GOP Chair Slater Calls Out Bridgeport Legislators On Syrian Refugees

The municipal election cycle is over. Up next, the legislative election. Bridgeport Republican Town Chair John Slater isn’t wasting any time putting the city’s eight-member legislative delegation on the spot regarding their stance on Syrian refugees entering the state, an emotional issue that could find its way into state elections during a presidential year.

Statement from Slater:

Where do our local leaders stand on Refugees in Connecticut?

Since the recent attack in France, I’d like to know where the State Representatives and Senators from the City of Bridgeport stand on the placement of 1,600 Syrian refugees into the State of Connecticut.

It is not possible to ensure a 100% accurate “vetting” process to guarantee the absence of an allegiance to ISIS by any of these refugees. We cannot risk the lives of the Citizens of the State of Connecticut and the United States by allowing a safe haven for possible terrorists. For that reason I am completely opposed to Governor Malloy’s decision to welcome the refugees to our state. The Governor’s responsibility is to protect and work in the best interest of the people of Connecticut, not to put us at risk.

I hope it will not take an attack like the one in France for our Representatives to realize this.

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128 comments

  1. Typical Republicans. Scare tactics instead of a humane concern. It is not surprising. Former Mayor Mary Moran, a Syrian, is against the refugees and yes I was shocked. I support Dan Malloy’s decision and I am shocked at the Republican Governors’ responses across the country. Has anyone been watching the destruction of Syria and its people over the past year-plus? There is almost no humanity left. We have Americans who want to go help ISIS. The world has gone mad and that is why Donald Trump has become the new face of the Republican party.

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          1. Andy, I don’t recall insulting you. We already have terrorists among us. I support saving Syrians. A life is a life. Not all Arabs are terrorists. Not all Muslims are terrorists. Veterans and homeless are an issue in our country. But Syrian lives matter and this is the United States. There was a time in history when thousands of Jews fled Germany for the United States during the rise of Hitler. The United States sent the ship back and most of the Jews perished in concentration camps. I totally support the refugees coming here. Being documented and accounted for. Republicans are just clueless and borderline racists. I will not insult you Andy, on the blog. I just do not agree with you and you do not have to agree with me. It is disturbing enough reading anti-Arab anti-Muslim rhetoric from trash on Facebook. Just nasty, thoughtless comments about tortured human lives.

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    1. It is unfortunate for the refugees; they’re victims of terrorism too. The way Europe handled the migration crisis prior to the Paris atrocities is understandable. The alleged mastermind behind the Paris attack slipped into Belgium hiding among innocents fleeing Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and other places of conflict. (The gendarmes tracked him to an apartment in Paris and killed him. He used to brag he could go anywhere undetected. That’s still true: he’ll arrive at his next destination in a box and no one will see him.)

      The bleeding-heart armchair liberals who were upset the CIA was torturing terrorist suspects, the same liberals who decried the NSA’s practice of skimming data, now they have their knickers in a bind because several governors have said “not in our backyard” when it comes to resettling refugees. At some point national security has to be a priority. France and Belgium have privacy laws that hamstring investigators and compromise intelligence. A terrorist from Belgium made his way to Syria for training and returned to Brussels to carry out a terrorist plot that left 129 people dead and 352 injured, some critically. Unless the United States government can offer 100% guarantees all refugees will be vetted to weed out the ISIS members hiding among them, then no state should be required to take any of them.

      We live 45 miles from Le Grande Pomme, a favorite target of Muslim psychopaths for at least 22 years. We have to live with the 9/11 memorials every year. I for one do not want the American people to have another day of solemn remembrance because a bunch of assholes from the Middle East had nothing better to do with their free time and decided to blow shit up and kill innocent civilians.

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      1. If Moran or Ganim were Muslim would they be second-rate citizens? Would they have been prohibited from running for office? Should they not be proud of their Arabic heritage? I am! It is fascinating and their food is amazing. I am certain the Syrian refugees are both Christian and Muslim. Maybe a few Syrian Jews. Does it matter? Save them, document them and let’s not condemn them to certain death!

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  2. Leave it to the knee-jerk leadership class among Connecticut Republicans to use their party’s base in America’s most privileged communities to blame the victims of Europe’s greatest humanitarian crisis since World War II.

    Your concern for a flood of displaced humanity is touching. We’re talking about a minuscule portion of a refugee tide, a drop from the great wave heading from the Middle East to Europe. America should take more refugees, not bicker about the small number proposed under the ceiling topping the level the political climate created by anti-humanitarian Republicans will allow.

    You want 100 percent assurance?

    — Let’s not ride in cars until we’re 100 percent sure they perform as advertised (Volkswagen).

    — Let’s not patronize the investment houses and banks run by Fairfield County Republicans and their ilk until we’re 100 percent sure they won’t destroy our economy again (Lehman Brothers, et al.).

    — Let’s turn the lights out in Midwestern GOP-led states like Indiana until we’re 100 percent sure their coal-fired power plants aren’t destroying the environment of the East Coast (acid rain).

    — Let’s stop all weddings and all bakery and floral businesses until we’re sure no one is forced against their will to serve people who love differently or who interpret the grace of God’s message differently (RFRA).

    — Let’s stop funding charter schools until we’re sure they’re performing in every possible way better than their traditional public school counterparts, Including completely transparent financial reporting (Education).

    I could continue. But you get the idea.

    You want 100 percent assurance? What PLANET do you live on? Here on Earth, the reality is we live in a sea of doubt, uncertainty and imprecision. It’s the best we can do. We try to do our best, and the naysayers take pot shots because they can. They feed on the inevitable doubt every proposal in every arena carries.

    One of my grandparents’ greatest acts in life was aiding in resettling my paternal grandmother’s Jewish relatives from a small town in Franconia in Germany as the Nazis came to power. The thought that Connecticut Republicans would have turned these refugees away at the shores of America is downright repulsive. What if one of them had secretly been a Nazi with a bomb? I can’t imagine that question occurring to anyone involved. I know it’s a question today, but only because the GOP is harping on one circumstance in a tragic bombing full of uncomfortable circumstances. It’s rhetorical cherry-picking.

    Syria is a bit far afield from Bridgeport, beyond Stratford and even Milford, I’m informed by my globe. But what the heck? Let me add …

    In my opinion, any boots-on-the-ground action in Syria should involve a coordinated U.S.-Russian-Coalition Forces effort to capture and resettle Bashir Asad and his family as well as higher-ups in government. They have terrorized their own people while more broadly completely losing the ability to control their territory. Their criminality is topped only by their incompetence in territorial control and management, or maybe the other way around. Any solution in Syria must involve resettling the Bashir government leaders out of the way while also removing the ISIS/ISIL Daesh scourge. Developing a new government of Syria with ISIS and the Asad crew out of the way is the only path I see to any credible democratic government in Syria.

    And then, finally, we can weep for the untold numbers of people as well as the world historic treasures lost in this conflict.

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      1. DD, tell me how you would feel if your relatives were killed by one of these refugees who is really a terrorist? Would you say oh well, at least it was only one terrorist? Get off your liberal guilt and think of reality.

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        1. I’d feel exactly the same if my relative were killed by a terrorist who came in disguised as a refugee versus a terrorist who snuck in through JFK, Logan or Bradley.

