Robb Pearson's Opening Speech

I originally opened this blog entry by incorrectly stating that Robb Pearson used the word "evil" to describe "illegal" immigrants. He corrected me on this and was good enough to provide me with his actual written speech which I've posted below.

There are quite a few statements in his speech that become oxymoronic when coupled with the visual of what he is asking for - the deportation of all "illegal" immigrants. Let’s just take the first paragraph of the speech.

Generous? (Yes we’re generous, but not enough to help these people. We'll just “deport now!” after we made them feel it was ok to be here by giving them jobs.)
Tolerant? (Not of people fleeing poverty for the opportunity to actually support their families apparently, unless they’re from European countries and don’t stand on the street looking for work.)
Prosperous? (Of course because we enslave the rest of the world by supporting low paying slave labor in other countries instead of promoting US businesses that pay our fellow Americans a fare wage. Aren’t factories moving out of the United States by the droves? Didn’t this country fight immense labor battles throughout its infancy and into the last century because workers were being taken advantage of – workers which included children? Tell the poor workers of those ‘good ol’ American days that they were created equal and free and tell the slaves too? Please don’t reminisce about principals which have rarely, in our history, been adhered to.)
Welcoming? (If this were true people wouldn’t be here illegally. They wouldn’t need to be.)
Committed to Liberty? (Let’s go tell the Iraqis this. That’s a good name for our next war – “Operation Committed To Liberty.”)
Most noble of human principles? (Which are…?)

What is noble about telling anyone who thinks different from you to “go to hell”? (Voice Of The People USA) What is noble about flat out stating that all “illegal” immigrants are evil murders. (You Don’t Speak For Me.) And, since I’ve read some of Robb Pearson’s posts, what is noble about stating that Chris Christie, who is obese, spends too much time eating at the Morristown diner? Isn’t that kind of like being told you’re a racist all the time (a statement these groups battle everyday whether it’s true or not)? You know - personal attacks.

Finally, Robb states that the day of the rally was a day to “find real solutions to this problem.” Well nobody offered solutions except David Marlett. Everyone else just went on fear mongering tirades about how we’re all going to die tomorrow if there’s one “illegal” immigrant left. Oh, and there was the wall across the southern border, and 287(g). However, little time was given to actually explaining these things.

It really blows my mind that these groups continue to state “against the law, it’s against the law.” You know what, a lot of things are against the law and laws are broken everyday and have been broken multiple times by every person who spoke that day. Laws are also changed. It was once against the law to speak out against your country, as Robb does on his blog and I do as well. If this were eighty years ago Robb, and myself, would be in jail.

I literally can find no other explanation for the complete grouping of all “illegal” immigrants into this brazen mass of misfits other than to think these groups are worried about preserving the white majority in this country. No other explanation holds up when carefully studied and scrutinized. It’s all based on the promotion of fear and it’s all based in hate. Yes, there are others on the opposing side that also work in these terms, but I believe we have to find a better way then simply promoting action by scaring the hell out of one another.


Robb’s Speech:

My friends:

Nowhere on this earth will you find a more generous people.

Nowhere on this earth will you find a more compassionate people.

Nowhere in this world will you find a people more hospitable, more welcoming, more tolerant, more blessed by diversity; nor a nation more prosperous, more committed to liberty, nor more firmly founded upon the most noble of human principles than THIS people, THIS country, THIS land, THIS GREAT NATION the United States of America.

Today is about We The People.

Today is a day to celebrate our common American heritage, founded upon the recognition that all people are created equal, and free. Today is also a day to recall what our Founders understood: that those who gather in community and form a society retain the right to establish and enforce laws which they feel will best secure their common good, and ensure their collective security.

We The People. To borrow from an old Bible story of young Joseph, we are a coat of many colors, woven together by a cherished legacy of immigration and diversity, and a grand tradition of the rule of law, which is the thread that binds us together.

