RACE, RACE, AND MORE RACE

Have you noticed the similarities between some of our high-profile news stories lately? You too? Yes, it’s all about race, isn’t it? The Cynthia McKinney-Capitol police officer altercation, in which the Black female congresswoman from Georgia clocked a Capitol police officer with her cell phone after bypassing security and refusing to acknowledge the officer’s direction to stop. He put his hands on her – so she thumped him. Leaving aside the fact that she was lucky not to be shot (or at least tasered), the fact is that the cop simply didn’t recognize her - an egregious affront in itself, of course.

But the issue quickly became one of race (McKinney’s favorite subject) rather than security; obviously, the officer woke up that morning with an irrepressible desire to rough up a Negress. Never mind that we’re living in an age when members of Congress have to fear bags of anthrax being secreted into their places of work. If anything, the incident solidified my belief regarding how very easy it would have been for a terrorist to charge up to the Capitol checkpoint howling “Allah Akhbar” — then blow himself and dozens of others into the stratosphere.

But it wasn’t about security, nope. It was about race, as was the ineptitude of the Federal government relative to its response to Hurricane Katrina. Who gives a rip, right? They’re just a bunch of unproductive welfare cheats and crackheads. It had nothing to do with the fact that the mayor of New Orleans (a Black man) and the governor dropped the ball on the evacuation order, and when it was finally given, tens of thousands were either too ignorant, defiant or nefariously inclined to leave. To blazes with reality: It’s about race.

And now we have a situation in which our government, mandated by the Constitution to maintain our borders, will not do so – even while we’re engaged in a war. Yes, business interests want cheap labor; yes, certain political interests perceive a future advantage in courting the immigrant population. But at a time in which drug dealers and other criminals are terrorizing residents on both sides of our border with Mexico, and in which it would be child’s play for a group of terrorists to slither across with a nuclear device in a truck, drive it to Dallas, cry “Allah Akbar” – then blow themselves and an entire American city into the ionosphere — it isn’t about security.

Again it’s about race, about the evil, faceless rich White man in a suit picking on the poor little sombrero-wearing peasant who’s only looking for a better life. Forget the victims of the criminals, forget the duplicity and oppressive mode of the Mexican government, forget the sex trading in children, forget our Constitution, forget national security; these people want amnesty, they somehow “deserve” it as well – so they should have it. Just give it to them. Just because. Discounting this being the inane rationale of a five-year-old and that it would lead to a doubling of the number of illegal Mexican immigrants in coming years, to bring about this amnesty, Marxist groups supported by the media and like-minded politicos have incited millions of acolytes and young ignoramuses to march on behalf of illegal aliens and turned the Senate immigration debate into such a quagmire that only one thing has become almost certain: Very little of value will be accomplished, and America and its citizenry, particularly in the Southwest, will ultimately suffer for it.

Heaven help the White man so rash as to speak publicly about Americans of northern European descent as “The Race” – but that’s what many Mexican-Americans do. There’s even an organization by that name (“La Raza”) which ostensibly supports the rights of Mexican-Americans and Mexican immigrants, but has a shady support structure, contacts, and nebulous stated objectives. Why the hypocrisy? Because so many have been cowed by or indoctrinated into Politically-correct dogma that, in short, we’re too weak to say or do what’s right. Ironically, it isn’t a Mexican or a Hispanic thing, either; if India or Uganda just happened to lie on the other side of our southern border, we could simply swap ethnic labels and we’d have the same situation, the same arguments, and the same lies in play.

When the members of any other nation seek the benefits of life in America, we process them through channels and assess them via certain criteria. Although the standards aren’t the same as they were when the Italians, Irish, or Poles emigrated, they still exist. Mexican nationals appear to be exempt from all of this, due to greed, subversion of our politics and culture, and our collective weakness.

God save America.

Erik Rush is a New York-born Black columnist and author who writes “The Culture Shark,”a weekly column of political fare. He is also a Staff Writer for the New Media Alliance, Inc. The New Media Alliance is a non-profit (501c3) national coalition of writers, journalists and grass-roots media outlets. An archive containing links to just about everything he’s written is at http://www.erikrush.com

ANOTHER ROUND OF MOHAMMED CARTOON'S

A NEW MOHAMMED CARTOON

By Michelle Malkin

***scroll for updates***

Update: Reader Andrew passes along a cartoon that he believes is the artwork published by Studi Cattolici. If anyone can translate the Italian captions to confirm, it would be appreciated. Note that Mohammed does not even appear in the cartoon:

***
Via the London Telegraph, an Italian Catholic magazine has entered the Mohammed cartoon fray:

An Italian magazine has infuriated Muslims by publishing a cartoon showing the Prophet Mohammed cut in half and burning in Hell.

