it up". Other’s interjected into his speach with historically false assertions such as Samuel Adams’s supposed slaveholding.

53 minutes into the event, just as Mr. Gilchrist began to speak, all heck broke loose.

The protestors were a mix of groups. There were student organizations such as the Chicano Caucus, SPEAK, and the Greens.
There were also outside organizations like the International Socialist Organization, the Spartacists, ANSWER, and Not In our Name.

I should note that communists not only lecture at Columbia but teach there as well.

Frankly, many of the communists and perpetually agreieved were angry that the House Immigration bill had been signed. Unable to take it out on the president, they attacked our event.

In theory the disrupting students, especially those who acted violently, can be expelled from the university.

In 1998, leftists students and outside agitators, with the help the Rupp administration, had an Accuracy in Academia conference kicked off campus. To my knowledge, no student was punished, not even those who tried to break into a private event.

Lee Bollinger who used an affirmative action protest bake sale held by CCCC as an excuse to not only fund the Diversocrats but also to make Affirmative Action a goal in hiring. Whites can be hired provided they promote progressive and tolerant views.

Since the administration is already trying to shift blame on non-student guests, I hate to think what the university will due now.

If I were inclined to use hysterical language, I might be tempted to compare this with the round-up of Jews after Krystallnacht and the fining of Jewish communities for the clean up of the mess.

Reminder: Using force to interrupt two parties wishing to exchange ideas is fascist.

I understand protesting outside, but once you make it impossible for two willing parties to listen and communicate with one another, you are reverting to the usual brownshirt tactics.(or in this case, redshirt tactics)

IT WAS AWESOME!
What did the College Republicans think? We weren't going to react? Come on, they said that as an Ivy League school, they expected us to be intellectual and respectful. But they forgot that as a liberal Ivy League school, we were not going to deprive our right to free speech and our right to tell those racist what we thought of them. Besides it was a "debate" as they said. A debate is when you invite people from both sides and have an intellectual disscussion. This wasn't the case.
I'm proud of what I did and I will do it again if necessary!

"But they forgot that as a liberal Ivy League school, we were not going to deprive our right to free speech and our right to tell those racist what we thought of them."

FUCK FREE SPEECH! FUCK FREE SPEECH! FUCK FREE SPEECH!

"If I were inclined to use hysterical language, I might be tempted to compare this with the round-up of Jews after Krystallnacht and the fining of Jewish communities for the clean up of the mess."

ok, you guys deserve each other.

this whole thing has been so far off the whatthefuckitude scale...

"Oh well liberals and hypocrisy go together like peanut butter and Jelly."

AAAAHHHHHahahahahaha!!! You are precious.

"They are made up people of all races and colors."

Everybody knows that the idea of diversity has been hijacked by consevatives to 'prove' they aren't racist. (Hugging black people who fit their definition of black is like saying "He's one of the good ones, like Condoleeza").

"When the facts don't support your views make shit up and start hurling baseless epithets like racist."

Yessir! We've been watching our FOX news religiously and we have learned how to distort truth, manufacture facts, and spin information to our advantage. Thank you for the tutorial, Rupert.
Gloves off, bitches!

"FUCK FREE SPEECH! FUCK FREE SPEECH! FUCK FREE SPEECH!"

The irony.

Ok, my last comment was somewhat hyperbolic and not illuminating.

I do have a question for both sides (some people have already answered for themselves)

For the pro-immigration folks who support what the Columbia clowns did: do you really believe that muzzling a group of nativist, if not racist, cowpunchers will have ANY positive impact on the majority of voters? There has already been mention of some of the speakers and what they were talking about. If the accounts here are true, have you never heard the expression "give 'em enough rope and they'll hang themselves"? Free speech goes beyond the spirit of Voltaire - it's always wise to allow stupid opponents to speak.

To the anti-immigration folks who support the Minutemen: Do you really believe a group like this will have ANY positive impact pushing forth your agenda? A group of armed clowns chasing down poor, unarmed people in search of a better life?

"4) stage rushed by banner holders (note, NO violence)
5) republicans/minutmen/conservatives physically attack banner holders causing fight (i.e. the banner holders did not start fight, just wanted to present their point of view)
6) columbia security ended event due to violence instigated by conservatives/republicans/minutemen NOT others"

one must truly fear the man who is convinced he is absolutely right.

so rushing the stage wasn't an instigation? just like inviting the minutemen wasn't an instigation? please, everyone got what they wanted out of this (emotional satisfaction, some feeling like a victim regardless of actions or injury, etc.)

seriously, i know nyc (and many, many other places) is filled with partisan fucks of the highest order, but you fucking people don't actually believe this shit, do you?