But, my friends, that thread which maintains the cohesiveness of our society is being undone by the scourge of illegal immigration. It is a serious injury to our nation as a whole as well as to our local communities, an injury which is not only perpetrated upon us by those who enter and remain in our country in violation of our laws, but is also enabled and allowed and continued by our own government.

This is unacceptable!

We The People. We The People. Let today mark a new direction. Let today be a day to take new steps. Let all of us today recommit ourselves to our foundational American principles, and rededicate ourselves to one another as fellow Americans.

Because we can no longer be content to gather merely to express our extreme frustration or engage in mere academic conversation about the issue of illegal immigration.

Today is a day to push forward with renewed determination to find real solutions to this problem.

Today is a day for all of us to ask ourselves what we each can do, what we each should do, and what we each MUST do, as responsible citizens.

This, my friends, is why we -- We The People -- are here today.

Andrew Woodring's Speech

This is transcribed from the videos posted on You Tube so I'm including the introductions as well. This is from Morristown ProAmerica Rally Part V.

Robb Pearson - "We believe in free speech. Let's applaud their free speech as well. (speaking of the protestors) Do it! Do it! That's the type of people we are. That's the American principle. We live with the opposition! And if we don't like their free speech we oppose it with more free speech! I'd like now to invite up to the podium Andrew Woodring from Voice of the People USA. Give him a big hand.

Andrew Woodring:

"Thank you very much. may I say first it's an honor and a privilege to be here in Morristown with alll you fine American citizens. So i'd just like to give you a round of applause right now. This past week, back in Hazelton, we had a slight snag in the battle for legal immigration and fixing our country. With Mayor Barletta and his IRA act. It wasn't an unforeseen problem. We knew that this was going to turn out this way, because we cannot look to government officials for patriots anymore. We must look to Mayor Barletta, Mayor Cresitello as our true patriots! We must look to the people around us who stopped the amnesty bill not once, but twice. All of you are patriots and you all deserve a round of applause for that as well.

There was a slight snag in Hazelton of course, but it will not stop the war. It will not stop the battle. In Hazelton we were told we were demonizing a problem that isn't really there. Really? I didn't notice. I’m new to this and my group has only been around for about three months, but this problem is crippling our country. And our country is at a turning point where it needs to stand up for itself. Where it needs to fight. Where American citizens need to stop and say “this is my country. This is what I want. Because if I don’t now, there will not be a country in ten years.

I will not turn to my children. I will not turn to my parents and say that I could have done something, but I won’t. I’ll turn a blind eye, I’ll sit with a level of complacency and sit back and watch tv and let somebody else deal with it. That time is past and now is the time that we need to stop and fight.

And I am honored to share the stage with members of You Don’t Speak For Me, members of 9/11 Families For a Secure America, Mayor Cresitello, ProAmerica society. It is my honor, it is my privilege to speak to all of you today and tell you that no matter what we will not stop fighting and we will take this as far and as high as we can. We will vote out politicians that don’t want to represent us. We will put in a whole new staff if we have to and we will make sure this job gets done.

And as far as demonizing the problem and being called racists. If you need to pull a racist card then you really don’t have a point to say and you should go away right now! And I’d also like to thank the people across the street for um trying to do a violent act today. You had your day, we’ll respect it and well let you say what you have to say. You let us have our day, we’ll respect it, let us say what we have to say. Complain about us tomorrow, but be citizens. And if you are not a citizen of this country you don’t belong here and its time for you to go!

I’m not a great speaker so I’ll just say it’s an honor and a privilege to share the stage with Mayor Cresitello. Thanks you. I hope that his example will lead for the rest of the country. And God bless all of you and have a great day. Thank you very much.

My Thoughts on the Morristown Rally

For anyone interested I have a few pictures of the rally on my Flickr site. Morristown ProAmerica Rally Pictures

I am of the opinion that this rhetoric is based in racism, but that is simply my view of the situation. If your view differs so be it, but at least take the time to investigate these groups before sending them your money.

