Scare Tactics

“If you want to scare the American people, what you say is the bill’s an amnesty bill…That’s empty political rhetoric trying to frighten our citizens.”
- President Bush, addressing customs protection trainees in Georgia


If anyone is trying to “scare the American people,” it’s President Bush.

I suppose it’s “empty political rhetoric” to expect the president to see to it that our federal laws are enforced and our borders protected—especially in “time of war,” as he is so fond of pointing out?

Particularly offensive is the “if you don’t want to do what’s right for America" remark. As a tax paying, native born, lifelong American citizen, I have a right to my opinion on this subject. Nobody, especially an agenda-driven lame duck president desperate for a lone mark in his plus column, has any business telling me what to think or how to feel about illegal immigration.

President Bush doesn't own the U.S.A.--but he's determined to give it away.

Americans are a lot of things, but stupid isn’t one of them. We can read, and what we read in this bill is frightening because of the perils it poses to our national security. We understand the danger we are in from unknown illegal immigrants who have crept across the borders with the firm intention to inflict serious harm upon us. Once legalized via the blanket blessing of the proposed legislation, any terrorists who are already here among us will blend seamlessly into the landscape and remain safely hidden--until the next 9/11 bursts upon us.

George W. Bush swore a solemn oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” I don't see any evidence of that with regard to illegal immigration. Is it too much for the American people to expect that our president actually enforce the law to protect our borders--especially in “time of war”? As Bush quite obviously refuses to do so, is it any wonder that the American people are scared?

In Their Honor

In honor of Memorial Day, please visit one of the websites linked below and consider donating some of your charity dollars in memory of our fallen troops.

Although we can never repay their sacrifices, we can make this small return.

• Soldiers' Angels
  
• Injured Marines Semper Fi Fund
  
• Wounded Warrior Project
• Vets for Freedom

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

~ John 15:13

A Bone-Chilling Thought

Since 9/11, the topic of Hugh Hewitt's most recent Townhall.com column has been my greatest fear. Immigration reform, carelessly done, provides the perfect blanket cover for any hidden terror cell living and growing secretly within our nation.

Just a few questions for the brilliant "bipartisan committee" that has thrown together this abortion of an immigration bill:

1. How many aliens are crossing our borders illegally?
2. Are they all Mexican or Hispanic?
3. If not, where are their countries of origins?
4. Do any of those countries sponsor terrorism against the U.S.?
5. Can you estimate how many "OTMs" (Other Than Mexicans) are in the country?
6. Can you estimate how many of the illegal aliens are from terrorist nations?
7. Do you know how many of the illegal aliens harbor evil intentions towards the U.S.?
8. Do you know how many of them are trained as terrorists?
9. Do you know if any of them are wanted for terrorist acts in any Western nations?
10. Are you willing to permit undetected terrorists living in the U.S. to become legalized?

Those are just ten of the scores of questions I think all members of Congress will hear from their constituents this Memorial Day weekend. Good luck with those public appearances, esteemed elected officials, and enjoy the barbeques while you can.

"Mirror, Mirror..."

The "increasingly irrelevant" former president, Jimmy Carter, is throwing bricks again--and not for building Habitat for Humanity.

Carter is a fine one to level a charge of "the worst." Anyone over 40 remembers the god-awful mess he made of the country and, arguably, the world. Anyone younger should read up on the bad news, linked here.

As depressing as it will be, I'm looking forward to reading the next installment of Carter's disastrous misadventures. Americans could use a timely reminder of how badly things can unravel when someone in over his (or her) head occupies the office of the presidency.

What Are You Reading?

Hat tip to Eagle and Elephant for a fun exercise:

1. Grab the nearest book.

2. Open it to page 161.

3. Find the fifth full sentence.

4. Post the text of the sentence along with these instructions.

5. Don't search around and look for the coolest book you can find. Do what's actually next to you.

Here's my contribution, from the book I'm currently reading:

Was it just an act of kindness to a relation whom the old king had ignored?

~ The Princes of Ireland, by Edward Rutherfurd

This book is on my nightstand, which qualifies as "next to" me. I'm now on page 594, with 176 pages left to go. So...what are you reading?

Upside Down World

When I first saw the photos of the flags in an e-mail I received, I couldn't believe it wasn't just a tasteless prank.

I was wrong. The American flag really was turned upside down, and the Mexican flag actually was hoisted on top of our flag, by protestors at a California high school.

Today, it seems that the United States Senate agrees with the illegal immigrant protestors. If the proposed immigration bill does go through, our border troubles are just beginning.

The American flag flying upside down is an international distress symbol. How fittingly symbolic for today's events.

Foregone Conclusion

Undoubtedly, this latest international crisis is America's fault. Aren't they always?

As for the continuing saga of WTC 7, we're finally going to learn how the government screwed us over on that caper, too. Rosie, oh, Rosie! You have taken the lunatic fringe to a new dimension beyond time, space, and any hope of reason. Nobody has chronicled your frightening mental contortions with more incisive wit than Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online. His article on Rosie O'Donnell's 9/11 meltdown, "The Queen of Nice goes nuts," is a classic suitable for framing. Read it when you want to laugh out loud.

