Immigration raids on Monday?

Word has rifled through immigrant communities that whether for "retribution" or for "intimidation" purposes, there will be raids conducted to round up illegal immigrants. Here is the story.

According to the account in the story, fear has gripped the community because of the Operation Phoenix raids which rounded up illegal aliens who also commit crimes after crossing the border. Operation Phoenix II this week rounded up thousands and thousands of sex offenders, in particular those who prey on children, which was great news. This article seems a bit sketchy here about what the bulk of crimes were for those picked up by Operation Phoenix from the illegal immigrant community.

Some pretty staggering numbers going on in this debate on immigration, frineds. Sure, the millions of dollars that had to change hands to organize this effort on Monday may turn out some very large numbers. Or not.

What I do know is that of the millions that illegally cross the border, it only takes comparitively few people to make it a very bad day for many. There may be fear rifling through the group of immigrants here illegally (a natural product when one knowingly breaks the law and recognizes there might be consequences for that), but the fear of what could come across the border that is a nightmare waiting to happen far, far, far outweighs the knowledge that there could be good, decent folks that cross that border illegally looking for opportunity.

The fear of deportation in the immigrant community cannot outweigh the fear of what could be imported through the Swiss cheese that poses for our borders.

Grups.....Well-off Twixters with their own houses

Wow. How cool. Liberal parents who are so concerned for their children that they value torn jeans, iPods, listening to the "right" music and "freaking out" at the idea that their children would become Republicans than pretty much anything else. In this story, these kids listen to what one child called "thunder music" (probably while losing all hearing at a nice young age), get dragged to all manner of concerts and events that the parents want to go to and spend most of their time defining "cool" rather than "right and wrong", it would appear.

These parents who are "GRUPS" pretty much have their kids listen to their music rather than age appropriate songs. What the heck is wrong with kids being kids except that it is inconvenient to the parent? I do not recall anywhere in the definition of "parenthood" the words..."whatever is convenient for the parent is COOL...."

Note: While several of us who are in our late, late, late 30's have "hip" clothes and ipods...along with several suits and appropriate attire for all occasions, there are many different reasons for the answers in the polls and they do not all lead to liberalism. For example, many of us work from home but it isn't because we shun the corporate structure, it is because we like staying home with our children and it isn't just to switch out songs on the family iPods!

The assumptions that liberals try so hard to show they do not adhere to..... are fully embraced in this piece -- like torn clothes mean you are "hip" and suits mean you are "conservative".

These "Grups", my friends, are "Twixters" with money and their own house. Remember "Twixters" as described by Time Magazine? The older-than-college-twenty-thirty-forty year old living in Mom's basement but spending all available earned cash on non-essentials while Mom is home doing the essentials to keep her baby in clean clothes and well fed, etc......looks like the Twixters that moved out have become Grups.

Both Twixters and Grups care about their convenience. Looking out for #1 matters first no matter what the message is because somehow it is not their fault that some external force (life, God, Halliburton, depression, George Bush, whatever) has smacked them in the face. Twixters will stay in this eternal womb so long as they can, apparently.

Grups are Twixters who have ventured out of the womb but do not want to be inconvenienced as well because, life, is, so, hard (without yoga, a Starbucks Venti Cafe Latte with two Splenda's and "Interpol" and "Bloc Party" on the Nano, while you text the nanny about her hours for the next week.) Oh, they want to be cool now and have babies cause everyone on the red carpet has one, but you can bet your bottom dollar that they haven't watched the original "Cinderella" or "Snow White" or whatever classic cartoon 27 times, (since they were kids) or Bob the Builder, Barney, Wiggles and heaven knows Veggie Tales would be strictly verbotin with this crowd....

Remember the days when parents went to a G-rated movie because they loved their children and wanted to versus demanding being entertained too? Not saying I don't like Pixar movies because some of them are great and others cross the line for kids with really terrible messages.......but heavens, does EVERYTHING have to be about them?

Twixters and GRUPS. Good heavens. There is more to our generation than Twixters and GRUPS, yon reporters who desireth to be sociologists and coin the latest "generation X" terminology of the moment.

In a world that values abortion over life.....

....this story is still horrifying no matter how you look at it. The description of this father's brutal murder of his son cannot possibly just touch mothers alone, but any human being with a beating heart.

Here is a synopsis of the murder:

"Tyson and the child's mother, Shameka Mosley, 17, were driving with the 9-month-old infant early Thursday when Tyson accused her of cheating on him, according to an arrest report.
Mosley stopped the car she was driving and Tyson tossed the child out of the window where he "landed face down in the dirt," according to the report. The man then grabbed the boy by the leg and "in a swinging motion slammed the infant's head onto the hood of Mosley's vehicle," the report said.

Tyson then sped off in the car with the infant, and later stopped and tossed the child into a canal, the report said.

Authorities found the boy floating nearby and attempted to revive him. The infant, Charles Edward Tyson Jr., died a short time later at Delray Medical Center."

May the Lord bless and keep Charles Edward Tyson, Jr and may justice be done to this animal of a "father" although I have no idea what could possibly constitute justice on this earth for this beastly crime.

Fight the May Day communists on Monday! GO SHOPPING!

That's right, on Monday, go SHOPPING! Like I needed an incentive.

On Monday, the date is May 1 which around the world for leftists and communists is World Workers Day.....remember the footage of May Day in the former USSR of military equipment parading through the streets? Well, communists of the world UNITE on Monday, say the leftists who are preparing for this "demonstration" by illegal immigrants, and do not go to work or go shopping or buy any goods or services to demonstrate what a world without immigrants would be like.

