Nativism is alive and well.

Following up on yesterday's post is an Op-ed from the New York Times' Ross Douthat.  Douthat makes the argument that mainstream pressure on immigrants to assimilate is in the best interest of our society.  He makes the argument in the context of the 'Ground-Zero Mosque,' but references the Nativist and  Know-Nothings of 19th century America and says that:

"Nativist concerns about Catholicism’s illiberal tendencies inspired American Catholics to prod their church toward a recognition of the virtues of democracy, making it possible for generations of immigrants to feel unambiguously Catholic and American."

How he can make the argument that violence, murder, intimidation and discrimination is the best path to promote assimilation escapes me.  Salon.com's Joan Walsh has an excellent rebuttal.

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While we are on the subject of the 'Ground Zero Mosque,' here's a blog post from the Village Voice's Foster Kamer putting the location of the Park 51 Community Center in perspective.

And The Daily Show nails it as usual:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mosque-Erade
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Tea Partiers, pay attention!

It's never been easy in America as an immigrant.  It doesn't matter what year, or even what century we live in.  It seems to be an American tradition to hate newcomers.

Ward 9 and Paxton Sign Spotting

I headed north in Ward 9 and beyond into Paxton, and here's a sign update: (I only count individual properties with signs, not number of signs per property.)  I've noticed at least 4 different houses which sport both a Perotto and a Smith sign.  I wonder if they inspire some divided loyalties over the dinner table?

State Representative, 13th Worcester:
Joff Smith: 27
Mike Perotto: 18
Gina Dibaro: 17
John Mahoney: 9
Don Sharry: 8
Margot Barnet: 6
Paul Franco: 1

Worcester County Sheriff:
Scott Bove: 8
Tom Foley: 2

Massachusetts 3rd:
Patrick Barron: 1
Marty Lamb: 1
Jim McGovern: 1
Michael Stopa: 1

Ward 9 Sign Spotting

I headed east in Ward 9 today, and here's a sign update: (I only count individual properties with signs, not number of signs per property.)

State Representative, 13th Worcester:
Gina Dibaro: 11
Joff Smith: 5
Mike Perotto: 4
Don Sharry: 2
John Mahoney: 2
Margot Barnet: 1

Worcester County Sheriff:
Scott Bove: 2

Massachusetts 3rd:
Jim McGovern: 1

Undisclosed:
For Sale: 3
For Rent: 2

Great picture, but not a great image.

I saw this campaign sign on June Street tonight.  It's in a prime location on a busy street in a section of Worcester that has a lot of registered voters.  Unfortunately, the sign is in front of a boarded up house that has been abandoned for over a year.

I'm not sure that's the image the Smith campaign wishes to convey.

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If lawn signs are an indicator of electoral success, Gina Dibaro is doing very well in my neighborhood.  She has roughly 10 signs in a few block radius, followed by Joff Smith, Margot Barnet, and Mike Perotto with one apiece.

Traded again!

Tim Collins was traded again this weekend in another 5 player deal. He was also promoted to AAA Omaha.

While some people might think that playing for the Kansas City Royals organization is a bad thing, it means Tim Collins is one step closer to the majors, and will definitely have a shot at a September call up.

Preconstruction Junction

While biking home from work, I was run off the road and onto the sidewalk by an idiot Wormtown driver in a cell phone in a large truck who apparently needed all two lanes of Franklin Street for her commute.  Luckily, I avoided becoming roadkill, and I happened to notice these new additions to the empty parking lot at the corner of Franklin and Foster Street.

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Browsing through the Consigli website didn't reveal any projects that I could find, but I did turn up a brief mention in a Worcester Business Journal article from last June.

Could it be?  Could we finally be preparing to tear down the mall?  Tear down the mall!  Tear down the mall!