DANGEROUS WORLD

"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing"

--- Albert Einstein

HILLARY’S WAR ON DELAY

Dr. Jack Wheeler wrote how he recently asked a member of the House leadership about the war that the Democrats and mainstream media are waging against Tom DeLay.

'Hillary’s fingerprints are all over it', came his response. 'She has no intention of having to deal with an opposition party controlling the House as her husband did for six years and Ronald Reagan did for eight. She has a very clear plan for seizing control of the entire United States government, which includes orchestrating Democrat control of the House in 2006 so it is firmly in place when she is elected president in 2008.”

Dr. Wheeler feels that the first item of her presidential agenda would be HillaryCare and its passage would be almost certain under this scenario; and that would be just the beginning.

There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that Hillary is running – not will run, but already is running – for president in 2008. 'This should be obvious to everyone,' he said, 'but what is not obvious is that’s not all she’s doing. Her focus and her goals go far beyond just the White House.”

It would seem then that the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the entire Liberal MSM is waging this attack on Tom Delay at Hillary’s behest.

The charges against him are either inconsequential or hypocritical – huge front page outrage stories, for example, about him going on a foreign 'junket' with no criticism of Democrats who were on the very same trip, such as Nancy Pelosi. Last week the WaPo ran this above-the-fold headline piece thousands of words long that was pure recycled froth with no substance whatever.

That’s because the substance doesn’t matter – all that matters is the attacks themselves, that they be kept up until more and more spineless pencil-necks like Connecticut Republicans Chris Shays and Rob Simmons break and crack under pressure. Hillary knows exactly what she is doing. Target the strongest force the GOP has in Congress – DeLay – keep targeting until Republicans surrender and retreat in disarray, then pick up the easy pieces in 2006."

Hillary’s secret war on DeLay has now undermined his ambitious agenda of promoting the pro-prosperity, pro-America programs that the he had planned on implementing. Rather, the Republicans are bickering among themselves over Social Security reform, battling the media, the Democrats, and themselves over the John Bolton U.N. nomination. The Republicans are inept when it comes to unifying and taking the offensive to get things done like getting up or down votes on Federal Appeal Court judges.

Dr. Wheeler then bleakly stated:

So here’s how bad it is. Only a few Conservative leaders in Washington – like Ed Feulner of the Heritage Foundation, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, and David Keene of the American Conservative Union – recognize the stakes in the War on DeLay. Next week, for example, there will be a private conference of several hundred conservative Republican leaders from all over the country here in Washington – and not a single speech or strategy session is scheduled regarding it.

Unless these guys figure it out and fast, Hillary’s War on DeLay will succeed. Unless DeLay’s colleagues hang together with him, they will hang separately in 2006 – and Hillary’s path to the White House will be cleared."

Fairfax County update...........

An update to the story I posted here, my... my... my...I am shocked, SHOCKED that these 11 illegal aliens would fail to appear for their court date.

"Eleven illegal aliens who were released by federal authorities after a traffic stop in Fairfax County on Sunday did not show up for immigration proceedings yesterday."

Border Patrol(s)

In addition to the 'Minuteman Project' which I have posted on here, here, here, and here, and another new group called the 'Yuma Patriots' (which I posted here) that was "scheduled to begin operations today (April 16th) along the U.S.-Mexico border south of Yuma, Ariz., to curb rising numbers of illegal aliens flooding into southwestern Arizona.................."

".............. has spawned the creation of similar civilian patrols from California to Texas."

These other new patrols (not affiliated with either The Minutemen Project or the Yuma Patriots) "are preparing to be up and running over the next several months in California, New Mexico and Texas. Officials familiar with the California effort believe volunteers will be patrolling the border in San Ysidro, Calif., by June."

The U.S. Border Patrol has acknowledged receiving 317 calls from Naco and Douglas, the site of the Minuteman vigil, that have resulted in 846 arrests of illegal aliens, but has not confirmed whether any of those calls came from the volunteers.

Mr. Simcox's Minuteman partner, James T. Gilchrist, said several Border Patrol field agents told him they 'tremendously appreciate' what the volunteers are doing to bring attention to the porous border.

