Last night, the Herndon Town Council voted 5-2 to approve a site for day laborers, some of whom are "illegal immigrants." In doing so, Herndon courageously defied a conservative talk show host named Mark Williams, who had urged listeners to call Herndon and "melt [Mayor O'Reilly's] switchboard" in opposition to the proposed gathering site. Responding to Williams demagoguery ("You need to help . . . Mayor O'Reilly understand he's advocating breaking the law . . . and assisting criminal aliens who are in this country destroying this country, stealing jobs, running drugs, raping people.), thousands of people - many of whom from outside Virginia - did just that. Their "hate calls" (as the Washington Post called them) rained down on Herndon, actually forcing the Town Hall to shut down its phone system. By the way, Williams' nasty rhetoric over local WMAL-AM radio was nothing new for that station; Williams was actually filling in for regular host Michael Graham, who had been suspended for calling the great world religion of Islam a "terrorist organization." Yep, that's what we're dealing with here, sad to say -- prejudice, ignorance, and bigotry, plain and simple. And that's exactly what the Herndon Town Council defied in its courageous vote last night.
Beyond ignorant, bigoted, AM radio talk show hosts, the Herndon Town Council last night did something even more important - it pushed back hard against a certain rabble-rousing politician named Jerry Kilgore, who the Washington Post had correctly slammed as a "nativist" for his shameless, granstanding, "gratuitous blast at illegal immigrants." At the same time, Herndon also sent a clear message against Jerry Kilgore and his uninvited interference in a local matter, which had demonstrated yet again that Jerry Kilgore manifestly DOES NOT "trust the people." Never has. Never will.
Finally, the Herndon Town Council last night struck a blow against ignorance and myth-mongering. As "Arlington Dem" pointed out in his comments on this site:
Myth: Immigrants take jobs away from Americans.
Fact: Studies have shown that the opposite is true. Many immigrants create jobs. Many immigrants are self-employed and start their own businesses.Myth: America is being overrun by immigrants.
Fact: The percentage of immigrants in the total population is small. So far, no single decade has topped 1901-1910 for immigration admissions.Myth: Most immigrants are a drain on the U.S. economy.
Fact: Each year immigrants earn $240 billion, pay $90 billion in taxes, and receive only $5 billion in welfare payments.
The bottom line is that the vote in Herndon's Town Council last night was a courageous, historic vote against hate, fear, divisiveness and ignorance. It was also a strong signal that Herndon's elected leaders will not stand for interference in their affairs by the likes of Jerry Kilgore, not to mention Kilgore's top media advisor Scott "Black Hands TV Ad" Howell. In acting as it did last night, Herndon fought back against Kilgore, who "Arlington Dem" had perceptively described as "trying to boost his weak and faltering candidacy by turning us against each other....All [Kilgore] has is division, attack, negativism, fear, and hate." Yeah, that's exactly what he's trying to do, but at least in Herndon last night, it didn't work. (In contrast, check this out!)
Which is why, today, I urge everyone today to call in and "melt" the Herndon Town Council's phone lines, but this time with warmth and thanks, not with AM radio-style cold hatred and nativism. I'll start by saying it right here. Thank you, Herndon. And thank you, Mayor O'Reilly. You have affirmed exactly what America -- and Virginia -- are supposed to be about, as the following great words and welcoming sentiments from the Statue of Liberty so eloquently express:
Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!