Illegal Immigration: Undocumented Alien murders Marine

This country is being invaded. Not by an army of hostile aggressors bent on conquering and subjugating the American people and our way of life, but by an army none the less. This "horde" is composed of low-income, destitute people from south of the border in Mexico. At last report, it is estimated that there are approximately 11 - 15 million of these "illegal immigrants" already in the USA and more are attempting to cross the border illegally daily. I seriously doubt if any of them have attempted to secure a legal visa in order to travel, live and work here legally. The reasons why they come here are not a mystery. We are, after all, a nation built by immigrants (mainly from Europe). Most immigrants who come here do so to find a better life for themselves and their families. I have no problem with this in principle. I myself have ancestors who immigrated to these shores from England, Ireland, and Scotland. All of us (unless you are a full blooded Native American Indian) are the progeny of immigrants somewhere in our ancestry. However the difference between our ancestors and the "illegal immigrants" crossing over from Mexico is that the "illegal immigrants" are willfully and flagrantly violating our laws in order to come here. True that for those of us whose ancestors came over on the Mayflower or through subsequent colonization from England, there were very few if any laws at the time as to who could come here. I am referring to those whose parents or grandparents came over in the early part of the 20th Century and are products of the Ellis Island processing center. They came LEGALLY, and one of the first things they did before coming here or shortly after arriving, was to learn how to speak English so they could fully assimilate into American society. Most 'illegal immigrants" from Mexico are not doing this. Some already speak English, others only a "smattering" of English, and still others could not give "rat spit" about learning our language. In addition, instead of assimilating into our "Great Meltingpot", they demand that we accommodate their language, cultures and heritage. Is it just me, or is anyone else disturbed by this. Now it has become worse.

I was watching The O'Reilly Factor last night and I saw them present a story that really made my blood boil. Stephen Heiss, a Marine who had recently returned from Iraq was murdered along with two other people by Miguel Padilla, an "illegal alien" from Mexico. "So what is your point?", you ask. Crimes are committed by "illegal immigrants" all the time. What is so different about this, heinous as it was. Miguel Padilla had been in this country, undocumented, for sixteen (16) years. Twice before Padilla had been in the justice system when he was tried for violent crimes, crimes that were ultimately plead down to "misdemeanors". Each time Padilla was given probation and released. The courts knew that he was here illegally, if the courts knew then the government knew that he was here illegally. Each time after he was convicted and sentenced to probation, no attempt was made to deport this violent criminal and now three innocent people, including a valiant Marine, are dead at his hands. Stephen Heiss' mother is now suing the Department of Homeland Security for $100 Million because they did nothing about Miguel Padilla. NOT A DAMN THING! If Homeland Security, the courts and INS had done their jobs, Miguel Padilla would have been deported after his first conviction, and most likely his subsequent crimes would not have come to pass, and Stephen Heiss would still be alive. This really chaps my hide. I hope Mrs. Heiss succeeds on the merits of her suit. God willing and if there is true justice in this country, the courts will hold our government accountable for this egregious and heinous dereliction of duty. Perhaps this is what it will take to wake up our government and get them to do something on our behalf for a change.

Our Department of Homeland Security, the INS and to a lesser degree the courts, are hamstrung by career politicians, unions and immigrant activists opposed to Immigration Reform and Border Enforcement. These "vultures" want an open border! They don't want tough border or immigration enforcement because these "illegal immigrants" ultimately support them, and they claim they are doing a valuable service for America by doing jobs that everyday Americans won't take. Rubbish! There are millions of Americans living in poverty that would do these jobs (such as the jobs referenced by Geraldo Rivera in his defense of "illegal immigrants" at Swift and Co.), if they could get them and the jobs were not being swallowed up by people willing to work for nickels on the dollar compared to American minimum wage or better. Employers love these undocumented workers because the work for cheap. Liberal Democrats love them because the contribute to Hispanic activist groups who in turn contribute to the Democrat Party and encourage Hispanic voters to support the Democrats. Republicans are reticent to do anything substantial against "illegal immigrants" because they are afraid of losing the Hispanic vote or are trying to attract it themselves. The incoming majority Democrats are already clamoring to reverse course on the 700 miles of border fence that was approved in the last Congress. They want to put the "kibosh" on this as soon as they can and tear down what has already been built. As I said they want an open border, where people may cross freely. The problem with that is some of those crossing freely may be terrorists or other criminals like Miguel Padilla who should be kept out and our government is not doing a damn thing to stop this "tidal surge" of humanity crossing our borders many of whom may be legitimate dangers to America and her people. As long we have elected officials who care more about getting elected, raising money and making deals than protecting us and our own country, Americans will continue to be in danger from people like Miguel Padilla and Islamic Terrorist who may be trying to cross our northern and southern borders right now. WAKE UP AMERICA! THROW DA BUMS OUT!

