Danbury NewsTimes and New Milford Spectrum Bought Up by Hearst

ctblogger at HatCityBLOG catches a blurb on the sale of pretty much the only source of dead-tree media in the Danbury/New Milford area:

The game of musical chairs is being played again.

Bridgeport (AP) -- Hearst Corp. has purchased the Connecticut Post in Bridgeport and seven weekly newspapers in the state from MediaNews Group Inc.

[...]

The weeklies that Hearst acquired are the Darien News-Review, Greenwich Citizen, Fairfield Citizen-News, New Canaan News-Review, New Milford Spectrum, Norwalk Citizen-News and Westport News.

With the acquisition, Hearst also assumes management of three daily newspapers in Fairfield County: The Advocate of Stamford, Greenwich Time and The News-Times of Danbury.

What will this mean for the News-Times? Hearst is a totally different outfit from MediaNews Group so expect to see some changes. As for their on-line content, all the newspapers in the MediaNews family basically had the same format and look so you might see changes in the layout of the News-Times online edition as well.

Whatever the case, lets just say that there's no love lost between bloggers and the shameless MediaNews Group for obvious reasons and I'll take anything other than that company in Connecticut.

To say there is no love lost is certainly no misrepresentation of the truth. The people - left, right and center - have given up on the media. These papers systemic failures grounded in their ideology of putting corporations' needs over the needs and rights of the readers these papers are supposed to be protecting as a crucial and fundamental aspect Democracy in a free nation have allowed a continued corruption of the political system they should be holding in check.

To the great benefit of corporations - and incompetent, criminal and failed politicians and their continued radical policies - these papers have enabled and cheered on failures like: the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq based on a pack of lies; the deterioration of privacy rights in a nation that used to be a model of freedom to be emulated worldwide; the destruction of civil dialog on a myriad of important issues facing this nation - only to be buried by trivial aspects of celebrity pop culture; even further destruction of civil dialog by lending what little space they devote to news - as opposed to the vast quantities of space devoted to advertising, infotainment and further advertisements camouflaged as news - to extremist views that are so far removed from the public interest and meant only to divide the nation further for political purposes.

In the long run, I don't see there being any great benefit for the local area. Perhaps with a new layout online they might incorporate a better system of controlling the constant flow of local bigoted hate-mongers that flood their comment sections? But in the end, it is just one homogenized and sanitized corporate view being replaced by another homogenized and sanitized corporate view.

Unless they seriously invest in local assets to actually cover the local and national news with real, hard-nosed journalism that truly, realistically and faithfully benefits the people they are supposed to serve... The medias' shameful and merited decline into extinction will continue regardless of who owns these papers.

CT State Rep. Comes Out of the Closet

Via the Danbury NewsTimes:

State Rep. Jason Bartlett put rumors to rest Tuesday when he announced publicly that he's gay.

Bartlett, a Democrat who represents portions of Bethel, Redding and Danbury, said he has been open about his sexual orientation with relatives and decided now was the time to speak publicly.

Video: Click here to watch Bartlett talk about his decision.

"For me the decision came down to why not now," said Bartlett, 41, during a meeting with The News-Times Tuesday. "To me this is about having a conversation with my larger family - the people of Greater Danbury who voted for me."

Via GayPolitics.com:

The announcement makes Bartlett the nation’s first and only openly LGBT African American state legislator.

I am glad for him that he feels comfortable enough to come out. This should be a non-issue but some close minded individuals may try to make it one. It is not likely that he has the hypocrisy baggage of your typical republican on this issue.

[update] Connecticut Bob digs into his extensive video archives:

At last year's JJB Dinner, I spoke with Jason about the important issues. Here's the video of our discussion:

ctblogger has more video of an extensive interview Jason Bartlett here...

[update deux] Via the Hartford Courant:

Bartlett said he never misled voters about his sexual orientation, either
in how he described his domestic life or by positions he has taken on gay
issues. He said he always has supported gay rights, including same-sex civil
unions and gay marriage.

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BuzzFlash.Org | BuzzFlash.Net | Last Chance Democracy Cafe | Wings of Justice.Com
GOP Hypocrites.Com | Media PUTZ.Com | BE-ELECTED.com | Libby Defense Fund.Com
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Romney Campaigners Caught Stealing Signs in NH?

You be the judge. Were they stealing John McCain signs? Or were they just flip flopping in their support of candidates?



