republican speak: free speech = lies, and hate speech

The convenient fallacy of journalists getting along is “both siderism”.  For the newsman it is job security. For the simple minded, and the partisan who does not want to admit the depth of his partisanship, it is an excuse to dismiss uncomfortable truths, by insisting all politicians lie.  Often there are just two sides: truth versus lies. This is advantageous for the lying side. It achieves equal ground, it does not deserve. Lie should be disqualified.

There are certain people if lies were extricated from their speech, their speech would be less than a strict Trappist. donald trump is a liar, but occasionally when it benefits him, or when it works as a brag, there comes a true statement. Orange Caligula referred to Calgary Alberta's Rafael Cruz as “Lyin' Ted Cruz”. There he was exactly correct, for Cruz twists every sentence. I wonder if Cruz was bathed in oil sands, the greasy smarminess would be as thick as La Brea tar.

Spanky Bonespurs is famous for saying, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?”.  His con man mendacity is accepted as gospel by trumpsters. His hubris of braggadocio transgression was said in certainty.  But the spew of lies are egregious, continuous, and virtually infinite. His successful campaign in 2015 began with, “[Mexico] are sending people that have lots of problems, and they are bringing those problems to us. They are bringing drugs, and bringing crime, and their rapists.”.  Hate and lies.

The press aids and abets. There are certain Republicans that always lie, and rarely get called on it: Reince Priebus, Schlapp, Scalise, Kellyanne Conway, and nearly anyone who is given the microphone to speak the Repuke side. And they are aggressive in falsity, hypocrisy and ridiculousness are not avoided.  One reason is that if they were to speak the truth, it would turn away supporters. Another reason is that to advance in the party, ethics would hinder, perhaps forbid. The mainstream media's management and ownership are compromised, they have financial interests they cater to, and many agree with those interests. They also know the repukes cry often, and attack the press, and withhold access. This is effective pressure [blackmail] to have the media bend to them. In addition, the repukes, fascists, economic royalists, ultraconservatives have their shadow media, and they are willing to take a hit to get their propaganda out there. It is always power and money over conscience and truth. What is truth to be valued? What is a conscience?

It is good, and still too infrequent, that some of the press calls the trumpster election lies—“the big lie”. Those lies have seen success, and are part of the repuke brand and campaigns.

One current battle in this war is Twitter. A psychopath, repuke, billionaire wants to control a social media outlet. A number of lying, and hateful deplorables were banned for the damage they did to the public, and the country in their hate, lies, and sedition. Musk has welcomed them back. What gets one banned is to criticise him.

Once again into the streets...

outside Saint Casimir Cleveland

praying a decade

Once again we find ourselves outside on the street before the church of Saint Casimir Cleveland petitioning an appeal. People did not have approval to stand outside the closed church for 139 Sundays after the parishioners were evicted, yet they persisted. Saint Casimir is now opened, many believing with the intervention of Mary the Mother of God. The same Mary of Guadalupe, Czestochowa, and Fatima. Families of northeastern Ohio who came from Meso-America, have made pilgrimage to Saint Casimir Church and have asked for Mother Mary's intercession to keep their families together in this moment of travail. Mary wants families to remain together, but we are having political troubles, which some use as a reason to separate families.

This has been a problem for years. The deportation of people is a political industry in the United States. And now matters have gotten worse. The United States is now subject to a regime commanded by a fascist buffoon. His first campaign speech was a ridiculously vicious attack on Mexicans, one so patterned that it sounded like a hoax; but no, the man was believed. And now he has given a cruel enforcement policy impetus to be more onerous and harsh. People who fall under scrutiny, without proper papers, enter a world of what exists written in dystopian fiction. One minister, who spoke to-day, likened it to only being comparable to things that happened under Nazi Germany.

To-day there came together HOLA, a local Latino rights group, led by Veronica Dahlberg and supporters from American born northeastern Ohio residents, a few from the parish of St. Casimir, and a few religious people of other communities, and legal activists, and friends. They listened to a few speakers, and prayed a decade of the rosary. Some of this was covered by local press, and a national film documentarian, David Sutherland, who is working on a project for PBS.

