This is from the “I wish I had writtien this” department. I have added a few hyperlinks to Laura’s column to educate the reader.

Marietta Daily Journal today

Laura Armstrong: ’08 might go down as year of smear

Published: 01/06/2008

What do leftist organizations do when they’re unable to debate an issue on its merits?

They allege. They smear. And they try to undermine those with whom they disagree.

This is what’s happening right now to our local law enforcement officers.

The red flag went up just before the holidays, when Hispanic activist groups made very loud yet unsubstantiated allegations against much-admired Sheriff Neil Warren and his department, accusing them of harassment and violating people’s civil rights. These activists are in a snit because Warren decided to implement the 287g immigration law that allows his staff to identify and hold illegal aliens who commit crimes and end up in his jail.

They’re also concerned, I’m sure, about the domino effect of multiple counties following Cobb’s lead in asserting that 287g authority. Whitfield, Hall and Oconee police departments have now followed Warren’s lead, and that can’t be a good thing from the open borders perspective.

Beyond official releases, Warren-bashers have posted diatribes online, employing the ages-old demonization tactic against this dedicated public servant. One e-mailer, upset over “the bashing and blows being suffered by Latinos in Cobb,” wrote on an activist site that Warren was “the Christmas thief,” tearing mothers away from their children and providing “a mere crackers pack, two chicken wings, cold, and a small juice” for Christmas dinner. Right.

My heart bleeds, especially for mothers who should have been thinking of their babies before they broke the law, countries of origin being irrelevant.

And now, there’s an even more sophisticated smear campaign underway, launched Friday by GALEO, the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials.

GALEO, comprised of just a dozen politicians but many entities who seemingly stand to profit from our broken immigration system, issued an “action alert” encouraging “any person or family member that feels they’ve faced racial profiling by Cobb County Police” to report it in detail by phone this afternoon to a Virginia-based, independent credentialing group, the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. They’re also encouraging a spectacle – um, excuse me – participation in a public hearing tomorrow at the Cobb County Commission offices.

Of course, allegations, substantiated or not, can be made anonymously, they say, so why not go for it?

Is this latest effort designed to discredit Cobb law enforcement and undermine confidence in them? Curiously, GALEO’s tactics are reminiscent of those used by the left against our military for years, quite effective in a battle for hearts and minds, which this is. Let’s just call Monday’s hearings Winter Soldier II and expect worldwide condemnation from “progressives” everywhere.

If people do indeed have legitimate claims of civil rights violations, (federal “color of law” statutes say this is when a law enforcement officer misuses his authority to abuse an individual) one has to question why GALEO doesn’t help alleged victims seek redress through the established system, i.e. the Department of Justice, rather than using a law enforcement commission, however legitimate, to simply grandstand.

But that would be too easy, wouldn’t it?

Welcome 2008 – the year of the smear.

lbarmstrong3378( at ) comcast.net