Oh, dear. It seems to me that agreement or not with the letter's opinion is beside the point. What I object to our site being used for political purposes of any sort--and make no mistake, that's what the purpose of that letter was. Our site should be, as it has been up to now, dedicated for the circulation and communication of items concerning genealogy and only for that purpose. It should not be necessary for the Board to look into this and develop a firmly stated policy on web site use, but if it happens again maybe it should. In any case, let's all hope this sort of thing ends right here with this one letter, and that no one responds to it in this forum. If someone does feel compelled to respond to the writer, I suggest that she/he look up the senders email address in the membership list and write that person directly. Thanks, Peter Young From: John Bush Sent: Sat 8/25/2007 7:56 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [FL-WFGS] Fw: Letter to the Editor And, of course, not all of us agree with it but choose not to use this forum to rebut it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ 3,724 AMERICANS HAVE DIED and at least 27,506 WOUNDED in the Iraq war; more than 70,359 Iraqi civilians have died and more than 4 million displaced. The cost: $9 BILLION a month. To see what the cost of the war would buy, go to http://www.costofwar.com/ > [Original Message] > From: Jerry Merritt <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Date: 8/25/2007 6:49:34 PM > Subject: Re: [FL-WFGS] Fw: Letter to the Editor > > Based on the e-mail (see below) that posted on our forum this afternoon, > I went to the OC Register to see what their letter to the editor policy > was. While there I read a bunch of LTEs printed today in the same vein > as the letter Ms LaBonte wrote. You can see for yourself at: > > http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/arellano-country-laws-1821125-mexico-immig ration > > While I agree with Ms LaBonte's letter, I hate to see a newspaper that > didn't chose to run her particular letter labeled in our genealogy forum > as having an agenda that precluded her letter. It certainly seems from > today's letters that Ms LaBonte's opinion is well represented in the OC > Register's Opinion page. Perhaps, at nearly 600 words, her letter was > simply too long. The Pensacola News Journal, for instance, allows only > 200 words. > > Jerry Merritt > > Suzzane Weathers wrote: > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: Frances A. Bower > > To: Sent: Saturday, August 25, 2007 3:27 PM > > Subject: Fw: Letter to the Editor > > > > > > Subject: Letter to the Editor > > > > > > Newspapers simply won't publish letters to the editor which they either deem politically incorrect (read below) or which does not agree with the philosophy they're pushing on the public. This woman wrote a great letter to the editor that should have been published; but, with your help it >will get published via cyberspace! > > > > New Immigrants From: "David LaBonte" > > > > My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC > > (Orange County,California) Register which, of course, was not printed. >So, I decided to "print" it myself by sending it out on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so inclined. Dave LaBonte (signed) > > > > > > Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County Register: > > > > Dear Editor: > > > > So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan, for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry. > > > > Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like >Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas >of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home. > > > > They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture. > > > > Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity. Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany, Italy, >France, and Japan . None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan . They were defending the United States of America as one people. When we liberated France , no one in those villages were looking for the French-American or the German American or the Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It ! > wo! > > uld have been a disgrace >to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl. > > > > And here we are in 2007 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's >not what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as >an example by those waving foreign country flags. > > > > And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty , it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just yet. > > (signed) Rosemary LaBonte > > > > P. S. Pass this on to everyone you know!!! KEEP THIS LETTER MOVING!! > > > > I hope this letter gets read by millions of people all across the nation!! > > > > > > Ever onward!! > > > > MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA > > > > This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm > > > > > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- > > Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL.com. > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message