The drawing appears in Studi Cattolici, a monthly magazine with links to the ultra-conservative Roman Catholic group, Opus Dei. It shows the poets Virgil and Dante on the edge of a circle of flame looking down on Mohammed.

"Isn't that man there, split in two from head to navel, Mohammed?" Dante asks Virgil.

"Yes and he is cut in two because he has divided society," Virgil replies. "While that woman there, with the burning coals, represents the politics of Italy towards Islam."

Cesare Cavalleri, the editor of the magazine, said last night that he had not meant to cause offence. "If, contrary to my intentions and those of the author, anyone felt offended in his religious feelings, I freely ask him in a Christian manner for forgiveness."

That was a marked change of tone from an earlier statement, when he said: "We must not fear freedom of opinion." If the cartoon provoked an attack, it would only confirm "the idiotic positions" of Muslim extremists.

"This is not a cartoon against Mohammed. It is a cartoon which addresses the loss of the West's identity.

Amen to that. Too bad he didn't stick to his guns. [Update: A reader thinks Cavelleri's apology was Italian sarcasm rather than capitulation. I hope so.]

Cavelleri continued:

"Why all the fuss over a cartoon which only represents that which has already been written centuries ago by Dante Alighieri?"

Dante placed Mohammed in Hell in Canto 28 of The Divine Comedy. His work inspired a painting by William Blake, depicting Mohammed with his entrails hanging out, and a fresco in Bologna Cathedral showing him being tortured by a devil.

It seems some Catholic thinkers are opening their eyes to the insanity of the jihadists. But not all. Italian Muslims are gearing up in protest and some Catholics are dutifully playing the dhimmis. Apologies have already been extracted.

Stay tuned. I have a feeling we haven't heard the last of this.

***

4/17 morning update: Blogger Chris at Home quotes the passage in Dante's Inferno to which the cartoon alluded:

Inferno XXVIII, 19-42.

The poets are in the ninth
chasm of the eighth circle, that of the Sowers of
Discord, whose punishment is to be mutilated.
Mahomet shows his entrails to Dante and Virgil
while on the left stands his son Ali, his head cleft
from chin to forelock.

Chris reprints the Willam Blake painting of Mohammed in Hell:

And he also has a photo of the Gustave Dore version.

Flashback: Zombie's archive of Mohammed images has many more paintings depicting Dante's Mohammed in Hell scene.

Bridget P. notes that the Bologna Cathedral, which has a fresco of the Mohammed in Hell scene, has been targeted by Muslims before. In 2002, an Al Qaeda plot to blow up the church was uncovered.

How long before we see this again:

SEND YOUR TOILET BRUSH TO MAYOR TOILETRAIGOSA

THE TOILET BRUSH CAMPAIGN

By Michelle Malkin

Send the LA mayor a message

Earlier this week, open borders L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gave a divisive speech on behalf of illegal alien protesters in which he declared:

"Today we say to America: We've come here to work: We clean your toilets. We clean your hotels. We build your houses. We take care of your children. We want you to help us take care of our children as well."

Many law-abiding L.A. residents who clean their own toilets took umbrage at Villaraigosa's McCain-like contempt for self-reliant Americans and his us-vs.-them militancy. Now, there's a campaign underway to answer Villaraigosa.

With toilet brushes.

KFI's John and Ken show has details of the "Amnesty Brush-Off."

Reader Jeff M. e-mails: "So many people are sending in toilet brushes that prices have been climbing (even on Amazon where toilet brushes have been hitting the # 1 spot on their sales charts)!"

Some nice ones available here and here.

Flush Amnesty!

Posted by Clay @ 9:58 am

Contact Mayor Villaraigosa by

clicking here and tell him he is

Mayor of Los Angeles, not Mexico

City!

mayor@lacity.org .

Some listeners have pledged to send him some of these in protest. Sounds like a fine idea. Get brushin’!

