Ark. Town Council Bans Civic Group, New Organizations

One of the quintessential ingredients of small-town America is the local civic group, an organization of individuals who attempt to better their community by influencing their local government. Of course, not everyone appreciates their efforts — especially politicians who prefer to do as they please without interference from the people they are supposed to be serving.


In trying to evade local civic groups, however, few local governments have gone as far as the city council of Gould, Arkansas. First the council passed an ordinance demanding the Gould Citizens Advisory Council (photo at left) a group of concerned Gould citizens, cease to exist. Then it passed another one forbidding the mayor to meet with any organization without the express consent of the city council. Mayor Earnest Nash, Jr., a member of the group, vetoed both measures, but the council overrode his vetoes.

The council, still not satisfied that it had done enough to keep citizens out of government affairs, then passed yet another ordinance. This one banned the Citizens Advisory Council from the city and prohibited any “new organizations” from forming in the city without the council’s approval. For good measure, it also declared a state of emergency in Gould. Nash vetoed the ordinance but fears that the council will once more override him when it meets again in August.

The council’s stated reason for banning the civic group is that the organization “is, in effect, causing confusion and discourse [sic] among the citizens of Gould and as a result is contributing to the friction not only between the Mayor and Council but also among the citizens who deserve a cooperative government.” Nash begged to differ, telling the Little Rock Fox affiliate, “This group doesn’t cause friction between me and the council. The council causes friction between me and the council.”

Nash sees the council’s moves as attempts at “total domination.” He also thinks “the council is purposefully trying to lose the city’s charter, but he doesn’t know why,” according to the Fox affiliate.

The council certainly appears to be working hard at it. The city owes the IRS $300,000, and were it not for the actions of the Citizens Advisory Council, which earlier this summer raised $11,000 toward back taxes, Uncle Sam probably would have already taken some city property. According to a press release from the civic group, “bankruptcy and many years of legal problems for the City” are also putting Gould at risk. In addition, three council members voted against accepting an $800,000 grant to repair the city’s sewage system; both the Citizens Advisory Council and Nash favored accepting the grant.

The ordinances are almost certain to be challenged in court, and few believe they will hold up. The ordinance requiring new organizations to be approved by the city council is so vague that “it also extends to you talking to your mother or a church group or any other group that wants to form. A garden club! It’s so broad that it can’t possible comply with the First Amendment,” said University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law Dean John DiPippa.

The Gould city attorney tried to convince the council of that, and for his efforts they attempted to fire him.

Whether these ordinances actually clash with the First Amendment depends on one’s view of the incorporation doctrine, which holds that most of the Bill of Rights now applies to state and local governments under the 14th Amendment. Thus, while the First Amendment plainly prevents Congress from “abridging the freedom of speech … or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances,” under the incorporation doctrine it also prevents state and local governments from doing the same.

However, one need not appeal to the U.S. Constitution at all to prove that the Gould council’s actions are unconstitutional. The Arkansas Constitution states: “The right of the people peaceably to assemble, to consult for the common good; and to petition, by address or remonstrance, the government, or any department thereof, shall never be abridged.”

In fact, at least one member of the council, Sonja Farley, seems to be coming to the realization that the council’s actions were illegal. Though she had earlier expressed the view that the council existed to have “control” over “everything” and to “keep order when people can’t keep order,” she recently revised her view of the ordinances, saying “she would probably vote to rewrite the ordinances with more constitutionally sensitive wording,” the New York Times reports. How one could rewrite such laws to comport with the Arkansas and U.S. Constitutions — without completely gutting the ordinances — is anybody’s guess.


http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/8280-ark-town-council-bans-civic-group-new-organizations

VA Endangers Religious Freedoms of Veterans

Here's a little something that should make everyone's blood absolutely boil! It's from an article out of a Houston Tx newspaper, I believe. I don't have the link for it yet, but I'll find it and post it later. Once again, our illustrious government officials have deemed it necessary to censor free speech and the freedom to practice religion as we see fit. God help us all if this is allowed to continue unabated!

