Protest at Laker Game Monday

[MowMyOwn]

Here's the article;

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson refused to criticize Arizona's new immigration law, triggering a backlash among activists who plan a protest outside Staples Center on Monday night.

Jackson was asked two weeks ago about a plan by the Phoenix Suns to wear their Los Suns jerseys during a playoff game on May 5, Cinco de Mayo. The immigration law spurred the Suns' decision to use the jerseys to honor Arizona's Latino community.

"Am I crazy, or am I the only one that heard when the legislators said that we just took United States immigration law and adapted it to our state?' " Jackson responded.

When the reporter suggested that Arizona had usurped federal law, Jackson corrected him. "It's not usurping, they just copied it, is what they said they did, the legislators. Then they give it some teeth to be able to enforce it."

The biggest questions about the law center on how it could be enforced without leading to racial profiling of Hispanics and without alienating residents in Hispanic neighborhoods with whom police have spent years trying to build trust.

The law, which is scheduled to take effect July 29, has triggered protests and prompted several cities to boycott Arizona businesses. Los Angeles is the largest of those cities.

"I have respect for those who oppose the new Arizona immigration law, but I am wary of putting entire sports organizations in the middle of political controversies," Jackson said in a statement issued Monday.

He said he hoped his statement would not be used by either side to rally activists.

Activists want the Lakers to put on the Los Lakers jerseys they wore for a game on March 21 and in years past to honor Hispanic fans. Lakers spokesman John Black said those jerseys will not be worn during the playoffs.

"We will not be getting involved in choosing sides among our many different support groups in any debate, nor will we be getting involved in political issues of this nature," Black said.

"Our focus and goal at this time is on basketball, winning games, and hopefully winning another championship, which we feel the vast majority of our fans want us to focus on," he added.

A standing 'O' for Phil!

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...#ixzz0oEKRfWyH

[LAPhil]

Right on, Phil Jackson! I really hope the Lakers kick the asses of those Hispandering "Los Suns". A Laker sweep would be some great poetic justice!

[DerailAmnesty.com]

It was a whole lot of not much at Staples Center just before the game. The open borders loons had to behave b/c there were cops all over the place, and more significantly, they were sort of competing for attention with the Born Again Christians who had superior numbers, larger signs, and were attempting to encroach on their territory.

All in all, I was pretty underwhelmed. No accusations of racism. No hollering that this is occupied Mexican territory. Not even so much as a whisper of gratuitous profanity.

What the hell is this world coming to?


VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq4NI5LabTo

[Rim05]

Thanks for the video of the clowns. I was worried about the Lakers because Phil said Kobe did not practice all week. I guess Kobe knows his body better than any one else.
GO LAKERS AND THANK YOU LAKER ORG. FOR STAYING OUT OF THE POLITICS.

[PochoPatriot]

The open borders crowd was uncharacteristically well-mannered.

[Don]

Originally Posted by PochoPatriot

The open borders crowd was uncharacteristically well-mannered.

Not well mannered, just outnumbered. They have no manners. They're savages who will rise when they have the numbers on their side.

[LAPhil]

Here's an example of the open-mindedness of the Phoenix Suns' staff (excerpted):

Freedom of Expression? Not if it's about Illegal Immigration
By Bobby Eberle May 18, 2010 7:13 AM

As a show of opposition to the Arizona law, the owner of the Phoenix Suns professional basketball team had his team don "Los Suns" jerseys for a playoff game. The move garnered national media attention. But Phoenix Suns fan Jim Clark had a different idea. During Game 2 of the playoffs between the Suns and the San Antonio Spurs, Clark wore an orange shirt which read, "Viva Los 1070." What was the result? He was kicked out of the game by Suns' security!

As noted in The Daily Caller, Clark and a friend "were ejected from their first row seats and removed from the arena last week after refusing orders from security guards to take off their shirts in support of Arizona's recently passed law against illegal immigration."

This is not the first occurrence of politics creeping into the Suns basketball games: On Cinco de Mayo, team owner Robert Sarver came up with the idea for the team to wear "Los Suns" on their jerseys in protest of the immigration law. That's what drove Clark to don his own shirt.

"If they're going to shove their politics down my throat, I'm going make a message of my own," Clark told The Daily Caller.
Phoenix's ABC affiliate web site, quoted Clark as saying, "I didn't go there (game) to hear about politics, I went there to be entertained."

Soon after the game started, according to Clark, he was approached by security at US Airways Center.

"They (security) looked like secret service talking on their microphones, then they told me I either had to take off the shirt, turn it inside out or leave, so they decided to throw us out," said Clark.

Clark said he and a friend argued with members of the security staff outside the building and were eventually allowed to return to their seats.
The best comment to come from Clark was his correlation between what the security officials were doing and what the Arizona law is supposed to do: "The irony of the whole thing is, they (security) wanted to see our tickets, they wanted to see our papers, they wanted to see if everything was in order with us," said Clark.

This will likely not be the end of the story. Clark told The Daily Caller that he has printed 500 similar shirts with more on the way.

So... an Arizona mans stands up and supports a law which is designed to crack down on illegal activity and enforce immigration laws, and he is the bad guy? I guess freedom of expression comes with a great big asterisk next to it. It only applies if you speak out against America and the American way of life.

http://www.gopusa.com/theloft/2010/0...mmigration.php