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George "Rurik" Mellinger is no stranger to my regular readers. He's been emailing me essays and posting worthy comments for months. And, finally, he's started posting directly to the site himself! George will be moving to Old War Dogs with the rest of us as soon as I get my act together and get the place ready for business.

Posted by Bill Faith on June 22, 2006 at 05:54 PM in Old War Dogs, Rurik | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

T. F. Boggs may not be the best known of the milbloggres, but he is one of the best. He always tells the unvarnished truth, sometimes writing about what is going well, and sometimes what is wrong. Anybody who has been in service knows that some aspects of military life suck. And Boggs is an articulate nobody's mouthpiece. But if he sometimes has hard words for the military bureaucracy, its nothing to what he says about the media.

Why exactly do I detest the coverage the media provides about Iraq and Afghanistan? Why do I often blame them for encouraging terrorists to continue fighting? Why is it that I believe most media types are unfit to report on the military? Why do I cringe when I watch the news and read papers? There is one simple answer for all of these questions: Those reporting on the military have no clue what they are talking about because they have never been in the military.

Continue reading here

In this case, Boggs might have noted the particular hypocrisy of the media. The same people who send out reporters unable to distinguish between a battleship and a battalion, are the very ones most likely, except for their Academic brethren and sistern, to insist that, of course, men cannot cover a "women's issue" story, and that White people cannot understand racial minorities. Because they lack the special perspective. The fact is, Boggs is right, and not a hypocrite, and the pointey-heads are hypocrites and wrong. We are ceaselessly reminded that people, black and white, and also tan, are fundamentally the same beneath the skin color. And though men and women do differ significantly, both sexes grow up in close and continuous proximity with each other their entire lives. The childless may speak on child-raising issues, because they were once children themselves, and are almost certainly surrounded by neighbors and Friends with children. Race, sex,age, these are aspects of the human condition, accessible to anyone - which is why literature and drama are possible.

But the military, particularly in war is different. First there is the arcane technical language, understandable only to those who have served, or studied deeply, the principle which leads the media to send special science and health corespondents to cover some stories. Second, and even More to the point. the basic reality of daily military life is far removed from civilian reality, even in peacetime or in non-combat zones. That is one reason recruits spend months training. Most of the technical skills could be taught in a matter of days. The essential aspects are the physical and mental conditioning, The mental conditioning most of all. New troops must learn to obey distasteful orders, to take risks, and to function under conditions of extreme pressure and fear, and with very vague and contradictory information. And to do so without hesitating to mull and consider. Here is an example.  And with a high price for failure, paid sometimes by others and sometimes by one's self. The extraordinary aspect of war is also why soldiers need time, and occasionally special help, to readjust to peace, and to reintegrate themselves with their families and communities. And even then leaves traces, god and ill, that remain a lifetime. Unlike being Black or female, being a warrior is a highly distinctive experience. Big city policeman probably shares some of these special characteristics, and maybe thoracic surgeon. These characteristics go agaisnt the grain of everything that is a modern reporter. Boggs is right.

Posted by George Mellinger on June 22, 2006 at 04:41 PM in Old War Dogs, Rurik | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

We've been hearing from the Chicano invaders that they should have a right to come in and dominate the American southwest because it was a "traditional part of Mexico", but a few radicals have proclaimed their intent to reclaim the entire North American continent and get rid of all "Gringos". Who should we believe,and what should we do. Can the rest of the country safely ignore the illegal alien controversy as a bit of Southwestern regional paranoia? Is the problem just a bunch of paranoid racist Gringo Cowboys?

Hazleton is not usually considered a part of the Southwest; it is located in Northeast Pennsylvania, never a part of the Aztec empire.

HAZLETON, Pa. - With tensions rising and its police department and municipal budget stretched thin, this small northeastern Pennsylvania city is about to begin what the mayor calls one of the toughest crackdowns on illegal immigrants in the United States.  But read this...

"Illegal immigrants are destroying the city," said Mayor Lou Barletta, a Republican. "I don't want them here, period."

