Councilman's remark sparks outcry

[unwelcome guest]

www.nj.com/news/times/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1173416723288890.xml&coll=5

Councilman's remark sparks outcry
City Latino group wants to open a dialogue on official's comments
Friday, March 09, 2007
BY EVA LOAYZA

TRENTON -- Comments made by a Freehold Borough councilman about segments of the Latino population being promiscuous and ex pecting society "to subsidize their mistakes" have prompted reactions from beyond the small town in Monmouth County.

The Council of Latino Organizations (COLO) is hosting a meeting Tuesday to discuss the nature of the comments made by Freehold Borough Councilman Marc LeVine, and hopefully "mobilize a response," said Juan Martinez, presidents of PROS (People for the Revitalization of the South Ward), one of the groups under COLO.

According to the Asbury Park Press, LeVine wrote that some seg ments of the Latino population are promiscuous and expect society "to subsidize their mistakes." His comments were made on a Web site run by a group called PEOPLE, an acronym for Pressing Elected Officials to Preserve our Living Environment. In the posting, made Nov. 14, 2006, LeVine also wrote "little less of this promiscuous behavior is seen among Mexicans, while much more is found among Dominicans."

LeVine could not be reached for comment.

The Asbury Park Press reported the story last week. LeVine apologized Monday to a capacity-filled council chamber, saying "freedom of speech is not freedom from responsibility," according to the paper.

Martinez said he wants to involve Latino and non-Latino leaders in an open dialogue and agree on an appropriate action. Martinez said he hopes that after the meet ing, there will be an official response, whether verbal or in the form of a letter, so LeVine is aware of the impact of his comment.

Martinez, who is Puerto Rican, said in Trenton, Dominicans are an economic force. "Look at the contributions they've made. (LeVine) knows nothing about our culture to make (such generalizations). How dare he say something like that?" he said.

Adriano Rodriguez, a member of the Dominican Association of Mercer County, was equally offended, but said the move is a little late.

Rodriguez, speaking as a Dominican businessman in the city, and not on behalf of the association, said the Latino and Dominican leaders in Trenton, himself included, had a "cold and slow" reaction to LeVine's comments. "For being the closest city (to Freehold) we did nothing," said Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, who said he will attend the meeting, added that the comments were out of place be cause LeVine does not know the Latino culture, and invited the councilman to visit Dominican- owned businesses in the city to see how hard they work.

The meeting will take place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the rear basement meeting room of the Christ Episcopal Church, 331 Hamilton Ave.

Contact Eva Loayza at eloay [e-mail] or [phone].

[fiberisgoodforyou]

"Martinez said he wants to involve Latino and non-Latino leaders in an open dialog and agree on an appropriate action. Martinez said he hopes that after the meet ing, there will be an official response, whether verbal or in the form of a letter, so LeVine is aware of the impact of his comment."


Well isn't that Special, this is EXACTLY what Marc and The Mayor have proposed and planned for months with the "OPEN SOCIETY" initiative, in FACT, there is a thread or two discussing this on this VERY web site! Funny how thats not picked up on by Dr. Frank and Friends, because that is not how they carry out SCRIPT the Passion Play of Latino plight

[Freehold Resident]

Oh. My. God.

Give. It. Up. Already.

This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. Truly.

FR

[richardkelsey]

calliope said:

All of this is, in my opinion, akin to mass media raping FB and its reputation just to achieve a climax of discontent and divisiveness because it makes for higher ratings and reader involvement.

It used to be called "yellow journalism."

Eloquently and accurately put! I have been working on one particular media outlet about this story and the real background -- but they don't seem to have much interest in anything that deviates from the easy, sensational sale of racism.

[richardkelsey]

calliope said:

Thank you, Rich!

Listen, I have an idea brewing in my head to compose a more scholarly research-report article about this entire situation; how the media has been handling this, straight from that first press release sent by Mr. Argote-Freyre about Marc's commentary.

It's just brewing in my head right now, but my gut says it can be a powerful case study.

What are your thoughts?