Using the photo site as my primary source for opposing this particular rally I placed my experience there as my profile:

I attended the ProAmerica rally in Morristown, NJ on Saturday July 28, 2007 and

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing from the supporters of this rally and from the speakers themselves. There were men and women laughing at the protestors, waiving at them, and taunting them with disgusting signs and even the middle finger. What disturbed me most were the signs in Spanish which clearly show what these people want. They want to rid Morristown and New Jersey of Hispanics.

They can go on stage and claim they’re for “legal immigration”, but what does it do to a people when you fight so hard to send their friends, loved ones, and families away. By clearly identifying their cause (enemy) they are telling all like people that they are not welcome. Morristown, in particular, through Mayor Cresitello’s efforts, is trying to rid its city of Hispanics. They have begun a mission of taking homes and sending clear messages (such as 287g) to the Hispanic community that they are not welcome.

There were many reports showing the protesters were not exactly calm and collected. While I don’t believe in hurting your cause by becoming violent or even violently angry I cannot say that some of their actions were not provoked. It was clear right at the start of the rally that the presence of opposition was a nice little present for those speaking. Most all of them took the time to mention those on the other side of the street and the mayor even referred to them as “Marxist and Communist.” I was on the other side of the street and I’m neither I Marxist nor a Communist. The mayor’s myopic black and white view just goes to show his character.

It is my firm belief that this anti-immigrant stance is based in racism. This country has a terrible history of race relations and to think the groups sponsoring and participating in this rally are completely free of racist intent is ludicrous.

Robb Pearson put this rally together and is now arm in arm with groups such as Voice of the People USA who’s site screams that English should be our only language, but fails to properly use fundamental grammar in their declaration. Furthermore they freely link to sites such as “Export the Import” were pictures are posted showing their supporters holding signs that read “diversity = death.” He is also arm in arm with the group called New Jersey Citizens for Immigration Control which shows a picture of Hispanic people walking through a desert to illustrate their view that immigration is out of control.

All of these groups, including Robb himself, will stand on a stage and say they are not racist and that those who accuse them of that are shallow and have no argument. Yet Spanish was the only language used when speaking of "the problem." Daniel Smeriglio said he didn't want street signs in "Espanol" and Carmen Morales ended her speach with "Si Se Puede." In addition there were a few signs at the rally written in Spanish though there were none in any other language.

I can only hope that the good people of this country take the time to look at these websites and ask themselves “who am I really supporting here?”

Do you disagree with “illegal” immigration and disapprove of amnesty? Do you support our President? Well, though Robb supports deportation he does not support George Bush and actually pokes fun at him in his blog. (Not that I’m complaining) I'm not happy with the president either, but then I'm not calling others country haters because they disagree with US law. This is a free country and we're allowed to disagree with it's laws and our president without being anti-country.

Do not remain silent while these people stand up and use propaganda and scare tactics to remove you from showing humanity to others. I’m not going to let these groups tell me that all “illegal” immigrants commit all the violent crimes in their communities. And though I believe some of these groups to be racist, however covered it may be, I will not stop believing in them and hoping that they will see the error of their ways. There are ways to help people without treating them like outsiders and without making them feel inferior.

We are a welcoming people. That's why this country is so great.

It’s more fun to be nice and get along, isn’t it?

John Rucki's Speech

I have done my best here to transcribe John Rucki's speech from the Morristown ProAmerica rally held on Saturday 28, 2007.

I will continue to transcribe the other speeches as well because I feel this is an important issue and I think we have to fully understand the intentions of these groups.

John Ruck is from a group called New Jersey Citizens for Immigration Control. The homepage of his website shows Hispanics crossing through a desert. You can find things in his speech that are suspect as well.

John's speech: (I have included the fact that protestors rushed the stage during his speech)

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen my name is John Rucki – that’s spelled R-u-c-k-i. I live in Middlesex country New Jersey and along with Doctor Gayle Kesselman I am co chair of New Jersey Citizens for Immigration Control. All of you are probably familiar with doctor Gayle Kesselman. She manages our website and I think many of you have probably gotten emails from her, possibly 2,3,4,5,6 per week. Doctor Kesselman, my co-chair, sends her regards and she does a fine job managing our website.

