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Schwarzenegger health plan: might be open to illegal aliens
Arnold Schwarzenegger - California's Bush-resembling, Mexico-pandering, Rove/Kennedy/Mexico-linked governor - wants some sort of universal health care for California. He hasn't released the details yet, but the plan might include illegal aliens and some pro-American California Republicans are objecting:"California is not responsible for paying for the medical care of the undocumented -- people who are here illegally, period," said Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks (Sacramento County). "We are not the health maintenance organization for Mexico."
...But the governor said Sunday on a national TV news program that his goal was to extend coverage to all 6.7 million Californians who are without health insurance -- a figure that includes an estimated 1.6 million undocumented immigrants, according to figures from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
A spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger would not comment Wednesday directly on the warnings from GOP lawmakers. But Kim Belshe, the governor's secretary of Health and Human Services, said in a statement that debate over health care reform needs to include undocumented immigrants.
"Uncompensated costs imposed by the medically indigent, including undocumented residents, place significant burdens on the state's health care system, particularly emergency rooms," she said. "Any debate about California's health care system demands examination of the impact of this population."
..."I don't believe there would be any support for [illegal aliens getting the benefits]," said Assemblyman Mike Villines, R-Clovis (Fresno County), the newly elected minority leader. "The health care debate -- and it will be a debate -- will be about what should be done for the legal citizens of California."
Posted to at 11:10 PM | Comments (5)
Heroic Michael Dukakis wins three year battle for justice
Stalwart former presidential contender Michael Dukakis has finally won a historic, three year battle for justice. Due to his heroic actions, meter maids in Los Angeles' Westwood Village (home to UCLA) will soon begin ticketing cars that engage in "apron parking", i.e., parking on sidewalks, driveways, and the like. There are 857 street-side parking spaces in his section of the neighborhood, but 5,700 cars. "Duke"'s argument is that these parking practices make it difficult for the disabled and are otherwise dangerous.
This site offers its congratulations, and - while it generally dislikes Westwood and other parts of the "Westside" - hopes that Dukakis will spread his wise public policy decisions to other cities, toute de suite-like.
Posted to Politics at 04:28 PM | Comments (1)
Miami: Third World Country, Capital of the Americas
As discussed, Rep. Tom Tancredo called Miami a "third world country", setting off a firestorm of (largely manufactured) outrage, including a missive from Our Leader's brother, Jeb Bush."What a nut," Bush told reporters [Wednesday]. "I'm just disappointed. He's from my own my party. He's a Republican. He doesn't represent my views."Once again, I've thankfully never been there, but in addition to the Time link above, apparently the county used to have to clean santeria-related dead chickens off the courthouse steps, which were sacrifices for those who were going through the justice system (also here and here).
...In his letter to Bush, Tancredo states that Miami-Dade School District's graduation rate is 45 percent, that the English language is falling out of usage in the city, and that "fewer and fewer Miamians think of themselves as Americans." He cites a November Time Magazine story that describes Miami as "a corrupt, exorbitant mess." ["There's Trouble--Lots Of It--in Paradise", link]
Bush on Tuesday called Tancredo's statement about Miami "naive." Tancredo swung back today.
"It is neither naïve nor insulting to call attention to a real problem that cannot be easily dismissed through politically correct happy talk," Tancredo wrote to Bush...
More Tancredo-related info on Miami here. At least two people - who, frankly, might be travel agents or similar - call Miami third world here.
In 1998, Joan Didion wrote a book called "Miami"; from the description: "As Didion follows Miami's drift into a Third World capital..."
In 1993, Time offered "Miami: the Capital of Latin America". From even earlier back comes this scary flashback.
And, in 1998, the Washington Times' Insight Magazine offered "A Miami vision of our future?"
Miami, a microcosm of cultural diversity, is plagued by corruption, racism, poverty and drugs. The city's problems may be a precursor of tumult in a multicultural America.
According to Travel and Leisure magazine it is "the most unfriendly city in America." Fodor's International says it's the country's "most unsafe" destination. And George dubbed it the "most corrupt city in America." Judging from these and other "Wish you weren't here!" postcards, America's long honeymoon with Miami seems to be over, a casualty of the city's serial political scandals, a history of corruption in high places, rampant crime and a chilling climate of alienation and violence...
Posted to Politics at 05:10 AM | Comments (7)
Pakistani illegal alien accused of trying to help Taliban
Via this comes this:One of two Houston men accused of training to fight with the Taliban pleaded guilty this afternoon in federal court.
Kobie Diallo Williams, 33, a U.S. citizen who was a student at the University of Houston Downtown, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist a terrorist group. His help included withdrawing cash from an ATM to send to the Middle East.
Another man, Adnan Babar Mirza, 29, a Pakistani national who was in the country on an expired student visa, faces similar conspiracy charges as well as three federal weapons violations. Mirza appeared today before a U.S. magistrate judge.
Mirza became illegal when his visa expired. Someone holding a student visa or in the country illegally is not allowed to have firearms...
Posted to Immigration_terror at 11:38 PM | Comments (1)
Arizona Sen. Karen Johnson opposes NAU
Arizona Sen. Karen Johnson (R-Mesa) has come out against the NAU, Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services reports.
She seems to have a good understanding of the issues involved:
Johnson, who will head the Senate Education Committee this coming session, said the signs already are there, from an "inland port" in Kansas City and construction of a superhighway corridor through Texas to the lack of any real action in building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico... "It's all because it's going to be open," Johnson told Capitol Media Services. "It's all going to be a 'North American community,' just like the European Union," complete with the creation of a single currency just like the Euro... ...Johnson said she wants congressional hearings on the process. And she said if federal lawmakers determine that Bush is undermining national sovereignty that would be an impeachable offense...
Unfortunately, Fischer attempts to verify her claims with this:
White House press aide Alex Conant said Johnson has no reason for concern... "This cooperative effort aims to make the U.S., Canada and Mexico more open to fair trade and less open to terrorism and crime," he said...
While Fischer does mention Schlafly's articles (without providing a link), he then closes with this:
In 2000 Johnson introduced a resolution calling for abolition of the federal government and allowing individual states to reassume their sovereign rights if the president, Congress or any other federal agent were to declare martial law and suspend the Constitution. These states then would be free to form a new nation.
That doesn't sound too outrageous to me, but I can understand how some might attempt to weave that into general attempts to portray those opposed to the NAU as tinfoil hatters or Birchers; see the comments attached to the article for examples of such attempts.
Posted to NAU at 08:32 PM | Comments (2)
Nancy Pelosi unions/vineyards smear debunked!
How do you know when ABC's San Francisco affiliate does an "investigative report"? When Nancy Pelosi is being attacked, of course. That station offers a report "debunking" claims that the workers at her vineyards and at a resort that she co-owns are not members of unions.
However, since that report is being crowed about by Think Progress, you know there's got to be something wrong with it. Namely, the claim that the workforce is non-union has not been debunked. All the report says is that her workers are supposedly paid a higher wage than those who are union. And, the only evidence for that comes from a local pastor. And, supposedly Pelosi is prohibited by law from asking her workers to join a union.
The "investigative report" doesn't attempt to ask whether Nanci is employing illegal aliens on her vineyards, or whether they're employed at the resort.
And, there's also the slight possibility that Nancy Pelosi is receiving an inflated price for her grapes (for one reason or another). She's only required to file a range of income for the vineyards, and that leads a lot of room for her to get a really premium price. Maybe ABC should look into that. Oops, that's not the kind of "investigative reports" they do.
Posted to Politics at 04:24 PM | Comments (2)
Pro-Farmers Branch editorial
Farmers Branch, Texas is one of those cities that passed Hazleton-style ordinances to try to reduce illegal aliens moving to the town. Now, in a rare move of sanity, the Dallas Morning News has published a column from radio host Mark Davis support that city and City Council member Tim O'Hare:...[Passing the ordinance] had two effects. Among those who are passionate about strong laws and effective borders, Mr. O'Hare became an instant hero. To those opposed, he became a gringo devil, a ripe target for some of the most reckless slander in recent North Texas political history.
...But the most prevalent and baseless scorn was heaped by officials and individuals acting in accord with the League of United Latin American Citizens and other Hispanic advocacy groups. From Domingo Garcia to Jesse Diaz and beyond, Mr. O'Hare and his supporters were demonized as racist, an absurd claim that overlooks the fact that this is a matter of behavior and not ethnicity.
They were branded as un-American, the first time I can recall a devotion to law being characterized as unpatriotic.
Most comically, they were called un-Christian, as if we are called on by Jesus to practice a bizarre brand of compassion that involves blindness to just laws.
Mr. O'Hare would deserve praise for his actions alone. But throw in the bitter, racist hatred he and his family have tasted since standing up for U.S. law, and it becomes the stuff of outright heroism...
Posted to Immigration at 03:40 PM | Comments (1)
Mexican political parties involved in Chicago illegal immigration marches
The article "Irked Mexicans open alternate consulate" about supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador ("AMLO") from Mexico's PRD Party opening a symbolic alternate consulate in Chicago buries the news that Mexican political parties were involved in the Chicago marches in support of illegal immigration.
The article mentions that one of those involved in opening the alternate consulate is Martin Unzueta, president of the Illinois chapter of the PRD party. On the other side is Salvador Pedroza, president of the Illinois chapter the PAN party. He's also president of the Little Village Chamber of Commerce. Then:
Both were key organizers of the massive immigrant marches in Chicago earlier this year. The march's executive committee included members of Mexico's three main political parties.
In other words, representatives of foreign political parties helped encourage foreign citizens to march in our streets, making a show of force and demanding rights to which they are not entitled. More on this foreign meddling here.
Anyone who supported those marches also supports foreign forces attempting to meddle in internal U.S. politics.
