Kokkonen calls out New Times for Ku Klux Klan comparison
May 23, 2016
OPINION by MATT KOKKONEN
San Luis Obispo’s “New Times” weekly paper wrote in its opinion by “The Shredder” on May 5, “What’s white, has three K’s in its name, and hates ‘illegal’ immigrants? Well, yes, the Ku Klux Klan, but I was thinking of Matt Kokkonen, but he’s the not-so-nice legal immigrant!”
The last time someone called out the three “K”s in my name was a big black drill sergeant when I was in U.S. Army basic training at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, home of the 101st Airborne Screaming Eagles. This was even before I was a U.S. citizen, having immigrated to America by myself at age 16 from Finland.
In my opinion, Shredder’s comments are beyond civility and reflect the dregs of the cesspool of his mind. New Times is complicit by allowing this expression of hate by him.
On the other hand, standing for the rule of law is not hate of anyone. It opposes illegality, period. What part of “illegal” does he not understand?
I wanted to come to America, the land of opportunity. I did it legally, like millions of others who followed the law.
America has been the land of opportunity because of its God given self-evident truths, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…” This undergirds the real American Dream. This encapsulates America’s Experiment and its Exceptionalism. I will keep fighting to make sure we leave America to our children and grandchildren as the country of liberty.
Matt Kokkonen is one of nine candidates running for the 24th Congressional District seat.
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