          So let’s add to my list:

          — Let’s shut down all three New York airports, White Plains, Bradley, Tweed, T.F. Green and Logan until we are 100 percent sure a terrorist won’t arrive via air and sneak into Connecticut.

          — Let’s shut down Metro North and Amtrak until we’re sure terrorists won’t use the rails to get into Connecticut.

          — Let’s go ahead and blockade the Merritt and the Turnpike at the state line in Greenwich. That’ll show the pansies among the New York Democrats what it’s like when a state stretches a meaningful fence across its port of entry.

          — Let’s shut down the ferries to Port Jeff and Block Island from Connecticut.

          I mean, seriously (or “syriasly,” as Grin Reaper wrote), do you think I’d be more in grief or more in anger if a terrorist killed my family using one means over the other?

          I guess we have to batten down every hatch. Tell me when you’ll have the orange cones ready to shut down the Merritt and the Turnpike. Tell me when you’ll be spraying big red “Xs” on the runways in Flushing, Jamaica Bay, Windsor Locks and East Boston. Tell me when you’ll be leaving the Saugatuck River Bridge in Westport in the “open” position so trains can’t get to Bridgeport from New York. Tell me when you’ll be blocking S.R. 8 in Shelton.

          When you’re done doing all that, then talk to me about how the last step is to blame the victims. But making it the first step? That’s crass political gamesmanship. I’m not one whit more safe because of your ridiculous proposition.

          Tell me when you and your buddies plan to blockade Seaside Park, Bridgeport Harbor and Pleasure Beach to keep terrorists from landing via small craft.

          Tell me when you convince the State Police to inspect every truck entering the state.

          Until then, show a little compassion, not for us, but for the others.

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          1. ME AND MY BUDDIES??? You really are a dumb ass. Just keep writing this foolish crap, it adds to the liberal image of living in a fantasy land. If your family were killed by terrorists based on your writing you would justify the killing with some make-believe bullshit like you had done in your post. I will show no compassion for terrorists or for people who will harm us. I believe in an old special forces motto. Kill them all and let God sort them out.

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  3. John Slater, please, educate yourself on the subject, this is a federal government decision and not the state. The 28 governors across America are looking like fools by repeating the talking points of the Republican Party.

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    1. It’s not just Republicans calling for a pause in this process to take in refugees from Syria and it’s not just Governors either. There are a growing number of Democrats siding with the Republicans as well, including Senator Joe Manchin, Governor Maggie Hassan in NH, the #3 Democrat in Congress, Senator Chuck Schumer, Senator Diane Feinstein and the Democrat Mayor of Roanoke VA, David A. Bowers.

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      1. You liberal prick, you have no idea what’s going on. You dance around like Mary Poppins and sing everything is wonderful yet not one word on the slaughter in France. It’s typical liberal bullshit, if you don’t talk about it, it will go away. Did you mention the Republican governors? Of course you and the other liberal pricks can’t stop talking about them, but nothing on the killings. That liberal dope in the white house is worse than all of you. He should be impeached for what he is not doing vis-à-vis that terrorist threat to us. Hey Steve, were you in the military? Never mind, I know the answer. NO.

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        1. ACF: You quoted “an old special forces motto” elsewhere in this thread. Since you seem to be challenging Steve Auerbach on the basis of whether or not he served in the military–a tangent of dubious logical value–you really must circle back to the special forces and tell us all about your service with that unit. I can’t wait for you to tell us the details: the service branch, number of hitches. Were you in the Rangers? The Seals? Do tell. Be specific.

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          1. ACF: A person with your obviously extraordinary military career really should recalibrate his language, by the way. An officer and gentleman like yourself, ACF, surely can make an argument without resorting to cheap words like “asshole,” “dumb ass,” and “prick.” Surely, your sense of military courtesy informs you those kinds of words detract from the quality of your argument and lower your reputation. Frankly, you’d have been better off if you had stayed out of this thread altogether. You’ve managed to let others poke huge holes in your argument and through your choice of crass words, you’ve kicked yourself in the rear a few times. If I were you, I’d pick up my marbles and go home.

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          2. It was not directed at Steve in any way shape or form. I will tell you this, I did a six-year hitch, how about you?

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          3. I use those words around people like you. Phonies boo hoo we are keeping potential terrorists out. You say I’d feel exactly the same if my relatives were killed by a terrorist who came in disguised as a refugee versus a terrorist who snuck in through JFK, Logan or Bradley. You are saying if this latest group comes in to the country and you had family killed you would feel no different. You are a gutless jerk.

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  4. The world needs more people like Steven Auerbach and Doug Davidoff.
    But here’s why I’m writing: What do John Slater and Andrew C Fardy have in common? Answer: They’re both huge beneficiaries of American liberalism who act like enemies of widows and orphans while turning their back on the ultimate American trait: risk.

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    1. Tell me how I benefit from American liberalism. I am not the enemy of any American with the exception of you. I am the enemy of people from other countries who want to destroy America and Americans. Grow up, liberal asshole.

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      1. ACF: your job, your pension and your Medicare are all products of American Liberalism. You underestimate how much you depend on it. Despite your age, I grew up before you did.
        (wink)

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        1. Let me tell you this, I paid for my pension and the city took care of the money (no charity). Medicare just so you know I paid maximum social security for the last 17 years I worked. I was forced to pay social security by law. Wink this.

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    2. Wrong, the world needs more people like FBI Director James Comey who tells it like it is with common sense. We don’t have the capability to vet these refugees and guess what, I’d take the word of the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation any day of the week and twice on Sunday over OIB know-it-alls like you.

      www .youtube.com/watch?v=1NgB4SwG4SM

      Oh, and the stupid talking point about widows and orphans? Guess what happened in Paris yesterday. A suicide bomber detonated HER explosive vest when the police cornered HER. Yeah, that’s right, a FEMALE suicide bomber.

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  5. The reason for the refugee crisis is due to our great leader Obama drawing a line in the sand and telling Bashir “you better not cross this.” Guess what? Bashir crossed it and as usual our president did nothing. Bashir then had free reign to let loose militarily on the people of Syria. Thank Obama for this!!!

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      1. In May 1786, Thomas Jefferson, then the U.S. ambassador to France, and John Adams, then the U.S. ambassador to Britain, met in London with Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja, the resident Tripolitan ambassador, to try to negotiate a peace treaty to protect the United States from the threat of Barbary piracy. These future U.S. presidents questioned the ambassador as to why his government was so hostile to the new American Republic even though America had done nothing to provoke any animosity of any sort. Ambassador Adja answered them, as they reported to the Continental Congress, “that it was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every muslim who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise. He said, also, that the man who was the first to board a vessel had one slave over and above his share, and that when they sprang to the deck of an enemy’s ship, every sailor held a dagger in each hand and a third in his mouth; which usually struck such terror into the foe that they cried out for quarter at once.” (London, Victory in Tripoli, pp. 23-24).

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      2. Yes, Reagan had the Marine barracks incident. My point is it did not matter if a Democrat or Republican was in office, they hated us for a long time. Just something to think about.