...for yourselves also were strangers...

For those who use the common lectionary, the thirtieth week in common time this year will encounter a reading from the twenty second chapter of Exodus, "Thou shalt not molest a stranger, nor afflict him: for yourselves also were strangers in the land of Egypt.  You shall not hurt a widow or an orphan. If you hurt them they will cry out to me, and I will hear their cry: And my rage shall be enkindled, and I will strike you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless." [DRC translation]

Across from the Federal Building in Cleveland there is a park next to the City Hall. There ironically contained is a sculpture of a 'Free Stamp' (currently it is going through restoration, the letters 'FREE' are missing). This has often supplanted Public Square as a place of protest and demonstration. The thirty-two storey Federal Building has been going through a few years of remodeling, some for 'security', it contains offices for immigration, and formerly the FBI.

Here again, people came to try to save a family from forced separation. The father, Pedro Hernandez Ramirez, is listed for deportation. Of course, this would cause hardship. The government is a bureaucracy that places value in prosecution above mercy, even where mercy is permitted.

Again to pray at St. Casimir before Our Lady of Częstochowa

Some people believe they see the Hand of God involved on earth, and call this a 'miracle'. Some people see something good succeeding over great difficulties, and call that a 'miracle'. In some cases both opinions exist in the same action.

Some of you may know, that, Cleveland Mass Mob first came to Saint Casimir's. There was more than one reason to come there first. Mary the Mother of God has several national representations. Many nations have a particularly loved vision of her. The Poles have Our Lady of Częstochowa. When the parish was evicted in November of 2009, Michael Klymiuk-Wieczerski had a dream the night thereafter. He saw her and she said, "Don't leave me". This began the prayer vigils of the street, for 139 consecutive Sundays, the Casimiri gathered outside the church, until the Sunday they could come inside the church.

 St. Casimir's sanctuary. 19 January 2014.

A parishioner, John Niedzialek, knew Veronica Dahlberg. She is an advocate for local Mexican émigrés, many whom worked in agriculture and horticulture. First, Ricardo Ramos and his family came to pray at St. Casimir. On one occasion eighty people walked a twenty mile pilgrimage to St. Casimir, and carried a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Since then there has been a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Casimir.

St. Casimir Cleveland: Luis Nicasio Padilla left, Ricardo Ramos center, Veronica Dahlberg right.

Then came Luis Nicasio Padilla and his family to pray for intercession. To-day, both families remain together here in Ohio. [click for several foto essays]

Now, Pedro Hernandez Ramirez and his family are coming to St. Casimir to pray for intercession. The field office in Detroit for Immigration and Customs Enforcement of  Department of Homeland Security has a history of overzealous policing, contrary to official policy which "prioritizes the removal of public safety and national security threats", and the 'Morton Memo' which reads "that immigrants in deportation proceedings can remain in the U.S. if they are good people with strong ties in the United States". 

The New York Times has seen this latest story as an example [click] of the inconsistency of the 'immigration' quandary. It is caught in electoral politics. The president is treading gingerly, and executive decision has not come forth.
_____________________________
update from WKSU [click]

Immigration Police Break Families

 this sculpture faces Cleveland's Federal Building

A delegation of Catholic churchman went to Washington D.C. recently, with a special intent to influence the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, to pass legislation on immigration; something, supposedly, he would do if his party approved, and something he could do even if they did not; but working with Democrats is something they loathe in considering. Miami's archbishop, Thomas Wenski said at Mass, “Our immigration system is a stain on the soul of our nation. As a moral matter, it must be changed. We must pray that our elected officials recognize this and have the courage to reform it”.

There is a special prosecutorial zeal in removing Mexicans. An exemplar of this totalitarian push in the bureaucracy is Rebecca Adducci, Director of the Detroit Field Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Her bailiwick includes this part of Ohio. There is something called the 'Morton Memo' which reads that immigrants in deportation proceedings can remain in the U.S. if they are good people with strong ties in the United States.  The memo lists numerous criteria ICE officers are supposed to consider.  However, this memo is consistently ignored by the Detroit Field office, which oversees Cleveland.*

To-day, there was in Cleveland a rally and press conference at the Free Stamp sculpture, across the street from Cleveland's Federal Building. Some two hundred people came to plead the cause of the family of Luis Nicasio Padilla. He had to surrender himself to-day for possible deportation. He is a musician, and family man, a father of children born in this country.

