Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

The Post-Gilchrist Reaction: “I Hope You Are A Victim of the Next 911 [Call]”

By


For a Harvard student, you really did not communicate well in your

interview tonight. Maybe you were just nervous. One thing is certain,

you could use a lesson on manners. When you extend an invitation to a

speaker, you honor the invitation. Next time, don’t invite him.

Interestingly, when conservatives “un-invite” a guest it makes headline

news. Funny that you ended up on FOX. Hmmm.

At least she can disagree without being disagreeable.  Still, it wasn’t just average folks that had hostile reactions.  The nativist blog 24ahead, which I will not link to, called me a “fascist.”  I put up my post explaining my position over at Blue Mass. Group, yesterday hoping for some local support.   Instead, BMG editor Bob Neer compared me to a chimpanzee.

This, of course, was all after Jim Gilchrist called me an “anarchist radical”, and accused me of “threatening disruption and violence”, of “terrorizing the Harvard Undergraduate Legal Committee (HULC)” and of making “serious threats.”  I also just saw that Jim Gilchrist went on Neil Cavuto’s show and called me a “scoundrel”, accused me of threatening to “create a riotous atmosphere” and said:

The kid is — obviously he’s stupid — and if anyone should be banned

and barred from Harvard University, it should be a student that stupid

and irresponsible, not someone like myself.

Jim Gilchrist – Your World with Neil Cavuto (16 October 2009) 

I’m sorry Mr. Gilchrist, I think understanding what it means to tell the truth is a prerequisite for admittance into Harvard.  I will embed Gilchrist’s entire interview with Neil Cavuto, below:

Recently, Fox news is catching a lot of flack from the Obama administration for not being a real news organization.  All one needs to do is compare Niel Cavuto’s interview with Jim Gilchrist and Juan Williams interview with me to know that’s the truth.  I got just two minutes to make my case while Jim Gilchrist got five minutes to make his case.  In addition letting Gilchrist spread falsehoods on his show, Cavuto also lobbed softball questions at Gilchrist like:

Did they know that you were a Purple Heart recipient, you’re a war hero?  Do they know the injuries and near-death experience you had defending liberties of this country?  I don’t want to sound cooky and all but you’re not some nut, you’re not some crazy, you’re  — I know you’re a modest guy, but people who don’t know you — you’re a genuine hero.

Neil Cavuto – Your World with Neil Cavuto (16 October 2009)

Needless to say, I’ve taken quite a beating over the past few days.  I have to hand it to Jim Gilchrist.  Gilchrist might be an extremist who is complicit in violence, but he is also a skilled propagandist.  By propagating the complete falsehood that students like myself threatened him with violence, Gilchrist is obfuscating his complicity in violence through his relationship with Shawna Forde, another Minuteman leader. 

I also have made missteps.  I went on the O’Reilly Factor preparing to get hit with the free speech argument so I lead by rebutting that.  In doing so, I’ve made this a conversation about free speech, instead of what this is really about, which is the extremist anti-migrant rhetoric which is directly responsible for increasing hate crimes against Latinos, and the death of people like 9-year-old Brisenia Flores.  I’ve learned my lesson.  Lead with you’re most important talking point.  Television is not conducive to laying out rational arguments.  As Erin Rosa said on my facebook profile “We gotta be prepared to tell our side in 30 seconds at most.”

Fortunately, all of the negativity and all of my missteps have been outweighed by the unbelievable support I’ve received not only from family and friends, but by the hundreds of pro-migrant supporters I’ve connected with over the years.  Migrant advocacy organizations are pouring money into capturing “persuadables” online, which is important.  However, I have long argued that the best investment to be made online is in strengthening pro-migrant online spaces, not in changing already established online spaces.  This specific incident is the first time I’ve truly seen both the fruits of my labor and my argument proven right. 

Anyone who follows my writing knows that I take journalistic standards very seriously, and I can honestly say that the support I’ve received online through facebook, twitter, email, and the comments here and on other blogs, easily beats all of the negativity I’ve received.  For me, that sends a powerful message.  I can’t compete with Fox News in their medium, but online, pro-migrant folks rule.  It’s impossible for me to thank everyone who’s shown support without leaving people out so please accept this post as a token of my gratitude and a sign that the work we’re doing is working. 

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Comments

  1. Thanks also for the continuing support of the Blue Mass. Group community.  As I’ve said multiple times already, it’s been a long fight for us pro-migrant bloggers to get progressives to consider migrant rights a progressive issue.  

    <

    p>Blue Mass. Group has long been one of the most pro-migrant spaces I’ve encountered online, which is why I cross-post here and will continue to do so whereever in the world I find myself.

    • After internal rivalries and money issues.  Lot’s of nativist organizations like ALIPAC constantly berate Gilchrist as well.

