April 23, 2007

Pamela Constable grits teeth, covers "Hold Their Feet to the Fire" rally

Page B01 of today's Washington Post contains "'No Amnesty' Is Cry at D.C. Immigration Protest" by Pamela Constable (link). Now, maybe it's just me, but I get the feeling that she wanted to do a full-on hit piece, but she was told by her editors to try to tone it down just a tad. Of course, there might be another explanation for that grating sound I hear:

The small but fervent crowd of protesters recited the Pledge of Allegiance and hummed along to "God Bless America." They hoisted neatly lettered placards that portrayed the United States as under siege. They cheered lustily as a parade of speakers, jabbing fingers toward the White House, demanded action to secure U.S. borders, enforce its laws and make English its official language.

Many in the group of about 400 people had flown in from California and Arizona to join the rally in Lafayette Square yesterday against illegal immigration and to energize themselves for a week of lobbying on Capitol Hill as Congress begins to grapple once more with the volatile theme of immigration reform.

...The rally was sponsored by an organization in Georgia and coordinated with the national Federation for American Immigration Reform, a nonprofit advocacy group, and a number of radio talk show hosts who have championed the cause of stopping illegal immigration...

...A number of people in the crowd stressed that they were not against legal immigrants and did not consider themselves prejudiced. D.A. King, the rally coordinator, announced that "anyone with a different agenda against skin color or national origin, you are not welcome . . . and you will not be tolerated."...

...Much of yesterday's rhetoric was about improving border security, and several speakers drew cheers when they praised the U.S. Border Patrol, including several agents who are in prison on charges of killing illegal immigrants...

Was the reporter walking around asking people, "do you consider yourself prejudiced?" Certainly, one has to say "no" in that case, otherwise the hacks will say you had no reply. But, that should immediately be followed by asking them to rethink their assumptions, and to ask them why they never seem to ask that question of those who, for instance, carry banners suggesting that Americans go back to Europe. And, of course, it would be interesting to know which agents she's refering to and the circumstances of their cases, and whether she's verified what they're actually in prison for.

There's more on the week-long rally here, there are pictures from the event here, and one of the guys in the photo at the WaPo page says he was misidentified here.

Posted to Immigration2007a at April 23, 2007 12:19 PM