So let's get down to brass tacks, shall we?

Have you checked out the candidates for President of Mexico lately? Guess who is in the lead? That's right, a certified, card-carrying Marxist. If you think that Mexico is uncooperative now, just wait until a Fidel Castro clone is calling the shots South of the Border, with a free run of the length of the Southwest border, a hankering to destroy all things American and a system of corruption that would flourish and expand in the desperation of a communist regime.

Have you looked at who is funding these giant marches or do you believe the fairy tale that the posters, the production, the organization, the media contacts all come from the sheer outrage of the people? Friends, these efforts cost money. Big money. And these kinds of demonstrations do not just happen in a vacuum no matter what leftists tell you.

The organizations behind these demonstrations -- La Raza, International ANSWER, United for Peace and Justice (born in the offices of People for the American Way), etc., etc., etc. Have you noted where their money is from? Have you connected the dots between the organizations?

Have you noticed that even Hollywood did its part with the movie "Walkout" by HBO Films, highlighting the protests of Hispanic students in the heydey of the radical protests of the 60s and 70s and the birth/expansion of La Raza in Southern California schools?

There is an awful lot of money riding on this amnesty situation for an awful lot of folks apparently. When you have several cities worth of demonstrations, a Hollywood movie, major legislation moving in the Congress, too many books to count on the subject and earned media to the point of overload, it is not accidental.

Imagine if the borders were, in fact, shut down and secured. Who does that affect besides "those coming here looking for nothing more than opportunity" and are either unwilling or for some unknown reason, unable to go through legal channels to obtain citizenship, but are willing to do work that "Americans are not willing to do", according to the talking points?

What else comes across the border illegally? Drugs. Guns. Money. Weapons of all kinds. Women and children who are being trafficked as slaves. Fugitives. Terrorists.

What comes across the border legally? Goods and services. Tourists. Immigrants who want to go through the system and obtain their citizenship, work visa/permit legally.

So what exactly are these people demonstrating for on Monday?

Don't know where you stand on the issue? Want to get more information about immigration? Go here. As for me, I'm spending the day on Monday shopping. THAT'S my kind of May Day. Capitalism at its finest!

Very important point refuting the negative coverage of Tony Snow....

There have been some media outlets who turned immediately to their friends in left wing organizations who happily provided out of context quotes from Tony Snow to them. Of course, had these media outlets done even a tiny bit of homework, the following would have become immediately obvious to them.......read this (as always) insightful bits from today's Media Research Center CyberAlert:


ABC and NBC on Wednesday night delighted in showcasing how incoming White House Press Secretary Tony Snow last year wrote that President Bush had become "an embarrassment." But in portraying the quote as a declarative accusation, neither ABC's Elizabeth Vargas or NBC's David Gregory put the remark into the context of how Snow was observing that Virginia Republicans not wishing to appear with Bush during the 2005 campaign suggested "Bush has become something of an embarrassment."

And neither bothered to let their viewers in on how they were just funneling quotes from a short list collected by the left-wing Center for American Progress. Vargas teased at the top of World News Tonight, "President Bush chooses a new spokesman: A conservative commentator who once called the President 'an embarrassment.'"

NBC's David Gregory at least hinted at some context, though he still implied it was an accusation, as he related how Snow "has criticized his new boss, writing last year that, quote, 'George Bush has become something of an embarrassment.'"

Vargas managed to apply an ideological tag to Snow three times in under two minutes. She also ludicrously asserted that "Tony Snow is the first journalist to get this job." Tell that to Pierre Salinger, Bill Moyers, Ron Nessen or Joe Lockhart -- who was a producer for Vargas' own ABC News.

Gregory twice labeled Snow "conservative" before pointing out what eluded Vargas: "He is the first TV personality to be in the job since Gerald Ford hired away Ron Nessen from NBC News back in the 70s."

[This item was posted Wednesday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org. To post your comments, go to: newsbusters.org ]
See today's second CyberAlert item below by the MRC's Rich Noyes for how Wednesday's Good Morning America highlighted the "an embarrassment" charge and how Jessica Yellin failed to acknowledge her liberal source.
The headline over the page on the Website of the Center for American Progress: "Tony Snow On President Bush: 'An Embarrassment,' 'Impotent,' 'Doesn't Seem To Mean What He Says.'" The fourth quote: "'George Bush has become something of an embarrassment.' [11/11/05]"

For the collection of quotes: thinkprogress.org

James Taranto pointed out in his Wednesday "Best of the Web" e-mail/posting for OpinionJournal.com (I've put in UPPER CASE the clause picked out by the left-wing group and so readily passed along by ABC and NBC):
"The quote comes from a column on the Virginia governor's election, in which Democrat Tim Kaine beat Republican Jerry Kilgore.
Here it is in context:
"'And don't forget about the Swagger Factor: A party that projects confidence and good cheer will thrash a Chicken Little party any day. Kilgore looked scared. Kaine acted like the cool kid on prom night.
"'The Swagger Factor has national repercussions because George W. Bush has lost his. His wavering conservatism has become an active concern among Republicans, who wish he would stop cowering under the bed and start fighting back against the likes of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Wilson. The newly Passive GEORGE BUSH HAS BECOME SOMETHING OF AN EMBARRASSMENT. At the nadir of his campaign, Jerry Kilgore actively dodged having to share a stage with the commander in chief.'"

For Taranto's April 26 Best of the Web: www.opinionjournal.com

For Snow's column as posted on TownHall.com: www.townhall.com

Reaction to Tony Snow's appointment as chief flack-catcher.....