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        1. The Beirut Barracks Bombings (October 23, 1983, in Beirut, Lebanon) occurred during the Lebanese Civil War when two truck bombs struck separate buildings housing United States military forces in Lebanon killing 241 American servicemen. An obscure group calling itself ‘Islamic Jihad’ claimed responsibility for the bombings.

          The chain of command likely ran from Tehran, to Iran’s Ambassador to Syria, Ali Akbar Mohtashamipur in Damascus, to IRGC commander Hossein Dehghan, in Beirut, as the Iranians drew on assets in Lebanon. In 2004, the Iranian government erected a monument in Tehran to commemorate the 1983 bombings and its “martyrs.”

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      3. The tired, old “Blame Bush” meme. Smh.

        George W. Bush wasn’t President in 1993 when terrorists tried to take the WTC down the first time. George W. Bush wasn’t President in October 2000 when terrorists tried to sink the USS Cole. George W. Bush wasn’t President in 1998 when the US Embassy in Kenya was bombed and 200 people lost their lives and the list goes on and on.

        I know it’s trendy to blame Bush for all the world’s problems because your idol in the White House has been doing it his entire term in office to deflect from his failures, but facts and history can be inconvenient things.

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  6. My friend John Slater, how are you today?
    We have not talked since the election when you accepted a position from your party to campaign for City Council. I have no idea how many doors, Democrat, Republican or Unaffiliated you knocked on, or how many conversations that took you to, but in all of those, did one person express a security worry about ISIS? I did not hear any.

    You heard folks with many credible complaints and issues but failed to address them in written form as a party leader or a candidate from what I read during the campaign. By the way, those problems and issues are still there as Bill Finch serves his final days and Joe Ganim works in the wings to be prepared.

    If politics is truly local, and at the most basic level it is so I find, then moving to a regional, State or National/International issue level really accomplishes little (on this blog) except to identify your position, your party and little else. Will it win people to your position? Because they fear? Because they believe in your political philosophy? Because of the sources you draw from? Because it always boils down into “Choose one of Two” answers, whereas many people when pressed will agree decision making is more complicated and such choices trend to turn us against others, which in turn puts us into more “Choose one of Two” answers, a loser’s game.

    Can you find one or more subjects where your statement resonates with the current life of most readers? Isn’t that what the Republican Party or any other group needs to establish to gain adherents? Time will tell.

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  7. Hey Ron, we had enemies in the region long before that. Try to stick on the Syria topic. I know you like blaming Bush, but remember they did bomb the WTC in the ’90s, the USS Cole under Clinton, the USMC barracks in Beirut, the Towers (Embassy), This has been festering for a long time, don’t be so naive to think Bush caused this hatred.

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  8. Here Are 10 Major Terrorism Cases Brought Against Refugees and Legal Immigrants Just This Year in the US

    President Barack Obama offered assurances this week that Syrian refugees coming into the United States would be thoroughly vetted to ensure they were not involved with terrorism–even though this year multiple terrorism charges were brought against immigrants and refugees across the country who had at one point made it through government vetting to become U.S. citizens, legal residents or attain refugee status.
    “As president, my first priority is the safety of the American people and that’s why, even as we accept more refugees–including Syrians–we do so only after subjecting them to rigorous screening and security checks,” Obama said Monday in Turkey, wrapping up the G-20 meeting. “We also have to remember that many of these refugees are the victims of terrorism themselves–that’s what they’re fleeing. Slamming the door in their faces would be a betrayal of our values.”
    Obama set the overall refugee ceiling at 85,000 for fiscal year 2016 and announced the administration will admit another 10,000 refugees from Syria in the coming year. After the Islamic State terrorist attack in Paris Friday, authorities believe at least one of the terrorists entered the country as a refugee.
    A House Judiciary subcommittee will hold a hearing Thursday to investigate the security issues of admitting refugees.
    “Top national security officials within the Obama administration have repeatedly warned that the U.S. government does not have the resources and dramatically lacks the information needed to fully vet refugees from Syria,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) in a statement. “ISIS also has vowed to use the refugee system to enter Western countries. Despite these warnings and the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, President Obama continues to move forward with his plan to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States over the coming year.”
    In 2014 and 2015, federal authorities charged 58 people, mostly immigrants who became U.S. citizens in their early 20s, for alleged support or ties to the Islamic State, the Newark Star Ledger reported.
    Here are 10 major terrorism cases brought against refugees and legal immigrants in 2015:

    1. Syrian-American Aims for Military Base or Prison
    Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud, a Syrian immigrant who became a U.S. citizen, was charged with planning to go to a Texas military base and kill American soldiers execution style, or commit a crime at a prison. He reportedly trained with a terrorist group in Syria and said he wanted to “attack a military facility or a prison in the United States,” the New York Times reported.
    The indictment said, “Mohamud talked about doing something big in the United States. He wanted to go to a military base in Texas and kill three or four American soldiers execution style.”
    He allegedly trained with terrorists in Syria, but a cleric in Syria told Mohamud he should return to the United States and “carry out an act of terrorism,” according to the indictment.

    2. New York Bomb Plot
    Two Pakistani immigrants who received U.S citizenship were sentenced to decades-long prison sentences for plotting to detonate a bomb in New York. Raees Qazi and Sheheryar Qazi pleaded guilty in March and were sentenced in June to 35 years and 20 years respectively.

    3. Chattanooga Attack
    A Kuwaiti immigrant brought here by his family at a young age who became a citizen, Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez, carried out an attack this summer at a military recruiting center that killed four military personnel in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in July. He was killed the day of the shooting.
    Abdulazeez was reportedly not in the U.S. database of suspected terrorists, but law enforcement believed he might have traveled to the Middle East in recent years.

    4. Social Media Backing
    In June, Ali Shukri Amin, a Sudanese immigrant who became a U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty to providing material support for the Islamic State. Recruited online, Amin, a resident of Manassas, Virginia, was a high school student who ran a pro-Islamic State Twitter account.

    5. Bosnian Conspiracies
    A Bosnian refugee couple was charged with donating money, supplies and smuggled arms to terrorist organizations in Syria and Iraq. In February, the couple, Ramiz Zijad Hodzic and Sedina Unkic Hodzic, pleaded not guilty in federal court in St. Louis.
    They were among six Bosnian immigrants living in Missouri, Illinois and New York who were charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorist organizations, including the Islamic State and the Nusra Front, an Al Qaeda affiliate. The Justice Department accused the couple of using Facebook, PayPal, Western Union and the U.S. Postal Service to coordinate the shipping of money and military equipment.

    6. Machine Gun for Travel
    In a case of three men prosecutors say were plotting to help the Islamic State, a Kazakhstani immigrant with lawful permanent resident status, Akhror Saidakhmetov, allegedly planned to buy a machine gun to shoot FBI and other law enforcement agents if they tried to prevent him from traveling to Syria to join the Islamic State.
    He allegedly conspired with two citizens of Uzbekistan, Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev and Abror Habibov. Federal prosecutors said the three men pledged their allegiance to the Islamic State on Internet forums.

