Recently we discussed the disturbing protest carried out at the MXDC restaurant against Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Members of Congress like Rep. Jackie Speier (D., Cal.) defended the protesters in disrupting the restaurant and forcing Nielsen to leave. It was a sad statement on the utter loss of any sense of civility in our current political discourse. Now, the owner of the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia is at the center of this debate after throwing out White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and her family from breakfast. Many liberals celebrated the rude denial of service by the owners while conservatives have directed their anger at the restaurant. Much of the criticism has been misdirected against the Red Hen in D.C. which has gone to pains to point out that they are not associated with the Lexington Red Hen. Many critics on Yelp and other sites have unleashed on the restaurant. The co-owner responsible for the decision was Stephanie Wilkinson. Wilkinson founded the restaurant with John Blackburn, who reportedly named the restaurant after his favorite childhood story. Wilkinson is reportedly the founder and publisher of Brain, Child magazine. She lists herself as a co-owner of the restaurant. UPDATE: Wilkinson says that she is proud of her actions and would do it again.
Friday night, Jaike Foley-Schultz, a waiter at The Red Hen, posted on Facebook that “I just served Sarah huckabee sanders for a total of 2 minutes before my owner kicked her out along with 7 of her other family members…”
Sanders confirmed that “Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so.”
Sarah Sanders✔@PressSecLast night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so
The website for Main Street Lexington states:
“Main Street Lexington exists to enhance the economic prosperity and cultural vitality of our community, re-establishing downtown Lexington as the vibrant economic and cultural nexus of our area while maintaining its unique character.”
It is a curious approach for either economic development or managing a restaurant to tell conservatives that they are not welcomed. Lexington is an area with many conservatives as well as liberals. With marginal profits at many business, particularly restaurants, this inhospitable message for conservatives cannot be a good business plan.
Wilkinson is shown at executive director on the site.
I have been highly critical of Trump and his Administration. However, I find this action to be incredibly offensive and wrongheaded. I would feel that same if Rep. Speier were chased from a restaurant by a conservative owner. Once again, we seem to have lost any sense of restraint and civility in our politics. Extremists on both sides claim license to say and do most anything vis-a-vis their opponents. There is a sense of utter release in these actions — the right to act in the most monstrous or menacing ways because you believe that you are right and they are wrong. You can denounce Trump for petty and childish attacks and then engage in the very same conduct in response. And so it continues on and on and on. It is the impunity of action that comes with being right.
I would not go to the Red Hen any more than I would go to a restaurant that refused to serve Rep. Speier. It is simple matter of courtesy and civility.
Update: The original column correctly noted that “[p]revious stories identified the co-owners as John Blackburn and Stephanie Wilkinson” while noting that it was unclear who were the other co-owners of the restaurant at this time. It has since come out that Blackburn gave up his ownership a three or four years ago. The original story said that it appeared likely that it was Wilkinson who is referenced by Sanders and, when Wilkinson confirmed her role, the column was updated. While one of the two founders with Wilkinson (and the person who named the restaurant), Blackburn however gave up his interest in the Red Hen in 2014 and has complained that he is receiving considerable backlash from the story. That was obviously not our intention when we shared the information on the prior ownership information. He now appears to be in the unenviable position as the many other Red Hen restaurants receiving blowback after Wilkinson’s actions. As noted in the column, what was missing in the Wilkinson’s actions was civility and understanding. The same failure of judgment can be found in those who are attacking third parties like Blackburn. While the story would have still referenced Blackburn as a founder with Wilkinson, there was no intention to add to Blackburn’s burden in reporting what information we could find on the restaurant’s ownership history.
“What ‘Never Again’ Holocaust educators would say now about civility and fascism”
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-never-again-civility-fascism-20180626-story.html
Excerpt:
“Rose was a tiny woman, but she was unrelenting. She was not violent, but she was also not willing to negotiate with a racist ideology. She knew that going along just to get along made things worse — not better.
“Her fellow survivors were the same. They knew that calls for civility in the face of oppression had been used as a weapon against them. And they knew what we took for granted.
“They knew that Nazis weren’t an aberration. They were regular people. Your friend. Your neighbor. Your uncle who forwards racist memes. They knew that Nazis are what happens when hate goes unchecked by polite people who fear confrontation.
“They also taught us is that dictatorships and genocide don’t happen all at once. They don’t start with extermination camps. They start when vulnerable classes of people are blamed for society’s problems. They start with state propaganda.