Posted to Immigration at 01:08 PM | Comments (3)
James Poniewozik: Ugly Americans want to deport Ugly Betty!
James Poniewozik is Time's TV critic, and he offers a ludicrous slab of pro-illegal immigration propaganda in "Ugly, the American". It's about the 'Ugly Betty' TV show:
...Smart and sweet-hearted, she embodies the Puritan-Shaker-Quaker principle of valuing inner good over outer appearance. She's as Norman Rockwell as a chestnut-stuffed turkey. The actress who plays her is even named America Ferrera.
Well, that cinches it. Anyone who's named "America" must be an "American", even if the name is meant to represent the hemisphere and not the U.S.
And yet--if you listen to some politicians and pundits--she should have been booted out of the country years ago. Betty's father is an illegal immigrant from Mexico. To hear Lou Dobbs and Pat Buchanan tell it, our fellow citizens are boiling with resentment against people like Betty. Taking our kids' spots in college! Helping themselves to our orthodontia! Stealing low-paid magazine jobs that rightfully belong to American trust-fund babies!
Does such elitist condescension play among those who read TV reviews? I don't know her character's immigration status, but there's the possibility that she's a citizen, and thus his complaints about Dobbs and Buchanan are simply smears. And, of course, he appears to be unaware of the issues of anchor babies, as well as the problems with the anti-American DREAM Act, as well as problems with illegal aliens driving down wages for low-wage U.S. citizens. These are all issues that a lightweight propagandist such as Poniewozik is unable to understand and analyze.
And, he doesn't discuss the meta of the show, such as the involvement of Selma Hayek, someone who's previously expressed pro-illegal immigration views. While the show is almost certainly for the most part an attempt to make money, it's also certainly at least partly a propaganda vehicle, much like Poniewozik's column.
Posted to Immigration_piipps at 12:38 PM | Comments (5)
Jeb Bush writes letter re: Tancredo's Miami remark
Our Leader's brother Jeb Bush has written a letter (PDF) to Rep. Tom Tancredo regarding the latter's recent comments that Miami is like a third-world city.First, I've (thankfully) never been to Miami, but I have heard others portray it as a "capital of the Americas", as in South America. A little research would probably reveal many sources saying similar things without complaint from the PC Police.
While Tancredo's statements could have been much more precise, I have little doubt that parts of Miami are reminiscent of San Marcos. And, I can attest that large swaths of Los Angeles are similar to foreign countries, with some of them being run like it. And, I vaguely recall a 60 Minutes segment that portrayed Miami - or at least their mayor or city council - as being ripped out of the third world (that's not the more recent Hiassen piece, and if anyone knows the episode I'm thinking of, please leave the details).
Second, the Letter From Jeb is a real letter, and not just another "late-night e-mail exchange".
Third, you know those direct mail solicitations that have a long letter with the pitch, and then they also have a "hand-written" note on a separate, smaller piece of paper for those who didn't buy the letter? Well, if you look at the PDF file, you'll see that Jeb - perhaps intentionally - used that same trick, adding a hand-written note at the end of the letter.
Fourth, El Lider's brother's letter could have been written by a Democrat who doesn't like Republicans, and it gives power to the Democrats rather than helping the Republicans. And, Jeb tries to "Hispanicize" the issue, whereas as far as I know Tancredo did not specifically mention one specific group. Jeb's only tangible evidence in opposition to the apparent Tancredo claim of "ethnic enclaves devoid of English" is to provide three irrelevant examples:
Miami Coral Park Senior High School has the largest number of Hispanic students in the nation scoring a 3 or higher in the AP Calculus AB and AP Psychology. Miami Palmetto Senior High School has the most Hispanic students across the country scoring a 3 or higher in AP Chemistry and Miami Sunset Senior High School sets the national record for Hispanic students scoring a 3 or higher in AP Macroeconomics.You can certainly tell a lot of fibs using statistics, and those aren't even plausible fibs. Do those figures remain the same when translated into percentages rather than numbers of students? How do those students stack up against non-Hispanics in the same school? How do all the Hispanic students in Miami stack up against all the non-Hispanics? How do they stack up when compared to non-Hispanics in other cities? And so on and on.
He finishes his letter with this:
If there is a lesson to be learned from this, perhaps your naive comments serve as a good reminder for everyone to lessen the anger, frustration and emotion surrounding the issue of immigration. Overheated rhetoric won't solve this issue. We need a comprehensive solution that will require cooler heads to prevail.This technique is similar to that discussed here, as those who use lies and emotionalism to push massive immigration accuse those on the right side of engaging in those practices. In this inversion, those who support our laws are hotheads; those corrupt anti-American politicians who try to work around our laws are the only ones who are rational. And, of course, "comprehensive" is a codeword for a massive amnesty for illegal aliens.
Tancredo has responded:
''America, because of the many places, cultures, races, and religious origins of our citizenry, depends on a few things to hold us together. One is the English language,'' Tancredo said in an e-mail addressed to Bush. ``That is something that fewer and fewer Miamians share. Unfortunately fewer and fewer Miamians think of themselves as Americans.''
Bush's eight years in office come to a close in January, and he has said little about his future, but has not masked a desire to move back to the Miami area from Tallahassee. His Mexican-born wife, Columba, is said to favor Miami and Bush himself took heat when he first went to Tallahassee in 1999 and complained about the lack of Starbucks coffee shops there.
Bush launched a real estate venture in Miami and co-founded the first charter school in the state in Miami's Liberty City...
...But Tancredo suggested he had ``simply said something most people (even in Florida if our calls and e-mails are a measurement of sentiment) believe is true.
''We, as elected officials, should encourage the discussion of this issue rather than castigate those who attempt to bring it to light,'' Tancredo wrote.
Posted to Politics at 05:30 AM | Comments (5)
Tookie Williams... the stage play!
On December 12, a group of actors and activists will be reenacting the events leading up to the execution of gang co-founder Tookie Williams. The stage play will be performed in Berkeley, California, and a troupe of actors will reenact the fateful 1979 evening during which he shotgunned four innocent victims to death, terrorizing South Central L.A. and later resulting in his lengthy imprisonment.Just kidding.
Actually:
The Black Repertory Group will re-enact the execution of Crips co-founder and murderer Stanley Tookie Williams to mark the one-year anniversary of the former gang leader's death by lethal injection.
Williams' longtime friend and co-author Barbara Becnel and Shirley Neal, a vice president at The Africa Channel, are co-producing the Dec. 12 event to show what they witnessed as "dramatic and horrific."
"This is what the state of California is doing in the name of its people," Becnel told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "We were there. We saw it. Now we want the public to see what we saw."
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 07:45 PM | Comments (2)
"Hispanic vote" voted for something for some reason (or other)
Elizabeth Aguilera of the Denver Post offers "Dems won over Latino voters, study says":Latino voters leaned heavily Democratic in the recent midterm elections, indicating the heated debate over immigration reform may have cost Republicans support in some key races, an analysis released Monday indicates...Michelle Mittelstadt of the Houston Chronicle offers the similar "Immigration alone didn't sway Hispanics from GOP":
...Some, however, questioned whether the study exaggerated the impact of immigration on the Democrats' wins Nov. 7...
Exit polls suggest Latino voters deserted the Republican candidates at nearly twice the rate of non-Hispanic whites during this month's congressional elections, the Pew Hispanic Center said on Monday.The bottom line is that no one knows for certain, and it boils down to which illegal immigration-supporting hack you choose to believe.
But the conventional wisdom that Hispanics were turned off by the party's hard line on illegal immigration — and would deliver on the "Today we march, tomorrow we vote" cry from the spring's protest marches — was not the decisive factor, some experts said...
Posted to Immigration at 01:57 PM | Comments (1)
NAU openly promoted on CNBC
While Steve Previs of Jefferies International - where he's apparently a senior vice president - has been quoted in a few articles, he doesn't appear to be someone with much influence. So, this report is only interesting for the fact that this topic - which NAU apologists still try to deny - can be discussed so openly and as if it's a foregone conclusion:In an interview with CNBC, a vice president for a prominent London investment firm yesterday urged a move away from the dollar to the "amero," a coming North American currency, he said, that "will have a big impact on everybody's life, in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico."
Steve Previs, a vice president at Jefferies International Ltd., explained the Amero "is the proposed new currency for the North American Community which is being developed right now between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico."
The aim, he said, according to a transcript provided by CNBC to WND, is to make a "borderless community, much like the European Union, with the U.S. dollar, the Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso being replaced by the amero."
Previs told the television audience many Canadians are "upset" about the amero. Most Americans outside of Texas largely are unaware of the amero or the plans to integrate North America, Previs observed, claiming many are just "putting their head in the sand" over the plans.
Posted to NAU at 10:48 AM | Comments (2)
Joe Biden speaks mostly truth about Mexico, immigration
For forgotten reasons, this site isn't exactly a cheerleader for Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), but his latest statements seem to go a bit beyond the usual "pretend to talk kinda tough but actually promise nothing" blather:"Mexico is a country that is an erstwhile democracy where they have the greatest disparity of wealth," Biden said. "It is one of the wealthiest countries in the hemisphere and because of a corrupt system that exists in Mexico, there is the 1 percent of the population at the top, a very small middle class and the rest is abject poverty."Whatever Biden's other issues, at the very least, you will never, ever, ever, hear such truthful statements come from the Mund of California's Rove/Kennedy/Mexico-linked governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Of course, the bigger test for Biden will come after Mexico partisans such as MALDEF and the NCLR have had the chance to write their press releases. Will he fold, or will he give them the (rhetorical) finger? Let's wait and find out. UPDATE: Video here.
Unless the political dynamics change in Mexico and U.S. employers who hire illegal immigrants are punished, illegal immigration won't stop. "All the rest is window dressing," he said.
