On Wednesday, May 14, 2003, at 04:42 PM, Steve Furlong wrote:
On Wednesday 14 May 2003 18:55, Major Variola (ret) forwarded the following Al-Reuters dreck:
...vigilante group... ... vigilante group... ... Three vigilante groups, some of them armed... hand over any illegal immigrants they find to U.S. Border Patrol agents. ...vigilantes... forward those coordinates to the Border Patrol... ... vigilante group... ...vigilantes...
_Some_ of these "vigilantes" are armed, and they plan to send the location of illegals to the Border Patrol? Has "vigilante" been defined down, like "assault weapon"?
I'm surprised Al-Reuters isn't calling these guys terrorists.
Every time I see that weirdo Curtis Sliwa, with his red beret and his "Guardian Angels" posse, I think "domestic terrorists." The notion that people on the street could be stopped and questioned by some illiterate Puerto Ricans (Sliwa doesn't sound PR, but his girlfriend/wife "Lisa Sliwa" is undeniably PR) and then allowed to pass or not is a good reason to carry a gun and pop them. And, yes, I would object just as strongly if _literate_ PRs, or literate Europeans, or anyone, stopped me and demanded to know my business. The point about them being illiterate PRs is that it's crystal-clear this is just a gang with a nominally "pro law and order" slant. Exactly as if the Bloods or the Crips became enforcers for the power structure. They look like Hitler Youth, although both Curtis and Lisa are getting old. The issue of whether a group like Sliwa's or the border ranchers is a posse, a gang, a neighborhood watch group, a vigilante force, or a right-wing militia is all in the act of naming. If they're keeping out wetbacks from crossing their lands, more power to them. Shoot to kill, night vision, all that good stuff. If they stop me from walking on a public street and tell me I have to explain to them to their satisfaction what I am doing in "their" neighborhood, they have earned killing. It's as simple as that. --Tim May "To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists." --John Ashcroft, U.S. Attorney General