Did you know that there is a tradition among White House Press Secretaries that upon getting the job they are given a flack jacket? Sounds appropriate, don't you think? There have been some pretty so-so press secretaries to hold the job but I do not think that Tony Snow is going to be among that group. He will do a tremendous job if he is given the opportunity to do so.

Tony is the type of guy who assesses a situation carefully and whether or not you agree with him, when you walk away from the conversation, at least you know you have spoken your piece. He diffuses bombs well and those that throw them with his calm demeanor. And he will need every one of his skills to do this job well.

Was VERY glad to hear that he will have what is called "walk in" access to the President. Snow knows what his job is as press secretary yet believe this: when he disagrees with the Chief Executive, he will not hesitate to let him know behind closed doors. And he will do it in a way that will not get the President's dander up. That is the greatest skill of any communicator -- not just the external communications battles, but the internal communications trials as well.

Here is the reaction to Tony's new gig (Some of you might be worried when you see positive reactions from the opposition. Let me assure you that is not necessarily a bad sign, friends. His job is to talk to the opposition and if they are not hostile to him and have a morsel of respect for his ability, so much the better for message delivery.):

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL): "The President's very lucky to have a man of Tony Snow's caliber take this job on. I think he's going to do an excellent job at maybe one of the toughest press jobs in America. I am sure that he's up to it based on his experience." (Fox News' "Fox News Live," 5/26/06)

Sen. George Allen (R-VA): "I think [Tony Snow is] a great choice. I like Tony a lot. The best thing that Tony's going to do is bring the pulse of the American people into the White House in those deliberations... Great choice by the President. And I think it will be good for the American people, too, to have one of their advocates clearly in the White House who is on the pulse of the people in the real world." (Fox News' "Fox News Live," 5/26/06)

Former Clinton White House Special Counsel Lanny Davis: "[H]e is a man of integrity and he's a man of fairness and he's a man of substance and I emphasize substance because it's my perception that Tony will have a policy role in discussing facts with the President rather than simply being a conduit. ... I think he will have a great deal of credibility on behalf of President Bush." (Fox News' "Fox News Live," 5/26/06)

The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol: "It will be good to have a fair and balanced press secretary. An outsider with a somewhat happy-go-lucky attitude could help externally, but also internally ..." (Howard Kurtz and Fred Barbash, "Tony Snow Becomes White House Press Secretary," The Washington Post, 4/26/06)

Former White House Aide David Gergen: "Tony Snow is a good man and a good choice." (Fox News' "Fox News Live," 4/26/06)

CNN's Soledad O'Brien: "[Tony Snow] knows how to do TV, and that may be an important plus ..." (CNN's "American Morning," 2/26/06)

Former Texas Democrat Congressman Martin Frost: "[I] think Tony's a straight shooter ... I think Tony obviously has credibility. ... [H]e's somebody that the press respects. ... I think he was a good choice and I think it's good for the President to put somebody out like Tony who has credibility and let's hope that now that things, people can work together in Washington a little bit more." (Fox News' "Fox News Live," 4/26/06)

Republican Strategist Ed Rogers: "He has great familiarity with most of the White House press corps, anyway. Great familiarity with a lot of the people that he will be working with in the White House. So I think he will come in with the wind at his back and have a lot of goodwill both with the public, both with the media, and inside the White House, so I think it's, I think it's great." (Fox News' "Fox News Live," 4/26/06)

NBC's David Gregory: "[Tony Snow] certainly has a good reputation. And yes, look, I think, for people like me in the job that we're doing, somebody like a Tony Snow, who has some sense of what our needs are, where we're coming from, can be very helpful." (MSNBC's "Scarborough Country," 4/25/06)

CNN's Elaine Quijano: "[W]hat this demonstrates, really, is the desire by this administration to reach out very actively to the media." (CNN's "American Morning," 2/26/06)

Democrat Strategist Steve McMahon: "[H]e's a principled, pragmatic conservative ..." (Fox News' "Fox News Live," 5/26/06)

MSNBC's Tucker Carlson: "[F]or what it's worth, [Tony Snow is] a very good guy. ... [c]ongratulations to Tony Snow. He'll be a pleasure to watch. I look forward to it." (MSNBC's "The Situation," 4/25/06)

ABC's George Stephanopoulos: "I think he's going to do very well. He's made his living communicating. He's a smart and very likable guy. So he should lower the temperature in the briefing room and also increase the star power. And also, by picking him, President Bush has already helped himself, by going outside of his circle, picking someone of independent stature. He shows that he's not afraid of having big people with independent opinions in the White House." (ABC's "World News Tonight," 4/26/06)

NBC's Tim Russert: "He is a polished, articulate, conservative commentator." (NBC's "Today," 4/27/06)

President Ford's Former Press Secretary Ron Nessen: "Snow's background gives him 'good insight into what it is reporters need,' Nessen said." (David Jackson and Richard Benedetto, "Bush Touts Spokesman's Media Savvy," USA Today, 4/26/06)

"He Comes To The White House With Extensive Journalistic Experience ..." (Ron Hutcheson, "New White House Spokesman Hasn't Always Agreed With Bush," Knight Ridder, 4/27/06)

"His Voice Is Quiet And Authoritative. Even Critics Concede He Has A Talent For Articulating Policy Issues And Political Philosophy." (Peter Wallsten And Joel Havemann, "Snow Says He Intends To Keep Shooting From The Lip," Chicago Tribune, 4/27/06)

The Detroit News' Nolan Finley: "[Tony Snow's] journalism credentials are outstanding. He's succeeded in every medium. Few newspapermen can stand comfortably in front of the camera ... But Tony made the transition to Fox TV with ease and then went on to conquer radio." (Nolan Finley, Op-Ed, "Ex-Detroiter: From Cancer To White House," The Detroit News, 4/27/06)

