The Smoke Break

You want some brie with that whine?

Coddling Criminals Continues

By

The Wall Street Journal notes today that enforcement of immigration laws is now starting to succumb to the pitiful, “Why me?” cries of the liberal agenda on behalf of their criminal voter-wannabes, in preparation for the big, sucking sound of President Obama’s next reform push.

The 287g program was designed by the Bush administration to train local police to help federal immigration authorities locate criminal aliens.  But apparently its success and the support of those participating in it are its downfall.

“I think the program is working great,” said Wake County, N.C., Sheriff Donnie Harrison. “If the highway patrol brings someone to our jail, and they say they are foreign born, then they are flagged for 287g. They have committed a violation of some sort to be brought to our jail…from broken tail lights to murder and rape.”

Raleigh, N.C., resident Maria Hernandez was booked into a Wake County jail after failing to show up for her 6-year-old son’s truancy hearing, according to her account and that of her attorney, Marty Rosenbluth.

Ms. Hernandez, a cleaning lady who came to the U.S. illegally nine years ago, is now in deportation court. “I don’t understand why they come after people like me,” she said.

I’ll tell you why, Ms. Hernandez.  Usted es un criminal.  You are a criminal.  You broke the law when you entered this country deliberately and illegally and the consequence of your law-breaking is deportation.

Adios.

Donkeys, Dictators, and Democracy

By

It’s a given that the vast majority of Democrats, particularly those in government, can be counted on to be little more than your basic hairball.  Traditionally unable to keep their hands where they belong – reaching into someone else’s pockets to take their money or reaching into someone else’s pants to have a little illicit fun – no one pays them very much attention because as a group they are as interchangeable as dandelion puffs waving in the prevailing wind of wants.  The word Democrat brings to mind at best the picture of a spoiled teenager; at worst stereotypical trailer trash living off of someone else’s hard-earned money in their double-wide, a beer belly sticking out from below a grubby tank top, guffawing between belches or through smeared lipstick while the neighbor’s kid ties firecrackers to the dog’s tail.

Republicans, on the other hand, have balanced the sociopolitical scales by assuming the role of “responsible adult”.  Steady, conservative, practical.  The businessman whose word is his bond and to whom you can turn for a job or a loan; the father who teaches you how to fix your car or the family doctor who knows you inside and out – literally – but keeps your deepest secrets a secret.

Truth is that the hands of Republicans today are just as dirty and they stink just as bad as their trashy Democratic counterparts.  (Witness the outing of the infamous 8 GOP “cap & traitors”.)  With few exceptions, politicians have become quite a useless lot, spouting whatever they think someone wants to hear just to keep their cushy job and perceptions of power and control.  As long as they bring home the pork they continue to be reelected, but this has become a dangerous game. 

President Obama campaigned on and took office determined to force an ambitious and incredibly naive agenda on Americans.  In direct contrast to the vow taken to uphold and protect the U.S. Constitution, he and his administration are setting forth the systematic destruction of our most fundamental rights, twisting the ideas of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as he pushes America towards what is essentially a state of dictatorial tyranny.  And you can’t even give him credit for these ambitions, he is merely carrying forward the progressive ideology that took hold in America early in the last century.

You’d think Americans would be smarter now and would be resisting with all their might.  Everyone knows you don’t get something for nothing and that you get what you pay for, yet every day we watch bloated and ineffective government programs continue to expand in number and size.  Well, at least some of us watch.  And there remains a small chorus of voices in Washington who seem to be attempting to pull back on the reigns, but reading through the daily Congressional session records one sees each attempt is met with a wall of resistence and summarily executed.  (Amusing when you remember the MSM has labelled the GOP as the “party of no”.)  We’ve got little more than giddy kiddie Democrats running what they see as the candy store; the current gang mentality has criminals coming out of the woodwork like ants attracted to the sweet fruits of hard-working American taxpayers and, as is so often seen with any group of lawless like-minds, one can only hope their infighting over turf and spoils will be their downfall.  But without taking down the entire country with them.