"The irony."

indeed. well, it's not ironic, it's more of a mind boggle - especially the whole "we didn't like the speech being exercise so we exercised our free speech to stop the speech we didn't like." it's so cliched to keep writing FREEDOM IS SLAVERY but perhaps we're stuck with bumper sticker mentalities on everything these days. as many folks here keep saying, "[side x] does it, so we're doing it too!"

what a great fucking idea.

riduculous that two people who love eachother can't get married and

What about 3 people who love each other?

Anyway, this is yet another example of the "free speech but only if you agree with me" policy of the far-left fundamentalists.

dhex-
a normal event that had people rushing the stage with nothing other then a banner would simply remove the kids with the banner (security would do this) and then the talk would go on...
this has happened before-its no big deal

the baner did not necessarily mean that the speaker would be silenced.

the violent reaction by the minutemen is what necessitated the end of the talk...
and when met with violence i would hope the protesters would fight back

anyone hear brian lehrer's show about this?

Just like rich white boys to rush a stage to get some cheap shots in.
Just like the summer skins, or bum fights.
You want a bum rush, go to a rap concert at MSG.
You don't have the balls.
Just a rich white blonde boy getting a cheap shot in.
Also, note, Gilchrist formed his own minutemen org. He broke off with another founder. He's the more militant one.
NO it's not sad that this has happened before. It happens a lot in this great diversified city. All that's usually done is security get's them removed from the auditorium.

From The Southern Poverty Law Center.
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=13

Nazis, racists join Minuteman Project

Two Minuteman Project volunteers — men who described themselves as members of the neo-Nazi National Alliance — pose near the Mexican border with a handmade sign bearing an image identical to that on Alliance pamphlets and billboards.

The men told fellow volunteers that a total of at least six Alliance members had joined the Minuteman effort in order to recruit new Alliance members and to learn where to conduct their own "Mexican hunts" once media attention flagged.

The men carried assault rifles in their vehicle and boasted that they were scouting "sniper positions."


DOUGLAS, Ariz. | April 22, 2005 -- For months, Jim Gilchrist promised that his Minuteman Project would peacefully observe the Arizona border as a protest against illegal immigration. Volunteers — he said there would be 1,300 of them — would be carefully screened, with FBI help, to keep out white supremacists and racists. No one would be allowed to bear guns except those who had permits to carry concealed weapons.
Gilchrist said that critics who called his group "vigilantes" — naysayers who included President Bush — were absolutely wrong about his volunteers.

Indeed, Gilchrist told USA Today, these men and women sought only to bring attention to a major social problem. Most were "white Martin Luther Kings."

Maybe so. But Gilchrist's accuracy has been less than sterling.

As the month-long April project started, some 300 volunteers showed up — a thousand fewer than predicted. An FBI official denied that the agency was screening Gilchrist's or any other private group's members. At least four-fifths of volunteers did carry weapons, and almost none were checked for permits. Racist talk abounded. And at least some neo-Nazis and other racists did join in Gilchrist's project.

On April 2, as the month-long effort got under way, the Minuteman Project held a protest across the street from the U.S. Border Patrol headquarters in Naco, Ariz. Prominent among the demonstrators were two men who confided that they were members of the Phoenix chapter of the National Alliance — the largest neo-Nazi group in America. One of the two, who sat in lawn chairs throughout, held a sign with arrows depicting invading armies of people from Mexico — a sign identical to National Alliance billboards and pamphlets, except without the Alliance logo.

The presence of Alliance members was not much of a surprise, and there were likely more than that pair. "We're not going to show up as a group and say, 'Hi, we're the National Alliance," Alliance official Shaun Walker told a reporter in the run-up to the protest. "But we have members ... that will participate."

In fact, National Alliance pamphlets were distributed in Tombstone and this predominantly Hispanic community just two days before the Minuteman Project got going. "Non-Whites are turning America into a Third World slum," they read. "They come for welfare or to take our jobs. Let's send them home now."

Many other white supremacists had promised to attend, including members of the neo-Nazi Aryan Nations, but it was difficult to know if they showed up.

One well-known extremist did appear. Armored in a flak jacket and packing a .38-caliber snub-nosed revolver, Joe McCutchen joined other volunteers patrolling the barbed wire fence separating the United States and Mexico near Bisbee, Ariz.

