Freedom Folks

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

The Persecution of the Palestinians

Patrick Buchanon loses his goddamn mind today in this piece at the American Conservative magazine...

Source: amcon
“Why do they hate us?” So stunned Americans asked, after 9/11, when we learned that across the Arab world, many were saying, “The Americans had it coming.”

For a textbook example of why we are hated, consider Gaza and the West Bank. There, a brutal Israeli/U.S.-led cutoff in aid has been imposed on the Palestinians for voting the wrong way in a free election.

Immediately after Hamas’s victory, Israel halted the $55 million a month the Palestinian Authority received as its share of tax and customs revenue. Israel demanded Europe and the U.S. also end all aid to the PA until Hamas renounces terror, recognizes Israel, and disarms.

President Bush, though he was conducting a worldwide crusade for democracy and had urged that the Palestinian elections be held and Hamas participate, obediently complied. For months now, U.S. and European aid to the PA, half its budget, has been halted.

The early returns are in. “Surgeons at Gaza’s biggest hospital,” says the Financial Times, “have suspended non-essential surgery for lack of sutures, laboratory kits and anesthetics.” Environmental protection agency workers have no money for petrol to monitor sewage and industrial waste entering the water supply. Some 150,000 civil servants, 60,000 of them armed security personnel, have gone unpaid for months.

Supermarkets have to extend credit to customers who have no money for food. The Washington Post relates an incident that gives a flavor of what is happening.

“In Gaza’s gold market Monday, Nahed al-Zayim stared at the wedding ring her husband, a Palestinian police officer, gave her six years ago. She had placed it on a glass counter offering it for sale, joining several other wives of public employees who had not been paid in two months.

“Her head covered by a black veil, Zayim said she needed the proceeds from her ring to buy diapers and milk supplements for her three children, including Hazem, 4, who tugged at her tunic in the afternoon bustle. ‘This is the last one, we have no more,’ Zayim, 28, said of her ring.”

Woodrow Wilson called sanctions “the silent, deadly remedy.” Its victims are always the sick, the elderly, the women, and the children.

In March, the World Bank predicted the aid cutoff would lead to a 30 percent fall in average personal incomes among the Palestinians. The bank now considers that prediction “too rosy” and expects “the worst year in the West Bank and Gaza’s recent dismal economic history.”

Already, violent clashes have broken out between Hamas and Fatah. There is a danger of collapse of the Palestinian Authority, chaos, and a need for the Israeli army to intervene anew to restore order. Finally, May 9, under European pressure, the U.S. relented and a trickle of aid began to flow.

Query: who, besides al-Qaeda and recruiters of suicide bombers, can conceivably benefit from persecuting the Palestinian people like this? Does President Bush or Condi Rice think the Palestinians will respect an America that did this to their children, after we urged this election, called for Hamas to participate, and preached our devotion to democracy?

“The aid cut-off appears to be increasing anti-U.S. sentiment here,” writes the Post’s Scott Wilson, quoting 33-year-old pharmacist Mustafa Hasoona: “The problem is the West, not us. If they don’t respect democracy, they shouldn’t call for it. We are with this government we elected. I voted for it.”

According to the Financial Times, Hamas is winning converts for refusing to buckle. Said Khalil Abu Leila, a Hamas leader, “They have misunderstood the Arab mentality. As long as the pressure increases on Hamas, the more popular it will become.”

The White House says we don’t negotiate with terrorists. But when we had to, we did. FDR and Truman summited with Stalin at Yalta and Potsdam. Nixon met with Mao in Beijing. Kissinger negotiated with the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese at Paris. Bush I allied with Assad in the Gulf War. Clinton had Arafat to the White House too many times to count.

Rabin and Peres shared a Nobel Prize with Arafat. Netanyahu gave him Hebron. Barak offered him 95 percent of the West Bank.

Bush’s agents negotiated with the architect of the Lockerbie massacre to persuade Colonel Khaddafi to give up his WMD. In 2004, Bush’s men called it a victory for Bush diplomacy. Khaddafi’s regime had been at the top of the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terror.

The purpose of U.S.-Israeli policy today is to punish the Palestinians for how they voted and to force Hamas to yield or to collapse its government. How does such a policy win hearts and minds for America?

Terrorism has been described as waging war on innocents to break their political leaders. Is that not a fair description of what we are doing to the Palestinians? No wonder they hate us.
Actions have consequences Mr. Buchanon, perhaps your mother neglected to teach you that basic fact of human existence.

Yes, we're happy they held a democratic election, unfortunately they also elected a fellow who goes by the delightful sobriquet of Hitler. Palestine didn't elect a government, they legitimized their sick death cult via the ballot, and as such they should absolutely pay a price.

I would have tossed a nuke their way so I guess it's a good thing I'm not running foreign policy. Cutting off their funds seems like the height of restraint.

I have on occasion enjoyed what Mr. Buchanon has had to say, but when you take up advocacy for terrorists you've lost me for good.

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Meddling MeCHa

I recently posted this about MeCHa at Pasadena City College taking and damaging thousands of school newspapers because they didn't like the coverage of a high school conference they had organized.

Now, via Hot Air/Michelle Malkin, we learn that the same organization is helping to fund a charter school in Los Angeles, and they're not the only ones:

Hot Air reader Erik sends in the following:

Doug McIntyre is the morning host on talk radio 790 KABC here in L.A.

This morning his radio show “broke” the story about this REAL school in Los Angeles that is a charter school, thus it is partly supported by public money…

The school he’s talking about is Academia Semillas del Pueblo, which is a charter school. Take a gander at the list of donors:

The following organizations and individuals have made it possible to carry out the mission and vision of the school. We are very grateful for their continued support.

National Council of La Raza Charter School Development Initiative
Raza Development Fund, Inc.
Glendale Nissan/Infinity, Inc.
California State University, Los Angeles
Pasadena City College – MeCHA
The Latino Museum of History, Art and Culture
So we all think that a school funded by supporters of THE RACE will provide a well-balanced, diverse educational opportunity for all, right? Right? Bueller? Bueller?

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NYC: Bruised Knees For Illegals

Source: wcbstv
City To Immigrants: Hospitals Won't Ask Status

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK The city is distributing a letter meant to reassure immigrants that no one will question their legal status when they seek care at the city's public hospitals, health officials said.

The letter, in 11 languages, promises that public hospital employees will "keep confidential all information regarding your immigration status." If workers reveal the information, they could lose their jobs, Health and Hospitals Corporation president Alan Aviles writes in the note.

The letter's release follows reports from advocates that many undocumented immigrants are afraid of going to hospitals.

In one case, Aviles said Tuesday, a mother of three from Mexico refused to seek treatment for cervical cancer until an advocacy group intervened.

"There has to be a system of trust between health care providers and the patients," Aviles said.

Adam Gurvitch, director of health advocacy for the New York Immigrant Coalition, an umbrella group for more than 150 immigrant organizations, said the recent national debate over immigration had caused much confusion.

"It's really important for people to understand that nothing has changed," he said. "Health care remains a right for all people in America, for all immigrants, regardless of immigration status."
Um, since when is health care a "right?"

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McCain cancels Bilbray event over immigration

Source: mercurynews

Reason # 2,426,098 that John McCain is absolutely unfit to be our president...
SAN DIEGO - Arizona Sen. John McCain on Tuesday canceled an appearance for a Republican congressional candidate who has attacked his opponent for supporting McCain's immigration bill.

