BORED OF EDUCATION: NO NEW IDEAS FROM CALIFORNIA SCHOOL SUPE CANDIDATE

Author: Clark Baker

After decades of listening to LA’s inane politicians, I’m not as patient as I once was. This brings me to an email conversation I’m having with California School Superintendent Candidate, Diane Lenning:

—–Original Message—–
From: Diane Lenning [mailto:diane@lenning.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2006 3:44 PM
To: Diane Lenning
Subject: Lenning remarks to Mercury News — CA SPI Vote June 6th

Lenning remarks regarding goals in education. There is much more on my website regarding many issues. Thank you for your consideration. Remember to vote June 6th.

Diane Lenning,
Ed.M.
Candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction

http://www.DianeLenning.com
714-960-2870

I browsed her website but found little substance, so I asked her about charters, vouchers, and the public school monopolies. I’ve included her reply with my responses:

DIANE LENNING: Clark, Thank you for your questions.

ex-Liberal: You’re welcome, Diane.

DIANE LENNING: The only group that has asked me this question is the CA Young Republicans, another small group, and you. As I told them, the answer to that is intertwined in the “free-market-enterprise system,” and the foundation principles of Democracy inherent in the Constitution. Every American has the right of free choice in our society.

ex-Liberal: If Americans have the right to free choice, the Democrat Party’s defense of failing public school monopolies and demands for more funding of them appears to be VERY un-American.

DIANE LENNING: That is an underlying tenet of Democracy.

ex-Liberal: I wrote this essay to explain the Democrat Party’s historic opposition to public education and this to show how and why Democrats still oppose public education under the pretext of providing it.

DIANE LENNING: I have spoken publicly for years, within and outside the union, that I disagree with much of the social agenda of the unions of which I am a member by law. CA is a closed union shop. A little competition wouldn’t hurt, and would make us work a little harder, although most teachers already work very hard. I have worked many jobs, but according to many polls, teaching tops the list for stressful jobs. (The recent stats have again showed dramatic improvement in student passage rates in minorities.)

ex-Liberal: My daughter teaches public school and, as an LA cop, I learned that teachers suffer from the same source of stress that cops do. It’s what I call Responsibility without Authority: Public school teachers and cops endure a tremendous responsibility, but no authority to succeed in their responsibility. On the other hand, politicians and school board members enjoy tremendous authority, but no responsibility to teach. So when police and teachers fail, no one is held accountable. The cops and teachers who work hardest and endure the most stress do so despite the obstacles that prevent achievement. Public school reform is impossible because the school board candidates who support free choice, charters, and vouchers won’t receive the financial support or endorsements from teacher unions. So board members who support change will never have the financial backing to win races or effect change, while those who demand more money and feign reform win election. And the Democrats who siphon education funding for campaigns don’t want to change it either. In short, without LAUSD’s $13.4 billion annual budget, Democrats would lose elections throughout Los Angeles, California, and in Washington.

ex-Liberal: Public education is today’s kinder, gentler, and more compassionate version of Tammany Hall. (See diagram). Democrats control Los Angeles because of the financial support of teacher unions. Teacher unions cannot be broken but, like a tumor, must be starved of blood. Free choice and competition will force LAUSD to reform, or close. Candidates who hope to win must promise never to threaten LAUSD with competition.

DIANE LENNING: That’s what Prop 75 was about, of which I was on the TV commercial and the telephone voice to over 90,000 voters. That’s why I was bumped up six positions as one of CTA’s 25 state delegates. There are teachers within the union who have found a leader’s voice they can agree. About 40-45% of CTA teachers are Republicans, but have been led by Democrats, not knowing much of what the leadership was doing. For the last six years, myself and others have been working very hard to bring the liberal unions back to center. Check out the secrets website by clicking “Link” on my website. NEA’s political spending has increased 16% in the last year as a direct response to my lobbying and speaking on the NEA floor the last several years. It may be the liberal and moderate Republicans, but the pendulum is on the swing back to center.

ex-Liberal: John Q. Adams complained to his father two hundred years ago that legislators blocked what they pretend to support, and do what they pretend to oppose. NEA will not reform itself. We know free choice works – we choose our cars and shop at our favorite stores. I have no problem with NEA, CTA, or any other union, as long as districts assign fully funded vouchers and charters directly to parents. Until then, they are nothing short of a criminal enterprise. Democrats demand that expectant mothers have a choice to kill their unborn babies, but aren’t competent to choose their children’s schools if they let them live. Does that make sense?

