Mayor's Row.....by Ned Mitchell

            A recent legal immigrant, notice I said legal, arrived in the United States a few weeks ago.  After getting situated to the American way of life the immigrant set out to meet some Americans.  He stops the first person he sees walking down the street and says "thank you Mr. American for letting me live in this country.  I have housing, food, free medical care, and free education."  The passerby says "you are mistaken, I am from Mexico."  The next person he counters the immigrant says "thank you for having such a beautiful country here in America", to which the passerby says "sorry, I am not an American I am Vietnamese."  The new arrival continues down the street and runs into yet another person walking to which he says "thank you this wonderful America" and again the passerby says "I am from the Middle East, not America."  Finally the immigrant spots a woman on the other side of the street.  He crosses the street and asks the woman; "are you an American?" She says "no, I am from Russia."  Puzzled the man asks "where are all of the Americans?"  The Russian lady checks her watch and says "probably at work."

            That is a humorous story about a not so humorous situation that is gaining steam in this country.  The United States Senate just last week refused to pass a bill dealing with immigration.  A recent reading of the L. A. Times reveals why California is having such difficulties.  In L. A. County at least 40% of all workers are working for cash mainly because they are from Mexico.  Most of them are illegal immigrants working without a green card.  Ninety five percent of the warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal immigrants. Now over 75% of warrants of people on the most wanted list are illegal aliens.  The FBI reports that at least half of the gang members in Los Angeles are illegal residents from south of the border.

            It would be easy for us to sit back and say that mess is California's problem.  That would be the easy way out.  What we must do is understand that our own Illinois now has the fifth largest concentration of illegal immigrants in the nation.  We have joined California in giving away the farm!  We offer many free programs for only those who can prove they are in this country illegally.  Laws are being proposed to offer driving permits, whatever that is, for those who live in Illinois illegally.  The rest of us have to have a valid Illinois driver's license that we have been tested for to be able to drive a motor vehicle.  In Illinois it has been proposed that we offer a guaranteed, low interest home loan.  The only qualification would be that the applicant could not, yes you read that right, could not have a Social Security card.  Put all of the other gifts on such as free health care, education, and food and one can easily see what Illinois is rapidly gaining illegal immigrants.

            Gangs are virtually running Chicago at this very moment, a lot of them made up of illegal immigrants.  Within the past week three innocent children have been accidentally shot and killed by rival gang members in Chicago.  Mayor Daley has instituted a policy in Chicago prohibiting police in that city from checking a person's immigration status on any police interaction with residents up there.  Daley and the Chicago bloc of legislators keep crying for more gun control.  The only problem with that is Chicago already has a law on the books outlawing the ownership of guns.  That same group of politicians continually blocks any efforts at a three strikes and you are out law.  One of those arrested in a random murder last week has been jailed 28 times, about half of those serious felonies.   Sure, guns are being used and not one of the shooters has any legal means to own a gun, yet they are still here wreaking havoc on our society.

            It is always amazing to me how supposedly well educated people can look at these crimes and not come up with the solution.  No doubt guns are a problem in the city.  No doubt they are not a problem in the rural areas.  One would think maybe, just maybe, our politicians could assess this situation and ask why so many violent crimes are committed with guns in the city and so few in the rural area.  I'm talking about percentages here.  One could reasonably argue that the reason for this is the caliber of people residing in Chicago.  No matter how many laws Chicago has on the books, they continue to lead the nation in violent crime.  That would lead me to think that maybe those laws are not being enforced.  How on earth could a person be arrested 28 times and still be on the street only to murder an innocent child?  Until we demand that criminals in this country be dealt with in a harsh manner we will continue to see violent crimes committed by thugs who are free to roam our streets, many of them illegal in that they should not be living here in the first place.

            The next question that needs to be asked nationally and also here in Illinois is, why all the freebies for illegal immigrants?  When we get to the heart of that matter we perhaps can solve the problem.  According to national news reports big business want cheap labor and they can get that from illegal immigrants.  Some politicians see large blocs of voters on the horizon and they do everything possible to attract those votes.  Should this country have immigrants?  Sure, almost all of us here today can trace our roots back to another country.  This column is not about outlawing immigration but it is all about doing it in a fair and legal manner.  There are steps to take to become a United States citizen and we should make sure those are being followed to the full extent of the law.  Our country will never be safe from the threats of terrorism if our borders are not secure.  My friends, we have no safety net right now in this country.  We have no safety net here in Illinois when it comes to immigration.  We cannot continue to give away the farm and expect those of us who work everyday to pay the bill.  We must demand more from our elected officials and hold them accountable!

            If you did not attend last weeks opera performance of "The Elixir of Love" you missed a great show.  The event was the second live opera performance in two years at the historic Sesser Opera House.  This year's show was truly a professional production and featured many singers, performers and musicians.  The old building lived up to its' image as the premier theater in Southern Illinois as the sounds reverberated from the orchestra pit.  Conductor Ed Benyas and his musicians produced a sound that was phenomenal.  It continues to amaze folks who visit us for the first time that this gem of a building can produce such quality sound with no microphones or speakers.  The building was constructed in that manner in an era that did not have means to amplify sound electronically. 

            Taking the lead in this show was soprano Sarah Tannehill who absolutely performed flawlessly and dazzled the audience with her outstanding performance.  Sarah has three Emmy awards to her credit and last year was named an Emerging Artist by Symphony magazine.  When is the last time you remember anyone performing in our area, let alone Sesser, that has not one but three Emmy awards to their credit?  Those in attendance will be able to watch this young rising opera singer as she continues to win many awards in her future.  We will always remember Ms. Tannehill's performance at our opera house.

            One other first for the theatre was the fact that yours truly, had a cameo part in this production.  John Lipe, who directed the opera, thought it would be interesting to have the Mayor of Sesser play the part of the notary in this opera.  Of course this was a non speaking walk on part, something that I could handle, but it was done with a lot of fun in mind and sure enough it drew a laugh from the audience which amused the rest of the cast.  The three o'clock liars club at the Opera House Café was truly impressed by the fact that I could appear on stage and manage to keep my mouth shut!  Most of them thought I would not be able to pass up the chance to at least say something controversial!  We are proud of the type and quality of entertainment that we are able to provide here in Sesser and we want to thank those who come here and perform.  We also want to thank those who attend and support such ventures.  It is a great reward to honor and respect the Opera House and to provide the type of entertainment that this lady was built for.  Sesser is very proud!

            Special thanks to Sesser resident Mike Fornear and his wife for framing and donating a picture to the Opera House.  Mike called a while back and said that he had bought some artwork at an auction.  One of the works was a water color painting by Maud Grammer.  As some of you remember Maud played the piano for the silent movies at the Opera House in its' early beginning.  She was also an accomplished artist.  I remember Maud as one of my Sunday school teachers.  There is still one of Maud's oil paintings hanging in the kitchen of the Sesser First United Methodist Church. We are always looking for Sesser memorabilia and we are so appreciative of the Fornear family in not only finding this work of art but also for taking the time to do a professional job of framing it for us to enjoy for generations to come.

            Former Sesser Mayor Dwight Dame is in Countryside Manor in Mt. Vernon and would appreciate a card, phone call, or personal visit as he recuperates.  We wish Mayor Dame well and hope that he is able to come home real soon.

            If you need us give us a call at 625-5322 or 625-3611 or write nedmitchell@verizon.net or www.sesser.org or P. O. Box 277, Sesser, Illinois 62884.