“They start with the encouragement of violence at political rallies. They start when elected leaders call the press the “enemy of the people.” And they start when people don’t push back forcefully and publicly — early and often.
“As with any cancer, the time to stop creeping fascism is not after the arrests and the killings begin. By then, it’s too late. The time to stop fascism is when the President calls some Nazis “very fine people.” That’s the time, before it metastasizes and spreads further.
“President Trump has called for his followers to “knock the crap out of” political opponents. He threatened this week to suspend due process for immigrants. He said immigrants “infest” America — a literal use of Nazi terminology. Meanwhile, the government he runs is holding children hostage in cages until their Mexican and Central American parents agree to deportation.
“I don’t think I fully understood the urgency of Rose Van Thyn’s warnings when I was younger. But now that I’m older, I understand power. I know that human nature doesn’t change. Most importantly, I know that when a leader flouts the rule of law and begins “othering” minorities, the time for civility is over.
“What does that mean? In my view, political analyst Josh Berthume said it best yesterday: “Racists, misogynists, homophobes, bigots, fascists, and every single one of their enablers should feel the sting of shame and ridicule. When their behavior is not challenged, it is encouraged.”
“That’s a sentiment every Nazi hunter would get behind, and I share it. We must shun these people back into the shadows. It’s the only way to ensure that what Rose experienced does, in fact, never happen again.”
“Friedman has spent 17 years in politics and government, including time as an Army infantry officer in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
He met someone some time ago who’d been at Auschwitz. She died in 2010. He offers not one useful observation on the contemporary scene.
TS to Dance,..
I just finished posting a comment about all the mention Nazis and fascists in these threads….right on cue, I then read the post you just responded to a couple of minutes later.
“all the mention OF”
Oh, yes, Tom — “right on cue”…
Hannah Arendt had it right when she spoke about the “banality of evil.” We’re seeing it today in the U.S.
But I can relax knowing that vigilant and paranoid citizens like Anonymous are monitoring our slide in fascism, and sounding the alarm bells.😏
Paranoia? I think not Tommy-boy. Some would call it “heightened awareness.”
There is actually a difference between “hightened awareness” and the Chicken Little Syndrone you put on display.
And you’re obviously not the brightest bulb…
“When and if fascism comes to America it will not be labelled ‘made in Germany’; it will not be marked with a swastika,” a US reporter warned urgently in 1938. “It will not even be called fascism; it will be called, of course, ‘Americanism’.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/17/fascism-history-united-states
“And yet it has never been more important to acknowledge the history of fascism and neo-fascism in America than it is today. Over the last five years, according to a recent study by George Washington University, white nationalist and neo-fascist movements in the US have grown by 600% on Twitter, outperforming Isis in nearly every category, from follower numbers to numbers of tweets.
“Although they remain fringe groups, Trump’s victory has given them new confidence. Never in history have they felt more empowered. Many of them saw his election as their victory. The chorus of support ranges from the American Nazi party supremo, Rocky Suhayda, who sees Trump as a “real opportunity”, to the white supremacist leader David Duke, who said he was “100% behind” Trump.
“They cheered as he failed to mention Jews on Holocaust Remembrance Day. They cheered as he refused to condemn the Minnesota mosque attack. They cheered as he relativized the rightwing violence by blaming “all sides” after the murder in Charlottesville. It is perhaps the first time in American history that the racist far-right sees the elites in the White House as its allies.
“Trump has long done little to distance himself from these groups. In fact, he has all too often shamelessly tapped into their discourses, using dog-whistles, and continues to maintain a tacit, though increasingly shaky, alliance with them.
“More than a decade ago, the historian Robert Paxton, well versed in the long history of fascism and neo-fascism in America, warned in his important book The Anatomy of Fascism about the “catastrophic setbacks and polarization” which “the United States would have to suffer” if “these fringe groups” were “to find powerful allies and enter the mainstream” of American politics.
“His words may turn out to be prophetic.”
David Motadel is an assistant professor of international history at the London School of Economics and Political Science
😴😴😴
I’ll try to read the rest of Anonymous’ posts near bedtime….for now, I beed caffeine.
need caffeine.
Caffeine might might help with clarity, Tom, but it’s not a fix for a low IQ or the inability understand the way the world works. Like I said, not the brightest bulb.
Enjoy that java.
You’re in no position to comment on the IQ of others, given that your posts speak volumes about your ignorance and stupidity.
I will say that your tactics are fairly effective….a multi-pronged approach.
In that few people might find your rants convincing, and you appeal to others in the paranoid base, and you bore the hell out of those that know you endlessly spout BS.
