http://www.statenews.com Nick Griffin, the controversial British politician, and his speech on our campus Friday are matters of grave concern. While we respect the First Amendment and right to free speech, Mr. Griffin goes against some of the very basic principles that are at the core of MSU. en-us Foundry4 Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:23:21 -0500 Fri, 02 Nov 2007 08:10:41 -0400 webmaster@statenews.com http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3462/view If you believe that we are a diverse group on campus which get along in a peaceful manner maybe you should look at how the conservative groups are being discriminated every day on campus. Assuming that you are a liberal you would believe that there is a general piece on campus concerning diversity. However, with being a conservative every day I have faced biases and crude comments due to my diversity from the norm of the campus. So, perhaps YAF was only bringing in a speaker that had a diversified belief from most of those at MSU and most likely brought them in to be able to have individuals come and listen with an open ear instead of shouting out the speaker immediately without hearing what he has to say. Sun, 28 Oct 2007 20:26:57 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3462/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3463/view I forgot to add in the above statement that MSU YAF speech did not go well as I was embarrassed for my country as countless Americans booed the Pledge of Allegiance. And continued to make crude remarks and were very immature. At this point I was completely embarrassed due to the fact that Americans are ashamed of their country. Perhaps, people should have respect the Pledge of Allegiance and actually portray their community well. Sun, 28 Oct 2007 20:58:24 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3463/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3466/view I think we should start a campaign to get the National YAF organization and its board of advisors to denounce Bristow’s MSU-YAF. Bristow claims the board includes a number of high-profile politicians like Dick Cheney. I doubt he’d want to remain on there if he knew that they brought Nick Griffin and that professed skinhead Preston Wiggington to MSU. The national website is www.yaf.com. We should all start to collaborate and get the national body to denounce its MSU chapter. Sun, 28 Oct 2007 21:59:32 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3466/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3467/view One more thing… The Leadership Institute out in Virginia has been quietly paying for a number of YAF’s speakers. Bristow interned there this summer. Let’s start a campaign to force them to denounce the radical MSU-YAF. http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/ Sun, 28 Oct 2007 22:01:41 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3467/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3473/view Sara- your comments deserve about a nanosecond of thought, however, it is hard to take you, as a college student, seriously when you’re unable to spell properly and use correct grammar. Sun, 28 Oct 2007 23:00:19 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3473/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3475/view I love how conservatives compare themselves to oppressed racial minorities. As if being a “conservative” can be paralleled the struggle blacks had to lead against racism. Being a yaffer transcends conservatism anyway. Conservatives don’t host crypto-nazis in their talks nor say “Islam is a vicious religion”. Sun, 28 Oct 2007 23:38:45 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3475/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3478/view When racists and hate groups self-consciously use the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ as part of their political event, it deserves to be booed— for such an action goes against everything the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ truly stands for, Sara. Mon, 29 Oct 2007 00:16:28 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3478/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3481/view The funny thing is Bristow still thinks he’s going to be able to run for public office and attend a good law school in the future. Mon, 29 Oct 2007 01:15:35 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3481/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3487/view I believe that no matter who or where the “Pledge of Allegiance” is said it should always be supported by fellow Americans. However, I’m just a patriotic American who loves his country. Also, the “Pledge of Allegiance” never deserves to be booed as you said it stands for a lot of rights in this country. Next time I ask that you show some respect and actually say the “Pledge of Allegiance” along with the rest of the Americans there. Mon, 29 Oct 2007 06:54:41 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3487/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3489/view “We hope that YAF and their adviser, William Allen, choose their speakers more carefully in the future, and try to bring about academic discourse with speakers who are not as inflammatory as Mr. Griffin.” I don’t. I hope they continue to bring scum like Griffin to campus, and continue to deny or downplay their worse beliefs and statements, just so there’s no question of what MSU-YAF really and truly stands for. I’d rather they felt free to let it all hang out so well-informed citizens will remember them, and keep them from being elected to anything higher than dog-catcher. Mon, 29 Oct 2007 07:01:15 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3489/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3490/view Patriotic American, If that is indeed