Democratic governors told 2 White House representatives in a private meeting this weekend that the illegal immigration lawsuit against the state of Arizona was a bad idea.

The official agenda at the summer meeting of the National Governors Association, listed the failing economy as the main topic of the meeting.  However, the governors’ concern over Obama’s immigration policy was the topic on everyone’s minds in the closed-door session between Democratic governors and White House officials and made the three-day event pretty lively.

Saturday, some Democrat governors whined about the timing of the Justice Department lawsuit, according to two governors who spoke anonymously so that there would not be any repercussions.

Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, a Democrat, said:

Universally the governors are saying, ‘We’ve got to talk about jobs.’   And all of a sudden we have immigration going on.

It is such a toxic subject, such an important time for Democrats.

Obama and his administration seemed to be trying to make a deal on Sunday.   Homeland Security Secretary Janet “Big Sis” Napolitano was supposedly in town to give the governors a classified national security briefing.  While there, she had a private meeting with Jan Brewer, the  Republican who (thankfully) succeeded her as governor of Arizona.

 While that meeting was going on, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. threatened on one of the Sunday talk shows that the Justice Department could bring yet another lawsuit against Arizona if there is evidence that the immigration law leads to racial profiling.

Go ahead, double down, Obama.  Let’s see if you can get the whole country to completely despise you.

Gov.  Brewer reported that she and Big Sis did not discuss the lawsuit. Instead,they had a “cordial” conversation about Arizona’s request for more National Guard troops along the border with Mexico, as well as other resources.  Uh Huh.

The Democrats’ get-together exposed the tensions between the White House and states over the lawsuit, filed by the DOJ last week in federal court in Phoenix.  There are nineteen Democratic governorships in play this year. Republicans wish to use those positions as tools for leverage in the 2012 presidential race.

The lawsuit contends that controlling immigration is a federal responsibility.

Republican governors at the Boston meeting also jumped on the lawsuit, saying it interfered with states’ rights.  They also voiced their support for Gov. Brewer.

Gov. Dave Heineman of Nebraska, a Republican seeking re-election, said:

I’d be willing to bet a lot of money that almost every state in America next January is going to see a bill similar to Arizona’s. 

 However, the trepidation of Democratic governors, seven of whom are seeking re-election,was palpable.

Per Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. of Colorado, a Democrat who had to pull out of his re-election bid because he was losing in an embarrassing fashion :

I might have chosen both a different tack and a different time.  This is an issue that divides us politically, and I’m hopeful that their strategy doesn’t do that in a way that makes it more difficult for candidates to get elected, particularly in the West.

The White House did not confirm reports of complaints from some Democratic governors.

The president’s senior adviser, David Axelrod,  re-affirmed on Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the president remained committed to passing an immigration overhaul, and that addressing the issue did not mean he was ignoring the economy.

Axelrod hastily added:

That doesn’t mean we can’t have a good, healthy debate about the economy and other issues.

Obama talked about the economy last week during campaign stops in Kansas City and Las Vegas, and has been hypocritically calling on Congress to offer additional tax relief to small businesses as a cover for the outrageous taxes that will hit all of us as a result of Obamacare and his elimination of tax cuts.

The heads of Scooter’s national debt commission,  Alan K. Simpson and Erskine B. Bowles, were on hand at the conference Sunday to talk about America’s economy.

America’s total federal debt next year is expected to exceed $14 trillion. Mr. Simpson, a former Republican senator from Wyoming, and Mr. Bowles, a Democrat and the White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton, foretold a bleak future if spending is not brought under control even more.

 Mr. Bowles said:

This debt is like a cancer.  It is truly going to destroy the country from within.

As important as our economic situation is, the issue of illegal immigration was in the forefront of this weekend’s conference.

Gov. Brewer, called the lawsuit “outrageous”.  She added that the state was receiving donations from around the country to help fight it.

Gov. Brewer also said:

I think Arizona will win.  And we will take a position for all of America.

Democratic governors and the two White House officials, Patrick Gaspard, Obama’s political director, and Cecilia Munoz, director of intergovernmental affairs did not just discuss immigration.  But several governors, including Christine Gregoire of Washington, said it was a particularly heated issue.

Gov. Gregoire, who is not up for re-election, complained that the White House was doing a poor job of showing the American public that it was working on the problem of illegal immigration:

They described for me a list of things that they are doing to try and help on that border.  And I said, ‘The public doesn’t know that.’ 

We’ve got a message void, and the only thing we’re hearing is that they’re filing a lawsuit.