(Looks like KFI listeners are single-handedly driving up the online prices for toilet brushes! The current best deal we can see right now is $3.85 including shipping.)You could always find one at the local 99¢ Only store and send it Parcel Post yourself, if you’re so inclined.

Send your (clean) toilet brushes to City Hall . . .

Mayor Toiletraigosa
200 North Spring Street
Room 303
Los Angeles, CA 90012

ANOTHER WACKO TEACHER PUSHING HIS VIEWS ON HIS CLASS

Tucson Student Forced to Listen to Pro-Illegal Immigration Propaganda

Americans better start waking up and doing something about the madness that’s occurring in our nation’s high schools and elementary schools. Youngsters are being subjected to left-wing propaganda and when teachers and principals are caught they start two-stepping around the issue.

For instance, a Tucson high school student is scheduled to appear before Arizona lawmakers to tell how she was forced by school officials to listen to a pro-immigrant speech by a speaker spewing left-wing propaganda to students without rebuttal.

In addition, lawmakers are investigating why Tucson school buses were used to provide transportation for student protesters at a pro-illegal immigration rally. The mother of a Buena High School student, in Sierra Vista, Arizona said her son’s baseball team was supposed to play a Tucson high school but the game was cancelled. The Buena students learned that the game was cancelled because the Tucson high school bus was being used to take students to an anti-Sensenbrenner bill rally. Rep. Sensenbrenner is one of the sponsors of a tough illegal immigration and border security bill.

Senior Mon-yee Fung,17, sat in a school assembly where co-founder of the United Farm Workers Union Dolores Huerta spoke, but could not leave after Huerta began making remarks such as “Republicans hate Latinos.”

“I wanted to listen to what they had to say, but all they had to say was hate speak,” Fung, head of the school’s Teenage Republicans Club, told The Tucson Citizen.

“They’re saying that I don’t like Mexicans or that I don’t try to understand what they’re doing, but I am trying to understand,” she said during her appearance on Fox News Channel. State Rep. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, wanted Fung to tell her story to Fox News today at 5 p.m.

“She was forced to listen to a political speech for over 40 minutes,” Paton said. “To me that’s a real problem because we shouldn’t have the schools as a forum for political speech. They should be a forum for education.”

Huerta said she was invited to speak at Tucson High as part of the effort to keep students in school and disagreed with Paton’s assertion that political speech has no place in school.

“This is a terrific opportunity for young people to learn what the democratic process is about, the way that bills are passed,” Huerta said. “I explained this whole procedure to the students.”

Huerta said her “Republicans hate Latinos” comment was based on the number of anti-immigration bills sponsored by Republicans.

“Large numbers of the Republican Party are anti-immigrant or anti-Latino,” she said. “I can justify that.”

Huerta, an avowed Marxist, also encourages students to cut school to attend protests and rallies for pro-illegal immigration.

Rep. Paton sent a letter to Tucson Unified School District officials last week questioning the April 3 assembly and the district’s response to the student walkouts that occurred the week before in protest to proposed immigration law.

He contends that regardless of the topic and which political group is sounding off on an issue, the school is not a place for that to happen. Meanwhile, Tucson High Principal Abel Morado said he was unaware of the incident involving Fung.

“There’s a perfect example of liberal ideology — a principal who has no idea what left-wing propaganda is being spewed by someone who supports lawbreakers,” said political analyst Mike Baker.

Morado said the school is a “wonderful venue” to see the opposing sides of an issue, but acknowledged that no effort has been made on his part to bring in somebody who supports the controversial immigration bill, HR 4437. He told news reporters it isn’t his job to bring in someone to balance the propaganda being force-fed to kids

Fung joined the Teenage Republicans Club because she often hears only the liberal side of issues discussed in classrooms at Tucson High.

“I wanted to show the students that there was another side to all the beliefs that the teachers had and were preaching in the classrooms,” she said. “I believe that you shouldn’t only state one side and not state the other at all.”

Morado said that, with a student body of 2,700, he occasionally hears stories similar to Fung’s and that he will spend more time discussing objectivity with his faculty.

“We get those concerns from time to time and I think we get them on both sides of the spectrum,” Morado said. “We want (teachers) to deliver a balanced approach in their curriculum, especially if they are discussing a political issue.” However, he could not describe one incident where someone complained about a conservative point of view being forced on students.

Flung also said she was asked to remove a poster recruiting young Republicans because it was “too inflammatory.”

