A powder-keg of racial intolerance: In a move that looked likely for a solid week, East Haven, Conn. Police Chief Len Gallo (left), who oversaw a police force accused of profiling and detaining Latinos in the community without cause, has resigned from his position effective immediately. Expect the move to add extra pressure to his boss, Mayor Joseph Maturo (right), especially in the wake of the comments he made to a TV reporter last week regarding how he “might have tacos” as a form of outreach to the Latino community, leading to the Hartford Courant’s editorial board calling him an “idiot” — a word not bandied around editorial boards that often. A Latino group is asking Maturo to resign already.
It’s not a bigoted statement. I said what I meant to say, that it’s an honest experience. … I have a moment of anxiety, of fear, given what happened on 9/11.NPR news analyst Juan Williams • Defending his comments on Muslims that got him fired from NPR. He made this comment on Fox News today – and he made his earlier comment (that “people who are in Muslim garb” at the airport make him “nervous”) on “The O’Reilly Factor.” NPR has been getting some harsh rebukes from the right about all this, and we’re going to say, they’re deserved to some degree. It’s obvious what he meant – he still has some lingering post-9/11 fears, even if they’re a bit misguided – and we don’t think they were anywhere near as bad as the comments Rick Sanchez made that got him fired. Sure, they were questionable, but how many people share Williams’ opinion on this? If anything, he’s reflecting a view that isn’t uncommon (as proven by the whole “Ground Zero Mosque” drama), even if it is straight-up racial profiling. source (via)
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