I think its great. It has to be done. The manufacturing and packaging of this story through either duping or the active participation of an over-zealous media is the true story.

This was a well-planned, organized, professional assassination attempt. They pulled it off the rack to get out from underneath the growing public pressure to dump FF for his conduct and leaking on the Committee.

The failure of the media to report that -- at least the Press and the Transcript -- is either incompetence or negligence. Unfortunately -- I have had a great deal of experience working with members of the Press on local and hot issues -- and I can tell you that even at the Washington Post -- the kids they send out to tell the story and get the facts on local issues are absolutely clueless. It is frightening.

[Casual Reader]

Those dudes in Trenton are a bit slow to act -- why not wait another week until the news is really stale? How about another protest march at the next council meeting and have Councilman Levine apologize again?

Councilman Levine could apologize for something at every council meeting -- make it a regular feature.

"And now for my nightly apology"

This is a great town -- why would anyone want to live anywhere else.

Casually apologetic

[Freehold Resident]

All:

A concern for all of us is what will a continuation of these attacks on Councilman LeVine have on his Cancer. The attackers don't seem to care. Studies indicate a possible, though inconclusive, connection between stress and cancer. This possible connection is being closely studied by Doctors. Let's just hope that LeVine is not going to become an unwilling laboratory rat in support of the cancer recurrance research.

FR

Burgess C.

Faith Courtauld Unit for Human Studies in Cancer, King's College School of Medicine & Dentistry, London.

Stress is a term that has been variously defined in the literature. In the context of research into psychophysiological aspects of cancer, 'stress' usually refers to stressful events occurring in people's lives, such as bereavement or unemployment. The effects of stress in terms of psychological morbidity and physical illness are being studied more and more. Experimental work has been conducted using animals but the results are contradictory and inconclusive. It is postulated that the effects of stress are mediated hormonally or immunologically, and there is evidence in support of this view from both animal experiments and human studies. Other mechanisms may also exist. Observations that stress is implicated in the onset of cancer have been traced back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Early studies were methodologically flawed, however, and results from recent, more carefully controlled investigations have not supported consistently the connection between stress and cancer. The methodological problems to be overcome in this area are still enormous, not least that of causality: because the data of onset of malignancy is uncertain, it is impossible to know whether a stressful event preceded or followed the genesis of cancer. Recurrence of cancer is easier to date and more amenable to study. The contributory role of stress in recurrence or reactivation of tumour growth may be a more fruitful line of inquiry. Different methods for measuring stress are available. Questionnaires which patients complete themselves have been criticized on the grounds that they ignore the meaning and context of stressful events, and because their scoring systems imply additivity. Interview methods are superior and reliable, although more costly and time consuming. Studies that seek to measure the effects of stress on the course of cancer should control for intervening variables such as personality and social support.

[sonofsilencedogood]

I certainly hope that with all of the attacks, Marc also realizes the support that he certainly has from the majority of people who live both in the Boro and around the country who have heard about this story.

While it's true that his original words were perhaps a bit rough and general in nature, it is certainly not deserving of the attention it has gotten...as it has been said, this is becoming just a great tool for the advocacy groups to continue to beat down the reputation of this town in the media. Maybe this strategy will also backfire on the advocates and they'll succeed in making this town seem so "undesirable" to live in that the illegal immigrants will not want to live in such a "racist" and "discriminatory" town.

Of course, while the media continues to put out stories about this, the fact of the matter is that most people, in their hearts, realize that the apologies Marc has already given are more than adequate for the words he said.

As I have said before, the advocacy groups continue to call for his removal or resignation for one simple reason...they don't have a prayer of putting someone up against him in the next election. Fact of the matter is, for better or worse, Mr Freyre and his fellow advocates, while continuing to try and make Marc look like a racist, have really just solidified the majority of the voting public behind him.

Perhaps if Mr Freyre and his fellow advocates worked as hard to make the illegal immigrants legal as they are to make Marc out to be a racist, they would be able to muster the votes to actual vote him out of office...but we know that's just not how they work.