I will be posting more in the coming days on the myth of Virgil's invincibility in the Fifth District, but this week's Goode News (his regular report to the folks back home) is Virgil at his worst.
Maybe Virgil is a nice guy like Waldo and others from down here say -- that sure is consistent with what I've heard -- but he is also the most reprehensible kind of liar.
The subject here is one of Virgil's most reliable scapegoats -- immigrants.
Virgil's analysis of why illegal immigrants are responsible for thousands of deaths is reprinted in full below. Frankly, it is so idiotic I won't even bother to deconstruct it as an argument. The entire idea behind Virgil's argument is to justify prejudice with a thin veneer of logic.
(More on the flip)
Unfortunately for Goode, anyone with an ounce of common sense can see through what he is doing. He is fooling no one, except folks who already agree with him.
What sets me off, however, is the the fact that Goode would choose to send this out on the anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This is not coincidence, and it makes this all the more despicable a piece of work.
Here it is:
Over the last five years, 4,000 U. S. soldiers have died fighting for freedom from Islamic extremists in Iraq. This figure has received major news coverage on nearly every major media outlet. However, the untold story that the media does not focus on is the number of persons in the United States who have been killed by illegal aliens. Statistics compiled by Representative Steve King of Iowa show that the number killed by illegal aliens since September 11th exceeds the number of soldiers that we have lost in Iraq.Congressman King arrived at his conclusion by citing an April, 2005 study by the General Accounting Office, which said that 28 percent of the inmates in federal and state prisons are criminal aliens. Criminal aliens are defined as non-citizens who are convicted of crimes while in this country, either legally or illegally. Further, Congressman King cites a 2004 FBI report showing that there were 16,137 murder victims in the U. S., and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration figures showing that there were almost 17,000 U. S. victims of negligent homicide, three quarters of whom were victims of drunken driving.
From these statistics, Congressman King calculates that the number of persons in the U. S. killed by criminal aliens in 2004 was 4,518. He reached this conclusion by multiplying 28 percent times the total number of murders in the U. S. in 2004. That calculation yields about 12 murders per-day at the hands of criminal aliens.
As for victims of negligent homicide who died at the hands of criminal aliens, Congressman King calculates that number to be 4,746. He multiplied 28 percent times the total number of negligent homicides. This calculation finds that there are about 13 deaths per-day at the hands of criminal aliens, mostly drunken drivers.
Those two calculations added together, shows that in the year 2004, three times the number of Americans were murdered at the hands of criminal aliens than died in the terrorist attacks on 9/11. There is no reason to believe that this level of annual carnage has declined. In fact, with America's southern border still open, it is reasonable to think that as many or more persons have been murdered by criminal aliens each year since 2004.
In conjunction with Congressman King's findings, I had the opportunity in 2006 to question representatives of the Federal Bureau of Prisons when they appeared before the Commerce, Justice, State Subcommittee. They reported that at that time, there were 189,000 persons incarcerated in federal prisons, and 50,000 of them were illegal aliens. That is almost 26.5 percent.
While I believe estimates that there are 20 million illegal aliens in the U. S., let us suppose that the more conservative estimate of 12-15 million is true. If we say that there are 15 million illegals in the U. S., then the percentage of illegals in terms of the entire U.S. population of the almost 304 million is nearly five percent. As you can see, the percentage of criminal illegal aliens in our federal system far exceeds the number in the general population, and I suspect that the percentage is even higher in a number of states.
Now, first, this myth of a crime wave by illegal immigrants is a staple of the extremist, hate-mongering right wing, but it is not true. In fact, any legitimate study of actual facts shows precisely the opposite to be the case -- illegal immigrants commit crimes at a rate far below their presence in the populations.
Take a look at this study from the Public Policy Institute of California, a state that obviously deals with the most severe problems resulting from illegal immigration. Here are the conclusions of the study, as summarized by Frank D. Russo on the California Progress Report:
G求 People born outside the United States make up about 35 percent of California's adult population but represent only about 17 percent of the state prison population.G求 U.S.-born adult men are incarcerated in state prisons at rates up to 3.3 times higher than foreign-born men.
G求 Among men ages 18-40 - the age group most likely to commit crime - those born in the United States are 10 times more likely than immigrants to be in county jail or state prison.
G求 Noncitizen men from Mexico ages 18-40 - a group disproportionately likely to have entered the United States illegally - are more than 8 times less likely than U.S.-born men in the same age group to be in a correctional setting (0.48% vs. 4.2%).