Continue reading here 

It sounds to me as if Northeastern Liberals tend to wake up when they have to show the same tolerance they prescribe for Southerners and Westerners.  Welcome the the real America Amigos.

- Rurik

Posted by George Mellinger on June 22, 2006 at 03:36 PM in Old War Dogs, Rurik | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Please remind me how we should welcome our ununiformed invaders from south of the border because of their wholesome family values.

Another job only a migra will do  and see here

Of course the Libertarian Party hardcores will tell me that Enrique has a right to come here if he wants, and  do whatever drugs he wants, and have whatever consensual sex he wants.

Beam me outta here Scotty, and crank up the phaser setting to "extra crispy".

-Rurik

Posted by George Mellinger on June 22, 2006 at 03:28 PM in Old War Dogs, Rurik | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

In my email a few hours ago:

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I just received in today's mail a singular honor, an invitation from Elizabeth Dole to be one of 250 South Dakota Honorary Inductees into the Republican Presidential Task Force. She even enclosed a postage-paid envelope and an impressive Certificate of Accomplishment. This has really made me think about my priorities. I thought long and hard before preparing a reply suitable for the occasion.

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Dear Senator Dole,

I received today your invitation to be an Honorary Task Force Member for a fee of $120. I thank you for your generous invitation, however, I cannot in good conscience accept at this time, or for the foreseeable future.

Since coming of age in 1968, I have voted Republican. My first vote was cast proudly for Richard Nixon, two months before entering the Army to go to Viet Nam. I have continued to vote for Republicans even after leaving the GOP in dismay in 1996. I voted for the current President in 2000, and was disappointed, even offended by the main items of his domestic agenda, the education bill, the prescription drug bill, campaign finance reform (sic), and the botched creation of the Department of Homeland Security and Transportation Security Agency, politically correct abominations more concerned with harassing American citizens to remind us we’re at war than in actually prosecuting the war by screening the Muslim passengers most likely to be a threat.

Despite my inclinations I voted for Bush again in 2004, in part because we are still at war, and in part because I considered John "Magic Hat" Kerry to be an even less acceptable alternative than Bashir Assad. I voted and hoped against hope for the best.

But now your president has chosen to sell us out to Vicente Fox, and to do so in a manner which is blatantly contemptuous of America’s citizens. Now we have been instructed by commissar Chertoff that we are going to get a "guest worker" (sic) bill and de facto amnesty, and that we should shut up and learn to like it. In this contest your senate is as much a part of the problem as the president. I have been following and studying the illegal immigration problem for considerable time, and I believe this is a sell-out of American citizens for the leader of a country which makes little pretense of its hostility. George Bush will be known as the president who saved the USA from Islam in order to betray it to Mexico.

Until such time as I see both an effective barrier existing along the length of our southern border, and a systematic deportation of the civilian invaders already here (undocumented voters to you), all eleven or twenty million of them, I do not wish to be associated with the Vichy Republicans, and I certainly will not give one more red cent. I suggest you induct undocumented Mexicans into your task force, and ask them for pesos. It appears they are the ones you have chosen as your new constituent base.

Yours truly,

George M. Mellinger

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Of course I will be returning my certificate and other papers in the envelope she so thoughtfully enclosed.

- George

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George, I can understand your anger, which I very much share, but in this case I think I have to side with Eric B, who replied to your mail thusly:

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George,

While I respect your sentiment, I don't think there is a viable alternative to any Republican candidate. Any vote for a 3rd party candidate will end up effectively being a vote for a Democrat. There are a few Democrats that might deserve your vote (Zell Miller would be an example), but overall they will definitely be much worse. You might be able to affect the Republican Party from within, by participating in the primary elections or by participating in the Task Force you described.

If my choice is between some RINO and Hillary, I am voting for RINO.

Eric.

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OTOH, Eric was talking about voting and you were talking about monetary contributions. Had I received the letter you did I wouldn't have been capable of writing a response nearly so eloquent as yours, so I probably would have settled for printing 120 copies of this picture and sending them to the dear Senator in the envelope she so kindly provided.