He said the agents, all of whom asked not to be identified, reported that since the volunteers arrived, apprehensions in the 20-mile area where the Minutemen have set up observation posts have dropped from 1,000 a day to less than 20.

It Can't Be My Fault

Kofi Annan, like a good true liberal, rather than to accept blame and responsibility for their mistakes, looks to find someone else to blame; and in true liberal form, why not blame the U.S.?

Annan US, UK Also Bear Blame in Oil, Food Scandal
By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Thursday the United States and Britain bore part of the blame in the Iraq oil-for-food debacle by allowing unsupervised oil exports that Saddam Hussein exploited.

Nice job, Kofi!

However, this is not setting well with the U.S. and Britain, as Nicolas Kralev reports in his article "U.N. chief Annan angers U.S., Britain" in The Washington Times. (Registration required.)

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who earlier angered the United States and Britain by calling the Iraq war 'illegal,' has upset both nations again -- this time accusing them of allowing Saddam Hussein to enrich himself selling oil outside the U.N.-run oil-for-food program.

Defense

"A strong defense is the surest way to peace. Strength makes détente attainable. Weakness invites war, as my generation—my generation—knows from four very bitter experiences. Just as America’s will for peace is second to none, so will America’s strength be second to none. We cannot rely on the forbearance of others to protect this Nation. The power and diversity of the Armed Forces, active Guard and Reserve, the resolve of our fellow citizens, the flexibility in our command to navigate international waters that remain troubled are all essential to our security." --

-- President GERALD R. FORD, address to a joint session of Congress, August 12, 1974.

Taxes

Heh, heh.

I finally got my taxes done and in the mail and came across this posting from Chad the Elder at Fraters Libertas. Boy, can I relate to this:

By the time I'm done (or more accurately have given up all hope) with the Federal portion, it feels as if I've been kicked square in the groin. Then the State, the big bully's little toady friend, comes along and gives me a boot in the arse while I'm helplessly writhing on the ground in pain. It's not nearly as painful, but it still stings.

After more cursing, gnashing of teeth, and screaming at the cat (leave that W-2 alone damnit!), I'm a beaten man and ready to submit my return. All the kids are talking about "E-filing" these days, so I consider the option. Let's see, it's quicker and makes it easier for the IRS to process your return.

And it's only $15.95 each for Federal and State e-filing.

Thirty-two additional dollars to make it easier for the fargin' IRS to take my money?

Yeah, sign me up. Why don't I just buy the broom handle and pull my pants down for them too? It'd be easier, wouldn't it?
(Emphasis mine - H.H.)

Needless to say, I did not opt for e-filing. The checks are in the mail. And once again, I'm a happy man (although still a little bitter). I just have to content myself with the knowledge that our tax money is being put to good use. By that I mean that it's being used toward the cost of a Hellfire missile. A man can dream, can't he?

Yes, Chad the Elder, a man can dream. Sometimes that's all we get.

No WMDs, just a lot of Bodies

From "The Great Chrenkoff",
Two more mass graves are discovered in Iraq over the last two days.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) satellite TV station KurdSAT reports on a grave uncovered in the eastern part of Al-Salman Administrative District in the city of Al-Samawah, south of Baghdad. It contains a large number of bodies of women, children and elderly people, mostly Kurdish, most, it is thought, from the nearby prison built by Saddam in 1983.

Another grave is discovered on the banks of the Euphrates in Muhiya, in Nasiriyah, in the south of the country. This one is said to contain dozens of bodies (25 exhumed so far), presumably of the Shia.

Somewhere out there, still unexcavated is a giant mass grave containing the credibility of all the "peace advocates", the "compassionate" and the "concerned" of the West. As Mark Steyn wrote more than two years ago, before the shooting started: "As far as Saddam's subjects are concerned, the 'peace' movement means peace for you and Tony Benn and Sheryl Crow and Susan Sarandon, and a prison for them." The lucky ones, that is.

Emphasis mine - H.H.

