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Thursday, September 9, 2010

ENOUGH OF THE GRANDSTANDING

We have a City Council full of opportunists, and unfortunately for Hartford, a vacuum when it comes to leaders on the Council.

Recently Councilman Cotto referred to Caucasians as "lily white", I guess in his liberal mindset that racism only applies to non-white people. As the "self appointed" equalizer for Islamic people, I find it hypocritical that he is championing an Imam's right to lead the Council in prayer while also using racially decisive rhetoric against others.

After his recent introduction of an ordinance to tie the hands of the Police when it comes to intelligence gathering, his apparent explanation was that he wanted to start a discussion on racism. I might suggest that if he wants to start a discussion, then act like a leader and actually organize a time and place for an honest discussion. Cotto's actions only add to the divide and conquer mentality that has been pervasive in Hartford for years, if not decades.

Hartford is perceived as a racist City by actions like Councilman Cotto's. Has anyone ever seen a press release for previous Council meetings announcing who would be giving the prayer at any specific meeting? Why did Cotto see the need to announce the occasion of an Imam giving a prayer before the September meetings? The explanation is simple, GRANDSTANDING, pure and simple.

Wouldn't it have meant more that in the normal course of business an Imam was placed in the mix to give the invocation? But no, just days after the September 11th memorials, Cotto saw fit to interject an Imam. And I don't believe Imam's have been excluded in the past. I don't recall ever seeing a Rabbi in prayer before a Council meeting or a Mormon but I don't proclaim to have attended every Council meeting.

The way that this has been handled is classic of this Council ,unfortunately. No class, no regard to how it affects the City overall and totally lacking in sincerity.

The one shining star that has come out of this issue is one of the people who you would expect to be the most upset. Imam Muhammad Ansari has shown to be a total class act in this matter by saying he doesn't need to pray before a September meeting and is willing to wait for the proper time. This will do more to further any image of Islam than any "in your face" actions Councilman Cotto could dream up.

For anyone that doesn't know Muhammad Ansari, he is probably one of the most genuine, softspoken persons you'd ever meet. He is currently also the acting Executive Director of the Open Hearth Shelter/Mission. I have had the opportunity to meet and get to know Mr. Ansari through the African-American Alliance.

Like it or not, the incidents of 9/11 and the terrorist attacks on our country were spearheaded by Muslim extremists. To brand a whole faith or group of people by these actions is wrong, the same as branding every Catholic priest a pedophile because of the actions of some.

If Councilman Cotto really wants to stem the tide of "Islamaphobia", maybe a frank and honest discussion with the likes of Imam Muhummad Ansari will put a much different face on an image that is being driven by hysteria due to actions like Cotto's. I would argue that Cotto's actions have done more to set back relations with the Islamic community than to move any image or understanding forward.

And Councilman Cotto needs to understand that racism is not a "one-way" street, it cuts in all directions and affects all people, even the "lily" white ones.

17 comments:

David Duke said...

Kevin...We all know that Mr Cotto wouldnt start a discussion about racism unless there was a job for someone in his family or circle of friends or unless he was receiving some money for the discussion.Councilman Cotto is an embaressment and his utterance of "lily white" is racist.He should start the racism discussion with himself.

Anonymous said...

Aside from all of this nonsense is the fact that the supposed-to-be leaders have a broke and broken city to fix and that should be priority No. 1.

peter brush said...

Why did Cotto see the need to announce the occasion of an Imam giving a prayer before the September meetings? The explanation is simple, GRANDSTANDING, pure and simple.
-------------------------------------
Precisely. But, just because it's pointless doesn't mean it is harmless.
The Courant reports that "his goal in having an Islamic prayer was to protest what he called “the current wave of Islamophobia” in this country." But, where was the wave of bigotry? Here in Hartford? Is it not the case that his proposal has fulfilled (or he's perceived it to have fulfilled) his prophecy of bigots under every bed. Where we had no dispute, he's created one. What's really amazing is the delusions of grandeur of these guys; completely oblivious of their positions as municipal legislators in a run-down little town, population-not-on-the-dole approximately 25,000. The good thing is this play, while not helpful, doesn't hamper the cops or cost us a dime.

Rich Wareing said...

Sadly, Peter, you are incorrect. The Councilman's grandstanding has cost us a commmodity of which we are already running dangerously low; credibilty. The whole state and a lot of people outside the State know that our house is not in any kind of order and instead of seeing our elected officials getting serious about restoring confidence in City government in the wake of the collapse of the Perez regime and getting our fiscal house in order, they see immature political grandstanding. It has also cost us the time and the energy of the Council and its staff who yesterday were bombarded with calls from around the country and today consumed by the task of finding a Methodist minister to add to the multi-faith service that is being planned in lieu of the Imam's invocation as a result of the barrage of calls.

Izzy Schwartz said...

Does anyone see the irony in Hartford's elected officials honoring certain religions this Monday, yet the Hartfrd Democratic Town Committee called a meeting for tonight, in effect dis-honoring all jews in Hartford by calling a meeting on their holy day?

peter brush said...