You’ve posted a verbose and inane statement. That it was composed by an academic does not redeem it.
The people trying to shut down public debate are college faculty and administration making use of student cry bullies as their instrument. The people trying to disrupt democratic deliberation over policy are tenured judges drawn from the elite bar (and appointed by Democratic politicians) collaborating with public interest shysters. The people harassing public officials going about their mundane business are partisan Democrats. The man who tried to assassinate several Republican members of Congress was a mainstream Democrat with an anger management problem.
But, Professor Motadel assures us, the real problem is Richard Spencer out in his cabin in Montana. Prof. Motedel expects to be taken seriously. He expects too much.
TSTD “expects to be taken seriously. He expects too much.”
“There are many reasons one could become sickened when hearing Hannah Arendt’s name.”
Anyone with a handle like “Teaching Spastics to Dance” isn’t to be taken seriously. And anyone who truly understands the “contemporary scene” — as you call it — will understand his “useful observation(s).” You are free to discount them, which you’ve attempted to do — albeit unsuccessfully.
Blah blah blah, Diane.
Right back atcha, TSTD. (You’re the one with too many handles to count. I use one — and only one.)
(Tom, you really need that coffee.)
Red Hen is closed for business for now. Congrats to Maxine Waters!
You cant run a business on those numbers.
The Lefties are going to have to put up or shut up in their raving about Red Hen. Good luck with that
Overall Rating
Yelping since 2009 with 16606 reviews
5 stars 2114
4 stars 41
3 stars 127
2 stars 647
1 star 13677
(2114 + 41) / (647 + 13677)
= 2155/14322
= 15.0% favorable approval
https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-red-hen-lexington-3?sort_by=date_desc
I hope the employees are able to find suitable replacement jobs.
If the Sarah Sanders incident was the cause of the closure, that grand gesture of asking her and her family to leave likely had consequences for those who worked there.
It’s also possible that the impact on those employees will be greater than any consequences for the owner.
“I hope the employees are able to find suitable replacement jobs.”
I hope so too. I don’t want anyone to lose a job or a business over this type of nonsense but according to Wilkinson her staff voted. If indeed people are hurt, hopefully not, then perhaps people will learn that common decency is rewarded and the lack of decency isn’t.
The Red Hen in Lexington hasn’t closed, yet, AFAIK.
I didn’t say they did, only that if such a thing happened I wasn’t interested in causing such type of pain for that stupid action.
I’m sorry she lost her business. Also, her quondam business partner has (he says) received hundreds of threats and obnoxious messages even though he sold his interest in the business in 2014. All of this is deadweight loss to the local community.
It isn’t clear that she’s “lost her business.”
https://jonathanturley.org/2018/06/23/no-breakfast-for-you-red-hen-kicks-out-sarah-sanders-and-her-family/comment-page-6/#comment-1752651
http://www.nbc12.com/story/38506350/woman-with-same-name-as-red-hen-restaurant-owner-gets-death-threats
This is the way that stupid and crazy people react. And Trump fanned the fire.
“Trump’s attack on Red Hen sends a chilling message to 29 million US small businesses”
https://qz.com/1313673/trump-tweets-about-red-hen-sending-a-chilling-message-to-small-businesses-in-the-us/
More rumors?
It isn’t clear that the Red Hen in Lexington, VA has been closed. It’s closed for business today, but I have not seen anything — yet — to indicate that the business has been permanently shuttered. Wilkinson may have to put the RH behind her, but that remains to be seen.
Yelp has posted this:
“Active Cleanup Alert”
“This business recently made waves in the news, which often means that people come to this page to post their views on the news.
“While we don’t take a stand one way or the other when it comes to these news events, we do work to remove both positive and negative posts that appear to be motivated more by the news coverage itself than the reviewer’s personal consumer experience with the business.
“As a result, your posts to this page may be removed as part of our cleanup process beginning Saturday, June 23, 2018, but you should feel free to post your thoughts about the recent media coverage for this business on Yelp Talk at any time.”
It is necessary to point out that they were civil and understanding when they told the family they would not be served. There are much louder and public ways of throwing people out. They took care of the food they had ordered and they explain they were being refused for their actions not their views. THAT is important.
I wonder if they had some help in back that was a little short on the necessary paperwork?
Or was in the cucarachas in the canteloupe?
That doesn’t make any sense.
From a rights perspective – none of that is important.
I am glad the owner of the Red Hen was “civil”
But her only obligation was to refrain from violence.