An even bigger problem are illegal drugs "coming up through corrupt Mexico," he said. "People are driving across that border with tons, tons — hear me — tons of everything from byproducts for methamphetamines, to cocaine, to heroine [sic]."
Posted to Immigration at 05:03 AM | Comments (2)
Paul Campos/University of Colorado: law professor, hack
Paul Campos is a University of Colorado law professor who offers "The workers often press '2'". A prolific hack, he's been writing a weekly column for the RMN since 1999. He's also the author of - hold on to your Oprah - "The Obesity Myth: Why America's Obsession with Weight is Hazardous to Your Health".
He says that "anxiety about creeping bilingualism is quite reasonable", but then says, "resentment toward the increasing prominence of Spanish is a product of the kind of ugly nativist sentiment exploited by Tancredo and his ilk" and then engages in the Appeal to Tradition logical fallacy.
Then, he goes even further off the deep bend:
Yet the most significant fact to keep in mind about people who speak Spanish in the United States is this: such people are invariably performing useful labor. In fact, it isn't too much of an exaggeration to say that the odds a person does the kind of work that simply has to get done in order to keep civilization afloat go up in direct proportion to the probability that this person speaks Spanish.
Part of this has already been answered here, and I'll offer a bit more.
While having a third world peasant class does do wonders for the ol' lifestyle, there are huge downsides. Those include the strong possibility of making said peasantry angry and susceptible to demagogues, perhaps resulting in revolts and the like. (Campos should ask someone in the History department to explain that to him.)
It also leads to decadence, as an out-of-touch elite class becomes separated from day-to-day concerns. And, it leads to cheap labor supplanting innovation. Why invent, engineer, build, and market a chicken-plucking machine when you can just hire a bunch of serfs to do the same thing? We need a balance, and the current situation is quite a bit too reminiscent of past societies that relied on some form of forced labor. (Once again, consult someone in the History department.)
Posted to Immigration at 03:37 AM | Comments (3)
Sleazy Glenn Reynolds, John Podhoretz smear Pat Buchanan
Pat Buchanan offers "Is Putin Being Set Up?" about the recent apparent murder-by-plutonium of the former KGB spy, Alexander Litvinenko. He offers an explanation other than the most obvious: that the case was an attempt to discredit Putin, rather than attempts by Putin to silence his critics. Considering the trail of dead bodies, I tend to favor the most popular explanation, but anyway Buchanan names billionaire Boris Berezovsky and Litvinenko associate Alex Goldfarb as possible suspects.
Somehow - something perhaps related to the phase of the moon - John Podhoretz of National Review ("JPod") is smearing Buchanan as an anti-Semite because of his article, despite said article not having any conceivable evidence to support the charge:
...Putin, the former KGB strongman who appears to be re-totalitarianizing Russia, is being set up, you see. By Jews.
Minor league thinker (but fast typer) Glenn Reynolds ("Instapundit") joins in with the smear, offering just this link to JPod and someone else:
PUTIN: Set up by the Jews? Claudia Rosett has a different view.
Is there any reason why anyone takes Reynolds or Podhoretz seriously?
UPDATE: The claims made in "Polonium detected at Berezovsky's office" can be taken in many ways: they did it and were sloppy, it was planted by whoever did it, etc. Note also that it can be ordered over the internet, and one of those selling it is Bob Lazar of UFO/Area 51/Art Bell semi-fame.
Posted to Bloggage at 08:09 PM | Comments (2)
Boston Globe: Bush, Kennedy, Specter uniting on a massive illegal alien amnesty
That's what the article "Bush seeks unity on immigration" by Rick Klein says, but it offers little that isn't already known:The White House is reaching out to leading congressional Democrats on the issue of overhauling immigration, hoping to build a bipartisan coalition to support a "guest worker" program and provide a path to legalized status for many undocumented immigrants, lawmakers and administration officials said.After discussing the "12 million undocumented immigrants" here as well as "anti-immigration voices", Klein throws it over to Michele Waslin of the National Council of La Raza ("Latino civil-rights group") as well as Ali Noorani, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition ("MIRA").
President Bush has expressed an eagerness to work with Democrats on the issue in private meetings with lawmakers and in public statements, as he seeks to strike a new tone with Democrats who will be in control of Congress for the final two years of his presidency.
The president's interest in the issue is getting a warm reception from members of both parties in Congress, particularly in the Senate...
...Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat who is set to take the chairmanship of the subcommittee that oversees immigration issues, has already met with leading Republicans -- including Senator John McCain of Arizona and Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the Judiciary Committee's top Republican -- to begin crafting a new bill early next year...
...Kennedy and the other lawmakers are planning a broader meeting this week of about 12 leading senators from both parties. They are hoping to have Congress vote on a final immigration bill by mid-2007, according to congressional aides.
Though no specific proposals have been floated, the bill passed this year by the Senate is a likely starting point, aides said...
Then, it's off to canardville:
The election results also assuaged fears among both Democrats and Republicans that voters would punish lawmakers who support a bill giving undocumented immigrants a way to achieve legalized status... Exit polls indicated that the GOP appeared to pay a price in the elections for its emphasis on cracking down on illegal immigration.And, one wonders if such support exists, then why do "[p]roponents of a comprehensive overhaul feel a sense of urgency"? Perhaps they know something Klein doesn't: no one except for hacks supports "reform". And, we're also informed that Harry Reid is holding Bush signing the border fence against him, something that he only did so in order to get the "reform" they both want.
Posted to Immigration at 02:01 PM | Comments (2)
Budget for George W. Bush's $500 million presidential library
Our Leader wants to raise $500 million to build his presidential library at Southern Methodist University:
The legacy-polishing centerpiece is an institute, which several Bush insiders called the Institute for Democracy. Patterned after Stanford University's Hoover Institution, Bush's institute will hire conservative scholars and "give them money to write papers and books favorable to the President's policies," one Bush insider said.
Here's the breakdown:
* $10 million: 10 million Mexican flags (made in China).
* $30 million: Grant to fund the Institute.
* $20 million: "Keep Them On The Reservation" fund to pay off those who staff the Institute and who suddenly realize that they can't endorse Bush's policies anymore to continue to endorse his policies.
* $20 million: Emergency "Keep Them On The Reservation" fund to do whatever - whatever - is necessary to make sure that those who staff the Institute and who suddenly realize that they can't endorse Bush's policies anymore to continue to endorse his policies.
* $10 million: One million copies of "The Mexicano Political Experience in Occupied Aztlan" by Armando Navarro.
* $5 million (per year): Salary for the President of the Institute, Vicente Fox.
* $150 million: No bid contract for Halliburton.
* $15 million: 5 million copies of "My Pet Goat".
* $100 million: Various kickbacks.
In case that doesn't add up to $500 million, the remainder will be reserved for kickbacks.
Posted to WackyHumor at 12:13 PM | Comments (5)
Stillmore: Crider Poultry employing homeless, felons instead of illegal aliens
In September, ICE raided the Crider Poultry plant in Stillmore, Georgia, which resulted in hundreds of illegal aliens leaving the city. That resulted in pro-illegal immigration propaganda from Russ Bynum of the AP, Reason Magazine, and Patrik Jonsson of the CSM, as well as a lawsuit from the Southern Poverty Law Center, a group indirectly linked to the Mexican government.Now comes the news that Crider is hiring the homeless as well as felons on probation from the Macon Diversion Center; the homeless are provided by a local mission which is trying to recruit more workers for the plant. And, both Crider and the AP are still trying to buck the (legal) market for labor:
...To fill the gap, Crider also has been outsourcing jobs in its raw deboning plant to Alabama, has raised wages to attract new workers and has turned to an outside company to hire about 100 cleaning workers. The plant has seen its processing slow down because of the smaller workforce, officials said.Desperate third world illegal serf laborers do indeed tend to work hard and without complaint, don't they? However, if Crider wants to abide by our laws, they'll have to learn about the legal employment market. At some wage or benefit level, they will find that attendance and retention improves dramatically. (That makes the somewhat questionable assumption that they're telling the truth.) If they have to rely on desperate third worlders to pluck their chickens, then perhaps that's a sign that they should go into another line of business or automate. The article also contains this bit:
Purtle said the company is also spending more on hiring _ paying to bus in the probationers, for example _ and on training, because many of the new hires have poor attendance and quit quickly...
Pastor Ariel Rodriguez said some people have gone back to Mexico, while the majority went to Kentucky, following a priest who used to live near Stillmore.I wasn't able to find out who he's refering to, but hopefully the ICE will be hot on his heels.
Posted to Immigration at 05:33 AM | Comments (2)
John Quinones/ABC News: brazen illegal immigration-supporting hack
John Quinones of ABC Nightly News offers "Pear Crop Rots as Field Hands Kept from Crossing Border", a brazen pro-cheap labor slab of propaganda that reports on what growers say without offering even the slightest bit of contradictory information. It is so biased it could have been - and might have been - written by the growers themselves. It even includes a grower being emotional:
If the migrants don't show up for the next harvest, Ivicevich said he'll have to destroy entire orchards that were planted more than a century ago. ..."That makes them 120 years old," he said, in tears. "So, I mean, how could I take that tree out?"
What's worse is that the grower's statements seem to be to a good extent related to factors other than the lack of illegal and/or cheap labor. See Pearanoia - Latest Scam From The Cheap Labor Lobby, which links to this SacBee article that - unlike virtually all other articles discussing this topic - at least tried to fact-check grower statements.
If John Quinones wants to do some real reporting, perhaps he can start by looking into the forces that pushed and approved his "report".