DIANE LENNING: Parents have an inherent right to have their children educated according to their beliefs and goals. The Constitutional guarantee is spoken of as one of the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness…which includes the right of parents to raise their children according to their belief in God.

ex-Liberal: Do you offer anything more than platitudes?

DIANE LENNING: That said, the thrust of my campaign is improving pubic schools, and improving education for all students of California. If Californians and politicians want to enact vouchers, that is their choice to make through initiatives or the legislature. It would take voting in Republicans to the majority in the legislature for that to have a possibility. This is why we have been speaking for a year now on practicing Democracy with integrity in this state. I have asked others to push a “truth in politics doctrine.” The U.S. House now has a “Truth Squad.”

ex-Liberal: I guess not. Again, neither you nor the NEA have demonstrated ANY willingness to support fully-funded vouchers. NEA still opposes them. How many more decades do you plan to waste discussing these issues? As a parent and retired cop, I don’t need a truth squad to tell me that having Arthur Anderson investigate the Enron debacle for Ken Lay is a bad idea. And as bad as Ken Lay is, he never harmed millions of children the way our public schools have.

DIANE LENNING: One of my campaign pledges is not to play politics with our kids, and not to badmouth other candidates. My strength comes from providing a plan and positive ideas for improving education for all students in California, and working positively through collaboration with all stakeholders in education. Just like we can’t pick our students, we can’t always pick who we work with. The idea is to make education work for everyone. If I am elected as CA-SPI, I cannot say I will only work with some of the people. I must, and I am willing to work with all the people. I believe I get that from my “great-great…….Uncle George Washington. I have the right plan, and it is the right time.

ex-Liberal: Ugh — Do you have ANY idea how many teacher union-supported politicians I’ve heard say that? The public schools are irreparable, and union-supported politicians have never accomplished anything good – at least during the past 40 years. You offer no message – no tangibles. Remember, if public schools perform, they will survive in a voucher/charter environment. Parents will choose the best schools, just as they choose the best markets, cars, and restaurants. Parents aren’t as stupid as teacher unions would have them believe. You say nothing of this.

ex-Liberal: You write about local control, but I have all the control in need at my grandson’s private school. I can visit my principal anytime I want and, if the school doesn’t perform, I can place him elsewhere. I’m wealthy enough to enjoy those choices. Vouchers would deliver that same choice to parents in Pacoima, Compton, and Watts. And although you probably don’t believe it, those parents love and care for their children as much as I do.

DIANE LENNING: Check out my whole website, but look under Issues, click “safe schools.” You may need to check which way your beeper is pointing. You may have picked up on the admitted Socialist who is running, Sarah K.

ex-Liberal: Your Safe Schools link and website is inane, at best. You promise to “raise expectations” and improve this and that, but offer no coherent plan to do so. You’re probably a nice lady, but LA politics are full of well-meaning people who have ruined millions of young lives. I don’t know who Sarah K. is, but public school politicians should NEVER call other people socialists.

ex-Liberal: I’ve written the following information on education:

Moron Education
On Vouchers
Mayor Tony’s Solution
Confronting the Beast
Voucher Q & A

ex-Liberal: Since you’re running for school superintendent, it would be good to see how you actually plan to fix LAUSD. Don’t tell us you have a plan — tell us what it is. And if you wish to cross-post any of my essays, please feel free.

I’ll keep readers posted on her response, but as it stands now she appears to be more of the same.

–

Clark Baker is a senior contributor* to CaliforniaConservative.org. He is an author, a filmaker, a father and a retired LAPD officer. And he’s currently running for a seat on the California Assembly.