...consumed by the task of finding a Methodist minister to add to the multi-faith service that is being planned in lieu of the Imam's invocation...
-------------------------------------
Credibility?
I think I'm not even half joking in suggesting that we raise revenue by making our muni govt. proceedings into a "reality show."
But, Rich, you caused me emotional pain when you said I was sadly incorrect. I assure you, I'm fairly contentedly incorrect.

peter brush said...

our house is not in any kind of order
-------------------------------------
I think a pretty good name for my "Reality Show."
To return to "credibility" matter. It can't have escaped notice by our state legislature that our muni. govt. has been incredibly non-credible for generations now. Something else is in play that explains why they shovel 2 or 3 hundred million into the district annually. I wouldn't want to say anything bad about white liberals in the burbs, so I won't hazard a guess as to what.
The problem is that the State has been run by the likes of my reps (Gonzales/Fonfara) for a good many year now, and it simply will not have the money to shovel in.
Or, please tell me I'm mistaken.

Anonymous said...

Mr Brush...you arent mistaken

peter brush said...

The wonders of technology: contact your councilman via e-mail...
-----------------------------------
... "any and all emails I receive at my City email (cottL002@hartford.gov) are subject to Freedom of Information requests and are, by default, public information. If you want to send me an email at a private email where you are most assuredly guaranteed that no one will see your bigotry, please email me at Idontgiveacrap@gmail.com"

http://www.ionhartford.com/2010/09/08/responses-to-muslims-leading-prayer-at-city-council/

Anonymous said...

Wow, this interaction is great. Everyone has interesting points of view. Peter you are right that this is indeed grandstanding, However Rich is correct (in my opinion) that this has cost us something, it is often said that any publicity, even bad publicity is good. In this case that is not true. And though it hasn't cost us police costs (yet) someone will likely find a way to sue the city over this. Additionally the cost of employees time and even their mental health as they are being berated and/or even threatened. Izzy, this is indeed a double standard, they have prayer before council meetings (despite seperation of church and state) but indeed schedule a meeting on a High Holy Day. Don't get me wrong, I am very much in favor of prayer and boy does this city need it!!

Kevin, I too think the Iman's offer of changing his appearance date is a class act. I think he is smart enough to know that this could turn into the circus in Gainesville FL now -- was that Cotto's intention? I was appalled by the hateful comments in the media. One of the reasons there is so much violence in this world is that many people can't seem to express thier differences without hateful words or deeds, and unfortunately many of those are in positions of power.

I have a question for you or the other knowledgeable people here. If Cotto posted the notice about FOI in his city email, warning his supporters to go to a private email, would that private email then be subject to FOI review? With the Patriot Act and all I am not sure where the lines are drawn on this.

I love this forum and post as anonymous not because I intend to hide behind that but because it seems as though my information may be shared beyond this forum if I sign on with an account. Not great with computers. I'm Maggie T.

peter brush said...

Rich is correct
-------------------------------------
I agree.

Don't worry about foi at the email address Councilman Cotto so kindly referred to on his blog; doubt anybody home at Idontgiveacrap@gmail.com.
I don't know anything about the imam, but agree he seems to be reasonable about this situation. I think, in fact, he is being used by Cotto in his, Cotto's, self-promoting crusade against an imaginary "wave" of bigotry.

Rich Wareing said...

After thinking about this for a while, I am of the view that the Council shouldn't have any religious invocations at all. We all know that Thomas Jefferson believed in a "wall of separation" because he thought religion would corrupt government. One of the first people to call for separation was Roger Williams, but he thought that you needed to protect religion from government. I think that Williams' fear is more of what you are seeing here. I don't believe for a second that Councilman Cotto's motive was anything other than to cause a big scene since we already have had Islamic invocations. Is that really how we want religion to be treated in our City? To be used as a tool for cynical politicians to "make statements" that advance their own political agendas? The other thing that has led me to this conclusion is that we have reached a point where it is impossible to accomodate everyone without offending anyone b/c we have so much diversity. It was different when Hartford was a Protestant (Congregationalist) city. It was managable when it was Catholics and different groups of Protestants, and then Catholics, Protestants, and Jews. But look around - Catholics, many, many denominations of Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Pagans, jehovah's Witnesses, Athiests, Mormons, etc., etc. To accomodate everyone without offending anyone is pretty hard, if not impossible. Besides, don't we have a lot more important things to focus on in government than figuring out all the different belief systems we need to accomodate and doing so while not offending the other groups? Let's leave religion at the steps of City Hall and focus our political efforts on getting Hartford out of the ditch and back on the tracks.

Bruce Rubenstein said...

I agree with Rich...they ought to end all prayer and/or invocations entirely and maybe just have a moment of silence.

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

Answering the FOI Question:

Councilman Cotto's "official" e-mail address is subject to FOI as well as any other e-mail he uses to conduct business in his capacity as a public official. Opening a g-mail account or hotmail or whatever does not make those documents private, or non-disclosable under FOI as long as they pertain to the the "public's business". This would also include text messages and voice mails if they are stored as required

Anonymous said...

Here's a cut and paste from Luis's blog with the exchange by both parties:

Paul: My letter to city council was republished without my consent.
Your in violation of my copyright.
Remove it now.

Luis: Paul, I tried to make sure that there were no names listed. I’ll look through to see if yours is there and remove. Unfortunately for you, any and all emails I receive at my City email (cottL002@hartford.gov) are subject to Freedom of Information requests and are, by default, public information. If you want to send me an email at a private email where you are most assuredly guaranteed that no one will see your bigotry, please email me at Idontgiveacrap@gmail.com

So Maggie, it's obvious that 1) "paul" is not a supporter and 2) that luis is definately not telling him to send anything to a secret account for privacy's sake. The email address is a dead giveaway as well.

Charge Card Louie said...

Mr Brush..why hasn't councilman Cotto told us the circumstances of his leaving the employment of the Charter Oak Cultural Center?

Anonymous said...

Does the council and mayor know that being gay is a capital offense in Islam?