I would note that “civility” does not appear to have precluded following sanders family to the next resturaunt to try to get them booted.
Regardless, “civility” is a criteria YOU or I can use to judge the owner of Red Hen.
Not government.
Her actions were legal. They were arguably offensive and wrong – but that is a reason to protest, not draw govenrment in.
Whether Sanders was being barred for acts or words – is again the business of the owner,
It is her Restuarant. If she wishes to run it to bankruptcy that is her business.
That is a very fair statement. Legally she didn’t do anything wrong. But in reality the government took stance, they spoke out. That is in essence wrong. I suppose that is what I want to point out. Was she wrong to do this? It can be argued either way. Was she committing an illegal act? No. Is the government taking a stance on a civilians actions following a law? Yes and that is troubling to me.
Counterpoint: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/25/opinion/trump-sarah-huckabee-sanders-restaurant-civility.html
Since we have access to a steady source of new tp, we don’t need the new york times anymore
Here is the thing JT…the discrimination against GOP staffers is real, and has actually occurred.
Your made up scenario about a Hillary (all hail Hillary!) employee has not occurred…so it is fiction. Dems have shot up a GOP softball practice in DC…remember? At the end of the day…all of these jackarses support the sleazy DNC candidate over the 2016 loudmouth GOP model. And they believe that violence is the answer.
The GOP has been adopting the sleazy Alinsky tactics in recent years with some success…I wonder how this will turn out for the Dems?
Ugh.
Dear Professor Turley,
Your sloppily researched piece identifies me as the co-owner of the Red Hen (“Previous stories identified the co-owners as John Blackburn and…”). I have not had a business interest in the Red Hen for years and had no part in what happened Friday night. In the meantime, I have fielded hundreds of calls, texts, and emails from trolls who threaten my life and that of my family. They have shared my personal information all over social media, and today they are calling my employer and sending me pictures of my house along with threats like, “We’re coming for you,” and “Payback is a bitch.”
Please correct your piece as soon as possible. An apology would be welcome as well.
Thank you,
John Blackburn
I have fielded hundreds of calls, texts, and emails from trolls who threaten my life and that of my family.
Ye gods. Hoping you stay well.
I wonder if this was reported to the police. Such threats (Threatening your life and that of your family), that you claim have occurred, merit an investigation. In fact, the investigation is rather easy since emails are traceable and texts have phone numbers. It is illegal to threaten one’s life so if this is a legitimate complaint I expect it will hit the newspapers and people will be arrested.
Alternatively, this is an action taken by a leftist in the typical fashion of a leftist to create a story that doesn’t exist then it will just disappear.
I can’t know for sure whether this is real or not but if it were real I would have expected you to send an email directly to Professor Turley or to him at his university. Many people have done so before. In any event, the email you left can easily be looked at to see where it comes from and that email is open to the moderators and Turley. If what you say is true I expect we will hear it From Turley and the newspapers.
the phone lines are taken over by gypsy fraudsters and computer solicitors. threat calls are on the same level of disregard in regular police procedure. pretty soon the phones will be worthless due to the failure of government and telecoms to keep the lines clear of garbage
I have taken the hundreds of threats I have received to the police. I assure you they are real, and I am who I say I am. My personal information has been shared hundreds of times on Twitter and FB. I’m begging you to correct this story and urge the trolls to recall the Golden Rule. Thank you.
John Blackburn- check his criminal record..
The John Blackburn who lives between Charlottesville and Lexington Va doesn’t appear to have a criminal record.
Here’s a profile
https://heavy.com/news/2018/06/john-blackburn/
Yup. Law-abiding citizen being harassed and threatened by trolls. I don’t have a dog in this fight. I just want to be left alone. Worries me deeply about our democracy.
When civilized debate becomes a non-starter, the only recourse remaining to adjudicate difference is violence, either directly or indirectly.
The debate is over, the call to Arms is Made – Maxine Waters . .
To disavow the latter confesses the truth of the former.
bring back property rights. repeal the 1964 civil rights act public accomodations laws, fine by me, I am ready to go back to the old days.
https://twitter.com/esaagar/status/1011279136910921728
N.B. Mr. and Mrs. Sanders are private citizens. Not sure what Virginia law says. In New York Law
“In New York, a defendant is guilty of harassment in the second degree when, with intent to harass, annoy or alarm another person in or about public places; they engage in conduct or repeatedly commit acts which alarm or seriously annoy the victim and serve no legitimate purpose.