Posted to Immigration at 06:58 PM | Comments (6)
Bob Darcy/Oklahoma State: voting rights for all OK residents
Dr. Bob Darcy is a political science professor at Oklahoma State University, and he wants to give voting rights to all residents of that state, regardless of their citizenship status. The article consists mostly of his "thoughts" which you've probably heard before:
..."From the late 1800s to the early 1900s the nation was ran by prosperous white, non-Catholic men. They were called WASPs -- white, Anglo Saxon Protestants," he said. "And the WASPs didn't want anyone new upsetting their operation..." [etc. etc., rips a page from Michael Ignatieff, etc. etc.]
Many more links on this general issue in "Voting: the next demand illegal aliens will make".
Posted to Immigration at 04:15 PM | Comments (3)
NAU apologists
[List below updated 12/11/07]
Recently, Rep. Tom Tancredo was quoted as saying this:
"People have to understand what we're talking about here. The president of the United States is an internationalist... He is going to do what he can to create a place where the idea of America is just that – it's an idea. It's not an actual place defined by borders. I mean this is where this guy is really going... I know this is dramatic – or maybe somebody would say overly dramatic – but I'm telling you, that everything I see leads me to believe that this whole idea of the North American Union, it's not something that just is written about by right-wing fringe kooks. It is something in the head of the president of the United States, the president of Mexico, I think the prime minister of Canada buys into it... And they would just tell you, 'Well, sure, it's a natural thing. It's part of the great globalization ... of the economy.' They assume it's a natural, evolutionary event that's going to occur here. I hope they're wrong and I'm going to try my best to make sure they're wrong. But I'm telling you the tide is great. The tide is moving in their direction. We have to say that."
This has resulted in various people calling Tancredo names or disputing that such a plan is underway. And, some of them dispute that such a plan exists, but then say that such an idea isn't so bad after all. While it's certainly possible to disagree with Tancredo's assessment, all of the comments I've seen involve some form of name-calling and none of them discuss the issue on its merits. In some cases this might be actual pro-NAU propaganda, in others it might be due to opposition to Tancredo's support for our immigration laws, in others it might be a knee-jerk defense of Bush, and in some it might be due to the fact that many bloggers aren't, shall we say, that good at research and analysis.
* Judd Legum of Think Progress says: "You might think the right would immediately repudiate this kind of conspiracy theory. You'd be wrong." As could be expected from that site, most of the comments are name-calling. Some however support the NAU concept.
* Steve Benen of The Carpetbagger says: "Now, far be it for me to defend the president against an unhinged attack from a far-right lawmaker, but does anyone seriously believe that the Bush White House wants to dissolve U.S. borders altogether?" At least two out of five comments, while calling names, provide facts on the SPP.
* "AllahPundit" says: "Oh Lord... We get e-mails from those people all the time. We... do not publish them... Update: Hot Air commenters (most of them) agree: Tancredo’s a prophet whose only crime is seeing too clearly the nefarious machinations towards one-world government that are happening under our very noses!" (HotAir is run by Michelle Malkin; the first post I made to her immigration blog concerned the SPP. Her position on this matter isn't known.)
* "Captain Ed" (who isn't a real captain) says: "Tom Tancredo reminds people today why he will forever remain a fringe element in American politics... This is absurd. George Bush may not have responded very well to immigration concerns from his base, but he's done more than his father, Bill Clinton, and even Ronald Reagan in bolstering border security. Tancredo is engaging in mindless demagoguery with these doomsday descriptions, and moving closer to the realms of paranoia." Most of those commenting disagree.
* John Podhoretz says: "I speculate in my book, Can She Be Stopped?, that Tancredo will run as a third-party candidate in 2008. Sounds like he'd be perfect to top Lyndon LaRouche's ticket. If you are serious about the importance of immigration restriction, you'd best be looking for a leader who hasn't chosen to place himself beyond the political fringe."
* Mark Steyn says: "Chances of an EU-style sovereignty pooling arrangement in North America? Zero per cent – whatever Tom Tancredo and the CFR say."
* SeeDubya from Junkyard Blog mockingly refers to "internationalist conspiracy", "sweet, sweet New World Order", "Illuminati endgame", and pretends that the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board supports U.S. sovereignty.
* MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy calls Tancredo various names such as "barking moonbat".
* Alexander McClure at Wizbang Politics says: "...I hope the White House throws all of its resources into this race to make sure that Tancredo also goes into retirement. He is an embarrasment to the party."
* John Hawkins at Right Wing News had a debate with Jerome Corsi on the topic. While Hawkins is not a Bush apologist in the Captain Ed/RedState/BlogsForBush mold, he is on the wrong side of this issue.
* "Appalacian Scribe" John Norris Brown says: "Why anyone gives this nutcase credibility is beyond me."
* Ragnar Danneskjold at the Jawa Report says: One would think that a U.S. Congressman would realize that any statement that starts with "I know this is dramatic" and proceeds to defend the ideas of "right-wing fringe kooks" is pretty unlikely to go anywhere good.
3/22/07 UPDATE:
* Ezra of People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch says, among other things (rightwingwatch.org/2007/03/phyllis_schlafl_2.html):
...the Eagle Forum published a list of questions for its supporters to ask candidates on the trail, ranging from Schlafly's theory of "supremacist judges" to the John Birch-esque "North American Union." She says her plan is working, according to "Swift Vet" co-author and fellow "North American Union" enthusiast Jerome Corsi...
A few links are included in that excerpt, including one linking the first "North American Union" to Wikipedia's entry on "black helicopters".
6/27/07 UPDATE:
* Joshua Holland, staff writer for Alternet, joins the list with "Debunking the North American Union Conspiracy Theory" (alternet.org/audits/54184). He can't even get past the second paragraph without violating Godwin's Rule:
The North American Union story is an offspring of the John Birch Society right, with its attendant xenophobia and paranoia. It comes complete with a shadowy international cabal intent on stabbing decent, hard-working Americans in the back -- Dolchstoss!
He mentions the Council of Canadians, without mentioning that they're a leftwing group and thus tend to disprove his contention that the NAU "story" is just a rightwing issue. And, he mentions some of the "dots" making up the NAU "story", but he just can't connect them.
8/13/07 UPDATE:
* Christopher Hayes of The Nation offers "The NAFTA Superhighway" and says that highway is fictional. Some of the letters say he's full of it, with one claiming that Katrina vanden Heuvel is a member of the CFR.
* Matthew Yglesias links approvingly to his article in the post "The Highway That Wasn't There".
* Both join Vice President Dick Cheney in claiming there's no such highway.
* In early August 2007, Stephen Colbert had a little bit of "fun": youtube.com/watch?v=Ookak1IQJ3U
8/24/07 UPDATE:
* Seattle Times columnist Bruce Ramsey offers "Bet your bottom amero that U.S. sovereignty is safe". He bases his conclusion that there's no plan to create a NAU by asking... "the government's chief negotiator on trade, Susan Schwab". She tells him it's just an "urban legend". And, he believes what she says. The JBS - mentioned in his piece - responds here.
* The Fox News "all stars" (Fred Barnes, Juan Williams, and Charles Krauthammer with host Brit Hume) play the Bush quote and then have a bit of fun here: youtube.com/watch?v=TT4tBvRDy38 Krauthammer whitewashes the Bilderberg conferences, saying that he went to one. He compares those who think the NAU is possible to those who believe that Elvis is still alive. Barnes and Williams join in with the "fun". Just because these three idiots say people aren't pushing for it shouldn't be taken as proof that it is being pushed, but...
9/15/07 UPDATE:
* Richard Reeb at the Claremont Institute offers the post "We've Got Our Nut Jobs Too/Right Wing Conspiracy Theory".
11/27/07 UPDATE: Drake Bennett of the Boston Globe offers "The amero conspiracy": ...The NAU may be the quintessential conspiracy theory for our time, according to scholars studying what the historian Richard Hofstadter famously called the "paranoid style" in American politics. The theory elegantly weaves old fears and new realities into one coherent and all-encompassing plan... [etc. etc.]...
12/03/07 UPDATE: Gretel Kovach of Newsweek offers a very weak debunking attempt of the NAFTA Superhighway and the NAU in "Highway To Hell?" (newsweek.com/id/73372). That's linked to by the Washington Post's "Fact Checker", Michael Dobbs (blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/12/a_superhighway_to_nowhere.html), who offers his own weak attempt. And, on 11/30/07, Stephen Braun of the Los Angeles Times offered "Paul believes in threat of North American superhighway" (link). It's similar to the WaPo's "Fact Checker" article, including a Stephen Colbert "joke". And:
Federal and state highway and trade officials and transportation consultants reacted Thursday with befuddlement and amusement. The fearsome secret international highway project Paul described does not exist, they said... ...the Trilateral Commission [is] an enduring bugaboo of conspiracy theorists... As alarms about NAFTA's illusory highway have spread across the Web, the issue's whiff of paranoia has ignited sparks of humor... [Colbert "joke"]
12/09/07 UPDATE: Matt Stearns of McClatchy Newspapers offers his own "debunking".
12/11/07 UPDATE: The SPLC has also tried to cast doubts on these schemes.
Posted to NAU at 11:44 AM | Comments (3)
Randal Archibold/NYT: illegal immigration-supporting groups are right, "vigilantes" are wrong
Randal Archibold of the New York Times offers "A Border Watcher Finds Himself Under Scrutiny", about Arizona rancher Roger Barnett:...But now, after boasting of having captured 12,000 illegal crossers on land he owns or leases from the state and emerging as one of the earliest and most prominent of the self-appointed border watchers, Mr. Barnett finds himself the prey.I'm not going to defend Barnett since I'm not familiar with what he does. While he might have done what he's accused of, there's also the strong possibility that this and the other suits are simply set-ups by illegal immigration supporters. In the past local officials haven't pursued him apparently due to lack of evidence.
