One thing that’s undeniable is that Ben Rodgers, a St. Cloud Times reporter, parroted the DFL’s chanting points in his article. In Rodgers’ article, he said that a “group of St. Cloud-area residents” met at the Stearns County Courthouse to “protest an anti-immigration speaker who visited St. Cloud earlier this week.” Jane Conrad, the event organizer, said that Bob Enos spoke “out against refugees and Sharia, the Islamic law.” Ben Rodgers accepted that as Gospel fact without checking with Mr. Enos to verify if Ms. Conrad’s statement was accurate.
What’s startling is that, at no point in the article did Rodgers quote Mr. Enos. I know that I’m a lowly blogger but I’m pretty certain that Reporting 101 requires that, if you’re going to quote a person making an accusation against another person, you should quote the accused, too. That way, it’s a she said, he said thing, not a she said thing.
Further, the Times reporter didn’t report about one of the worst-kept stories in St. Cloud. Mr. Rodgers didn’t write about Prof. Mark Jaede’s use of St. Cloud State’s email system to announce this political event. There was little written about who attended the event in terms of protesting Mr. Enos. Did a substantial number of SCSU professors attend the AFL-CIO protest? What labor unions attended the protest? What did they say? Did they criticize Mr. Enos?
I won’t mince words. This was a pathetic attempt at reporting.
I was there. The turnout was slight - perhaps about 30-40 people in support of Jane Conrad. Opposition was only about 7-10 people.
Several people spoke in addition to Jane Conrad, whose entirely speech was a loud denunciation of hatred and racism and fear in the community. Zach Dorholt spoke. He did not use the word racism at all, but he did repeat the hate and fear mantras so in vogue with the left today.
Another thing was their use of the First Amendment which they are claiming as their own as opposed to those who question Jane’s point of view. Odd that - since they use the bully pulpit and throws epithets at people who do not agree with them - which is a form of bullying. Its purpose is to shut off all debate.
One young blonde fellow was there trying to engage the folks who were observing the event. He had a nice demeanor and I was certain that he meant well, but he threw out the outrageous claim that Christians had killed more people than Muslims had. So, I challenged this, and he tried to keep talking. I finally gently put my fingers on his mouth and told him “to let me speak - and that his statement was a BIG lie. He should learn his history better.” I also told him that most people do not hate the immigrants, but do have a fear or perhaps better an apprehension about the sheer numbers coming into the community. He tried to rebut this. I reminded him that since he was a man, perhaps he had no comprehension of how women/females feel about the very real threat of sharia law coming to our country. I told him that as a man, he did not have the same concerns that women had. I think that startled him a bit.
Sadly, Gretchen, he probably has no clue as to why you mentioned your fear. I wish someone made aware not only of the sub-human status of women, but especially of Female Genital Mutilation so common in Islamic culture.
Sadly, women of the Muslim religions are inculcated in early childhood and grow up believing
Allah expects them to be subservient to their male counterparts. The barbaric rituals in the
name of religion are nothing more than male domination. Islamic women are treated like
slaves and concubines. Islamic males have a similar attitude and belief that American women
deserve the same lowly slave type status. A fifteenth century archaic barbaric philosophy like
that has absolutely no place in 21st century America.
Thanks for your responses to my comments. his young man was a speaker at their rally. He mentioned that he was next up on the podium. I did not stay to hear him. I had heard enough of in naïve beliefs.
However, when I mentioned to him my fear as a female, another woman standing near me backed me. She said she also had that fear. My fear is not for myself, but for the younger generations.
We also mentioned that although the apparel of Muslim women was part of their culture, it was also a symbol of their submission to all things male under sharia law. Dressing the way they do is part of making them subhuman, in my opinion. Seeing a Muslim woman walking in a park recently with two sons and three daughters, was interesting, which is a word that is sanitized here. The boys were dressed in western style clothing, denim jeans and short-sleeved shirts. It was a nice July afternoon. The three girls were dressed in their long robes, multi-layered and hijabs, including a girl of about 2 years. Many of these children are very pretty/handsome, but the girls are all trussed up, like they are in a prison.
As a woman, it is a symbol of inferiority of the female gender, and I find it offensive. I really would like to have a liberal tell me why I should not find this offensive.