BLOGGING

I've been rather busy the last couple of days. I had tax returns to do - then my printer wasn't working. I finally got that d!@n thing to work again. Then I had trouble getting on the internet and finally shut it down, 'bout ready to tear my hair out and throw the old 'puter out da' window.

Thinking the worst, that somehow some "virus went postal" on me, I was happy that my internet connection was working fine this morning. Then I saw a little news blurb in the trusty reliable unreliable Minneapolis Star & Sickle newspaperpropaganda rag this morning that Comcast (my ISP) was having and has been having intermittent trouble the past couple of weeks with pages loading slowly or not at all and have not figured out what is causing it.

Bummer.....but, at least it's not my computer. I think things are back to normal again; printer is working, internet is working (for now) and taxes are done!

A Real Laugher from the UPI

This headline is a real laugher: "Hamas image tarnished by honor killing". It is a crying shame when a fine, honorable organization such as this makes a simple mistake in judgement and enhances "tarnishes" its image.

Double standards for Sandy Berger

Today's Editorial
From the Editorials/Op-Ed section
The Washington Times

Double standards for Sandy Berger

As we noted last week, Sandy Berger stole some of the nation's most highly classified terrorism documents from the National Archives. He scissored them to pieces in his downtown Washington offices. Then he lied about it. Mr. Berger's lenient plea bargain with the Justice Department fines him an amount he can shake from the couches at his Stonebridge International LLC offices and promises his security clearances will be restored in time for Election 2008.

It's hard to underestimate the effect a case like this has on national-security professionals. For cynics, it shows that big players get off easy when they commit the crimes smaller fry lose their careers over. Meanwhile, spies, policy-makers and other handlers of secrets are effectively being told their efforts aren't taken seriously. It's a classic Washington double standard.

At this point, the only consolation is that Mr. Berger's future in national-security jobs is in doubt. The bureaucracy already doubts Democratic bona fides, so putting Mr. Berger up for a big job in, say, a Hillary Clinton administration would only worsen things. Of course, a tougher penalty would have, and should have, nullified that possibility."

Read the entire editorial here.

Penalties sought for sanction busters at U.N.

What? There should be consequences? What a novel idea.
Penalties sought for sanction busters at U.N. by David R. Sands, Washington Times.

Countries that fail to honor U.N. and international sanctions programs should face sanctions and other punitive measures themselves, a top U.S. official to the United Nations told Congress yesterday.

(Registration required.)

Our System is Broke

Another example of our system failing us. This is from the Washington Times. (registration is required)

11 illegal aliens caught, then released in Fairfax (Gary Emerling)
Federal authorities released 11 illegal aliens who were detained during a traffic stop in Annandale because immigration officials said they did not pose a threat to the public."

(More) Patriots go on patrol at border

BY JONATHAN ATHENS
From the Yuma Sun

A volunteer civilian border patrol group calling themselves the Yuma Patriots conducted their first patrol on Sunday and their leader, Flash Sharrar, said he intends to conduct another patrol this coming weekend.

Federal authorities said they are concerned about the safety of these civilians and said patrols along the U.S.-Mexico border are best left to trained professionals.

Sharrar, 50, of Yuma, who organized the group, said: "We intend to have more patrols. I intend to decrease the border crossings as much as possible."

Two weeks ago, another such volunteer group calling themselves the Minuteman Project began a monthlong initiative in the southeast portion of the Arizona border. Authorities have expressed their concerns about the potential for violence and interference with Border Patrol operations.

ACLU Using Tax Dollars to Undermine Moral Values, Veterans' Group Says

(CNSNews.com) - The American Legion says it will go all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary, to stop the American Civil Liberties Union from using the courts to "destroy American values at taxpayer expense." Full Story

Senators May Have Blown Cover of Covert CIA Officer

Will there be the same uproar and investigation as what took place with the Valerie Plame "outing". Somehow, I don't think so. Read the article "Senators May Have Blown Cover of Covert CIA Officer" here.

Man Arrested at Capitol to Be Deported

WASHINGTON (AP) - The man who was tackled and detained at the Capitol on Monday is an Australian citizen and will be expelled for violating the terms of his visa, a federal immigration official said Tuesday.