You may read more of Clark’s work here and regarding his campaign here (Scroll down). For more, visit JoinClark.com, the official campaign website.

BUSH MAY DEPLOY GUARD

In what’s become the worst-kept Bush administration secret, NBC, among others, is reporting

that President Bush might deploy national guard troops to the Mexican border.

As the White House prepared for President Bush to address the nation on immigration, sources told NBC News on Friday that the Pentagon could deploy as many as 5,000 National Guard troops to the country’s southwest borders to stem the flow of illegal immigrants.

It’s about time that the federal government got serious about stopping illegals from entering via the U.S.-Mexican border. If that portion of border security isn’t fixed, the rest is immaterial. Until that’s fixed, forget about normalization of illegals already here. Until that’s fixed, forget about guest worker programs. PERIOD.

Senate passage of the legislation appears assured, but many House Republicans oppose allowing illegal immigrants now in the country a chance at citizenship. The deployment of military troops to stem the flow of more illegal immigrants could be a way to ease that opposition. The legislation includes provisions for additional border security, a new guest worker program and eventual citizenship for many of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the country.

My bet is that the guest worker program is DOA from the House’s perspective and won’t be part of the legislation that the President will eventually sign. I’m also betting the legislation will phase in the normalization of illegal aliens after the flow of illegal aliens is stopped or dramatically reduced.

Bush and top House Republicans reviewed the issue last week at a private White House meeting, according to several officials, and the president urged the GOP congressional leadership to embrace his call for comprehensive legislation. That means provisions to strengthen border security, coupled with a guest worker program that, while the president doesn’t say so in public, provides a chance at citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants.

I’m certain that some Republicans will stay home this November out of stubbornness on this single issue. On the other hand, there are enough level-headed conservatives and Republicans out there to vote for this bill so we can take it off the table before the midterm elections. If this issue is off the table, then I envision a fairly stable environment for Republicans this fall.

SENSENBRENNER DEMANDS DEAN APOLOGIZE

Jim Sensenbrenner, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is requesting that Howard Dean retract his statements about the Voting Rights Act extension and with good reason. Here’s part of his press release:

House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-WI) today is requesting Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean retract the DNC’s false attack against Chairman Sensenbrenner’s leadership to renew the Voting Rights Act.
A May 9 blog entry by Albert Morales, a Deputy Director of the American Majority Project at the DNC (http://www.democrats.org/a/p/a_shining_moment_in_the_conscience_ of_man.html) stated, “A Shining Moment in the Conscience of Man. That is what Martin Luther King, Jr. called the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Yet the Sensenbrenner/Tancredo wing of the Republican Party is working to do away with key language assistance provisions, including bilingual ballots and translation assistance at polling locations that have enabled millions of Americans to take part in the electoral process.”

Here’s Sensenbrenner’s reply:

“It’s outrageous that the DNC would attempt to blow-up the broad bipartisan support the Voting Rights Act extension legislation enjoys by launching false attacks. I was a leader in getting the Voting Rights Act extended back in 1982, including helping persuade President Reagan to sign the extension. Last July, I spoke before the NAACP’s National Convention to announce congressional efforts to extend the Voting Rights Act this year, well before vital provisions expire in 2007.”
“I have worked closely with Democrats and Republicans in both the House and Senate, as well as the Bush Administration, to craft another long-term Voting Rights Act extension. These efforts led to my introduction last week of bipartisan legislation to extend the Voting Rights Act for 25 years, including extending the bilingual assistance provided to citizens for 25 years. Last Tuesday, Democratic leaders such as Senator Reid, Minority Leader Pelosi, Senator Kennedy, Rep. Conyers, Rep. Watt, Sen. Leahy, Rep. John Lewis, Sen. Obama, and others joined Republican leaders, including Sen. Frist, Speaker Hastert, Sen. Specter, Rep. Chabot, Sen. DeWine, and me in a bipartisan show of support for this legislation on the steps of the Capitol.”
“Yesterday, I led a bipartisan majority in defeating an attempt to remove this assistance from the bill. Later, the House Judiciary Committee voted 33-to-1 in favor of my legislation, including the bilingual assistance provision. Republicans and Democrats are working together to ensure no American is denied his or her right to vote based on race or color. It would be helpful if the DNC’s political hacks did not try to undermine this effort,” concluded Chairman Sensenbrenner.