McCutchen is the recently appointed chairman of Protect Arkansas Now, a group seeking to pass legislation that would deny public benefits to undocumented workers in that state. More to the point, he was identified by the white supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens as a member in 2001 — a charge he denies, though he admits that he did give a speech that year to the group that has described blacks as "a retrograde species of humanity." As recently as summer 2003, McCutchen wrote anti-Semitic letters to his hometown newspaper in Fort Smith, Ark.

"A lot of these people coming in, they're diseased," McCutchen told one group of fellow volunteers, who treated him like a visiting celebrity. "They've got tuberculosis, leprosy. I mean, you don't even want to touch them unless you're wearing gloves. So why the hell should we pay our taxes to cure them?"

"They're turning our country into a Third World dumping ground," he said. "We're losing our language to them, losing our culture. They're taking over, and if we don't stop [immigration], our society will not survive. That's why I'm here."

Back in March, Gilchrist had also warned that he had been told that leaders of an extremely violent gang made up of Salvadorans — the Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13 — had ordered its members to teach "a lesson" to the Minuteman volunteers. As it turned out, however, no frightening, brown-skinned gangsters showed up.

But the National Alliance was certainly there.

The day after the Minuteman rally in Naco, the two Alliance members there — one of whom identified himself as "Sam Adams" — were assigned to an observation post about a mile from McCutchen's location. They arrived there after a 10-minute "training session," driving to the post as they blasted white power music.

"We understand why Gilchrist and [project co-organizer Chris] Simcox have to talk all this P.C., crap," said one. "It's all about playing to the media. That's fine. While we're here, it's their game and we'll play by their rules. Once Minuteman's over, though, we might just have to come back and do our own thing."

First of all, stopping waving that damn Mexican flag in this country.

I just watched the interview on FOXNEWS of the two women who organized a group of people to rush the stage while Gilchrist was speaking. I came away with one conclusion. The American definition of "free speech" is to let one speak their point of view without fear of physical reprisal or physical violence. Maybe these two women have the American definition confused with the Communist version, which is to allow free speech unless you don't agree with the speaker, at which point you use any means possible to quiet that speaker, including violence. Maybe those two woman should move to Venezuela. They certainly don't understand American free speech, but they certainly understand communism.

The clip of those students rushing the stage just made The Minutemen a much stronger group, so go back to the Communist country where you came from.

Hey moxie...you read my post, maybe you can spread my message. And thanks, I will go back to foxnews.

"The Democratic party has institutionalized race."

uuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhh no.

really, give yourself a few minutes to think about what historical factors may have led to these patterns, and ask yourself if they started before or after the democratic party was founded. or america for that matter.

i understand being a partisan is, like, really enjoyable. i imagine it's how objectivists most of the time feel except you guys have friends. a kind of natural high.

As a Columbia (Engineering) alumn, I say, "hell yes." That is why Columbia is Columbia.

I am utterly amazed at how intellectually challenged these protesters acted during and after the disruption of the Minuteman lecture. And this is an "Ivy League" University. These protesters have the intellectual capacity of a 6th grader . . . and that is a stretch.

One thing of increasing interest is the frequent alliance between Mid Eastern and Hispanic groups. One of the articles stated that the protesters had a banner the said "There are no Illegals." It was written in English and Arabic. Of course this is basically BULLSHIT. If you broke our laws and crossed our border without following the proceedures set up by the US Government then you are here illegally. If you then falsefy papers to work here you have commited a felony and should be immmediately deported . . . or sent to Iraq.

Now for my thoughts:

Minuteman Project Heckled at Columbia University

Unfortunately, the transcript (below) is a sign of things to come. In an earlier piece I made the polemic argument that people, in a free society, have the right to challenge any religious tenant (e.g. "Allah/Jesus or Buddha suck ass": take your pick): that in order to protect free speech we must protect the most repugnant ideas or ideas that are, at least, repugnant to some.

What happened at Columibia University illustrates that we now have "Ivy League" college students that either don't understand or simply don't care about the First Amendment to our Bill of Rights. This intolerance is as unacceptable as Muslims persecuting Christians or Christians persecuting Muslims etc.

This, of course, is a secular example of the same form of intolerance.

I happen to agree with the Minute Men, however, that is not the point. The point is that, in America, we have a right to express our opinion without worrying about being assualted or presecuted. But that is exactly what happened in Chicago. If anyone has links to a video of this, please send me the link.

