Blechh!  From the WaPo article:

Supervisor Martin E. Nohe said he voted for Duecaster out of respect for Stirrup, "not because I believe [Duecaster] represents my values or the values of this community."

Nohe (R-Coles) said he remains conflicted about his vote. [ed. - yeah, right]

"It's important that we not create a new standard that every appointee becomes a product of high-level scrutiny," Nohe said.

Chairman Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large) said the board should defer to the supervisor making the appointment.

"We have to trust that the supervisor nominating the person has properly vetted the person and not second-guess them," he said. "If we start challenging one another's appointments, we could get bogged down into a debate on each person." [ed. - Heaven forfend elected representatives have to actually "debate[!]"]

We've come a long way from a time when it seemed the whole county was gripped by rage and resentment.  This was a step in the right direction.  

Sorry Eric, I meant to implicitly compliment you for raising this issue.  I wanted to portray Nohe and Stewart as cowards.  I guess my sarcasm clouded my intent.  Rest assured; I'm on your side.

I just don't think that the Board of Supervisors behaved like cowards last week.  I think they did a great job.

And I respect the notion of approving an appointment as a matter of courtesy to a fellow Board member.

So those who did speak out against it (Principi, Caddigan, Jenkins, and Nohe) were going out on a limb to state their principles, which is great progress.

So I'm optimistic about the future of the county.  That's all I'm saying.  

Thanks for clarifying.  You know much better than I where PWC has been and where it is; thus, I have to defer to you on where PWC is going.  From my naive and distant place, this seems like the tiniest of steps.  I'm glad to see you didn't list Stewart in your parenthetical.  I'll take your word for it that Nohe deserves praise, but the quote in the WaPo about remaining conflicted seemed insincere to me.  May you see continued progress.  I hope you don't mind if I also hope that such progress comes in a bigger way and more quickly.  Imagine the possibilities if Duecaster's passion could be turned to your side of the issue!

As I see it, the Board of Supervisors is getting up off the mat, dusting themselves off, and saying, "Okay, you may be screaming at me, but I'm not intimidated."  This is a sign of good things to come.  

of your earlier documentary, as I recall. I was struck at the time when I first viewed the video by the desperation in Mr. Duecaster's voice, and the voice itself (Mr. Duecaster is not well, I think). After sorting out the emotion, what I believe is left is a not unreasonable fear that his culture and its long-term domination of local life is on the way out. I could imagine some fine Celtic squire in post-Roman England saying the same sort of things about those uncivilized Anglo-Saxons pouring into what had been a purely Romano-British landscape, arriving by the boatload to create farms where the Celts had not, filling jobs and so on to the consternation of the resident Celts. "King" Arthur, the Celtic war leader launched a war to kick them out, but did not succeed in the end, "Camelot" notwithstanding. Does Mr. Duecaster envision himself as King Arthur, or is that role reserved for Corey Stewart?

To me, Duecaster would like to be seen like the last honest man or some Old Testament prophet.

I'd love to hear your take on Stewart, though.  His opportunistic fleeing of Fairfax County for PWC, his subsequent rise to the Chairmanship, and his obvious further political ambition must have a humorous historical analogue, but I'm not creative enough to think of it myself.

There are countless examples in recent American history as well.  As a Chinese American, I can point out "The Chinese Exclusion Act" which was the result of a very similar pattern in which workers were imported and then once the work was done (in this case, the trans-continental railroad), we didn't want those workers to stick around.  

The presence if African Americans in the U.S. as a source of cheap (free) labor prior to the Emancipation, was never questioned until our principles demanded that we live together as equals.  By the same token, the Chinese who had been promised freedom after a period of indentured servitude were no longer welcome, for many of the same reasons that Prince William County is anxious about the immigrant communities that came here to power the explosion of growth that enriched so many families here in the past decade.  

As I said in my Washington Post video essay, now that the houses are built, there are some who don't want to see the workers stick around.  

What is alarming here is that Mr. Duecaster says that it is not about "legal" vs. "illegal."  For him and for many others who feel he speaks for them, this is founded in a very basic, tribal sort of "fear of the other."  While I am sympathetic to anyone who is anxious and afraid, especially in such trying economic times, I don't think that fear is a good emotion to legislate upon.  

