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John Edwards judgment highly questionable (Amanda Marcotte)
From our "it's the small things, ain't it" department comes the news that the John Edwards campaign has brought on Amanda Marcotte as their "Blogmaster". Marcotte is a contributor to the site pandagon.net, and has all the grasp of current events, rationality, and decorum of a schizophrenic, homeless, "History of Womyn's Studies" major. (No offense meant to those who are schizophrenic or homeless.)
There are at least a few leftwing bloggers who are capable of digging into a subject, and at least a few who are mostly rational. The fact that the Edwards campaign would choose Marcotte is an early indicator that they have absolutely no clue.
You can read a sample post here (my reply is under the name "IllegalImmigrationIntroduction") and more past instances of her brilliant thinking here: pandagon.net/author/administrator
UPDATE: "Shakes" from "Shakespeare's Sister" has joined the Edwards campaign as their "Netroots Coordinator". In contrast to Marcotte, she's just a deluded "liberal".
2/2/07 UPDATE: That didn't take long. As detailed in this barely-coherent post, Marcotte has been caught trying to scrub just one of the embarassing posts from pandagon.
2/4/07 UPDATE: Someone spent five minutes or so compiling just some of her more embarassing idiotic statements here.
Posted to Bloggage at 09:17 PM | Comments (2)
The "Missouri-Kansas Coalition Against Racism, Anti-Semitism and Bigotry"
The "Missouri-Kansas Coalition Against Racism, Anti-Semitism and Bigotry" is a new coalition that's fighting against those "vigilantes" who want to enforce our immigration laws, specifically the Minuteman Project. The AP blurb is - to my complete surprise - slightly balanced:Organizers said 700 people in Kansas and Missouri have signed a coalition statement "rejecting the politics of fear, hatred and armed vigilantism."Now, I know what you're thinking: how can these groups claim to be against bigotry when they forgot to include "...Against Homophobia, Xenophobia, Hate, and Mean-Spiritedness" in their title? I'm assuming they wanted to, but that would cause their printing costs to skyrocket so they got an exemption to use the short form.
Angela Ferguson, an immigration lawyer who organized the coalition, said the group opposes what they called anti-immigration groups such as the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, which patrols the border and reports illegal immigrants to authorities.
But, seriously. Their homepage is at www.newcomm.org/carab, and no one in their right mind should sign their pledge due to their various untrue or misleading claims. For instance, the claim that the "Minuteman Civil Defense Corps... advocates the denial of basic human rights". The commonly-accepted definition of "human rights" does not include the right to cross the U.S. border at will, despite what some on the far-left think. If they have evidence of that assertion, they should present it (or be sued).
Those listed as signing on (as of October) are:
* Olathe Unit of the NAACPIn fact, their site is hosted at the latter's site and, as detailed at the last link, I suspect them of spamming that entry although I don't know whether the spammer is/was a member of the group or just a fan. More here:
* Kansas Families United for Public Education
* Westside Community Action Network Center, Inc.
* Jewish Community Relation Bureau/American Jewish Committee Gina Kaiser, Chair Marvin Szneler, Executive Director Judy Hellman, Associate Director
* Father Pat Murphy, c.s., Animator of Hispanic Ministry, Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas
* Shalom Catholic Worker House, Kansas City, KS
* Kansas City Worker Justice Project
* Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights
* Center for New Community
"The way that we solve problems in a democracy is not by creating fear or by creating racism but by sitting down and trying to reach an agreement that will satisfy all parties," said Henry E. Lyons of Olathe's NAACP...This article says:
"We ask others to join us in rejecting those extremists and stand with us. This country has the room and the need for people who want to make it a better place," said Judy Hellman of the Jewish Community Relations Bureau...
"The Minutemen, Federation for American Immigration Reform, US Inc. and other types of vigilante groups, they claim to be patriots, but they have an underlying racist agenda that's aimed at all Hispanics and have a negative impact on all people of color," Ferguson said...
The coalition includes civil-rights activists, religious leaders and the Local Service Employees International Union...
Seiu City Director Sherwin Carroll said, "If this nation and this economy is going to be what it truly is, let's set aside racism and bigotry and help immigrants get some reform that will provide a reward for their hard work in this country."The new group's roots seem to go back to around March 2005 (preview.tinyurl.com/mw82k). An AryanNations leader had set up a P.O. Box in Kansas City and various groups organized meetings. But then the leader left the group so their group was no longer needed:
"It was agreed that the urgency of the meeting had passed, but that the planning group would stay together as perhaps the nucleus of a new civil rights coalition. Our ad hoc name is the Coalition Against Racism, Anti-Semitism and Bigotry," said [Judy Hellman].Why spoil a perfectly good coalition, when it can be repurposed to oppose not a violent, racist group but those who simply want to enforce our laws?
More recently (preview.tinyurl.com/3c4pco):
On Tuesday, January 23, 2007 at 9:00 a.m., two buses of Kansas Citians left from the Guadalupe Centers, Inc., bound for Topeka, Kansas and Jefferson City, Missouri. The group included representatives of several nonprofit organizations, immigrant leaders, faith groups, students, and labor union members. [quotes Melinda Lewis, Director of Policy Advocacy and Research at El Centro, Inc... ...they met with legislators... ...quotes Angela Ferguson... ...quotes Martha Ramirez, grassroots organizer with Sons & Daughters of Immigrants of Kansas City, Missouri... unknowns Nora Reyna Brown and Richard Morado are quoted... quotes Mike Talboy, Missouri state representative from the 37 district. The latter sounds like a supporter, but his remarks are somewhat indistinguishable from stroking them along.]
Posted to Immigration2007a at 02:04 PM | Comments (2)
Boycott Desert Schools Credit Union
Desert Schools Credit Union (desertschools.org) - the largest in Arizona - is explicitly marketing accounts to illegal aliens. If you have an account there, please move it somewhere else and let them know why you're doing that.The details on their scheme are provided here:
...The state's largest credit union is bracing for similar fallout [to that of insignificant issue of the pesos-for-pizzas company] as it begins marketing savings accounts to undocumented immigrants.It's so good that they're concerned about our laws.
Officials at Desert Schools Credit Union say the potential reward - thousands of new customers - justifies the risk of angering a few customers. Ignoring the state's fastest-growing population could be the equivalent of corporate suicide, one business expert said...
...The credit union offers reassurances that account holders will still have access to the funds, even if they're deported, [Emma Garcia, Desert Schools director of community development] said, a fear that with the passage of legislation like Proposition 200 is becoming more prevalent within the Hispanic community.
"They're afraid that that institution will partner with the Department of Homeland Security and report to them who's in an undocumented situation or not," Garcia said. "We're not going to be required to notify an agency if we find out they're undocumented. We're not required by law to do that."
Another quote source in the article is Ruben Ramos, director of public affairs with Arvizu Advertising and Promotions and a former chairman of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He's also a former Bank One vice president who helped lead the fight against Proposition 200. His involvement with the credit union is unclear, but he's quoted as saying:
"Fundamentally, I don't see anything negative that might be associated with what the credit union is trying to do, if people have a broader context about what the alternatives are for this segment of the population."As you might expect, JJ Hensley of the Arizona Republic doesn't provide any balance to the article by suggesting the major negative involved here: Desert Schools is profiting from behavior which is illegal, and it's horrible public policy to allow companies to profit from illegal activity. When a company finds a profit center, they tend to take actions to keep making a profit. That may put DS in the position of encouraging illegal immigration in order to make even more money, such as by supporting open borders candidates like Kyrsten Sinema.
And, why stop at illegal aliens? Don't drugrunners and people traffickers have even more money? Should Desert Schools go after that market as well?
Posted to Immigration2007a at 05:25 AM | Comments (2)
Iowa: "National Summit on Immigration" on February 26
If you're in Iowa, there will be a "National Summit on Immigration" in Marshalltown on February 26. I don't have any further information on it, but considering it's in Iowa some presidential candidates might show up. I strongly urge everyone to attend if possible and try to ask tough questions of those candidates and others who support amnesty. Publicly embarassing someone like Bill Richardson would be a great way to make immigration issues a part of the upcoming campaigns.
You need a reservation to attend, and in order to get that you need to mail in an SASE by Feb. 16 as described here.
UPDATE: They changed the process to get tickets, so I updated the link.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 02:14 AM | Comments (1)
"Peace" protest, Washington DC, January 27, 2007
On Saturday, thousands of "peace" protesters clogged the Capitol to protest the Iraq war. Everyone who's everyone was there: Jane Fonda, Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, Code Pink, and so forth. Without checking, I'm going to guess it was largely organized by ANSWER (Stalinists are great with set-up and break-down) and was attended by the CPUSA, World Can't Wait, the Revolutionary Communist Party, and representatives of the Democrat Party as well.
The festivities continued to today, with members of Code Pink - including the ubiquitous Susan "Medea" Benjamin - protesting Hillary Clinton's war stance in front of her office. Several members of the group were arrested.
There are various pictures of the big protest here, including the following charming person. Check out the other posts in this category for my 2003 reports from various L.A. "peace" protests.
Posted to ThePeaceMovement at 09:14 PM | Comments (2)
NORTHCOM at North American Forum: "evolution by stealth"
Back in September, a semi-secret meeting of the "North American Forum" was held in Canada, and several very highly-placed supposed U.S. citizens attended, including a few from the U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM):* NORTHCOM Commander, Admiral Timothy Keating
* Political Advisor Deborah Bolton
* Plans, Policy & Strategy Director Major General Mark Volcheff
Now, Judicial Watch has obtained their notes with an FOIA request:
...The North American Forum presentations discussed immigration and border enforcement; full economic and energy integration including infrastructure and transportation; a North American investment fund; and common customs and duties. The idea of a carbon tax was raised as a means to combat so-called global warming. References to the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) occur throughout the documents.Has there been a coup that we weren't informed of? If military officials are discussing creating a supra-national entity in such terms, it's long past time for Congress to step into their designated role and look into this issue.