Not like we haven't seen local ding dongs stealing signs in the Danbury area before... Though, that was coming from a hate monger in the anti-immigrant category:

"the new anti-immigrant posterboy for stupidity, John Casamento plead "not guilty" to the charge of 6th degree larceny.

This act of ignorance stemmed from the dummy running around like a moron at two o'clock in the morning stealing several Brazilian flag raising lawn signs. It's believed that this is the same idiot that repeatedly desecrated the signs over a series of days."

If I am not mistaken, Casamento was caught on film stealing the signs too.

Helping Blogs Help the Candidates

Many of the old school candidates in politics have been quick to kick the Blogosphere whenever given the chance. Todays' more savvy candidates are embracing the activism of the Blogosphere, and some are actually picking up their keyboards and becoming a part of the new media themselves.

But then there are other candidates that are taking it in a different direction and are helping the Blogs to help themselves.

I was flipping through the Danbury NewsTimes today and came across a particularly eye-catching quarter page add just below the weather forecast (Page B4, October 31st) for a Danbury candidate. I thought I would share it with you all:

I enlarged that little part at the bottom so you wouldn't have to squint to read it. Anyways, it seems that all of ctbloggers hard work for local Democratic party candidates is paying off in a way that can help him help all of the candidates that he vigorously supports even more in the long run. This little bit of a tack-on add for HatCityBLOG will likely help him reach even more local readers in the long run. Readers that have a tendency to come back again and again after they finally find his place. Readers that ctblogger has generously sent your way, and my way, time and time again over the last couple of years.

The recognition that ctblogger has received over the last couple of years is well deserved and he has been noted by some of the biggest and the best Bloggers for his ambitious efforts to kickstart the local Blogging philosophy:

Now I know how Sally felt.

I'm a big fan of Steve Gilliard's popular national blog The News Blog, so it came to a pleasant surprise that he picked little ol' me as one of his favorite state/local bloggers for 2006.

Juan Melli and CT Blogger-They do the dirty work of local and state politics, which will never lead to glory or riches, but is needed because if you think federal government has problems.....these guys are heroes to me

"blush"

Seriously, thanks to Steve for the recognition. To be placed along side award winners You Tube , Stephen Colbert, Keith Olbermann, Matt Stoller, Howard Dean, Sasha Baron Cohen, Morgan Spurlock, Amanda Marcotte, and Ned Lamont is quite a honor.

I really have to give props to all the other Connecticut bloggers as we all worked our tails off trying to stay one step ahead of the mainstream media (PPM baby) as well as keeping people informed on what's happening in the nutmeg state. I wonder what would have happened if I didn't ask Connecticut Bob to help me set the white balance on my camcorder and shoved my digital camera into Spazeboy's hand back during the memorable Lamont event at Naples in New Haven...

Hopefully, political campaigns will take notice of the great reporting we did on the Connecticut races and understand the importance of blogs.

They have noticed. And so have we.

Small gestures like this one from Cotter will only help all of the left Blogosphere in Connecticut and the nation. Kudos to Cotter for recognizing the value of supporting his allies, and kudos to ctblogger for all he has done and will continue to do for Connecticut's thriving and ever growing left presence in and out of the Blogosphere. We can only hope that more candidates will recognize the advantages of helping this new People Powered Media - As ctblogger would say "PPM Baby" - to help themselves.

For more information on Brian Cotter's campaign, here is a snippet to get you pointed in the right direction:

In an attempt to inform the public about the various candidates running for office this year, HatCityBLOG is kicking off a new feature entitled "CAMPAIGN SPOTLIGHT." Using a combination of text, audio and video, the HatCityBLOG crew are going give readers a different look at the candidates.

For my first interview, I sat down with the Brian Cotter, candidate for Treasurer and talked about his background, why he's running for office, his "Welcome Back Cotter" theme of bringing back fiscal integrity to Danbury, and why he feels he's the best qualified for the job.

You can catch the rest of the interview here, where you will find a lot more information on many of Danbury's other local candidates.

Immigration, Exploitation and Religion

Via ctblogger at HatCity Blog, New Milford's Rev. Gail Keeney-Mulligan talked about immigration, exploitation and and how it relates to religion last Sunday:

As a preview of tomorrow's full report on Sunday's prayer vigil from Kennedy Park, here's remarks from Rev. Gail Keeney-Mulligan of St. John's Episcopal Church.