There is also the non-uniform application of the severity of enforcement. While Padilla leads a peaceful lifestyle as a responsible father, husband, and musician, someone such as the millionaire Justin Bieber, an English language 'pop' performer, whom has had repeated bouts of hooliganism is not the target of federal immigration police.

Such visible protests are necessary, for these people will only relent from their behaviour by public shaming. Silence always benefits the oppressor. A photographer from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and cameramen from WEWS and WKYC came. Here is where the press is an ally of the people, the actions of the government are made known outside the immediate circle of people affected.

 “What do you tell a child when he wakes up and asks if his father will be deported to-day?”

Part of the support community, who serenaded the Federales. They also cried out for Adducci to find work elsewhere.

Three advocates with Mr. & Mrs. Padilla returning with mixed news from the Federal Building, “come back next week”.
_________________
*The second part of the paragraph taken from Veronica Dahlberg's press release. She has spent ten years advocating for people that were in such circumstances, and can not get over the continuous feeling of absolute nastiness she and they have received from the immigration police and allied functionaries. They comport themselves with a complete lack of humanity and courtesy.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++========================+++++++++
postcriptum June 12, 2014:  Please sign this petition: http://act.americasvoice.org/page/speakout/tell-dhs-secretary-jeh-johnson-to-stop-luis-deportation-?js=false#step-3
"another major battle with ICE. It will not be easy because Detroit ICE is digging in its heels. They denied his stay petition last week, and then also denied a request for reconsideration on Wednesday. There is an urgency because Luis has to check in with the deportation officer at ICE on Tuesday."


2nd postscriptum on June 12: "LUIS' stay has just been approved for one year!"

postscriptum 5.30 p.m. 15 June 2014 Father's Day: 
Bittersweet Father's Day for those facing deportation (click)

Another trial, another reprieve

From Caiaphas to Pilate and back again...

In a tumultuous few afternoon hours, one of the many police agencies (ICE--immigration) of the federal government terrorised, played with, and spat out a family. Only very instant and intense concerted action by friends, a legal eagle, and a public informed by the press prevented a tragedy.

ICE (immigration and customs enforcement within the dept. of Homeland Security) demanded Ricardo Ramos to appear in Cleveland's Federal Bldg. by 3 o'clock for immediate processing for deportation. Friends and supporters, led by Veronica Dahlberg, came to the most impromptu of rallies across the street from that building, near the Free Stamp sculpture on East Ninth and Lakeside. At 2.30, Ms. Dahlberg gave background to several press mediums on the situation. She spoke of the Ramos family, and the government. The figures for 2013's deportations were recently released, of the over 300 thousand, over 80% were of Mexicans and Guatemalans. This is far more than proportional. Why has the government gone after these particular nationals? The government is not concentrating its efforts on criminals, terrorists, and that sort. They are going after those people who are doing the most humble of jobs, for depressed wages. These undocumented foreign nationals, immigrants, gather the nation's food, and often prepare it. They labor so others can eat.

Yesterday, a stay of appeal was pending. Late this morning deportation was ordered. Mr. Ramos gathered his children from school, and friends accompanied him downtown. It looked as the only thing that mitigated was the weather, for a handful of minutes a brilliant backlighting shone upon the people, and no hawk wind off the lake blew on them. Later during the conference a falcon flew over. Later still, when people were to go home, a flurry of snow hit.

Friends carried signs, including those imploring Congressional Representative Marcia Fudge (D) to keep a promise for help. Representative Marcy Kaptur (D), and David Joyce (R) have intervened on the family's behalf. Mr. Joyce's staff received grief and negative feedback from his erstwhile supporters. But, this is an action of the executive branch of government; they have the option of leniency; they have instead been most capricious, and often dismissively insulting, and hard hitting. If not for so much intervention by others, Ricardo Ramos would be long gone.