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Promoted from the comments 2006.06.14.19:30:

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Bill,

You understand me completely. Yes, I was specifically referring to the attempt to hit me up for more of the money in which they supposedly are already rolling. The reason for bothering to write my angry letter to the Evitabeth Dole was one more attempt to warn them that they are in danger of forfeiting their base, to warn them the only way they understand, with a kick in the pocketbook.

Come election time I will be targeting my votes. In some races I most definitely will vote Republican. In other races I will vote for a third or fourth party, or write-in Ronald Reagan as a protest. As a Viet Nam Vet "baby killer", I will NEVER vote for a Democrat. And I see no point in voting for a "DIABLO" (Democrat In All But Labeled Opinion), a fiercer form of RINO, such as Arlen Sphinctre or Olympia Snowejob. If the DIABLOs come to dominate the GOP without conservative retribution they will keep their stranglehold forever, and conservatism will lose not only elections, and individual issues, but also their base and their very identity. To paraphrase Churchill "They have sacrificed their platforms to retain their seats; they shall lose their seats later."

Eric, and many others good men, do not remember an America before Reagan. I remember an America before Goldwater, when conservatives did have to hide in the closet. The idea that "we can outwait the RINOs and eventually elect another real conservative" is a fantasy. So long as the RINOs dominate, they shall strangle future conservative leaders a-borning, just as we should have eliminated them in the 1980s. They tried desperately to prevent Reagan, and failed in 1980 only because the Country Club had been so devastated by the Nixon fiasco and its aftermath. Solzhenitsyn could have allowed himself to be co-opted back into the Communist Party in the 1960s. He held firm, he sacrificed and lost, and eventually had the last laugh at the sake of the politburo. I also intend to have the last laugh.

Rurik

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On a not unrelated note, don't miss Joe-mentum takes a turn.

Posted by Bill Faith on June 14, 2006 at 07:32 PM in Eric B, Mexican-American War 2, Rurik | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

TigerHawk is "Defending the indefensible."  I'd say he has some very good points. I guess we'll have to be unpopular together.

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Promoted from the comments:

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So someone has finally called out the Jersey Girl Mafia. A couple of years late in my opinion. And it could only have been Ann Coulter. Of course the usual suspects are venting their bile, the more so because they know that Ann scored a direct hit. It is a shame that so many “conservative” paladins have not the courage to stand by a lady when she leads the charge the rest of us might have led even sooner. Thankfully there are still a few men left. Of course these include the Emperor Misha I [Link added -- BF], and Tigerhawk, and most gratifying, our own Small Town Vet, Bill Faith. Embarrassed that I am late to the party. let me hurry to stand by these honorable gentlemen as a fourth. And while Misha and Tigerhawk may squirm a little at Ann’s word “enjoying”, I am not troubled in the least, and think he word most appropriate. Those three women, and by extension Cindy Sheehan, do indeed seem to be enjoying themselves. And no, I do not believe for a moment that any of them have been “stricken mad by grief”.

Apply some common sense psychology. We lost between 3000 - 4000 souls on September 11. We have no reason to believe any were pre-chosen angels ready for Rapture. Only for a few individuals do we know how they met their fates, but as a generalization we can be assured that some died heroically, others with stoic dignity, and still a few others cravenly. That is the selection you get from a group of several thousand people. Likewise, some of them were truly good, and decent people, and others were not so good. Almost certainly a few of the police who perished heroically on the Eleventh were on the take on September 9. For no man is either entirely virtuous or entirely corrupt. And I say this reflecting on my own successes and failures, and those of people with whom I have served.

And it also stands that those thousands of dead, and their survivors, included all the more mundane personal weaknesses and corruptions. Of those three thousand dead, were they all happily and loyally married? Were there none who were dealing with failing marriages on September 10, none who were cheating on their spouses? No abusers or drunks or spendthrifts? And the same questions of their survivors. No vices? Were there none with marital troubles? Out of nearly three thousand couples, were there none who did not hear the news and feel a moment of guilty relief, “good riddance to the cheating bastard”. Or relief that now he won’t make a big deal about “that thing he caught me doing”. Or primarily a worry about the loss of a meal ticket? When considering men who have lost their wives, there is an expectation that some will greet the occasion with mock solemnity before rushing out to find a new trophy replacement. Should we not expect to find even a few such amongst the widows of 9-11?

