IMMIGRATION INSANITY

This headline should shock everyone:

Hispanic Groups Call for Moratorium on Work Raids

Here’s what the article says:

U.S. Hispanic groups and activists on Thursday called for a moratorium on workplace raids to round up illegal immigrants, saying they were reminiscent of Nazi crackdowns on Jews in the 1930s. They accused the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement of “racial profiling,” or selective enforcement against Hispanics, for arresting 1,300 workers on immigration violations in December 12 raids at meatpacking plants in six states.

These activist groups jumped the shark by equating enforcing existing laws with Hitler’s Germany. Do these activists realize that they’ve just marginalized themselves? Something that I’m wondering is whether this fits into the legislation that Pelosi and Conyers plan on introducing on CAIR’s behalf.

“We are demanding an end to these immigration raids, where they are targeting brown faces. That is major, major racial profiling, and that cannot be tolerated,” said Rosa Rosales, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, at a news conference. “This unfortunately reminds me of when Hitler began rounding up the Jews for no reason and locking them up,” Democratic Party activist Carla Vela said. “Now they’re coming for the Latinos, who will they come for next?”

Saying that ICE uses racial profiling in making the raids is stating the obvious. Should ICE profile white-skinned Europeans in looking for illegal aliens? Or should they target African-Americans? Or should they just use random searches like they use in airports so that Hispanics aren’t targeted? What tools should ICE use in going after illegal aliens? Or are these groups asking that the borders not be enforced at all?

I’ll be interested in seeing how the 110th Congress will handle this issue. It’ll tell us alot about how serious they are on law enforcement and national security issues. If the Democrats in Congress include Hispanics in their legislation against profiling of all sorts. If they are, then it’s important that Republicans step forward to say that that isn’t acceptable. It’s important that Republicans filibuster such legislation.

CALLING OUT A COWARD

That’s essentially what Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz is doing in this Boston Globe op-ed about Jimmy Carter’s unwillingness to debate Dershowitz about Carter’s most recent book “Palestine Peace Not Apartheid.” Here’s the opening paragraph of Professor Dershowitz’s op-ed:

YOU CAN ALWAYS tell when a public figure has written an indefensible book: when he refuses to debate it in the court of public opinion. And you can always tell when he’s a hypocrite to boot: when he says he wrote a book in order to stimulate a debate, and then he refuses to participate in any such debate. I’m talking about former president Jimmy Carter and his new book “Palestine Peace Not Apartheid.”

Carter has been exposed repeatedly by both liberal Jews and by conservative Christians but few have flayed him as thoroughly as has Professor Dershowitz. Carter’s fear of debating Dershowitz is understandable considering the indefensible statements that he made in his book, not to mention having to defend those statements against a debater of Professor Dershowitz’s caliber.

Dershowitz continues, saying:

The next week Carter wrote a series of op-eds bemoaning the reception his book had received.

He wrote that his “most troubling experience” had been “the rejection of [his] offers to speak” at “university campuses with high Jewish enrollment.” The fact is that Brandeis President Jehuda Reinharz had invited Carter to come to Brandeis to debate me, and Carter refused. The reason Carter gave was this: “There is no need to for me to debate somebody who, in my opinion, knows nothing about the situation in Palestine.”

As Carter knows, I’ve been to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, many times, certainly more times than Carter has been there, and I’ve written three books dealing with the subject of Middle Eastern history, politics, and the peace process. The real reason Carter won’t debate me is that I would correct his factual errors. It’s not that I know too little; it’s that I know too much.

While it’s true that Carter wants nothing to do with debating anyone about this book, the bigger truth is that he doesn’t want his lies to be exposed to the public because it will be a public humiliation that will forever sink what little is left of his presidential legacy. Carter tried making provocative statements with hopes of them just being accepted as fact. When that didn’t happen, he started backpedaling and obfuscating about what he wanted the book to be.

