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My Fellow Liberians...

While I respect the right of President Sirleaf to
attend her Grand Daughter Graduation, I also hope that
the Government of Liberia will not give her a dime to
make this trip. This trip as i am understanding it to
be is a private one and as such taxpayer should not
afford the bill. 

I will hope that members of the Liberian Legislature
will distinguish between private and public visit on
the part of all Government officials.  

I like Mrs. Sirleaf will like to attend my relative
graduation at anytime and at anywhere because it is a
blessing for family to acquire sound education. I just
hope she will use her own money for said pleasure. 

Hope the people of Liberia in Georgia will find a
common ground and welcome our President in a
respectful manner. We are in trying times.

Long live Liberia

Isaac T. Settro
Madison, WI
--- [log in to unmask] wrote:

> A call to boycott 
> Monday, May 22, 2006
> 
> 
> 
> By Tewroh-Wehtoe  Sungbeh 
>  
> There are times in life when one must take a stand
> on critical issues of  the 
> day. Whether popular or not, it is a stand a person
> must take to send a  
> strong and unapologetic message that certain
> behavior, no matter where it is  
> coming from cannot, should not, and will not be
> tolerated in any community.  
> And  if we ever allow others – our own people for
> that matter to treat us 
> like we are  their four-legged domestic friends, we
> will surely behave like those 
> controlled  lap dogs waiting to roll over when
> prompted.      
>  
> Patrick Woodtor welcomes Pres. Sirleaf during
> Chicago  visit, with a visible 
> banner of the Liberian Association of Indiana, Inc
> in full  view. 
> Courtesy/Liberian Embassy 
> I am for a strong, prosperous, democratic and
> peaceful Liberia. I love  
> Liberia dearly, and I will be the first to support
> any individual or group that  
> wants to raise funds to help our beloved country,
> its weary men, women and  
> children in times like these.  
> However,  we Liberians cannot accomplish those lofty
> goals when we are 
> divisive,  hate-filled and disrespectful to our
> fellow countrymen and women at a 
> time when  we supposed to come together as one to
> feed our people and rebuild our 
> crumbling  infrastructure.  
> When we  become intolerant and insensitive to one
> another like the “LIFERS” 
> are doing  today, our extremely selfish and wicked
> ways tend to rival the 
> execrable  warlords that we replaced with the
> interim government and later with 
> the elected  Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.  
> This is  not about the President of Liberia, Ellen
> Johnson Sirleaf. Whether 
> she’s aware  of the controversy is unknown.
> However, this is about her good 
> friends, the  metro Atlanta branch of “Liberians
> for Ellen” (LIFE), the turgid 
> new “Republican  minority” in our midst who,
> since they believed they won the 
> Executive Mansion  wants to recklessly implement
> their own “contract with 
> Liberia,” at our expense  by undermining or
> attempting to undermine the peace and 
> unity our community and  country stands for, and
> strived very hard to enjoy 
> during these very fragile  months.  
> When  our community and elected local leaders are
> constantly shown no respect 
> and are  threatened by the hateful, selfish and
> cowardly acts of the 
> opportunistic few,  those of us at the other end
> must do all we can to defend the 
> institution.   
> And if it means calling for a complete boycott of
> the $125.00 per person  
> luncheon and fundraising event in President
> Sirleaf’s honor on May 27, I will  
> not hesitate to ask progressive Liberians to stay
> home and spend their money  
> where it is appreciated.  
> That’s because the Liberian Association of
> Metropolitan Atlanta (LAMA),  
> formerly Liberian Community Association of Georgia,
> (LCAG) was vilified and  
> disrespected by “LIFE,” and has been around too
> long to be treated like the  
> stepchild of anybody or group.  
> We have  been around too long to be disrespected by
> “Liberians for Ellen,” 
> (LIFE) or any  other group. During our three-decade
> of existence, we’ve 
> witnessed the evolution  of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
> from a wannabe opposition 
> politician to a political  prisoner, a serious
> presidential contender, then later to 
> the presidency of our  country.  
> When  she was an aspiring politician, our future
> president visited our 
> community many  times in the mid to late 80s to
> speak to us, and to visit with 
> relatives and  friends. In fact, one of her sons,
> Charles Sirleaf served as 
> president of our  community in 1984.  
> So how can  that unique history be forgotten so
> quickly by these individuals 
> who claimed to  be hosting the president to raise
> funds for the women’s wing 
> of the John F.  Kennedy Medical Center in Monrovia,
> but miscalculated and 
> failed miserably to  include prominent and talented
> local Liberian artists, civic 
> and religious  leaders to boost their efforts and
> give legitimacy to the 
> fundraising  initiatives that will benefit their
> country?  
> A fundraising drive supposedly in the  interest of
> the people hundreds of 
> thousands of miles away, which is scheduled  to take
> place in the backyard of 
> their scions who are not included in all  aspects of
> the program resembles naked 
> arrogance and is counterproductive to  their entire
> efforts.   
> I  worked the phone lines throughout the week, and
> especially on May 19, 
> trying  very hard to negotiate with the many players
> on both the African-American 
> and  the Liberian sides of the equation, to get the
> participation of the 
> community  and the involvement of most Liberians
> since this is for a worthy cause.  
> The  African-Americans that I spoke with were very
> respectful, warm and 
> cordial in  their discussions, and showed how
> inclusive they want to be.  
> The  Liberian organizers on the other end were rude,
> unprofessional, 
> disrespectful  and continued to be hard-liners who
> are oblivious of history, the 
> fundraising  process and are intolerant of the views
> of others.  
> Meanwhile,  John E. Scott, one of the members of
> LIFE who I quoted in a 
> previous article  called to forewarn me on May 20,
> about a lawsuit he intends to 
> file against me  if I ever write any article in the
> future that impugns his 
> integrity.  
> “Sungbeh, I have gotten calls from people all
> across the United States  that 
> you mentioned me in an article on your (The Liberian
> Dialogue)  website.”  
> “I did not  read the article, I have never visited
> the site, and I don’t 
> ever intend to  visit the site anytime. I just want
> to let you know that I will 
> not hesitate to  sue you, (to protect my character)
> if you ever write any 
> article in the future  that attacks my character,”
> he said.  
> "I  do not attack individuals, nor do I engage in
> character assassination in 
> my  writings," I told Mr. Scott.  
> I  would think the first thing any person would do
> upon hearing anything of 
> this  kind is to first read the article in question
> before threatening the 
> writer  verbally with a lawsuit.  
> Mr. Scott,  however, did things his way by
> attempting to intimidate me as if 
> I his little  threat will deter me from doing what I
> believe is right.  
> This  is a call to boycott! 
> 


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