In other words, Sensenbrenner’s saying that that blog post didn’t have anything to do with reality and was, in fact, a bald-faced lie. I’m thankful that Chairman Sensenbrenner spoke out the way he did. If more Republicans responded more forcefully to demagogic attacks, the Democrats would soon look foolish in everyone’s eyes. My hat’s off to Chairman Sensenbrenner.

On another note, I think this is proof that Democrats are, in fact, getting a bit defensive. It’s awfully early for them to be playing the race-baiting card. I think the dynamics of that will change by fall. By then, people will notice that this is the Republican ‘Year of the Black Candidate’, which I recently wrote about.

Not only has the Washington Post joined me in writing about it. Clarence Page, the longtime columnist has a column in this weekend’s Jewish World Review.

First, Blackwell, now Ohio’s secretary of state, will have to beat his Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland. That won’t be easy. A psychologist and ordained minister from southeastern Ohio’s rural Appalachian region, Strickland has enough conservative appeal to hold an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association.
Nevertheless, after winning Ohio’s Republican gubernatorial primary May 2, as pollsters predicted he would, Blackwell has a lot of excitement on his side. He represents a racial milestone. Victory in November could make him this country’s only elected black governor in its history besides Virginia Democrat L. Douglas Wilder, now mayor of Richmond, who was elected governor in 1990.
That is, unless former Pittsburgh Steelers star Lynn Swann, who has no opponent in Pennslyvania’s May 16 Republican gubernatorial primary, upsets Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell.
Yes, there are two black gubernatorial nominees this year and they’re both Republicans. Add the Senate races of Maryland’s Lt. Gov. Michael Steele and Michigan’s Keith Butler and you can see why Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman is smiling about his efforts to woo black voters back to the party of Abe Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.

Rumors are swirling that Dick DeVos will pick Butler to be his runningmate in the Michigan governor’s race against Jennifer Granholm. DeVos is currently leading Ms. Granholm 46-45 in the latest EPIC/MRA polling. As my friend Alex McClure points out, the EPIC/MRA poll “typically slants to the left, so DeVos probably has a larger lead.”

Blackwell has done surprisingly well among black voters in the past, compared to most Republicans anyway, and his turnout among white and black evangelicals shows enough strength in the Republican base to potentially surprise his detractors.

Mr. Page is right in saying that Blackwell has done relatively well among black voters. He’s also right in stating that Blackwell’s done pretty well with evangelicals of all races. Don’t underestimate those demographic factors, especially in that specific campaign.

I believe that Blackwell will end up beating Strickland in the end because the biggest reason he’s trailing now is because Gov. Taft is enveloped in an ethical cloud. That’s translating into negative ratings for Blackwell. Once the campaigns start focusing on the future and who’s got the best solutions for Ohio’s problems, that lead will change fast.

WHO'S RUNNING AMERICA?

By Michelle Malkin

President Bush may finally be coming around to beefing up the border with National Guard troops, but it's not stopping foreign governments and activist judges from interfering in the enforcement of our immigration laws. The Mexican consulate is investigating our immigration agents for arresting illegal aliens in northern Kentucky:

The Mexican Consulate in Indianapolis has launched an investigation into the arrests of 76 Hispanic immigrants by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Tuesday in Northern Kentucky...

...Gil Esparza, director of the Hispanic Resource Center in Covington, said he is trying to help family members of those detained understand the situation.

Esparza said he is also referring individuals to the Mexican Consulate to ensure their rights are protected.

"I get calls from people scared and crying saying, 'What do we do? What do we do?'" he said.

Some of those arrested, Esparza said, "had kids in school at the time and now they have no mother and father to go home to. ... Then, immigration takes (those arrested) to jail, but nobody in jail speaks Spanish. ... That's my concern. ... I think it's right to go after the employer ... but my people are just looking for freedom. They're looking for hope. My heart breaks for them."