Some people are still saying we should give the President a chance, even as our economy continues to tank (responsibility for which, by the way, now belongs solely to Barack Obama and his administration).  But it seems to me that the elected leader of a free nation would not be ignoring the calls of the people for democracy elsewhere in the world, and they would certainly not stand up and give their visible support to someone like legally-ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya.  That particular stance should give anyone with a modicum of common sense pause for it explains, in large part, why we are seeing proven ineffective policy after proven ineffective policy being forced down American’s throats.  The case of events in Honduras is particularly telling, for it is a beautiful example of a people’s willingness to cling to democratic ideals and uphold their constitution.  Yet Obama unequivocably tells the world he believes – as do dictators like Venezuela’s Chavez – that someone who would wish to subvert them deserves America’s backing.  

If Obama’s silence on the Iranian election fallout didn’t make it clear, this should be the transparency he so lovingly promised.  We have a president who has now stated for the record that he prefers government by dictatorship to government by the principles of democracy.

Quote Of The Day

By

“I’ve had mothers coming up to me with two-year-old children in their arms saying:  ‘Don’t you have any kind of morality? This child’s future is being destroyed.'”

Plimer’s response … is typically robust. 

“If you’re so concerned, why did you breed?”

 

(From James Delingpole’s interview with Professor Ian Plimer, the Australian geologist whose new book shows that “anthropogenic global warming” is a dangerous, ruinously expensive fiction, a “first-world luxury” with no basis in scientific fact.)

Redefining “Modest”

By

We all know that Democrats in this day and age have no shame.  So the word “modest” has never been applied to them.

But it’s definition as traditionally applied to money is now taking a decidedly Democratic turn.  Which means:  not for the better.

Buried in the Senate’s version of the “health reform” legislation are what are being described as “modest” sums equaling BILLIONS of dollars to be used to improve local infrastructures, such as parks, bike paths, etc.  Good things, to be sure, but things that are the responsibility of the individual states and the local communities who are supposed to use them for their “healthier lifestyles”.  But it seems the non-profit Trust for America’s Health, with its links to progressive causes like the myth of global warming, needs to make sure their grants are funded so what better opportunity than to write the wording for the earmarks themselves?

No matter how they try to justify it, calling a billion dollars a “modest” amount of money is wrong.  And when you don’t even have those billions of dollars in your pocket to spend, it’s stupid.  This is all nothing more than the stereotypical pork and earmarks and special interests we’ve come to expect from the bottom-feeders in Washington.

Damned If They Do, Damned If They Don’t

By

It’s being reported that some major banks are now beginning to draw the line with California’s teenager-like spending habits, saying they are going to stop accepting state IOUs after Friday as the California state government remains stuck in a budget impasse.

Can’t say I blame them.  They have a business to run and their customers to protect.  But some groups are now starting to demand that the federal government force these banks – private businesses – into playing along with yet another phantom-money shell game, and there’s even talk of creating a “market” for selling or trading the California IOUs.  All because the banks were previously bailed out by the feds.

But perhaps having learned their lesson about good credit risks versus bad credit risks with the mortgage meltdown, the banks aren’t the bad guys this time.  Perhaps – unlike Barney Frank, who’s now asking Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to “relax” rules the purchase of condominiums – they’ve figured out that loaning money to those who can’t pay it back doesn’t make good business sense. 

California created this mess so let California clean it up.

Vendors and contractors holding IOUs could potentially use them to pay state taxes, fees and liens under a bill passed by a [California] state Assembly committee Tuesday. The bill would require the state to accept its own IOUs in lieu of money owed the government.

No Support For U.S. Constitution So Why Respect Honduras’?

By

During my perusing of what our unrepresenting representatives were up to today in Washington, I happened to read the following statement by Jim DeMint (R-SC) in the Senate records.  For those who have perhaps paid little attention to or have perhaps even been a bit confused about the events in Honduras, since the news as we know it has disgustingly been overshadowed by the media’s piranhic feeding frenzy over the death of Michael Jackson, Senator DeMint elegantly laid out the facts and makes it quite clear this is another example that the administration’s idea of foreign policy leaves much to be desired.

In his own words (emphasis mine):

The facts on the ground in Honduras are neither disputed nor confusing, but they have been largely ignored by an international media distracted by the death of a celebrity.