    7. Propane Tank Bomb Plot
    A Saudi Arabian immigrant with U.S. citizenship allegedly swore allegiance to the Islamic State and allegedly planned to explode a propane tank bomb in the United States, according to prosecutors.
    During a sting operation at the home of Noelle Velentzas, 27, and Asia Siddiqui, 31, in New York, officers found three gas tanks, a pressure cooker, fertilizer, handwritten notes on recipes for bomb making and jihadist literature.
    Siddiqui was born in Saudi Arabia but had U.S. citizenship. Federal prosecutors said she had a close relationship with Samir Khan, an American who actually became an al Qaeda leader in Yemen.

    8. University and Court House
    In April, El Mehdi Semlali Fathi, a Moroccan national who had come to the United States on student visa, which had since expired, was charged in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with plotting to blow up buildings at an unnamed university outside the state of Connecticut and a federal courthouse in Connecticut.
    The FBI secretly recorded him talking about pliers, a cutter and wires in his home that he said were the materials for a bomb.
    “Fathi stated in the recording that he would use airplanes, possibly toy planes to execute the bombing,” Special Agent Anabela Sharp said, according to ABC News. “Specifically, Fathi stated that he was going to use a plane, a remote-controlled hobby-type airplane, to deliver the bomb.”

    9. Lying to the FBI
    An Iraqi immigrant, Bilal Abood, who received U.S. citizenship, was arrested in May in Texas by the FBI for lying to federal agents about pledging allegiance to the Islamic State and his travels to Syria.
    The FBI examined his computer and found that in June he wrote on Twitter, “I pledge obedience to the Caliphate Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.”

    10. Raising Funds to Join the Islamic State
    An Uzbek man in New York, Dilkhayot Kasimov, was charged in April with trying to encourage other Uzbekis to engage in terrorism and to raise money for terrorist groups abroad.
    A government informant said that Kasimov sought to encourage others to join the Islamic State, and others involved purchased tickets to travel to Turkey. From there, they planned to slip into Syria and enlist, according to prosecutors. They raised $1,600 from several people.

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    1. QD, just ten? White males have shot up 45 schools so far this year. That’s just schools and doesn’t include theaters or churches. My point is in America you have a better chance of dying at the hands of another American than any terrorist.

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      1. We can thank gun-grabbing liberals for that. They failed to address mental health, and their “gun-free” zones have created a shooting gallery for psychos with guns.

        It’s an indisputable fact gun-free zones are a magnet for deranged people who wish to inflict maximum carnage.

        But let me guess, it’s the steel, not the person pulling the trigger with people like you, am I right?

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  9. I’m adding Marc Delmonico to the list of those who benefit from American liberalism. If it weren’t for liberal ideology he wouldn’t be able to sell concrete in Manhattan or criticize The President of the United States on a blog like this.
    If it’s not the current Republican chair, it’s his predecessor.

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  10. Andy, you seem to throw that racist word around like you know from which you speak. The fact is over 600,000 Syrians have fled to Europe and only one has killed under the banner of ISIS. That’s a lot of others who have done nothing to deserve that mantra.

    That’s white America, they portray all blacks as thugs when one kills another, all Muslims are portrayed as terrorists because a Muslim kills someone and now you want to demonize all Syrians because of the actions of one. Why aren’t white males who shoot up schools and theaters an indictment on all white people? Why are they portrayed as mentally ill or deranged and not a problem with that race? I would suggest you paint other races with the same paint brush you use to paint white America because over the last 400-plus years no race has killed and maimed more people than white America.

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      1. That’s right, Islam is a religion. Remember the Islamic extremist who tried detonate a car bomb in Times Square? He was a Pakistani. He also lived in Bridgeport.

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      2. Islam is not a religion. It’s a geo-political system that has governmental, financial, military, legal and religious components. In other words, it’s a totalitarian system that encompasses every aspect of life.

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    1. When it comes to you I use the racist card because you are a racist and what I would call a professional black man. You play the I am black card every chance you get. BTW there were more terrorist in France than one, there were at least eight in the original attack. You talk about whites shooting up schools and you are right. You don’t talk about the genocide happening across the country where blacks are killing blacks. None of the black leaders address it.

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  11. I could be wrong, but I believe any action on admitting refugees (Syrian or otherwise) into the U.S. is a Federal not a State issue. Therefore, the statements by these Governors, virtually all of whom are Republicans, is just another example of the GOP cynically playing on people’s fears for political advantage.

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  12. We should really turn Chair Slater’s question around. The real question is, “Why should we let the small risk of danger from ISIS scare us from doing our duty to help re-settle Syrian refugees?” To this, Gov. Malloy and Connecticut residents who support him on this matter essentially say, (and I am *quoting* here, ACF!): “Tell ISIS to Fuck Off.”

    That’s the message from a map I found this afternoon on the Facebook page of one of my cousins; a cousin, of course, because liberalism runs deep in my family. The map reports on the current policies of states and their governors on the question of welcoming Syrian refugees.

    I’ve reproduced the map here:
    www .evernote.com/l/ABGzdUhH6GFNpIpSq9joQygWee1blhPuofY
    (Once the map appears, you can click or tap on it a second time to expand it and make it far more readable.)

    Seen this way, the states in the north and west like Connecticut that will welcome Syrian refugees are depicted as having the guts and the grace to tell ISIS its campaign of fear is nothing compared to the power of love.

    States that believe evil should triumph over love are simply playing into ISIS’ hands. That would include states like Massachusetts (thank you Charlie Baker, we thought you were a more thoughtful Republican but guessing it ain’t the case on this matter), Indiana (thank you Mike Pence, you grow weaker every time your enter the national stage), and Louisiana as well as its neighboring Texas (isn’t that the sound we hear of doors shutting on presidential campaigns from Govs. Perry and Jindal?). These states are labeled “complete and total surrender to ISIS.” And that, my friends, is the truth, as I see it. Good night and good luck.

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    1. Excellent point.
      Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates with wealth amassed from oil, gas, and finance and Saudi Arabia, which is the wealthiest Arab nation in the Middle East.
      Why are these Arab nations refusing to take in Syrian refugees?

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  13. “And only one has killed under the banner of ISIS.”
    DD, I’m sure that will be of consolation to the families of the 129 innocent people killed on Friday and the one yesterday!

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  14. DD, why don’t you address these stats? A 2007 special report released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, reveals that approximately 8,000 — and, in certain years, as many as 9,000 African Americans are murdered annually in the United States. This chilling figure is accompanied by another equally sobering fact, that 93% of these murders are in fact perpetrated by other blacks. The analysis, supported by FBI records, finds that in 2005 alone, for example, African Americans accounted for 49% of all homicide victims in the US — again, almost exclusively at the hands of other African Americans.

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      1. We know that, so what does that mean? We kill each other but nobody cares, it’s the same in the black community, way more blacks killed by blacks, nobody cares.

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    1. Andrew, the BLM movement really has nothing to do with Black Lives other than agitating blacks enough to get them to come out and vote for Hillary in 2016. They’ve tipped their hand by exposing an unholy alliance with Palestine in order to maximize division and chaos because that’s how the progressive left makes gains, by dividing us.