Several Democrats and a few RINOs were calling for Congress to pass an immigration policy overhaul this year.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana, a Democrat opined:

There are 535 members of Congress.  Certainly somebody back there can chew gum and hold the basketball at the same time. This is not an either-or.

Gov. Bill Richardson, Democrat from New Mexico, and part of the Democrat “in-crowd” praised the Justice Department’s lawsuit, saying his fellow Democrats’ concerns were “misguided.”

Gov. Richardson, who is Hispanic and will be driven out of office this year by term limits, said:

Policy-wise it makes sense.  And Obama is popular with Hispanic voters and this is going to be a popular move with them nationally.

Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland, a Democrat who voiced apprehension about the lawsuit in the private meeting, according to the two anonymous informants, said something quite different in public:

The president doesn’t have control over some of the timing of things that happen.  When those things arise, you can’t be too precious about what’s in it for your own personal political timing or even your party’s timing. When matters like this arise, I think the president has to take a principled stand.

Gov. Bredesen said that in Tennessee, Democratic candidates, in the middle of a tight race, were already on the defensive about the federal health care overhaul, and the suit against Arizona further weakened them. According to Bredesen, Democratic candidates are already “disavowing” the immigration lawsuit:

Maybe you do that when you’re strong.  And not when there’s an election looming out there.”

Mr. Ritter of Colorado said he wished the Justice Department had waited to sue Arizona until after the law went into effect, to give the public a chance to see how difficult it would be to enforce:

It’s just an easier case to make.  I just think that law enforcement officers are going to have a terribly difficult time applying this law in a constitutional way.

Thinking like that is why you’re out of a job, Gov. Ritter.

The overwhelming majority of Americans, in poll after poll, support Arizona and their new illegal immigration law.  For Obama and his DOJ to file their ill-advised lawsuit and threaten another one is both ignorant and arrogant:  Intentionally ignorant to the wishes of the American people and arrogant to believe that there will not be a price to pay at the polls in November.

Sources:  drudgereport.com, nytimes.com

On the 82nd day of the Gulf Oil Disaster, robotic submarines, a mile down in the now-murky waters of the Gulf of Mexico removed the leaking cap from what is left of the Deepwater Horizon oil well.   Millions of gallons of crude will now flow freely into the sea for until Monday, when a new seal can be mounted in an attempt to plug the hole until relief wells are finished in August.

 Coast Guard spokesman Capt. James McPherson said:

It’s not just going to be, you put the cap on, it’s done. It’s not like putting a cap on a tube of toothpaste.

If tests show that this new cap can hold under the pressure of the oil and is working, the Gulf region would experience its biggest piece of good news since the April 20 explosion on the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig, which killed 11 workers.

Kent Wells, a BP senior vice president, said of the round-the-clock operation:

Over the next four to seven days, depending on how things go, we should get that sealing cap on. That’s our plan.

The federal government estimates that between 87 million and 172 million gallons of oil has poured into the Gulf as of Saturday.

Officials said as much as 5 million gallons will gush into already fouled waters before this new cap is securely in place.

Paul Bommer, a professor of petroleum engineering at the University of Texas at Austin wrote in an e-mail Saturday:

If the new cap does work and they shut the well in, it is possible that part of the well could rupture if the pressure inside builds to an unacceptable value. 

If the new cap doesn’t work, BP is ready to place a backup similar the old one on top of the leak.

The government estimates 1.5 million to 2.5 million gallons of oil a day are spewing from the well.  The previous cap collected about 1 million gallons of that.   With the new cap and a new containment vessel, the system will be capable of capturing 2.5 million to 3.4 million gallons, essentially all the leaking oil,according to officials.

The plan to replace the cap was sped up to take advantage of a window of good weather lasting seven to 10 days.  Gulf Coast residents are not impressed.

 Deano Bonano, director of emergency preparedness for Jefferson Parish said:

This is probably the sixth or seventh method they’ve tried, so, no, I’m not optimistic.

He spent his Saturday inspecting beaches at Grand Isle lined with protective boom and bustling with heavy equipment used to scoop up and clean stained sand.

He said:

Even if they turn it off today, we’ll still be here at least another six weeks, on watch for the oil.

 Larry Schweiger, president of the National Wildlife Federation opined:

Shutting off the oil is a very important step, but we should not assume this disaster is over.   I think it’s important to recognize that there’s an enormous amount of oil still in the Gulf.

For the hard-working Americans on the Gulf Coast who make their living off of tourism, the spill couldn’t have come at a worse time.   Summer is prime tourist season on the Gulf.   Louisiana saw $1.36 billion of its more than $8 billion in tourism dollars generated by its Gulf region last year.  Alabama’s beaches produced 25% of the $9.2 billion in tourism dollars gathered by the state in 2009.   And of the 19 million visitors who visited Mississippi July 2008 through June 2009, 5.5 million traveled to the state’s three coastal counties. 