The Detroit News' Nolan Finley: "Tony's doing this not for personal glory - he already has that - but because he sincerely wants to serve his country. This is among the best appointments Bush has made." (Nolan Finley, Op-Ed, "Ex-Detroiter: From Cancer To White House," The Detroit News, 4/27/06)

The Detroit News' Nolan Finley: "Tony will be believable, he'll be straightforward, and he'll speak for the administration with the integrity and high ethical standards that have marked his career. Count on that." (Nolan Finley, Op-Ed, "Ex-Detroiter: From Cancer To White House," The Detroit News, 4/27/06)

The [Raleigh, NC] News & Observer's Jim Jenkins: "Snow's a savvy and really smart fellow not likely to be kicked around by the press corps." (Jim Jenkins, Op-Ed, "Tony Snow Won't Melt," The [Raleigh, NC] News & Observer, 4/27/06)

The [Raleigh, NC] News & Observer's Jim Jenkins: "Snow's ... a genuinely nice guy, family man, with a good sense of humor, someone who has come by his political beliefs after a lot of honest contemplation." (Jim Jenkins, Op-Ed, "Tony Snow Won't Melt," The [Raleigh, NC] News & Observer, 4/27/06)

"Mr. Snow Is Well-Regarded Among Reporters In Washington, Having Worked In Newspapers, Television And Radio." (Joseph Curl and Stephen Dinan, "Snow Seen As Key To Improved Press Ties," The Washington Times, 4/27/06)

Time White House Correspondent, Mike Allen: "The logic of offering it to Tony Snow was that it showed confidence, that this president, who has been accused of being in a bubble, is someone who is willing to have someone with their own celebrity, their own authority, their own ideas, come in and be his advocate." (PBS's "The Charlie Rose Show," 4/26/06)

Three cheers!!! Get ready to rumble.....

NOT that we all aren't thrilled with two new Supreme Court Justices, but that was January and this is April......and now there are several seats on the Court of Appeals and the District Courts that need filling. This has been a two part problem.....

Part one -- no doubt that the Senate has had a tight schedule, but the issues that have come before the Senate do not seem to be working out so well. So we are thrilled to see this item in the Congress Daily AM yesterday:

"Senate Majority Leader Frist wants to bring two controversial judicial nominees to the Senate floor in May -- a strategic move that GOP strategists and aides say would help energize the Republican base and fundraising efforts heading into the November elections. A Frist aide said Tuesday the majority leader is considering scheduling votes next month on President Bush's long-stalled nominations of U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and White House aide Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Democrats adamantly oppose both nominees, along with nearly a dozen other Bush nominations. Partisan tension over Bush's judicial picks peaked last May when Frist threatened the so-called nuclear option -- a change in parliamentary procedures to stop minority filibusters of judicial nominees. A group of 14 senators -- seven Republicans and seven Democrats -- formed a pivotal coalition that persuaded both sides to avoid a showdown. The group said senators should not filibuster a president's nominee except under "extraordinary circumstances," which cleared the way for the Senate to approve several nominees.

The battle riled up voters in both parties last year -- and Frist apparently is aiming for similar results. "Frist's successful fight on circuit judges last year energized the base and contributed to small donor giving for Senate Republicans," said one GOP leadership aide today. "Future fights on pending circuit court nominees over the next few months will show voters the difference between Senate Republicans and the obstructionist Senate Democrats." Democrats, for their part, are prepared to engage their GOP counterparts. "These are two controversial nominees that can expect strong opposition from the Democratic Caucus,"Minority Leader Reid 's spokesman said today. Democrats plan to frame Frist's tactic as catering to the conservative GOP base in hope of bolstering a potential presidential bid in 2008. "It can be viewed as part of the Bill Frist presidential campaign of throwing a little red meat to the base," said Reid's spokesman. He added that Democrats could also benefit from another fight this year. "I think it's probably equal," he said, referring to how the issue could energize Democratic voters.

Whether Boyle and Kavanaugh can get a floor vote next month remains up in the air. Senate Judiciary Democrats last month wrote Judiciary Chairman Specter requesting another hearing on Kavanaugh's nomination before the committee votes, pointing to recent revelations that Bush authorized warrantless wiretaps. Kavanaugh at the time worked in the White House Counsel's office. Democrats also have argued that Kavanaugh -- a former assistant to independent counsel Kenneth Starr -- is a partisan loyalist who lacks judicial experience. Bush first nominated Kavanaugh in July 2003, but his nomination languished in the 108th Congress. The president renominated Kavanaugh in January. Boyle's nomination languished before the Senate Judiciary Committee for nearly four years before the panel last June sent the nomination to the floor. All eight Judiciary Democrats voted against his nomination, citing his record on civil rights."


And Part Two -- there seems to be a bit of a hold up at the White House in getting nominees up to the Hill. Again, understandably, things have been a bit on the busy side, but let's be honest here, it is time to play to our strengths and there can be no doubt that judicial nominations have been one of the more successful efforts of the Administration. That is, before the slow down in getting nominations to the Hill.

There seems to be talk around town and now in the New York Times that things might still be a changin' at the White House....the "shakeup" may be continuing.....even in the White House Counsel's office??? Inquiring minds most certainly DO want to know.

A major change in that office could signal a serious return to making sure that one of the most important duties of the President, the nomination of federal judicial nominees, returns to highest priority status. After all, the clock is ticking....

Happy 86th Birthday, Justice Stevens.

Happy 86th Birthday Justice Stevens! Many happy returns and blessings on this, your 86th birthday. 86 years, my, my, my.