McCain, R-Ariz., was scheduled to speak Wednesday at a breakfast fundraiser for Brian Bilbray, who is locked in a close runoff race with Democrat Francine Busby for the San Diego-area seat left vacant by disgraced former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham. The event was expected to raise at least $65,000.

The winner of the June 6 special election will fill the remaining seven months left in Cunningham's term.

In an e-mail sent to the Bilbray campaign, McCain spokesman Craig Goldman acknowledged that McCain and Bilbray "disagree on some of the issues related to immigration reform." He said McCain did not want his appearance to distract from Bilbray's campaign.

The e-mail reiterated McCain's endorsement of Bilbray, and said the senator's Straight Talk America political action committee would make the maximum allowable contribution of $5,000 to Bilbray's campaign. Goldman did not return phone and e-mail messages left seeking comment.

Bilbray, a former San Diego-area congressman who worked as a lobbyist for an anti-illegal immigration group, has repeatedly attacked Busby for supporting the immigration bill passed last Thursday in the Senate.

McCain, who is considering a presidential run in 2008, was a principal architect of the bill and the final version incorporated his proposal for a guest worker program.

An immigration bill that passed the House in December would make all illegal immigrants subject to felony charges.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, and Rep. David Dreier, R-Glendora, have agreed to speak in place of McCain.
Extraordinary, I've been browsing the reactions to this in the blogosphere, conservatives are not amused, liberals seem to think he's standing strong.

I think he's a loon and completely out of touch with conservatives. This man cannot be president.

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Americans on Illegal Immigration

I've read too many to share them all, but here are a few particularly good thoughts from Americans around the country...

From the St. Petersburg Times (Florida):

It seems 62 U.S. senators forgot the people they are entrusted to represent. It's a sad day in our country when those we elect to our highest offices choose to betray that very trust.

*****

Your editorial says that the Senate's immigration reform bill is a reasonably comprehensive one. It's not even close to being reasonable. It's a sham and a sellout of America's sovereignty.

*****

The immigration bill passed by the Senate is a joke. There is no way of enforcing the provisions of the bill as it stands now. It will simply mean amnesty for all who are here now and a new flood of illegal immigrants for the next round.

From The Hendersonville Star-News (Tennessee):

The recent immigration legislation passed by the Senate is a perfect example of how some politicians totally ignore the will of the people.

All those who support this horrendous piece of legislation are in my opinion traitors to America, their oath to uphold the laws of this country and law abiding citizens everywhere.

From the Los Angeles Times (California):

Now that the Senate has passed the immigration bill, all I can say is that senators have sold out all of us for a few more votes. Let's hope the House of Representatives doesn't fold also. To our senators who helped pass this legislation: You won't be getting my vote.

*****

Anyone who believes we have a government of, by and for the people is dreaming. We have a government of, by and for corporate America. The Senate has passed a bill guaranteeing big business an unlimited supply of lower paid workers for years to come. Senators and representatives, wait until November; some big changes are in the wind.

From the Yuma Sun (Arizona):

I am very tired of people lumping legal and illegal immigrants into the same basket. A legal immigrant adheres to all of our laws and is welcomed to the U.S.A. An illegal immigrant is like a thief in the night.

From the Baltimore Sun (Maryland):

The U.S. Senate sits around for days debating illegal immigration. And the best it can come up with is a scheme to build a 370-mile fence on a 2,000-mile border and to declare English the national language (which is rather like declaring Coke the official drink of the Olympics) while it works on legislation that may allow millions of criminals to become U.S. citizens.

I think the Senate has completely lost touch with the citizens it serves.
If only the people we've elected to represent us would listen.

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Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Lessons from the immigration war

Cal Thomas has an excellent piece up today over at Townhall.

My fave...
The outcome of "immigration reform" will determine where the party and country are headed. If Republicans lurch to the left, they'll head for the cliff because the left did not bring them to power. The right did. If they have forgotten that, they deserve the cliff and the right should give them a push.
Don't hesi-ma-tate, read it!

When Smart People...

Comment!  We seem to have an abundance of really smart people that drop by here and contribute to the conversation on this blog.  A fact I truly appreciate.

This was found in comments...
As a Minuteman--here are a few of important points that I believe in:

Build a fence on the southern borders. Do it as quickly as possible.

Punish businesses that hire illegal aliens.

Put all illegals behind those entering our country through proper immigration procedures.

Do not give benefits of any kind to illegal aliens.

Speak English only as our official language, and really mean it.

PROTECT AMERICAN WORKERS!

PROTECT AMERICAN FAMILIES!

We expect that our government officials should abide by the laws of our country to stop the invasion of the U.S. by foreign nationals!
We hold our representatives to the highest of standards. We must continue to tell them so and expect them to desire only the best for the U.S.A.

Minutemen are courteous to everyone with whom they come into contact, and never discriminate against anyone for any reason.

Minutemen do not respond to any taunts or harassment from outside agitators.

Minutemen follow all federal, state and local laws, understanding that we are being held to a higher standard by all.


I'd like to let the illegals and their so-called supporters know that they are being exploited by:

1. Your country of origin

2. Business

3. Politicians

4. Clergy

5. Leftist organizations and their leaders

6. Media

Think about it and understand it!
Rocks and Minerals | 05.30.06 - 9:13 am | #
Seems simple enough to me, what's the problem Washington?

Thanks Rocks and Minerals!

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Hunger Strike for Amnesty

A-fisking we will go, a-fisking we will go. Heigh ho, illegals-OH, a-fisking we will go.

My comments, as always, are in red.

From the Chicago Tribune:

To win support for legalizing the nation's illegal immigrants, two women facing the prospect of deportation brought cots, crates of bottled water and Bibles to a wind-whipped Pilsen neighborhood plaza Wednesday to publicize their continuing hunger strike. How, exactly, is illegal aliens fasting supposed to win support for legalization amnesty?

Elvira Arellano and Flor Crisostomo say they have not eaten solid food for two weeks and have been joined by three more supporters who have taken a similar pledge in recent days. The five plan to sleep in an open tent on the plaza on West 18th Street. And how, exactly, is illegal aliens sleeping on the streets of Chciago supposed to win support for legalization amnesty?

Arellano, who has become one of the area's most prominent voices for illegal immigrants since being arrested in a 2002 sweep at O'Hare International Airport Does anyone else see a problem with the fact that one of Chicago's most vocal illegal aliens was picked up FOUR YEARS AGO and she's still here?, said the strikers thought it important to pursue a dramatic strategy with an immigration bill on the verge of likely approval in the Senate.

"We have traveled so many times to Washington You can afford to travel "so many times" to Washington? That makes one of us. We have talked to senators and congressmen. They aren't listening to us," said Arellano You're not a citizen. They're no SUPPOSED to listen to you, who received a special temporary visa sorry -- not just STILL HERE but still here on a SPECIAL TEMPORARY VISA! that expires in August.

The hunger strikers say they are drinking only juice, water, tea and sport drinks. They are consuming broth but forgoing all solid food. Both women say they have lost about 10 pounds. Keep an eye on the news -- you will surely be hearing about all the illegal aliens dying in the desert Pilsen.