Feds Seek Four Death Sentences in Gang Murder Trial

Alexandria, Va. (AP) - In a federal courtroom this week, prosecutors will ask a single jury to extinguish the lives of four alleged members of one of Virginia's most vicious gangs.

If one needs any proof that law enforcement is taking a hard-line stance against the region's gang problem, look no further than the cases of U.S. vs. Rivera, U.S. vs. Grande, U.S. vs. Cisneros and U.S. vs. Garcia-Orellana, with opening statements scheduled to begin Monday.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against all four alleged members of the Latino gang Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, for the murder of Brenda Paz, a former gang member herself who was to have been a witness in a murder trial against Denis Rivera, her one-time boyfriend.

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." ---- Benjamin Franklin

Illegal Immigration

Bob asks and HeavyHanded wouldn't mind some answers either:

1. Since when does the United States of America answer to the socialist, totalitarian, Third World cesspool of Mexico with regards to the setting of internal American policies and laws?

2. Since when does "international law" apply to sovereign U.S. territory and trump the internal governance of our nation?

3. By what "right" does the tinhorn Vicente Fox administration seek to interfere with our Constitutional sovereignty and then dictate terms, threaten and make demands of the United States and our citizens?

4. What "rights" do illegal aliens have in the United States? My understanding is NONE AT ALL, other than to be deported.

5. Who or whom ordained Vicente Fox as the Chief Dictator of North America? The Bush family?

6. Why has George W. Bush and his inept administration ceded control of the United States of America, to Mexico?

7. When are we going to end to the madness of the illegal alien invasion, Mexican aggression, hostility and anti-America nationalism?

Tancredo Invites Bush, Condi to Observe Minuteman Project in Person

From Congressman Tom Tancredo's website.

"President labeling these American citizens ‘vigilantes’ premature; based on faulty intelligence."

Tancredo Exposes Mexico Plot to Break U.S. Law

From Congressman Tom Tancredos' website:

"The Mexican military, under orders of their President, are transporting illegal aliens to areas outside the Minuteman’s scope.”

How Is the United States Being Destroyed?

Commentary by Frosty Wooldridge
Washington Dispatch

A good insight by someone who has been the block a few times and expounds on what he has seen over the years and how it has hurt the U.S.

Warren B. Appleton, 82, has seen America being sold down the river by career politicians not serving their nation--for decades. Appleton illustrates with rare wisdom born of years watching America being undermined by a group of men and organizations intent on destroying the sovereignty of this nation. Who are they?

Such men as Teddy Kennedy haven’t held a ‘real’ job in their entire lives, but Kennedy was the architect of the 1965 Immigration Reform Act that opened the floodgates for people in the Third World to deluge our country into this quickening quagmire.

Emphasis is mine. (H.H.) Go read the rest here.

Every day is court day for some 'environmentalists'

The Center for Biological Diversity, which likes to call itself an environmentalist organization, isn't. It's a litigious society bent on eliminating private property rights in America through intimidation by the courts. The environmental movement is only its cat's paw, but one which it has used with amazing success, first because it rarely encounters more than token resistance to its legal forays, and second, because most Americans are "environmentalists" in the sense that they enjoy the beauty of natural vistas and believe in the preservation of the wild.

The Center counts on both these things when it attacks such groups as hunters, off-road enthusiasts, farmers, loggers, miners, oil companies, ranchers ... it's a long list."

Who's to blame for high gas prices?

The primary cause is environmental regulation. From drilling to refining to distribution, environmentalists have done everything they can to raise the price of gasoline. Environmentalists are not actually concerned with the well-being of man. Their real motive is to sacrifice man to nature by stopping industrial activity.

Poll: Americans May Not Want a Woman President

Despite all the talk about a Condoleezza Rice vs. Hillary Clinton race, a new poll suggests that most Americans may not want to put a woman in the Oval Office.

A survey conducted last week by pollster Scott Rasmussen found that just 49 percent may want a woman in the White House, according to the New York Post.

