I’ve started working on a book about the Bush White House. The title: “And we will build a border that is more open and more secure.”
George Bush himself gave me the title. It is something he said way back in 2002.
I intend to show that Bush made the illegal alien problem much worse since he took office. I can demonstrate declines in enforcement efforts at the same time as record numbers of illegals were entering our country.
Bush has a reputation for stubbornness and arrogance. Former Mexican President Vicente Fox (a macho man himself) described him this way: “He's quite simply the cockiest guy I have ever met in my life…sort of like walking carrying two watermelons like this.” (one under each arm)
Bush starts out his first term in office sounding very much like a conservative when he says, “The Administration believes that legal immigrants should be greeted with open arms, rather than endless lines. We must be responsive to those who seek to immigrate to this country by legal means, and to those who have emigrated and now seek to become U.S. citizens. While we seek to improve the system that welcomes legal immigrants, the United States is a Nation of laws and must act to combat illegal immigration. Working through the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the Federal Government should take additional steps to defend the security and stability of our Nation against the threats of organized crime, drug traffickers, and terrorist groups. The Administration is committed to improving U.S. immigration law enforcement and ensuring the safety of our borders. (February 28, 2001 New Beginnings Blueprint)
But by September 5 of that same year (2001) he is talking like this: “Temporary Worker Program: We are working with Mexico on options for a new program for temporary workers -one that is grounded in reality and the needs of our economy, and that doesn’t hurt U.S. workers. The program would rest on a carefully worked out partnership between the sending and receiving countries that recognizes the contributions undocumented Mexicans are making in the United States and that brings together willing workers and willing employers. This is an issue that will require close consultations with the U.S. Congress and U.S. civil society.”
Things get very interesting after 9/11. The strangest pronouncements come in 2002 as Bush tries to keep Vicente Fox strung along at the same time he is trying to deal with a failing economy and high unemployment. We are losing jobs and entire manufacturing industries, the hospitality business is on the skids, and he’s pushing guest workers.
It is typical, stubborn Bush. His push for amnesty began in 2001. In July of that year Ari Fleischer was the first Bush press secretary to try to explain that the legalization plan wasn’t amnesty. He wasn’t any better at it than his successors.
Bush was less aggressive after 9/11 but the message was still in there and came out from time-to-time. By January 2004 (election season) he was back in full swing. And his efforts continued from then until now, attempting to legalize millions.
What is perhaps more telling is his effort to push and expand NAFTA. One wonders how he figures NAFTA helps our manufacturing sector? Or our low-skilled citizens? Or the other countries involved, for that matter.
It should be an interesting book. Any suggestions?
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
300
I just noticed I hit 300 blog entries. This is your chance to tell me to stop!
alienrants@gmail.com
alienrants@gmail.com
Another liberal president
What a bummer. McCain takes the lead. Rudy dropped out. Edwards dropped out. We’ve got Romney, McCain, Obama, and Clinton left to choose from. I’m not a huge Mitt fan but I’d pick him out of this bunch any day.
For those of you expecting Paul or Hunter or Bloomberg to mount a renegade campaign, third party candidates would almost certainly dilute the vote and insure a win for the donkeys. Perot with all his money proved that.
I do hope McCain isn’t the GOP choice. Like Bush, he acts like a border state politician on the issue of illegals. He goes after the brown vote with the only perk he has –amnesty. That approach appeals to the socially liberal Dems and Independents and he banks the election on converting those voters. (Think New Hampshire on a national scale.)
Look at me, talking like McCain is a done deal. Everybody needs 2,000 delegates to win. McCain will have some new money after the Florida win. Mitt Romney seems to find money (although he could use some endorsements from other candidates abandoning the campaign right about now).
A miracle at the convention might bring a decent conservative to the ballot.
For the record, my second choice from the list (after Romney) would be Hillary. I can’t believe I just wrote that, but when you look at Bill’s performance on illegal aliens, he outperformed Bush on enforcement and results.
Actually, any choice from that list would be so repulsive that I would skip that section of the ballot altogether.
Let’s hope things look better on the morning of February 6th.
For those of you expecting Paul or Hunter or Bloomberg to mount a renegade campaign, third party candidates would almost certainly dilute the vote and insure a win for the donkeys. Perot with all his money proved that.
I do hope McCain isn’t the GOP choice. Like Bush, he acts like a border state politician on the issue of illegals. He goes after the brown vote with the only perk he has –amnesty. That approach appeals to the socially liberal Dems and Independents and he banks the election on converting those voters. (Think New Hampshire on a national scale.)