The notes for the presentations document the need to overcome popular opposition to North American integration: "To what degree does a concept of North America help/hinder solving problems between the three countries? ...While a vision is appealing working on the infrastructure might yield more benefit and bring more people on board ('evolution by stealth')."
Posted to NAU at 02:09 PM | Comments (3)
Rudy Giuliani and his super-tough, Tancredo-like immigration plan
Kathryn Jean Lopez ("KLo") at The Corner is apparently a supporter of Rudy Giuliani, someone whose immigration views are probably similar to those of George Bush.She says:
A friend of mine ["the rare pro-life, Hollywood hawk"] was at a fundraiser for [Rudy Julliani] in Los Angeles last night ["sponsored by Bill Simon"]...Nobody expects an exam! Those illegal aliens thought they could come here and get away scot-free, but Rudy's got something else in mind! His fiendishly diabolical plan is to administer a... test! But, not just any test... an English proficiency test! Then - and only then - will Rudy give them their citizenship. BWAH HAH HAH HAH!
...[Rudy Juliani] did an immigration bit that was "to the right of everyone else except maybe Tancredo. He talked about immigration in terms of national security. He said we needed to revamp our entire system so that we can get good people. He also said that if the twelve million already here expected to get any type of citizenship they would have to prove that they could read, write, and speak English."
Rudy's fiendish plan will surely deter the millions of prospective illegal aliens who'll come here for the next amnesty! They will not dare breach our defenses for fear of having to sit a minor proficiency exam! Rudy is truly a great genius and the thinker of our time!
Posted to Politics at 01:59 PM | Comments (2)
New Haven's John DeStefano helps feds profit from illegal activity
John DeStefano is the mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, a city that CT or the federal government should consider investigating and temporarily taking over if necessary. He has links to the non-profit group "JUNTA for Progressive Action", and that group is collaborating with the Mexican government.Since we last checked in with this situation, Kica Matos - former executive director of Junta - is now "City Hall's new immigrant policy guru and mayoral staffer". She is or was the wife of Henry Fernandez, DeStefano's campaign manager in his failed bid to be governor of their state. Laura Huizar - formerly the program coordinator for economic development at Junta - now leads the group.
And, DeStefano has now announced that the city's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program - which helps low-income people file tax returns - is open to illegal aliens. And, both Matos (bear in mind, a City Hall staffer) and Junta will be reaching out to those illegal aliens to get them in the program.
The city's popular tax assistance program, formed by this public-private coalition, helped 773 New Haven residents claim $1.8 million in refunds and tax credits last year, and hopes to expand its volunteer base to serve 1,000 this year, according to City Hall.We're also treated to the charming thoughts of the mayor:
VITA added another feature: Low-income people can sign up for an IDA (individual development account), where each dollar they save will by matched by two dollars from Empower New Haven.
Why would undocumented immigrants volunteer to file taxes, especially when they don't qualify for social security benefits or the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, a tax break for the working poor?
Many already pay taxes and might hope for a tax refund.
Others are "hoping that in some point in time" the U.S. would pass a law granting citizenship to undocumented immigrants who've been living here for a certain number of years. Tax receipts would not only prove residency but also strengthen their case for citizenship, explained City Hall's new immigrant policy guru and mayoral staffer, Kica Matos.
The program's expansion to include the undocumented follows in the vein of the city's new immigrant protection policy, which allows immigrants to call police without fear of deportation.
"If you're a member of the community, you're working in the community, you're enjoying the benefits of the community, and you should pay taxes in the community... We're going to help folks do that, explain how they can do that, and not feel threatened that they're somehow being turned into immigration as a result."Have you ever done something, knowing what you were doing was not just wrong but a bit sleazy? I'm sure that at least one or two people present might have gotten that uneasy feeling somewhere during the proceedings, perhaps here:
Can they be assured they won't be deported? "There are no assurances," replied Matos. An IRS (Internal Revenue Services) spokeswoman didn't return a request for comment as to whether the IRS shares the ITIN list with the Department of Homeland Security, which handles immigration issues.UPDATE: The New Haven Independent approved and then later deleted the following comment I left on the article:
Matos said her research showed the IRS and homeland security office have been "reluctant" to get into each other's business concerning ITIN participants. In the ITIN's eight years of existence, only two instances have come up where ITIN filers ended up in trouble with immigration officials, Matos said.
If you live in CT, please contact your state reps and governor and urge them to investigate and consider temporarily taking over New Haven:
- Junta is collaborating with the Mexican government (tinyurl.com/2f973c)
- DeStefano has links to Junta, including his former campaign managed being married to their former exec director (Matos) and Matos now working for City Hall
- Matos and Junta will be "reaching out" to illegal aliens to get them into a "city-backed" program
Posted to Immigration2007a at 11:09 AM | Comments (1)
Useful idiot watch: Minnesota gets Mexican propaganda textbooks
The Mexican government is well aware of the "liberal" (read: weak) impulses of many of our citizens, and deviously takes advantage of them. One of the ways they do that is to use useful idiots (as well as Mexican partisans) to distribute Mexican propaganda to schoolchildren in the U.S., whether Mexican citizens or not.The latest example comes from Minnesota, and is reported by the Star-Tribune's Heron Marquez Estrada. That person was identified here (same cite in this PDF and here) as being a Mexican citizen and legal permanent resident in 1995. Whether he's changed his status is not known, but the article is simply pro-Mexico propaganda:
Mary Kay Feltes will get a present Wednesday as part of an unusual foreign aid package from Mexico.If you'd like to politely let Ms. Feltes know that she's a useful idiot: marykay *at* owatonna.info
"I can't wait to open the box and see what's inside," said Feltes, assistant director of the Owatonna Public Library -- one of 82 organizations around the state that will receive a box of 55 Mexican textbooks.
The books will be given to school districts, libraries, community centers, universities and penitentiaries throughout Minnesota and northern Wisconsin.Needless to say, Marquez Estrada doesn't disclose what viewpoint those books might present, such as the claim that the U.S. southwest rightfully belongs to Mexico.
The books, all in Spanish, are similar to those used in Mexico, covering everything from social sciences to mathematics. However, these books were produced by the Mexican government specifically for Mexicans abroad, especially the hundreds of thousands in the United States.
Another useful idiot chimes in:
Chris Correa [phone: 952-496-5095], director of curriculum and instruction for the Shakopee School District, said the books will help schools better address the needs of growing Mexican and Latino student populations.The books will be handed over on Wednesday, and those present include Mexican Consul Nathan Wolf and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman (no apparent relation to Norm). You can let him know what you think at: mayor *at* ci.stpaul.mn.us And, please write readerrep *at* startribune.com with your thoughts on their propaganda.
She said Shakopee, which has more than 800 Hispanic children in its schools, has tried for years to buy materials that "value original cultures."It will be nice to get the Mexican perspective on world and historical events," Correa said. "This is a connection we've wanted to pursue."
UPDATE: Carol Washington (Communications Associate/Constituent Services for St. Paul's mayor) responds to my email:
Thank you for sharing your concerns with the Mayor about the generous donation from the Mexican government.Oh, how wonderful. Of course, many or most of the recipients are public entities and not all cater to adults, and Washington didn't answer my question regarding vetting the books for anti-American propaganda. Maybe someone from the "Strib" will do that. Uh huh.
The books will be donated to organizations that have sought them. They have not been imposed on any group or individual. They were offered by the Mexican government and voluntarily accepted by those that are coming forth to receive them.
We appreciate the cultures and values of all ethnicities in Saint Paul, and welcome the opportunity to celebrate them and learn from them.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 08:52 PM | Comments (10)
Mexican consulate given free reign of Border Patrol station?
From this (no permalink):
Local 2544 has credible reports that the Naco Station PAIC allowed Mexican Consulate personnel full, unsupervised access to illegal aliens being held at the Naco Border Patrol station. Mexican Consulate personnel were personally escorted into the Naco Border Patrol detention area by the PAIC, and were allowed to interview the witnesses of an officer-involved shooting BEFORE any law enforcement personnel interviewed them. The Mexican Consulate personnel were allowed to independently remove illegal aliens from their detention cells, move them around in the detention area, and otherwise act as though they owned the place. We must note that the last time we checked, the detention area at the Naco Border Patrol station was the property of the United States, it was a "secure" area intended for law enforcement operations, and was paid for by American taxpayers. Allowing the Mexican Consulate personnel full and unsupervised physical access to the Border Patrol detention building is not only a grave security risk, but it's disgraceful. There have been numerous reports of the Naco station PAIC kowtowing to Mexican government officials, as well as calling illegal aliens "my people" and telling area ranchers that they "stole" their land from Mexico...
Posted to Immigration_consul at 01:44 PM | Comments (1)
Tamar Jacoby reiterates pro-busboy, pro-gardener stance
Tamar Jacoby debated Mark Krikorian of CIS at the National Review Institute's Conservative Summit over the weekend. Here's her thinking:"I'll never forget the Border Patrol agent who said to me, 'If another 9/11 happens and it happens on my watch because I'm chasing your next busboy or my next gardener, I'll never forgive myself,'" Jacoby said.Needless to say, Krikorian demolished what little argument she brought to the table.