      We can thank the left-leaning, Soros-funded Center for American Progress for unintentionally exposing the Palestinain “advisers” that have been brought in to help the rioters learn how to be more effective at rioting and community agitating.

      www .americanthinker.com/blog/2015/11/center_for_american_progress_kerfuffle_accidentally_reveals_palestinians_were_in_ferguson_advising_demonstrators.html

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  15. Andy, should you review my post it has absolutely nothing to do with black on black murders or crime in America. It dealt with you and others who think, feel and believe should Syrians be allowed to come to America there will be a proliferation of murders of Americans at the hands of those Syrians. That’s bullshit.

    My post dealt with your need as well as the need of Republicans to demonize Syrians based on the actions of just one out of 600,000 who fled to Europe. In 2011 there were 16,138 Americans murdered in America and over 11,000 were with handguns. Don’t worry about Syrians, worry about your fellow Americans because they have a long and illustrious history of murder.

    Now since you want to bring up black on black murders, if you took every black person murdered by another black person in the last 400 years and multiplied that number by 1000 you still wouldn’t have as many black lives as those taken by white people.

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  16. Donald, you are full of shit. Show me your reference source for this whopper. You’re right DD, your post has nothing to do with black on black murders. It seems you don’t want to face reality that it’s happening. I never said there would be a proliferation of murders. You can bet your ass there will be terrorist attacks. The majority of the males are military age as are the women. Tell me DD, are you going to sing kumbaya when they get here and take American jobs?

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  17. Andy, let’s be clear, there isn’t one person on OIB who doesn’t know YOU are full of shit and like me, most have known this for decades. The topic of this post was about Syrians coming to Connecticut and not about the bullshit you tried to impart to us.

    Andy, I’ll leave you with this. I’ll never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

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  18. You know DD, like I said earlier, you are a racist prick. You were a racist crybaby on the FD and you are still one. Up to the following post introduced by you there were no black/white posts. Here it is, moron. “QD, just ten? White males have shot up 45 schools so far this year. That’s just schools and doesn’t include theaters or churches. My point is in America you have a better chance of dying at the hands of another American than any terrorist.” You also have the other half of the Bobbsey twins Ron Mackey forever interjecting racial bullshit and a man who thinks he knows everything but does not know Bush was president during the world trade center bombing. There is no doubt that little saying you spent the day looking up applies to you.

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    1. Andy, come on. You can do better than that and you know better than that. I have no idea what you are talking about when you spoke about “a man who thinks he knows everything but does not know Bush was president during the world trade center bombing.”

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      1. HERE YOU GO, Ron:
        Marc Delmonico // Nov 18, 2015 at 3:29 pm

        Hey Ron, we had enemies in the region long before that. Try to stick on the Syria topic. I know you like blaming Bush, but remember they did bomb the WTC in the ’90s, the USS Cole under Clinton, the USMC barracks in Beirut, the Towers (Embassy). This has been festering for a long time, don’t be so naïve to think Bush caused this hatred.

        Ron Mackey // Nov 18, 2015 at 4:54 pm
        Wasn’t that under Ronald Reagan?

        Andrew C Fardy // Nov 18, 2015 at 5:53 pm
        No Ron, George Bush was president. At the time he was reading a book to little kids at their school.

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        1. My reply to Marc Delmonico was not about 911 but instead to his comment about “the USMC barracks in Beirut, the Towers (Embassy)” I said, “Wasn’t that under Ronald Reagan?”

          My reply to Marc Delmonico was
          “Ron Mackey // Nov 18, 2015 at 7:03 pm

          The Beirut Barracks Bombings (October 23, 1983, in Beirut, Lebanon) occurred during the Lebanese Civil War when two truck bombs struck separate buildings housing United States military forces in Lebanon killing 241 American servicemen. An obscure group calling itself ‘Islamic Jihad’ claimed responsibility for the bombings. This happen under President Reagan as I first stated.

          Ron Mackey // Nov 18, 2015 at 4:54 pm
          Wasn’t that under Ronald Reagan?

          Once again my post had nothing to do with 911.

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    2. Andy, what I said was an analogy and it was a reference to QD’s assertion because Muslims were responsible for ten terrorist attacks, we should be concerned about all Muslims. That’s garbage, just like most of what comes out of your mouth. So you say I was A RACIST crybaby as a firefighter, well here is an indisputable fact, there wasn’t one black or Puerto Rican who was on the job when you worked there who thought you were anything other than a big-mouthed bigot who was completely full of shit. In fact we all felt if your brain were on fire we wouldn’t have pissed in your ear. Let me repeat that for you, there wasn’t one black or Puerto Rican who could stand your punk ass. None, Nada, Zip, Zilch.

      If you spent as much time educating your mind as you do running your mouth you would be a better person, a better man and a better citizen.

      Everyone on OIB knows you are a big-mouthed blowhard who resorts to name-calling when your little uneducated mind is bombarded with facts it can’t conceive or understand. A mind is a terrible thing to waste and Andy you’ve managed to waste yours.

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      1. You know DD, you are so full of it you are stuck for a valid effort so you make this kind of crap up. Your sidekick RM wrote awhile back the training I taught him helped him survive. I have a long list of minorities who if asked would have nothing but good things to say and those who don’t, I don’t give a shit. You are upset with me all these years because I know what a phony you are. Tell me because I don’t know, didn’t you get an ultimatum of retire or get brought up on charges? If that’s untrue I apologize but I think I am right.
        You know DD, I don’t give a shit who on OIB likes me and who does not. The one thing that separates you and me is the fact my posts are backed up by facts. Yours for the most part are BS.
        Someday I will tell you how minor your credentials and expertise are compared to mine. One more thing, if we were still on the job, I would not let your sorry ass carry my helmet to a fire.

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    1. Bridgeport Republican Town Chair John Slater’s question was answered today by CT Democrat Congressman Jim Himes who, along with 46 other Democrats voted with the Republicans on the American SAFE Act which would require new FBI background checks and individual sign-offs from three high-ranking U.S. officials before any refugee could come to the U.S. from Iraq or Syria. It’s nice to see Republicans and Democrats coming together on a commonsense approach to keeping Americans safe even when Obama, for purely partisan political purposes, threatens to veto such commonsense legislation.

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      1. Scott, let us know when President Obama signs that bill. John is a real leader on this movement–not, he needs to put his party to work and get members instead of wasting his time.

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        1. John would be better served working to increase his party’s base. With only about 3000 registered Republicans in a city of over 140,000, John needs to work on that instead of fanning the flames of discrimination.

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          1. Since 47 Democrats are of the same opinion as John, are you going to spittle out that stupid talking point they too are “fanning the flames of discrimination?” Somehow I doubt it.

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          2. Go ahead and give Jim Himes’ office a call and accuse him of “fanning the flames of discrimination.”

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          3. Donald, since you are so concerned about the number of registered Republicans in Bridgeport, I’m positive Chairman Slater would welcome your help to build the party. Email him at your earliest convenience at chairman@bridgeportgop.com and set up a meeting.

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          1. Scott, I don’t know where you got that from because only the House has voted and not the Senate. It’s strange our concern is not about the killings in America or the travel visa where there is NO checking or follow-up.