Look at me, talking like McCain is a done deal. Everybody needs 2,000 delegates to win. McCain will have some new money after the Florida win. Mitt Romney seems to find money (although he could use some endorsements from other candidates abandoning the campaign right about now).
A miracle at the convention might bring a decent conservative to the ballot.
For the record, my second choice from the list (after Romney) would be Hillary. I can’t believe I just wrote that, but when you look at Bill’s performance on illegal aliens, he outperformed Bush on enforcement and results.
Actually, any choice from that list would be so repulsive that I would skip that section of the ballot altogether.
Let’s hope things look better on the morning of February 6th.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Here we go again!
Meet Flor Crisostomo. She is moving in to Elvira’s old room at the Methodist Church in Chicago. Same old story. She was ordered deported and is supposed to report tomorrow. But she’s going into sanctuary mode in Slim Coleman’s church instead.
And I suppose Emma Lozano, Slim’s wife and Sin Fronteras Latino advocacy group leader, will be there for all the press coverage as well.
Now, Flor’s situation is a bit different than Elvira’s. She was arrested in 2006 with 26 other people at IFCO, a pallet company. She came to Chicago in 2001 and got a job using a fake ID.
Flor has three children back in Mexico and was sending home $300 a week to her three children. (If that is true, her children in Guerrero are well-off indeed. A Mexican worker only earns about $4,500 a year.) Flor is unmarried.
ICE is giving the same statement as before. They will take her at the time and place of their choosing, which meant NEVER for Elvira and our ICE agents. She had to move to California first; then Immigration took her into custody right away.
Part of me wants her picked up right away. The other part of me hopes she gets some press coverage. Elvira elicited very little sympathy and all sorts of criticism.
And in Flor's case “family unification” means that she should be back in Mexico with her kids. No discussion about the 14th Amendment this time – Flor’s kids all read “Made in Mexico.”
So, what makes her a good poster child? Nothing really. But it does point out that the Latino activists have a very poor hand to play. It is really hard to justify crime, isn’t it?
And I suppose Emma Lozano, Slim’s wife and Sin Fronteras Latino advocacy group leader, will be there for all the press coverage as well.
Now, Flor’s situation is a bit different than Elvira’s. She was arrested in 2006 with 26 other people at IFCO, a pallet company. She came to Chicago in 2001 and got a job using a fake ID.
Flor has three children back in Mexico and was sending home $300 a week to her three children. (If that is true, her children in Guerrero are well-off indeed. A Mexican worker only earns about $4,500 a year.) Flor is unmarried.
ICE is giving the same statement as before. They will take her at the time and place of their choosing, which meant NEVER for Elvira and our ICE agents. She had to move to California first; then Immigration took her into custody right away.
Part of me wants her picked up right away. The other part of me hopes she gets some press coverage. Elvira elicited very little sympathy and all sorts of criticism.
And in Flor's case “family unification” means that she should be back in Mexico with her kids. No discussion about the 14th Amendment this time – Flor’s kids all read “Made in Mexico.”
So, what makes her a good poster child? Nothing really. But it does point out that the Latino activists have a very poor hand to play. It is really hard to justify crime, isn’t it?
Saturday, January 26, 2008
No public office for me
I have yet one more reason I don’t want to hold public office. The first three have been my philosophy for quite some time now. The fourth I added today.
1) Consensus in today’s world means agreeing to things that are against your core beliefs. As a result, most public bodies these days are devoid of real debate and discussion of the issues. The group must bring forth a unified message.
2) Those of us on the outside can say and write things that an elected official would not be able to say or write.
3) I don’t savor the idea of meeting regularly to take additional rights away from the people. And I’m sure my colleagues would tire of me saying, “On this issue I believe it is none of our collective business.”
4) I would not want to go out and beg money from people to wage a campaign, then not vote for their favorite causes. I was raised with the notion that we “earn” our money. How else would a politician earn money?
I suspect that a large number of respectable people are kept out of public office for variations of these same reasons. Our country is worse off for it.
1) Consensus in today’s world means agreeing to things that are against your core beliefs. As a result, most public bodies these days are devoid of real debate and discussion of the issues. The group must bring forth a unified message.
2) Those of us on the outside can say and write things that an elected official would not be able to say or write.
3) I don’t savor the idea of meeting regularly to take additional rights away from the people. And I’m sure my colleagues would tire of me saying, “On this issue I believe it is none of our collective business.”
4) I would not want to go out and beg money from people to wage a campaign, then not vote for their favorite causes. I was raised with the notion that we “earn” our money. How else would a politician earn money?