Democrats Say Strategy Fuels GOP Infighting

Foes cite progress vs. Bush Agenda, By Rick Klein, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- Senior Democrats are increasingly confident that they have blocked Republicans plans for historic breakthroughs in legislation under GOP control of the White House and Congress, declaring that the Democratic strategy of unified opposition to major items on the leadership agenda has succeeded in turning Republicans against themselves. Entire article here.

STAY SAFE

Well, my nephew Shawn (my sisters' son) is now in Iraq - East Baghdad, specifically. He had been stationed in South Korea for awhile before coming back stateside for several months.

He got to spend Christmas at home. He then had to spend 2 months at Fort Polk and then left for Kuwait for 2 weeks before going on to Iraq. Shawn is a GUNNER SARGENT with the 860th. He is scheduled to be there for 16 months. Stay safe son, kick ass and come home.

THE BERGER WHITEWASH

I had a sense it would come to this.

When Sandy Berger, the former national security adviser to the president of the United States, was caught red-handed stealing highly classified documents from the National Archives more than a year ago, he was permitted to go free.

The investigation dragged on for more than a year.

And, last week, confirmation came. Berger would be charged with one misdemeanor count of taking classified material. He copped a plea and would plead guilty, avoiding any jail time. His "punishment" would be a $10,000 fine and not being allowed to serve in a national security position in the federal government for a period of three years, which, of course, is meaningless, since Republicans will be in control of the White House until 2008.

It was the proverbial slap on the wrist. It's worse than that. It's a shake of the finger with a wink and a nod. It's a joke.

Berger didn't even have to admit he did anything wrong. He got away with characterizing this high crime as an "honest mistake."

Once again, the case shows there are two standards of justice in America -- one for ordinary people like you and me, and another for members of the establishment, the elite.

If you or I had walked out of the National Archives with highly classified documents, we would have been slapped in leg irons and done hard prison time. Berger did it and never saw the inside of a jail cell.

Was Sandy Berger covering up for his own serious national security mistakes leading up to Sept. 11? Or was he covering up for the mistakes of his superiors?

We know that Berger signed off on instructions not to attack Osama bin Laden at least three times before the devastating terror attacks in 2001. Since this was a matter of public record, one can only wonder what unrevealed scandal or scandals he was trying to conceal.

And that's what this yearlong-plus Justice Department investigation has left us with -- more unanswered questions.

Are we really at war? Are we really concerned about national security in this country? As we leave the borders wide open and slap former top national security officials on the wrist for stealing classified secrets, can we really say we are behaving like a nation at war?

When men in the battlefield, operating under wartime conditions, are prosecuted for premeditated murder for killing terrorists, we give a pass to civilian officials who steal national security secrets. Does this make sense to you?

And notice that Sandy Berger's plea agreement was announced by the Justice Department on the day Terri Schiavo died -- to ensure it would be buried and overwhelmed in the day's news coverage."

Invoking The "Nuclear Constitutional Option" -- There is No Other Option

"I think Republican Party honchos may be underestimating the grassroots passion over the judiciary. The outrage against activist courts -- and by no means are all of them activist -- is real, growing and far from a fringe phenomenon."

And it is no wonder with the judicial tyranny seemingly spiralling out of control with yet another example like this:

A Court Gone Insane

The 9th Circuit Court has now ruled that threatening to assassinate the President of the United States is protected speech under the First Amendment.

SAN FRANCISCO—A federal appeals court Friday overturned an inmate’s conviction for writing a crude, rambling letter endorsing President Bush’s death at the hands of terrorists — two weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The letter from Oregon State Penitentiary prisoner Jonathan Lincoln, who was charged with threatening the president and given an 18-month sentence last year, read, in part: “You will die too George W Bush real Soon they Promised That you would Long Live Bin Laden.”

Corrections officials intercepted the letter; Lincoln had been serving a 46-month sentence for robbery.

A unanimous three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the letter was protected under the First Amendment, calling it “Lincoln’s crude and offensive method of stating a political opposition to the president.” The court noted “such political hyperbole does not constitute a ‘threat.”’

From LGF

Minuteman Project a Success?

A retired Massachusetts resident who traveled 2,800 miles to take part in the Minuteman Project says it already appears to be a success.