Subdivisions two and three of this section do not apply to activities regulated by the national labor relations act, railway labor act, or federal employment labor management act, as amended”
I think Stephanie Wilkinson’s ‘protest’ might get her and her co-conspirators and appearance ticket in certain circumstances.
I think a lot of conservatives are very well prepared for the next phase of conflict.
I recommend conservatives study the rural civil war strategy of Mao Zedong.
https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1011263479154651136
the want a lack of civility? they may not know what lies behind that door
I enjoyed the article until you rolled out the “both sides are to blame” logic. You are right, of course, that extremists on both sides contribute to this dynamic. But you should provide some sense of how widespread the troubling behavior is on each side. The left is unhinged and openly enjoys righteous discrimination against deplorables. This is not new and you do not have to look far for examples of folks being denied jobs, educational opportunities, service, and the like. When a conservative chooses to behavior in such a manner it literally becomes a matter before the U.S. Supreme Court. So stop the “I have concerns about Trump too” routine and call the damn left out for what they are – dangerous, at odds with the rule of law, and interested in punishing Trump and his supporters. Yes – we are on the brink of civil war and that is not something the right is chomping at the bit to experience. But we do recognize the left seems inclined to make that choice for us all.
The owner of the Red Hen is almost as classy as Natacha below. And she drips with hypocrisy, posting in the front window of her store a sign with a beautiful message to the world, “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”
She knows the words to the song, but the music is lost on her. She must think it makes her eatery more likable to hang quaint little messages, even tho she doesn’t believe in or practice them.
You want to know what real class is? That entire family leaving politely, after the insult of being asked to leave when they had done nothing wrong, AND THEN, offering to pay for their meals which had already started cooking. I’m sure Maxine Waters would’ve shown such grace. Or any other liberal for that matter.
“Disgraceful conduct”? No one associated with the Trump Administration deserves civility, especially in the aftermath of the disgusting abuse of migrant families and Melania’s “I don’t care ” coat. SHS is also a chronic liar.
They are not migrant families; they are illegal aliens. Alien is a noun, and the legal term; illegal is an adjective, not a noun. They are being treated at least as well as they were under the Obama administration.
That previous administration did all sorts of despicable things, including weaponizing the IRS against its political opponents, and secretly selling guns illegally across the border to further anti-gun propaganda.
The Obama administration got more civility from conservatives than the Trump administration has gotten – from day one – from hypocritical leftists. Democrats were not denied service and harassed like this!
No, Natacha, you are the one who doesn’t deserve civil treatment because you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. For example, I’m sure you didn’t waste any outrage when you found out Obama’s ICE thugs deported 72,410 ppl in 2013, did you? Out of those, they were separated from 1 or more of their children- LEFT BEHIND IN THE US.
39,410 children were then deported in the 1st half of 2013 & 33,000 in the 2nd. In 2013 alone, tens of 1000s of kids were separated from parents. But since it was under the almighty lord of the liberal world, winner of the worthless nobel peace prize for doing nothing more that picking his nose, that was just fine with you right?
And Melania’s coat (as you already know) had nothing to do with the impoverished children stranded at the border by parents (a la the Time cover picture). The classy & gracious Melania loves children & champions their causes. Learn something before you post. Tell me about the chronic liar she is- name one…..
https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1011269351205425153
Anytime the Mad Maxine Faction wants to go to the next level one can be sure the Trump faction is ready.
Also, Sanders used her official twitter account to call out the restaurant, which is probably an ethics violation – not surprising at all from a member of this administration.
“Also, Sanders used her official twitter account to call out the restaurant, ”
She did ? There is a @SandersWHgov twitter account ? or a @whpresssec account ?
What she said could be said on any account. She is a press secretary and she reports actions of the executive branch.
She wasn’t chased from the restaurant. She was asked to leave, and the restaurant didn’t charge them for the cheese course they had enjoyed.
If conservative business owners had done this to Obama officials, there would have been a media outcry that would still be echoing today. As the saying goes, if leftists – they do not deserve the label of liberals – did not have double standards, they would not have any standards at all.
yeah, it was rude. in the old days, colored folks used to show up at restaurants in some places and be asked to leave politely. most people today think that was rude even if stated politely
In the past, we saw that happening while traveling. When it did occasionally we would tell the manager that they were our friends who were joining us. Generally, we had to leave as well. That type of behavior though shouldn’t be controlled by law should be controlled by common decency.