Immigrant rights groups have filed lawsuits, accusing him of harassing and unlawfully imprisoning people he has confronted on his ranch near Douglas. One suit pending in federal court accuses him, his wife and his brother of pointing guns at 16 illegal immigrants they intercepted, threatening them with dogs and kicking one woman in the group...
What I will do, however, is note that we're only receiving one side of the story: that presented by those "immigrant rights groups". They are presented as the gold standard of truth; Archibold doesn't question their statements and doesn't look into whether they have questionable links. So, to help Randal Archibold be a real reporter and not just an illegal immigration-supporting hack, let's do that.
Jesus Romo Vejar, is identified only as "the lawyer for the hunting party". He reportedly is or was a member of Derechos Humanos, a group that's working with the Mexican government. Whether he's still a member of that group isn't known.
The article also quotes "Jennifer Allen of the Border Action Network, an immigrant rights group". The BAN is part of the Border Human Rights Working Group, a coalition consisting of Derechos Humanos and two other groups that are also collaborating with the Mexican government.
The article mentions that the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund is involved in the suit against Barnett, and also quotes the Southern Poverty Law Center. Both of those organizations are also in the BHRWG, and both thus have at least one indirect link to the Mexican government.
Please write public *at* nytimes.com and suggest they hire real reporters and not just illegal immigration-supporting hacks.
Related:
Randal Archibold/NYT: Democratic win could lead to amnesty
Posted to Immigration at 10:49 AM | Comments (3)
New site agreement for Thanksgiving
By accessing this page, site, site feed, or other in any way, shape, form, instance, case, or other, you have automatically agreed to be bound by the following:
Turkeys are sensitive animals who don't deserve to be tortured and violently killed. By signing this pledge, I refuse to support companies like Butterball that ignore animal abuse. I choose to enjoy a vegetarian Thanksgiving instead of a meal with a corpse as the centerpiece. I pledge to be compassionate by leaving turkeys off my plate.
Posted to WackyHumor at 06:45 AM | Comments (9)
Gustavo Torres/Case de Maryland refuses to say Pledge of Allegiance
Casa de Maryland is a government-funded organization that strongly supports illegal immigration and that's been involved in organizing immigration marches. Earlier this year, Gustavo Torres, their executive director, threatened to picket not just the residences of Minuteman Project members, but the schools of their children. So, while there's certainly no requirement to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, this is not a surprise:...at the Gaithersburg City Council meeting last night, one citizen refused to recite the Pledge. Casa De Maryland Executive Director Gustavo Torres, an immigrant from Colombia, stood in definace while substantially everyone else present recited the Pledge of Allegiance.Related:
Even the day laborers at the meeting, many of whom have previously admitted that they are in the USA illegally, stood up in respect for the US flag and recited the Pledge as best as they could.
Gramscians demand ouster of Maryland comptroller
DC Metro bilingual signs and illegal alien advocates
Posted to Immigration at 06:25 PM | Comments (9)
AVWatch: Villaraigosa lied, exaggerated about his past?
Tony Castro of the L.A. Daily News (who seems to have a few skeletons in his closet) offers a long look at Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's psychological makeup and his mythogizing of his past. While it doesn't mention Tony Villar's radical past - including being a leader of the racial separatist group MEChA - it is full of quite-possibly-true nuggets:...In June, The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles reported that retired Sherman Oaks teacher Herman Katz had grown "weary" of the yarn Villaraigosa has often told of how Katz dramatically turned his life around while the teenage Villar was struggling at Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights - almost making it seem as if Katz had become his surrogate father, paving his course to eventual political stardom.Much, much more at the link.
...In fairness to the mayor, experts say, everyone is subject to what W. Keith Campbell, associate professor of psychology at the University of Georgia and a "narcissism expert," calls "memory distortion."
...For Villaraigosa, the name change was only part of the reinvention. A low-rider image cultivated from the time he led student protests in high school and later at UCLA was discarded, down to having "Born to raise hell" tattoos removed from his arms. He replaced it with a look out of Gentlemen's Quarterly, including a personal tailor and professionally bleached teeth...
..."He walked in and reminded me of Zorro," Pulido recalled. "His hair was slicked back, and he had a little thin mustache, and he reminded me of Tyrone Power in ('The Mark of Zorro') movie."
...In fact, Villaraigosa's organized athletic career was limited to playing on the Cathedral High School team in ninth grade...
Posted to Los_Angeles at 01:20 PM | Comments (1)
Arnold Schwarzenegger: plum jobs, patronage for cronies
This AP article is a bit biased and might be missing key information, but in this case I'll give them a pass.Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed or assigned dozens of staff members this year to high-paying jobs elsewhere in state government -- some of them to six-figure posts he once said were a waste of taxpayer money and should be eliminated.In other Arnie news, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Latino outreach director serves on an advisory panel for the Mexican president.
An Associated Press investigation of Schwarzenegger's staff turnover after last year's disastrous special election revealed that he moved 40 people to other state positions, and at least half of them saw their salaries increase, some by more than $30,000 a year.
Schwarzenegger also gave six former staffers jobs with state boards and commissions he previously tried to dismantle...
Posted to California at 11:55 AM | Comments (2)
"The struggle for Indigenous sovereignty and immigrant rights"
Just for fun, let's check in with those who are just slightly to the left of the New York Times:A multinational crowd packed the Boston Workers World office on Nov. 18 for a meeting on the struggle for Indigenous sovereignty and human rights. This important meeting was held at a crucial time, less than a week before the 37th National Day of Mourning in Plymouth [Thanksgiving] and only two weeks before the Boston Rosa Parks Human Rights Day rally and march on Dec. 1.
The featured speaker was Mahtowin Munro, co-leader of United American Indians of New England (UAINE). Denouncing the racist vigilante Minutemen as well as the proposed wall of death along the border with Mexico, Mahtowin gave a detailed overview of the history of immigration in North America, starting with the first and only truly illegal immigrants—the Europeans who started their invasion in 1492...
Posted to Immigration at 08:48 AM | Comments (2)
Maricopa County sued over anti-smuggling law; Mexico links
A potential class action lawsuit has been filed by various groups against Maricopa County, Arizona (home of Phoenix) concerning a state law designed to stop human smuggling. Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas have been using that law to arrest and charge illegal aliens with smuggling themselves into the country. Since starting that earlier this year, they've managed 180 convictions (two by jury) out of 360 arrests.
What's interesting here is those on the other side; for instance, one of the lawyers involved has at least three links to the Mexican government. In addition to six Mexican citizens, the plaintiffs include (descriptions from the first link, notes in brackets):
* We Are America/Somos America Coalition of Arizona [has some sort of link to the AZ Democratic Party; whether they're part of the We Are America Alliance is not known.]
* the community organization Friendly House
* state representatives Kyrsten Sinema, Steve Gallardo (1,2) and David Lujan [slightly positive note here; he wanted immigration marchers to carry American flags to supposedly show pride in the U.S.]
* Arizona State University sociology professors Cecilia Menjivar [co-editor of "When States Kill: Latin America, the U.S., and Technologies of Terror"] and LaDawn Haglund [author of "You Can Jail the Resistors, But You Can't Jail the Resistance"]
The lawyers are:
* Phoenix attorneys Dan Ballecer, Antonio Bustamante, and H. Michael Clyde
* Ray Velarde of LULAC in Texas
* Peter A. Schey of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. As discussed at the links, he has at least three links to the Mexican government.
Related:
Maricopa County Attorney: Mexico trying to block Arizona law
Peter Schey working with Mexican government (Arpaio posse)
Posted to Immigration at 06:05 AM | Comments (1)
New York Times on Russian "invasion" of Latvia (Duranty Lives!)
Two New York Times flavors blend into one horrific mess in "Latvia Fears New 'Occupation' by Russians but Needs the Labor". One of those flavors is one frequently discussed here: the NYT's lack of regard for national sovereignty and support for massive immigration. The other is a decades-long habit of supporting Soviet - now putatively Russian - misbehavior. Given the historical record (you know, that whole Communism thing), one might think that Latvia is fully justified in avoiding massive immigration from Russia. While that side of the issue is certainly explored, it's not explored in the depth that one might expect given that historical record. On the other hand, the article isn't as bad as NYT articles on the similar situation in the U.S., in which such fears would be treated with complete disdain.[A long-time Russian resident of Latvia] inhabits a parallel universe that has little to do with Latvia. She watches a Kremlin-financed television station and eats Russian food. And she has no intention of learning Latvian ("Why the hell would I want to do that?"), though she says her grandchildren are being forced to do so...
...She has not [taken a new citizenship test], instead pinning her hopes on a new "Russian occupation" of Latvia. This, she says, is gaining force with the arrival of illegal workers from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. They have streamed in by the hundreds, if not thousands, to help fill the gap left by the nearly 100,000 Latvians who have left in search of a better life since their country joined the European Union in May 2004...
...But there was a price [to leaving the Soviet sphere and becoming part of the EU and NATO]: while economic growth shot up to 10 percent this year, the large westward migration of Latvians has left a gaping hole in the job market. Now the country must choose either to accept the economic necessity of immigration or to hold on to deep and abiding historical resentments...
Posted to Immigration_euro at 02:51 AM | Comments (3)
Actor beats U.S. Education Secretary on Celebrity Jeopardy
The Bush administration can't even play the television game Jeopardy right, as actor Michael McKean (Spinal Tap) handily trounced U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings on tonight's episode.
McKean ended with $38,400, with Spellings a distant second place with $11,100. The latter amount was augmented with a "gimme" that would have not been given to a non-celebrity player. (The question was how many strings a harp has, 7, 47, or 147. Spellings initially answered 747, before changing it to 47.) Another actor ended with $6800.