   Let me read these facts into the record.

   Honduras is a constitutional republic and a longtime ally of the United States. It is one of the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere, especially since it was ravaged by the direct hit of Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

   In 2005, Hondurans elected as their President Manuel Zelaya, a left of center but seemingly moderate candidate from the Liberal Party. Given Latin America’s troubling history of military coups and self-appointed Presidents for life, the Honduran Constitution strictly limits Presidents to one term.

   So seriously do Hondurans take their Presidential term limits that in Latin America, the phrase–and I will butcher this Spanish, but I want to give it a try–“continuar en el poder.”  It means to continue in power.  It carries with it a dark connotation to the region for everyone living there.

   For a President to overthrow the Constitution and violate term limits is violating the constitutional form of government. So seriously that article 238 of the Honduran Constitution says any President who even proposes an extension of his tenure in office “shall immediately cease performing the functions of his post.’‘  So it is a de facto resignation of office in Honduras for a President to attempt to do what their President did.

   Zelaya’s 2005 campaign was supported by Hugo Chavez, the Marxist Venezuelan dictator bent on amassing power in the Western Hemisphere at the expense of what he calls “the North American empire.”  That is us.

   Zelaya quickly aligned his government with Chavez’s and joined anti-American socialists, such as the Castro brothers in Cuba and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, in Chavez’s economic cartel.

   With Zelaya’s term coming to an end early next year, Chavez convinced him to do as he has done in Venezuela:  to force a constitutional amendment extending his Presidential term.  This would be in direct violation of what their Constitution says.

   Earlier this year, Zelaya called for a referendum to initiate a constitutional convention. In the ensuing litigation, the Honduran courts ruled the referendum was unconstitutional and illegal, as the Honduran Constitution explicitly gives only its Congress the power to call such a vote.

   Zelaya forged ahead, calling his referendum a “nonbinding survey.”  This, too, the supreme court found unconstitutional.

   Zelaya then ordered the head of the Honduran military, General Vasquez, to conduct the election anyway. Vasquez expressed concerns about the vote’s legality, so Zelaya fired him.

   The supreme court ordered Zelaya to reinstate Vasquez, and Zelaya refused. The supreme court ordered the military to seize the referendum ballots to prevent Zelaya from going ahead with the illegal vote.  Zelaya then personally led an armed mob to steal back the ballots, which, it should be noted, were suspiciously printed in Venezuela.  Zelaya ordered his government to set up 15,000 polling places to conduct the referendum for June 28.

   On Friday, June 26, the Attorney General of Honduras, Luis Rubi, filed a complaint before the Honduran Supreme Court petitioning for an arrest warrant for President Zelaya. The court issued the warrant unanimously and, according to the Constitution, ordered the Honduran military to execute it.

   Early in the morning of Sunday, June 28, the day of the vote, the military arrested President Zelaya at his home. They put him on a plane to Costa Rica, as Honduras has no prison capable of withstanding a mob riot of the sort they feared Chavez and Ortega might whip up.  So they did it for his safety.

   That same day, the Honduran Congress, controlled by his Liberal Party–his own party–voted 125 to 3 to replace Zelayawith their speaker, Roberto Micheletti, as a member of the Liberal Party. This transfer of power was strictly in keeping with Honduras’s constitutional line of succession as the Vice President had recently resigned.

   The regularly scheduled general elections remain set for this November, and interim President Micheletti is not a candidate.  The previously nominated candidates from the two major parties remain on the campaign trail, and both candidates and parties overwhelmingly approved the ouster of Zelaya.

   At every step in the process, the legitimate democratic government strictly adhered to the Honduran Constitution and civilian leadership of the military remained intact.  The military did not execute a coup.  It thwarted the coup plotted by Hugo Chavez and implemented by Manuel Zelaya.

   Honduras’s democratic institutions are operating today, and its government functions are secure. The only aggrieved party in this process is Mr. Chavez, whose brazen attempts to corrupt Honduran democracy was thwarted by what has now been nicknamed “the little country that could.”