"Let's give those busboys and gardeners a legitimate way to come and then the only people trying to swim across the river will be terrorists and swindlers and the border guards can go after them."
Jacoby called the current system "a nudge nudge, wink wink system of unrealistic law that we don't really enforce" and called on elected officials to "bring our laws a little bit more in line with reality."
And, as detailed at the second link, the quote from the BP agent sounded an awful like similar blather from Bush and the Wall Street Journal, although which came first isn't clear. David Brooks and John Fund have parroted Jacoby. See the third link for just a few of the ways her fantasy of a "guest" worker scheme ending illegal immigration would fail. And, the problem isn't with our current laws, the problem is with our current politicians who refuse to enforce our laws or exercise their oversight duty of making sure that our laws are enforced. Rather than re-making our laws to fit the desires of corrupt politicians, I suggest exposing those corrupt politicians and driving them from office.
What's most distressing here is that Jacoby can offer such incredibly weak arguments and still be somewhat taken seriously.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 11:28 AM | Comments (4)
Casa de Maryland spokesman: an illegal alien?
CASA de Maryland is an odious publicly-funded group that operates day laborer centers and was involved in last year's illegal immigration marches. Among their many other accomplishments, their Executive Director, Gustavo Torres, threatened to picket the schools of the children of Minuteman Project members.
Now, this post directs us to this article about Maryland legislators trying to block driver's licenses for illegal aliens; the latter includes a quote from Casa spokesman Dario Muralles.
I haven't been able to confirm it, but the post says that a reliable source has informed them that Muralles is an illegal alien, although he might be trying to adjust his status. They say that he was cited for driving without a license in May of 2006, and he failed to appear.
The March 16, 2004 Capital News Service article "Immigrant Tuition Bill Gets Facelift, Diverse Support" strongly implies that he's "undocumented", as does 'Immigrants show their legislative power at "Noche de Accion"'.
In Casa's 2005 Annual Report (PDF), he's listed as the "Special Assistant to the Executive Director".
Considering that Casa receives public funding, it's incumbent on officials in the area to verify that Muralles is just a volunteer and is not employed by Casa. If you're in the area, please urge them to do that.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 08:48 AM | Comments (1)
Humanitarians: why do you support people falling under trains?
James C. McKinley Jr. of the New York Times offers "Migrants Stream Into South Mexico". It provides some details on prospective Central American illegal aliens to the U.S. getting robbed in Mexico and some of them hopping freight trains and falling under the wheels.
If you're one of those who supports illegal immigration out of "humanitarian" grounds, would you be so kind as to read the article and then come back here for some questioning?
Thanks! Let's get started:
1. If things continue as they are, and prospective illegal aliens know that as long as they can make it to the U.S. they'll almost certainly find work, social services, an illegal immigration-supporting infrastructure (such as the Catholic Church), and so forth, and they also know they probably won't get deported and might even get amnesty, won't people continue to try to make these journeys with some of them ending in disaster?
2. If immigration "reform" passes, won't that send an even stronger message than currently? Won't the conditions in #1 be multiplied by the strong possibility of yet another amnesty? Won't those who can't make it into the limited guest worker schemes come anyway, and won't some of those journeys end in disaster?
3. However, if we could wave a magic wand, and people in Central America suddenly did not see the U.S. as a safety valve, wouldn't that end all those journeys ending in disaster? And, wouldn't that also force their home countries to reform rather than using the U.S. as a safety valve and as a way to enrich themselves? And, while we can't wave a magic wand, isn't stringently enforcing our immigration laws the most effective way to achieve the same result?
Please think this through, and then when you see the light publicly ask your leaders who support illegal immigration on "humanitarian" grounds the same questions.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 05:33 AM | Comments (4)
Lobbying for immigration "reform"
Mike Madden of Gannett News has a brief round-up of the money that was spent lobbying for and against immigration "reform" in 2005 and the first part of 2006 here.According to a Gannett study, $3.3 million was spent in that period, and most of that was the pro side. They also mention the Center for Responsive Politics. Their raw data is here, but it looks like some of the dollar figures might include all lobbying an organization does, not just that related to immigration.
A sidebar shows some of those lobbying for and against the Senate amnesty. On the against side were NumbersUSA, National Border Patrol Council, U.S. Border Control, and Federation for American Immigration Reform with almost a million total.
On the for side were:
E. & J. Gallo Winery: $20,000
American Immigration Lawyers Association: $85,000
National Association of Manufacturers: $60,000
Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform: $430,000 (members included National Council of La Raza, Service Employees International Union, UNITE Here, National Immigration Forum)
Essential Worker Immigration Coalition: $180,000
Chicago Celts for Immigration Reform: less than $10,000
Posted to Immigration2007a at 02:00 AM | Comments (1)
Kirk Caraway now opining at 3rd grade level (libertarians on immigration)
Kirk Caraway is the Internet Editor of the Nevada Appeal and apparently he's spent too much time alone in his cubicle reading old copies of Reason Magazine since he offers "If you can't stop illegal immigration, then legalize it":First, you have to stop the black market for labor. You do that by giving work permits to any immigrant who is not a felon.I notice a few minor issues with this scheme. Such as all the millions upon millions who'd come here to work, and then who couldn't find work and who'd end up overwhelming our social safety net. That would sooner rather than later become a major problem and we'd end up having to stop issuing permits. As soon as you stop issuing permits, you'd have to bring back the distinction between legal and illegal immigration. But, that distinction would have had to have been kept in place for all those who snuck over the border or who overstayed visitor visas.
Then you institute an immigration tax, where businesses would pay, say, 20 percent of any immigrant worker's salary to the government (split between federal, state and local) to help offset the costs of supporting these non-citizens.
Legalizing immigrant labor has many benefits. Immigrants who are not felons will not risk sneaking across the border - or paying smugglers - if they can come across legally, get their new free work permits, and be off on their merry way.
And, of course, the idea that all or most businesses would submit to a 20% tax when they could just hire black market labor as they do now is ludicrous. And, needless to say, all those millions and millions of new legal workers wouldn't just work: they'd impact our society such as by (just as an example) marching in our streets and making demands. And, they'd give political power inside the U.S. to the sending countries as our illegal aliens do now.
If there are any 4th or 5th grade teachers out there, please try a fun experiment by asking your class to see just how many holes they can punch into Caraway's thoughts.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 08:21 PM | Comments (1)
Macquarie buys Texas newspaper chain (Trans-Texas Corridor)
Macquarie is an Australian conglomerate that has interests in U.S. toll roads, including one in Indiana that it co-owns with the Spanish conglomerate Cintra. The latter company will operate the Trans-Texas Corridor, and one of Macquarie's subsidiaries has just bought a chain of 40 small Texas newspapers, some of which were critical of the TTC. Dallas Morning News President Jeremy L. Halbreich started the chain, and he'll stay on in a management capacity.
Now, certainly, this could just be a decision based on the profitability of that chain. Or, it could be an attempt to shape the local news in a way that will benefit their partner Cintra.
Posted to NAU at 11:38 AM | Comments (1)
Dirty Harry Reid: desert land deal lubricates legislation?
Surprisingly, the Los Angeles Times continues its multi-year effort to uncover "Dirty" Harry Reid scandals. The latest comes in "A deal in the desert for Sen. Reid?" by Chuck Neubauer and Tom Hamburger:...In 2002, Reid (D-Nev.) paid $10,000 to a pension fund controlled by Clair Haycock, a Las Vegas lubricants distributor and his friend for 50 years. The payment gave the senator full control of a 160-acre parcel in Bullhead City that Reid and the pension fund had jointly owned. Reid's price for the equivalent of 60 acres of undeveloped desert was less than one-tenth of the value the assessor placed on it at the time.Here's a previous Harry Reid scandal. In 1993 Reid opposed illegal immigration, but since then he's had a change of heart: he's the sponsor of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007: S9, and he supported illegal aliens who'd been brought in to take jobs from American hurricane victims.
Six months after the deal closed, Reid introduced legislation to address the plight of lubricants dealers who had their supplies disrupted by the decisions of big oil companies. It was an issue the Haycock family had brought to Reid's attention in 1994, according to a source familiar with the events.
If Reid were to sell the property for any of the various estimates of its value, his gain on the $10,000 investment could range from $50,000 to $290,000...
...In a statement, Reid's spokesman Jon Summers said that the transaction was not a gift and that the price was due to the property's history and the fact that only a partial interest was sold. Reid's action on the lubricants issue was unrelated to the sale and reflected the senator's interest in fairness for small businesses, Summers said...
Posted to Politics at 10:35 AM | Comments (1)
American Nursery and Landscape Association: green thumbs up for Bush immigration plan
The American Nursery and Landscape Association joins the other groups issuing press communiques relating to Bush's SOTU speech, in which he (for the umpteenth time) promoted a "guest" worker plan and amnesty for illegal aliens. As can be expected, the press release doesn't say anything, but for completeness' sake here are the thoughts of John Farner, ANLA's director of legislative relations:
"After years of advocating for comprehensive immigration reform, we are very encouraged by the amount of time and focus that President Bush gives to finding a workable solution to the problem... With his leadership, we are confident that Congress can follow the principles laid out by the President and pass comprehensive immigration reform this year... With Congress addressing the H-2B cap each year, along with continuing to show strong support for AgJOBS, we need a comprehensive solution that addresses both our seasonal and year-round employment needs... What the President has laid out is a workable framework to allow us to fix both the current temporary worker programs and create new programs that will ensure our economy and our borders secure. It's time for our industry to join the President and renew our call for comprehensive immigration reform."