Just to show it isn't a "vulturine pastine" for the ideologically inclined to watch the age, health and stamina of Court Justices....closely......let's all sing Happy Birthday to Justice Stevens. Ahem.

"Happy Birthday to you,
Ya ain't twenty-two,
We've bought that gold watch,
For your retirement too..."

No, no, no....now guys, who changed the words....come on, that's not right...ya vultures......now try that again.

"Happy Birthday to you,
We got 86 candles for you,
With the smoke from the fire,
DCFD came to sing too...."

Now that's not much better, in fact it could be considered worse when one puts an inside the beltway joke about the Supreme Court building being evacuated last week when smoke apparently was detected in the building......no, no, no. You vultures aren't very good at this sincere birthday stuff are you?

Top ten Senators....according to Time Magazine???

A fascinating read, not for informational purposes but to see how the liberal mind really works. Their choices in some cases are predictable, in others, unbelievable, but overall, political. Would dearly love to find out who exactly made these choices.

Tim Graham at Media Research Center's blog, newsbusters.org, did a great job of analyzing this....this......estimation of greatness, I guess, by one of America's most leftist publications. Also not to be missed is Human Events Online's Robert Bluey's comparison (on the "Right Angle" blog on the Human Events website) of these Senators chosen by Time Mag and their lifetime ACU ratings -- very, very telling.

When you work up close with some of these Senators and have seen their antics personally, the Time Magazine analysis seems to have been written by folks who do nothing more than read the New York Times for a living.

Three cheers for Brit Hume!

Long past time for a pretty fair profile piece about Brit Hume to be written. It is fairly well done by Howie Kurtz and in a style that is unique to Mr. Kurtz, he captures a very human, very empathetic side to a man that seems to be the very essence of "the newsman". Brit Hume's unimmpassioned, strictly professional presentation every night doesn't give so much as a glint of the pain that surely lies in his heart over the suicide death of his son.

"Special Report with Brit Hume" is required watching in this house and there is little doubt that he is one of the most trusted journalists in this town.

While I don't agree with every sentence of Kurtz's portrait of Hume, bravo to him for giving Hume fans a fascinating picture into the life of one of journalism's best and brightest.

The "Right Wing Attack Machine"

You've heard about it -- mostly from Hillary's screeching speeches. You've read about it -- in column after paranoid column. The "right wing attack machine" -- mobilized to do battle and crush the poor, innocent lefties.

Well, now you can see the actual Right Wing Attack Machine......made, of course, by a beautiful blond conservative from California. Loved her comments in Human Events about everyone constantly thinking because she is a blond chick from California that naturally she must be a Dem -- or so folks mistakenly assume.

Kelly, my friend, my sister in conservatism, as a survivor of the University of California system, let me assure you of a couple of things:

1) People will always assume that because you are blond and from California, you are a Democrat....and the reason isn't necessarily because you are a beautiful blond -- it is because you are female. (Dems think they have cornered the market on women and they couldn't be more wrong,.) 2) You will survive the liberalism of college (get David Horowitz's "The Professors") -- actually, there was a recent study that said that more college students today embrace religious and conservative principles than ever before (good news for our team and 3) Keep your sense of humor. You are going to need it, my sister!

Welcome to the blond conservative chicks who are conservatives (some from California, others, not so much....). There are more of us than you think.

Congratulations to Clint Bolick!

Congratulations, Clint! Well deserved for years and years of very hard work for America's children. Keep up the good work -- don't think you can just win this cash prize and split....go to the Bahamas or something. The battle is never over, my friend, is it? Blessings and good wishes to you, Clint --

Here's the press release on the award:

ALLIANCE FOR SCHOOL CHOICE PRESIDENT CLINT BOLICK
WINS BRADLEY PRIZE FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT

PHOENIX—The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation today announced that Clint Bolick, president and general counsel of the Phoenix-based Alliance for School choice, will receive one of the four Bradley Prizes to honor outstanding achievement, to be awarded at a ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. on May 25.

“The Bradley Foundation is honoring Mr. Bolick for his tireless fight for school choice and justice in education,” said Michael W. Grebe, president and chief executive officer of the Bradley Foundation. “His legal acumen and his commitment to equality have brought about tremendous change in education.”

The Bradley Prizes Program was created in 2003 to formally recognize individuals of extraordinary intellectual talent and dedication who have made contributions of excellence in areas consistent with the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation’s philanthropic priorities. Up to four prizes of $250,000 each are awarded annually to innovative thinkers and practitioners whose achievements strengthen the legacy of the Bradley brothers and the ideas to which they were committed.

“I am enormously honored to receive this award from the Bradley Foundation, which has done so much to advance freedom throughout the world,” Bolick declared.

Before joining the Alliance in 2004, Bolick co-founded and served as vice president and litigation director of the Institute for Justice, where he led the effort to defend the constitutionality of school choice programs, culminating in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court victory in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, upholding the Cleveland program in 2002.

Bolick also serves as senior research fellow with the Hoover Institution and the Goldwater Institute.

They really, really don't like me. They really don't. Oh well.

PFAW (People for the American Way) really, really, REALLY doesn't like me. Nor can they take a joke.

When I introduced Phyllis Schlafly at the Vision America conference, I talked about her amazing decision to go to law school well into her forties and with six children running around the household. That was AFTER her historic victory against the ERA (which, if you have not read what it really would do, you need to. Now. She fought the battle with nothing but a phone and a kitchen table and then, having won one of the most astonishing victories in legislative history, decides, ya know, I think I'm going to go to law school.)