   The people of Honduras stood up to Hugo Chavez, Daniel Ortega, the Castro brothers, and they stood up for freedom and the rule of law. For their courage, President Obama has condemned them. He has called the constitutional ouster of President Zelaya not legal, claiming an expertise in Honduran law over and above that of a unanimous Honduran Supreme Court and a nearly unanimous Honduran Congress.

   Secretary of State Clinton lazily joined the international media in calling the removal of President Zelaya “a coup,” a term fraught with dark memories of military juntas and banana republic.  Of course, this is the same administration that insists on calling the recent fraud in Iran an election.

   The Obama administration joined Chavez’s preposterous Soviet-style propaganda resolution in the Organization of American States condemning Honduran democracy. Hondurans I have spoken with–I have spoken with a number of folks who have missionary groups there, medical groups.  I have talked to Miguel Estrada who was born and raised in Honduras and is now a constitutional expert in this country. This morning I talked to former Honduran President Ricardo Maduro. They are all totally befuddled at the strange response they are getting from the supposedly free world, including our own administration. Why are we siding with Hugo Chavez?

   This morning in Russia, President Obama reiterated his support for Zelaya, the would-be dictator, as the rightful President of Honduras. According to ABC News, he said:  “America supports now the restoration of the democratically elected President of Honduras, even though he has strongly opposed American policies.” 

   Continuing with the quote from President Obama:  “We do so not because we agree with him. We do so because we respect the universal principle that people should choose their own leaders, whether they are leaders we agree with or not.”

    The President appears to think his support for Zelaya is based on some principles of self-determination. He speaks as if opposition to Zelaya is based on partisan political differences. Zelaya was not ousted by political enemies; he was ousted by a government controlled by his own party. He was ousted by a unanimous supreme court operating in accordance with the Honduran Constitution and in conjunction with the nation’s attorney general and Supreme Electoral Tribunal. These folks followed the rule of law.

   The Honduran people have chosen their own leaders. Those leaders–in a constitutional, bipartisan, and nearly unanimous process–removed Manuel Zelaya from office. The Honduran people have upheld our President’s so-called universal principle. The people seeking to undermine that principle are Hugo Chavez, the Castro brothers, Daniel Ortega, Mel Zelaya, and–unbelievably–the Obama administration.

   This is not about politics. This is about the rule of law, freedom, and democracy, all of which are being defended by the Hondurans right now against their enemies–of which we appear to be one. Why are we not standing with them?Blood was shed in Iran while we stood idly by.  Zelaya’s return to Honduras on a Venezuelan jet and with the moral authority of the United States will almost certainly lead to more bloodshed. What are we doing on the side of tyrants and sworn enemies of freedom; going as far, on their behalf, to threaten economic sanctions against one of our poorest and bravest allies?

   Secretary of State Clinton is reportedly planning a meeting with Mr. Zelaya in Washington this week. I implore her to reconsider that meeting. Elevating an impeached and disgraced autocrat is more than an insult to Honduran democracy, it is a green light to other would-be Chavezes around Latin America. It is a signal to the enemies of democracy and freedom that the United States no longer stands as a beacon of liberty. It is a signal that the rule of law is now passe in Latin America and that Hugo Chavez and his corrupt and brutal idealogy has free rein to meddle wherever he pleases in the Western Hemisphere.

   What do we stand for, if not for freedom, democracy, and the rule of law? Where is the spine of the administration to stand up to anti-American and antidemocratic thugs in our own back yard? Where is the intellectual clarity to see the facts on the ground as they are? Manuel Zelaya is a criminal, a constitutionally removed former President of a proud and noble country. To my knowledge, no administration official has refuted or even grappled with the facts regarding Zelaya’s attempted coup.

   Given those still undisputed and documented facts, on what basis does the administration demand Zelaya’s reinstatement? His removal from office was no more a coup than was Gerald Ford’s ascendance to the Oval Office or the election to the Senate of our newest colleague, Al Franken. It is bad enough that the President’s ad hoc and highly personalized foreign policy seems to be less about supporting the rule of law than it is about supporting particular rulers. But the last 4 weeks suggest that the President cannot even be counted upon to support our legitimate allies.