In the Magnolia State, this catastophe could result in a $120 million loss to non-casino tourism in the state’s coastal areas this summer, per a study released this month by the University of Southern Mississippi.  The average daily rates for hotels in the Gulf region are in freefall, according to the travel website Travelocity.   Before May 15, hotel bookings for June in Panama City, Fla., were averaging $122 a night through Travelocity.   However,  June bookings made from May 15 to June 22 fell on average to $96. 

Vacationers who otherwise would have gone to the Gulf Coast  say they’re planning trips to other parts of the South, such as North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Arizona, the Caribbean and Europe also are alternative destinations, according to travel watchers and planners.

But, hey, no worries.  The President’s not going to let a little thing like an 83 day ongoing disaster ruining an entire region of the country stand between him and another family vacation.

The first family is going to spend next weekend vacationing on Mount Desert Island, Maine, per U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree.

President Barack Obama and his family will arrive Friday, July 16, and stay through Sunday, July 18.

Where the family would stay and the sightseeing they would do while visiting Maine was not known as of Friday night.  The visit is a personal family vacation.  No public appearances are scheduled, Pingree said.

She also gushed (No pun intended, but it was pretty good.  Wasn’t it?)

What an honor that the Obama family has chosen Maine for vacation when they could have gone anywhere in the country.  I think the Obamas will really enjoy the quiet woods, beautiful coast, wonderful people and everything else that brings thousands of families here every year.

While White House officials did not say where on the island the first family would stay, Obama has political connections on MDI.  George Mitchell, U.S. special envoy for Middle East peace, owns a home in Seal Harbor. Mitchell and his wife, Heather, have two children, Andrew, 12, and Claire, 9. The Obama children, Malia and Sasha, are 12 and 9, respectively.

In August 2009, the first family visited Yellowstone National Park and Grand Canyon National Park. The Obamas also spent time on Martha’s Vineyard in August 2009.

Not to mention the 39 rounds of golf that the president has played since the Gulf Oil Disaster began in April.

Information about whether the family would arrive in Air Force One, the presidential jet, was not given out.  Air Force One can not land at either the Bar Harbor Airport in Trenton nor the Portland International Jetport.  The runways are not long enough.

Air Force One may land at Bangor International Airport and the Obamas could take a helicopter to the airport in Trenton, then take a motorcade to MDI.   Last summer, Air Force One landed on Cape Cod.  Then the family took a helicopter to Martha’s Vineyard, then rode in a motorcade to the 28-acre compound where they stayed.

Mr. President, I’m glad to know that you’re able to “work in” another vacation while the great Americans on the Gulf Coast are seeing their lives sink into a pit of black ooze.   You are the most insensitive, aloof, uncaring, and narcissistic President that this country has ever seen.  The American people are on to you.  And we are not impressed.

Sources:  drudgereport.com, yahoo.com, bangordailynews.com, usatoday.com

Given the news of this past week, here are some quotes.  I want you, gentle reader, to identify the speaker:

White folk done took this country.  You’re in their home, and they’re gonna let you know it.

You are not now, nor have you ever been, nor will you ever be a brother to white folk.  And if you do not realize that, you are in serious trouble.

The educational system in America is designed by whites to miseducate blacks “not by benign neglect but by malignant intent.”

Ethiopian Jews are despised by white Jews: “And now the Knesset [Israeli parliament] is meeting with European Jews, voting on whether or not these African Jews can get into [Israel].”

The civil-rights movement, our mystery guest said, was never about racial equality: “It was always about becoming white . . . to master what [they] do.” Martin Luther King was misguided for advocating nonviolence among his people, “born in the oven of America.”

We probably have more African-Americans who’ve been brainwashed than we have South Africans who’ve been brainwashed.  Unfortunately, I got in trouble with a fella for saying this . . . All your commentaries are written by oppressors. At the mention of Nation of Islam head Louis Farrakhan … black leaders “go cuttin’ and duckin’.

Was it Malik Shabazz?  King Shabazz?  Khalid Abdul Muhammad? 

Nope.  Maybe this will help.  Here are some words from a close confidant of our mystery guest:

Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect.

Evidently, this fellow must not have paid much attention to our mystery guest or he’s rewriting history to protect himself.

Awww…you guessed.   Our mystery guest is The Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Pastor Emeritus of Trinity Church in Chicago.  I know this, because it says so on the rugs that line the church doorways.  So, of course, that means that the close confidant was President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm), who sat under his teaching for 20 years.