The strikers say they plan to continue their fast until at least June 1, the same day that 23 of 26 Chicago-area workers of IFCO Systems face hearings in Immigration Court after they were arrested in April. The strikers are calling for an end to all deportations until Congress approves a legalization bill. The nerve ! How dare our government actually enforce an immigration law? Why start now?

In April, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested more than 1,000 illegal immigrants in 26 states during the IFCO operation.

President Bush and many lawmakers say such enforcement against companies is essential to stem the tide of illegal immigration because it could help eliminate the job magnet that draws many undocumented workers. Blah blah BLAH blah blah. I'm sorry, President Bush -- did you say something?

Crisostomo, one of the IFCO workers, acknowledged that many Americans would be unsympathetic because she broke the law. Unsympathetic? No. Firm? You betcha. But she hopes the hunger strike will help win attention. She looked warily up at the dark clouds. "Maybe God will help us with the weather too," she said.

*SIGH*
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Quote Of The Day

Source: FAIR
Walker, Francis A. (president MIT 1881-1897)

“For it is never to be forgotten that self-defense is the first law of nature and of nations. If that man who careth not for his own household is worse than an infidel, the nation which permits its institutions to be endangered by any cause which can fairly be removed is guilty not less in Christian than in natural law. Charity begins at home; and while the people of the United States have gladly offered an asylum to millions upon millions of the distressed and unfortunate of other lands and climes, they have no right to carry their hospitality one step beyond the line where American institutions, the American rate of wages, the American standard of living, are brought into serious peril."

"Restriction of Immigration" by Francis A. Walker, The Atlantic Monthly, June, 1896; Vol. 77, No. 464; pages 822-829.

A Dressing Down

Hee-hee!

Guard The Border Blogburst

by Heidi at Euphoric Reality

WHAT THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT SENATE BILL S. 2611

The new immigration bill (the most "sweeping reform in 50 years") S. 2611 is an amalgam of petty causes, illogical provisions, unstructured "solutions" with zero allowances for implementation, and self-contradictory language. Despite the mess, it was passed by self-righteous politicians who repeated the mantra "it's better than doing nothing." This from the same gaggle of do-nothings who outright rejected the House's law enforcement bill.

The Senate bill has our President's full support - this same bill is a derivative of one structured by Ted Kennedy and John McCain, and supported in full by the majority of Democrats. That alone ought to give one pause - President Bush, a Democrat?

Peggy Noonan says, "The disinterest in the White House and among congressional Republicans in establishing authority on America's borders is so amazing--the people want it, the age of terror demands it--that great histories will be written about it."

She opines that it is possible that..."the administration's slow and ambivalent action is the result of being lost in some geopolitical-globalist abstract-athon that has left them puffed with the rightness of their superior knowledge, sure in their membership in a higher brotherhood, and looking down on the low concerns of normal Americans living in America.

I continue to believe the administration's problem is not that the base lately doesn't like it, but that the White House has decided it actually doesn't like the base."

S. 2611 is less about law, and more about a weird, mutant agenda that melds licentiousness with an utter disregard for the end result. There are quite a few details in S. 2611 that the media has ignored and that the legislators would rather you know nothing about. Some were provisions germane to the original Kennedy-McCain bill or the pseudo revision of Hagel-Martinez, the rest are amendments that required separate votes to accept or reject. Here's what you need to know about the Senate's fiasco.

NATIONAL SECURITY

The Senate failed to pass an amendment that would've made amnesty contingent on effectively securing the border. Their priorities are completely opposite those of the American people, who have repeatedly made it clear that our borders must be secured before anything else. Furthermore, buried in Arlen Specter's manager's package, an amendment proposed by Dodd makes it mandatory for our government to consult with Mexico before taking any security action along the border, to include building any barrier or any enforcement along the border. This includes everything from federal troops, and state-mobilized National Guard, down to local law enforcement. In other words, even if a county sheriff mobilizes a posse to guard the border, he must clear it first through Mexico. This effectively gives the Mexican government veto power over our national security concerns!

We've heard a lot about the 6,000 National Guard troops, assigned to help with back-up duties in order to free up Border Patrol agents. Unfortunately, that will make only 500 additional agents available to apprehend and detain lawbreakers at the border.
The White House adamantly insists that Guard troops take no role in law enforcement, even though, so long as they are under the command of their governors—as they will be under the president’s proposal—they are allowed to do so. Republicans worry that when the Guard shows up for duty, Lou Dobbs’ cameras won’t be far behind, recording their impotence as they merely alert border agents to the whereabouts of entering illegal immigrants whom they must passively watch.
"Merely alert border agents to the whereabouts of entering illegal immigrants?" Sound familiar? The National Guard will, at most, be performing Minutemen duties. But wait! I thought the Minutemen were "vigilantes", Mr. President.

A tiny concession to border security was passed (Sessions, R-AL, amendment #3979) which allows for the increase of fencing and vehicle barriers along 370 miles of the southwest border of the United States. Unfortunately, existing hardware - including rancher's broken cattle fences - would be counted towards this paltry total.

What's most appalling is that a Democrat tried to push through an amendment (Leahy, D-VT, amendment #4117) that would revise the existing ban on granting refugee status to aliens who have provided "material support" to a terrorist organization! Fortunately, the motion was killed, but the fact that it was even considered and proposed is deeply troubling! Who can take these guys seriously?

EMPLOYMENT

Ted Kennedy passed an amendment (#4066) that makes it unnecessary for any illegal alien to have an employer attest that they are employed when petitioning for permanent legal residence, and "self-employment" is sufficient. Plenty of room for fraud and corruption there!

Now here's where the whole argument for "cheap labor/doing jobs Americans won't do" flies out the window. Barak Obama (D-IL, amendment no. 3971) passed an amendment that extends the Davis-Bacon Act's "prevailing wage" levels to all temporary guest workers. That puts them ahead of American workers, who have this protection only on federal job sites:
So guest-workers (but not citizen workers) must be paid Davis-Bacon wage rates for jobs in the private sector if their occupation is covered by Davis-Bacon. Presumably because Senate Democrats' union bosses thought this provision too modest, an amendment by Senator Barack Obama, approved by voice vote, extended Davis-Bacon wages rates to all private work performed by guest workers, even if their occupations are not covered by Davis-Bacon.
There goes their precious "cheap labor" - this provision will effectively price many guest workers out of the market. "Guest workers" will have legal status and visas that entitle them to real wages, overtime, deductions like unemployment and social security, and workers’ rights that legal workers now enjoy. Illegals will still be cheaper. Thus, twenty million illegals will be amnestied right out of the job market. Then what do we do with them when millions of new illegals flood into the country to take their place?

Now enter the litigation factor: foreign guest farm workers, admitted under the bill, cannot be "terminated from employment by any employer . . . except for just cause." In contrast, American ag workers can be fired for any reason.

TAXES

We've been assured time and again that newly amnestied "guest workers" will have to pay back taxes for the years that they lived here illegally - except that they really won't. A loophole in the new bill provides that only two years of back taxes will need to be filed. I don't know any American citizen that can just choose not to pay taxes for years! Additionally, the Senate has now provided for illegal aliens to apply for the Earned Income Tax Credit. Our government will end up paying them!