G求 California cities with a higher share of recent immigrants have lower property and violent crime rates than in those with fewer immigrants.
Here is a link to the California Progress Report:
http://www.californiaprogressr...
Here is a link to the study itself:
http://www.ppic.org/content/pu...
Russo also states:
What is striking about this is that the immigrant population in California, as is true nationally, is skewed towards young adults and males-a group that statistically has a higher rate of crime. They also have lower educational levels. Yet they have much lower rates of incarceration and institutionalization-especially when compared with those who are born in the United States who have low levels of education.
I do not know whether any of Virgil's people monitor this website, but if any of you do, I would like to say something to you. You should all be ashamed of yourselves peddling hateful lies like this. I am talking about anyone in your office that has a hand in this garbage, from the press people who write it to the administrative assistant assistant that hits the "send" button on this vile hatred.
Why do you do it?
So, yeah, he's a nice guy, and for 65% of the voters in this district, that's enough; neither Mexican nor Muslim, his policies aren't not nice to them. But from where you and I are sitting, taking in the sum of the man and the effect of his action, it's tough to see him as anything approaching "nice."
I know you don't agree with this BS, and I strongly apologize for even coming near the suggestion that this stuff sits ok with you.
In other words, I'm askin' for a pass....
I think there are a lot of elements to making this case, but I also think that Teddy has it right -- an element is the flim-flam he runs on his constituents when he does this sort of stuff.
But that said, he sure believes it works. Take a look at this article from the Danville paper yesterday sliming Perriello for -- well, nothing, actually -- for an idea of how Virgil plans on fighting this one:
http://www.godanriver.com/gdr/...
Danville is a key area for Perriello. One of the problems down these is the lack of a medium to counter this sort of stuff.
In other words, good ol' retail politics starting with finding some key local supporters and/or some one with a grievance or a disagreement with the way things have been going, and from that center of possible support moving outward in personal contact, concentric circles. Not easy, not always cheap, but usually works if pursued relentlessly. Can the state party help here?
I don't know much about Danville, except I believe it was the last capital of the CSA. I would think, though, it would be a place for Perriello to pick up some votes.
First, there are the demographics. About 44% of the population is African American.
Second, there is size. With almost 28K registered voters, it is actually the fifth largest voting district in the Fifth.
Third, Goode beat Weed in the city 55-45, but Webb got 49% that same election, and Kaine got 54% in 2005.
Fourth, turnout in 2006 was quite low -- 45% compared to 53% statewide, so there a plenty of voters to coax from their homes.
And fifth and finally, the surrounding counties are vote-rich as well, and strong Goode territory. Getting Perriello's message out in Danville can only have a positive effect on Tom's candidacy.
Remember, he doesn't have to win here, he only has to do good enough (although he should win in the city of Danville, proper).
In Charlottesville, for example, there are two popular alt weeklies, not to mention Washington Post honor boxes around (for whatever they are worth) the area, so the one local daily doesn't control the political dialogue (although even if it did, it has Bob Gibson, so at least on that score, the DP has been a cut above. Of course, he is leaving soon.)
What do you think they would see as viable?
These bamboozlements are very hard to respond to effectively, especially in our short attention-span sound bite society. However, when they are exposed and countered by a clever speaker able to connect with the deceived audience, the result can be devastating to the baboozlement's perpetrator. No one likes being made a fool, no one appreciates being manipulated, and that is what Goode's "reasoning" is doing. Once he is exposed as a charlatan, in, say, this case, all the rest of his arguments are immediately devalued and likely to be dismissed, and even his good constituent services suddenly become suspect.
If his Democratic opponent can make the voters understand how specious Goode's "reasoning" is, and how broadcasting such spurious arguments to his constituents reveals the contempt Goode actually has for the voters of his District, well, his days are numbered.
"African-American's make up 12.4% of the US Population, but 43.91% of those in prison are black. As you can see, the percentage of criminal African American's in our federal system far exceeds the number in the general population, and I suspect that the percentage is even higher in a number of states."
Subsitute any minority in this "Goode News" and it is a racist screed that the Southern Poverty Law Center would (rightfully) label hate speech. Goode's "fear of the brown" is his only schtick right now and it nauseates me. He doesn't have to explicitly say "let's round them up" when he writes this, the undertones are right there. Disgusting.