your real name, reciting the pledge of allegiance is not patriotism; it is just the act of paying lip service to patriotism. These people were just wrapping themselves in the American flag to justify their stance as “truly American” which it is NOT. Such acts only make a mockery out of our veterans’ service to their country. Mon, 29 Oct 2007 07:39:33 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3490/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3491/view Ed – I agree. I hope YAF continues to bring scum like Griffin to campus. I also hope the intolerant, scum leftists protesters continue to show up and violently ‘represent’ the liberal point of view. It creates a very entertaining atmosphere. Mon, 29 Oct 2007 07:46:57 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3491/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3499/view “I also hope the intolerant, scum leftists protesters continue to show up and violently ‘represent’ the liberal point of view.” I don’t. I hope in future the protesters realize they make a better showing of themselves if they let the speech go on (peppered with mockery, cat-calls and laughter, of course), and then hit the bastard – and his hosts – with hard questions at the end. This way you don’t appear to be the intolerant ones, which gives the bastards ammunition. Theater before and after the show’s always good to have, as long as you don’t block access to the building. And never, ever ever physically attack the bastards or their hosts – not only is it illegal and unethical, but it’s bad tactics. It turns the bastards into victims, rather than victimizers, and gives them even more ammunition. This should be common sense. Mon, 29 Oct 2007 08:41:58 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3499/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3503/view “Travel is fatal to predjudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on those accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be aquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” – Mark Twain. Though the world has changed since then, and we no longer have to travel great distances to find people different than ourselves, many people still choose to vegetate in their little corner of the world (or their mind). I agree, continue bringing these speakers because people are defined by the company they keep. Leave them to their narrowmindedness and they will, someday, find themselves with very little company vegetating in their little world wondering why nobody will listen to their rantings. Mon, 29 Oct 2007 08:58:42 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3503/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3508/view The National YAF Chapter will never denounce the MSU YAF. Immediately after they were listed as a hate group, the National Chapter took out a full page ad in the State News. YAF MSU is one of the strongest and most developed chapters in the country. The Leadership Institute and YAF National would never shut down the MSU chapter because it is exactly what they want to see YAF become on campuses all over. Mon, 29 Oct 2007 09:30:07 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3508/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3509/view We are not anti-conservatives, generally speaking. We call your actions racist and bigoted to make you realize the problems with what you’re doing, not to simply be inflammatory. I wish some of you would stop transforming every disagreement into a good vs evil fallacy. Mon, 29 Oct 2007 09:37:12 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3509/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3518/view I’m not so sure that the MSU YAF chapter is interested in promoting the platform of YAF as much as they are interested in protraying themselves as oppressed, political martyrs. It explains why they bring in extremists such as Griffin. Why not bring in a less devisive and more respected speaker? The reason is that YAF members see a liberal conspiracy to silence opposing opinions at MSU and they can prove that by brining in speakers who will be protested and shouted down. Its a shame that people are proving them right, but its an odd strategy and a self-fulfilling prophecy that probably isn’t representative of why someone like Cheney is a member of YAF. Mon, 29 Oct 2007 11:13:35 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3518/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3527/view Kyle Bristow will never win elected offic in Michigan. I will make sure of that. Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:53:32 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3527/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3532/view I did not attend the event first off. However, from what I have read and heard from those who have attended the event, the speaker was not informative or persuasive. The audience was rude and the aftermath was violent (but less so than previous events). So my question is 1. Why do groups like YAF pay large sums of money to bring speakers who aren’t persuasive? Isn’t that just a waste of money? 2. Why do people who oppose the speaker show up? Doesn’t that just bring publicity to an event that shouldn’t be publicized? If the person neither informs you or compels you to think differently, then there definitely isn’t a personal reason to go. 3. Why do people violently react to this? People have said dumb things ever since the dawn of time, there is no reason to literally beat tolerance into others. Grow up and do more constructive things. I applaud the Spartans for Israel for being mature about this. Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:20:09 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3532/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3535/view Chris – Well put, thanks. Hope everyone reads the above comment. Mon, 29 Oct 2007 16:18:46 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3535/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3548/view Grace Wojcik, I actually don’t think the national YAF organization exists anymore. I’ve done some digging and I think it fizzled out in the late 1990s. The address on the website (which hasn’t been updated for years) is owned by YAF. From what I’ve been able to gather, it looks like an employee of the Leadership Institute named Kevin DeAnna is trying to start up the national organization again. I really think Bristow paid for that ad himself or had someone at the Leadership Institute pay for it. Either way, it looks fraudulent. They have no board of advisors or national leadership. They’re using the names of well-respected individuals like Dick Cheney to appear legit. Nothing about this national organization holds up. I think Bristow should explain himself. Mon, 29 Oct 2007 20:38:08 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3548/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3620/view I like how these patriots and flag lovers are up in arms about how protesters booed the Pledge of Allegiance. It should be noted that the only other country in the world to ever have a flag pledge was the Third Reich. Yup, the Nazis, so it’s a little ironic that the YAF did the Pledge with Nick Griffin, huimself a neo-Nazi. Think about that the next you do the Pledge. Chumps. Tue, 30 Oct 2007 12:18:38 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3620/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3623/view Would Chris rather have large Nazi rallies in his midst, recruiting for the Fourth Reich unopposed and unhindered while people of color, Gays/Lesbians, immigrants and those who love democracy and freedom suffer the consequences? If you study history, fascism arose either because it went unopposed, was inconsistently opposed or those who fought fascism were stabbed in the backs by their so-called comrades (think Spanich civil war.) Where fascism was defeated – with the exception of WWII, which wasn’t an anti-fascist struggle – it was because of determination, good leadership and, yes, direct action. You can’t have it both ways – either you want fascism or anti-fascism, and you won’t get the latter condemning protesters who know what is required to defeat the dark forces that would destory us if given the chance. I was at the event and there was no violence; anyone who thinks obscenities are violence should stop being middle class soccer moms and get a get dose of reality instead. The non-response from Muslim and Jewish organizations don’t deserve respect, but condemnation for failing the communities they claim to represent. You can’t lobby fascism out of existence – you have to confront and destroy it. Specifically, the Spartans For Israel have no moral right to oppose Nick Griffin and YAF because they are, in fact, supporting a racist apartheid state that is truly anti-Semitic in that an Euro-Askenazi state oppresses and kills the Semitic Palestinian population it occupies. Their non-response is typical to Zionists going back to the Ha’avara agreement of 1933, one of many betrayals that led to the rise of Hitler, who regime of extermination was the best thing to ever happen to a movement that needs anti-Semitism in order to have their Jewish state at the expense of Palestinians. Scum. Tue, 30 Oct 2007 12:37:25 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3623/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3633/view Actually UnifyH8, letting this man speak in a small closed room to a bunch of people who already believe what he is saying, and letting this man rise to political power are two very separate issues. If you think that racists preaching to fellow racists is an issue, you are going to have a tough time in this world. Like people hang out together, and some people are just idiots, so you often end up with clusters of idiots. However, going to the event only allows his message to get out past that small group of racists. Oppose it by holding your own informative event or hell, just talk to people about how those ideas are wrong. Like what you are doing is perfectly fine. But going to the event is just a waste of time. Tue, 30 Oct 2007 13:50:44 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3633/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3656/view Every time I read the State News there is something about a YAF event getting crashed by ill behaved people who don’t like what they hear. It’s amazing to me that some liberals would rather shut down and disrupt an event then listen to it, yet they would be offended if anyone tried to stop an event they held. Look at what they are trying to do to talk radio, they don’t like what they hear so they want it off the air. Heck, talk radio is not claiming to offer a balanced view of things. It’s funny that they always talk about free speech until they don’t like whats being said. We saw it with Tom Tancredo, Chris Simcox and now this. Tue, 30 Oct 2007 17:30:03 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/3656/view http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/4069/view I love when people come out of the woodwork to criticize student groups when they spend thier own money to bring a speaker to campus, but when Liberal RHA brings a blatant Anti-Semite like Malik Shabazz everyone stays silent. Who cares who YAF brings to campus. If you don’t agree, don’t attend. I don’t feel the need to write in to the SN every time there was an Affirmative Action rally on campus, or each time someone approached me with a “down with capitalism” flyer. Suck it up. Fri, 02 Nov 2007 08:10:41 -0400 http://www.statenews.com/index.php/comment/4069/view