It's hard to take a Hitler-worshipper seriously
To the editor:
Robert O'Donovan (letter writer, July 9), founder of the KKK and Neo-nazi courting NEWP.org, is simply doing his own rewriting of history.
In Mr. O'Donovan's letter, he states, "Unfortunately, there has not been a single instance of any 'Irish need not apply' sign being seen by anyone in America." A simple internet search for "irish need not apply" brings us to a Wikipedia article about anti-Irish racism, complete with a New York Times job wanted ad from 1854 stating "No Irish need apply." While there is a debate to the extent that these signs existed, there is not a debate as to whether 19th century Irish immigrants, legal or not, were stereotyped as aggressive, alcoholism-prone animals who were taking jobs away from Americans.
Heidi Scholes' analysis is indeed correct: every new wave of immigrants, legal or not, have been a target of this country's nativists who think that they can dupe their fellow American's into believing that these immigrants bring "crime, drugs and diseases." Immigrants, legal or not, are not the cause of this country's problems, but they provide a convenient scapegoat for people such as a Robert O'Donovan.
Now let's take a look at Mr. O'Donovan's true motives, by researching what the "1488" in "local1488" stands for. An easy task, as Mr. O'Donovan has been kind enough to provide us with the inside scoop on his own Web site: http://www.newp.org/bbs/index.php?topic=1598.0
"Post the movement slang here for the newbies!
88 = Heil Hitler, H is the 8th letter of the alphabet
14 = The 14 words, 'We must secure the existence of our race (or people) and a future for white (or our) children.'"
"Heil Hitler"? Mr. O'Donovan disgraces the service of our fathers and grandfathers, mothers and grandmothers, by selling the Nazi goods that they so tirelessly and valiantly fought against. Does he expect us to take him at his word on race relations, he who quotes Adolf Hitler with admiration?
A 2006 Time magazine article entitled "How immigration is rousing the zealots" has already outed the true motive of white supremacist groups, such as Robert O'Donovan's NEWP: "white supremacists and neo-Nazis are using resentment over the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. as a potent rallying cry."
Sorry, but Mr O'Donovan's paltry attempt to use the illegal immigration issue as a wedge for his supremacist movement will not work. Conveniently, he's provided a great litmus test for the illegal immigration issue: if KKK and neo-Nazi groups are against it, one can place a sure bet that a reasonable American, once armed with the facts about an admittedly complex issue, will be for it.
Please take your fear, paranoia, and Nazi merchandise elsewhere, for you have mistaken the Merrimack Valley for 1940s Germany; a mistake no immigrant, legal or not, will ever make.
CHRIS HART
Salem, N.H.
Lawmakers need a clue on gun crimes
To the editor:
I don't think that most of our state lawmakers have even the slightest clue about the cause of our gun crime problems, or ways to deal with it. Just a few examples of their erroneous notions are that guns come from less restrictive northern states because it's easier to buy them there, lawful citizens buy guns then sell them to felons, and, if there were fewer guns to steal from peaceable citizens there would be fewer gun crimes. Too bad that there is not one bit of evidence supporting any of these wild accusations.
I wonder if the lawmakers could ever reason that areas of high drug trafficking and poverty levels, hopelessness and family breakdown have anything to do with the horrible, escalating gun problem? I also wonder if maybe guns could be bought in some other illegal way, possibly something like the black market, sort of like drugs are acquired from professional drug dealers? I suppose though, as it has for the last half-century, that this ridiculous and ineffective gun control nonsense, along with the terrible crime, will just keep rolling along.
CHARLIE FARO
North Andover
Red Sox Nation can be an ugly place
To the editor:
If every village has an idiot, Red Sox Nation apparently has its own Department of Homeland Stupidity.
After a Fourth of July fireworks display in Falmouth, a group of young men began taunting a family whose car had New York license plates as it made its way through heavy traffic. Unable to make a quick exit, the driver stepped out, asking them to stop, that children were present.
Accused of being a Yankees fan, the New York man allegedly sustained head injuries when 20-year-old Robert Correia struck him repeatedly with a baseball bat. His charges include assault with a dangerous weapon and malicious destruction of a motor vehicle — apparently Correia felt that attacking the man with a bat wasn't enough, that he had to terrify his wife and kids by vandalizing the offending vehicle.
All this for the crime of being from New York.
Give me a break.
While it never ceases to amaze me how ridiculous sports fans can be, the incident in Falmouth makes me ashamed to share the same landmass with many Boston Red Sox fans. From the obnoxious chants of "Yankees Suck" at baseball games that don't even feature the Empire City to the post-victory "celebrations" that always seem to result in arrests for beer-fueled property destruction and assault, Red Sox Nation seems to revel in making an embarrassing spectacle of itself before the rest of the country.
Now, I can already hear the indignant responses: "Well, Chris, you're talking about a few idiots — isolated incidents that don't represent all Red Sox fans."
Sorry, but that argument just doesn't hold water anymore. Every time a Fenway Park visitor spends upwards of $200 on tickets and overpriced concessions only to hear the brain-dead chanting, it shows an utter lack of class that reflects poorly on the team and its "Nation" of devoted fans.
Given the atmosphere, is it really that much of a surprise that a self-appointed baseball Taliban appeared in Falmouth?
Red Sox fans need to stop clinging to the misery that shaped 86 disappointing seasons of baseball and start enjoying the game for what it is — a game. True ambassadors of Red Sox Nation need to celebrate responsibly and discourage fellow fans from acting like spoiled brats and tainting every victory and every positive aspect of the game with their childlike behavior.
It's either that or brace for a well-deserved, 86-year curse — the curse of the moron.
CHRISTOPHER M. DE ROMA
Lowell