Louisiana fought corruption and corruption won.

The voters of Louisiana have spoken and by a 57% margin they have returned Rep. William Jefferson (D. LA) back to the US House of Representatives. I can not help but draw comparisons between this election and another Louisiana election 15 years ago in 1991. Both are so very similar. In 1991, Edwin Edwards was running for his fourth (non-consecutive) term as the Governor of Louisana. Edwards, a Democrat, had been one of the most popular Governors in the State of Louisiana, with perhaps the sole exception of Huey P. Long (also a Democrat). First elected to the Governorship in 1972 he won reelection in 1976 but either lost in the Primary or decided not to run again. In any event, David C. Treen became the next Governor. In 1984 he staged a comeback by defeating Treen, but lost to Buddy Roemer in 1988. Edwards had long been dogged by charges of corruption. In a quote from Wikipedia.com; "After his 1983 victory, Edwards took some 600 supporters on a controversial 8-day European tour, including France. Each paid $10,000. Edwards expected a 70 percent profit on the contributors' tickets in order to retire a whopping $4.2 million campaign debt. Many questioned the propriety of the governor being indebted to "fat cats" to pay his campaign debts."
"The third Edwards administration went badly by all accounts. The oil money that fueled the success of Edwards's first two terms was in short supply in the third term. Edwards was also forced to stand trial on charges of corruption brought by U.S. Attorney John Volz." Edwards was ultimately acquited of these charges, but the damage was done. One of the campaign slogans that came about was "Anybody but Edwards", and Roemer overtook Edwards in the Primary. But Edwards would stage one more comeback. After he lost the Primary in 1987, a reporter for the now defunct Shreveport Journal is said to have written that "The only way Edwin Edwards could ever be elected again was to run against Adolf Hitler". How ironic this would turn out to be. Before the 1991 election Roemer became a Republican and the problems with his cubersome "switch" enabled former Ku Klux Klansman, and Neo-Nazi David Duke to win the Republican Primary. This gave rise to campaign slogans reminding Louisiana voters of the choice they faced between "the Racist" and "the Crook". Bumper sticker slogans such as "Vote for the Crook. It's important" and "Better a lizard than a wizard" appeared during the election. Understandably, Edwards won, and as predicted, more corruption followed. Edwards was later convicted in 1998 on 17 of 26 Federal charges including, racketeering, extortion, mail fraud and wire fraud. He is scheduled to be released from prison in 2011 (source Wikipedia.com).

So what, you ask, does this have to do with Rep. William Jefferson? Can you not see the similarities? Both are from a political machine that seems to breed corruption. Rep. William Jefferson, like Edwin Edwards before him, is mired in corruption. Federal agents who raided his office and home seized, among other evidence, $90,000 from a freezer in his home. Jefferson has been accused of taking bribes from a company trying to get into the lucrative Nigerian Telecom market. Unlike Edwards, Jefferson has yet to be charged by the Fed's in more than a year of investigations. I am almost willing to bet it is coming though. As in the election between Edwards and Duke, the voters of Louisiana had a choice. They had a choice between William Jefferson, the first black Congressman from Louisiana since Reconstruction, and state Rep. Karen Carter, a 37 year old black woman seeking to become the first black woman elected to Congress from Louisiana. The only potentially "black" mark against her was an accusation by the Jefferson campaign that she benefited from no-bid "sweetheart" contracts with the City Council of New Orleans as their legal advisor for utility regulation. Other than this, not a "stain" of corruption allegations could I find against her. They did not have a choice between a "Crook" and a "Racist", they had a choice between an African American Congressman accused of corruption and a consciencious young African American woman. But like the election of Edwin Edwards, the voters of Louisiana again chose the politician mired in corruption. THROW DA BUMS OUT!

Democrat's having their own corruption scandals.

The Democrats would like us all to believe that they will be the party to clean up Washington and bring relief of all the corruption that is plaguing Congress lately. That is why they hate it when their own dirty laundry is aired for public scrutiny.