By now, you’re saying:  KJ, what good does it do to bring up Rev. Wright’s quotes from the past? 

You would be right, except those quotes are from June 2010.  They were given at the Chicago Theological Seminary during a 5 day course that Rev. Wright taught there.  The course, advertised as focusing on politics and public policy in South Africa and America, was taught in a small, ground-floor room and was attended by about 15 to 20 students, mainly older African-American women.  The course cost the ladies a little over $1,000 if taken for college credit and $300 if taken without.

During the course, Rev. Wright pointed out the writings of Bill Jones — author of the book “Is God a White Racist?” — as proof that white people cannot be trusted.

Bill said, ‘They just killed four of their own at Kent State. They’ll step on you like a cockroach and keep on movin’, cause you not a brother to them.’

Charming.  Simply charming.

Since leaving Trinity Church in 2008 after serving since 1972, Wright has traveled the country, preaching and lecturing.   He claims he’s been working “all year long” with Trinity’s preschool program and has called US Education Secretary Arne Duncan a disaster.  The most honorable Reverend said that Duncan, a former college basketball star, was given the job only because Obama enjoys his “good jump shot in the back yard”.

Wright doesn’t just “lecture” to black audiences.  Last month he lead a two-day “men’s empowerment revival” in Florida.   However, he is careful not to say anything racist or inflammatory in mixed company.

Someone asked about the African-American experience and the Reverend said “God is working on your behalf.”

He just couldn’t help himself.

Why didn’t Americans hear about Rev. Wright’s comments at the Chicago Theological Seminary from the Main Stream Media?  Why has the MSM refused to cover King Shabazz’s threats against Glenn Beck and his street corner rant about killing white babies?  Why was Fox News the only one to cover the New Black Panther Party’s voter intimidation in the 2008 Presidential Election?

Are they afraid of embarrassing the president?  Is it some sort of  “nudge nudge wink wink” game the Liberals’ propaganda machine is playing with the administration?  Or are they scared of being called a bunch of racist “crackas”?

If this were a bunch of good ol’ boys from Texas who were frat buddies of George W. Bush saying violent, racist things, the MSM would be all over it 24/7.  However, when it comes to anything that might damage President Barack Hussein Obama, silence is golden.

Sources:  nypost.com

It’s the night of April 4, 1968.  A 9 (and almost 1/2) year old boy is watching a program on a black and white television set in his home in the mid-town area of Memphis, Tennessee.  Suddenly, the screen changes to the Civil Defense logo and he hears a voice saying:

Will all members of the National Guard please report to the Armory and all police and fire personnel please report to their stations.

Normal programming resumed.  Then, all of the sudden, or so it seemed, President Lyndon Baines Johnson came on the television saying:

I come to you tonight with a heavy heart…

And everything changed.

Back to the present…

A white former transit officer was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter yesterday in the shooting death of an unarmed black man on an Oakland train platform.  That 2009 encounter set off days of rioting in the racially polarized city.

Prosecutors had sought  a murder conviction for Johannes Mehserle in the death of 22-year-old Oscar Grant, who was shot as he lay face-down.

Mehserle was handcuffed and led away after the verdict. He faced his family and mouthed, “I love you, guys.”  His parents cried when the verdict was delivered.  Grant’s mother, Wanda Johnson, stared at the jurors and appeared upset.

As the jurors were polled on their decision, one female juror wiped away her tears with a tissue

Police in riot gear were deployed on the streets of Oakland on the east side of San Francisco Bay.

A crowd gathered near Oakland City Hall moaned  and cussed in disappointment as they heard the verdict.   A dozen people formed a semicircle to pray.

 Amber Royal, 23, of Oakland commented:

It’s not real, it’s not real. Where’s the justice? He was killed in cold blood.

Grant family attorney John Burris said the family was “extremely disappointed”.

Burris said:

This verdict is not a true representation of what happened to Oscar Grant and what happened to him that night. This was not a voluntary manslaughter case.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger put out a statement urging Californians to remain calm and not resort to violence.  Schwarzenegger informed Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums the state was well prepared to assist in maintaining order.

The jury had to make a choice between murder and lesser charges of voluntary and involuntary manslaughter.

The jury consisted of eight women and four men.   There were no black jurors.   Seven were white, three were Latino, and one was Asian-Pacific. One declined to state their race. They were escorted from the courthouse under tight security.

Involuntary manslaughter carries a sentence of two to four years. The next hearing was set for Aug. 6.