Online Videos by Veoh.com

HMMM? She seems mighty familiar... :)

ctblogger promises updates on the event:

I'll have more details on what happened at the prayer vigil, including my rather intense confrontation with one of Elise Marciano's wackos who disrupted the event.

I am guessing there was some sort of nutty immigrant bashing involved. Figure the odds, eh?

The NewsTimes did a writeup on the event:

The unity vigil was organized by Danbury resident Jean Hislop and the Rev. Gail Keeney-Mulligan of St. John's Episcopal Church with the goal of bringing respect and dignity for the immigrants in the area.

"This vigil was held in recognition that all of us hold the same dreams and aspirations," Hislop said. "We hold the same value in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, regardless of our race, our religion or our legal status.

Hislop said the "blatant racism" seen in e-mails being circulated, reader responses to immigration articles on The News-Times Web site, and things she has heard people say to each other on the streets of Danbury had to be addressed and dispelled.

When there are 185 comments on a NewsTimes article there usually is not much point sifting through the garbage that is in there. It is always the same people bashing immigrants using different screen names. Don't get me wrong, there are always some thoughtful comments too, BUT... The thoughtful commenters are wasting their time if they think that the bigots and xenophobes are there to debate honestly.

Bumping Prime Time Hate

It seems like HatCity Blog's campaign to reign in the hate filled speech of the Big Turd and his insane clown posse of xenophobes on Comcast cable is showing some positive effects:

For those who don't know, Tom Bennett is a host of one of the most disgusting shows on Comcast local public access, The BigT's Talk and Variety show. The show is a favorite among the lowest of our community in Danbury: hate-mongers, xenophobes and several elected officials who are choose to express their bigotry in private.

For some time, Bennett and co-hosts John McGowan (Vice President of Elise Marciano's local anti-immigration group) and a coward, who too afraid to rant in front of the camera, that goes by the name "Bones", have repeatedly violated the rules and regulations set forth by Comcast. Using profanity, highly sexual explicit language, and racial slurs, Bennett uses his show as an outlet to promote hate-speech and bigotry against immigrants, minorities, and homosexuals.

Most recently, besides issuing a slew of racial slurs and threats against yours truly, in what could quite possibly be a criminal act, Bennett and his co-hosts repeatedly called upon residents in Danbury to go out into the streets and to assassinate members of the immigrant community.



As outrage over Bennett's hate-filled behavior mounted, we here at HatCityBLOG and as well as members of the YouTube community who know of Bennett from his online videos, led the way in requesting Comcast to take action against Bennett's outlandish behavior and terminate his contract. Letters and calls flowed into Comcast public access coordinator Dave King's office and most recently, I made an appeal to the members of the cable advisory board to also take action and terminate Bennett's contract.

It seems like Comcast is beginning to get the message that the disgusting behavior from Bennett, McGowan, and "Bones" will not be tolerated.

View letter here.

After presenting my evidence of Bennett's outrageous behavior to the cable advisory board, the members of the committee ruled to label Bennett's show as an "adult program" and advised the member representing Comcast to move the show from it's current slot of 9-10 P.M. to 10-11 P.M. This is rather significant because since the employees of Comcast leave the building at 10 P.M., it would require Bennett to tape his program thus forcing him to change the format of his show, which in it's current state is a live program.

Does this mean we're going to stop in our demand that Bennett be removed from the airwaves? To put it simple...HELL NO! In fact, light of the recent events, and legal advice, we're going to continue to take the necessary steps top make sure that Bennett, McGowan, and "Bones" are held accountable for their language, disgusting behavior, and calls for violence.

Bumping these idiots to a later time slot is a pretty big move by Comcast, and as their letter states... Any further violations of Comcast's "Section E" rules and the show "will be subject to 90 days suspension."

We will all be paying attention to this matter.

Kudos to ctblogger, and the HatCity Blog readers, for fighting the good fight and getting Comcast to do something about this!

Another Response To ctblogger's Comcast Campaign

Previously I put up a video where BigTurd exhibits his true xenophobic and racist colors. ctblogger has put together another video that pretty much sums up the rules that BigTurd has broken edited together with the video evidence of BigTurds offending statements:



I like this response, below, because it pretty much sums up how I feel about freedom of speech in a straightforward and to the point way:

To whom it concern:

Tom Bennet´s show on Comcast´s public access channel should be removed.