SOCIAL SECURITY

Senator Ensign (R-NV) tried to remove the provision allowing illegal immigrants who receive legal status under the legislation to receive retro-active credit for Social Security benefits for time that they worked before receiving legal status. Arlen Specter killed it. The bill allows illegal aliens to receive Social Security benefits for the years that they worked illegally, even if they paid into Social Security under a false number or using a stolen identity! As an American citizen, if I were caught stealing someone's identity or forging documentation to avoid paying taxes, I'd go to jail. Not so illegal aliens! There are NO penalties for breaking those laws - only retro-active rewards. The longer they broke the law, the bigger the pay-off.

VOTING

Senator McConnell (R-KY) sought to add to the bill a requirement that all voters in federal elections be required to present a valid photo identification.

"It is nonsense to suggest that somehow a photo ID for one of our most sacred rights should not be protected by a requirement that is increasingly routine in almost all daily activities in America today," said the Kentucky lawmaker, second-ranking Republican.

But Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., likened the proposal to a poll tax or a requirement for voters to pass a literacy test. "Now is not the time and this is not the place to consider an amendment that may disenfranchise a million or more poor, minority, disabled, and elderly voters -- all of them American citizens," he said.
The proposal barely passed on a vote of 49-48, but unfortunately, it remains in limbo, evidently doomed by arcane rules now that the Senate has voted for cloture.

What the bill DOES provide for is a Bureau of the Census report to Congress on the impact of illegal immigration on the apportionment of Representatives in Congress. Of course, they need to count them - they are, after all, their newly bought electorate!

"GUEST WORKER" STATUS - NOT TEMPORARY AT ALL

Here is a perfect of example of self-contradictory language within the bill itself. The bill supposedly protects American workers by ensuring that new immigrants will not take away jobs. However, the bill's own definition of "United States Worker" includes temporary foreign guest workers, so the protection is meaningless.

Senator Kyl (R-AZ, amendment #3969) attempted to ensure that temporary workers stayed temporary by removing the bill's provision allowing guest workers to apply for permanent residency. The Senator from his own state, McCain, killed the amendment.

Also, thanks to Senator Santorum (R-PA) the bill expands the visa waiver program (Immigration and Nationality Act, Sect 217) to numerous additional countries. At this point, why even bother with a visa? Waive it all!!

BUDGET

Senator Allard (R-CO), concerned by the incalculable administrative costs of implementing S. 2611, raised a point of order about the budget. Such a move is allowed under the Budget Act when the projected cost of legislation under consideration exceeds a certain level. If the point of order is upheld, the legislation cannot proceed. The Senate irresponsibly waived the protective rules under the Budget Act, rejecting the point of order 67-31. Apparently, no cost is too great.

THE "GO BACK TO THE END OF THE LINE" FALLACY

Bush's former chief economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey blows the whistle on the "end of the line" fiction being used to sell the Bush/Senate immigration reform:
At present, there are hundreds of thousands of people around the world who are waiting to immigrate legally to America. They have already waited in line to get their first appointment, then to submit the paperwork, then been called back to answer more questions. And still, they wait. In places like Hong Kong, the waiting time may be as long as 15 years. Most of these people have relatives--cousins or grandchildren, for example--who live and work and pay taxes in America and even have become American citizens.

While the process isn't pretty, there is no good alternative. Permission to reside in America is very valuable....

Comprehensive immigration reform promises that people already in the United States illegally can apply for citizenship, but requires them to "go to the back of the line." But a key question is, the back of which line? The reform bill before the Senate doesn't require illegal immigrants to go back home--to, say, Hong Kong, to the end of the 10-to-15-year line there--to get a green card. Instead, it allows the current illegals to receive their green card immediately--having, in effect, jumped the line at the U.S. consulate abroad. Then, like other green card holders, they will be able to work here, collect government benefits like food stamps and Medicaid, and travel as freely as if they had a U.S. passport.

The line the current illegals will go to the back of is the citizenship line. Under the proposed law, current illegals, newly minted green card in hand, will have to wait six years, then get in line to apply for citizenship. But even after six years, they will be years ahead of many people who have gone through the legal process and are waiting overseas for a consular official to let them come here. Once those who have been playing by the rules all along get here, they too have to wait six years before getting in line for citizenship.

If we really mean "the back of the line," that should be behind everyone who is already in the pipeline to come here legally.
Let's be real: this bill allows those who come here illegally to gain a huge advantage over those who follow the rules. This, in effect, creates an irresistible incentive for others to ignore the rules and come here illegally. Fast track it by going illegal - there's no reason not to!

ZERO PROVISIONS TO MAKE IT ALL WORK

Lindsey has further concerns about the utter non-viability of the Senate's bill:
In 2004, the INS issued 946,000 green cards and naturalized 537,000 people. The proposed immigration reform anticipates giving green cards to up to 11 million people [likely closer to 20 million] in one fell swoop and making them eligible for citizenship six years later. It is inconceivable that the INS could handle an eleven-fold increase in its workload. Do we really intend to pass a bill that purports to document these 11 million people without setting up a system capable of providing them the promised documentation? If we don't, everyone else who is already here legally but needs a visa update, or has adopted a foreign-born child, or wants his aging mother to join him in America, will get swamped by the tsunami of newly legalized people seeking documentation.
VDare concurs and says that the guest worker program is an administrative catastrophe in the making: "Already, there are backlogs of millions of applications with CIS [Citizenship and Immigration Services] for the various immigration benefits. If any guest worker program or amnesty is enacted, the sheer amount of work in processing, receiving and vetting applications and the assorted work that goes with them (interviewing, fraud investigations, verifying documentation) will without a doubt delay any application already pending—even if additional staff are added. This includes, of course, those innocents who bothered to apply to enter the U.S. the right way." No wonder, legal immigrants are so upset with this whole thing!

I do not understand how the Senate has been so willfully blind to the will of the people and so determined to ignore the future costs of their folly:
The approved bill would send the U.S. population skyrocketing towards a billion people by the close of the century -- with no analysis done of the impacts of this mass population explosion on housing, congestion, overcrowding, education, the environment and the overall quality of life. Local communities have not been consulted, and virtually no preparation has been undertaken to provide for the enormous burdens this legislation would entail. It reflects the degree to which the Senate is completely out of touch with the average American.

Nor does the bill take any serious steps that would improve immigration enforcement -- especially in the interior. It merely continues a cycle of rewarding lawbreakers and clothing a loss of border control with the patina of legality. Rather than face the reality of today's immigration crisis, the Senate has enacted a terrible bill that once again puts the interests of the American people last. The bill's cost is staggering, the administrative burdens crushing and the consequences for the cohesion of the future American nation -- no longer bound by a common destiny of the rule of law -- are severe.
_________________________________

This has been a production of the Guard the Borders Blogburst. It was started by Euphoric Reality, and serves to keep immigration issues in the forefront of our minds as we’re going about our daily lives and continuing to fight the war on terror. If you are concerned with the trend of illegal immigration facing our country, join our Blogburst! Just send an email with your blog name and url to euphoricrealitynet at gmail dot com.

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Border Pix

Our pal Kender visited the border this weekend, here are some pictures he captured...


Nice, huh?