AHMADINEAJD: IRAN NOW NUCLEAR POWER

I just read the scariest headline I never wanted to read. Here’s that headline:

Ahmadinejad: Iran Now Nuclear Power

If that isn’t enough to get your undivided attention, then nothing will get your undivided attention. Here’s the gist of the article:

During a speech delivered in the Western Iranian province of Javanroud, Ahmadinejad said: ” The Islamic Republic of Iran is now a nuclear power, thanks to the hard work of the Iranian people and authorities.” The announcement of Iran as a “nuclear power” is bound to significantly escalate tensions between the West and Iran, and marks a dramatic stage in the Islamic Republic’s nuclear campaign.
In recent days, the US military has begun to build up forces around the Gulf, in what is being seen as as a warning to Iran. Ahmadinejad was also reported to have announced that “Iranian young scientists reached the zenith of science and technology and gained access to the nuclear fuel cycle without the help of big powers.” The Iranian president began the speech by saying that “the powerful Iranian nation resists bullying powers and will defend its rights, including the right to pursue peaceful nuclear technology,” the IRNA said.

Here’s a newsflash for Sen. Kerry, Justice O’Connor, Rep. Hamilton, SecState James Baker, etc: You can’t negotiate with a nut like that. If ever there was proof of these people’s lack of wisdom, this should suffice. This group didn’t learn Reagan’s lesson of negotiating from a position of strength. They’re just a bunch of ’surrendering realists’ who think that talking endlessly is a solution to every situation. Shame on them for thinking that.

It’s worth reviewing Reagan’s principle on negotiation. The Reagan principle teaches that you don’t negotiate until you scare the daylights out of the people you’re negotiating with. It’s only at that time that they’re willing to make significant, long-lasting concessions. Furthermore, the Reagan Principle teaches us that there shouldn’t be a time when the United States can’t get to the position of superiority to negotiate from.

Gorbachev didn’t make the concessions that he did because of his benevolence. He made them because he knew that Reagan wasn’t someone to be messed with and because Reagan’s policies and actions scared him into making concessions.

Right now, we don’t scare Ahmadinejad. That must stop. IMMEDIATELY. We need to put the fear of God into him. We need to help him feel like Qaddafi felt after Reagan bombed Qaddafi’s home.

In a clear rejection of all diplomatic attempts to prevent Iran from going nuclear, Ahmadinejad added in his speech that “the Iranian nation will continue in its nuclear path powerfully and will celebrate a nuclear victory soon.”

It’s time that we put some serious pressure on Iran with a multi-front, multi-faceted policy that makes them wish they’d never started this escalation.

That can’t happen soon enough.

AL-QAEDA'S HOLIDAY MESSAGE

Al-Qaeda's #2, Ayman Al-Zawahiri has made a new tape and is weighing in on possible elections in the Palestinian territories. He says elections would only lead to defeat and that the only way to really win was armed struggle. Now you know what goes on inside the mind of an Islamic terrorist. And Democrats think we should negotiate with these people. Can't we all just get along?

This is the problem with sitting down and talking with people like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Bashar Al-Assad. To them, the enemy is not the United States...or even democracy. The enemy is the non-believers...anyone who is not a Muslim. To the Islamic extremist, anyone who does not worship Allah must be either converted, subjugated or exterminated. Zawahiri's tape also exposes another lie: that the "Palestinians" actually want peace.

They don't now and never have. Even if Israel was driven into the sea, they would find something else to fight over. All you need for evidence of this is the Camp David summit in 2000...where Ehud Barak offered Yasser Arafat everything he wanted, and Arafat still turned him down. Peace in the Middle East has nothing to do with resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, despite what Jimmy Carter says.

Don't you think it's rather interesting that NOBODY in the middle east particularly wants to have anything to do with the Palestinians ...except to use them as cannon fodder in their war against the West?

So there you have it....Al-Qaeda's Christmas message. He sounds upset...maybe we need to send the Iraq Study Group to talk to him.