Aguilera said he is concerned that the arrests are part of a growing trend that will put many more immigrants behind bars. He said it is unclear whether those arrested this week face deportation or jail time, if convicted. But, he said the shock waves of the immigrant "round-ups" are causing great concern among the Hispanic community.

"I think it is certainly strange that all of the sudden authorities are taking so much interest in companies that employ immigrants, and are now launching so many of these types of operations, because they probably knew this a long time ago," he said.

"Our concern is that these operations by immigration keep popping up everywhere and we don't know exactly what's going to happen. We would like to know if this is going to stop at some point. We are hopeful that the work of the Senate and Congress will result in some kind of immigration law, so that people that are in the middle of all these operations of immigration are not affected - that the law will allow them to stay here."

Or rather, that continuing to ignore the law will allow them to stay here.

Meanwhile, an open-border zealot on the bench in Chicago rules that a carwash can't ask its own employees their immigration status because it constitutes intimidation:

A federal judge in Chicago has found that a suburban car wash tried to intimidate its mostly Hispanic employees by requiring verification of their immigration status after three workers complained about alleged sexual harassment.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman issued a protective order May 5 barring
Glenview Car Wash from seeking further information about employees'
immigration status until a pending harassment suit concludes.

The class-action suit, filed on behalf of the car wash's male employees in
September by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, is based on
charges filed with that agency by Federico Antimo, Elmer Bethancourt and
Diego Perez.

The suit alleges the trio "had been subjected to, among other things,
unwelcome touching and offers of sex from the car wash manager, Anthony
Fillichio."

An attorney for the car wash, Peter Andjelkovich, said there is no evidence
to support the harassment allegations. He said he is reviewing Guzman's
order and considering an appeal.

The car wash simply was trying to comply with federal law by asking
employees to fill out forms verifying that they are authorized to work, he
said. The forms, which are supposed to be filled out before employees start
work, require workers to certify under penalty of perjury that they are
citizens, permanent residents or authorized to work.

Andjelkovich said the family-owned business discovered its personnel files
were incomplete while providing documents to the EEOC.

"There was no evidence of anyone being intimidated," he added.

Here's an understatement:

David Whitlock, an Atlanta-based attorney who specializes in immigration, called the order "highly unusual."

"It's a little odd to hear a judge ordering someone not to comply with
immigration law, but I understand why the judge might conclude this is
intended to intimidate the class," he said.

While we're on the subject of foreign meddling, there's a related development on the Border Patrol/Minutemen/Mexico story from Sara Carter of the Inland Daily Bulletin:

Congressional leaders Thursday called on the Department of Homeland Security to investigate reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection has given information to the Mexican government about the locations of U.S. civilian border watch groups.

California Reps. Duncan Hunter, R-El Cajon, and Darryl Issa, R-Vista, along with Texas Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, sent a formal letter to DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff asking for a full investigation into all circumstances and events related to civilian border observation groups and the Mexican government.

The letter was in response to a story published in Tuesday's Daily Bulletin, which reported Border Patrol officials shared civilian groups' locations with the Mexican government when illegal border crossers were detained and at the request of the Mexican consulate, among other things.

"U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Tuesday refuted the report, calling it 'inaccurate,' '' the congressmen's letter stated. "While that applies to those who are seeking to unlawfully enter the U.S., it must also apply to U.S. citizens who are peacefully exercising their right to protest and monitor along the border.

"We are deeply concerned that if the media reports are accurate and the Department of Homeland Security is relaying information to the Mexican government on the locations of these citizen groups, whether formally or informally, their safety is being put at risk and their peaceable goals undermined.''

The letter is here (PDF file).

*Update to the story - DHS has requested the Daily Bulletin retract its initial story. The paper is standing by its reporting. And on the ground:

Border Patrol agents, interviewed by the Daily Bulletin, said they were not surprised by Mexico's report and added that the Mexican consulate would normally request information from the agency and that U.S. officials would acquiesce to their requests.