Oh, And There's This (NSFW)

Language and ignorance warning...
Minute men, you guys are a bunch of retarded fucks. You are just mad because your mamas and daughters like to suck my Beaner /Mexican dick. That’s what you guys are mad about. It is not my fault they like a big dick in the mouth. Tinny dick crackers, guess what bitches I’m a proud American citizen too. And so 30 million Mexican Americans, so you guys can suck my dick or go back Europe. Retarded mada fuckers!
Retarded mada fuckers! | Homepage | 03.28.06 - 10:10 am | #
Well isn't that special?

Comments

This was found in a hot steaming pile beneath this post...(you really should click over and read the old post, you'll giggle at the delicious absurdity)
Wow...you guys seem to have a huge problem up there...where your brain is supposed to be. Dont be so ignorant! Its obvious that you guys have the least bit idea on the topic. Immigrants aren't a burden. Schools get money for every immigrant attending from the government. Immigrants pay taxes and are more hardworking than anyone else. They take the lousy jobs you lazy people don't want. They mow your lawns, they paint your houses, they work in factories with minimum wage, and they are out there in the hot sun picking crops just so you guys can eat. Why are you complaining? What have they done? Nothing! You guys are racist. This whole terrorist thing is just a big excuse just to get back at people for being from different cultures races and countries. Don't forget that these immigrants are people too.Take a look at the people protecting your country in the army. Many of them are hispanic and immigrants who will do anything to save this country and to become a part of it. They have shown how much they want to be here by going out there and facing death. Think twice about what you are protesting againts. You guys are making American look bad. Sending a message to all leaders out there that this is no friendly nor smart and social country.May God forgive you guys for your ignorance. I say all of this as an American and more as a PROUD MEXICAN.
Maria | 05.29.06 - 8:37 pm | #
What say we go a fiskin'?
Immigrants aren't a burden.
Let's keep this short and sweet!
Schools get money for every immigrant attending from the government.
Yes Maria, it's that magic government money, you know, the stuff that grows on trees.  Why is it Latin countries so often choose the folly of socialism again?
Immigrants pay taxes and are more hardworking than anyone else. They
take the lousy jobs you lazy people don't want. They mow your lawns,
they paint your houses, they work in factories with minimum wage, and
they are out there in the hot sun picking crops just so you guys can
eat
. Why are you complaining?

Maria, first, I don't care if they were carefully polishing my scrotum on a daily basis, I realize this will spin your pin head around but, illegal is illegal.  Second, you're proud that "your" people are being paid less than a living wage, treated poorly without recourse and serve as an incentive for businesses to stick to really poor business models instead of innovating?  Good on ya!  You're a fount of compassion, no really!
What have they done? Nothing! You guys are racist.
This whole terrorist thing is just a big excuse just to get back at
people for being from different cultures races and countries.

So your not just stupid, eh?
You guys are making American look bad. Sending a message to all leaders
out there that this is no friendly nor smart and social country.

Sounds good to me, but I think your confusing friendly, smart and social with being a doormat.  We've allowed you and your type to run roughshod over this country for far too long.  Time to roll up the welcome mat and send asshats like yourself packing.
I say all of this as an American and more as a PROUD MEXICAN.
Now there you managed to hit one of my hot buttons.  You can be one or the other, not both.  If you are really a proud Mexican you, my dear, are in luck, just start driving south and sooner or later you will be home in the place you so clearly love, your true home, Mexico! 

Cuz sweetie, you are no American.

Have a nice trip!

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A Natural Tension

Source: FDL

Firedog Lake brings us a memorial day post with this title today...
Memorial Day Truth: There Is No “War on Terror”
He continues thusly...
There is, however, a "war" on the U. S. Constitution.
After September 11, 2001, we’ve learned that we can take a punch and move on. We’ve faced far worse threats to our national survival in our history - the Civil War, the War of 1812, World War II to name a few - but we never abandoned our Constitution. Until now.
I don't particularly wish to debate this issue on it's face, I feel differently than the author, but I understand his point. What I'd like to say is that every single time this country has faced an enemy this debate has arisen and our civil liberties were strengthened every single time.

The truth is I think it's good when these questions arise forcing us to think about essential liberty and necessary safety.

In almost every conflict we've ever had from the Habeus Corpus issues during the Civil War to the Japanese internment during WWII serious constitutional questions have been raised and resolved, leaving us stronger than before.

We're at one of those times now. I can understand the arguments on both sides, yes, I think Jihadis are essentially animals and I'm disgusted by the idea of them having access to our courts. On the other hand, as an American I am uncomfortable with the idea of the government being able to grab people off the street and toss them in jail without due process.

This debate is a positive thing and if history is any guide we will exit this time a stronger nation for having held it.

One other teensy thing. This may very well simply be a Con vs. Lib thang, but I can't help reading the sentence I'm about to cut and paste without shaking my head and wondering what color the sky is in this person's world...(stuff that makes me scratch my head bolded for your reading pleasure)
If the U. S. were serious about thwarting terrorism or about minimizing our exposure to acts of violence designed to make us afraid, we would have rigorous port security and massive international goodwill and cooperation in the lawful identification of anarchic, violent networks.
Well sure, it sounds nice, but how does one do that?  As the last remaining superpower we're simply not going to be beloved.  I would say I think the president has actually done very well in this regard.  He got a lot more countries involved than I ever thought he would. 

And considering how many countries were simply being paid off to work against us?  If you can't acknowledge that, well, what can you say really.

I don't have high hopes for the war torn Muslim nations that are working with us at the moment, I think the momentum of history is simply against us to a great extent. It may all turn out poorly in the end, but I will give the president points for trying.

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Monday, May 29, 2006

MI5 at full stretch as 20 Islamist terror plots revealed

Source: timesonline
TWENTY “major conspiracies” by Islamist terrorists in Britain have been uncovered by the security services, John Reid, the home secretary, has disclosed.

Reid said that the existence of so many plots means that the police and MI5 are fully stretched and cannot divert their precious counter-terrorism resources to a lengthy public inquiry into last year’s London suicide bombings.

Reid revealed the existence of the plots — far more than have previously been reported — at a meeting with some of the victims’ relatives and survivors of the attacks last week.

He failed to give further details but the claim appears to fit in with briefings by MI5 which suggest that as many as 1,200 potential terrorist suspects may now be in the UK.
Um, shouldn't any sane person right now be asking if Muslim's can live in civilized society? I know that there are those who are so blinded by the multi-cult that this question seems unbelievably offensive, but the truth is, it isn't.

If what their reporting here is accurate there must be a point where you say enough is enough. Frankly I don't see the Muslim community breaking any records for cooperation on turning these jihadi savages in to the authorities, so I ask again, at what point do we decide Muslim's can't sit at the adult table?

Captain Ed has a similar take...(In nicer, more adult language, cuz I really can't be bothered)
The problem for Western nations will eventually focus on immigration, although not exactly the immigration issues Americans have debated for the last few months. We may have to start making our doorways much narrower for immigrants hailing from Islamist autocracies, including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Kuwait, and others. Until they have a democracy in place which allows their political factions representational power, we can continue to expect these nations to export terror, even if unwittingly. They exploit radical Islamists to distract people from their oppression, and eject Islamists as soon as that gambit fails. Those people then go where they can organize like-minded radicals in the easiest manner possible.
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Can't Happen Here!