What the laws did was to create obligations and more hate. It generated a lot of problems. Newton: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Though that law isn’t exactly the same in human interaction it is true enough that one should think about it. If a community has a lot of one minority and no restaurants willing to serve that minority that opens up the marketplace for that minority to create a business. With time the marketplace will do more to level disparities than crazy laws that are misused and create terrible consequences.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/06/04/tucker_carlson_obama_administration_put_diversity_over_safety_in_hiring_air_traffic_controllers.html
Well, Allan, in the multicultural america, nobody shares the same values, so “decency” has to be controlled by the force of law. Letting in more illegals et al. just deepens the rift. It’s a social experiment in controlled chaos that may or may not end up the way it’s been planned by the oligarchs who have been planning and implementing the attack on the American majority the past 50 plus years. One day they may no longer be safe behind their gates as the dispossessed majority throws its civility out the window and fights back.
this poem is attributed to Kipling:
It was not part of their blood,
It came to them very late,
With long arrears to make good,
When the Saxon began to hate.
They were not easily moved,
They were icy — willing to wait.
Till every count should be proved,
Ere the Saxon began to hate.
Their voices were even and low.
Their eyes were level and straight.
There was neither sign nor show.
When the Saxon began to hate.
It was not preached to the crowd.
It was not taught by the state.
No man spoke it aloud.
When the Saxon began to hate.
It was not suddently bred.
It will not swiftly abate.
Through the chilled years ahead,
When Time shall count from the date.
That the Saxon began to hate.
“Well, Allan, in the multicultural america, nobody shares the same values, so “decency” has to be controlled by the force of law. ”
Decency is controlled by more than just the force of the law. In fact, those that created our Republic recognized that from the start. The law and the Constitution are just aids to our survival. Our laws and Constitution are not supposed to control our daily lives so in our daily activities whether we live in a multicultural environment or not really shouldn’t make all that much difference.
She should have went to a Chic- filet!
true or any mexican or chinese restaurant would have been glad to have her. only a bunch of lilly white panty waisted liberals would act like this. that’s the bitterest irony here
Let’s discuss honesty and the media, as well as who really travels the high road, and who is just on a high horse.
The image of the crying little toddler on the cover of Time was taken from a snap of a woman in handcuffs, with a Border Patrol officer checking her pockets with gloved hands. The cover was used to condemn Trump for separating children from the loving arms of their families, who were forced to travel a dangerous path to throw themselves upon the mercy of the United States, with their very lives in the balance. Returning to the country is certain death.
It turns out the girl was never removed from her mother. They were, and still are, together in a family detention center. The mother illegally immigrated here before, without claiming asylum, and was deported. The first illegal entry is a misdemeanor. Any subsequent ones would be felonies.
Her husband claims that he has a good job, and never wanted to leave Honduras. He knew she wanted to move to the US but disagreed with her. He said he would not want to put his little girl through that. He was relieved to find out that they were in a detention center, because they were far safer there than on the route there.
So, a woman left her husband, who had a good job, 2 of her 3 children, and brought a little girl less than 2 years old on an 1800 mile journey, which had an 80% chance that at least she would be raped.
Now, the little girl looked scared, and was crying when the officer was patting down her mother. The vulnerable little baby had just made an exhausting trek, with an 80% chance of each and every woman and girl getting raped. Now, she’s pretty frightened when what I presume is a man from the photo, is touching her mother. I wonder what she saw on that route? I wonder what happened to her. Why would a mother take any of her children away from a safe home to make such a dangerous journey, instead of making it on her own and sending for them, on a plane, when she was settled and legalized? It’s not because she couldn’t bear to part with her kids, because she did part from 2/3 of them. It’s not because she had a death threat on her head, if her husband is to be believed. She just thought the US would be better. And it would be better than the rest of the world. But that’s not an asylum case. So why’d she bring her youngest child, the one most vulnerable to death and illness and injury? I don’t know. I think it’s because it was her ticket in. Claim asylum and have a little kid to tug at heartstrings. Then they can’t hold her in detention because that would be cruel to her kid. Maybe she figured she’ll get catch-and-release this time, instead of the guaranteed felony if she were caught alone. Maybe she thought an asylum case would have a greater chance of succeeding if she had a little girl with big brown eyes. Having her daughter crying in front of the bad man, Trump, on the cover of Time, must be sure to help her case.
If her husband’s story is true, then I consider this child abuse. If a mother in the US did this, CPS might put her kid in foster care.
I have become so jaded by the news constantly being wrong. I don’t assume that each and every parent I see or hear about is a good parent. Why would they be? Anyone can fall anywhere on the scale of good an evil. I certainly hope everyone is a good parent, but if that were true, CPS wouldn’t exist.