My solution: just mow your own lawn.
Previously: Esperanza USA, AILA, AAJC respond to immigration in Bush SOTU
Posted to Immigration2007a at 04:25 AM | Comments (1)
NBPC responds to Johnny Sutton Ramos/Compean claims
Johnny Sutton is the U.S. Attorney to the Western District of Texas and he led the prosecution of Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean. He's also the author of a "Myths vs. Facts" article (PDF) giving his side of the case. Now, the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) has a response to his article, available from this page.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 07:19 PM | Comments (0)
Costa Mesa: public arrest log includes immigration status
Costa Mesa, CA is making the immigration status of all inmates in their jail part of the public record. It's not online and you need to visit during the day and evening, so if anyone's in the area the aggregated information might be of interest.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 03:03 PM | Comments (0)
WFMOJALI: Gil Cedillo wants driver's licenses for illegal aliens, again and again
Welcome to the second edition of "Working For Mexico, Or Just Acts Like It?", which will feature legislators and others who - while they may not actually be receiving cash payments from Mexico - certainly act like it (previously: Kyrsten Sinema).It's also the ninth edition of this post's subject, California state senator Gil Cedillo ("One Bill Gil"), attempting to give CA driver's licenses to illegal aliens.
On the 15th of this month Cedillo introduced the latest version of SB60. It's currently in the Transportation and Housing committee, and the text of it is here. It implements the new federal Real ID requirements, with some additions:
Existing law requires the department to require every applicant for an original driver's license or identification card to submit satisfactory proof that the applicant's presence in the United States is authorized under federal law and prohibits the department from issuing a license or card to a person who does not do so. Existing law requires the department to adopt regulations, including procedures for verifying citizenship or legal residency of applicants for driver's licenses and identification cards, and to make a specified report, annually.Gray Davis signing one of the earlier bills played a large role in his recall. Arnie Schwarzenegger has since vetoed a bill or two, but considering his new "centrist" role and his link to the Mexican government it's not clear what he'd do now.
This bill would repeal those requirements on the date that the Secretary of State receives a notice from the Director of Motor Vehicles indicating that the department is in compliance with the implementation of the federal Real ID Act of 2005.
If you'd like to politely but firmly suggest that Cedillo is in the wrong country: dist22.casen.govoffice.com
Posted to Immigration_dls at 04:57 AM | Comments (11)
Democratic Party has a fan: Felipe Calderon
Speaking at Davos:Mexican President Felipe Calderon said his country has a better chance of resolving disputes with the U.S. over immigration now that Democrats control Congress...Yes, and Mexico wants as much of it as they can get. And:
Calderon, who took office last year, said it was essential to persuade Americans that Mexico and the U.S. have "complementary" economies. "Mexico has manpower, and America has much capital," he said.
Calderon recounted that Bush, in a telephone conversation two days ago, said he was pushing forward a compromise immigration reform package on Capitol Hill.The story is dated 06:01 PM CST today, perhaps implying that Bush called his new amigo on Wednesday. However, because of the various timezones involved it might have been the day of the SOTU.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 08:07 PM | Comments (2)
Bush official: NAFTA superhighway is "urban legend"
From the "I knew there was a conspiracy when they started denying there was a conspiracy" comes this:Congressmen and a policy official of the Department of Transportation engaged in a spirited exchange over whether NAFTA Super Highways were a threat to U.S. sovereignty or an imaginary "Internet conspiracy," such as the "black helicopter myths," advanced by fringe lunatics.The article also contains excerpts from a speech by former Secretary of Transportation Norm Mineta gave on April 30, 2004. He was speaking at a NASCO (North American SuperCorridor Coalition) meeting, and he basically declared open borders for Mexican trucks.
At a meeting Wednesday of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Jeffrey N. Shane, undersecretary of transportation for policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation, testified.
During the questioning by committee members, Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, asked Shane about the existence of plans for a "NAFTA superhighway."
Shane responded he was "not familiar with any plan at all, related to NAFTA or cross-border traffic."
After further questioning by Poe, Shane stated reports of NAFTA superhighways or corridors were "an urban legend."
At this, the chairman, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., questioned aloud whether Shane was just "gaming semantics" when responding to Poe's question.
"Mr. Shane was either blissfully ignorant or he may have been less than candid with the committee," Poe told WND in a telephone interview...
If there is no attempt to create a "NAFTA superhighway", why are the Bush administration and their helpers so eager to deny it, despite the mountain of evidence showing it's being planned? Why, for instance, are there zero relevant hits for "NASCO" and zero hits under any conditions for either "North American SuperCorridor Coalition" or "North American Super Corridor Coalition" in the archives for both the Washington Post and the New York Times?
Posted to NAU at 03:14 PM | Comments (3)
AVWatch: let's see how long facts stay in Villaraigosa's Wikipedia entry
Wikipedia is completely unreliable not just because of the possibility that an entry contains errors or biased statements. The more pernicious aspect of its unreliability is missing information. Statements of fact in an entry can be verified, but unless a visitor is familiar with the subject, they won't be able to figure out what the entry isn't telling them about the subject.
A case in point is the entry on Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (tinyurl.com/33tyxc). What you won't find in that entry is the undisputed fact that while at UCLA, he was a leader of the group MEChA. In fact, during the L.A. mayoral campaign someone followed him around with a sign and eventually forced him to somewhat renounce his involvement in that group.
As far as I can determine, information on his involvement was deleted from his WP entry on May 9, 2006 and it has not been reinstated (diff: tinyurl.com/2shlrh). I didn't add the paragraph that was deleted, but I had a discussion about another similar paragraph that I added that was subsequently deleted on their talk page (do a find for LonewackoDotCom at tinyurl.com/2l63tj)
As a test, I'm going to insert a modified version of that paragraph and see how long it sticks and who removes it. This is the original paragraph:
On the other hand, there is still some lingering resentment from his district after breaking the promise to serve a full term in the city council. He has remained mum about plans for higher office. Among conservatives, he is often referred to derisively as ''Mayor [[Reconquista]]'' because of his membership in [[MEChA]] and his support for [[amnesty]] for [[illegal immigrants]].
I'm going to change that to the following and put it near the end of the article in the 'Reputation' subsection of the 'Mayoralty' section:
At [[UCLA]], Villaraigosa was a leader of the group [[MEChA]] [http://www.bruinalumni.com/antonio/antonioindex.html] [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=3531] [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/recall/20030830-9999_1n30mecha.html]. Some, such as [[John and Ken]] of [[KFI]], derisively refer to him as ''Mayor [[Reconquista]]'' because of that and because of his support for [[amnesty]] for [[illegal immigrants]].
Note that there are at least three links supporting the claim that Villaraigosa was involved with MEChA, so one wonders what interesting excuse whoever deletes this will come up with.
Posted to Miscellania at 12:11 PM | Comments (4)
Democrats, minimum wage, and Sessions' immigration amendments
Senator Jeff Sessions has tried to add two immigration-related amendments to the current minimum wage bill. The first would greatly increase fines against employers convicted of hiring illegal aliens. The second would ban employers convicted of hiring illegal aliens from working on federal contract for ten years. (It's not known whether they could work as subcontractors or similar.)The Democrat response?
"Amendment here. Amendment there," thundered Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat... "Amendment on Social Security. Amendment on immigration. And all the chortling and laughing as they go on about their business," he boomed... Republicans are "not for those millions of Americans who are heading home tonight, who've worked long and hard, facing their children hoping that at last ... the United States isn't going to fail us," he said. "What do we tell them after five days?"Of course, as discussed here, some or all of the Democratic support for raising the minimum wage may have less to do with those who receive that wage and more to do with the fact that many union contracts are pegged to multiples of that wage.
Despite being lifted directly from last year's Senate amnesty bill, the immigration fines amendment was removed. The federal contracts ban was approved 94-0.
However, that vote might not last long:
Business lobbyists believe lawmakers will ultimately strip from Senate minimum wage legislation any sanctions against companies caught hiring illegal immigrants. Whether they can keep it out of immigration law is another matter...
Angelo Amador, director of immigration policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, predicted the contracting ban would not likely survive inside a final minimum wage bill...
..."The Sessions amendments are comparable to using the nuclear option for a paperwork violation," Jeffrey D. Shoaf of the Associated General Contractors of America wrote to senators in a last ditch attempt to kill the immigration provision...
Others voicing opposition were the American Meat Institute, whose meat packing members have been frequent targets of immigration raids. Others who signed on to a letter of opposition included the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Homebuilders and the Associated Builders and Contractors...
Posted to Immigration2007a at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)
Democrats demand: let's jump together on immigration "reform"
One of the many lies told by immigration "reform" supporters is that their massive amnesty has widespread public support. The Democrats are dumb, just not that dumb:Democrats say they won't shoulder the responsibility alone for any comprehensive and politically sensitive plan that includes Bush's proposals to give 12 million illegal aliens a chance at citizenship and to create a guest-worker program.It's not just Bloomberg reporter James Rowley imagining this, he's got quotes:
Substantial Republican support is "a prerequisite," said Democratic Representative Howard Berman of California. Key Democrats and congressional aides from both parties suggest 50 to 60 of the House's 202 Republicans is the minimum backing to guarantee passage. "I would hope the number would be closer to 100," said Illinois Democrat Luis Gutierrez, a sponsor of immigration reform.Shouldn't the need for "bipartisan political cover" be somewhat of an indication that what they want is a bad idea?