The proceeds were donated to charity, with McKeon's amount being increased to $50,000. To abide by federal law, Jeopardy chose Spelling's charity for her.
Margaret Spellings is a former Bush assistant who can be seen in the barely-known video described here. In the video, she describes the original Bush "guest" worker plan, an extremely anti-American and un-American scheme that "would be open to any type of employee and any type of employer, such as nurses, teachers, high-tech workers, low-skilled workers". That scheme would have driven wages for previously well-paying jobs down near the minimum wage.
Michael McKean starred as Leonard 'Lenny' Kosnowski on Laverne & Shirley and as David St. Hubbins in This Is Spinal Tap. He also appeared as "Clown" in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager, as "Porterfield 'Porty' Pendleton" in the Teddy Bears' Picnic, and as Jerry Palter in A Mighty Wind. Whether he has ever been employed to direct U.S. government policy is not known, but he did play "INS Deputy Comissioner Gorman Seedling" in the Coneheads movie and MIB "Morris Fletcher" in four episodes of the X-Files television program.
UPDATE: The cool kids have video and even a link from Insty. Spellings offers a list of excuses here:
"I didn't want to be the Education Secretary who didn't know how to spell potato," Spellings joked, describing how she read books and sought advice from a former show contender and her daughters... ...She said she didn't realize how much skill went into hitting the buzzer at just the right moment after host Alex Trebek read a clue. She said she often hit it too early and as a result didn't get picked to tackle a category...
From the previous link, BushBots provide their own set of excuses:
From the excerpts shown, she seemed to do fine, and finished above $10K, which is not bad at all on Jeopardy... ...Politicians usually do really lousy. I still remember how dumb former Rep. Pat Schroeder was. And lets not talk about most pro athletes... ...In her defense, Lenny was rocking and rolling. He had his brain set to 11... You know, Michael McKean was just on such a streak last night, I think Ken Jennings would have had a problem with him. He simply didn’t get very many questions wrong - and apparently was very quick on the buzzer. Sec. Spellings didn't lose as much as Michael McKean very obviously won - although a couple blown answers by her didn’t help her at all. In the end it was both entertaining and $100,000 to some worthy organizations.
More excuses here:
What's wrong with this picture? I mean, we decide how smart someone is based on trivia? ...Memorizing facts does not make one intelligent... it's what you do with the facts you know. I've known plenty of "book-smart" people who can't accomplish much of anything in reality... ...I don't think the Education Secretary's job description includes being a walking encyclopedia. It was done for charity. She did her best. Nothing embarassing about losing to another person on Jeopardy... ...I think Secretary Spellings did well,but Mr Mckean did exceptionally well. As a matter of fact, all three players were winners... ...Why would an education secretary be a whiz at all topics great and small? Just because that evenings topics were more in line with what Lenny knew, doesn't mean that she doesn't know anything... ...Since when is quick recall of trivial information a good indicator of brain power? There's a huge difference between knowing trivia and applying useful information to better oneself and the community...
Posted to Celebrities at 07:24 PM | Comments (0)
Do polls show support for "comprehensive immigration reform"?
Yes, misleading and/or incomplete polls do show support for "comprehensive immigration reform". The latest such poll is crowed about by Reuters, which is your first clue that there's something wrong:Most Americans believe illegal immigrants should be allowed to become guest workers and eventually U.S. citizens, but Congress should do more to close the border to stop more illegals entering the country, according to a new poll published on Tuesday.Our next clue that there's something wrong is when we look at one of the questions that was asked:
The nationwide poll, conducted by Quinnipiac University, found that by a margin of 69 percent to 27 percent, American voters say illegal immigrants should be allowed into a guest worker program with the ability to work toward citizenship over a period of several years. Such a guest worker program had wide support among voters of all political stripes.
15. Currently illegal immigrants cannot apply for citizenship. If the law were changed to allow illegal immigrants to register into a guest worker program, should that program offer them the ability to work toward citizenship over a period of several years?The results: 69% yes, 27% no.
However, if Quinnipiac University wanted to conduct a poll based on reality, they would have then asked other questions:
16. Do you still say "yes" to #15 knowing that it would result in endless chain migration, as new "guests" can invite in family members, who will then invite in other family members, and so on?
17. Do you still say "yes" to #15 knowing that it would encourage more illegal aliens to come here in expectation of receiving the next amnesty, or even in expectation of using fake documents to take part in the current amnesty?
18. Do you still say "yes" to #15 knowing that it would give political power to groups (growers, far-left organizations, racial power organizations, etc.) that have supported illegal immigration in the past and will no doubt continue to support it?
19. Do you still say "yes" to #15 knowing that it would give even more political power inside the U.S. to Mexico?
Around about question #25, only the most cheap labor-besotted would still support "comprehensive immigration reform".
Please write pollinginstitute *at* quinnipiac.edu with your thoughts.
Posted to Immigration at 05:13 PM | Comments (1)
What CBS Evening News didn't tell you about immigration
On 11/15/06, CBS Evening News broadcast "Will New Congress Pass Immigration Reform?" by Bill Whitaker. The script and video of the report are here, and my response is here.
Posted to Immigration at 01:33 PM | Comments (2)
Breaking: President George H. W. Bush!
Our sources deep inside the White House have revealed to this blogger a shocking scheme: President George W. Bush will step down... only to be replaced with his father, the former president whose only distinction is being slightly less horrific and having an additional middle initial.
Under this scheme, Dick Cheney will step down in order to pursue his lifelong dream of being the CEO of a major government contractor. Then, "W." will appoint "H.W." to be the new vice president. Then, "W." himself will step down. "H.W." will become the new president, and will appoint Michael Chertoff as the new vice-president. In case the latter is not allowed (White House/RNC experts are still checking the Constitution for loopholes), they are prepared for the eventuality of Nancy Pelosi as vice-president in the spirit of bi-partisanship.
Breaking...
UPDATE: Our sources now report a fierce internecine battle, with Bush Faction 1 supporting Poppy, and Bush Faction 2 suggesting that it's now Jeb's turn to be president. A preliminary coin flip was held, but was invalidated due to (the elder) Barbara's intervention. Noelle shockingly suggested a competition to see which Bush could be the worst Bush ever, and nominated Zeke Bush/George P. Bush combo to run our country, with (the younger) Barbara going to Education and Jenna going to Defense. Developing...
Posted to WackyHumor at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)
Arnoldo Torres, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Latino outreach director
The largely wrong and illogical article "Schwarzenegger gains among Latinos" by Aurelio Rojas will be featured here later, but for now consider this interesting snippet:Arnoldo Torres, the Schwarzenegger campaign's Latino outreach director who briefed him before the July 24 meeting [with La Opinion], praised the governor for acknowledging he was wrong about the Minutemen and Proposition 187.Obviously, Arnie is little more than political tofu or a programmable talking doll. And, just as obviously, supporting the Minuteman Project or Proposition 187 is not "racist". In fact, a majority of Hispanics supported the latter two months before the election. Supporting those is indeed "racist" if you redefine the term to mean "opposition to illegal immigration and/or the far-left."
"The governor had the (guts) to say, 'You know what? I said things that I shouldn't say (and) I don't support racism,' " said Torres, a former political analyst for Univision and past executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens.
LULAC was at one time apparently a patriotic organization that supported assimilation. In recent years they've morphed into a far-left group, and they have a recent history of supporting illegal immigration.
In addition to what Rojas discloses, Torres spoke at a session called "Mexico and Aztlan: La Fundacion Solidaridad Mexicano Americana" together with noteworthies such as Richard Griswold del Castillo from San Diego State. And, he supposedly got a bill passed allowing Mexican doctors to practice at clinics in California without being licensed here.
And, from 2003 to 2005 he was also a member of the Institute for Mexicans Abroad ("Instituto de los Mexicanos en el Exterior", "IME"), an advisory panel for the Mexican president. In fact, he's got his own entry at their site (cache of ime.gob.mx/ccime/comisiones/asuntos_politicos.htm) (partial machine translation):
From Sacramento, California. Consultant in political subjects. He is Executive Director of [California Hispanic Health Care Association] (CHHCA); of United Latin American Citizens has been executive National Director of the League (LULAC). He is partner of "Torres & Torres", Policy Consultants, in Sacramento; member of the Coalition of Fairness for Minority Groups. That represents non-profit organizations who provide services of health and indigenous community education in California.UPDATE: Torres is apparently no longer on the CCIME, and whether he has current links is unknown. Here's the list of current IME advisors, which doesn't include him: www.ime.gob.mx/ccime/directorios/dir_ccime_06_09.htm . In February 2007 he was described as a "former advisor" and was chiding Arnie over comments he made on the previously-secret audio tapes.
Posted to California at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)
Judd Legum/Think Progress: propaganda is OK if for a good cause
Judd Legum of Think Progress (run by the Clinton-linked joke known as the Center for American Progress) discusses a recent segment of the Neil Cavuto show here. Cavuto claims that the movie "Happy Feet" is "far-left" propaganda:
Cavuto saw the movie with his sons and found it "offensive." Cavuto objected to the fact that penguins in the movie have trouble finding food because of overfishing and oil drilling. Cavuto called the film "an animated 'Inconvenient Truth.' I half expected to see an animated version of Al Gore pop-up."
The only response Legum provides is to support their propaganda:
Cavuto is objecting to introducing children to a real problem. A recent study in Science found "There will be virtually nothing left to fish from the seas by the middle of the century if current trends continue."
Needless to say, the study in Science is not a fact, it's a theory. No doubt the study had caveats and has detractors, yet, oddly enough, those didn't make the cut.