The poster read “Be an American, join the Teenage Republican Club.” Morado said the poster was removed because some thought the implication was that one was not American unless they joined the club. Someone should inform Mr. Morado that illegal aliens are not Americans. If they’re offended, well — to use language even a moron like Morada can understand — that’s tough.

Fung is worried that her appearance on national television and in front of state legislators next Thursday may cost her friends who think differently than her.

“It’s worth it, because I want them to see that even though I am Republican, I’m still a real person and that I do care about the community,” she said.

Read more by this author on our site here. (Scroll down)

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance. He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com. He’s also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He’s appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc.

Technorati Tags: Arizona, Immigration, Illegal Aliens, Mexico

SAY IT AIN'T SO: DEMOCRATIC VOTER FRAUD

Ed Rendell is in a tight reelction campaign against Pittsburgh Steeler great and Pro Football Hall of Famer Lynn Swann. He’s got reason to be worried. Actually, he’s got lots of reasons to be worried and Swann is most of those reasons. What he’s got going for him is what Opinionjournal.com’s John Fund calls “A Rich History of Corruption”.

Democrats claim anything that impedes or discourages someone from voting is a violation of the Voting Rights Act. Republicans insist the state’s rancid history of voter fraud requires preventive measures. The conflict of visions, to borrow Thomas Sowell’s phrase, couldn’t be more complete.
Take the bill the GOP-controlled Legislature passed, which would require voters show a form of official ID or a utility bill; another bill would end Philadelphia’s bizarre practice of locating over 900 polling places in private venues, including bars, abandoned buildings and even the office of a local state senator. City officials admit their voter rolls are stuffed with phantoms. The city has about as many registered voters as it has adults, and is thus a rich breeding ground for fraud.
But Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell vetoed both bills last month, saying that in a time of voter apathy “the government should be doing everything it can to encourage greater participation.”

The fact that there’s “phantoms” on the voter rolls should cause honorable people to actively clean up the situtation. As we can see, Rendell isn’t in a hurry to clean anything up, especially when he’s in a tight race. It seems that the most consistent voting block for Democrats aren’t blacks. That might surprise you but it’s actually phantoms. I’d doubt that any exit polling data exists on this but I wouldn’t be surprised if 100 percent of all phantom voters voted Democratic, especially in Philadelphia.

In 1998, Austin Murphy, a former Democratic congressman, pleaded guilty to fraudulently voting absentee ballots for nursing-home residents near Pittsburgh.
But Mr. Rendell’s history doesn’t inspire confidence that he takes fraud of any kind seriously. In 1994, Philadelphia Democrat Bill Stinson was booted from office as a state senator by a federal judge who found his campaign had rounded up 250 tainted absentee ballots. Mr. Rendell, then Philadelphia’s mayor, had this reaction to the Stinson scandal: “I don’t think it’s anything that’s immoral or grievous, but it clearly violates the election code.”

In one sentence, Rendell argues that requiring a picture ID would disenfranchise elderly and minority voters. In the next, he’s saying that violating “the election code” isn’t immoral, just illegal. I wonder how many Pennsylvanians would agree with Mr. Rendell’s opinion on the persistent voting fraud perpetrated by sleazy politicians like Rendell.

The truth, the ugly truth, is that Rendell’s worried that Swann will beat him if it’s a fair election. And we all know that a politician’s most developed instinct is political survival.

The only hope we have of cleaning up the electoral system is to have honorable politicians who believe in winning elections by the rules. Clearly, that description doesn’t fit Mr. Rendell. That’s just one great reason for Pennsylvanians to run Rendell’s corruption machine out of office.

Still, many liberals insist fraud isn’t an issue in Pennsylvania. “Show us the fraud,” said Elizabeth Milner, chairman of the state’s League of Women Voters, urging a veto of voter ID. Well, Donna Hope of Philadelphia can show her, because in 2004 an organizer for Voting is Power, an offshoot of the Muslim American Society, registered her to vote despite her admission that she was a noncitizen. Although she was turned away from the polls for that reason that November, someone eventually voted in her name.

Only a corrupt person could look at that proof and deny the existence of a problem. Only someone who believes that the ends justifies the means could tolerate that type of voter fraud.

I hope the RNC runs ads citing Democratic voter fraud convictions from across the country. It’s time we put the Democratic corruption machine on alert. This isn’t Kuchma’s Ukraine. This isn’t Chavez’s Venezuela. The American people deserve better than that.