So I also don’t assume that each and every asylum seeker is actually bona fide. Some are gaming the system to take advantage of our generosity.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5869829/Father-two-year-old-face-child-separation-crisis-speaks-out.html
Requirements for Asylum:
Be able to prove that you fear persecution based on one of the following 5 reasons – race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or social group. Also, the government has to either be the persecutor, or unable to stop the persecution.
Please note that living in a bad neighborhood does not qualify for asylum.
A refugee is all of the above, AND already outside of their homeland, but not yet in the US.
To qualify for refugee status in the United States, you must meet the definition of a refugee above, plus:
“You must be referred by the The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) or the U.S. Embassy, or you must be a member of a specified group with special characteristics in certain countries. Check the current list of priority groups for more information.
You must not be firmly resettled in another country. This is defined by whether or not you have been offered resident status or citizenship in that country.
You must not be an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen or a special immigrant. In this case, you need to apply for an immigrant visa instead.
You must be living outside of the United States. If you are already in the U.S., you may be eligible to apply for asylum (see below).”
https://www.rocketlawyer.com/article/how-to-apply-for-refugee-or-political-asylum-status-in-the-us.rl
Gang infested neighborhoods like the bad parts of Chicago, Detroit, and Compton are dangerous. There is a lot of poverty. This does not entitle the entire neighborhoods to empty of all people, and show up at the border of Lichtenstein to demand asylum. It is a nice, secluded tiny country in the beautiful countryside. A bit difficult to get to. But everyone knows each other. Like…everyone in the whole country literally know each other. It would be a better place to raise kids than the street corner where the Crips hang out.
But, a bad neighborhood does not entitle it to empty of people and claim asylum.
And if everyone did go to Lichtenstein, and they accepted everyone in order to be humane, because, you know, the children, and compassion, and all asylum seekers are in fear for their very lives and would never make the journey unless it was a death sentence otherwise…They would get the Bloods, Crips, drug addicts, bad parents, absentee fathers, criminals, as well as the really good parents out there who just want a better life for their kids. We all know that gang members usually have kids in their lifetime, if they aren’t either blown away or put in jail before they get the chance, right? So…if a gang member with lots of hits on their record, who gunned down other people’s kids in the street throwing the hammer down on…I’m losing the lingo here but you get the point…would they be a really great person just wanting a better life? Or would they still be a gang member after they became a mother or a father? And what would poor Lichtenstein be like if we sent everyone from every bad neighborhood in the country, every single person, there to claim asylum? After all, our government couldn’t seem to stop the violence and gang activity. All the gun laws in these Blue States don’t stop the WWIII going on in their streets in front of their schools. Then all the gang bangers AND their kids AND the good people mixed up in there would now be in Lichtenstein, and they would still be blowing each other away and the good people would still be terrorized.
I apologize profusely to the good people of Lichtenstein for abusing their lovely country in this hypothetical situation.
At this point, every conservative meets the requirements for asylum in our own country. We face almost certain persecution for our political beliefs. The left openly enjoys denying conservatives jobs, educational opportunities, expressive rights, and much more. They feel righteous in the cause to punish those on the right and deny them membership in their communities. If you think I am wrong – just spend a bit of time researching the type of discrimination I have described. The left is out for blood and conservatives must prepare for the likely conflict the left will demand.
Which left are you referring to? Most of the genuine leftists I know are interested in things like providing health care to all, protecting the right to unionize, things like that. Michael Brooks and those associated with his media channels are on record as opposing the kinds of direct action that de-platform people with conservative or even extreme reactionary views.
He is one of the only voices on the left with any large reach; most of the media voices I hear are conservatives and centrist libs sounding the alarm about impending persecution. It sure is strange to see people who were avowedly anti-government in the 90s and early 2000s sticking up for the rights of powerful officials, but that just proves Corey Robin’s point about reaction being an identification with the ruling powers.
but that just proves Corey Robin’s point about reaction being an identification with the ruling powers.
See Mark Lilla on Corey Robin. Robin is simply incapable of comprehending other people’s lodestars, so invents his own and projects them.
“Most of the genuine leftists I know are interested in things like providing health care to all”
No. Most of them are interested in providing health insurance, not health care. They are selfish people assuming that they are elites and will be treated well. Check out how Stalin treated his elites.
“protecting the right to unionize”
I don’t think most object to the right of unionization. They object to union abuses such as union leadership protecting teachers by helping abusive teachers blame students, illegally changing dates and by bending the truth”?
they’re not out for blood yet, but they will be. on that day they go too far and fast and awaken the sleeping giant, it will be severe reckoning.