Source: msnbc

Teh funny...(teh funny bolded for your reading pleasure)
Some of the worst abuses take place on the coffee plantations of Chiapas state (Mexico), where some 40,000 Guatemalan field hands endure backbreaking jobs and squalid living conditions to earn roughly $3.50 a day. Some growers even deduct the cost of room and board from that amount. "If you ask them, 'Why are you bringing in Guatemalans to work?' they say, 'You can't depend on Mexicans. They don't work hard; they're irresponsible'," says George Grayson, a political scientist specializing in Mexico at the College of William & Mary. "The truth is, you can pay [the guest workers] a pittance. And if they cause the slightest disturbance, you can send them back to Guatemala."
Was it Deep Purple that put it so very well?

Can't happen here, Oh Lord
Can't happen here!

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Minutemen Break Ground On The Fence

Here

Here

Good on ya guys, I sure wish I could be there to help!

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No Memorial on Google

Via WND:

Google's habit of celebrating holidays like New Year's, Halloween, Christmas and Thanksgiving by altering its logo to match the season's theme has been extended in the past to honor the birthdays of famous inventors, scientists, artists and musicians, as well as Earth Day and the Persian New Year, but on the day Americans honor those who died serving their country, it's business as usual at the Internet-search giant.

Memorial Day visitors to the website found Google's standard logo – but no mention of Memorial Day. This was true as well at the company's news-search site.
You can check out some of Google's logo archives here and here.

Is it just me, or is it insulting to find special logos for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Birthday, the Birthday of Percival Lowell, and World Water Day, but nothing special for the day Americans have set aside to remember the fallen heroes who won and kept our freedom?

If you go back through the Google archives, you'll find that, although it has over the years commemorated Shichi-go-san being celebrated in Japan, Bastille Day in France, and Korean Liberation Day, it appears that Google has never dressed up its logo for Memorial Day," wrote Newsbusters blogger Noel Sheppard.
Insulting? Yes. Surprising? Yeah, right.

Aw, hell -- this would have been more appropriate, anyway...

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Some Good News

This just in from Stop The ACLU



by Jay on 05-29-06 @ 3:08 pm Filed under ACLU, War On Terror, News




Happy Memorial
Day! What better way to mark Memorial Day than to protect the respect
and honor our fallen heroes so deserve? That is exactly what President
Bush did today when he signed this bill into law. There is a time and
place for protests, and a funeral should not be one of them.


President Bush marked Memorial Day by signing a bill that keeps demonstrators from disrupting military funerals.


Before
heading to Arlington National Cemetery for a wreath laying and speech,
Mr. Bush signed the “Respect for America’s Fallen Heroes Act.”


It was passed mainly in response to a Kansas church group that has staged protests at military funerals around the country.


The group says the deaths in Iraq and elsewhere show that God is angry over U.S. tolerance of gays.


The law prevents protests within 300 feet of the entrance of a national cemetery.


Even as Mr. Bush signed the bill, members of the Kansas group stood about 300 feet from the entrance to Arlington.


They held signs that read, “Thank God for dead soldiers,” and “‘Bush killed them.”


A conservative group supporting the troops stood across the highway, holding a large sign calling troops “American heroes.”


Gov. Rick Perry signed a bill earlier this month that authorizes an immediate ban on protests at military funerals in Texas.


It was also drafted with members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. in mind.


Church members protested earlier this year at the funeral for a solider in Temple.


“There
is a time and place for protests, but it is not at funerals and burials
for U.S. soldiers who died to protect the freedoms we hold so dear,”
Perry said as he signed the measure.KWTX


Amen to that!


Quote of the Day

"There are good vigilantes that hang bad guys and then there are bad vigilantes that hang good guys."

---Alan Simpson, former senator from Wyoming, talking about the Minuteman Project in an interview with Ruben Navarrette

Here it is in context:

What do you make of the Minutemen? Do you agree with the president that they're vigilantes?

I didn't hear all of it. Did he criticize them?

Not last night but he has in the past called them vigilantes and others have.

You mean in a negative way?

Yes.

I thought that there was every possibility for that but it seems to me that since they knew everybody was calling them everything that they carried it off about as good as you could do considering they are vigilantes. There are good vigilantes that hang bad guys and then there are bad vigilantes that hang good guys.
What he said!

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What Alan Simpson REALLY Says

Earlier today I took Ruben Navarrette to task on illegal immigration legislation in this post.

Having taken a break to fortify myself with a coupla hot dogs (it IS Memorial Day AND I'm a Chicagoan), I'm back to talk about Alan Simpson and what he has to say on the subject. You can read the transcript of Navarrette's recent interview with Simpson here.

From Navarrette's article(emphasis mine):

Simpson isn't just the chief sponsor of the Simpson-Mazzoli Act, which morphed into IRCA. He is also a friend and was one of my graduate school professors.

He's also delightfully quotable, like when he said that this debate is all about "emotion, fear, guilt and racism."
Well, this is a phrase that Simpson has been using for over a decade. Navarrette says that "this debate is all about" it. But check out these quotes I found of Simpson using that phrase over the years:

So welcome to an issue which is filled with emotion, fear, guilt, and racism, a wonderful issue to mess around in. You just can't know the joy of it. (Laughter) And I've been in it for 17 years. I have been called everything, so feel free to express any particular thing you wish.

---from Alan Simpson address at Harvard University, 1996

"So it was tough. We had to deal with emotion, fear, guilt, and racism. Bigotry. We were accused of everything..."

---from Institute of International Studies (UC Berkeley) interview, 1997

You bet. It's very sad. Emotion, fear, guilt and racism control this debate. Whoever is the most sane in this debate will be called a bigot and a xenophobe. Whoever it is is the most sane in saying the best things, and I'm not even going to name who that might be, will be called a bigot, a xenophobe, and a racist. That's the way it works.

---from Navarrette's interview, 2006
Simpson doesn't say the debate is "all about" these things. What he says -- and has been saying for years -- is that if you try to seek a solution for these problems, you "will be called a bigot, a xenophobe, and a racist."

While a disagree with Simpson on a number of points, I respect him for saying what he thinks in a straight-forward way. Navarrette, on the other hand, prefers to take the words of others out of context and use them to prop up his own smug pieces of propaganda.

He's only too willing to include these quotes from Simpson in his article...

"You have to do something to give them a legal status. They might have to put up five grand or two grand or 150 bucks but they've got to do something to come into one of the best countries on Earth."

"I don't have any qualms about 3 million people from 93 countries coming forward. I like that. And I still see those people out in the street and it pleases me greatly."
...but somehow these gems didn't make the cut...

(When asked about birthright citizenship via the 14th Amendment)
"I don't know. I do know this: The abuses were very evident to me. I thought the damndest one I ever remember was that the Philippine Airlines was flying flight attendants into Los Angeles on their intercontinental who were 8 ½ months pregnant. And they'd just kind of stick around and have a child. That wasn't anecdotal, that was real. And there are people coming across the border, midwives, saying come over and give birth to an American citizen. I think enough is enough."

(When asked if we are ready for another amnesty)
"We never will be. You can't just keep doing them or everybody will come regardless. I don't know. All of us said if you're going to give this, just tell the world this is it. Well, hell, over the years we knew it wasn't it because the damn verifier didn't work and the employers couldn't possibly handle it. And wouldn't and couldn't and shouldn't, actually. But amnesty is a bad word. That's why we called it legalization."
I guess those quotes were too difficult to twist into something useful.

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What They Really Want



About halfway down this poster is a list of demands. Take a moment and read them. Do you really think this organization is interested in "compromise?"