Posted to Bloggage at 11:02 AM | Comments (1)
AVWatch: Villaraigosa to veto firefighter $2.7 million settlement
Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa plans to veto the $2.7 million settlement that was to go to black firefighter Tennie Pierce, who claimed racial discrimination after other firemen played a prank on him that resulted in him eating two spoonfuls of dog food. Pierce's nickname was "the Big Dog", and he had taken part in several other pranks against others.
The settlement offer was "negotiated" by L.A. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, and subsequently approved by the L.A. City Council. A large part of Tony Villar's decision is no doubt due to the campaign waged by KFI's John & Ken, which caused a great deal of negative publicity. And, millions of dollars in other claims may be still out there. And, of course, Villar probably feels that all that money can be put to a better use, such as subsidizing illegal immigration.
Posted to Los_Angeles at 04:58 PM | Comments (1)
Darryl Fears: the Democratic line on immigration
Darryl Fears of the Washington Post offers "Republicans Lost Ground With Latinos In Midterms". As might be expected, it's so full of misleading statements, superficial analysis, hidden agendas, and hidden assumptions that a full treatment would be novel-length:
...Latinos [gave] the GOP only 30 percent of their vote as strident House immigration legislation inspired by Republicans and tough-talking campaign ads by conservative candidates roiled the community. It was a 10-point drop from the lowest estimated Latino vote percentage two years ago, and a 14-point drop from the highest...
Of course, GOP votes from other groups were down as well. The percentage drop may be have been greater among Latinos, but that doesn't mean that it had anything to do with immigration or related ads. And, the idea that there could be a "community" is identity politics at its finest, but is untrue since, for instance, there are obvious differences between Cuban-Americans in Miami and Mexican-Americans in Texas colonias. And, not all of those "tough-talking" ads were from "conservatives"; perhaps that's why he used that word and not "Republicans". And, while a few of the ads may have gone overboard, if "the community" objects to enforcement of our laws, perhaps we have a deeper problem that needs to be addressed. And, needless to say, HR4437 wasn't "strident".
Then, he quotes "Simon Rosenberg, president of NDN, formerly the New Democrat Network" as saying that the "Republican Party is hostile to Hispanics". Obviously, he's biased. And, just as obviously, that's false. Not even those GOP leaders that support our immigration laws are hostile to one ethnic group. They just oppose, for instance, those like Rosenberg who support massive illegal activity as an "ethnic thing".
Then:
Latinos by and large supported the millions of marchers who protested House immigration proposals in the spring, and there are recent signs that Republicans are working to bring them back to the party [via rightwing Cuban - and thus non-Chicano - Mel Martinez].
Those marches might have indeed had widespread support, and most Americans should consider that alarming. Those marching were doing so in support of illegal activity, and many were in fact foreign citizens making a show of force in our streets. Many of those marching seem to think that they have a right to move here at will, and some of those even called the U.S. their "homeland". And, some of the organizers of those marches have links to foreign governments and Mexico's PRD party.
Then:
[HR4437] would make it a felony to assist any illegal immigrant, frightening the Roman Catholic Church. It worried rights groups because it would step up enforcement that could cost illegal immigrants their jobs, homes and lives.
As far as I know, the Pope didn't weigh in on 4437. However, Cardinal Roger Mahony did pretend to be "frightened", but then later admitted he was full of it. As for those "rights" groups, perhaps they shouldn't be supporting illegal aliens working illegally. And, perhaps we shouldn't encourage banks to give loans to illegal aliens, since that ends up encouraging political corruption. As for the last, stepped-up enforcement would reduce such issues, since many fewer would try to come here. Those "rights" groups actually encourage people to try to cross, resulting in more tragedies than their would be if they discouraged them from trying to cross the desert in summer.
Don't expect Darryl Fears to do a deeper analysis of this issue, since he's simply an illegal immigration supporting hack.
Posted to Immigration at 08:10 AM | Comments (3)
Signs of Delusion in New York Times Immigration Editorial
The New York Times offers the unsigned editorial "Signs of Hope on Immigration". Not only is it wrong, it's in parts so wrong it's funny. It's of the now-standard "Democrats and Bush can work to pass 'comprehensive immigration reform', but they need to tread lightly" variety.
While not explicitly engaging in the other now-standard canard that J. D. Hayworth, Randy Graf, John Hostettler, and Rick Santorum lost because of their immigration stances, it does mention them by name and refer to them as "[s]ome of the debate's loudest shouters, liars and dead-horse beaters". Then:
All those shrill Republican ads about Mexicans stealing your Social Security failed as an electoral strategy, but that doesn't mean politicians always lose by being immigration hawks... [Arizona's anti-illegal immigration propositions won...]
The NYT appears to be playing CYA for the cases of those Democrats who pretended to be "immigration hawks". And, of course, a serious newspaper would consider the ramifications of millions of former illegal aliens receiving billions of dollars in social security and other benefits, not to mention the separate issue of totalization. The NYT does not appear to have covered the first, and a search of their site for the latter term only returns two non-relevant hits.
Then, the NYT refers to the "the losers on the border-fixated fringe". In contrast, the NYT is much more "laid-back", almost comatose. For instance, they don't appear to have covered this news (PDF file):
Members of Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based terrorist organization, have already entered to the United States across our Southwest border. On March 1, 2005, Mahmoud Youssef Kourani pleaded guilty to providing material support to Hezbollah. Kourani is an illegal alien who had been smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border after bribing a Mexican consular official in Beirut for a visa to travel to Mexico. Kourani and a Middle Eastern traveling partner then paid coyotes in Mexico to guide them into the United States. Kourani established residence among the Lebanese expatriate community in Dearborn, Michigan and began soliciting funds for Hezbollah terrorists back home in Lebanon. He is the brother of the Hezbollah chief of military operations in southern Lebanon... In December 2002, Salim Boughader Mucharrafille, a cafe owner in Tijuana, Mexico, was arrested for illegally smuggling more than two hundred Lebanese illegally into the United States, including several believed to have terrorist ties to Hezbollah...
The NYT's policies would allow cases like that to repeat themselves; the policies of those who are "border-fixated" want to prevent them. Who should America trust?
They end up by promoting the Senate amnesty bill, but only after it's stripped of "tough-posing amendments that made it fundamentally unworkable and unjust". They say that (post-reform) the "laws should be enforced at the border and workplace". If the New York Times has ever supported enforcement of our current laws, I haven't seen it. What I've seen is an endless stream of pro-illegal immigration propaganda, and I have little doubt that that would continue no matter which "reform" scheme was passed.
And, they don't mention that the USCIS would almost certainly be even more overwhelmed by any form of amnesty, nor the massive legal and continuing illegal immigration that McCain-Kennedy would lead to, nor any of the other serious issues. As with terrorist infiltration, details like that are apparently for losers.
Posted to Immigration at 05:18 AM | Comments (1)
"Open-Borders Advocates Distort Election Results"
As previously discussed, massive immigration supporting hacks like Fred Barnes, Linda Chavez, Tamar Jacoby, the Wall Street Journal editorial page, Arlen Specter, and Michael Barone among others have tried to claim that some GOP losses were due to opposition to an illegal alien amnesty. How this is wrong was discussed in NRO on Graf/Hayworth election results myth among other entries.
And, Mark Krikorian of CIS offers this:
...The open-borders crowd scavenged for results they hoped would confirm their pre-packaged conclusions. A favorite was the defeat of two Republican immigration hawks running for the House in Arizona, incumbent Rep. J.D. Hayworth and Randy Graf, who was seeking liberal Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe’s seat. The problem with pointing to these results as proof of the public’s support for the Bush-McCain-Kennedy “comprehensive” amnesty plan is that the very same voters overwhelmingly approved four good ballot measures related to immigration: denying bail to illegals, barring illegals from winning punitive damages in civil suits, prohibiting illegals from receiving certain state subsidies for education and day care, and declaring English the state’s official language. Clearly, the actual policy issue of immigration control remained hugely popular and, while Hayworth’s opponent endorsed a guest-worker program, he explicitly said on his campaign website, “Secure Our Border and Stop Illegal Immigration,” “Hold employers accountable for whom they hire,” and, “I oppose amnesty and will not support it.” Hardly a Bush echo...
This is a wonderful opportunity to discredit hacks like Barnes, Jacoby, Barone, and the others, as well as those bloggers and other pundits who support them. Whenever they spread this line, come back with articles like this.
Posted to Immigration at 03:38 AM | Comments (0)
Bush's "Million Mexicans a Month" Plan
I believe this is a satire, but one can never tell:President Bush and Mexican President-elect Felipe Calderon pledged to work closely on border security and migration, which Bush said remains a top priority for his administration. Bush told reporters, "I assured the president-elect that comprehensive immigration reform is something I believe needs to happen."
Under the Bush plan, the U.S. will move its security perimeter to Mexico's southern border. "Mexico's southern border is much shorter than the northern one," Bush pointed out. "It will be easier to patrol to prevent unauthorized entry into both countries."
Mexico's southern border would be jointly patrolled by armed forces from the two nations. As compensation for allowing the U.S. to move its security perimeter south from the Rio Grande, Mexico will receive funds from the U.S. sufficient to support one million Mexicans. The payments will be made monthly based on a random drawing of names on the unemployment rolls. Mexicans must appear in person to collect.
Posted to WackyHumor at 10:23 PM | Comments (0)
What Steve Kroft/60 Minutes forgot to ask (Hazleton immigration ordinance)
Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes offered a slightly fair report on Hazleton, Pennsylvania's new ordinance concerning illegal aliens renting and being employed in the city.
Here's a partial list of some of the things he forgot to do:
1. At the end, when Kroft said that some people had called mayor Lou Barletta a racist, and Kroft lingered over the word "racist", he forgot to mention the far-left, anti-American loonies who've said such things. If 60 Minutes opposed illegal immigration, they would have given people like Anna Arias, Agapito Lopez, or Stephen Glassman enough rope to have hung themselves.