Such reactions are perfectly normal, but socially unacceptable, and thus those who experience such feelings often may engage in special mind games with themselves. A common example is the old aunt, who dies “years after everyone else hoped she’d go”, finally freeing up her estate. In such situations not only do we feel guilt, we often feel anger, and it is usually displaced against someone other than ourselves. But it cannot well be turned against the poor departed victim. We may blame the doctor whose “incompetence killed Grannie in her ninety-second year”, or we may blame someone else. And sometimes we may even try to use the death to turn our own previously drab lives into something important, and to turn hollowness into meaning. Some may seek celebrity in misfortune, as has happened on a number of occasions recently with the parents of children victimized by crime.

As for the “Nine-Eleven Widows”, or rather a small, select group of them, is it possible that this shoe may fit some of them? Were it a case of “driven mad by grief”, should we expect to see the rage directed at those who actually did the murders? Or would it be expressed randomly and generally in all directions, toward all others who “had the indecency to survive”. Or would it be directed almost exclusively at some other party, not directly implicated, but in some way useful? To ask the questions suggests awkward answers. And let’s press on and ask if the madness is continuous, or expressed under carefully chosen circumstances. The photo of Cindy Sheehan sitting calmly and smiling while being made up for a television performance says it all.

And finally, even granting a perfectly sympathetic explanation for genuine madness, do we let the insane advise us on serious policies, or even topical issues? Should the mad not be cared for gently, and provided with guardians to keep them from harming themselves or others, until they recover their mental facilities? If these women perchance are mad, then they may not deserve padded cells, but equally they should not be paraded in public. And if the media believe they are mad, then why do they continue to focus on what the poor women say? Again, asking the question provides the answer.

And if even some of the Jersey Girls (notice the jaunty moniker) are exploiting their husbands’ deaths for political or personal aggrandizement, then Ann Coulter’s tongue has been not harsh enough by half.

Rurik

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Posted by Bill Faith on June 8, 2006 at 08:49 PM in Rurik | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Too good to try to excerpt or summarize. Click here. Hat tip: George Mellinger.

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George offers these thoughts after reading the linked article:

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Peter Brimelow is always as good as he is wordy. And always significant.  Today he invokes Solzhenitsyn's discussion of the freedom that comes from having nothing else to lose. And he invokes Solzhenitsyn's challenge against the idea of global uniformity, in favor of the idea that nations (including America) must remain separate and individual identities.  I experienced something of this sense of hopeless liberation as I found myself politically squeezed in graduate school, and it does lead to intransigence.  For those of you new to the debate,  toward the end he gives some great information on internal conservative politics and how it affected us "nativists".

http://www.vdare.com/pb/060605_gulag.htm

For all those who replied to my border control articles at Small Town Veteran  with some variety of "Its not practical, it'll never happen", I'd like to offer Brimelow's closing:

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Note that I am deliberately sketching out this wish list while totally ignoring the secondary question of whether or not it is “politically possible.” These steps to redeem America are what Bill Bennett’s Department of Education staffers used to call, ruefully, “Full Moon Proposals” (as in throwing your head back and baying at). They assume an ideal world, except possibly for illegal aliens and immigration lawyers.

I ignore the question of what’s politically possible for two reasons.

Firstly, it actually helps to know where the moon is. You can navigate by it. In other words, by looking at the ideal, we throw into sharp relief the deep, systematic problems of the real world and avoid the minutiae that is typical of so much policy discourse.

We could systematically strip citizenship from those who obtained it fraudulently. Isn’t that nice to know?

Secondly, the plain fact is that no one really has the faintest idea what is politically possible. Least of all the professional politicians. They appear to have been designed by evolution to snuffle along like blind shrews, following their exquisitely sensitive snouts for one day to the next, reacting savagely if asked about next week—let alone year—and thus able to perform 180-degree turns without rupturing their consciences.