I suspect that a large number of respectable people are kept out of public office for variations of these same reasons. Our country is worse off for it.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Up for grabs
There was an article in the Courier News yesterday where Jack Cunningham, our county clerk, admits that it is possible for an illegal alien to register to vote. And there is nothing to stop him at the polls, either.
I blogged about this before (http://alienrants.blogspot.com/2007/12/voting-in-illinois.html) but it is hard for me to fathom the response of an elected official. He has been able to identify the problem, yet he has no intention of making the effort to fix it.
Here are a couple of Jack’s comments:
"We never single out any group. There has to be a presumption that they are citizens unless it's proven otherwise. We, at this level, don't have much control over the issue."
Well, given the policy of making political activists registrars, exactly who is presuming these people are citizens?
"I'm very concerned that everyone who's on our list is legal. I don't think in Kane County it's a particular problem at this point. We have groups that come in and say it is, and we have groups that say it isn't. It's a very difficult issue."
Of course, we don’t know how big the problem is. If you do a little poll watching on the east side of the Fox River, you’re likely to see significant numbers of voters who do not have a rudimentary understanding of English. Are they illegal? Who knows? Surely the county clerk doesn’t know. He admits it.
Meanwhile, the U. S. Supreme Court is deliberating over the Indiana law requiring photo ID at the polling place.
We are so afraid of offending someone or causing a hardship that we simply look the other way. I’ll tell you how to fix the problem, but it will never fly in our kooky society. Voters would be registered by the county clerk who would only accept secure and verifiable ID from the voter. The clerk would then obtain a signature and photo as part of the registration process. Then cards would be issued like an employee ID or a license.
Any fraud by the voter or registrar would result in prison time.
No more Republican Committeemen or La Raza Officers as registrars. No more wiggle room about proving citizenship. No more utility bills for ID. No more automatic voter cards when you get a Driver’s License. That’s how you stop the problem.
But as long as politicians want to make a voter out of anything with a pulse, we will not ascribe the proper value to the right to vote.
I blogged about this before (http://alienrants.blogspot.com/2007/12/voting-in-illinois.html) but it is hard for me to fathom the response of an elected official. He has been able to identify the problem, yet he has no intention of making the effort to fix it.
Here are a couple of Jack’s comments:
"We never single out any group. There has to be a presumption that they are citizens unless it's proven otherwise. We, at this level, don't have much control over the issue."
Well, given the policy of making political activists registrars, exactly who is presuming these people are citizens?
"I'm very concerned that everyone who's on our list is legal. I don't think in Kane County it's a particular problem at this point. We have groups that come in and say it is, and we have groups that say it isn't. It's a very difficult issue."
Of course, we don’t know how big the problem is. If you do a little poll watching on the east side of the Fox River, you’re likely to see significant numbers of voters who do not have a rudimentary understanding of English. Are they illegal? Who knows? Surely the county clerk doesn’t know. He admits it.
Meanwhile, the U. S. Supreme Court is deliberating over the Indiana law requiring photo ID at the polling place.
We are so afraid of offending someone or causing a hardship that we simply look the other way. I’ll tell you how to fix the problem, but it will never fly in our kooky society. Voters would be registered by the county clerk who would only accept secure and verifiable ID from the voter. The clerk would then obtain a signature and photo as part of the registration process. Then cards would be issued like an employee ID or a license.
Any fraud by the voter or registrar would result in prison time.
No more Republican Committeemen or La Raza Officers as registrars. No more wiggle room about proving citizenship. No more utility bills for ID. No more automatic voter cards when you get a Driver’s License. That’s how you stop the problem.
But as long as politicians want to make a voter out of anything with a pulse, we will not ascribe the proper value to the right to vote.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
A teacher stabbed
For those of you familiar with Elgin High School, we’ve got some sad news about a teacher who was stabbed by a student on the last day of finals. The teacher has lost the use of one eye as a result of the attack. Her other injuries were superficial.
One of the local newspapers has identified the boy as 16-year old Angel Facio of the 600 block of Jefferson Avenue in Elgin. That’s about a block away from the baseball fields.
The boy was not a student of this particular teacher but was in her class last year.
The school was nearly empty when the boy entered her classroom at about 11:15 am. He asked if he could wait in her room until the bus came. She agreed and continued to work at her desk. The boy threw a coat over her head and began stabbing her with a steak knife.
Another teacher heard her screaming and came to her rescue. She fled the room and the other teacher locked the boy in the room until police arrived.