'RELIGIOUS NUTS' OUT GIVE LIBERAL SECULARISTS

Are you tired of your secular, leftist friends claiming a monopoly on compassion? Ready to see if irreligious Democrats who mocks the “religious right” put their money where their mouths are?

It wasn’t too long ago that Al Gore called supporters of Oliver North, a largely Christian group, “the extreme rightwing, the extra-chromosome right wing”. Howard Dean, the Democratic Committee Chairman, said, “You know, the Republicans are not very friendly to different kinds of people. They’re a pretty monolithic party. Pretty much, they all behave the same, and they all look the same. … It’s pretty much a white Christian party.'’

Interesting. Here are what some studies referenced by the Heritage Foundation’s familyfacts.org have found about the generosity of churchgoers:

Religious individuals are 57% more likely than non-church goers to help a homeless person at least once a month.

Committed religious give to the poor more than nominally religious (in name only).

Of the 25 states that had the highest number of houses of worship per capita, 19 had levels of households’ charitable donations that were above the national average. Conversely, 19 of the 25 states with the lowest number of houses of worship per capita had household levels of charitable giving that were below the national average.

The average donation given to non-religious charities by weekly churchgoers is 14% higher than donations given to non-religious charities by…ahem… non-religious people.

People who say religious beliefs are important were 19% more likely to volunteer (51% vs. 32%) than those who say religious beliefs don’t matter as long as one is a good person.

Regular churchgoers are 11% more likely to donate to causes related to the 9/11 terrorist attacks than their secular counterparts.

It’s also worth pointing out that in 2005, the Catalogue for Philanthropy, the National Generosity Index for 2005 reported the most generous states for charitable giving in the US were “Red States” (Republican states that voted for Bush) and Bible Belt states. The most miserly states were “Blues States” (Democratic states which voted for Kerry). Mississippi, which is also one of the lowest income states, tops the list as the #1 most generous whereas New Hampshire comes in dead last at #50. Massachusetts comes in at #49, New Jersey at #48, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Connecticut rounding out the bottom 5.

But what about compassion?

Howard Dean said on Meet the Press last year that:

I’m a committed Christian. And the fact of whether I go to church or not, people can say whether I should or shouldn’t, I worship in my own way. It came out in the campaign that I pray every night. That’s my business. That’s not the business of the Pharisees who are going to preach to me about what I do and then do something else.

You know, I care about values a lot. And one of the reasons that I care a lot is because of my upbringing. And it was a–I grew up in a Christian household. Now, because I grew up–I’m a congregationalist. People say, “Well, those are liberals.” Well, since when do Christians get tagged liberal or conservative? You either believe in the teachings of Jesus or you don’t. I do.

Actually, it;s not just about believing, it’s about believing and doing. While liberals love hoarding the compassion of Christ without stepping foot into a Church, or occasionally visiting a liberal Church that flies in the face of basic Christian teaching of morality while maintaining a platform hostile to religion, the truth is a Christian must both believe and do the teachings of Christ. St. James called it “faith and works”, the evidence of faith.

The proof is in the giving. The litmus test of compassion is giving to others who cannot repay. Apparently religious faithful are rising to the task; are secularists? Apparently not.

IF I COULD CHOOSE THE PRESIDENT, VICE PRESIDENT, AND CABINET IN 2008

We can all dream a little…

Every once in a while (and don’t tell me you haven’t done this yourself) I allow my mind to drift off into fantasy-land for a brief period of time, where I begin to envision what this great nation of ours would be like if the most qualified and intelligent people around actually held positions of authority in our government. Earlier today I lapsed into that exact mental state, so I decided to take a few notes while I was there, and I came up with the following list of folks who, in my humble opinion, would best be suited to run the Executive branch in 2008.

Keep in mind, however, that some of the individuals mentioned in this article were added to it several hours after my daydreaming session had ended, because, at the time I couldn’t remember the titles of some of our nation’s less well-known Cabinet posts. I trust you’ll forgive me if a few of my choices are somewhat less impressive than the rest. After all, who would YOU pick to be the Secretary of Agriculture?