On Thursday, the union chapter representing Border Patrol agents in Tucson, Ariz., issued a statement regarding the Mexican reports. "This Local has nothing to do with any alleged management directives to report the location of the Minutemen volunteers to the Mexican government,'' according to Local 2544's statement.

TJ Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents more than 10,000 border agents, said he has no doubt officials share information with the Mexican government and that line agents have been complaining for years about the issue.

Local 2544's website is here (hat tip: Allah).

A strong statement from Bush on Monday in defense of our sovereignty would be nice.

But I'm not holding my breath...

***

Polipundit already knows what Bush is going to say...

I can pretty much sum up what El Presidente is going to say in his Monday address. He’s said it all before:

I oppose amnesty, placing undocumented workers on the automatic path to citizenship.

Notice that Clintonian weasel word, “automatic.” Notice his unique definition of “amnesty.” “Undocumented workers” (or “illegal aliens” as they should properly be called) will not get “automatic” citizenship; therefore they’re not getting amnesty.

Instead they will be allowed to buy US citizenship for $2,000, provided they go “to the back of the line,” not the “front of the line”:

But what I do think makes sense is that a person ought to be allowed to get in line. In other words, pay a penalty for being here illegally, commit him or herself to learn English, which is part of the American system – (applause) – and get in the back of the line.

El Presidente is proposing to reward 20 million illegal invaders with US citizenship. Yet he’ll claim to oppose “amnesty.” This is not new; McCain and Kennedy claim to oppose “amnesty” too.

Tens of thousands of legal hi-tech guest workers who’ve been working here for several years are not allowed to join the line for citizenship, at the front or back. The 6 billion “decent human beings” around the world, who have never violated US or other laws, are not allowed to join the line, at the front or back.

The privilege of joining the line for US citizenship will be reserved for those who can prove that they’ve been committing immigration fraud, work fraud, forgery, and perjury for at least five years. Yet, this is supposedly not an “amnesty” for them...

THE BORDER PATROL UNDER SIEGE

THE BORDER PATROL UNDER SIEGE

By Michelle Malkin

The Department of Homeland Security is working overtime to quell citizen outrage over the Border Patrol/Mexico/Minutemen story. The contradictory spin doctors are not doing a very good job. I'll have more in a moment.

But now is a crucial time to step back and look at this disturbing episode in a larger, informed context-- that is, as part of the longstanding battle between DHS management and rank-and-file employees over strict, tough, and unapologetic immigration enforcement. Supervisors in Washington and in major Border Patrol sectors are cowed by ethnic activists, business lobbyists, and meddling Mexican consulates. Field agents are demoralized by top-down efforts--from the White House on down--to undermine their law enforcement duties.

Most news consumers--and politicians and Washington wags--have extremely short-term memories. But people on the ground fighting this battle every day, and those covering it, don't.

I remind you of the jaw-dropping directive issued in August 2003 by then-San Diego Border Patrol Chief William Veal directing local Border Patrol agents to ignore suspected illegal aliens on city streets and at worksites in San Diego. The order was made in response to--you guessed it--complaints by the Mexican Consulate over Border Patrol arrests of illegal aliens seeking to obtain Mexican identification cards. Deputy Consul General Javier Diaz met with Veal to protest the arrests, while Mexican Consul General Rodulfo Figueroa issued a statement saying he was "astonished by the arrests because of their proximity to his office." The Bush Treasury Department, ignoring the warnings of seasoned immigration enforcement officers and FBI agents concerned about matricula consular card fraud, approved the use of these illegal alien documents for opening bank accounts--at the behest of, you guessed it, Mexican consular officials and business lobbyists.

Click for full-size images:

In admonishing his agents to look the other way at lawbreakers Veal wrote: "We have a continuing obligation to prevent any public perception that the Border Patrol may be conducting 'neighborhood sweeps.'"

A continuing obligation to whom?

After a public outcry over the memo, DHS backed down and rescinded the order. But it did not change the cowardly p.c. culture among higher-ups at the department.