Here’s what the Chicago Tribune reported about the boy’s reaction during the attack. (Rescuing teacher) “Gannon yelled "Stop!" and the teen sat at a desk and put his head down.”
Now, this was on Friday, the 18th. On Tuesday, the 22nd, the city of Elgin releases its initiatives to crack down on illegal aliens. Some folks are making a connection, but I’m not so sure. We may never know.
We also may never know the immigration status of the boy and his family. Why? Because Elgin High is in Cook County and Cook County is a declared sanctuary county. Not that it matters; this boy will spend the most productive years of his life in a prison or a locked mental hospital. His family would probably welcome deportation, but that isn’t an option for a long time to come.
And once again, every student will suffer because of one kook. The district is now reviewing its security policy. It will almost certainly result in full-time metal detectors and backpack searches.
It is a losing battle in our open society. The founding fathers warned us that our freedoms were designed for a moral, God-fearing, society. It won’t work if the people are wicked. A certain amount of restraint and “goodness” are required of the citizenry. And there aren’t enough laws or police or prisons or metal detectors to compensate.
Updated information: It turns out that this boy was implicated last August in the rape of an 8-year-old girl. But Kane County has a child advocacy program that has kept him out of jail. DNA backlogs and DA caseloads have kept him from being charged with the crime or taken into custody.
But the State's Attorney is taking the case to a grand jury TODAY. Isn't it funny how priorities shift?
All indications are that the boy is in the United States legally (as in a citizen). Deportation is not an option, so we'd better pray he is tried as an adult. Otherwise, he could be released when he turns 21.
Update #2: This story gets worse all the time. It came out in the paper today that two days before he stabbed the teacher, Angel attempted to abduct a 13-year-old girl over by Larsen Middle School. The girl got away but has identified him as the one.
Also, the judge ruled that for the August charge Angel will be tried as an adult. This will get him six to 30 years. As for the stabbing, we're still waiting to hear if he will be tried as an adult.
Then again, this is looking more like a lunacy case all the time.
One of the local newspapers has identified the boy as 16-year old Angel Facio of the 600 block of Jefferson Avenue in Elgin. That’s about a block away from the baseball fields.
The boy was not a student of this particular teacher but was in her class last year.
The school was nearly empty when the boy entered her classroom at about 11:15 am. He asked if he could wait in her room until the bus came. She agreed and continued to work at her desk. The boy threw a coat over her head and began stabbing her with a steak knife.
Another teacher heard her screaming and came to her rescue. She fled the room and the other teacher locked the boy in the room until police arrived.
Here’s what the Chicago Tribune reported about the boy’s reaction during the attack. (Rescuing teacher) “Gannon yelled "Stop!" and the teen sat at a desk and put his head down.”
Now, this was on Friday, the 18th. On Tuesday, the 22nd, the city of Elgin releases its initiatives to crack down on illegal aliens. Some folks are making a connection, but I’m not so sure. We may never know.
We also may never know the immigration status of the boy and his family. Why? Because Elgin High is in Cook County and Cook County is a declared sanctuary county. Not that it matters; this boy will spend the most productive years of his life in a prison or a locked mental hospital. His family would probably welcome deportation, but that isn’t an option for a long time to come.
And once again, every student will suffer because of one kook. The district is now reviewing its security policy. It will almost certainly result in full-time metal detectors and backpack searches.
It is a losing battle in our open society. The founding fathers warned us that our freedoms were designed for a moral, God-fearing, society. It won’t work if the people are wicked. A certain amount of restraint and “goodness” are required of the citizenry. And there aren’t enough laws or police or prisons or metal detectors to compensate.
Updated information: It turns out that this boy was implicated last August in the rape of an 8-year-old girl. But Kane County has a child advocacy program that has kept him out of jail. DNA backlogs and DA caseloads have kept him from being charged with the crime or taken into custody.
But the State's Attorney is taking the case to a grand jury TODAY. Isn't it funny how priorities shift?
All indications are that the boy is in the United States legally (as in a citizen). Deportation is not an option, so we'd better pray he is tried as an adult. Otherwise, he could be released when he turns 21.
Update #2: This story gets worse all the time. It came out in the paper today that two days before he stabbed the teacher, Angel attempted to abduct a 13-year-old girl over by Larsen Middle School. The girl got away but has identified him as the one.
Also, the judge ruled that for the August charge Angel will be tried as an adult. This will get him six to 30 years. As for the stabbing, we're still waiting to hear if he will be tried as an adult.
Then again, this is looking more like a lunacy case all the time.
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