Here's the paragraph from PFAW about all of this hoopla:

"The Eagle Forum’s Phyllis Schlafly was the next featured speaker. Schlafly is, in many ways the matriarch of the Right Wing movement whose influence stems from her decade long fight against the Equal Rights Amendment, which she opposed, according to a piece in the New York Times, “on the grounds that it would take away the ‘special protection’ the ‘Christian tradition of chivalry’ offered women - in other words, the ‘right’ to be ‘supported and protected’ by men.” She was introduced by Kay Daly of the Coalition for a Fair Judiciary, a woman who has herself been touted as “the new Phyllis Schlafly.” Daly roundly praised Schlafly, claiming that “no one can annoy feminists like Phyllis Schlafly” and said she looked forward to the next Supreme Court vacancy so that she could work with Schlafly to realize her “dream of making the Left’s heads collectively explode.” Schlafly was welcomed to the podium by a standing ovation, a distinction that separated her from every other panel or speaker, as they only received standing ovations after their presentations."

At any rate, I was making a joke about how since Phyllis is a lawyer and all, if you
really wanted to see the Left's heads collectively explode, well,....could she fit a confirmation
fight into her schedule....as the nominee? Good heavens, if Miguel Estrada, Charles Pickering
and Priscilla Owen can cause heartburn and fail the leftist ideological litmus test, imagine what Phyllis would do to the Left! It was all in jest, folks.

Point is, friends, that the Left has been harassing folks like Phyllis for years and years and she has taken their vitriol with grace that few could muster. She has more energy and dedication than folks half her age and I pray that God continues to bless her with her good health, boundless energy and the patience to put up with the ill-tempered detractors.

Prayers for Herman Cain

(Herman Cain diagnosed with cancer - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ Wednesday, April 12, 2006) Herman Cain is one of the hardest working conservatives I know -- have had the privilege of interviewing him several times for my radio show on his books and when he ran for Senate, Mr. Cain was very interested in the judicial nominations issue.

Prayers for Mr. Cain and his family as he goes through cancer treatment.

"Walkout"

Has anyone seen this film from HBO? It is based upon a true story about Hispanic students who staged protests at Los Angeles schools regarding a whole list of grievances.

Hollywood's timing with the protests across the nation over the illegal immigration battle could not be better for the leftists and their protesting friends. Never underestimate the power of a sympathetic strip of celluloid to advance a cause.

Federal judges involved in state prison systems AGAIN.

Once again, it appears that federal courts are interfering in sentencing of prisoners....after they have been sentenced.

In the late 1970s, early 1980s, prisoner lawsuits got completely out of control resulting in consent decrees that put virtual revolving doors onto several state prison systems. Most notably in Texas (see the Ruiz case). The prisoners rights lobby utilized the cruel and unusual punishment clause to claim that overcrowding in state prisons was cruel and unusual punishment.

Interestingly enough, however, with higher and higher numbers of released prisoners out on the streets, the crime rates began to skyrocket as well. The consent decrees from the federal judges became quite unpopular and even cause the eye of a couple of sharp Congressmen who passed relatively tough truth-in-sentencing laws that (should have) ensured that the consent-decree-imposed-caps on prison populations wouldn't automatically require that prisoners be released to fall below the "acceptable" capacity. Ah, the awesome coercive power of one man in a black robe with a federal judge's gavel. (Truth be known, there are some problems creeping up again with out-of-control federal judges and prison systems and this story is just one of them.....but we'll discuss that another day....)

Friends, this article in the NYT is terribly important because it shows exactly how much power the federal judiciary has -- even over a state-run prison system.

And this article did not happen in a vacuum. We are supposed to feel sorry for the little darlings because......why? The big bad serial killer has a fear of needles? Doesn't go to sleep fast enough before he dies? Feels a moment, an instant of pain?

The prisoners rights lobby is at it again, this time claiming how awful lethal injection is. Precisely how awful were the crimes endured by the victims that got the accused strapped into the death gurney in the first place? Did they have an entire lobby working to ensure that their deaths or torments were less unpleasant?

At what point will the Left decide that saving the innocent is a great deal more important than saving the guilty?

What would it take for Hillary Rodham Clinton to support a pro-lifer?

Wonder what all of those feminist donors to HILLPAC and Hillary's assorted fundraising accounts are thinking right about now about Hillary's support of Bob Casey (see below)? Casey isn't exactly their number one pick on the abortion hit parade.

What in the world would Casey do on the judicial nominations issue, I wonder. Since he is, apparently pro-life, so much so that speaking at the Democratic Convention was out of the question, then would he obey the litmus test imposed upon judicial nominees by Hillary's pals in the abortion lobby?

Has to be quite a conundrum for them, I would imagine. Not for Hillary, though, whose real agenda has little or nothing to do with the hapless Mr. Casey. She wants a fundraising list and chits and Pennsylvania has a lot to do with her dreams in 2008 so she will even support a pro-life candidate. Principle always goes out the window for the Clintons when personal ambition is the price.

Clinton To Host Fundraiser For Casey In Chicago. The Philadelphia Inquirer (4/11, Budoff, 423K) reports that New York Sen. Hillary Clinton (D) "lends her fund-raising strength to Democratic Senate candidate Bob Casey Jr. today, hosting an event for him -- in Chicago. ... The afternoon event at Chicago's Palmer House Hilton, Clinton's first for Casey, is a sign of Pennsylvania's importance in the Democratic Party's bid this year to gain control of the Senate. Casey holds a comfortable lead over Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) in the polls, but the senator has a 2-1 fund-raising edge over his leading challenger. When asked why the campaign chose to do the event in Chicago, Casey spokesman Larry Smar said it was 'nothing out of the ordinary.' Clinton will be in Chicago today to deliver a speech at the Economic Club of Chicago." Santorum spokeswoman Virginia Davis said, "While Rick Santorum is teaming up with folks like Rudy Giuliani and Bob Dole to help with his reelection, Bob Casey is depending on liberal friends like Hillary Clinton to raise money for him. We'll take that match-up any time."