So let's take a look at what they want...

Immediate legalization without conditions.

No border walls.

No criminalization.

Protection of labor & civil rights and liberties.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this, primarily because it's retarded, but it is worth a glance.

Immediate legalization without conditions. Gee guys anything else you'd like for sneaking across our border illegally, a breath mint perhaps?

No border walls. Well no, how could they continue to pour over the border in an uncontrolled flood unless our border lay open like a screen door in summertime.

No criminalization. Said it before, I'll say it again, criminals never enjoy being called criminals. To which I respond "well isn't that a hot steaming cup of tough..."

Protection of all kinds of rights. Illegal immigrants have exactly two rights in this country, allow me to enumerate -- illegal immigrants have the right to not be shot down in the street, followed closely by the right to be removed forthwith. That is actually accurate, they enjoy no civil rights because civil rights only devolve on, wait for it...citizens. Labor rights, again, these are a legal contract between employed and employer, if you're here illegally you are automatically removed from those protections. One of the many, many reasons illegal immigration is so very pernicious.

It's always interesting to see what your enemy has to say in his own words.

Yep, still retarded.

H/T Lawrence Auster

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A Day Of Remembrance



Today we pause as a nation to remember those who have given all in service of our country and those who man the wall today. Many bloggers pay their respects...

Jet at The Gun Toting Liberal has a beautiful piece remembering her dad.

The divine Mrs. M has a great round-up.

The Conservative UAW Guy says he feels "bittersweet."

Romeocat visits the National Mall and remembers her dad.

GM Roper reminds of the Dash to the Elbe.

Mike's America
reminds us it's all about "Honor & Duty."

Always On Watch
takes a look at the history of Memorial Day.

I'll continue updating throughout the day. We wish all our readers a happy Memorial day and hope you'll take the time to reflect on those who have fallen in service to this great experiment.

Ruben Navarrette Still Doesn't Get It

New from our old buddy (yes, I'm being facetious) Ruben Navarrette. Jake has previously taken him to task here and here. I read this piece at IndyStar.

By approving comprehensive immigration reform, the Senate is looking into the future. Meanwhile, the enforcement-only posse in the House is obsessing over the past -- specifically 1986.

That's when Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), one of the most significant pieces of immigration legislation in U.S. history and one of the most roundly criticized.

The bill, which was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan, was significant because it set out to achieve three major objectives: grant legal status to at least 1 million illegal immigrants (the actual number swelled to nearly 3 million); impose sanctions on the employers of illegal immigrants; and secure the border through increased enforcement.

In the current debate, anti-amnesty Republicans have been bad-mouthing the law. They say they don't want to repeat old mistakes.
MIS-TAKE
An error or fault resulting from defective judgment, deficient knowledge, or carelessness.

Objectives #2 and #3 -- "impose sanctions on the employers of illegal immigrants" and "secure the border through increased enforcement" -- have failed so miserably it's pathetic. One might argue that Objective #1 -- "grant legal status to at least 1 million illegal immigrants" -- was a roaring success, if the at least part was your personal favorite.

What part of mistake doesn't Navarette understand?

He goes on to detail a conversation with former Wyoming senator Alan Simpson, as in the Simpson-Mazzoli Act, which went on to become the 1986 Amnesty. Navarrette's taking quotes out of context, plus my respect for Simpson, despite the fact that I disagree with him on a number of points, warrant a separate post.

I think Simpson concedes too much to his critics. It's not fair to say that IRCA failed. It's true that the law didn't stop illegal immigration. But no law is going to do that. America had illegal immigration 20 years ago, and it has it now, and it'll have it 20 years from now. It will be with us as long as employers hire illegal immigrants because they work cheaper and harder than natives.
Three times the "legalizations," no crackdown on illegal hiring, and a border that makes a worn sponge seem non-porous by comparison -- and it's "not fair to say that IRCA failed?" Navarette says we'll always have illegal immigration as long as employers hire illegal immigrants. Does anyone remember Objective #2? Does "impose sanctions on the employers of illegal immigrants" sound familiar?

I just have one question for Mr. Navarrette:

Do you only insult Americans ("illegal immigrants...work cheaper and harder than natives") to earn a buck, or do you do it for free, too?

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Gunner

Our pal Gunner over at Tanker Brothers has an excellent piece up wondering what a Republican is to do after the debacle that was the Senate immigration bill.  He's doing some soul searching and I think a lot of us are asking exactly the same questions.

Read it!

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Sunday, May 28, 2006

Pro-Illegal Forces: Still Stupid!

Source: NYT

The New York Times, a noted fellator of illegals trots out the tripe...
With Illegal Immigrants Fighting Wildfires, West Faces a Dilemma
By KIRK JOHNSON Published: May 28, 2006

SALEM, Ore. — The debate over immigration, which has filtered into almost every corner of American life in recent months, is now sweeping through the woods, and the implications could be immense for the upcoming fire season in the West...

As many as half of the roughly 5,000 private firefighters based in the Pacific Northwest and contracted by state and federal governments to fight forest fires are immigrants, mostly from Mexico. And an untold number of them are working here illegally....

Other forestry workers say that firefighting may simply be too important — and too difficult to attract other applicants — to allow for a crackdown on illegal workers. *snip*

The work, which pays $10 to $15 an hour, is among the most demanding and dangerous in the West. A workweek fighting a big fire can go 100 hours.
And of course the problem in a nutshell...
"I don't think it's in anybody's interest, including the Forest Service, to enforce immigration — they're benefiting from it," said Blanca Escobeda, owner of 3B's Forestry in Medford, Ore., which fields two 20-person fire crews. Ms. Escobeda said all of her workers were legal.
Hmmm, why does that sound so familiar?

Anywho, in an musing rebuttal Steve Sailor was nice enough to dig up this contrasting piece...
Untrained migrants fight fires: Inexperienced, undocumented hired by private contractors.
By Tom Knudson -- Bee Staff Writer Published Sunday, May 7, 2006

As bright orange embers lofted through the forest, exploding into columns of smoke and flame, Mike Sulffridge and his crew of firefighters began to scramble. Their lives were in danger.

But the reaction of six Latino firefighters working near them could not have been more different. Despite the advancing flames, despite a volley of warning shouts, they did nothing.

"They did not understand English," said Sulffridge, who was hired to battle the wildfire in the Fishlake National Forest in Utah in 2000. "They did not understand what the fire was doing."

Ultimately, the men were rescued. But the fire took a toll. One man was burned badly across his face. "In another few seconds, those guys would have been burned up," Sulffridge said. "They would have died."

Firefighting has always been dangerous. But today, with the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies hiring more private contractors to do the work, a different kind of firefighter is in harm's way: migrant workers who have minimal experience and training, speak little or no English and often are in the country illegally.

Public records offer a glimpse of what crew inspectors have documented: underage workers, counterfeit IDs, falsified training records, a van roll-over, broken and dangerous tools, even a firefighter with only one lung who "went into convulsions ... and was having difficulty breathing," as one federal inspector in Washington put it.
As always, I'm a much prouder American when I read stuff like this. Thank you Free trade Pirates for turning this once proud country into merely another third world sinkhole.

Oh, I forgot, we're no longer a country, nope, we're just a "free trade zone."  Sure was nice back when we were a country, I guess I'll get used to living in the United Economy of America, someday.