..."The only way for us to do meaningful immigration reform is for it to be bipartisan," said Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, the third-ranking House Democrat. "If that issue's politicized, we're not going to get anywhere."
There are at least 175 House Democrats who would support comprehensive legislation, Gutierrez said. If Republicans produce from 50 to 60 votes, that would put the plan over the top with room to spare and provide the bipartisan political cover both sides want.
"It ain't going to happen without the support of Republican members -- if it happens," said Illinois Representative Rahm Emanuel, a Democratic House leader and supporter of revamping immigration law.
...Arizona Republican Representative Jeff Flake, a sponsor of comprehensive immigration legislation, said he is hopeful for compromise. "A good section of my party" will buy that idea, he said, drawing a parallel with bipartisan support for raising the minimum wage.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 05:24 AM | Comments (2)
Spanish-language Democrat response to SOTU (Xavier Becerra)
Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) gave the Spanish-language Democrat response to the State of the Union.He spent a few paragraphs on immigration and said the standard things. About the only thing different from what Bush said is that he went even further with the smears. Whereas Bush just said "without animosity and without amnesty", Becerra included the following:
On immigration, after years of Republican attacks and inaction, Democrats are ready to lead. For us to succeed, however, we will need the support of President Bush, and we are ready to work with him.Just before that, he complained about "parents must work sometimes two jobs each, just to pay the bills". However, the "reform" he supports would flood the U.S. with cheap labor and reduce wages for those parents who are working two jobs. Sure, they might have to work three jobs, but at least they'd have given Becerra more race-based power.
Our bipartisan principles for comprehensive immigration reform are clear: protect our borders responsibly, fix the backlogged visa process, and establish a path for legal residency for immigrants who have earned it through years of hard work.
Our immigration system is broken. Now is the time for comprehensive immigration reform.
He also complains about (presumably) U.S. citizens not being able to afford college educations. Yet, he supports the DREAM Act, a completely anti-American bill that takes college discounts from U.S. citizens and gives them to citizens of other countries who are here illegally.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 02:16 AM | Comments (1)
Esperanza USA, AILA, AAJC respond to immigration in Bush SOTU
The far-lefties have spent a few hundred dollars sending out press releases responding to Bush's pro-amnesty statements in the State of the Union. If they say anything other than the standard blather it will be noted:
* Esperanza USA and their president Rev. Luis Cortes, Jr. say: "Thank You, Mr. President"
* The AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association) is "Encouraged by President Bush's Pledge to Push for Immigration Overhaul". Notable only for their use of Action Words (or perhaps NLP): "...Americans have been thirsting for the federal government to take strong, decisive action on this critical issue. But Americans also want a meaningful, lasting solution... It will take the President's leadership and active engagement with Congress to see this initiative across the finish line."
* The Asian American Justice Center and their President and Executive Director Karen K. Narasaki respond. They complain about long waits for legal immigration, but obviously live in a fantasy world where that can be addressed at the same time as the massive amnesty that they support is implemented.
Earlier: Deepak Bhargava/Center for Community Change on SOTU/immigration
Posted to Immigration2007a at 10:58 PM | Comments (0)
Reuters' Tim Gaynor leads "fearful undocumented workers" charge
As sure as Spring follows Winter, the occasional immigration raid leads to a series of media reports offering sympathetic portrayals of fearful-and-humble illegal aliens. Tim Gaynor of Reuters leads the charge this time with "California Latinos fearful after immigration raids":Cook Rosa Maria Salazar's eyes dart anxiously to the door as customers file into the Salvadoran cafe in a heavily Hispanic neighborhood near downtown Los Angeles.She is, of course, an "undocumented worker". Then:
"We're terrified. The police could come for us at any time and deport us," she said in Spanish earlier this week as diners fingered maize tortillas stuffed with beans and pork scratchings and chatted softly...
The-seven day Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sweep, dubbed "Operation Return to Sender," targeted jails across five counties in the Los Angeles area, where police took 423 of what they called "criminal aliens" into federal custody for deportation, after being held on charges unrelated to their immigration status.Is Gaynor trying to imply that ICE's appelation is incorrect? Are they not "criminal aliens"? Would Reuters prefer a euphemism be used?
Then, we're treated to a quote from Antonio Bernabe of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, a group which has allegedly collaborated with the Mexican government. Needless to say, Gaynor doesn't mention that and I'm positive that Reuters has never published an article looking into the allegations. The quote claims - as is standard for this type of article - that "people are afraid to go out".
Please send a short, polite note to a Reuters editor using the form here: today.reuters.com/HelpAndInfo/ContactUs.aspx
Posted to Immigration2007a at 02:07 PM | Comments (4)
Teresa Watanabe on illegal alien children
Teresa Watanabe of the Los Angeles Times has a somewhat balanced overview of the issue of illegal alien children in "Children of illegal immigrants are caught in a web of conflicting public policies". It features a few quotes from CIS and FAIR representatives, but it also ends on this PIIPPish note that she or someone else there should take a closer look at:During a recent visit to the Gomezes' tidy Los Angeles apartment, all four family members spoke of the importance of hard work and education. Cesar and Thania's father, Felipe Gomez, who came here illegally in 1990, said his main motivation was to give his two children opportunities.This follows a slight promotion of the DREAM Act, and while there might have been others this is the first article I can recall that sought out the parents of those who would be given college discounts under that anti-American bill. Unfortunately, Watanabe didn't ask him the follow-up questions: "so, what you're saying is that all those benefits we give to illegal aliens served as an incentive? And, without those incentives, you wouldn't have come here, right? And, as long as we continue to offer such incentives, more people will come here illegally, right?"
Indeed, Gomez said, he wouldn't have brought his children here if they could not have attended public schools.
Cesar Gomez works full time, volunteers with the Central American Resource Center and last year marched for immigrant rights.I tend to strongly suspect that Watanabe was introduced to him through CARECEN, but unfortunately she doesn't disclose how that happened. And, while illegal aliens do have human rights, those rights aren't to be confused (as he does) with citizenship or legal resident rights. If he's a citizen of Mexico or another country, he should talk to them about his citizenship rights. Needless to say, Watanabe ends on his misleading statements rather than challenging them.
"Whatever sentiments people have toward immigrants," Cesar said, "everyone is human and deserves equal rights and equal opportunities — especially in this great country, especially those who have tried so hard to stay ahead."
Posted to Immigration2007a at 11:21 AM | Comments (2)
If you can't trust a Spanish-language radio station, who can you trust?
La Ley 107.9 FM ("The Law") is a Chicago radio station owned by Spanish Broadcasting System. In 2005 they held a promotion to give away a Corvette, but the winner was an illegal alien and she's currently suing the company and their lawyer. The latter, one James Cuevas, sent a letter to the winner:
"I will caution you that if you insist on filing suit against SBS, I will in turn be forced to refer this matter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as I believe your client is in this country illegally. Please communicate that to your client for her consideration."
According to the company, they were just misunderstood, and we're told that they also refer to themselves as a "champion for Latinos and the legalization of undocumented immigrants". In fact, one of their DJs ("El Chokolate") was apparently one of the organizers of at least one of the Chicago marches for illegal immigration.
This is similar to the Toys R Us case, and of course some may recall the KRCA billboard issue.
UPDATE: Sean Hannity seems to think that because the rules of the contest said she had to be present to win, but because her presence here was not lawful, then the radio station is justified on those grounds alone from not giving her the prize. My explanation: Sean is in a bidding war between the Bush administration and the Dems. The latter want to hire him away to make the former look even worse.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 10:23 AM | Comments (1)
Diebold voting machine opened with key copied from photo on their site
This post contains a screenshot of a page from Diebold's online store where they offered "Replacement Access Keys" for their Accuvote-TS voting machine. Someone used that photo to file down a few blank keys, and two out of three of the keys opened the machines. Apparently Diebold uses the same key for all machines of that model. Once opened, apparently a "vote switching virus" can be installed into the machine. They've since apparently sanitized their site.
Posted to Politics at 09:38 AM | Comments (1)
Schwarzenegger: corporatism for corrupt growers
California's Mexico-linked governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has shown himself to be a true humanitarian:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Tuesday that Escondido would get one of several temporary "one-stop" assistance centers aimed at helping agricultural workers who may have lost their jobs because of freezing temperatures that have hit the state... Darrel Ng, a spokesman for the governor, said the assistance centers would help farm, nursery and field workers sign up for unemployment benefits, find other work, get food stamps and find health care assistance, if they had lost their jobs...
What a humanitarian! I'm sure this has absolutely nothing to do with him attempting to keep a workforce for corrupt growers around, rather than (for instance) Mexico stepping in and offering to repatriate their citizens who are here illegally. Politically-connected growers - such as those who accompanied Arnie on his Big Trip to Mexico - no doubt had nothing to do with this gesture, and this is not an example of corporatism with a smiley face.
Of course, if our media worked, they might look into the connections that Arnie and the Bush administration have to growers, they might reveal which growers went with him on his trip, and they might ask the Mexican government what they intend to do to help their citizens (see, for instance, "California freeze leaves migrant farm laborers out of work and money", link).
Posted to California at 05:03 AM | Comments (0)
AVWatch: does Villaraigosa really support immigration "reform" or just open borders?
As discussed yesterday in regards to Deepak Bhargava of Center for Community Change, many advocates of "comprehensive immigration reform" don't seem to be completely on the up-and-up. No big surprise there.Specifically, many of those who claim to support "reform" also speak out against those rare immigration raids that the Bush administration conducts. Yet, "reform" supposedly contains enforcement provisions, and many of those who support "reform" use that as a selling point. If they don't support enforcement now, will they support it in the future? Won't those who lean towards amnesty now simply support another amnesty for all those illegal aliens who'll come here in expection of being part of the next amnesty?