Or even noticing. On innumerable issues — wage and price controls, welfare policy, the efficacy of military intervention overseas—the American conventional wisdom had changed out of all recognition over relatively short periods of time, without the conventionally-wise seeming to feel much need to reproach themselves for being wrong.

It can happen in immigration policy too.

Or, to put it another way: the Soviet Union—completely unexpectedly—collapsed. The gulag was dissolved. Alexander Solzhenitsyn returned from exile.

The nightmare will end. America will be freed from its immigration gulag.

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- George

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After reading George's email (quoted above) Papa Ray wrote:

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Needs, Wants and wishes or even requests by the President.

Funny you should talk about this at the time I am reading the writings of U.S. Grant. Besides reading his writings of his life, I have collected a few things he said in his "State of the Union" speeches.

There is more here, in his speeches,  than just talk about Mexico, immigration, fraud and such. But reading between the lines, dissatisfaction from Grant with all things political.

He was a Soldier- not and never anything else. If he could have been King for a few years (without a congress), things would be very different today. He believed that: Politics do not equal or ensure fair policies, but usually the reverse.

Here are his words, not complete, just snippets of them, because some are long and detailed. But they are available at www.gutenberg.org if you want to read all eight years of them. You might just be surprised at what you will learn from them. They are replete with facts, figures and surprises.

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And a Soldiers Wisdom.

1872

"It is much to be regretted that many lawless acts continue to disturb the quiet of the settlements on the border between our territory and that of Mexico, and that complaints of wrongs to American citizens in various parts of the country are made. The revolutionary condition in which the neighboring Republic has so long been involved has in some degree contributed to this disturbance. It is to be hoped that with a more settled rule of order through the Republic, which may be expected from the present Government, the acts of which just complaint is made will cease.

1875

In this connection I earnestly call the attention of Congress to the difficulties arising from fraudulent naturalization. The United States wisely, freely, and liberally offers its citizenship to all who may come in good faith to reside within its limits on their complying with certain prescribed reasonable and simple formalities and conditions. Among the highest duties of the Government is that to afford firm, sufficient, and equal protection to all its citizens, whether native born or naturalized. Care should be taken that a right carrying with it such support from the Government should not be fraudulently obtained, and should be bestowed only upon full proof of a compliance with the law; and yet frequent instances are brought to the attention of the Government of illegal and fraudulent naturalization and of the unauthorized use of certificates thus improperly obtained. In some cases the fraudulent character of the naturalization has appeared upon the face of the certificate itself; in others examination discloses that the holder had not complied with the law, and in others certificates have been obtained where the persons holding them not only were not entitled to be naturalized, but had not even been within the United States at the time of the pretended naturalization. Instances of each of these classes of fraud are discovered at our legations, where the certificates of naturalization are presented either for the purpose of obtaining passports or in demanding the protection of the legation. When the fraud is apparent on the face of such certificates, they are taken up by the representatives of the Government and forwarded to the Department of State. But even then the record of the court in which the fraudulent naturalization occurred remains, and duplicate certificates are readily obtainable. Upon the presentation of these for the issue of passports or in demanding protection of the Government, the fraud sometimes escapes notice, and such certificates are not infrequently used in transactions of business to the deception and injury of innocent parties. Without placing any additional obstacles in the way of the obtainment of citizenship by the worthy and well-intentioned foreigner who comes in good faith to cast his lot with ours, I earnestly recommend further legislation to punish fraudulent naturalization and to secure the ready cancellation of the record of every naturalization made in fraud.