On the May 18 show he clearly violates both F.C.C. regulations and Comcast´s own regulations: No material which incites violent or harmful acts on other persons.

In at least three instances on May 18, he says that undocumented immigrants should be "shot" or "killed."

I am an adamant supporter of free speech, in general, and no friend to censorship, but, this type of speech IS NOT protected under F.C.C. regulations NOR is it protected under the rules and regulations of Comcast. In fact, it may very likely be illegal.

Many members of my family are immigrants, including my wife, several uncles,
and others, as are many of our friends.

I find this material extremely abhorrent and unconscionably offensive. Both my business and my home currently use Comcast products, and we enjoy their use, however, if Tom Bennet is not removed from the air forthwith, I will seek other solutions, as will my friends and other members of my family.

Normally I would suggest using our own form of freedom of speech in a letter campaign to advertisers of certain shows in order to get someone yanked by pure market pressures, that is not censorship since the offenders are still free to spew their twisted messages BUT the marketplace has determined that they are not a viable product.

In this case there are no sponsors of BigTurd's shows, since he is on public access (if he relied on sponsors I don't think the show would exist, to be honest), but the rules of the public access channel provide a mechanism for controlling threatening statemensts which may incite violent acts.

In this case we are not censoring the turd, he has effectively censored himself through his own statements, we are only trying to ensure that Comcast's rules, legitimate rules, are enforced.

And I would note that BigTurd would still be free to stand on Danbury's street corners and spew his hatred to anyone that would pay attention to a lunatic like himself. Heck, he could still have a parade through the streets of Danbury to celebrate his warped views any time he wanted... Well, maybe not. heh

To contact Comcast concerning the BigTurd's show:

Please keep the pressure on Comcast and tell them to do the right thing.

Dave King: Head Coordinator, Comcast Public Access
Phone: 203-792-1265
Email: Dave_King@cable.comcast.com

Candiann Roswell, Public Access Coordinator
Phone: 203-792-1265
Email: Candiann_Roswell2@cable.comcast.com

When emailing Comcast, please cc: HatCityBLOG (hatcityblog@yahoo.com) so we can place your message on the site (privacy will be honored).

BigTurd Called ctblogger What?

OMG! No questions about whether this guy is a bigoted Xenophobe, and outright racist... He is. I can't believe he called you that ctblogger. Scratch that... From the many videos I have seen so far I can believe it, I just can't believe that he is still on the air.

Via ctblogger at HatCity Blog:

At some point, Comcast has to see the light, enforce their policy, and remove Tom Bennett. Here's another letter sent to Dave King.

Hi Dave

I called you recently about Tom Bennett's show on Comcast. In our conversation you agreed that much of what he says is objectionable but protected under the First Amendment.

However, on the May 18 show he clearly violates the Comcast regulation:
No material which incites violent or harmful acts on other persons. In at least three instances on May 18, he says that undocumented immigrants should be "shot" or "killed." This is not an abstraction; he says "those people at Kennedy Avenue." What will you do if someone, like the caller he said could join him and his co-hosts to make an "army" of four, followed through and went to Kennedy Park and killed someone? Would you say that Comcast bore no responsibility?

He has defended his use of profanity, racist, sexist and anti-gay hate speech, and personal attacks by saying viewers can always turn to another channel. Actually that is a reasonable defense when the content of the show is merely disgusting or offensive. This defense won't work here; he is calling for killing people which is a clear violation of your policy and may even be illegal. What does your Corporate Counsel have to say about this?

You cannot allow this to continue. I don't know how you justified renewing his contract until August 2007. He can be as disgusting as he wants but he can't advocate killing people. Get rid of him now.

This type of speech IS NOT protected under F.C.C. regulations NOR is it protected under the rules and regulations of Comcast. In fact, as the writer of the letter states, it might even be illegal.

PUBLIC access belongs to the PUBLIC. Tom Bennett's profanity and indecent language must come to an end and it needs to be done now.

What will it take for Comcast to act...an immigrant getting shot from a person who was incited by Bennett, John McGowan, and Bones' call for people to shoot and murder members of the immigrant community on the street?

With each passing day, more and more Comcast consumers are expressing their outrage with many considering canceling their service and switching to AT&T or dish, and even an editorial has been written on Bennett.

Please keep the pressure on Comcast and tell them to do the right thing.