Ever since JFK's assassination, leftys seem eager to believe that anything bad happening anywhere in the world is directly traceable to a U.S. government conspiracy. This one-size-fits-all answer seems to work well for them, which I suppose is why it remains so resilient after four decades of automatic application.

I can see why. It's certainly easier than thinking.

Unbearable Burden

If you watched ABC World News Tonight, you saw the story about Professor Bacevich, who is against the Iraq war, and his fallen hero son, Andrew J. Bacevich, 1st Lt, 3/8 Cav, 1st Cav.

Andrew was my own son's age. I don't know how a parent keeps going after such a blow, and I pray to God that I never find out. My deepest sympathies, far beyond words, to Bacevich and to all the bereft mothers and fathers of war.

An Impossible Dream?

There are 596 days until Election Day 2008. Can you tolerate the thought?

With the endless political droning on TV, radio, and in the print media, it's going to be a very long haul to the next president. Especially when you have the ancient sage of "60 Minutes" calling one of the major candidates a "horse's ass" and questioning his premarital sexual activity on national television. Nice. It's the kind of lefty class that makes me grateful I haven't watched that show for years.

But you can't escape the negativity surrounding all of the main Republican contenders. It's as though the bitter taste of the turmoil of war in Iraq and Afghanistan has been infused into each one of them, courtesy of a relentlessly left-biased media. None of the Republicans will get a fair shake from MSM, as far as I can see.

Romney will be forced to babble on about his religion, a total non sequitur in the larger question of how to run the country; Guiliani will continue to be hounded about his abortion stance, a single plank in a complex platform; McCain will go on being needled about his age instead of asked about his policy plans.

This is as the media wants it. MSM is delighted with all the distractions surrounding the "Big Three" Republicans, because it can turn full, unquestioned focus on the chinks in their armor rather than the issues at hand. If Fred Thompson announces he will run, as is expected, of course the perils of recurring cancer--and the playing catch-up angle--will be the centerpieces of his media coverage.

Have you seen a single negative story about Hillary? Neither have I. How about Obama? Not really. Any gaffes this newbie makes are quickly muffled, with attention redirected towards the opposition. And remember John Edwards' $400 haircut? That fell off the front pages faster than Fort Dix.

There's no doubt that MSM wants a Democrat in the White House next time, and it's equally certain that Americans are weary enough of the constant political fray to likely cooperate in putting one there. It's also true that all of the Republican contenders have mismanaged their campaigns to one extent or another, up to this point. I believe our country would be safer and stronger with the election of a Republican president in 2008. But I also believe, with each news cycle, that my belief may be closer to becoming an impossible dream.

A Pleasant Surprise

This afternoon, Hugh Hewitt interviewed Jon Voight. I've always been kind of lukewarm on Jon Voight, but I'll have to reevaluate. Throughout the two-hour interview, Voight addressed the questions with a thoughtful, measured intelligence rarely encountered in natives of the entertainment world.

Most remarkable was the fact that this lifelong celebrity fully "gets" the war. What a pleasant surprise it was to learn that there really are brain cells functioning in Hollywood, after all. If only functional neurons were contagious, Al Qaeda's job would be a lot tougher.

In Our Midst

To those of you who "disapprove" of the war on Islamo-terrorism: Get over it.

No matter how much you'd like to "talk" with them, the Islamo-maniacs only want to kill you--and me, and as many other American "infidels" as they possibly can.

Face facts. The war is here, it's real, and it's not going away.

A Royal Break

Queen Elizabeth II is visiting the White House.

It's nice to have a bit of fluff in the national news for a change. Especially after my termite trauma last week, I'm enjoying whatever glimpses I catch of the royal field trip.

All the usual nonsense will still be in progress after the pomp and circumstance has ended. Our troops will still be fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, Congress will still be at sword's points, illegal immigration will still be a thorny issue, the '08 candidates will still be campaigning, gas prices will still be rising, and the globe will still be warming.

As far as I'm concerned, everything can wait--at least until I hear how Texas George managed this evening in his white tie and tails.

External Influence

Nothing external to you has any power over you.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Obviously, Emerson never had his house tented for termites.

Forget waterboarding. I say let's have all the captive terrorists prepare for termite fumigation, day after day. Before the week is out, they'll be climbing over one another to give the Gitmo guards OBL's cell phone number.

I think--no, wait, I know--I would rather move out of state than ever go through this again.

Root canal is preferable.

So is labor and childbirth.

In fact, I would prefer undergoing a root canal in the midst of childbirth, on moving day, to ever going through "termiting" again. My son and daughter would probably prefer it, too, having dealt with several weeks' worth of Mom's angst during the Herculean preparations. Not to mention my friends and co-workers, who have listened to my fevered whining with commendable patience.

One of my good friends remarked, "I've never seen you like this." She was incredulous that, with all the problems she has seen me cope with so calmly over the years, that "something like this" would unhinge me.

Ha! Just wait until her house needs to be tented.