The free zone, so called, several years since established by the Mexican Government in certain of the States of that Republic adjacent to our frontier, remains in full operation. It has always been materially injurious to honest traffic, for it operates as an incentive to traders in Mexico to supply without customs charges the wants of inhabitants on this side of the line, and prevents the same wants from being supplied by merchants of the United States, thereby to a considerable extent defrauding our revenue and checking honest commercial enterprise. Depredations by armed bands from Mexico on the people of Texas near the frontier continue. Though the main object of these incursions is robbery, they frequently result in the murder of unarmed and peaceably disposed persons, and in some instances even the United States post-offices and mail communications have been attacked. Renewed remonstrances upon this subject have been addressed to the Mexican Government, but without much apparent effect. The military force of this Government disposable for service in that quarter is quite inadequate to effectually guard the line, even at those points where the incursions are usually made. An experiment of an armed vessel on the Rio Grande for that purpose is on trial, and it is hoped that, if not thwarted by the shallowness of the river and other natural obstacles, it may materially contribute to the protection of the herdsmen of Texas. The proceedings of the joint commission under the convention between the United States and Mexico of the 4th of July, 1868, on the subject of claims, will soon be brought to a close. The result of those proceedings will then be communicated to Congress.

1875

The United States, with great liberality, offers its citizenship to all who in good faith comply with the requirements of law. These requirements are as simple and upon as favorable terms to the emigrant as the high privilege to which he is admitted can or should permit. I do not propose any additional requirements to those which the law now demands; but the very simplicity and the want of unnecessary formality in our law have made fraudulent naturalization not infrequent, to the discredit and injury of all honest citizens, whether native or naturalized. Cases of this character are continually being brought to the notice of the Government by our representatives abroad, and also those of persons resident in other countries, most frequently those who, if they have remained in this country long enough to entitle them to become naturalized, have generally not much overpassed that period, and have returned to the country of their origin, where they reside, avoiding all duties to the United States by their absence, and claiming to be exempt from all duties to the country of their nativity and of their residence by reason of their alleged naturalization. It is due to this Government itself and to the great mass of the naturalized citizens who entirely, both in name and in fact, become citizens of the United States that the high privilege of citizenship of the United States should not be held by fraud or in derogation of the laws and of the good name of every honest citizen. On many occasions it has been brought to the knowledge of the Government that certificates of naturalization are held and protection or interference claimed by parties who admit that not only they were not within the United States at the time of the pretended naturalization, but that they have never resided in the United States; in others the certificate and record of the court show on their face that the person claiming to be naturalized had not resided the required time in the United States; in others it is admitted upon examination that the requirements of law have not been complied with; in some cases, even, such certificates have been matter of purchase. These are not isolated cases, arising at rare intervals, but of common occurrence, and which are reported from all quarters of the globe. Such occurrences can not, and do not, fail to reflect upon the Government and injure all honest citizens. Such a fraud being discovered, however, there is no practicable means within the control of the Government by which the record of naturalization can be vacated; and should the certificate be taken up, as it usually is, by the diplomatic and consular representatives of the Government to whom it may have been presented, there is nothing to prevent the person claiming to have been naturalized from obtaining a new certificate from the court in place of that which has been taken from him. The evil has become so great and of such frequent occurrence that I can not too earnestly recommend that some effective measures be adopted to provide a proper remedy and means for the vacating of any record thus fraudulently made, and of punishing the guilty parties to the transaction.

1876

First. That the States shall be required to afford the opportunity of a good common-school education to every child within their limits. Second. No sectarian tenets shall ever be taught in any school supported in whole or in part by the State, nation, or by the proceeds of any tax levied upon any community. Make education compulsory so far as to deprive all persons who can not read and write from becoming voters after the year 1890, disfranchising none, however, on grounds of illiteracy who may be voters at the time this amendment takes effect.

The numbers of persons of foreign birth seeking a home in the United States, the ease and facility with which the honest emigrant may, after the lapse of a reasonable time, become possessed of all the privileges of citizenship of the United States, and the frequent occasions which induce such adopted citizens to return to the country of their birth render the subject of naturalization and the safeguards which experience has proved necessary for the protection of the honest naturalized citizen of paramount importance. The very simplicity in the requirements of law on this question affords opportunity for fraud, and the want of uniformity in the proceedings and records of the various courts and in the forms of the certificates of naturalization issued affords a constant source of difficulty. I suggest no additional requirements to the acquisition of citizenship beyond those now existing, but I invite the earnest attention of Congress to the necessity and wisdom of some provisions regarding uniformity in the records and certificates, and providing against the frauds which frequently take place and for the vacating of a record of naturalization obtained in fraud."