From the Maj. Leader's office on Immigration Reform Legislation...

STATEMENT FROM THE OFFICE OF THE MAJORITY LEADER
Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Immigration Facts: Securing The Border

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the office of Senate Majority Leader
Bill Frist (R-TN) released the following statement and fact sheet
regarding consensus border security provisions:

To tackle immigration reform, Congress must act to secure the border,
address workplace enforcement, and create a comprehensive system
which respects the rule of law, acknowledges the country’s economic
needs, and honors our heritage as a nation of immigrants.

Every day Senators Reid and Schumer stand in the way of action in
the Senate on immigration reform, America is less safe and less
secure. Their politically motivated stunt should not prevent a
bipartisan agreement to secure our borders.

An estimated 1.2 million people enter America illegally each year
– for every person who is apprehended, three more enter
successfully. In total, our illegal population grows by more than
500,000 annually.

Republican-backed legislation includes tough new provisions that
will secure our borders and help state and local officials deal with
the illegal population already in place.


New Border Enforcement Provisions In The Frist And Senate
Judiciary Committee Bills (Section numbers reference S.2454,
the Securing America’s Borders Act)

New Border Security Provisions:

1. Recruit, hire, and train 250 new Custom and Border Protection
officers, 200 new positions for investigative personnel to
investigate alien smuggling, and 250 additional port of entry
inspectors, annually from FY 2007 to FY 2011. Increases the
number of customs enforcement inspectors by 200 in section
5203 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act
of 2004. Add nearly 15,000 border patrol agents over next six
years. (Sec. 101)

2. Authorize construction of all-weather roads and add vehicle
barriers along the borders. (Sec. 103)

3. Authorize temporary or permanent border patrol checkpoints
in close proximity to the southern border. (Sec. 104)

4. Authorize construction of additional ports of entry and
improvements to existing ports of entry along the land borders.
(Sec. 105)

5. Require DHS to replace all aged, deteriorating, or damaged
primary fencing with double or triple layered fencing in Arizona
population centers on the border. (Sec. 106)

6. Require DHS to enhance the connectivity between the
Automated Biometric Fingerprint Identification System (IDENT)
and Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System
(IAFIS) biometric databases and collect all fingerprints from
individuals through the United States Visitor and Immigrant
Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program during their
initial enrollment. (Sec. 121)

7. Require DHS to implement a two-way communication system
between Border Patrol agents in the field and their station offices
(Sec. 122)

8. Require the Comptroller General to review the basic training
provided to new Border Patrol agents to ensure that such training
is provided as efficiently and cost effectively as possible. (Sec. 123)

9. Require DHS to submit to Congress a timeline for equipping all
land border ports of entry with the US-VISIT system, deploying
at all land border ports of entry the exit component of the US-
VISIT system, and making all immigration screening systems
interoperable. (Sec. 124)

10. Require all immigration inspectors receive training in identifying
and detecting fraudulent travel documents. (Sec. 125)

11. Voids visas held by a nonimmigrant alien if the alien remains in
the U.S. beyond the period of authorized stay, and requires aliens
who overstay to return to their consulate abroad to undergo
additional screening before being able to return to the U.S. (Sec. 127)

12. Requires DHS to conduct a study and submit a report to
Congress on the construction of a physical barrier system along
the southern and northern international land and maritime borders
of the United States. (Sec. 129)

New Interior Enforcement Title:

1. Allows for the removal and denial of benefits to terrorist aliens
(Sec. 201)

2. Provides for detention and removal of aliens ordered removed
(Sec. 202)

3. Expands the definition of aggravated felony as a basis for denial
of entry or removal (Sec. 203)

4. Creates a new set of rules to keep terrorists out of the country
(Sec. 204)

5. Increases criminal penalties for gang violence and alien smuggling

6. Increases penalties for illegal entry and illegal reentry (Sec. 206-207)

7. Increases penalties for passport, visa, and immigration fraud
offenses (Sec. 208)

8. Makes passport and immigration fraud offenses a basis for
inadmissibility and removal (Sec. 209)

9. Expands authority to detain and deport criminal aliens.
(Sec. 210)

10. Increases incentives for aliens to depart voluntarily
(Sec. 211)

11. Prevents aliens ordered removed from remaining in the
U.S. (Sec. 211)

12. Prohibits of the sale of firearms to certain aliens
(Sec. 213)

13. Creates a uniform statute of limitations for most immigration
crimes (Sec. 214)

14. Allows the federal government to deny benefits to any alien
who may pose a threat to national security (Sec. 217)

15. Require DHS to take custody of all illegal aliens apprehended
by state and local law enforcement officers (Sec. 219)

16. Requires DHS to reimburse state/local police organizations for
immigration enforcement training (Sec. 220)

17. Ends catch and release by requiring all aliens caught crossing the
border illegally be detained until removed (Sec. 225)

18. Mandates the use of expedited removal of illegal aliens who are
apprehended within 100 miles of the border or 14 days of
unauthorized entry (Sec. 227)

19. Reaffirms the existing inherent authority of state law
enforcement personnel to assist the federal government in enforcing
the immigration laws of the United States (Sec. 229)

20. Requires DHS and the FBI to place information on
immigration violators into the Immigration Violators File
of the National Crime Information Center database (Sec. 230)

Where the millionaires are....