By any means, I now present to you my personal fantasy picks for President, Vice President, and the various Cabinet Secretaries of the United States. After each person listed below I’ve included a simple paragraph outlining their respective qualifications… except for the bottom five individuals, whom I’d never heard of before today, but who appear to be pretty decent public servants nonetheless. Of course, you don’t have to take my word for that. You can always click on the links I’ve placed below each of their names, which should provide you with all the pertinent biographical information you may require.

President — Newt Gingrich

Of all the leading conservative politicians in America, I can think of no one who is more intelligent, articulate, knowledgeable, or serious-minded than former House Speaker Gingrich. Since leaving office in 1999, Mr. Gingrich has written many articles, policy papers, and books on a wide variety of subjects, and few politicians can match this former history professor’s speech-making abilities. If there is any Republican in America who is more hated by leftists than George W. Bush, it’s Newt… and for good reason; when compared to him, every liberal in Washington D.C. sounds like a babbling nitwit.

Vice President — Bill Owens

Simply put, this popular, two-term, Colorado Governor, former state House member, former state Senator, and former state Treasurer is one of the most effective elected officials in the nation today. He holds a Masters degree in public administration from the University of Texas, and is considered an expert on Russian affairs. Known for his fiscal responsibility, predilection for lowering taxes, and an unwavering determination to improve the public school system, Mr. Owens is widely regarded as one of the rising stars of the Republican party.

Attorney General — Mark Levin

What can I say about this man that Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and practically every well-informed conservative in America hasn’t already said? This accomplished author, Constitutional Law expert, and talk radio host isn’t called “The Great One” for nothing. Known for his brilliant legal mind, as well as an acerbic wit and abhorrence for judicial activism, Mark Levin, who currently heads the Landmark Legal Foundation, is uniquely qualified to head the U.S. Department of Justice… and if you don’t believe me, just ask him!

Secretary Of Defense — General John Abizaid

If hands-on leadership and over three decades of experience fighting for our country are what you’re looking for in a Defense Department head, you need look no further than the current U.S. CentCom Commander. As a West Point graduate and four-star Army General, whose service decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit (with 5 Oak Leaf Clusters), the Bronze Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and the Army Commendation Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), John Abizaid stands out as one of the finest military leaders of our time.

Secretary Of State — Dinesh D’Souza

Any American who has ever heard this man deliver a speech on the virtues of this, his adoptive country, would be hard pressed to walk away from the event feeling anything but pride. A native of Mumbai, India, Dinesh moved to the U. S. as a youth, and is now a naturalized American citizen. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Dartmouth College, a former Senior Policy Analyst for the Reagan White House, a former Editor of various political affairs magazines, a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, a former Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and a best-selling author of - among other books - ‘What’s So Great about America’ and ‘The End of Racism ‘.

Secretary Of Homeland Security — David McIntyre

Dr. McIntyre is a retired Army Colonel who holds a BS in Engineering from West Point, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Maryland. He is the former Deputy Director of the ANSER Institute for Homeland Security, and currently heads the Integrative Center for Homeland Security at Texas A&M University. He has taught national security/homeland security strategy at senior levels of government for nearly two decades, has worked in the office of the Army Chief of Staff in Washington, DC, and lectured at the Maxwell School of National Security Studies, the National War College, the Naval War College, and George Washington University.

Secretary Of The Treasury — Thomas Sowell

Aside from Alan Greenspan and the recently deceased Milton Friedman, no American economist is better known or more well-respected than Thomas Sowell, whose syndicated columns are published in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes Magazine, and Capitalism Magazine. He holds an A.B. in Economics from Harvard College, an A.M. in Economics from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago, were he studied under Nobel Prize-winning economist George Stigler. He has written 5 books on economics, as well as two dozen more on various other topics, and is currently a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.