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          2. Scott, your boy John Slater should be working to build his party instead of posting on this blog and there isn’t any way in hell I would assist in building the party of Carson, Trump or Rubio. I would suggest you get off OIB and assist Slater with building your Republican brand in Bridgeport because your party is sorely lacking in leadership. Scott, you mention Jim Himes, is there anyone on OIB who doesn’t think he’s a self-serving piece of crap whose interest lies in Stamford rather than Bridgeport? Please, fool. So 47 Democrats voted with the Republicans, so what is your point? The thing about bigotry and racism, it transcends political parties.

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          3. Donald, if you are not interested in helping build the Republican party, then maybe you should focus on other things instead of kvetching about what Chairman Slater is doing (unless you have some kind of twisted obsession with him I don’t know about and based on your repeated visits to this thread and the fact you have no interest in building the party, I’m starting to wonder).

            Thankfully, you’re not the arbiter of when and where Chairman Slater can choose to post his op-eds. Furthermore, you have no idea what I’ve been doing to help the Republican Party in Bridgeport nor do you have any idea what Chairman Slater has been doing. What I can tell you is the Republicans have two members on the BOE and the party also had one member on the City Council (who, by the way is a Cuban American, more proof your race card canard is nothing more than an empty argument) up to this last election and in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans 12:1.

            I call that progress.

            Furthermore, if you look outside Bridgeport (if that’s even possible for you), you will see the Republican Party has made gains all over the state this last election cycle. That’s also progress and you have no idea how much Chairman Slater has done for the state party to make that happen.

            Did you seriously trot out the race card and mention Republicans Marco Rubio (Hispanic) and Ben Carson (black) in the same post??? Please tell me you are not that stupid to keep pulling that ridiculous stunt in spite of the fact the Democrats have nothing but old white people on their bench and the Republicans have an Indian, a black and two Hispanics running for President. What’s next? Are you going to pull out the other hilariously false leftist canard about the fabled “war on women?”

            And you have the audacity to call me a “fool???”

            The offer still stands, though. If you are interested in continuing the progress the Republicans are working towards, by all means contact Chairman Slater (although I would recommend you park your divisive, completely baseless racial attacks at the door).

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          4. Scott, time and time again I have shared advice and wisdom on things. Even the head of the national Republican Party has said the party needed to reach out to Hispanics and blacks to draw them into the Republican Party but guess what, that’s not working at the national, state and local levels. What has the Bridgeport Republican local leadership done or is doing to increase their membership with blacks and Hispanics? The Republican Party will never have any real power in Bridgeport as long as it’s a majority white party. Time will tell but time has long run out here for them.

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          5. Ron, you say “that’s not working at the national, state and local level.” Really? I think the facts are going to get in the way of your ridiculous meme. Let me sum it up in the simplest of terms:
            Since 2008 the party of Democrats has LOST:
            – 69 House seats
            – 13 Senate seats
            – More than 900 state legislative seats
            – 30 State legislative chambers
            – 12 Governorships

            And then there’s good ol’ CT:
            http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/gop-ny-conn-blue/2013/11/08/id/535592/
            “In Connecticut, Republicans had an extraordinary Tuesday as they swept the shoreline of the Nutmeg State and won mayoral races in such blue-collar Democratic bastions as Bristol, Meriden, and New Britain.”

            The bottom line is whatever the Republican Party is doing IS working at the national, state and local level; yes, even in CT.

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          6. Oh, and one other thing, Ron.
            You say, “The Republican Party will never have any real power in Bridgeport as long as it’s a majority white party.”

            Are you suggesting somehow Democrat policies have made things better for minority communities in Bridgeport and elsewhere in the nation? The facts are there, they haven’t, and as more and more people become aware of just how destructive and manipulative the Democrats’ identity politics truly are, the more people will start looking for an alternative and that alternative is in the Republican Party.

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          7. Scott, the ratio in Bridgeport is 11 to 1 of Democrats to Republicans, 11 to 1 and over 70% are black and Hispanics, now you tell me when will Republicans gain here?

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          8. Scott, tell Mayor Rick Torres how good the Republican Party is doing or all the other Republican candidates losers who have lost U.S. House seats and Senate seats.

            Scott, tell me how do you think Hispanics and blacks feel about Republicans as they watch and listen to the Republican candidates during their debates or their comments afterwards, do you think they feel included after listening to them? As for Democrats, they might not have the right solutions but blacks and Hispanics are not scared of Democrats as they are of Republicans.

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  19. *** For humanitarian reasons, I understand the United States helping in doing their part as a world leader. So the strict qualifications and interviewing process needs to be done right without exceptions! However, my personal reasons for being a bit of a skeptic on accepting these Syrian immigrants is we have US Vets here, who need jobs, shelter, medical attention, improvement of educational abilities, etc. Yet we as a country are very slow in helping them, no? So too, will these immigrant families need the same type of help if not more; so who will pay the tab in the end in a highly overtaxed state like CT? *** WHOOP ***

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  20. Scott, what you call progress I call a potpourri of mediocrity. You HAD a city councilman who is Cuban American, yet in a city that is over 70% black and Hispanic he managed just 2000 votes, which speaks volumes to whether my canard is an empty argument.

    My referencing Carson and Rubio had nothing to do with their race, just their ideology which is not conducive to blacks following, acknowledging or participating. Like you, they are right-wing malcontents whose words polarize and alienate blacks and Hispanics. If you can’t understand that, you are a bigger fool that I originally thought.

    Yes I do have the audacity to call you a fool, you talk about what your party has done in the State, which is of no importance to what is happening in Bridgeport. If that’s all you have is the big things your party has done in the country and the State then you are indeed a fool who’s in need of direction.

    It’s amazing how you right-wing malcontents will shout out the “race card” when in reality you wouldn’t know the race card if it was up your nose, I’m saying nose but I’m thinking something else. Let me be perfectly frank with you Scott, if I did have a twisted obsession with John or any other man you would know because hell would be freezing over. One final observation, why do you right-wing malcontents feel the need to name-call when you are challenged by an opposing viewpoint?

    The emotional mind can often have a “mind of its own” or “emotional intelligence” that operates independently of the logical mind, and name-calling is a product of this emotional mind, an explosion of feeling in the form of barbed words.

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    1. In a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans 12 to 1, the Republican candidate got ~2800 (not 2000 like you claim) of the ~20,000 votes cast. That’s significantly better than the 12:1 ratio. Again, progress.

      Regards,
      the “Right Wing Malcontent”

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      1. Scott, really, that’s the best you can do? You never did address the issue of visitors’ visas, where once they get here there is no follow-up on where they are. More people got killed in Chicago last month than those killed in Paris, well where is the concern about that?

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  21. Scott, that’s funny. You’re telling me about the black condition because some other black person said what it is, as opposed to me telling you and I’m living it. Huh? I’m sorry my friend but I think I know more about black life than Ben because I have been living it a lot longer.

    Ben Jealous doesn’t speak for a huge segment of the black community and that segment thinks, feels and believes the NAACP is a paper tiger and not the NAACP of our fathers. Can you even begin to imagine where we were as a country pre-Obama to where we are now and had the Senate and House you so eloquently talked about had just worked with Obama a little how much better our lives would be? Your party would rather see America sink rather than swim with a black President. I will now give you some valuable insight, that’s the reality of black America and there is nothing short of walking on water that will make blacks vote Republican, local, state or nationally. I know, that’s not true, but that’s our perception and our perception, well you know the rest.