Most millionaires per capita.....any guesses as to what city that might be?

Kiplinger's has a fascinating top ten millionaires cities.....

The end is near.

Media Research Center has a wonderful index of several years worth of "Couric-isms" here. Pretty sad when you actually start to think that maybe Danny boy wasn't all that bad.....in comparison. Surely Katie Couric taking the anchor chair at CBS Evening News has to be one of the signs of the apocalypse.

She's done this before.

Cynthia McKinney (D-Conspiracy)

http://www.slate.com/?id=2064530
“But being the Girl Who Cried Racism means that people will also roll their eyes at the legitimate slights that the first black Congresswoman from Georgia has faced. In August 1993, during her first term in office, a Capitol Hill police officer tried to prevent her from bypassing a metal detector, as members of Congress are allowed to do. For years afterward, The Hill reports, the Capitol Police pinned a picture of McKinney to an office wall, warning officers to learn her face because she refuses to wear her member's pin. (And because officers are innately suspicious of a black woman with braided hair and gold shoes.) Five years later, she blasted White House security after guards thought her 23-year-old white aide was the congresswoman."

From the same article…

“Around every corner, McKinney sees a secret cabal plotting her demise. After the majority-black district that first elected her to Congress was struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutionally gerrymandered, she lashed out at the court as racist. She compared the verdict to Dred Scott, the decision that declared slaves were nothing more than chattel, and Plessy v. Ferguson, which legitimized separate-but-equal American apartheid. (Never mind that she was re-elected in a white majority district two years later.) During her next election, she declared that Georgia's kaolin industry engineered the case that eliminated her district, as payback for her fights against the industry in Congress. (Kaolin is a white clay that is used in a number of products, including porcelain.) And last fall, she tried to solicit money for black Americans from a Saudi prince who said U.S. policy in the Middle East was partly to blame for the Sept. 11 attacks, then she wrote in a Washington Post op-ed, "Why such a negative reaction to my letter? I believe that when it comes to major foreign policy issues, many prefer to have black people seen and not heard." (To which the National Review's Jonah Goldberg retorted that "she needs to explain why I keep finding these quotes in my morning paper by Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell.")”

When a candle is blown out....

Apologies all around for the lack of blogging lately. It was, entirely due to a medical problem that was unavoidable.

When I started blogging, it wasn't ever my intention to bring my personal life into this. The blog was supposed to be all about the political world. But there are those very rare times when the personal and the political collide and it is close to impossible not to make some relevant comment.

The news hit our family like a brick a few weeks ago -- I, at age 39, was expecting our third child. Words cannot possibly describe the joy, particularly because I had secretly hoped for just one more baby.

My mother had me at age 40 and her friends all thought she had lost her mind. I experienced a similar reaction from many of my friends particularly those who were concerned about a recent back surgery I had recovered from. There was very little joy in Mudville. But there was much joy in our household.

The story goes that at a Twelfth Night party in January of 1966, my mother took the traditional cutting from the Christmas tree and tossed it into the fire, wishing for a baby girl. Having had two sons with her previous husband, she had wanted a little girl since she played with dolls as a child. I was born in October of that year.

On Twelfth Night this year, I told our family this story and my eldest son took a cutting from the Christmas tree and tossed it into the fire wishing for a little sister.

My husband and I looked at each other and laughed, wondering how we could explain that not all wishes are meant to come true.

With the positive pregnancy test results a few months later, I began to believe in the Twelfth Night wish.

Despite the doubts and concerns of my friends, I revelled in the joy of the new life and its ups (the planning) and the downs (nausea, weight gain).

A week ago Sunday, after a lot of running around for my son's birthday party where we took a group of five year olds to the circus, I knew something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

I told my husband, "It is almost as though I was two people....now, all of a sudden, I feel very alone. It is like a candle has just been blown out...."

Sure enough, I had a miscarriage.

For those who believe that it wasn't a baby, let me assure you, it was. For those who believe that there isn't a connection between mother and baby because it is just a "collection of cells", you have no idea where of you speak. My baby had fingerprints and a heart and every organ and most importantly, a soul that I pray I will meet someday in heaven.

Can't tell you why things like this happen, only that they do and there is a reason for it. Maybe it is simply for me to tell all of those who celebrate abortion that while I never held my baby, saw his beautiful little face or even gave him a name.....but I loved this little "collection of cells" with every fiber in my being....as much as I love the two sons I was blessed to give birth to. I knew the little life within me and I knew the moment when it was snuffed out. It isn't like having a mole removed or your appendix taken out. There is a distinct connection to the little life growing inside you that is undeniable.

And that, my pro-abortion friends, is something you may never understand nor want to understand because that would really burst the bubble of plausible deniability that you have constructed around the comfortable myth that conception is not the beginning of life but the inconvenient result of "hooking up."

Just because you haven't held your baby or seen her little face or heard the thump of her heartbeat doesn't make her any less of a human being. What was the line from Dr. Seuss' "Horton Hears a Who"......"A person's a person no matter how small...."

After the miscarriage was mercifully over, I read website after website about the grieving process after a miscarriage, etc. and actually ran across a fascinating study about the long term psychiatric effects after a miscarriage versus an abortion. Needless to say, this study from Norway shows that an abortion has a far more devastating impact with long term consequences.

For those of you who have suffered through a miscarriage, my broken heart joins yours and I pray that the good Lord grants you peace in the knowledge that your little one is in the arms of God. I'm specifically praying that the peace we receive will patch the hole in our hearts and the emptiness left by the death of our little ones.