Then while the growing group of eighty individuals, many whom left work in Lorain, Painesville, and Akron to be there and wait for the the witching hour to tick off, David Leopold [center] came with the news of the new reprieve. He spoke for a quick couple of minutes to Ms. Dahlberg and Mr. Ramos, and told them of the latest peril averted. He then spoke to the press.

Immigration counsel, David Leopold explains that an Immigration reform bill is moving through the United States Senate. Its provisions would cover Ricardo Ramos's case. "It would be patently unfair for the government to remove Mr. Ramos at this time".

Ricardo Ramos spoke softly, while a noisy bus passed by. His emotional whirlwind affected him toward tears. His family has been tossed to and fro by a capricious prosecution.

 Michelle turned twelve yesterday, she was asked how was this birthday present.

 This is a warm, united, and loving family in danger of needless disruption.

And after the press left, they prayed in a language that God recognised. Many would attend Mass at Saint Casimir Sunday, and retrieve a statue of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe they brought with them at the end of a twenty mile peregrinación.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ooo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

addenda, Saturday 18 January: perhaps, in astronomy the word is conjunction

Yesterday, the thought occurred to me, while outside next to the Free Stamp of proximity and involvement. I was there with the press, and the friends and family of Ricardo Ramos. East Ninth and Lakeside is interesting. Across the street is the Federal Building, a 32 storey piece of Bauhaus Brutalism, with scaffolding and barricades, almost to resemble some alien bunker outpost from a science-fiction space flick. Across the street is a building with a sign "Jones, Day", which i hear, is the largest and most powerful law firm in the Middle West. I have heard they are, or were, the legal counsel of choice for the diocese.

I was wearing an oversize sweat jacket with Notre Dame letters and colors. Some of the campesinos from Lorain held a bandera with Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. One of the reporters mentioned to me, that the cathedral/chancery was very near by. Where was their representative?

To-morrow, there is to be an Immigrant's Mass at the Irish cathedral (Saint Colman's) with episcopal participation. Perhaps some notice can be given to these illustrious personages.

a petition for mercy

http://petitions.moveon.org/americasvoice/sign/ricardo-shouldnt-be-torn
[click]

Ricardo shouldn't be torn apart from his family!

Petition by Matt Hildreth

To be delivered to Rebecca Adducci, Director of the Detroit ICE Office

Please grant deferred action to Ricardo Ramos (A# 88-138-442). Ricardo is a loving father of three U.S. citizen children. He's been a hardworking American and deserves a chance to stay with his family. Please exercise prosecutorial discretion and stop Ricardo's deportation!

Petition Background

Michelle will be forced to spend her 12th birthday saying good-bye to her Dad, instead of spending it with him and the rest of her family like most kids her age.

That's because immigration officials in the Obama Administration have decided to deport Michelle's dad, Ricardo Ramos. He has until Thursday to leave, the very same day as her birthday. Ricardo has called Ohio his home for nearly two decades and has three U.S. citizen children, yet ICE officials want to tear his family apart by deporting him.

If ICE officials go through with Ricardo's deportation, Ricardo's family will be devastated. He's a loving dad and is the sole breadwinner in the family, recently taking on a second job in a restaurant in addition to the 16 years he's spent working in local nurseries.

When police pulled Ricardo over for driving without a license, they sent him to ICE officials. Friends and supporters got Ricardo's initial January 1, 2014 deportation date postponed, but now ICE officials have set a new date to deport him just a few days away. We need your help returning him to his family!

Ricardo would likely qualify for the path to citizenship in the Senate immigration bill and President Obama's Administration shouldn't be pushing hardworking, taxpaying Americans like Ricardo for Speaker John Boehner's inaction. In fact, because President Obama supports the Senate's bill, he shouldn't be deporting immigrants like Ricardo at all.

Please help Ricardo by asking ICE officials to exercise "prosecutorial discretion" and let Ricardo return home to his family where he belongs. They need you to act right now!