The New Year’s Day incident was videotaped by at least five bystanders.  It turned into one of the most racially polarizing cases in California since four Los Angeles officers were acquitted in 1992 in the beating of Rodney King.

The trial lasted three weeks during which prosecutors played videos by bystanders, and witnesses gave their testimonies about hearing the frightening gunshot that killed Grant.

28-year-old Mehserle testified that he struggled with Grant and saw him digging in his pocket as officers responded to reports of a fight at a train station.   Afraid that Grant may have a weapon, Mehserle said he moved to shock Grant with his Taser but pulled his .40-caliber handgun instead.

Alameda County Deputy District Attorney David Stein’s closing argument was that Mehserle let his emotions get the better of him and intended to shoot Grant with the handgun without justification.

Jackie Bryson, one of Grant’s friends,  testified that Mehserle said “(expletive) this” before he fired the fatal shot.

Defense attorney Michael Rains painted the shooting as a tragic accident. Rains argued Mehserle had no motive to shoot Grant, even though he was resisting arrest.

Rains also said Mehserle told one of the other transit policemen before the shooting: “Tony, Tony, Tony, I can’t get his hands. I’m going to tase him.”

Mehserle pleaded not guilty to murder.  He resigned from the Bay Area Rapid Transit agency after the shooting.

Fallout from the shooting arrived quickly in Oakland after the videos were shown on television and the Internet. The shooting itself and the fact that it took nearly two weeks to arrest Mehserle, caused a horrendous riot in the city.  Downtown businesses were damaged, cars were set ablaze and clashes erupted between protesters and police.

Grant had recently been released from jail   He had been sentenced to 16 months for a gun possession charge.  During his arrest, he ran from police and was subdued by an officer with a stun gun.

Grant became a martyr of sorts in a city where more than a third of residents are black. His image has been painted on buildings and storefront windows just like that of slain hometown rapper Tupac Shakur.

Grant’s family and friends have filed multimillion dollar lawsuits against the transit agency.  Only the mother of Grant’s daughter has reached a settlement.

Peaceful protests changed to violence after the sun went down as some people looted stores, smashed car windows, and threw powerful fireworks at police and lighting fires in trash cans.

Hundreds of police made more than 50 arrests, but they expected that number could double.

Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts proclaimed in a televised news conference:.

This city is not the wild, wild West.  This city will not tolerate this activity.

In a related story…

In a move designed to pander to a possible Democrat Hispanic voting base,  The United States Department of Justice, under the leadership of  President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) and Attorney General Eric Holder, filed a lawsuit on yesterday against the state of  Arizona designed to throw out the state’s immigration law and keep other states from getting tough on illegal immigration.

According to the DOJ, the law, due to take effect July 29, interferes with the federal government’s “pre-eminent authority” under the Constitution to regulate immigration.

Translation:  How dare you do the job that we are neglecting.

The ill-advised filing sets the stage for a titanic grudge match, played out in federal court, over Arizona’s right to protect its’ citizen.   At the same time, politicians in some other states have said that they want to pass tough illegal immigration laws as well.

The Justice Department previously declared that the Arizona law will “cause the detention and harassment of authorized visitors, immigrants and citizens who do not have or carry identification documents” while ignoring “humanitarian concerns” and harming diplomatic relations.

The Arizona law states that  police can question people about their immigration status if there’s reason to suspect they’re in the country illegally, and it makes it a state crime to be in the U.S. illegally. People may be only be questioned about their status if they’ve been stopped by police who are in the process of enforcing another law.

Republican Gov. Jan Brewer called the lawsuit “a terribly bad decision” and defended the law as “reasonable and constitutional.”

Arizona was forced to pass the measure after years of trying to deal with the crime of illegal immigration, including the wonderful perks it brings of drug trafficking, kidnappings and murders. Arizona is the biggest gateway into the U.S. for illegal immigration, and has been invaded by an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants.

Other states have said they want to pass similar laws to Arizona, so the  government is using that threat to their policy of neglect as another reason for bringing the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit:

The Constitution and the federal immigration laws do not permit the development of a patchwork of state and local immigration policies throughout the country.

The DOJ’s case hinges on the  assertion that the Arizona law pre-empts federal laws. The lawsuit says that federal laws already on the books cover illegal immigration and that those statutes take precedent. 

They would, if they were enforced.  Say, here’s an idea, Scooter.  Why don’t you file lawsuits against those who are really defying Federal Law:  the Sactuary Cities?

The lawsuit reads:

In our constitutional system, the federal government has pre-eminent authority to regulate immigration matters.  This authority derives from the United States Constitution and numerous acts of Congress. The nation’s immigration laws reflect a careful and considered balance of national law enforcement, foreign relations, and humanitarian interests.