Duecaster, as a lawyer, a self-proclaimed "advocator," and as a castigator of lawmakers, but one who cannot contain his fear, facilitates the ability of those who are fortunate to be less fearful to point out the difference between the sad and hopefully outdated philosophies of "might makes right" and "I got here first" on one hand, and the philosophy of a government of, by, and for all the people on the other.

Many have told me that this is not a black eye for Prince William County, but more of a black eye for John Stirrup who made the appointment.  The blessing may be that now John Stirrup is essentially defined by the Duecaster credo.  So this appointment weakens Mr. Stirrup's ability to influence county policy.  Time will only tell, but I think that may be a wise assessment.  

What a freaking nut job.  Why does he sound like he's about to start crying at any second?

n/t

If you think he sounds like a nut job on the video, you should see him in person.  I sat through many of these meetings and listened to his rantings at 'Citizen's Time'.  The first time I saw/heard him, I thought he had some medical problems.  The second time, I thought he was just plain nuts.  The third time, he scared me.

 

Seeing this video saddens me, but I am still grateful to Eric and Anna for it...  it gives us vital information we need as citizens.

Robert Duecaster is clearly a man consumed by fear, physiologically sickened by fear.  That much fear cannot be healthy.  A stressed body cannot fight off disease and infection the way a healthy one can.  He just can't seem to comprehend what it is that makes him so afraid.

It's sad that a citizen has that much fear; especially a citizen of the most powerful nation on the planet.  A nation more powerful than any other by an order of magnitude or more.  Not only that, but in Prince William County, this citizen i far away from targets, far away from the borders, far away from the coasts.... yet he still chooses to be afraid.

Prince William County is very safe for it's population.  It's citizens are caring and friendly... why does he have so much fear?  What is it that makes a man choose fear and a victimhood mentality over happiness and pride?

I think the answers to these questions, which I do not have, may be the key to our country's survival as a culture.

I chose not to live in fear.  I welcome my neighbors and see them as often as I can regardless of their origins.  They know me and I know them and we take care of each other.  When a teenager up the hill acts up and starts vandalizing properties; we cooperate and solve the problem.  I feel safe.  I pay taxes.  I enjoy incredible freedoms and benefits... I don't understand why anyone would choose fear as a lifestyle.

Supervisor Stirrup's actions will be remembered in the next election cycle; and I hope we can get the word out to as many voters as we can and that we find a supervisor less willing to use unhealthy individuals like Robert Duecaster for their own ends.

as opposed to an influx of workers - not soldiers - from Latin America is so bizarre that when I first saw this guy, I laughed.  I remember thinking, nobody could POSSIBLY take this lunatic seriously.  But wait a minute, I forgot about Corey Stewart and his Merry Band O' Haters.  My god.

I'm a moderate on illegal immigration (ie focus on prosecuting employers, not employees).  

This video is an example of the other extreme of the debate - and frankly why we can't reach an agreement on immigration reforms.

One extreme wants unconditional amnesty and doesn't see illegal immigration as a problem.  The other extreme (that guy) see them as an invading force (never mind the American corporations who are funding this so-called invading force).

And then the third extreme are corporations - who see immigrants as commodities and a cheap, exploitable source of labor.

It's a trifecta of stupidity, hate, and exploitation.  This bunch guarantees that the issue of illegal immigration will probably never be addressed.

Of course, it'll be addressed.  By the end of this week, Congress will enact legislation that will solve the current finance crisis.  The housing market will rebound.  Obama will be elected.  Like his Democratic predecessor, the economy recovery over which Obama presides will redound to the benefit of folks further down the ladder than the fraction of the top 1% helped by the current President.  When everyone is feeling better, even Duecaster will be welcoming liberal immigration policies to augment the workforce that will have to pay his Social Security benefits which once again will be secure.  Oh yeah, and Steve Jobs will invent a hand held Spanish/English translator that you can also download music to from I-Tunes.

You have convinced me. And, I want that Spanish-English translator with the salsa (will it order my tacos and burritos for me, too?)

n/t