I remind you that just a year later, Border Patrol rank-and-file blew the whistle on Beltway bosses retreating from interior enforcement again. After extensive intelligence-gathering, local agents had conducted effective illegal alien sweeps in July 2004--which sent Mexican officials and the open-borders lobby into full-scale hysteria. Washington bowed to the pressure and ordered the agents to stop enforcing immigration laws. Grilled by KFI's talk show hosts John and Ken, then-DHS undersecretary Asa Hutchinson--who had badmouthed his own employees and condemned the sweeps--blubbered that DHS would enforce immigration laws "in a reasonable manner and will consider the sensitivities associated with interior enforcement of our immigration laws."

Sensitivities to whom?

I remind you that the following year, in May 2005, a dozen Border Patrol agents told the Washington Times that they had been instructed to “stand down” from arresting illegal aliens near where Minutemen protestors had patrolled in April. The agents understood that an increase in arrests would prove the effectiveness of extra manpower on the border and would credit the Minutemen’s approach. Several sources, including the President of the National Border Patrol Council, confirmed the newspaper report.

I remind you that a year ago this month, the same DHS that says it now supports what the Minutemen are doing barred the group's founder from a press conference with Michael Chertoff in Arizona and badmouthed the citizen efforts.

And I remind you of Heather Mac Donald's exhaustive investigation of the Mexican government's growing power and influence in working to sabotage immigration enforcement efforts.

I could go on. But having been reminded of the past, recent, and continuing behavior of DHS brass--in opposition to their own rank-and-file employees and in opposition to rigorous law enforcement--you will now hopefully have a deeper appreciation for why the denials and contradictions of DHS officials in Washington about the Border Patrol/Mexico information-sharing story from the Daily Bulletin ring rather hollow.

And square perfectly with the longstanding reality of a Border Patrol under siege and undermined by its own leaders in Washington.

I had a perfectly nice chat last night with DHS spokeswoman Kristi Clemens, who insisted that the Border Patrol does not share information about the Minutemen with the Mexican government--and then confirmed, twice and plainly, that the agency does identify when and where civilian volunteers are involved with illegal alien apprehensions if border-crossers call their neighborhood Mexican consular officials to complain about intimidation or harassment while sneaking into the country. (For the record, her boss told NRO's Andrew McCarthy the exact opposite! As usual, the spinners in CYA mode can't get their story straight.)

Clemens stressed several times that DHS believes there is no conceivable reason why the Border Patrol would collaborate with Mexico against the interests of American citizens.

Clearly, they have short memories.

SENATE TO RETHINK IMMIGRATION BILL

That’s the message Bill Frist is sending to the American people in this AP article.

Republicans moved Wednesday to have the Senate spend most of the next two weeks reconsidering an immigration bill that faltered just before Easter over whether to let millions of illegal immigrants remain in the United States. “We’re ready to start the process,” Sen. John McCain, (R-AZ), said Wednesday after emerging from a meeting with a few other Republicans in Majority Leader Bill Frist’s office. Frist, (R-TN), said he would continue talks with Minority Leader Harry Reid, (D-NV). He added, however, that debate would begin early next week on amendments even though he and Reid have no agreement on how to proceed with the bill.

It sounds like Frist got the message that border enforcement is the top priority with the GOP base. Appearing on Bill O’Reilly tonight, Frist said that there would be a strong enforcement component to the bill. I’m still skeptical at this point but I hope he’s serious.

O’Reilly told him that this single issue could sink the GOP this year and Frist quickly agreed. O’Reilly also told him that McCain-Kennedy was dead in the water until border security was fixed. I totally agree with O’Reilly on McCain-Kennedy.

Reid has insisted that once the bill is passed, those who support protecting illegal immigrants from deportation must control the Senate team that will negotiate with the House in conference in developing a final bill. “Unless there is agreement on conference, the bill will go nowhere. Nowhere,” Reid said Wednesday.

Think of how breathtaking that statement is. Reid will filibuster everything until he’s guaranteed that legislation will legalize illegal ‘immigrants’. So much for their “Real Security” campaign.