“What’s an angry conservative to do?” Kurt Schlicter lamented in his latest Townhall.com piece. I hardly blame the guy. We need fighters, not flighters, men and women of principle who will stand up to Big Everything, and not back down. The Old Guard of the GOP seems content to barely get by, and give in every time funding for an officious institution comes up for reauthorization. US Senator Ted Cruz blasted the leadership in both chambers, outlining how they give up the fight before the conflict begins.
So, what’s an angry conservative to do? Stop waiting for someone else, for starters. Then Do something!
California conservatives, fed up with open orders and pandering to illegal aliens, have taken the fight not just to Huntington Park, CA – where the city council appointed two illegal aliens to city commissions – but have broadened their outreach and confrontation to every known government body in Los Angeles County. Last week, We the People Rising attended one of the most prestigious yet little known government associations in Southern California: the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LABOS), right on Temple Street in Downtown Los Angeles.
Normally, I would have never imagined myself sitting in one of the most influential government board rooms in LA County. After meeting conservative LA County Supervisor Republican Mike Antonovich at the CA GOP Convention two weeks ago, now I could see him at work, one of the few “tight wads who looks after the taxpayer”, according to one of the frequent public commentators at the September 29th meeting. In case you haven’t paid attention, LA BOS has been pushing the piece-meal amnesty agenda for the past three years, and Antonovich has been the only one in power trying to stop it. This past week, LA County Sheriff Jim McDonnell (duly elected by a landslide last year) announced that he would cooperate with Immigration Control and Enforcement (ICE) agents, despite opposition from a majority of LABOS, and allow them into the jails, to interview, arrest, and deport illegal alien felons. We the People wanted to be there to show our support for the Sheriff, fully aware that pro-illegal alien elements would also show up to protest inside the board room as well as outside on the steps for all the media to see.
Fittingly enough, I found free parking three blocks away, off the corner of Bunker Hill and Cesar Chavez Drive. During the American Revolution, the Bunker Hill fight may have seemed like a retreat, but that fight also showed that American colonists were not going to cave and submit to the rogue British Empire, despite the imperial army and resources at their disposal. As for Cesar Chavez, despite his “si se puede” unionism, he actively opposed illegal immigration until his death. How fitting, indeed.
Now, I never intended to stay for a long meeting, but LABOS business goes on for hours, six hours. Maybe now we can understand why so many working Americans stay out of local politics, never confront their elected leaders. Who has the time? Was it worth staying? You bet! Carlos Granda of ABC Channel Seven, a reporter for one of the largest media markets in the country, approached me and fellow conservatives in attendance for our take on what’s going on. We support Sheriff McDonnell, and we prize the life and safety of citizens, as well as the rule of law. Check out the interview at this link here.
Finally, public comment ensued. One after another, We the People of the United States, residing in Southern California, spoke in support of the LA County sheriff. The leader of the group, Robin Hvidston, provided us key talking points in case we needed quick reminders: in the last two months, eight Americans have been killed by repeat illegal alien offenders, for example. We also received copies of Sheriff McDonnell’s letter. In my comments to LABOS, I pointed to the two gilded quotes emblazoned at the top of the chambers: “This country was founded on free enterprise. Cherish and help preserve it” and “That government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.” Immigrants seek this land for both, yet neither can exist without the rule of law. I reminded the audience that the US Constitution begins with “We the People” and ends with “to the people” (in the oft-ignored Tenth Amendment). It’s about the citizens, not illegal aliens. With few seconds remaining, I faulted Supervisor Hilda Solis (former Congresswoman and Obama’s Secretary of Labor) for her inaction in Huntington Park.
Fortunately, more of us present could make the time, and take the message to our leaders: cities are for citizens, and they need to be protected. We may be angry, but we are doing something about it!
The next day, after the LA BOS meeting, the local press reported on an illegal alien student at Cal State Long Beach, the current student body president. Because he is “undocumented”, he receives no pay. Arrogant and brazen, now he demands payment. When words lose their meaning, people lose their liberty. “Undocumented” has become the lazy attempt of pro-amnesty crowds and the mainstream media to distort the truth: illegal is illegal, and no country, not state should put the needs and interests of illegal anything ahead of citizens and law abiding residents.
Instead of just getting angry, I called the President of the University, the Vice President, and even the Dean of Students. I have special standing, since I am an alumnus of CSULB. The Dean of Students was polite and listened to me. I then declared: “If this illegal receives any pay, I will inform the Alumni Association not to donate any money to the university.
Robin Hvidston taught me: “The only reason no one hears our side is that we never show up.” Don’t get mad, get confrontational. Use the tools of the Left and leave them begging for mercy. That’s what We the People are doing, and we are getting results.