I have a confession to make. I’m going to bear my soul. I am a product of legal immigration and I’m proud of it. Ellis Island is my Plymouth Rock. Tim to time we go to these rallies, ok. And we get confronted by an opposite point of view and that is fine. WE are fair, our groups are fair, we listen to everybody. Those groups that confront us from time to time to them I say your days are limited. When you cannot properly defend your point of view, when the only way you defend your point of view is calling the opposition racists you’ve lost your character, you’ve lost your integrity, and you’ve lost your credibility.

Thank all of you for coming out today. This is a beautiful__ (stage is rushed by two or three protestors) Some of the crowd across the street chants “Racism means we’ve got to fight back.”

(applause from the audience as the protestors are apprehended by the police)

Robb Pearson approaches the mike “We’re good to go!”

John continues “Thanks for the rest. I would like to thank all of you for turning out this afternoon on a warm Summer day. There are a lot more things we could be doing with our friends and families. One of the things that makes the Summer so enjoyable is we celebrate good holidays. Good American holidays during the summer. Memorial day, Fourth of July, Labor Day. Howe war you Fourth of July? My fourth of July was one of the best that I’ve had in a number of years. You know that made this last Fourth of July so special? The events that happened in Washington the week before the Fourth of July. With our faxes, with our letters, with our phone calls, our group stopped illegal amnesty not once, but twice. And we’re going to do it again if we have to. That even, stopping those amnesties will go down in American history as a significant event as significant as those patriots who over two hundred years ago threw bails of tea into Boston Harbor. Our founding fathers had it easy, they had it hard, but they had it easy. They only had one George III to deal with. We have many George III to deal with in Washington. Most of them are in the House of Representatives and the Senate. It’s a good thing that when you get elected to Senate or to the House of Representatives you aren’t given rings with big stones in ‘em. Because if Senators and members of the house of Representatives were given rings they’d probably expect us to genuflect and kiss those rings. That’s the mood unfortunately in Washington. We have two Excellencies that we have to deal with that represent us in Washington. We have his Excellency Frank and we have his Excellency Bob. If you look at the voting records of the representatives and Senators that represent us in Washington it leaves a lot to be desired. With all the talk going on in Washington about impeachment maybe it’s about time that we the people started looking into impeachment.

Elected office was not meant to be a full time job and career. Let’s start exercising term limits when we vote at the ballot box. When those representatives and Senators got sworn I for their terms whether it was the first, the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth, or the sixth they swore on a Bible to a solemn oath. They swore to uphold all of the laws of this country and they failed to do it. They have not upheld the fine traditions of the United States Senate and the House of Representatives. We deserve better. I would remind our elected officials, at all levels – enforce the law! Selective enforcement of the law is a form of tyranny and we will not tolerate it. More and more local government municipalities, country government, were taking on the tasks that our Federal government has failed to do. They have failed to protect our borders, they have failed to manage an effective and efficient immigration system. They can’t even process passports in a timely manner. They cannot even keep contaminated food stuff substances from entering this country and making us sick. More and more municipalities’ counties are picking up the slack and doing what they vowed to do, correct the quality of life problems that the federal government is not providing for us. To his credit Mayor Cresitello has moved to increase the quality of life for the citizens of Morristown and in effect the citizens of Morris County. 287g is going the job that the federal government will not do. 287g is allowing us as lawful abiding citizens to assist ICE to make sure that our laws are enforced. We are pro legal immigration. You can spin it, you can distort it, you can megaphone it anyway you want. We are pro legal immigration. If you want to experience the fruits of the Liberty Bell ya gotta ring our front door bell.

Let me leave you with this. English is our language. Speak it, write it, and print it.

There’s our flag. Continue lifting it higher and higher. This is your country. Continue to start taking it back.

Thank you.