First there was John Murtha (D. PA) the vaunted Marine Veteran who is one of the elite few "hawks" within the Democrat Party. Murtha was investigated as part of the Abscam sting in the 1980's which targeted several Congressman. Federal agents posed as operatives of Saudi Sheiks attempting to bribe their way into the United States. Murtha was videotaped by FBI agents saying; "I'm not interested...at this point. [If] we do business for a while, maybe I'll be interested, maybe I won't" (source Wikipedia.com). A grand jury declined to indict Murtha, he was never charged, and the House never took Ethics action against him. Accusations were recently leveled against Murtha that he steered Pentagon contracts to companies that hired his brother as a lobbyist.

Rep. Alcee Hastings (D. FL) was a Federal Judge in the State of Florida, appointed to the bench by former President Jimmy Carter in 1979. He was accused of soliciting bribes in 1981 from two men before his court on Racketeering charges in exchange for lenient sentences. Although he was brought up on charges, he was acquited. However a panel of Federal Appeals Court Judges found that he had lied (perjured himself) 15 times during his trial that resulted in his acquital and therefore warranted impeachment for bribery and perjury. The House of Representatives impeached him in 1988 and the Senate convicted him in 1989, but he was never barred from holding elective office again, allowing him to run for and win a seat in Congress in 1992. The incoming Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi was considering naming him to be the next Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, but the political flak from this caused her to bypass Hastings in favor of Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D. TX).

Now there is Rep William Jefferson (D. LA) Louisiana's only black congressman since Reconstruction. Last year Federal agents raided his home and office as part of a bribery investigation and seized $90,000 allegedly found in his freezer. This money is said to be from a company seeking lucrative contact in the Nigerian Telecom market. (Source CNN.com) So far he has yet to be charged but in the Primary election, he failed to get a majority against his Democratic challenger state Rep. Karen Carter (who is seeking to become the first black woman elected to Congress from Louisiana). Today's election will determine Jefferson's fate and it is speculated that the turnout will probably be more dismal than that 22% primary turnout as the Congressional election is the only item on the ballot. CNN's article pointed out that whites overwhelmingly supported Carter, fearing that a Jefferson win would make New Oreleans appear mired in corruption, while blacks have by and large supported Jefferson over distrust of the government and its investigation of him. One would think that the "race" card were being played heavily except both candidates themselves are black.

If you think for one minute that the Democrats will be any different in rooting out corruption, then think again. They have their own corrupt politicians and it only promises to get worse. THROW DA BUMS OUT!

Democrat Obstructionism: 1, Bipartisanship: 0

I just love how the Democrats try to claim that they are going to practice bipartisanship and fairness when they assume leadership of the House and the Senate. Their actions to date, however have been anything but. The Democrats have scored a "great victory" (if you can call it that) since John Bolton announced that he will step down from his position as United States Ambassador to the United Nations when his recess appointment expires very soon. It makes me sick to my stomach that a then minority group of Senators (the Democrats) with the aid of a handful of renegade Republicans can torpedo the nomination of a man who was probably the most qualified person to lead a reform effort at the un-United Nations. Bolton enjoyed majority support in the Senate, but the opposition of two prominent Republicans gave the Democrats just what they needed to stymie his nomination for more than a year and forced the President to put Bolton in the position by a recess appointment which was temporary and would last only for the duration of the current Congress. As mentioned in an article on CNN and in another on Human Events.com(http://www.humanevents.com/rightangle/index.php?id=18553&title=the_gop_killed_john_bolton) the adamant opposition of liberal Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R. RI) prevented the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from reporting Bolton's nomination to the full Senate for an up or down vote. But it was not just due to Chafee's efforts alone. Sen. George Voinovich (R. Ohio) expressed his unease about Bolton and this let the Democrats hamstring the Senate into inaction. All those who opposed Bolton were whining and moaning that Bolton was too "brusque" and too "combative" to be an effective diplomat and public servant for the US at the un-United Nations. They even dredged up accusations from people who worked for or with Bolton in the past that labeled him a "bully". Bolton's performance at the UN proved his detractors wrong and he even managed to make some progress (all things considered), but still Chafee vowed to oppose his nomination even after Chafee was defeated November 7th by Sheldon Whitehouse (a Democrat who would most likely oppose Bolton's nomination as well). Sen. Joe Biden (D. Delaware) the incoming chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee is quoted as saying he saw "no point in considering Mr. Bolton's nomination again." But as the article in Human Events points out, blame can also fall on the Republicans and the President for failing to properly push Bolton's nomination. CNN reported that Bolton's relations with the Secretariat at the UN was "strained". Of course it was. He was doing his job, pushing for reform within a corrupt organization, currently led by a corrupt man - Kofi Annan. Bolton made progress on getting international consensus on resolutions dealing with North Korea and Iran, and now thanks to a lack of will by the Administration and its supporters, partisan politics promulgated by the Democrats, and the fact that Bolton would not practice the "touchy-feely", feel-good, policy-of-surrender style of diplomacy favored by the current Democrats, his nomination has permanently collapsed and whatever good he may have accomplished over the next two years is wasted. Add to this the fact that with the Democrats assuming control over the Senate in January, it is fairly certain that if President Bush appoints any consciencious, strong, well qualified conservative to any appointed office that requires confirmation by the Senate, especially if that appointment is to any of the Appeals Courts (or God forbid, the Supreme Court) then that person(s) nomination is doomed to languish in committee, never coming to a full yah or nay vote by the Senate. To the members of the US Senate I say: Well done - mission accomplished. You have totally corrupted and abused the "Advice and Consent" function envisioned by our Founding Fathers when the Constitution was written. I hope you are proud of yourselves. When Election 2008 comes about, lets THROW DA BUMS OUT!