Hopefully someone somewhere can ask them about it. In the meantime, here's another example, with Erica Werner of the AP acting as the transcriptionist:
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Wednesday that immigration reform is needed more than raids like those that arrested more than 750 people in the Los Angeles metropolitan area over the past week.If I'd been there and had the chance to ask him a few follow-up questions and those had then been transcribed in turn by Erica Werner, I think that might go a long way towards ending his political career. I urge everyone to get out there and start asking the tough questions that the AP "reporters" of this world won't ask.
Villaraigosa said labor laws should be enforced, borders secured and a pathway to citizenship offered to illegal immigrants who've resided in this country, worked and paid taxes.
"I think that will produce much better results than the raids that occur, that oftentimes two weeks later those people are back," he said while taking audience questions after a speech at the National Press Club.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 02:37 AM | Comments (2)
Kyrsten Sinema oppressed by Minuteman oppressors
Arizona state Rep. Kyrsten Sinema recently introduced a bill that would turn civilian border patrols, neighborhood watches, and the like into felonies. Now, she claims that she's receiving threatening emails about it, and that may well be true. However, it's a standard leftie tactic to claim to be a victim and to try to portray all those on the other side as violent.
As for the article, 3TV/AZ Family must have good lawyers. The title of the article is "Local lawmaker receives threatening emails from Minutemen", which would lead one to believe that supposed reporter Claudia Rivero has actually verified the identities and affiliations of the senders. I tend to doubt that:
Many of the emails are signed by people who claim to be members of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. But the president of the group says they do not tolerate such behavior.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 07:43 PM | Comments (4)
Deepak Bhargava/Center for Community Change on SOTU/immigration
Speaking apparently on behalf of all "immigrant communities" in the U.S., Deepak Bhargava, the Executive Director of the far-left Center for Community Change, responds thusly to the immigration section of Bush's SOTU:
In 2006, Congress used 'immigration' to drag our nation through one of the most racially divisive political campaigns in recent memory and the Bush Administration embarked on a campaign of highly publicized workplace raids displacing thousands of families in the name of "getting tough" on immigration... For immigrant communities, actions speak louder than words: humane and comprehensive immigration reform can begin to heal the breach.
Now I'm confused. Isn't stepped-up enforcement supposed to be a part of immigration "reform"? After we get "reform", won't illegal aliens - for instance, those who couldn't make it into the "guest" worker scheme - continue to be arrested and deported? In that case, can anyone imagine Bhargava saying anything different? Are we supposed to believe that after "reform" Bhargava will start supporting immigration enforcement, including raids?
We're also informed that the coalition FIRM ("Fair Immigration Reform Movement") will be meeting in D.C. next week to plan ahead, apparently for more marches. FIRM is part of the We Are America Alliance.
We're also informed of this perhaps ominous news:
"Millions stand ready to mobilize for justice. While President Bush and Congressional leaders have expressed sincere intentions this year, immigrant communities are taking nothing for granted. We are preparing to work harder than ever to ensure that President Bush lives up to his promise and that the new Congress performs differently from the old one."
When I first read the first sentence above, it seemed like a threat to me. The following sentences soften it somewhat, but one wonders how it was meant to come across.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 05:23 AM | Comments (6)
Pro-illegal immigration loons descend on Farmers Branch
Farmers Branch, Texas is trying to pass a Hazleton-style ordinance designed to reduce the numbers of illegal aliens in the town. In the past this has resulted in things like Hector Flores - formerly of LULAC - encouraging a Hispanic-only house buying binge.
This biased article describes the latest doings, including apparently linking to the most recent versions of the ordinances and including quotes like this from one Elizabeth Villafranca of the group Uniting Farmers Branch:
"We are not pro-illegal immigration... We simply feel that this is not something that the City of Farmers Branch or any other municipality should be involved in... Most of us believe that the Federal Government needs to provide comprehensive immigration reform at the earliest moment, which would include a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for many undocumented citizens."
They aren't supporters of illegal immigration (honest!) They just want to take every step possible to avoid immigration enforcement and make sure that illegal aliens can continue living and working there. The second sentence is simply a dodge, and one used by many other illegal immigration supporters. They know full well that the federal government isn't doing hardly anything about the issue; if it was, they'd probably be suggesting the opposite local reaction. And, of course, there's no such thing as an "undocumented citizen", and the fact that someone would even say such a thing mistakenly illustrates that they do not respect our immigration laws.
And, were informed:
State Representative Rafael Anchia flew in from Austin to attend the Council meeting... "As city council members at the local level, you have a burden... A very productive thing for this council to do is to ask the federal government to ask for a comprehensive immigration program at the federal level."
A very productive thing for those in the area to do is pass out flyers explaining exactly what a "comprehensive immigration program" means and what it would do.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 01:12 AM | Comments (0)
Bush State of the Union Address 2007 live-blogging!
The Skull, aka Michael Chertoff is here... Alberto Gonzales is not there, in case he has to become president...
Together, we can restrain the spending appetite of the federal government
Why's he trying to blame it on the faceless bureaucrats in the "federal government" when that's mostly his and his party's problem?
[We need "guest" workers...] As a result, they won't have to try to sneak in — and that will leave border agents free to chase down drug smugglers, and criminals, and terrorists.
This is the standard BS line offered by John Fund, Tamar Jacoby and others. The idea that we should let those who want to come here dictate our immigration policies is insane. And, even with a "guest" worker scheme, people who weren't terrorists or criminals would keep trying to sneak in, such as those who didn't get into the "guest" worker scheme, former "guests", or spongers.
We will enforce our immigration laws at the worksite, and give employers the tools to verify the legal status of their workers — so there is no excuse left for violating the law.
It's quite difficult to take the word of someone who has done everything they could to only enforce our immigration laws when absolutely politically necessary. Even Bill Clinton's level of immigration enforcement was higher than Bush's.
And we need to resolve the status of the illegal immigrants who are already in our country - without animosity and without amnesty.
The first is a smear and the second is a lie. Bush is trying to make it appear that those who want to enforce our immigration laws are exhibiting animosity. And, any form of legalization will be seen as an amnesty by millions of prospective illegal aliens around the world, no matter how Bush wants to lie and redefine the word.
UPDATE: Did any TV pundit call Bush on any part of his immigration-related BS? I didn't see any.
On a humorous note, the Hannity-Colmes text-message poll is currently running 84% rating the speech "excellent".
UPDATE 2: In keeping with the latter reminder that there are still people holed up somewhere who still unbelievably support Bush, for entertainment purposes only let's take a little trip to Koolaidiandia, aka Blogs For Bush. First up is Matt Margolis to let us know that "aside from running or contributing to something like seven blogs, having a full time job, and writing a book, I also am a graduate student". But, wait, that's not all. He also informs us that "I expect to get a copy of the speech in advance of the delivery" and "I'll be missing a blogger conference call with White House Press Secretary Tony Snow". Don't you wish you were as connected as Matt? But, as I could have predicted, the award for Most Besotten Comment goes to his fellow contributor Mark Noonan:
It was a great speech, by a great man we are very lucky to have as President of the United States.
If anyone spots anything worse - or his opposite number at DU or cpusa.org or something - please leave a comment.
Posted to Politics at 06:05 PM | Comments (0)
Bush State of the Union Address 2007 features blackmail
The SOTU excerpt has Bush blackmailing the country he supposedly works for:
we cannot fully secure the border unless we take pressure off the border - and that requires a temporary worker program.
That statement is either completely Clintonian or complete bunk depending on how it's parsed. For the first, nothing anyone could ever do would "fully secure" the border: that's physically impossible.
If we parse that non-Clintonianly, then Bush could secure the border tomorrow if he wanted to. Simply start cracking down (really cracking down) on employers (hey! a new job for Johnny Sutton) and do whatever else is legal and necessary to make sure that most of the flow is going the other way.
This Bush statement is essentially blackmail: "help my contributors get the cheap labor they want (but don't absolutely need) and then I might do the job I swore I'd do."
Also: the wife of Border Patrol agent Ramos will be attending the SOTU as a guest of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA).
Posted to Politics at 05:28 PM | Comments (0)
Week-long SoCal sweep nets 750 fugitive aliens (JIT SOTU; LULAC)
Just-In-Time for president Bush's State of the Union speech, ICE has conducted a week-long sweep in Southern California for more than 750 fugitive aliens who had either already been deported for crimes or who had been given a deportation order and were still here. Over 400 of them were already in jails.Meanwhile, Tyche Hendricks describes the raids in the northern part of the state... in her own special way:
...Latino community advocates said the enforcement action has sown fear in East Bay immigrant communities.Even if ICE had a team of lawyers along to make sure they followed every rule to the utmost degree, illegal immigration supporters like LULAC - assisted by people like Hendricks - would find something to whine about. In the past decade or so, has LULAC ever fully supported even one instance of immigration enforcement?
The Concord chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens filed a compliant Monday with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
LULAC chapter President Jerry Okendo said agents were not properly identifying themselves and, armed with a warrant for an individual, they were sweeping through apartment complexes and picking up anyone who could not provide proof they were living in the United States legally.
"We understand that ICE has a job to do," said Okendo, "But we also understand that there are laws and guidelines they have to follow, and they are not. As a civil rights organization, we're infuriated."