   What happened in Honduras last week was not a tragedy, it was a triumph of democratic courage and the unyielding determination of a free people to stand up to despotism. The tragedy has been the failure of the West and of our own government in Washington to stand up for justice and freedom in Latin America.

   It is not too late. I have written to Secretary Clinton, and there is growing congressional support for the legitimate government in Honduras. Everywhere I go someone comes up to me and tells me to stand up for freedom in Honduras. There is still time to look at the facts, even to visit Honduras itself. Call down there, talk to the people, even Americans in the Peace Corps or on missionary work, and ask them if they are living under an oppressive military junta. They will laugh and tell you they are living under an independent and vibrant democracy, with a representative government led by people they elected. They will tell you about the free and open debate in the ongoing Presidential campaign and whom they are supporting in the November elections.

   There is still time to correct our position and support our true allies. And because we can, we should. We must. Because today–and I will try my Spanish again–“un amigo de libertad es un amigo de Honduras”–a friend of freedom is a friend of Honduras.

If your head now hurts, imagine how the people of Honduras must feel.  Betrayed is one word that comes to mind.  I’d say I just don’t get it, but unfortunately this support of dictator-style government is exactly what President Obama promised on the campaign trail.

I wonder just how many allies we’re going to lose over the next 3 1/2 years?  According to even the Wall Street Journal, certainly not Obama’s buddy in Venezuela.

Waxman In Their Ears

By

Henry Waxman is feeling like a big shot these days, what with the narrow passage of the unavailable and unread 1,300+ page cap & trade bill and a new book hitting the liberal spin market. 

He’s feeling so big, in fact, that normal concerns expressed by any responsible person who wonders how you pay for something when you not only have no money, but have massive amounts of debt and no way to repay it, now earn the Waxman’s scornful moniker of “unpatriotic”.  Yes, Americans, in Henry Waxman’s world, if you don’t think you should spend money you don’t have, you’re some sort of a traitor.  In his own words:  “…want(ing) to deny President Obama success … means, in my mind … rooting against the country, as well.”

Sorry, Henry, old boy, but fiscal responsibility is both as sensible and as patriotic as baseball and apple pie.  No matter how you twist facts, no matter how much Obama and now the G8 think they can control Nature (laughably, today they all agreed to “keep” the Earth’s temperature from rising no more than 3 degrees Farenheit), the truth is that you are only trying to force your will upon the majority for the ill-gotten gains of a few.  And patriotic Americans, those who support her and the Constitution upon which she was founded, can see right through it and will continue to call it by its proper name.

Wrong.

Are You Willing To Trade Your Mother For An Illegal Immigrant?

By

The House is now on a mad dash to health care reform.  And when the House rushes anything, as has been the behavior of all of Congress during this administration, you can bet your mama’s last remaining years that they’ll go bye-bye as surely as your hard-earned tax dollars are disappearing under the cloaks of stimuli and bailouts.  And when what Congress is rushing is health care, your mama’s last remaining years will probably disappear even faster.

The Hill reports that House Democrats are hastily patching together what they are going to euphemistically call a bill that can be voted on in committees next week.  And they intend to set a new world land record by voting on the whole, bloody mess by July 31st.  They’re propping up the major players (Energy and Commerce Chair Henry Waxman, House Education and Labor Chairman George Miller, and Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel) to put on dog & pony shows starting today, complete with smoke & mirror meetings with rank-and-file members broken out by region, ostensibly to solicit their input and concerns.

Of course there will be no real determinations on how to pay for it all, including their pet “public option” and coverage for illegal immigrants.

A large portion is expected to come from reductions in Medicare and Medicaid.  But that won’t pay for the full overhaul.  As for raising money, ideas have included a national sales tax, taxing soda and a “surtax” on people making more than $250,000.

I fully anticipate thousands of pages that will go unread, with a “conservative CBO” estimate well in the trillions of non-existent dollars to implement.  But the larger costs will come from the trashing of yet another private sector, an area that is a personal, individual responsibility and one in which the government has no place. 

