> So, comrades, how do we approach people like
> this?
Run, and hope he doesn't report you to the cops.
There was a Greek immigrant who used to sell spinach pies in front of the library at the University of Pittsburgh. He would occasionally harrass the paper-selling trots and boast openly about how he had turned communists in to the military regime back in Greece. People who are immigrants should know better than to fall for the flag- waving shit; if they don't, chances are they're plenty sincere about their reactionary politics in a way that's truly frightening and best avoided. If he would have turned you in to the Colonels, he'll turn you in to Ashcroft.
I'm not sure if Joanna's observations about Eastern Europeans being prone to backward politics are correct (it's certainly not the case with my own all-but-in-laws, though that's admittedly anecdotal), but I will reiterate that the immigrants who DO have backward politics are more-right-wing-than-thou. Think Miami Cubans, Saigon- nostalgic Vietnamese, warmed-over East European fascists, anti-Chavez Venezuelans, etc. A friend of mine was once confronted by some right-wing Colombians after he gave a talk in New York; the Colombians made clear that they knew who he was, who he had studied with at the University of Pittsburgh, etc. These are the types who show up wearing the dark sunglasses and probably packing heat. Creepy, to say the least.
- - - - - John Lacny http://www.johnlacny.com
People of the US, unite and defeat the Bush regime and all its running dogs!