Pelosi continues with her "Double Standard"

It has been a very interesting last two weeks. I took some vacation time to spend with my dad in Oklahoma and spend Thanksgiving with my mother in New Mexico. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. If you are like me, you probably ate too much as usual whether it was the traditional turkey or big and thick rib eye steaks like my family and I enjoyed. I think I am sufficiently recovered now from the holiday.

Speaking of "turkey's" can you believe what has been happening in regards to the appointment of a chairman for the House Intelligence committee? One would think that with a woman slated to become Speaker of the United States House of Representatives for the first time in its two hundred plus year history that Nancy Pelosi would be all too happy to appoint Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the committee, to the chairmanship. Instead Pelosi snubs Harman and indicates that she will appoint Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) as chairman implying that she considered him well qualified. For those of you who do not know this, Alcee Hastings was a Federal Judge for the Southern District of Florida from 1979 to 1989 (appointed to the bench by former President Jimmy Carter as the first black federal judge in Florida). He was accused of being part of a bribery scandal in 1981. According to an article on CNN.com, Hastings and Washington Lawyer William Border were accused of soliciting $150,000 in bribes in return for lenient sentences for two other men accused in a racketeering scheme. He was acquitted of the charges in court, however a panel of Federal appellate judges found that he had lied 15 times in his trial that resulted in the acquittal and therefore warranted impeachment for bribery and perjury. For those of you who do not know what perjury is, that is intentionally lying under oath. Someone who was a lawyer and a federal judge should have known better than to do that. The US House obliged in 1988 by voting 413-3 in favor of Articles of Impeachment to remove him from the bench. The following year he was convicted in the Senate and officially removed from the bench. The Senate, however did not take the step to bar him from ever holding office again (although it should have - hindsight is 20-20), and he was elected to the House in 1992. This is the man that Pelosi was considering to be Chairman over the committee that has access to some of our nations top secrets? Fortunately for Pelosi, the uproar over this has helped her to avoid another case of "foot and mouth" disease (i.e. open-mouth-insert-foot), as she recently announced that she will pass over Hastings in favor of Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), a Vietnam Army Veteran (Uurahh!), helicopter crew chief, gunner, Purple Heart Winner and former Border Patrol Agent turned Congressman (and he is from Texas-my adopted home state). He is considered less partisan than Hastings, hopefully he will do some good, but I won't hold my breath for it. I still don't understand why Pelosi passed over Harman and was considering Hastings in the first place - considering that Pelosi was one of the 413 House members (including new Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, John Conyers and Charles Rangel) that voted to impeach him. Harman and Pelosi have been at odds before, but to pass over the ranking Democratic member of the Intelligence Committee in favor of an impeached and disgraced federal judge who was found to have perjured himself (lied under oath) and took bribes in exchange for lesser sentences from his court, in effect selling justice, to lead the committee that oversees our nations spy agencies and has access to highly classified data is unforgivable and one more example of the "Double Standard" that Nancy Pelosi and most of our elected officials live by. It also is another example of how out of touch with common sense, decency, and the people our elected officials (and most of the members of my party - the Democrats) have become. Throw da' bums out!