ARTICLE: Local veterans say the Department of Veterans Affairs is consistently censoring their prayers, banning them from saying the words “God,” and “Jesus” during funeral services at Houston National Cemetery. Three separate organizations have come forward complaining the cemetery’s director and other government officials are violating the First Amendment. Members from the Veterans of Foreign Wars, The American Legion and the National Memorial Ladies all complain of “religious hostility” at the cemetery. On Tuesday they told a federal judge what’s been going on there. “People are doing things out there that I feel like they shouldn’t be,” said Jim Rodgers, a Vietnam veteran. “We are private citizens in a private organization, and yet we are restricted from saying what our ritual calls for,” said John Spahr, Veterans of Foreign Wars. A 26-page complaint outlines the allegations. According to the court papers, the cemetery’s director, Arleen Ocasio, bans the word “God” and requires prayers to be submitted for government approval. “We were told we could no longer say “God bless you” and “God bless your family,” said Marilyn Koepp, a volunteer with the National Memorial Ladies. The group attends about 60 funerals a week to honor veterans and console families.Yesterday Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) called for the termination of Houston National Cemetery Director Arleen Ocasio.Your Houston News reported: Congressman Ted Poe (TX-02) on Wednesday, June 29, sent a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, DC, and issued the following statement in response to recent allegations regarding religious discrimination by the Director of the Houston National Cemetery: “I am deeply troubled by the allegations that were brought to my attention when I met with members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) in Houston,” said Poe. The director of the Houston National Cemetery, Arleen Ocasio, allegedly has engaged in aggressive hostile censorship of religion at the second largest cemetery for veterans in the United States. “The First Amendment is a sacred right of all Americans, especially those who have honorably served — and given their lives — in the name of protecting the United States. Denying their families their constitutional right to the free exercise of religious freedom is disgraceful and shows blatant disrespect for America’s veterans. If these allegations are true, I formally call for the termination of Arleen Ocasio as the director the Houston National Cemetery. This display of authoritarian behavior and religious discrimination should not be tolerated.” LIST OF ACCUSATIONS 1) Director Ocasio and other Cemetery Officials instructed Veterans of Foreign Wars District 4 to remove prayers from its burial rituals and to no longer utter remarks when handling the discharged shell cases from the rifle salute to the family of deceased veterans. 2) Cemetery Officials instructed American Legion Post 586 to remove prayers from its burial rituals. 3) Director Ocasio told the National Memorial Ladies that it could no longer include “God Bless” in its condolence cards or speak a religious message to veterans’ families. 4) Director Ocascio shut down the Cemetery chapel; it is now a “meeting facility.”

UPDATE:

Here's your link:

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/dayton/news/article_7e61fdfb-80ac-5170-8346-79128867c3c7.html

Arleen Ocasio

TAKE ACTION


Director Ocasio has already been successfully sued this year for religious discrimination. Obviously, she is not qualified to be the director of a National Cemetery and should step down.




Send an email to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs secretary Eric Shinseki. Ask him to 1) stop his department's religious discrimination and 2) relieve Director Ocasio of her duties.  Here's your link to send the e-mail.  Takes only a minute. ~Faye

http://secure.afa.net/afa/activism/TakeAction.asp?id=399

It is very important that you forward this alert to your friends and family members.

Leftwingers Seek to Muzzle Immigration Critics

As part of a strategic initiative by leftwing groups to control public debate on mass immigration, a major Jewish organization is demanding that cable television news networks identify restrictionists as hatemongers whenever those spokesmen appear in news programs.

In letters sent to the heads of CNN, FOX and MSNBC, the influential American Jewish Committee demanded that advocates of immigration law enforcement such as Jim Gilchrest and Chris Simcox of the Minuteman Project and restrictionist Dan Stein of the Federation for Immigration Reform should be identified as "promoting hate."

AJC General Counsel Jeffrey Sinensky who signed the letter, said the appearance of those spokesmen on television news programs was "inappropriate and offensive." He said the men had appeared on cable news shows such as Lou Dobbs Tonight, The O'Reilly Factor, and MSNBC News Live.

The AJC letter is part of larger strategy being implemented by allied left-wing groups throughout the country. AJC is partnering with the openly racist National Council of La Raza and its "We Can Stop the Hate" campaign to drive the spokesmen for immigration restiction off the airways.