But I also feel these hecklers are being duped big time. The Multi-National Corporations (MNC's) are behind the unprecedented levels of legal and illegal immigration because they have this short-sighted goal of bleeding every last cent of profit out of each 3rd world slave and each American worker. They don't care about the coming Balkinization of American culture that could very possibly result in a real civil war, right here in America.

And it is these same MNC's that are pushing to implement the "North American Union", which will destroy our Constituion and our soveregnty: not to mention the destruction of the American working class. Take this path and wealth will further polarize in proportion to increasing civil strife.

I have a future world vision as well, but it is an egalitarian vision. It is a vision of a world that lives within the boundaries of it's environmental limits where population and energy use are in balance. It is a world where everyone enjoys the inalienable right to think, and practice the religion of their choosing. It is a world where everyone enjoys the right to alter their state of conciousness through exercise, prayer, drugs or yoga. It is a world where Muslims, Christians, Agnostics, Atheists and the Fulong Gong are welcome to practice their traditions. Yes, I too want to see an eventual merging of the worlds governments and people. But I don't want to see it implemented at the point of a gun. And I don't want to see a One World Order where a minute minority has possession of all of the wealth, resources and factors of production.

Both Adam Smith and Karl Marx have duly warned us against that eventuality. Smith talked of unbridled capitalism. Marx talked of a monolithic ruling class that eventually controls all factors of production -- including the laborer. And of course anyone that has ever played Monopoly knows how that game ends.

And of course many of these largely Hispanic protesters have my empathy as they would like to bring all of their economically suffering relatives here from Mexico and Central/South America. But continuing this course will sink the boat that we know as America. And goodness knows we are in enough of a fix as things currently stand without over straining the American ecosystem.

If you have not yet watched this video on population growth, in America, I plead with you to take 14 minutes to view it:

Population by the Numbers by Roy Beck
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4094926727128068265&q=roy+beck&hl=en

This is my primary argument in favor of restricting any further immigration: both legal and illegal. We simply have too many people living in the United States and further strains to our finite resouces will end in catastrophe for everyone.

I hate to be the harbinger of bad news, but I fear this sort of behavior is going to get worse before it gets better. It is up to all of us to fight any affront to the free expression of ideas in this once-great country. It is also up to all of us to fight for a future that benefits all Americans -- not just the top 5 percent.

Bruce W. Cain
Editor, New Age Citizen
www.newagecitizen.com

PS:
One should also consider that UofC may have actually encouraged this behavior as 70% of their post-grads are foriegn H1B students who are going to be taking the few remaining "good jobs" left in American. Should we stop any further foriegn immigration these Universities will just have to find a way to start recruiting American students once again . . . as they damn well should.

Hey Bruce W. Cain, I'm glad you support pot, but maybe you shouldn't smoke so much before doing research. Columbia University is in NEW YORK CITY, not CHICAGO. I understand that a quick google search would tell you that "Columbia College Chicago" is indeed a real school. But the Ivy League Columbia, where this incident took place, is in New York.

glad to see the final nail in the coffin of intellectual discourse allowed at ol' FACIST U. aka columbia.

they can hardly call themselves academic when they're merely a host for propaganda.

meanwhile, as alum, they keep bugging us for donations. why? so you can tell us that anyone whose a jew or american is evil. no thanks.

hey, when you are so wrapped up in your pc crap you can't bother to consider the human trafficking and corporatized slavery ramifications of allowing "guest workers" and undocumented residents, then not only are you incapable of political discourse, but you're morally inhumane.

truth is "liberals" like the ones at columbia are true elitists who believe that arabs are incapable of diplomacy and immigrants should only clean their toilets while denigrating 200 years of labor laws to protect the workers.

A couple of comments:
1) It was the Minutemen and their supporters who attacked the protestors, not the other way around. This was clearly shown in the video shot by Univision. The protestors climbed up onto the stage, unfurled banners and began chanting. In response, Minuteman supporters rushed them, tried to ripe apart their signs and kicked at the heads of aurdience memebers apporaching the stage.
2) It is amazing that Gilchrist and his cronies can wave guns in people's faces, beat, threaten and unlawfully detain anyone who looks Latino, and have no one say anything. In fact, California governor Arnold Schwarzeneger even praised these fascist thugs for the "great job" they were doing terrorizing unarmed people along the border. Yet should anyone dare stand up to these goons, they are denounced for it. I have as much sympathy for the Minutemen as I do for the schoolyard bully who finally picks on the wrong kid and gets his tail whipped.

What an embarresment. Sending the two students to be interviewed on hannity and colmes only made it worse.

The minutemen have more support now then they did before this happened. Great move on their part deciding to speak.