Richmond City Councilman John Marquez has a standard complaint which is basically just a dodge:
"We've worked a long time to develop a relationship between our Police Department and our Latino community so we can get control of the violence taking place in our city... Now when someone identifies themselves as police, people are afraid to cooperate."Someone should publicly point out to him that his concerns could be answered if he'd support the enforcement of our immigration laws.
Posted to Politics at 01:24 PM | Comments (1)
Senators on Swift raid; "designed to fail"; Chertoff "not in the business of doing amnesty"
[See the first update] Reading about yesterday's Senate meeting where they discussed the recent immigration raids at Swift and Company locations in various states left me feeling like I was having an intense spell of vertigo inside a House of Mirrors. Who's doing what and what are they trying to get at here?Were the Swift raids a setup by the Bush administration designed to provoke outcry from far-lefties and from various representatives and thereby encourage "comprehensive immigration reform"? Are the Senators at this meeting in the pocket of pork producers?
The lawmakers said they'd heard worries from companies that use a government document-verification system that's intended to screen out illegal workers.Is the Bush administration trying to scuttle the Basic Pilot Program, perhaps to be replaced with something else?
Participation in the program "in good faith" immunizes companies against prosecution for hiring illegal immigrants. But the widely known loopholes in the system – in which companies share their records with the government – have also made thousands of employers susceptible to costly shutdowns of their facilities.
The senators said they would push for a better approach to verifying workers' identities by pushing to remove restrictions that inhibit some federal agencies, such as the Social Security Administration and Internal Revenue Service, from working with immigration officials due to privacy concerns or other interests.That sounds like a good thing, but are there downsides such as one might expect from proposals being pushed by those who support massive immigration?
Michael Chertoff of the DHS showed up and uttered one of his most ludicrous comments yet:
"It is not an acceptable alternative for us to say that if a company is cooperating they can continue to use illegal workers... That would be in effect an amnesty, and we are not in the business of doing amnesty."And, Sen. John Cornyn said:
"I can't imagine a system that would be better designed to fail than our current laws."To a certain extent that might be true, but unfortunately his solution is a massive amnesty.
UPDATE: My vertigo is not helped with this post from John Hawkins in which he recounts a Tony Snow teleconference he attended today:
With immigration, we're being aggressive on the borders. We're catching heat for being too tough on businesses that hire illegals. We're building fences. We're putting state of the art technology on the border. We got rid of catch and release. We get the message. But, what's the best way to deal with the people who are here? We have laid out the most difficult path to citizenship in history. They have to pay taxes and social security, they can't break the law, they have to keep working. They have to master the English language, pay back taxes and fines. We want to work with the base on this and we think we don't get enough credit for what we do right on illegal immigration.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 10:42 AM | Comments (1)
Congressional White Caucus: for whites only
From this:Freshman Rep. Stephen I. Cohen, D-Tenn., is not joining the Congressional White Caucus after several current and former members made it clear that a black lawmaker was not welcome.Similar: "African-American Rep. wants to join Tennessee's White Caucus"
"I think they're real happy I'm not going to join," said Cohen, who succeeded Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn., in a majority-white Memphis district. "It's their caucus and they do things their way. You don't force your way in. You need to be invited."
Cohen said he became convinced that joining the caucus would be "a social faux pas" after seeing news reports that former Rep. William Lacy Clay Sr., D-Mo., a co-founder of the caucus, had circulated a memo telling members it was "critical" that the group remain "exclusively European-American."
...The bylaws of the caucus do not make race a prerequisite for membership, a House aide said, but no non-white member has ever joined.
Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., who is black, tried in 1975 when he was a sophomore representative and the group was only 6 years old...
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 09:34 AM | Comments (0)
Hidden details of Ramos/Compean case; sealed evidence
This site occasionally tries to have an introductory paragraph for new readers. Other sites do things differently. So, there might be interesting background here about the case of the two Border Patrol agents (Ramos and Compean) who appear to have been railroaded by their own government, but I didn't bother to read it through to see exactly what that was. Nevertheless, it would seem to be required reading for those who want to support the government's view of events.
UPDATE: T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, discussed sealed evidence in the case on Lou Dobbs' show. He doesn't know what it consists of, but:
"Well, some of the information goes to the sealed indictment regarding the second load of marijuana, of about a thousand pounds of marijuana. DEA agents were involved in that arrest. And there were other people who were called as witnesses for the defense but not allowed to testify."
Posted to Immigration2007a at 02:14 AM | Comments (3)
Help! I want to hate Hillary Clinton... but I can't!
Dear Mr. Povich:
I regret to inform you that I am unable to appear on your upcoming "Help! I want to hate Hillary Clinton... but I can't!" episode due to this issue being extremely painful for me. I understand many of the reasons why I should hate the "Hill-da-beast", but as soon as I see her and her pastel pantsuits all those thoughts are replaced with a feeling somewhat similar to admiration.
I realize that if she became president she'd probably conduct raids of opposition bloggers' homes and perhaps send a newly-reinstated Janet Reno out with her flamethrower to take care of the stragglers. Somehow, I don't care.
She wants to mandate that it takes a village? OK, so we all have an extreme thought or two, right? I have been to therapists about this, but none have been able to find a cure. They do inform me that I'm otherwise normal, in that I am able to deeply hate most of those who support Hillary or who are at least on the same side, from Barbra Streisand to Howard Dean. And, while I do have worries about yet another Clinton, all of those feelings take a back seat to the feelings I get when I hear Hillary saying even mundane phrases like, "let's chat". Yes, I realize who also supports her, and... well... I feel like I'm giving aid and comfort to those who mean the rest of us harm... but, I just can't help it. I'm so sorry. So, very, very sorry.
Yours,
/s/
Posted to Politics at 07:12 PM | Comments (0)
Did Johnny Sutton prosecute Ramos/Compean under the right law?
Holy moley:Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-N.C.) has on record a letter written to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Oct.11, 2006, charging that Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean were charged under a statue that did not apply to the facts of the case. As previously reported by WND, the interview I conducted on Friday, Jan. 17, 2007 with the prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, adds strong support to Rep. Jones's contention.That section is here:
Jones notes that Ramos and Compean were convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. Section 924(c). This statute was written to increase the penalties when a violent criminal, such as a drug trafficker or a rapist, carries or uses a weapon during the commission of the crime. Law enforcement officers, including Border Patrol agents, are issued weapons by the Border Patrol to carry in the normal pursuit of their duties...
Except to the extent that a greater minimum sentence is otherwise provided by this subsection or by any other provision of law, any person who, during and in relation to any crime of violence or drug trafficking crime (including a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime that provides for an enhanced punishment if committed by the use of a deadly or dangerous weapon or device) for which the person may be prosecuted in a court of the United States, uses or carries a firearm, or who, in furtherance of any such crime, possesses a firearm, shall, in addition to the punishment provided for such crime of violence or drug trafficking crime... (iii) if the firearm is discharged, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 10 years.Is what Ramos and Compean did a "crime of violence"? Corsi suggests that they should have been prosecuted instead under the INS Firearms Policy (PDF).
Posted to Immigration2007a at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)
Bloggers: stop linking to Wikipedia
Based on a "directive" from Jimmy Wales [1], the English version of Wikipedia has started using the "nofollow" tag on all external links (the foreign language versions had been doing that for a while). That tag tells search engines to not pass any "search engine juice" (e.g., PageRank) from the WP page to the linked page. While sites that have links in WP will continue to receive visitors from those links, they will (supposedly) not receive search engine-related benefits (they might, however, be spidered by some engines). Certainly, some search engines may special-case WP (including having assumed that external links weren't trustworthy already), and some mirror sites (like answers.com) may or may not follow WP's lead. However, it's the thought that counts, and this is an example of WP giving a big FU to those who contribute to their site.
The rip-off nature of this change is described here:
What happens as a consequence, in my opinion, is that Wikipedia gets valuable backlinks from all over the web, in huge quantity, and of huge importance – normal links, not "nofollow" links; this is what makes Wikipedia rank so well – but as of now, they're not giving any of this back... Wikipedia has become a website that takes from the communities but doesn't give back, skewing web etiquette as well as tools that work on this etiquette (like search engines, which analyze the web's link structure).
That page also describes what I suggest that everyone does in response:
I predict some people will now, in return, stop linking to Wikipedia, or "nofollow" their links to Wikipedia (following the argument that if they don't trust their own system, we shouldn't either, and also following social etiquette – returning a disfavor, so to speak).
This site has been doing that for quite a while, and will do things like link to answers.com if we need WP's content for some odd reason.
Note also that WP's guidelines strongly discourage using blogs as a source [2]. So, if you're a blogger who has a real news story you might have trouble getting your link to stick, and even if you do it will be nofollowed. And, as described here, that might result in WP ranking higher for something than the site with the original news.
This move may lead a small number of people to commit acts of vandalism against WP as a form of revenge, such as by attempting to stuff pages with spammy words. It might also lead to some people spamming not for (the apparently non-existent) "link juice" but for simple traffic. For instance, so far this month their Playstation 3 page supposedly got 40,000 views per day; a well-placed link there could result in hundreds or thousands of click-throughs.
And, it would be interesting to find out which links in Wikipedia don't have that tag; for instance, their links to the wikimediafoundation .org from their main page don't have nofollow.
On a technical note, this tag only seems to be added after a page is edited, perhaps due to caching. I originally thought I found a case of a link without the tag [3], but upon saving the section (without any changes), it had obtained that tag.