Let’s all put aside the divide, and salute our brave officers manning Minas Tirith USA against the new Attila and his hordes– Guatemalan mothers with 4 kids cunningly concealed in a totem trenchcoat.
Karen S.,,,.
– There are a lot of details involved in this “detention issue” that I’m not familiar with.
So when “claims and “counter-claims”…..basically accusations and responses to those accusations…are thrown back and forth, I often can’t confidently that I have the background knowledge to make a determination as to the validity of those claims.
I did catch (just part of) Sen. Lankford’s interview with Chuck Todd on today’s MEET THE PRESS.
It’ll be easy enough to dig up the video or transcript to review it, so I will catch up on the entire interview.
Based on what I saw, Lankford seemed to have a pretty good knowledge of the facts and the issues involved.
I mention this interview in case you or others might be interested in it…..I think most people would find it to be informative.
The internet was discovered, by conservatives of all Americans, to be a tool for far more than acquiring porn– the internet will reveal the TRUTH.
You’ve been watching Fox News again, honey. The little girl was SYMBOLIC of what your fat slob President is doing.
The problem with that, Natacha, is that many could conclude that an embittered shrew like you is also not entitled to civility.
That is in response to Natacha’s 2:17 AM comment about civility.
You’re insulting and offensive. You should be deported too. Gladly
What would the proprietors do if Christopher Wray came in to the Red Hen?
If Christopher Wray didn’t know about the crimes of the DOJ/FBI, he’s got no business running the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He’s either corrupt or unqualified.
If Christopher Wray didn’t know about the Obama coup d’etat, including the criminal activity of Comey and McCabe including the submission of a fraudulent, fabricated document to the FISA court and the promise of Strzok that “…we’ll stop him,” he’s not competent or capable of being the FBI Director.
What did Christopher Wray know and when did he know it?
“always keep doors and windows locked” My window is ‘Vetting’ my doors are ‘Borders’ To affirm in one breath and deny in the next seems to by action a thing of ________.
I wonder why, since the advent of denying Christian bakers & florists the right to refuse gay wedding services, that musicians with diff beliefs are allowed to break contracts & biz agreements to perform. Bruce Springsteen cancelled his NC concert cuz of it’s bathroom law, StevWonder won’t do Florida over its ‘Stand your ground’ law, & BTW, NFL threatened to revoke SBowl fr AZ ’till it adopted MLK Day, etc.
ALL are businesses. ALL want to push their opins onto others. Or else. The diff? Your rights are trampled upon if you dare hold Christian or conserv views. Liberal standards r completely different. If it weren’t for doub standards, most of them wouldn’t have any standards at all. I say ‘most of them’ cuz Turley is the exception. I’m a consev, but I love JT, even tho liberal he has integrity, never selling out to tribalism.
Is this war? is it here…now?
I am confused and can no longer tell between click/bait news and the real deal
thoughts?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/homeland-security-memo-today-increased-threats-2018-06-23/
Homeland Security employees warned of increased threats amid immigration uproar
The acting deputy secretary of homeland security warned employees Saturday that “there may be a heightened threat” against them, according to a memo obtained by CBS News. The warning comes amid the increasing furor over the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy.
“This assessment is based on specific and credible threats that have been levied against certain DHS employees and a sharp increase in the overall number of general threats against DHS employees — although the veracity of each threat varies,” says the message from Claire M. Grady. “In addition, over the last few days, thousands of employees have had their personally identifiable information publically [sic] released on social media.”
Trump administration calls for expanded use of immigrant family detention
The memo recommends numerous safety precautions, including not displaying work badges in public, being careful with public conversations and using caution on all social networks. It also recommends DHS employees “always keep doors and windows locked” and “be aware of unexpected changes in and around your home.”
DHS employees are encouraged to call 911 if they feel threatened and if local law enforcement doesn’t respond, to call Federal Protective Service.
CJ,…
– The core cause of the “furor” goes back to Nov.8, 2016.
Historically, the losing side in an election comes to terms with the defeat.
This time around, the intensity and length of the ” post-election mourning period” are far greater.
Any particular issue that gives them “cover” or an “excuse” for acting out is, at most, a tool to be exploited by the mourners.
Good point Tom. The left does not respect the outcome of the election and openly rejects the rule of law. The left also openly discriminates against conservatives in ways that are profoundly disturbing. They seek to do us harm and conservatives must prepare for the instability the left invites.