 

La Raza Now Featured On McDonald’s Menu

By

At the end of April, La Raza made an interesting little announcement:

MCDONALD’S® ANNOUNCED AS TITLE SPONSOR OF THE 2009 NCLR ANNUAL CONFERENCE

 Washington, DC—NCLR (National Council of La Raza), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, today announced McDonald’s as this year’s Title Sponsor of the 2009 NCLR Annual Conference, which will be held July 25–28 at McCormick Place West in Chicago, Illinois.

“We are delighted to have McDonald’s as this year’s Conference Title Sponsor. Their support and alliance, even in these tough economic times, will help contribute to this key event for the Hispanic community,” said Janet Murguía, NCLR President and CEO.

“At McDonald’s, we are honored to welcome and support NCLR in bringing its Annual Conference to our hometown. We applaud NCLR for its unwavering leadership and work to address critical issues affecting the Hispanic community,” said J.C. Gonzalez-Mendez, President of McDonald’s Latin America and a member of the NCLR Corporate Board of Advisors. The NCLR Annual Conference is the single largest gathering of its kind in the Latino community. More than 25,000 community organization leaders, activists, and volunteers; elected and appointed officials; members of the corporate, philanthropic, and academic communities; senior citizens; college students; and youth are expected to participate this year.

McDonald’s USA, LLC, is the leading foodservice provider in the United States serving a variety of wholesome foods made from quality ingredients to millions of customers every day. More than 80% of its 14,000 U.S. restaurants are independently owned and operated by local franchisees. For more information on McDonald’s, visit www.mcdonalds.com or log on at any of the 10,000 Wi-Fi-enabled McDonald’s U.S. restaurants. Visit www.nclr.org/conference to learn more about the 2009 NCLR Annual Conference.

With the Obominable health care reform disaster now looming on the Congressional horizon, and armed with the knowledge that La Raza is fighting to force hard-working, tax-paying American citizens to give away nationalized health care to the 22+ million illegal aliens in this country (“better than amnesty” for criminals, they say), we say the stars have aligned to allow every patriot to show their true colors and make their voice heard.

BOYCOTT MCDONALD’S FROM JULY 19th THROUGH THE END OF THE MONTH

And don’t forget to politely let them know why they are not receiving your business.  It is important they understand that there are consequences to actions and when a business makes a bad decision it will cost them money.  In this case, half a month’s worth of money.

  • Call them:  1-800-244-6227
  • Write them:  McDonald’s Corporation, 2111 McDonald’s Dr., Oak Brook, IL 60523
  • Email them by clicking HERE

Sample comment:  I want you to know that I will not be visiting any of your restaurants during the second half of July because McDonald’s has chosen to sponsor this year’s National Council of La Raza annual conference.  The NCLR is working closely with Senator Mendendez to have illegal immigrants covered in the administration’s push for health care reform and I believe that this attempt to reward criminals is not only wrong, but it is unfair to legal, tax-paying Americans.  To sponsor such a group was a bad business decision on the part of McDonald’s and I am therefore choosing to not spend my hard-earned money to reward it.

Feel free to share this post and encourage those you know to do the same.

Another Poor-Planning “Emergency” Creates Possibility Of Obama Power Grab

By

Article II, Section 2, paragraph 2 of the United States Constitution states:

[The President] shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

But it’s another typical day in the Obama administration so the Constitution be damned.  The United States and the Soviet Union need to finish the new US-Russian arms treaty before the previous Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, expires on December 5th and Gary Samore, White House Coordinator for Weapons of Mass Destruction, Security and Arms Control today said that “…that the difficulty of the task might mean temporarily bypassing the Senate’s constitutional role in ratifying treaties by enforcing certain aspects of a new deal on an executive level and a “provisional basis” until the Senate ratifies the treaty.”

Mind you, the two countries have had 18 years to think about and prepare for this.  President Obama has had over 5 months to prepare for this.

But it’s easier and oh-so-convenient to call the poor planning of prioritizing distracting directives to Congress to force cap and trade and health care “reform” onto Americans an emergency so as to feebly justify using executive privilege; though I fear that his idea of complying will be by the “2/3 of the Senators present” at some 3 a.m. session after Obama and his buddies wrap up a cozy little White House dinner party.

This administration is no longer an embarrassment.  It is a travesty.