The lawsuit also claims that the Arizona law will impose a huge burden on U.S. agencies in charge of enforcing immigration laws, “diverting resources and attention from the dangerous aliens who the federal government targets as its top enforcement priority.”

Now the case has to be assigned a judge.  That individual will decide whether or not to grant a preliminary injunction, in favor of the United States Government, to temporarily block the Arizona law from taking effect.

Gov. Jan Brewer believes  that her state’s law will survive the Obama administration lawsuit as well as pending suits that were previously filed by private groups and individuals.

Per Governor Brewer:

As a direct result of failed and inconsistent federal enforcement, Arizona is under attack from violent Mexican drug and immigrant smuggling cartels. Now, Arizona is under attack in federal court from President Obama and his Department of Justice.  Today’s filing is nothing more than a massive waste of taxpayer funds.

That seems to be the modus operandi of this administration, Governor.

Arizona State Sen. Russell Pearce, who spearheaded the bill co-sponsored by dozens of fellow Republican legislators, condemned the lawsuit as “absolute insult to the rule of law” as well as to Arizona and its residents.

The lawsuit will have repercussions beyond Arizona as the courts render judgement on the balance of power between the states and the federal government and politicians try to deal with the hot button issue of illegal immigration in a crucial election year.

Fearing for their political lives, three Democratic members of Congress in Arizona pleaded with the Obama administration not to bring the suit in a year when they face tough re-election battles. On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain is being raked over the coals for his earlier promotion of comprehensive immigration reform by challenger J.D. Hayworth, which McCain has since given up in favor of a message to “complete the danged fence.”

The Mexican government applauded the move, saying the law “affects the civil and human rights of thousands of Mexicans.”

As opposed to American Citizens.

What civil and human rights?  The right to enter our sovereign nation illegally? 

To wrap up today’s blog, I refer you back to a rant from my post Illegality, Not Civil Rights.  This is an answer to a comment by a young man named Benito, who claimed to be a member of a pro-ilegal immigration group, perhaps here illegally himself:

What makes the current influx of illegal immigrants exempt from the rules and regulations that every other generation of immigrants to this country had to abide by in order to become legal citizens of the greatest nation in the world? By being here illegally, they are not entitled to the same rights as natural-born or naturalized American citizens. They are like someone who breaks into someone’s home, does their dishes, cuts their yard, cleans their house, and then helps themselves to their food and drives their car without asking.  This is in no way a human rights issue. Freedom is God-given. And with freedom comes responsibility. With citizenship comes responsibility, like paying taxes and making your own way.

Once again, the man who is supposed to be America’s president seems to be concerned with the well-being of everyone but Americans.  Regardless of the outcome in the federal courts, the president will pay a heavy price, politically, for ignoring the will of the American people.

May God protect and preserve our country.

Sources:  yahoo.com, drudgereport.com

An Act to provide for research into the problems of flight within and outside the Earth’s atmosphere, and for other purposes.

With this preamble, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created by Congress and the president on October 1, 1958.  NASA’s birth was directly related to national defense.  The United States and the Soviet Union were in the middle of the Cold War. During this period, space exploration emerged as a major area of competition and became known as the space race.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, appointed by President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm), said in a recent interview that his “foremost” mission as the head of America’s space exploration agency is to improve relations with the Muslim world.   Huh?

What in the world does “improving relations with the Muslims” have to do with exploring space?   Bolden said in an interview with Al Jazeera that strengthening those ties was among the top tasks President Obama assigned him.   (I’m shocked.)  According to Bolden, better interaction with the Muslim world will ultimately advance space travel.  

Going up into space and getting blown to bits are two entirely different things, Director.

According to Bolden:

When I became the NASA administrator — or before I became the NASA administrator — he charged me with three things. One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science … and math and engineering.

Because kissing up to the Muslim world has worked so well thus far for Scooter and his administration, hasn’t it?

Bolden was in the Middle East last month celebrating the one-year anniversary since Obama delivered the previously alluded to address to the Muslim world in Cairo.  The NASA Director spoke in June at the American University in Cairo.  During his interview with Al Jazeera, he described space travel as an “international” collaboration of which Muslim nations must be a part.  

Because as his boss has told the world over and over again,  American exceptionalism is a bad thing.

Bolden said:

It is a matter of trying to reach out and get the best of all worlds, if you will, and there is much to be gained by drawing in the contributions that are possible from the Muslim (nations).   

Bolden used the International Space Station as an example, praising the contributions there from the Russians and the Chinese.