Technorati Tags: Rendell, Swann, Santorum, Democratic Voter Fraud, John Fund

DO SOMETHING: INDECISION ON IMMIGRATION

A dear friend who is now deceased often told me that big problems are just little problems that were neglected when they were small. Never was a truer word spoken in regards to the current immigration imbroglio.

Congress has again put off making any decision on this heads-you-lose-tails-nobody-wins proposition. Neither party wants to touch this political hot potato, because there is a voting block to lose in the process of making one false move. But one thing is abundantly clear: conservatives can’t win this issue trying to imitate the positions of liberals.

My suggestion is quite simple. Begin by doing something, rather than waiting until all the minutiae of the bill can be hammered out before proceeding. If the primary reason for cracking down on illegals is about security, then that is where the process ought to start.

In order to accomplish that objective, we must either construct a barrier between the U.S. and Mexico, or place enough law enforcement along the borders to make “getting in,” as hard escaping from Alcatraz once was. You may not realistically be able to deport tens on millions of people, but you have to first stop any more from entering in.

There seems to be a major push for granting a quasi-amnesty for the illegal aliens in this country, in some cases depending on how long they have been here. But how can you accurately determine that?

The Roman Catholic Church has been among the greatest facilitators in this matter. David Zubic, the bishop of the Green Bay diocese impugned those who would be unwilling to accept illegal immigration with outstretched arms. He compared illegal immigrants to Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus needing to flee to Egypt for asylum from the purges of Herodian infanticide. On a local conservative radio program, The Jerry Bader Show, Zubic’s statements were roundly condemned by those of his own flock. Some pointed to his poor exegesis of scripture, others suggested that his meddling came close to a First Amendment infraction.

For my own part, I don’t think it is wise to muzzle the church on the basis of “church and state separation,” as that is already overdone. Much of that has to do with a federal statute passed in 1954, after certain churches put out newspaper adds opposing Senator Lyndon Johnson. On the other hand, the chief problem is a misunderstanding by Zubic, regarding the issue of biblical jurisdiction, between the civil and ecclesiastical spheres.

The role of the church is to provide help to those in need, and there is no international boundary on that mission. Christians should help people less fortunate though voluntary work and donations. However the church should not circumvent existing immigration laws, or deliberately promote illegal immigration. It is easy to have mixed feelings as one contemplates the biblical demand to aid the sojourner and alien. But when does the “flight of refugees” become an invasion that threatens the country’s future, security and stability? Any thoughts of fairness in terms of reciprocity would be quickly dispelled by viewing Mexico’s formal immigration policy laws.

We often hear the “anti-imperialists” ask if everyone has to be just like us. Well, as a matter of fact, they don’t. But for all America’s shortcomings, we see the tragedy that occurs because many countries aren’t a little more like us in economic prowess and opportunity. If we are going to export anything, it ought to be our system of government and ethic of liberty.

How many people can a life boat hold before it sinks or capsizes and all inhabitants perish? While many illegals contribute to the American economy, others put a fatal stranglehold on the resources of our social safety net. This is not compassion for naturalized citizens who are then deprived. The last time I saw my older brother before he died, he asked me why this country gives away so much to aliens, while denying the same help to its citizens. He had a small nest egg which he had to spend down before getting medical assistance. Of course, in his case it would still have been welfare, but he did have a point about priorities.

The problem should also be approached from the demand side. We must penalize businesses that refuse to stop the hiring of illegals. Either give those with a good criminal and employment record an opportunity to legitimize their status, or go home. If you don’t give them the carrot, then they won’t come. If all the illegals were naturalized by a swift act of a fiat, the next wave of protests would be about substandard wages and poor working conditions.

When I was taking a composition class in college, my instructor passed around an example of a good essay done by a previous student. Unfortunately, I didn’t give enough attention to the grammatical structure. I did, however, pay close attention to the subject matter of the essay. This individual had visited Haiti, and was critical of how the U.S. had dealt with the problems there. His opening line was “Give a man a fish and he will eat today. Teach him to fish and he has food for a lifetime.” We need to approach our immigration problem with the same philosophy.

It is time to teach other countries how to fish. Hopefully they are willing to be taught.

Robert E. Meyer is a Staff Writer for The New Media Alliance. Columns by this author can be read regularly on TheRealityCheck.org.