Michelle shouldn't spend her birthday being torn away from her dad. Help Ricardo stay where he belongs, at home! 

http://petitions.moveon.org/americasvoice/sign/ricardo-shouldnt-be-torn
__________________________________
postscriptum: 10.09 p.m. 15 January 2014--the petition at this moment has 1,183 signatures.
postscriptum: 08.56 a.m. 16 January 2014--the petition at this moment has 1,223 signatures.
I don't know when the document will be delivered, but office hours must be approaching.
postscriptum: 3 p.m. 16 January 2014--"ICE [immigration police] has informed David [Leopold, attorney] that they will not be picking up Ricardo, as the decision is pending. We don't know how long it will take. It could be tomorrow, or next week."
postscriptum: 12.01 a.m. 18 January 2014--the petition at this moment has 2,290 signatures.

A Thought for Kevin O'Brien

January 15 2014's  A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way. -Martin Luther King Jr., civil-rights leader (1929-1968) 


I subscribe to  A.Word.A.Day by Anu Garg. Wordsmith.org [click, and].  He presents a word, and at the end, often, his "thought for today" is a humanitarian one.

The last few posts, that i have presented, were on Ricardo Ramos. This thought for today should be sent to Kevin O'Brien of the management of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Some few years ago he vented his spleen on protestors of the 2006 Air Show, and people responded with a small book containing some of the letters that were sent to O'Brien's paper. He has been a guest on the Feagler show several times, and he looks like a mild-mannered, soft-spoken fellow. Appearances are sometimes deceiving.

And Kevin O'Brien [click] continues to be a contemptible jerk, and hypocritical fascist. He quotes from the News-Herald because his paper's management (which he is a member of) did not write an article on the pilgrimage; although Gus Chan did photograph, and well, the pilgrimage. It is very common in the United States to see a glaring discontinuity between reporters, and photographers compared to the editorialists of management. The Cleveland Plain Dealer often publishes good reporting in articles and pictures, and then a brake is applied to those journalists, so that the editorial writers can present a Fox-like "balance" of contradiction as authoritative consideration.

It is time for a new book that has been inspired by Kevin O'Brien.

pilgrims and friends

Elizabeth Wood Perez is a wife and mother. She is wearing camouflage pants, because she is a veteran of ten years of the United States Marine Corps. She is a daughter of St. Margaret Mary's of South Euclid. This was one of the fifty-eight parishes that Bishop Lennon closed, and its appeal mysteriously vanished, and there has been no answer given.

In many ways Mrs. Perez is remarkable. She has been apportioned grief, bother, and sorrow; and yet she is of a most fervently cheery and approachable demeanor. At the time of the parish's eviction, and suppression, her husband was arrested. She turned to the pastor of the open St. Gregory's and was rudely, and insulting rebuffed. She quoted Catholic theology of mercy to the priest, and this caused him to snap at her. This is mirrored in the lives of many Catholics, officious priests called on their neglect of pastoral duties and contradiction of teaching whom instead of correcting their errors reply in snide umbrage. Sometimes people do not lose faith, and leave the church, but are actively pushed away. Asking a priest of St. Clare's parish for help for her jailed husband, she was told, that "we don't do that anymore". Her husband is a deportee.

She attends St. Ann's now. A priest from there gave her the crucifix to carry during the pilgrimage.

When the word came that the pilgrims had made the turn from Euclid Ave, people gathered to greet them. A retired attorney, Joseph Meissner (rear right with pocket phone), called the bishop of Cleveland, and the mayor of Cleveland to ask them to be at St. Casimir's to also welcome the pilgrims. To do so would show that the Church welcomed the émigrés, and to remind the public that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were strangers and immigrants in Egypt; and to do so would show that elected leaders cared about residents; and both would make a political statement of forthrightness to expose the onerous, unjust, and unfair policy that is inflicted on humble people. Joseph did not get through to the men, although he did speak to female subordinates. No one would come from the chancery, nor from City Hall.

One block away from Saint Casimir, on Kosciuszko, they rest and listen to the last directions before arrival and entry.

John approachs the open doors of St. Casimir's and a cadre of welcome.