God Bless America!

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Why the US Will Still be the Only Superpower in 2030

The Futurist dons his prognosticator's cap and peers into the uncertain future with a piece bearing this provocative title.

He begins...
One of the most popular dinner party conversation topics is the possibility that the United States will be joined or even surpassed as a superpower by another nation, such as China. China has some very smart people, a vast land area, and over four times the population of the US, so it should catch up easily, right? Let's assess the what makes a superpower, and what it would take for China to match the US on each pillar of superpowerdom.
Overall I agree wholeheartedly, with one caveat. I'll let Honest Abe have the reply...
"At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide. The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume I, "Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum,of Springfield, Illinois (January 27, 1838), p. 109.
Just so, my contention, expressed before on this blog is that while our moneyed, free trade pirates roam the globe fattening like tics off unfree trade, they leave us exposed through dangerous alliances and trade agreements with the very governments we should be staring at over a loaded gun.

As they cheerfully provide the sick Communist regime in China with billions of dollars which they are only too happy to pour into arms and defenses, our internal dissenters hollow us out from inside leaving us dangerously weakened.

The true enemy here isn't the Chinese, or rather, they are an honest enemy, an unabashed enemy. I can respect that, the free trade pirates are another matter entirely. When their millions will no longer suffice, when there's nothing left in America to loot, what next?

I say as I always have, I am a capitalist -- but, I believe in ethical capitalism. When capitalism begins promoting slavery over hiring proper citizens, when it demands the right to move it's facilities to other countries and yet enjoy the benefits of being an American company and doing business here, well, I part company right there, that's my line.

When it demands we bare our throats to our enemies so they can squeeze a few more shekels out before the next 9-11 wreaks havok on the economy. This is my manifesto, I will no longer accept free trade pirates wrapping themselves in the flag and demanding we ignore our lying eyes and trust them.

Trust them when they tell us the invasion pouring over our southern border is good for us, when they tell us that Islam is something other than a psychotic excuse to kill, when they pretend putting those who hate this country in charge of huge corporations is a wonderful thing. Putting those who hate this country and all she stands for, puttig their weak willed hands on the rudder of state.

There has always been a tension and a balance in this country between the moneyed class and a representative government. The last time it was this out of whack was, oddly enough, during the great wave of immigration at the turn of the last century.

The exact same lies were trotted out, the lower classes were insulted and spat upon in the exact same way, and most of all we were being fed the same bullshit and were told it was filet mignon.

It wasn't then and it ain't now. It's time to pull our government out of the clutches of those who can't see beyond profit. Those who see this country as nothing more than a machine from which to extract money, post-Americans. Our system of government is based on checks and balances, what we have today is another branch of government, the business wing of the government. What checks and balances apply to them, who will tell them no?

Especially when weak willed politicians find their sustenance and life's blood in the same clawed hand that is attempting to pull down our borders and destroy our way of life, our ditinct culture and heritage. Those very things that make us Americans and have made America something special.

I have noticed the free trade pirates gravitate to Ronald Reagan. Assuming incorrectly that he entirely shared their philosophy, in my opinion I don't think he did...
The ultimate determinant in the struggle now going on for the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas-a trial of spiritual resolve: the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish and the ideals to which we are dedicated.
And what are those ideals? That all nation states stand in the way of profits? That no country has a right to distinct heritage? That we should no longer see ourselves as distinctive Americans?

A final thought from Mr. reagan before I close. As you free trade pirates smugly explain that it's really too bad that we can't help our poorer citizens, that we really don't understand how free markets work...
If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen.
Oh yeah, go read the Futurists piece!

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Tom Tancredo: A Jedi He Be



It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but rather the size of the fight in the dog.

H/T Peter Boyles

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Tough Questions

Source: view from the right
If America had known when admitting Jewish immigrants between 1880 and 1920 that the descendants of those immigrants would oppose America’s right to have any future control over immigration, would America have admitted those immigrants in the first place?

I say that this is a legitimate point to make to the open-borders Jews and Catholics. “Was this part of the deal when your grandparents were admitted into America? That the very fact that America let your grandparents into this country requires you to subvert America’s national existence? In that case, your grandparents shouldn’t have been admitted in the first place.” If people started saying these things to the open-borders Jews and Catholics, it would shock at least some of them into realizing how offensive their position is to other Americans, and they would shut up.
Now add this...
I did a search to find out if Larry Craig is a Mormon, as southern Idaho is essentially an extension of open borders-friendly Mormon Utah. As I learned at Wikipedia, he’s not. Harry Reid is a Mormon, and Senate Mormons voted 3-2 in favor of the bill. However, by cross referencing the Wikipedia list of senators by religious affiliation with the Senate vote tally you posted at VFR, I found that Catholics voted 19-4 yes, with Bunning, Santorum, Sununu and Vitter voting no (Salazar did not vote). Jews voted 11-0 yes. The combined Catholic-Jewish vote was 30-4 in favor. Subtracting those 30 yes votes and 4 no votes from the 62-36 vote of the entire Senate leaves the remaining Senators voting 32-32. *snip*

To sum up James’s findings, it was the Catholic and Jewish contingents that made the vote lopsided in favor of this bill. At the same time, the Protestants (and the Mormons—I had no idea there were five Mormons in the U.S. Senate) are not off the hook either, as half of them voted for S.2611 as well. Still, the message is striking. Senate Jews (unanimously) and Senate Catholics (overwhelmingly) are pro-open borders and turn the Senate from what would otherwise be an evenly divided body into a heavily open-borders body.

All of which leads to the question: Can immigration restrictionists make any headway against the open-borders ideology without addressing the ethno-religious components of the support for that ideology? For example, let’s say we find ourselves, as I found myself recently, in a meeting where the immigration of Muslims or Mexicans is being discussed, and it turns out that the people at the table who vociferously object to any immigration restrictions, who indeed say that the very idea of excluding any group is immoral and illiberal, are all Catholics and Jews. Could one civilly point this fact out? Could one say that the Catholics and Jews in that discussion are pro-open borders because they think they are religiously obligated to support open borders, or because they still identify too much with their families’ immigration background, or because Catholics want to bring in lots of Catholic Hispanics? Could one legitimately say that this shows that they are thinking too much in terms of their own group and not of the well-being of the society as whole?
I think the answer is yes. If Catholics and Jews are resting on their Catholicism or Jewishness to support policies ruinous to our society, while using highly emotional and moralistic arguments to silence disagreement, then that ought to be discussed.

This is not a call for ad hominem or bigoted arguments. If an entire group is lopsidedly on one side of an issue, then clearly the opinions of the individual members of that group are not determined solely by a rational concern for the common good leading to logical conclusions individually arrived at (since, if they were so arrived at, the distribution of opinions in that group would be similar to that of the general population); they are determined by something about the group itself. So the group’s history, beliefs, and motives become a legitimate part of the debate. If we can publicly discuss why liberals as a group or agribusiness interests as a group are in favor of open borders, we should be able to discuss why Catholics as a group or Jews as a group are in favor of open borders.
Thought provoking stuff, and for the idjits out there, no, I'm not calling for a pogram, I'm calling for a discussion. If someone feels it is their religious duty to pursue something that I think will destroy this country, how do we approach that, how do we talk about that without terms like bigot being thrown around?