2. Kroft interviewed a disguised illegal alien and her daughter. The former had been working 60 to 72 hours per week, and had only ended up near the poverty line. Kroft asked her if it was better than Mexico, and she responded affirmatively. If 60 Minutes opposed illegal immigration, they would have pointed out that such working conditions are Dickensian, and they would have wondered why Mexico is unable to take care of their own people. And, he would have tried to compute all the social services that the duo received, pointing out that that was a huge subsidy to her former employer.
3. Kroft gave more than a minute to Lucas Gutentag of the ACLU's Immigrant Rights Project, without asking about their indirect link to the Mexican government, and without asking why all of their immigration-related lawsuits and activities will enable Mexico to keep sending us people. (See also this and this).
4. Kroft offered a brief interview with a local shopowner, Isabel Rubio. Despite being here legally, Croft implied that some people don't want Hispanics in general in the town. And, in the the brief shot of her shop's sign, one can see that one of her lines of business is wiring money out of the country. Perhaps Croft could have discussed issues relating to remittances if he wants to "follow the money".
Posted to Immigration at 08:17 PM | Comments (1)
Cynthia Tucker/AJC supports illegal immigration
Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal Constitution opposes a Hazleton-style ordinance considered for Cherokee County in Georgia in "In bullying illegals, county picks easy fight".
First of all, the idea that illegal aliens as a group could be bullied is completely false. They have very powerful allies: corrupt employers, corrupt politicians, the corrupt media, racial power groups, and so forth. Those powerful forces will work overtime to make sure that those they profit from are not "bullied". In fact, Tucker's column is an example of one of their protectors fighting back.
She does, however, get one thing right:
If the nation is serious about curbing illegal immigration, there is a rather simple way to do it: Crack down on employers who hire illegally. Don't just fine them; give them prison time. Once a few business executives were frog-marched in front of news cameras in handcuffs — convicted of illegal hiring — others would get the message. And once Mexicans and Guatemalans and Hondurans without documents figured out that they couldn't get jobs here, they'd stop coming. It's really as simple as that.
Unfortunately, the rest of the column is based on the "take away" sales technique: she then proceeds to tell us all the horrific disasters that would happen without all that illegal labor. That includes the recent pears canard:
...There would be consequences to our economy, by the way. Fruit and vegetables would die in the fields. (Over the summer and early fall, a splendid pear crop withered and died in California orchards because the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services cracked down on undocumented workers, and farmers had no laborers to pick their crops. Many of them lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.) The price of many foodstuffs — including chicken — could be expected to increase as labor costs shot up. Prices for services such as child care, janitorial work and lawn care — occupations now heavily serviced by foreign-born workers — would spiral upward. Ditto construction costs. Some jobs would simply go undone. America has a burgeoning population of elderly who need tending and not enough young workers to take care of them. Perhaps more of them would simply be neglected...
In brief, she's giving her readers all the reasons why they should continue to allow massive illegal activity, and she's a strong supporter of illegal immigration.
Previously:
Cynthia Tucker still illegal immigration-supporting idiot
Cynthia Tucker still idiot on immigration
Cynthia Tucker to uncover corruption!
Posted to Immigration at 02:45 PM | Comments (2)
Get a Playstation 3, the easy way
If, like me, you don't make a habit of visiting malls, and if like me you've watched with some concern the PS3 riots you might be wondering how you could get your hands on what is quite possibly the latest and greatest game console. The easy way to get a Sony Playstation 3 is to buy one on eBay. The average sale price is around $1000, but if you really want one now, that might be your only option.
Posted to Miscellania at 01:01 PM | Comments (0)
Has the Weekly Standard backtracked on Graf/Hayworth myth?
Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard - as well as other cheap-labor supporters - have tried mightily to spread the myth that one of the reasons some GOP candidates lost is because of their stance against illegal immigration.Now comes Weekly Standard reporter Duncan Currie with what some Kreml' watchers might consider to be a bit of a correction:
...Fans of the Bush-Martinez strategy point to losing Republicans J.D. Hayworth, Randy Graf, and John Hostettler. Here were three of the toughest border hawks of the campaign. Hayworth and Graf were running in Arizona, one of the states most affected by illegal border crossings. Yet they both lost, as did Hostettler in Indiana. Meanwhile, a national exit poll found that voters--when given two options for dealing with illegal immigrants--preferred giving them "a chance to apply for legal status" over mass deportation by a margin of 57 percent to 38 percent. All these data, say the Bush-Martinez Republicans, suggest public support for the sort of "comprehensive" reform that passed the Senate.
Other Republicans, not surprisingly, draw a different lesson. They claim the exit poll question ("Should most illegal immigrants working in the United States be: Offered a chance to apply for legal status; Deported to the country they came from?") was hopelessly skewed in favor of the "amnesty" side. They note that Hostettler's opponent, Democrat Brad Ellsworth, was also a security-first, anti-amnesty border hawk. And while Arizona voters rejected Hayworth and Graf, they overwhelmingly approved a series of ballot initiatives that will, among other things, restrict illegal immigrants' access to social services, ban them from winning punitive damages in civil lawsuits, and make English the official state language...
Posted to Immigration at 07:02 PM | Comments (2)
Gerardo Sandoval (S.F. Supervisor) pushes illegal alien amnesty
Gerardo Sandoval is a San Francisco Supervisor, and he offers "Democrats must push immigration reform". Everything about it is wrong or just plain loony, so a full treatment isn't possible. He starts with supporting a caste system:
For the 44 million Latinos living in the United States, and for those Americans who appreciate them cleaning our offices, picking our fruit and caring for our children, the measure of success is very clear: immigration reform.
He might support increased Border Patrol funding, but only because it "may be unavoidable". Passing an "amnesty law" is the only "benchmark of success". And, he doesn't even seem to have followed the news these past six years:
At the other end, the Republican Party just selected a Latino, Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., as its new national chairman. Republicans will try to stoke Latino conservatism while ignoring amnesty, essentially a divide-and-conquer strategy.
Earth to Sandoval: Mel Martinez is the co-sponsor of the Senate amnesty bill.
Amongst other race-based opposition to our laws comes this:
Second, Democrats need to be clear that the $6 billion border fence now under construction is not just a wasteful boondoggle, but an affront to all Latinos.
Then, there's support for illegal immigration and the importation of a foreign serf class:
Finally, we need to educate middle America about the contributions of undocumented workers. Their hard work at low wages makes America more productive.
Does anyone doubt that "middle America" isn't a codeword for "Anglos"? His disdain for "middle America" and the ethnic boosterism continues:
Their commitment to family values is not a cliche, but a wake-up call for America to care for its elderly, its sick and to spend quality time with its children instead of forgetting them at the door of some fancy private school.
Despite what I wrote above, I strongly urge the Democrats to take his advice.
Posted to Immigration at 03:27 PM | Comments (5)
Scott Stroud/San Antonio Express-News, illegal immigration supporter
Scott Stroud is the politics/government editor for the San Antonio Express-News, and he offers "Latino backlash against GOP immigration policy a gift to Demos".
Discussing Texas House Bills 28 and 29, he says:
So if we make it harder to live and work in America and to send cash back to impoverished family members, maybe people will stop coming. Of course, we also could stop hiring them to run our farms and ranches, build our buildings and roads, and keep our economy humming for minimal compensation.
Instead of asking why the federal government isn't enforcing our laws, Stroud supports the importation of desperate foreign citizens in order to keep the "economy humming".
He also lies about HR4437:
...the measure passed in the U.S. House last year that would have made it illegal to offer a drink of water to a thirsty man who just walked across the desert...
His thoughts appear to be in line with his editor, Robert Rivard.
Posted to Immigration at 09:36 AM | Comments (2)
Are you a "Bush Conservative"?
"Bush Conservative" is the new, not-nearly-as-pejorative name for what is refered to in the literature as "Bushbotism". One of the chief symptoms of this affliction is a very strong ability to believe strongly in an idea despite massive contradictory evidence: Bush is a down-home Texas cowboy despite being a part of the Northeast liberal elite, Bush has secured or will secure the border despite millions of illegal aliens flooding over that same border, Bush is protecting us from terrorists while making it easier for them to infiltrate the U.S., Bush is a strong defender of the Constitution despite showing little regard for it, and on and on.
The Anchoress (who I still think is Ken Mehlman in drag) directs our attention to the Stratasphere's definition of the term, including this:
Bush Conservatives respect the immigrant worker in the sense we understand people need to make a life (not just a living). We do not want the broken current system to stay hostage to the "Fence Only" crowd. The illegal immigrant worker will pay a penalty in back taxes and lost time towards citizenship. That level of penalty is sufficient for the crime of missing paperwork. We respect those who are trying to do nothing more than raise a family. The Republicans can now have the mantle of harshness towards otherwise good people. They can focus on their vision of the few bad apples representing the entire immigrant population. They can ignore the more realistic, broader images that include aliens fighting for our country - the other immigrant worker. The only people who get my support will embrace Bush's comprehensive vision of workers who are registered, background checked, working in the open economy, and who must avoid criminal activities if they stay here. They will not become citizens immediately, and in fact will not be able to apply any time here as illegal aliens towards citizenship. They will become our neighbors working by our side, raising their children with ours. And like the good neighbors we are, we will reach out and help them assimiliate to our society. The Reps can be the party of rounding up aliens for deportation...
How heart-warming. And, if we were dealing with just a few thousand or even a few tens of thousands of people I might agree. Unfortunately, we're dealing with a massive movement of people from one country to ours. That quote trivializes everything involved in this issue, not taking into account things such as political power for the Mexican government, far-left groups, and racial demagogues to name just a few issues. Bush's "comprehensive vision" will be even more of a disaster than his other