Of course,  Bolden denied the suggestion that he was on a diplomatic mission   According to Bolden, he was there in a distinctly non-diplomatic role. 

He said:

Not at all. It’s not a diplomatic anything. 

Bolden verbally destroyed all of NASA’s accomplishments over the last 52 years by saying that the United States  will no longer travel beyond low-Earth orbit on its own and that no country is going to make it to Mars without international help.  

What a defeatist administration.

Bolden caught a lot of criticism this year for being the boss of NASA during the cancellation of the agency’s Constellation program, which was in the process of building new rockets and spaceships that would return American astronauts to the moon.  Re-itering the adminstration’s theme of  the importance of “international” cooperation in future missions, Bolden told Al Jazeera that the moon, Mars and asteroids are still planned destinations for NASA. 

Just not as an American mission.

By turning NASA into a Muslim Outreach Project, Obama and his administration are not only backhanding a part of American Exceptionalism that little boys grew up dreaming about being a part of, but they are also sabotaging Americans’ day-to-day lives by limiting the fount of  technology that has contributed mightily to our country’s health, education, and way of life.  Here are a few of the technological marvels that came directly from NASA:

The political destruction of NASA’s original mission by the president and his administration dishonors the memory of all the brave men and women who died heroically trying to reach the stars.   Furthermore, this action illuminates this administration’s disbelief in American exceptionalism and their contempt for the institutions that truly spotlight it. 

One large slap to Americans, one giant step backwards for mankind.

Sources:  foxnews.com, suite101.com, nasa.gov

The Republican Party seems poised to have the greatest victory in November’s Mid-term National Elections since General Custer said, “Hey.  Would you look at all those Indians?”

That is, if their own “Beltway Squishiness” does not turn the whole country against them.

“Squish” is a term given by Conservatives to those who claim to be a Reagan Conservative, but whose actions reveal them to be at best ambivalent, and, at worst, Liberal imposters. For instance, like a certain noted national politician, popular in the Northeast, who is a Reagan Conservative one day, and a nanny-stater the next.  But, hey, he does have very nice hair.

Take the curious case of the Republican National Chairman, Michael Steele.  Known for his seemingly Conservative punditry on Fox News, the former Maryland Lt. Governor gained his present position on January 31, 2009, after 6 contentious rounds of voting within the leadership of the party.

While he campaigned for the position, Steele tried to negate suspicions that he was too moderate to lead the party because he came from a Democrat-controlled state.  He was also a former member of the Republican Leadership Council, a group that sought to curb the influence of “social”  conservatives in the party.

The race for the chairmanship came down to a choice on the final ballot between Steele and Katon Dawson, the South Carolina GOP chairman who secured strong support from party insiders after former RNC leader Mike Duncan dropped out of the race earlier in the day.   

Steele won on the sixth ballot, winning 91 votes to Dawson’s 77.

Since becoming chairman, Steel has been the face of the Republican Party, garnering more time on camera than the politicians of the political party he chairs, much to their irritation.

The first week of this year, Michael Steel went out on a tour to promote his new book, “Right Now:  A 12-Step Program for Defeating the Obama Agenda”.

 GOP lawmakers were so mad over Steele’s pronouncements on his book tour, including a prediction that Republicans will not win back the House and Senate in 2010 ( that was very supportive), that they had their aides give his aides a dressing down on a conference call.

One of Steele’s aides said at the time:

You really just have to get him to stop.  It’s too much.

Another aide said Steele was on “a Republican apology tour at the exact wrong time.” Yet another called Steele “unprepared and unknowledgeable” in interviews.  Steele’s camp says they had little control over his statements, as publicity for his book was handled by an outside firm, but were happy to report that he had softened his doom-and-gloom rhetoric. “Not this year” was spun into “playing to win.”

And now, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele finds himself under seige, trying to cope with the fallout over the holiday weekend concerning his clueless remarks claiming Afghanistan is a “war of Obama’s choosing,” which the United States never really “wanted to engage in.” 

Conservative pundits and GOP politicians were united on the Sunday talk shows in their condemnation of Steele’s remarks.  The politicians feverishly tried to distance themselves from the Republican Chairman by emphasizing their support for the escalating U.S. military campaign in the country while lambasting Steele for his “uninformed” statement.   Some said he should resign, one senator demanded and apologize to our Armed Forces, and at least one local GOP official wants to challenge Steele for his position.

This was the biggest backlash by his own party that Steele has ever experienced.  He has a reputation for going off script on touchy issues.   While he has lasted this long in his position and while Steele downplayed the backlash in a public statement Friday, behind the scenes he was actively trying to get all the support from GOP insiders that he could. 