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    1. Ah, so “black life” is the construct you build to fit all blacks into and label the entire black race as a monolithic block of people with the exact same experiences, attitudes, challenges and problems you have had? If that is the case, that’s exactly the way the Democrat party has treated blacks for decades and many were foolish enough to fall for it. And those blacks who break from the script? The ones who independently arrive at their own conclusions and go against the Democrat message? They are dismissed, mocked, attacked and even worse, painted to be sellouts or freaks of nature much the same way you are doing when shown an opinion that doesn’t match up to yours, .especially if they are younger, apparently.

      Will you dismiss this black man’s insight too because he’s younger than you?
      www .youtube.com/watch?v=xryXpK042pQ

      How about Elbert Lee Guillory (born June 24, 1944)? He’s been around for a while:
      www .youtube.com/watch?v=n_YQ8560E1w

      So tell me, since you’ve declared age is a limiting factor in determining the legitimacy of a black man’s opinion that differs from yours, at what age is the person’s differing opinion taken seriously by you?

      You say:
      “Can you even begin to imagine where we were as a country pre-Obama to where we are now and had the Senate and House you so eloquently talked about had just worked with Obama a little how much better our lives would be?”

      You act like the community agitator and the Democrats didn’t have super-majorities in Congress for the first two years of the President’s administration. What did your heroes do to help the black community then?

      You also act like the feckless Republicans since then haven’t given Obama everything he’s wanted. They have and then some.

      Tell me something, how have black lives improved with Obama’s EPA and their oppressive regulations that have caused energy prices to skyrocket? I’m not necessarily talking about gasoline either, I’m talking about electricity and winter heat.

      How have black lives improved with the lowest workforce participation rate since Carter?

      How have black lives improved with Obama’s 700+ billion stimulus bill passed by those Democrat majorities in 2009?

      Let’s go local.
      How have black lives improved in Bridgeport with all the tax increases the Democrats have dumped on the city in the past eight years? One thing is crystal clear. You can’t pin ANY of Bridgeport’s problems on Republicans because it’s been one-party Democrat rule for 20+ years.

      How have black lives’ safety improved under one-party Democrat rule in Bridgeport? The answer is not at all, in fact Bridgeport is one of the top 10 most dangerous cities in the country (all 10 of which are run by Democrats).
      townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2014/03/12/fbi-releases-2013-most-dangerous-cities-and-theyre-all-run-by-democrats-n1807969

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  22. DD, “and had the Senate and House you so eloquently talked about had just worked with Obama a little how much better our lives would be? Your party would rather see America sink rather than swim with a black President.”

    This is a total line of “BULLSHIT.” The Republican-controlled Congress and Senate has given this failure of a President everything. He’s only had to use his veto power twice in both terms.

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      1. QD and Scott, how did things work out with the last Republican President? Bush 43 gave us two wars and a failed economy, which President Obama had to work to get things on track. The two wars were not paid for plus the tax cuts for the rich were not paid for, in fact Bush never vetoed any spending bill the Republican Congress passed. How about Trump wanting to register all Muslims in America, should we registered all Jews?

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  23. Scott, there isn’t a thing you can tell me about black life because I am and you, well you’re not. That’s the problem with you right-wing malcontents, you think you know what’s better for everyone instead of just MYOB. Had you been that astute, Ricky Torres would still be on the city council. Had you been that astute you would have told Ricky you don’t have a chance in hell at beating Joe or Mary-Jane and his energies would be better spent just maintaining his city council seat. Instead people of your ilk, like QD encouraged him thus losing any chance to make a difference in Bridgeport as a councilman. Foolish.

    QD, the Republican-controlled Senate and congress have been nothing but a pain in the ass of the American public and President Obama. This Congress has the lowest approval rating of any Congress in history and you know that. QD, you and Scott should do something other than trying to convince me about how bad I have it under the Democrats and how good the Republicans will be to black people because you’re wasting your time and energy which would be better spent enhancing your Republican brand, which is sorely lacking.

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    1. Fear not, I’m not here to try to convince you of anything, especially considering how completely you marinate yourself in the far-left orthodoxy. Unfortunately the facts speak for themselves in Bridgeport and no matter how much you want to either ignore them or petulantly lash out to anyone who dares challenge your worship at the alter of failed leftist policies, the facts are the facts. As for me, I sincerely hope Ganim turns things around, I really do because that city deserves better than the 20+ years it’s suffered being lorded over by corrupt, single-party Democrat rule but the unfortunate part is we’ve got plenty of examples across the country in urban areas where institutional, generational progressive left policies have been allowed to fester (in part due to the very same leftist fear-mongering you are peddling). Besides Bridgeport being regularly nominated as one of the highest taxed and most unsafe cities in the nation, Detroit is another, more advanced example that comes to mind.

      Keep cheerleading for the status quo though, I’m sure the Democratic socialists all the way up to King Obama appreciate you being one of their most ardent enablers even in spite of the fact the country overall is starting to see through the ruse and it’s proven by how devastating the left’s losses have been from coast to coast, from federal all the way down to dog catcher level. Maybe Jonathan Gruber was wrong after all, the American voters aren’t that stupid, they just need to consume the facts.

      As to your talking point about Congressional Approval ratings, yeah, that’s a nice sounding, poll-tested talking point the propagandist lords on the left trickle down to their foot soldiers to spread out to the unwashed masses, but just like many of the other leftist talking points, this one, too, gets interesting when you peel back layers of the onion.

      First of all, currently it’s not the lowest in history, so that’s a lie. Let’s just get that out of the way right now.

      Second, unsurprisingly with a Republican-controlled House and Senate, the Democrat approval of congress is, according to Gallup, 11%. This is for obviously partisan political reasons. What is also not surprising, at least not to Republicans who care, Republican approval of a Republican-controlled House and Senate is 8%. That’s because the Republicans are acting like Democrats and continue to give King Obama many of the things he wants–the failure to defund the increasingly unpopular and failing Obamacare (I still haven’t met anyone who got that $2500 in savings King Putt repeatedly promised when he was trying to sell that snake oil and don’t even get me started on the lie of the year about people being able to keep their doctors and insurance they liked), failure to reign in the lawlessness at the EPA that is causing real hardship on the lower and middle class, failure to defund the community agitator’s illegal amnesty and open borders policies, failure to stop the King’s deal with the world’s leading sponsor of terror Iran, and failure to stop the King’s desire to spend us into unsustainable debt with the latest budget that gives the President a blank check that is all but guaranteed to explode the deficits back to over a trillion dollars every year.

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      1. Scott, the Republican Party in 20 years will be a white southern male party just like it is right now in Bridgeport. Blacks and Hispanics make up over 70% of the voters in Bridgeport so what are you and John doing to get those voters to become Republicans or to vote for a Republican? You guys aren’t doing anything and that’s why the Republican Party will never have power in Bridgeport unless the Democrats here turn into the Democrats of the old south.

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        1. “The Republican Party in 20 years will be a white southern male party just like it is right now in Bridgeport”

          No it won’t, keep believing the lies your old white Democrat lords are telling you.