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What has been evidently "politically possible" for over a hundred years of this Republic has resulted in the immigration disaster we have today. We have millions of illegals and untold (to us at least) numbers of immigrants that have tried to do it the legal way, supplied the legal documents, jumped through all the impossible hoops, waited for months, years...and still can not become American Citizens.

Have we become a nation that has its priorities and its values backwards? Can not the right things be done anymore. Can we not contain/punish the selfish, ignorant Politicians? Or do away with them?

Can we not let people who are trying to follow the law in, and keep those that break the law out?

Our Republic is in peril, in dire immediate danger from many fronts. Are we to wait until there is no recourse but rebellion and war?

For our children and grandchildren I pray we don't.

Papa Ray

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Don't miss Mudville's latest Open Post.

Posted by Bill Faith on June 6, 2006 at 04:40 PM in Mexican-American War 2, Papa Ray, Rurik | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

By email from George "Rurik" Mellinger:

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Completed my first Mission with Patriot Guard Riders today. The funeral for LCpl. William Jay Leusink of Sioux Center, Iowa, had to be held in the high school gymnasium. It appears as if the entire town suspended activity for the occasion. Those who were not inside were awaiting on the street corners as we drove past to the graveside ceremony. In addition to the PGR, there were delegations form veterans' organizations from across the SoDak- Nebraska - Iowa area. 

LCpl Leusink enlisted in the Corps even before completing his senior year, and began active duty just after graduation, and had been one of his class student leaders.  Combat tours in Afghanistan and then Iraq. The turn-out demonstrated that those who knew him thought he was someone truly special. He was. He was a US Marine, fallen in combat. That's as special as they come.

May his memory be eternal.

- Rurik

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I've posted the remainder of the pictures Rurik sent me here.

Rest in peace, Marine, Thank you. That Final Inspection will be a snap.

Posted by Bill Faith on May 31, 2006 at 04:03 AM in Patriot Guard Riders, Rurik | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

There's been much talk on the web recently about "Conservative Battle Fatigue" and giving up on the Republican party to "teach them a lesson".  See for instance Bruce Kesler's posts here, here and here, Captain Ed's posts  here and  here, and Dafydd's post here. I guess my attitude is still best summed up by Jim Geraghty's post here:

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[...]

... Sure, right now the Republican base is furious over immigration and spending, independents are glum about Iraq and gas prices, and Democrats are livid about – well, just about everything. But will the first two groups get what they want under Speaker Pelosi & Chairman Kennedy? ...

[...]

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When I emailed a link to that post to a small circle of friends, George "Rurik" Mellinger wrote back:

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I've been arguing over this one for nearly a decade now - both with friends and with myself. I've always come down on the side that said 'vote fore the lesser evil' - even while criticizing the American Blacks for re-enslaving themselves to the Democrat Party. Well, how is Conservatives' loyalty voting for the people who use, screw and abandon them any different?

The Harriet Myers fiasco spin attempt was a kick in the butt for me. I am not going to forget that the GWB machine tried to argue "Since you voted for him, you're obligated to support him now on his nominations. If casting a vote becomes some sort of a contractual obligation for future support, henceforward, I'm gonna insist on knowing what I'm signing on for. And if I've got reservations, then sod the sucker!

If bad laws are enacted by "our" party, it will be very difficult to repeal them later, while repeal might be possible if those laws were enacted by "the enemy party". If passed by your own, they are legitimized in principle, and can and will be expanded later when the other guys regain power - with no more bases for opposition. This is how it went with Nixon's OSHA and EPA.

Lenin was terrible on economics and social engineering, but he did know political hardball, and there we may study him for tactics and strategy. And one of his most important principles was - At all costs you must retain control of your political organization, of your party. or you have nowhere from which to operate.

Passing the other guy's laws for him, even as half measures, merely means doing his dirty work, and taking on his burden of guilt for him. It proclaims "You're right and we're wrong but niggardly". How do you reverse after that?