Dave King: Head Coordinator, Comcast Public Access
Phone: 203-792-1265
Email: Dave_King@cable.comcast.com

Candiann Roswell, Public Access Coordinator
Phone: 203-792-1265
Email: Candiann_Roswell2@cable.comcast.com

When emailing Comcast, please cc: HatCityBLOG (hatcityblog@yahoo.com) so we can place your message on the site (privacy will be honored).

WestConn War Protest in Danbury

Undoubtedly in consideration of the preznit playing politics with the soldiers lives by vetoing the funding bill in an effort to push failure of the Iraq war on to the next administration, the NewsTimes covers one of the smaller war protests in the State of Connecitut and the nation yesterday:

DANBURY -- About 30 people protested the Iraq war at the center of Western Connecticut State University's midtown campus Wednesday, calling the war a human and environmental disaster.

Josh Durkin, a freshman from New Milford, cited the human toll, saying more than 3,340 U.S. military personnel have died, and there is no foreseeable end in sight.

"This is really history being repeated," Durkin said, mentioning how the French fought in civil wars in Algeria and Vietnam and had to leave. He said the Soviet Union ran into the same problem in Afghanistan, and the U.S. faced the same problem in Vietnam.

"The strategy is broken," he said.

And as sure as the fact that the conservative party has succumbed to fringe thinking wackos, the comments head right towards illegal immigrants.

Posted by: sage Thu, May 03 2007
I gotta' solution that would satisfy a lot of the patrons of this blog, a solution that would effectively kill 2 birds with1 stone: draft all the illegals in this country into the armed forces and make them serve in the army for 4 years. After they have served their country, then they can attain citizenship.

So put your money where your mouth is illegal. You say you love this country and you say you want to win the war in Iraq. Well here's your chance. The only catch is you only have 2 options: I either you accept this "invitation" to defend your country or you are given a one-way ticket back to Latin America. And this is not negotiable.

Another ill conceived idea from the failed "great republican experiment"...

Drafting illegal immigrants into a high tech military and then having to train them would pose many problems for the immigrants that cannot read english all that well (I know that is not the case for most of them! But for some, language is a bit of a barrier). Yay! The military will have to train them even more than usual!

For those of you "deferement type republicans" that haven't a clue about the military, never mind the modern day one, even the Infantry and Marine ground pounders need to be prepared to learn a lot of high tech material these days. That is why they had standards for enlistment. At least they had standards before bush broke the military and they had to lower them to meet enlistment quotas...

You conservatives sure come up with some wacky fringe thinking ideas that can never work out in the long run. (See Iraq)

Not knocking the NewsTimes on their story, but the participants in the comment threads are nutjobs. Who could've predicted that a comment thread on protesting the war at the NewsTimes might degenerate into another round of "Deport Them!" fringe thinkers bashing illegal immigrants?

HatCity BLOG

People speak out against comments laced with racism and bigotry in the News-Times comments section. From Saturday's article on an illegal immigration forum. ... hatcityblog.blogspot.com/ - May 2, 2007 - Similar pages

HatCity BLOG

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION FORUM VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: Members of the community and students protest ... Criticsim over News-Times comments section intensi. ... hatcityblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/anti-immigration-forum-video-highlights.html - Similar pages

HatCity BLOG

... illegal aliens; it has to do with drunk driving.” Incredibly, a similar argument has erupted locally, in the comments section of the Danbury News-Times. ... hatcityblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/news-times-faces-more-criticism-over.html - Similar pages

HatCity BLOG

illegal immigration forum (a.k.a. fear mongering) round-up. Sunday, April 29, 2007 Time: 8:03 PM ... Criticsim over News-Times comments section intensi. ... hatcityblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/illegal-immigration-forum-aka-fear.html - Similar pages

HatCity BLOG

The picture tells the story: Volume 1 · illegal immigration forum (a.k.a. fear mongering) ... Criticsim over News-Times comments section intensi. ... hatcityblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/news-times-failed-to-get-real-story.html - May 2, 2007 - Similar pages

HatCity BLOG

Danbury, home to an estimated 9000 to 20000 illegal immigrants, gained national attention this year ... Criticsim over News-Times comments section intensi. ... hatcityblog.blogspot.com/2005_12_04_archive.html - Similar pages