      • Here’s the Southern Poverty Law Center on the split:

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        p>

        Gilchrist and Simcox publicly battled for control and camera time during the original Minuteman Project, when Simcox’s high-handed leadership style earned him the sarcastic sobriquet, “The Little Prince.” But following the conclusion of the month-long “citizens border patrol” operation in Arizona last April, the co-founders appeared to arrange an amicable parting and division of the public relations spoils. Gilchrist kept the Minuteman Project name and announced he was handing over “border watch” operations to Simcox, who would manage them as president of a new group, Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. As head of the Minuteman Project, Gilchrist said he would focus on pressuring employers not to hire illegal immigrants, what he called “internal vigilance.”

        <

        p>Simcox’s group is the one behind the border fence. (Follow the link: the attack on Texas mayors opposed to the fence is almost funny).

        <

        p>Gilchrist went on to partner with a SPLC recognized hate group to form Operation Sovereignty:

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        p>

        Gilchrist’s partners in Operation Sovereignty, according to his website, are Glenn Spencer’s American Border Patrol and the Texas Minutemen, a rogue Minuteman outfit not affiliated with Simcox. Both groups are fueled by far more radical ideology than Gilchrist has endorsed the past. The Southern Poverty Law Center has long listed American Border Patrol as an anti-Mexican hate group. And the leaders of the Texas Minutemen in June told a Young Republicans club that ranchers should be allowed to shoot “diseased Mexicans” trying to cross the border under the same international agreement allowing them to shoot diseased cattle. Gilchrist appears to be radicalizing as part of his overall strategy to siphon away support from the MCDC, and establish himself as the one true leader of the Minutemen.

        <

        p>Sadly, the fence folks are the saner ones.  

        • My vote for non-sensical quote of the month:

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          Send your support now to build the Minuteman Border Fence and show our government what it means to TRULY secure the border against events such as Pearl Harbor and 9/11. Join your fellow American citizens who say “Never Again!” We the people must be vigilant and prepared, and our national territory must be defended!

          <

          p>As a Texan, I could almost (that’s ALMOST), have bought an Alamo reference, but Pearl Harbor?!!!

          • I would so go and build the Hawaiian border fence.  Doing my part for homeland security, getting ripped doing all that heavy lifting, getting a killer tan, brah…that would be the life!  President Obama could easily approve some stimulus money for his home state.      

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            p>Adios, godless Massachusetts librulism; Aloha, Hawaiian patriotism.  

  3. He’s referencing 9/11 and how he hopes you are victimized in a terrorist attack that comes as a result of poor border security.

    • Neither Pearl Harbor nor 9/11 had anything to do with border security.

      <

      p>The attempt to conflate “border security” and terrorism is just more rightwing bigotry. It has even less substance than the attempted conflation of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and 9/11.

      <

      p>The media play given these roaches is perhaps more revolting than the bigots themselves.

      • I assume the person making the threat shares this belief about border security with Gilchrist.  It’s unfortunate there isn’t an opportunity for you to voice your concern during, say, a Q&A after Gilchrist had spoke on the subject.

        • Here’s Mr. Gilchrist on the opposition (quoted from his own press release):

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          “On the left, you’ve got the Charlie Manson cultist mentalities; people who will kill you,” Mr. Gilchrist said. “They will murder you if they think they can get away with it, to get their way. They are very uneducated.

          They’re downright stupid, like most of these students who are out here. You can not carry out an intelligent conversation with them.

          <

          p>And here’s his own account of his answer to a question asked during the last Harvard symposium:

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          The question and answer session proved to be the highlight of the event.  One question directed at Gilchrist was racial in nature; however, taking it in stride, the hostile question did not deter Gilchrist from returning the joust with a calm and dignified answer.

          “Ladies and gentlemen the Minuteman Project is a multi-ethnic, law enforcement advocacy, grassroots, nonprofit organization; we address any issue that challenges the sovereignty, security and domestic tranquility of the United States.” Upon hearing Gilchrist’s answer the audience immediately broke into applause.”

      • Again, not really on topic, but 9/11 had a lot to do with border security, didn’t it? Here is a quote from the preface to the 9/11 Commission Staff’s monograph on terrorist travel:

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        It is perhaps obvious to state that terrorists cannot plan and carry out attacks in the United States if they are unable to enter the country. Yet prior to September 11, while there were efforts to enhance border security, no agency of the U.S. government thought of border security as a tool in the counterterrorism arsenal. Indeed, even after 19 hijackers demonstrated the relative ease of obtaining a U.S. visa and gaining admission into the United States, border security still is not considered a cornerstone of national security policy. We believe, for reasons we discuss in the following pages, that it must be made one.

        <

        p>TedF

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