Secretary Of Education — William Bennett

Dr. Bennett is a former Reagan Administration Secretary of Education, as well as former Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President George H. W. Bush. He holds a Law degree from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in Political Philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a best-selling book author and highly valued speaker on the topics of American culture and morality, among others. He believes in competency tests for educators, performance-based pay, ending tenure, allowing knowledgeable professionals with no formal education training to teach, and providing parents with greater school choices.

Secretary Of Energy — Pete Domenici

With 33 years of continuous Senatorial service under his belt, Pete Domenici holds the record for the longest tenure of any New Mexican elected to the upper house of the U.S. Congress, wherein he recently cast his 13,000th vote. He is a former junior high school mathematics teacher, lawyer, and author of two books on the subject of nuclear power. He currently serves as the Chairman of both the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy & Water Development, and is co-sponsor of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

Secretary Of Health And Human Services — Phyllis Schlafly

Radical feminists HATE Phyllis, who headed a successful grassroots campaign to prevent passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. She believed that such an amendment would lead to negative cultural shifts which would inevitably result in things like homosexual marriage and government-funded abortions. Mrs. Schlafly is a lawyer who has authored 21 books on subjects ranging from child abuse to judicial tyranny, and has testified before 50 Congressional and State Legislative committees on Constitutional, family, and national defense issues. At 81 years of age, she is as spry as most 20-year-olds, giving daily radio commentaries, writing a widely published syndicated column, running a national volunteer organization known as the Eagle Forum, publishing a monthly newsletter, and debating cultural issues on college campuses across the country.

Secretary Of Commerce — Jeb Bush

While he may be best known as the younger brother of the President, Jeb is no Billy Carter. In 1973 he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor’s degree in Latin American studies from the University of Texas at Austin, later taking a job with the Texas Commerce Bank. Several years later he moved to Florida, where he worked as a real estate developer and consultant, and eventually a political lobbyist. Today he is the Governor of Florida, with a long and distinguished record of accomplishments which include maintaining a 3.0 unemployment rate in his state, and cutting taxes every year since 1998. Often characterized as brilliant, he is also a man of high principles, and his hard work and determination have transformed Florida into one of the most successful states in the union.

Secretary Of Labor — Elizabeth Dole

Senator Dole is the wife of former Senator and former Republican Presidential nominee Bob Dole, and she currently Chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee. She was Deputy Assistant to President Nixon for Consumer Affairs, later being appointed to the Federal Trade Commission. Afterward, she became the nation’s first female Secretary of Transportation under the Reagan Administration, and then Secretary of Labor under the first Bush Administration. Prior to being elected to the U.S. Senate, she headed the American Red Cross, and holds a Masters degree in Education and Government, as well as a Law degree from Harvard University.

A Few Parting Thoughts
After having proofread everything I’ve written above, it strikes me that there are only two female members of my White House “dream team”, and most of the male members are white. I suppose it’s possible that if race or sex had been on my mind at the time I was formulating my list, I might have been tempted to drop a couple of those caucasian fellows and replace them with men or women of some other race… but I doubt it. Call me unconventional, but physical characteristics usually don’t enter into my thought processes when I’m considering a person’s qualifications for an administrative job, and once I’ve made a decision on such an issue, I require a better reason for changing my mind than simply satisfying the whims of the pc-police.

Since race-baiters and left-wing ideologues do not intimidate me, anyone who feels the need to call me a racist, sexist, or some other ‘ist’ just because this article doesn’t pass their personal diversity test, is hereby encouraged to email me at his or her earliest convenience. However, be forewarned that my response to you may not be exactly pleasant. You see, it’s precisely because I’m not a bigot that I’ve selected the people I have to run my imaginary government, despite the fact that every ACLU fan out there will probably consider me to be more hateful than Hitler for not creating a mock Cabinet that “looks like America.” If you ask me, choosing political leaders who “stand for America” is far more important than keeping up appearances, and anyone who can’t appreciate that is truly prejudiced.

—

Edward L. Daley is the owner of the Daley Times-Post - http://www.times-post.com