One of the earliest to call for Steele’s head, Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol, said on “Fox News Sunday” that the GOP chairman called him on Saturday to “persuade me that the remarks were taken out of context.” Kristol did not believe him, though he said they had a “long conversation” on the topic.  I bet.

Kristol said:

He’s a good guy.  He should be … a pundit on a million TV shows and he should give speeches. But he shouldn’t express the views he expressed as Republican chairman .  One thing as a Republican I think Republicans can be proud of is that we don’t politicize foreign wars. … And unfortunately, Michael Steele politicized this in a way that doesn’t reflect the view of the huge majority of Republicans. I think it would be better if he went. 

But hey, Mike, don’t worry.  You have a well-known political figure in your corner:  Ron Paul (R-Tex), perennial Presidential also-ran, isolationist extraordinaire, and favorite of tin-foil hat wearers everywhere, opined:

I would like to congratulate Michael Steele for his leadership on one of the most important issues of today. He is absolutely right: Afghanistan is now Obama’s war. During the 2008 campaign, Obama was out in front in insisting that more troops be sent to Afghanistan. Obama called for expanding the war even as he pretended to be a peace candidate.Michael Steele should not resign. Smart policies make smart politics. He is guiding the party in the right direction and we are on the verge of victory this fall. Chairman Steele should not back off. He is giving the country, especially young people, hope as he speaks truth about this war.

I have to ask myself, what is the agenda of the harsh critics demanding this resignation? Why do they support Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama’s war?

The American people are sick and tired spending hundreds of billions of dollars a year, draining our economy and straining our military. Michael Steele has it right and Republicans should stick by him.

Now, doesn’t that make you feel better, Mike?  Custer had the support of his Indian Scouts, and you have the support of Ron Paul.  What could go wrong?

Republicans had better get their collective act together immediately.  They are poised to make bigger political gains in both the Senate and the House than in the Mid-term Elections that brought us Newt Gingrich and the “Contract With America”.    Their choice is plain and simple:  run as Reagan Conservatives or embrace the squishiness that cost them the Presidency.

Sources:  foxnews.com, cnn.com, huffingtonpost.com

Today is the day our country celebrates it’s independence.  Thomas Jefferson wrote a document in 1776, declaring our defiance against tyranny, affirming our yearning to be free, and proclaiming our choice to be a sovereign nation,  in control of our own destiny.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness…

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

 Compare and contrast:  President Barack Hussein Obama  (mm mmm mmmm) speaking on September 23, 2009:

America has acted unilaterally, without regard for the interests of others. But it is my deeply held belief that in the year 2009 – more than at any point in human history – the interests of nations and peoples are shared. No longer do we have the luxury of indulging our differences to the exclusion of the work that we must do together.

If we are honest with ourselves, we need to admit that we are not living up to that responsibility. In an era when our destiny is shared, power is no longer a zero sum game. No one nation can or should try to dominate another nation. No world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will succeed.

America will keep our end of the bargain. I am not naïve. I know this will be difficult. That is why the days when America dragged its feet on this issue are over. Now is the time for all of us to do our part. We have reached a pivotal moment. The United States stands ready to begin a new chapter of international cooperation ….

 John Quicy Adams, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1825 –  

Fellow-citizens, you are acquainted with the peculiar circumstances of the recent election, which have resulted in affording me the opportunity of addressing you at this time. You have heard the exposition of the principles which will direct me in the fulfillment of the high and solemn trust imposed upon me in this station. Less possessed of your confidence in advance than any of my predecessors, I am deeply conscious of the prospect that I shall stand more and oftener in need of your indulgence. Intentions upright and pure, a heart devoted to the welfare of our country, and the unceasing application of all the faculties allotted to me to her service are all the pledges that I can give for the faithful performance of the arduous duties I am to undertake. To the guidance of the legislative councils, to the assistance of the executive and subordinate departments, to the friendly cooperation of the respective State governments, to the candid and liberal support of the people so far as it may be deserved by honest industry and zeal, I shall look for whatever success may attend my public service; and knowing that “except the Lord keep the city the watchman waketh but in vain,” with fervent supplications for His favor, to His overruling providence I commit with humble but fearless confidence my own fate and the future destinies of my country. 

In the summer of 1976, Chicago Cubs outfielder Rick Monday showed everyone how the overwhelming majority of Americans feel about our country:

 

Happy 4th of July, Americans.  God bless America, land that I love.

Sources:   famousquotes.me.uk, archives.gov, legalinsurrection.com, youtube.com