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  24. Don, Scott and QD must not believe in the Bible or even read the Bible because if they did then they would know this:
    Matthew 25:35-40 New International Version (NIV)

    35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

    37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

    40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.

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        1. Ron, be a good progressive leftist and reach out to your third most unpopular governor in the country and offer your home as a place of refuge for people coming from a hostile area in the world where there is massive unrest, radicalism and wide swaths of hatred for America and where we have no real information on the people there. Follow in the footsteps of your fellow apologist Michael Moore. It’s time to lead by example.

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  25. Brother Donald and Ron, I was at the NAACP Freedom Fund dinner last evening of the Greater Bridgeport NAACP. It was my first time at such an event. I did not see you there although there was a gathering of good size to encourage the necessary rebuilding of a group that boasted of 3,000 members 50 years ago.

    If the NAACP of “our fathers” has passed as you reference, what efforts are you making to return to the fight for civil rights, justice, and fighting society wrongs that made it a respected societal force for years? Are you being righteous at this time, perhaps, and possibly ignoring a good cause seeking to heal and repair our community and members within? Time will tell.

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    1. JML, I really had not planned to reply but I guess I’ll give you a few reasons but there are many. First the Firebird Society, I was a lifetime member of the NAACP for over 25 years and as an organization for years we would purchase a whole table to have members attend. In fact the Firebird Society has been honored by the NAACP and that plaque is on the wall at our office. I’ve attended many Freedom Fund dinners, as for my membership, after the NAACP lost its standing with the national NAACP I didn’t renew my membership because of their failure to fight for issues concerning blacks right here in Bridgeport. The fight to get blacks hired as firefighters in the early 1970s, the NAACP was not there to assist. Over the 16 years Donald Day and myself serveed as President of the Firebird Society we have met with the NAACP to make them aware of issues going on in the fire department but at no time have they offered to assist us but that was okay with us but we wanted to give them a chance to get involved. George Mintz the new NAACP President needs to speak out to challenge those in power instead of trying to make friends with them. The Firebird Society as an organization during the 26 years of Don and my leadership always said, “we don’t have permanent enemies and we don’t have permanent friends, we have permanent interest.”

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  26. Ron, you are correct that God has taught us and given us the responsibility to take care of the least of our brethren. And in its short history America, and Americans, have become the most generous people in the entire world. However, with that generosity also comes the immense responsibility that we do not endanger each other. My grandmother taught me “two things come with every decision/action; responsibility and consequences.”

    Therefore we cannot close our eyes to current events that surround us, that would be irresponsible and the consequences could be deadly. All most Americans are asking is for us to slow down and make intelligent and educated decisions. We must look at the facts as they are presented to us and ask serious questions:
    One fact is 72% – 75% (depending on the publications) of the current Syrian refugees going to Europe are 18- to 30-year-old men. If so, what is their motive? Will they assimilate into the culture of the host country? Why would they choose to flee instead of staying to fight for their country? Wouldn’t Americans stay to fight for their land?

    What are the other options? As I said before, why aren’t the other Arab countries stepping up to take their fellow Muslims? Is it because they know the types that are fleeing?
    Why isn’t NATO creating “safe zones” within their country? We give NATO billions of dollars every year just for this type of cause. Where is their humanitarian aid?

    What is the financial cost to our country for bringing in 85,000+ refugees who immediately become eligible for 100% subsidies? Shouldn’t our first responsibilities belong to our hungry, our veterans, our homeless?

    Also, we cannot ignore the facts that true believers in Islam cannot and do not coexist with other religions. The Quran’s Sura (or chapter) 9, verse 29, explains the Islamic duty to make war upon non-Muslims:
    “Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day, nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (i.e. Islam) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.”

    Sura 47, verse 4 sanctions the taking of captives as spoils of war:
    “So, when you meet those who disbelieve smite at their necks till when you have killed and wounded many of them, then bind a bond firmly on them (take them as captives). Therefore either for generosity or ransom until the war lays down its burden.”

    Now many would argue that verses out of the Bible or Torah can be picked that may have the same cogitations. However, those arguments are false because both the Jewish and Christian religions have had reformations.

    And lastly, what about the genocide of Iraqi and Syrian Christians? Why aren’t we talking about them? They are the ones who truly are in need of help. A population that was once over 1.4 million is now down to a couple hundred thousand and shrinking every day. And then yesterday we see in the news:
    Amid Washington’s raging debate over refugees and religion, more than two dozen Iraqi Christians who crossed into the U.S. from Mexico in hopes of joining their friends and families are being deported after their bids for religious asylum were rejected.
    A total of 27 Chaldean Christians, driven from their homeland by Al Qaeda and ISIS, entered the country in April and May, hoping to join the thriving Iraqi Christian community in and around San Diego. But the door to America is being slammed on the 17 men and 10 women over what their supporters say are technicalities.
    “These are families who were split up because of religious persecution, and now the government–which we love–is preventing them from being reunited,” said Fr. Michael Bazzi, of St. Peter Chaldean Catholic Cathedral, in El Cajon. “We wonder why, for thousands of Muslims, the door is open to America, yet Christians are not allowed to come.”

    We have become so divided in past few years, we no longer treat each other as fellow humans and countrymen. Those with different opinions are persecuted in the press and ostracized in public. We do things because of an ideology and not what is right. We put self-interest ahead of principles. We combat differences, past decisions and outcomes with blame instead of coming together and moving forward. We have become activist instead of healers. If we continue to fall victim to this socialist/Marxist/communist ideology of divide and conquer we will surely lose all that has been given us by God and those before us!

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  27. JML, like Ron I wasn’t going to respond to your post, but also felt the need to respond. Ron, the Firebird Society and myself have attended numerous Freedom Fund Dinners over the years, filling several tables in the process. We did so even though during our fight for justice and righteous in the Fire Department the NAACP completely ignored our request for assistance. We supported our local chapter because of our respect for the national NAACP and its core values in fighting for black America across this country.

    Like Brother Mackey alluded to, the local chapter have never assisted us in our fight to diversify the Bridgeport Fire Department nor did it help in our fight to help people of color and women reach elevated rank in the fire service. Brother Mackey and I are responsible for assisting over 40 blacks, Latinos and women to become Bridgeport firefighters and we did this without the benefit of the local chapter, even though we’ve asked on numerous occasions.

    JML, there is a large segment of black America that appreciates the work the NAACP did in our fight for justice. We also feel in the 21st century they quit doing or being the organization we needed to move our people forward and locally they are more times than not there to placate blacks and have become apologists for the actions of white leadership.

    John, we’ve never wanted the NAACP to fight our battles, we just wanted them to stand alongside us and say, these Brothers are right in their fight for justice. This would have been nothing more than a common courtesy, like please and thank you. The reason they call it a common courtesy is because it’s no big deal and to date we have never received that common courtesy from the NAACP. JML, we’ve succeeded as individuals and as an organization not because of the NAACP, but in spite of them. JML, the NAACP is a broken vessel that needs leadership that is more interested in helping black folks than helping themselves and we haven’t had that since probably Julian Braxton was president. Thank you but no thank you JML, I would rather fight the battles of inequality with those who believe as I do and those who are willing to jeopardize more than others think is wise and that’s not the local or state NAACP.

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