HatCity BLOG

illegal immigration forum (a.k.a. fear mongering) ... Criticsim over News-Times comments section intensi... Henry Rollins: This is how I protest the war ... hatcityblog.blogspot.com/2006_10_29_archive.html - Similar pages

HatCity BLOG

From today's Danbury News-Times. I was very pleased to read the comments of the Rev. ... How does Marcianoor the CTCIC know that illegal immigrants bring ... hatcityblog.blogspot.com/2005/08/immigration-control-president-shows.html - Similar pages

HatCity BLOG

Advocates enraged over the federal roundup of illegal immigrants at Kennedy ... in the Danbury News-Times that there would be an increase in immigration ... hatcityblog.blogspot.com/2006/09/danbury-11-press-conference-video.html - Similar pages

HatCity BLOG

As of mid-June 2006, over 2000 illegal immigrants have been arrested, over 800 of which were ... Criticsim over News-Times comments section intensi. ... hatcityblog.blogspot.com/2006_09_17_archive.html - Similar pages

While the small vocal minority (can you say shrieking?) of illegal immigrant bashers try to stay on their bigoted message, ctblogger is busy Blogging about what is really going on in Danbury that should infuriate its residents:

There been an alarming amount of misinformation from those who are pulling all the political tricks in order to push this so-called "parade ordinance" through the system.

From the misinformation regarding the impact this new policy will have on spontaneous celebrations (e.g. immigrants World Cup festivities), to the possible constitutional problems, which could ultimately cost the city a GREAT deal of money in legal fees, more than ever, it's important for people to have a better understanding about what Mayor Boughton is attempting to push through the Common Council.

Since the News-Times failed to fully inform the public, I felt it necessary to pick up the slack and do the job that the mainstream media refuse to do.

America Sends A Message to the LOCAL MINORITY OF BIGOTS

HatCity Blog has been providing its usual outstanding watchdog service of keeping an eye out for the truly pathetic comments that come out of the vocal minority of Danbury bigots:

The drumbeat grows...

If you missed Geraldo Rivera’s dust-up last week with Bill O’Reilly, you don’t know what you’re missing. Rivera, normally a fellow good soldier for Rupert Murdoch’s Fox propaganda machine, actually called out O’Reilly for trying to score cheap political points by linking the death of two Virginia teenagers to the debate about illegal immigration (the driver of the truck that plowed into the girls’ car was in the country illegally, and was allegedly drunk). The heated argument saw Geraldo (who once revealed American troop locations in Afghanistan), smack-down O’Reilly with a simple, “It has nothing to do with illegal aliens; it has to do with drunk driving.”

Incredibly, a similar argument has erupted locally, in the comments section of the Danbury News-Times. Log on to read about how 30-year-old Laudermilson Teixeirawas was arrested for stabbing his 33-year-old roommate, and you can read some of the most hateful trash the internet has to offer this side of Ann Coulter’s blog. Neither Teixeirawas nor his victim were in this country legally, it appears, which in the minds of the anonymous xenophobes of Danbury, renders them inhuman, too. We won’t dignify to reprint the hate put forth by the likes of “JoeyJoeJoeJrShabadoo,” but it is interesting to see how the sewage that a guy like O’Reilly spouts filters down to the knuckledragger level.

It's also interesting how racist comments from the likes of bottomfeeders like JoeyJoe are even published in the first place...but this is expected from a newspaper that stubbornly refuses to report on local government news, palces knee-jerking headlines such as "IMMIGRANT SLAIN" (as if there the victim is not a normal human being), and willfully contributes to the "low-information voter" mentality (to the glee of the mayor and Republican-controlled Common Council).

Go take a read at the hated yourself...you gotta love Big T's audience. (note: Online Editor Elizabeth Putman has removed some of the more disgusting comments as of Thurs @ 9:00 AM).

Meanwhile in the rest of America? According to the USA Today:

While Congress and the White House remain divided over what to do with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the USA, a new poll shows the American public appears to have reached a consensus on the question.

A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken last weekend found that 78% of respondents feel people now in the country illegally should be given a chance at citizenship.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who is drafting legislation to grant illegal immigrants an opportunity to stay in the USA, said: "As with so many issues, the American people are ahead of Washington on immigration reform. They know that only a plan that offers a path to earned citizenship will fix our broken system."

So much for the local Danbury bigots screaming "DEPORT THEM ALL!" every chance they get. Thankfully for humanity's sake, they truely are in the minority.