[1] Wrap these lines and remove the space before ".org":
en.wikipedia .org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Spam
#External_links_in_articles_are_now_.22nofollow.22_per_Jimbo_Wales
[2] Remove the space before ".org": en.wikipedia .org/wiki/WP:V#SELF
[3] The link to cdc.gov here (remove the space before ".org"):
en.wikipedia .org/wiki/Hazards_of_outdoor_activities#External_links
(Note: Placing links in that format is not necessarily suggested, that's just the method used in this instance.)
Posted to Bloggage at 10:08 AM | Comments (2)
Bush State of the Union Address 2007
[UPDATE: Live-blogging here; additional note here.]
On Tuesday, this site will be discussing Bush's State of the Union Address. Rather than actually watching it, we'll look for an unembargoed copy and discuss that.
Slightly surprisingly, Bush has decided to keep digging and will - according to Billy House of the AZ Republic - make "comprehensive immigration reform" one of the "main themes" of the speech. The speech will supposedly be Schwarzeneggerian, with Bush emphasizing bipartisanship. Per Tony Snow:
"He's going to lay a way forward for Democrats and Republicans to work together on the issues that are atop the stated concerns for all Americans... So, if you talk about those in a way that gives both parties an opportunity to work together and achieve success, that's a good and important thing."
Posted to Politics at 09:41 AM | Comments (2)
Rev. Robin Hoover, Mexico's little helper
Rev. Robin Hoover runs Humane Borders, a religous-based group of useful idiots which assists Mexico with their agenda to send their excess population to the U.S. in exchange for remittances. They do that by establishing water stations in the desert - some of which are paid for by Pima County. They also are or were distributing maps in Mexico showing the worst routes to the U.S. - and by implication the best routes.
Gail Russell Chaddock of The Christian Science Monitor has a not-as-horribly-biased-as-one-might-be-expected profile in "Backstory: The canteen man of the US-Mexico border". While she does use the inaccurate phrase "anti-immigration protesters", she does at least give a tiny clue that Hoover is serving Mexico's agenda:
In Mexico, support for the Humane Borders agenda is unambiguous. When Mexico's National Human Rights Commission announced that it would nominate Hoover and two Mexican activists for their human rights award, new Mexican President Felipe Calderon offered to present the awards himself last month – and did.
Chaddock does not, however, call Hoover on his BS. His moves encourage people to cross and are the opposite of humanitarian. If he wanted to be a real humanitarian, he'd come out strongly against illegal immigration and Mexico's agenda and he'd do whatever he could to discourage people from trying to cross the desert. He might have the best intentions in the world, but that doesn't mean he has the mental abilities to figure things out and think things through.
Related: One of the present or former members (Rev. John Fife) reveals the undisclosed more extreme side to the group. When pressed, Hoover shows himself to be a bit extreme as well.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 05:09 AM | Comments (1)
Washington Post gives good argument against a massive illegal alien amnesty
The Washington Post offers the unsigned editorial "Immigration Stagnation" about the failures of the USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) to handle legal immigration properly. After a human-interest-example, they present their only proposals of the piece:
Citizenship and Immigration Services needs to cut its wait times by making a rapid transition to electronic forms and better organizing reform efforts. And the FBI must conduct background checks more efficiently.
The WaPo is encouraged to put on their thinking caps and wonder what a "guest" worker or massive amnesty scheme administered by the USCIS and assisted by the FBI would be like. And, the reader is encouraged to send the link to that editorial each time the WaPo comes out in favor of a massive amnesty or "guests".
More information on this situation in Immigration "reform" would completely overwhelm USCIS.
Posted to Immigration2007a at 02:41 AM | Comments (1)
Arizona Daily Star pimps "Immigration and America's Future" report
The Arizona Daily (Red) Star offers an unsigned editorial called "Immigration reform in '07: fact or fiction?"A new report should serve as a reminder — as if one is needed — that the United States' immigration system is broken and needs fixing. The 110th Congress should follow the report's recommendations and pass a comprehensive immigration-reform package this session.As detailed at the second link, no less than three Mexican citizens - including two Mexican government officials - participated in the report. Others included Senators John McCain and Teddy Kennedy and representatives Jeff Flake and Howard Berman.
Continuing:
The report offers possible solutions, too, and it's not the enforcement-heavy approach that has been espoused by some anti-immigration advocates and lawmakers.
While the task force concluded that more border security is needed, it doesn't recommend hundreds of miles of walls or fencing. It also took a swipe at groups like the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, saying enforcement efforts "must include active steps by the government to disband vigilantism of any form along the border."
In Arizona, state Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, introduced legislation that would make it a felony for groups, such as the Minutemen, not affiliated with law enforcement to patrol "to detect alleged illegal activity" if any are armed...
Posted to Immigration2007a at 09:27 PM | Comments (0)
NAU links, background
This page has a compilation of links regarding the North American Union and possible predecessors in various trade pacts.
Posted to NAU at 02:09 AM | Comments (0)
Eliot Spitzer considering driver's licenses for illegal aliens
New York governor Eliot Spitzer is considering giving driver's licenses to illegal aliens. Former governor Pataki required social security numbers to get a license, but the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License says he's about to repeal that:
"The 9/11 Commission pointed out that the 19 terrorists had at least 35 licenses," a board member of the coalition who lost his 23-year-old son in the World Trade Center attack, Peter Gadiel, said. "These licenses were the keys that enabled them to rent cars and open bank accounts, get credits cards, and buy flight lessons. It gave them everything they needed to plan, rehearse, and carry out their attacks."
However:
As the issue gains traction in Albany, Mr. Spitzer, who has moved other contentious issues such gay marriage off of the front burner, is showing signs of rethinking his position. "This is a complex issue, which we are reviewing carefully," Ms. Anderson, told the Albany Times Union yesterday. "Before moving forward with any proposal, we would do an exhaustive review all security-related maters."
Related:
Hats off to the New York Immigration Coalition
"If 250,000 New York Driver's Licenses Do Not Match Social Security Data, How Many Voters are Illegally Registered?"
"License Crackdown Stirs Sharp Debate at Hearing"
"N.Y. '9/11' check yanks 300k driver licenses"
Posted to Immigration_dls at 10:46 PM | Comments (2)
Mehlman warns GOP; John Broder/NYT distorts
On his way out the door, former RNC chief Ken Mehlman warned the GOP that its losses weren't a fluke:
Ken Mehlman, the departing chairman of the Republican National Committee, warned on Thursday that his party would suffer even more devastating losses in 2008 than it did in 2006 if it did not reach out to minorities and address voter concerns about ethics... He said the party had to recommit itself to political reform, fiscal restraint and personal ethics.
He's right that the GOP has serious problems, but he's got the wrong ideas about the fix. The GOP's "outreach" to "minorities" consists of support for both "multiculturalism" (i.e., Gramscism) and illegal immigration. And, that support also plays a large role in their support for corporatism and political corruption. If they were smart and not corrupt, they could figure out a way to "reach out to minorities", support the rule of law, and oppose far-left ideas such as "multiculturalism". As it is, they're continually trying to fit a square peg into a round hole: acting like Democrats and playing by their rules and somehow expecting benefits to ensue.
The author of the piece, John M. Broder, illustrates what Mehlman should fight against but capitulates to instead:
[Senator Mel Martinez], who emigrated from Cuba as a child, will be the public face and voice of the party as it tries to reach out to Hispanics and other minorities who have abandoned the party in large numbers in recent years.
If Mehlman had principles, he'd oppose the hidden assumptions of statements such as that. If Hispanics supposedly only support a party that supports massive immigration of Hispanics, then where does the problem lie?
Mr. Martinez, who appeared at the meeting briefly Thursday morning before returning to the Capitol, said he believed that one of his chief jobs as general chairman would be to try to reconnect with Latino voters, whose support for the Republicans dropped to 29 percent in 2006 from 44 percent in 2004, in large part because many Republican candidates ran explicitly anti-immigrant campaigns... "The president, in naming me to this position, was saying we need to speak with a voice that speaks to all Americans,” Mr. Martinez said. "My job is to make clear that our door is open and we’re reaching out to all Americans, speaking to their hopes and aspirations and dreams."
I'm not aware of too many "explicitly anti-immigrant campaigns". I'm aware of Republicans who were opposed to massive illegal immigration, and some opposed to massive immigration in general. And, I'm also aware of many Democrats running on the first. And, there weren't too many Democrats running on anything similar to an open-borders platform.
Obviously, the GOP is buying the NYT's view of things, and if Mehlman and the GOP weren't completely corrupt they might realize that for the loser that it is.
Posted to Politics at 06:26 PM | Comments (1)
Bush to call Ramos and Compean families
From this:President Bush is expected to reach out to the families of two Texas Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a Mexican drug smuggler.
White House staff contacted former agent Ignacio Ramos' family early Friday, assuring them the president would call them soon, said Monica Ramos, the agent's wife...
Posted to Immigration2007a at 02:56 PM | Comments (1)
National Guard border standoff worse than reported
Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano has released details on the January 3 encounter between National Guard troops and an armed force from Mexico:According to the statements, the armed group [of eight people] wore bulletproof vests and carried automatic weapons as they approached an entrance-identification site manned by the four National Guardsmen.The account has been confirmed by the Border Patrol and the NG, and they point out that the Guardsmen were armed (but don't say whether they had bullets). They left the area and called in the BP, who tracked the group as they returned to Mexico.
As they approached, the armed men "split into two groups to surround the site," said the statement from the National Guard government liaison.
Then, as the Guardsmen were putting their gear into the vehicle to leave, one of the armed men approached to within 40 feet, the National Guard report said.
The report goes on to say: "Both groups kept their weapons 'ready low' and never pointed them at each other. No shots were fired."
Posted to