In February last year, Middle American News reported on the efforts by the corporate sponsored Hispanic group La Raza to force syndicated columnist Patrick Buchanan off the air because he disagreed with la Raza's views on immigration. Janet Murguia, president and CEO of la Raza, sent letters nationwide urging supporters to pressure television networks to bar Buchanan and other restrictionist spokemen from network programs. Buchanan is author of two bestselling books that strongly criticize America's open border immigration policy. Murguia said Buchanan's appearance on CNN to plug his books illustrates "how the immigration debate has led to inhumane and degrading treatment of immigrants, including millions of Hispanic Americans."

She said Buchanan's views are "unacceptable in a democratic society."

AJC and la Raza's campaign against TV appearances by immigration critics has been joined in recent months by the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center. Spokesman for the group Mark Potok told the Philadelphia Inquirer that CNN's Lou Dobbs and other immigration critics appearing on television are spreading "hate."

The strategy to kick immigration critics off the air is the left's apparent response to the major defeat they incurred last year on immigration legislation.

The nation's entire network of left-wing organizations and their multi-billion dollar funding apparatus in corporate America suffered a setback of historic proportions in 2007 when the House of Representatives, in response to widespread public outrage over mass immigration, refused to pass legislation granting amnesty to an estimated 10 million to 20 million illegal aliens. The House refused to even consider the bill, despite support for it from the president, the Senate, and every major power center in the U.S., including the national Chamber of Commerce, every major daily newspaper, university presidents, immigration advocacy groups and assorted radicals and leftists.

Rarely has the establishment, working in concert with its advance guard on the far left, ever sustained such a defeat. Amnesty for illegal aliens is a long sought goal of both left-wing organizations and the big business groups that back them. For the left, millions of newly legalized immigrants represent a large pool of potential political recruits to use as a battering ram against the white, middle-class society they have longed to destroy. At the same time, those same millions of newly legalized immigrants represent new sources of cheap labor for major corporations.

Not surprisingly, some of America's largest corporations are the main sponors of at least one of the groups trying to kick immigration critics off the airways. In 1982, the National Council of la Raza established a broad "corporate board of advisors" made up of senior executives from 26 major well-known corporations. La Raza says the board meets twice yearly for "decision-making about issues and programs of common concern."

The 26 corporations helping la Raza advance its agenda are the following:
Allstate Insurance Company
American Airlines
AT&T
Bank of America
Chevron Corporation
Citi
The Coca-Cola Company
Comcast Corporation
ConAgra Foods, Inc.
Coors Brewing Company
Ford Motor Company
General Mills, Inc.
General Motors Corporation
J.C. Penney Company, Inc.
Johnson & Johnson
Kraft Foods, Inc.
McDonald’s Corporation
The McGraw-Hill Companies
Miller Brewing Company
PepsiCo, Inc.
Prudential Financial
Rockwell Automation
State Farm Insurance Companies
Time Warner Inc.
United Parcel Service (UPS)
Verizon Communications
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, another influential Jewish group, the Anti-Defamation League, will address whether to join the campaign against immigration critics at an upcoming meeting of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a public policy umbrella organization that represents several major national Jewish groups.

On its Web site, the American Jewish Council said its mission is to protect the welfare and security of Jews "throughout the world." It believes that promoting "pluralism" is the best way to "ensure Jewish continuity."

April 2008 Middle American News

(This Middle American News site looks really interesting. I'm adding it to links so we can consult it again. I found this site by going to the website of Texas Border Volunteers. One of their members contacted us by e-mail. Added them, too. The above article credits the left wingers for the push to silence anti-illegal immigration spokesmen. Actually, the Mexican government not only started it, they are funding it. Here's some background: -- Faye)

Mexico Organizing May Day Marches In U.S.

MALDEF Claims Lou Dobbs Is Inciting Violence And Has No Right To Free Speech

Tancredo Letter to Mexican President Calderon

Felipe Calderon Decries ‘Growing Harassment’ Of Migrants In U.S.

Mexican ‘Human Rights’ Agency Cancels Visit To Prince William County

Here Comes The Mexican Anti-Defamation League

Calderon Tells His Consulates To Interfere In American Elections

Felipe Calderon Decries ‘Growing Harassment’ Of Migrants In U.S.