In much of Europe the locals were able to resist the Nazis, if not actively at least passively,  because it was a foreign occupation, but Vichy France created a special problem because the country was auto-occupied.

As for me, I doubt whether I can vote yet again for yet another Vichy Republican.

-George

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An interesting way of looking at things George, but I guess we're going to have to disagree for once. If someone could throw together a party consisting of Zell Miller, Jeff Sessions, Tom Tancredo, Joe Lieberman and some others cut from the same cloth, and if it looked like there was any chance at all of that party winning a national election, I'd jump right on their bandwagon. Unfortunately there isn't any realistic chance of that happening and I'm not going to help the likes of Reid, Pelosi, Kerry and Murtha take control of the country. I hope you'll reconsider your views some more before election day and vote to keep the only party worse than the Republicans out of power.

Posted by Bill Faith on May 14, 2006 at 11:07 PM in Rurik | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Well, sometimes you decide to sleep on a post and the whole world jumps on it by the time you get back to it. AzPatriot sent me a link to this about 4:00 this morning and I was too tired to do anything with it. By the time I'd had some sleep Drudge had posted a link to it and Michelle and her friends were all over it. So much for my exclusive ;-).

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Post details: U.S. tipping Mexico to Minuteman patrols

U.S. tipping Mexico to Minuteman patrols 

Sara Carter, a reporter with the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, reports today that she found documentation on Mexican government websites that show higher ups in the United States Border Patrol have been tipping off the corrupt Mexican government as to the locations of the Minutemen along the border.

This article does not report information told to the MCDC media offices that the Border Patrol chiefs have also been passing along intelligence reports to the government of Mexico on the activities of Minutemen not only at the borders, but in locations such as Utah, Nevada, Illinois, Massachusetts and Tennessee. Perhaps a follow-up story is coming tomorrow or an over zealous editor took the info out?

Part of a report distributed last August to the Mexican government from Border Patrol bureaucrats read over the phone to the MCDC media offices contained not only numbers (estimated chapter membership) of Minutemen in Illinois, but a statement on their activities and that they didn't seem to know any politicians there, indicating that the Illinois Minutemen didn't yet have any political clout.

[Read on here.]

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Bryan Preston has an excellent related post here and Michelle Malkin has two here and here.  Confederate Yankee writes:

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... I’ll never support impeachment proceedings brought against President for going to war with Iraq based on flawed intelligence, not will I fault him overmuch for an executive order that authorized the NSA to try to close intelligence gaps using targeted intercepts of suspected terrorist communications. In both instances, a plausible, if not strong case could be made that he was trying to act in this nation’s best interests.

[...]

Bush's border policies? Those are what I consider impeachable offenses. ...

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Bill Quick: Mr. President: Have You No Shame?

President George W. Bush: The man who saved our nation from the jihadis so he could give it to the Mexicans.

I'm waiting for permission to quote a trusted friend -- someone at least as far to the right as I am on immigration -- who thinks this thing is being blown all out of proportion. I'll update this post later if/when he gives me his OK.

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An important update at Hot Air: CYA from DHS over CBP

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Michelle Malkin: DHS: Deny, Hedge, Spin

2006-05-09

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2006.05.10

DO NOT miss Michelle's latest Vent. While you're at it, read her latest related post here.

La Shawn Barber has an interesting question: Should George Bush Be Impeached?

Papa Ray has the OK from his friend to publish the information he sent me earlier. I still need to massage a couple of emails into one coherent sub-post, which I'll add here as soon as I can.

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Almost as soon as my "email circle" got wind of the "Border Control Spying" thing Papa Ray, whom some of you may know from other things he's contributed here or from his comments on other blogs, sent me an "other side of the story" email, which I'm reproducing here with some modifications based on a follow-up exchange.

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As a person who lives in the general area of the Border in question, I have a different viewpoint than most. Also, I know that fighting the "Man" and the Wetbacks can only be done from a position of strength and common sense.

First, let me tell you something you might not know. I just joined (this month), the Texas Chapter of the Minutemen. I had been putting it off, using the $50.00 fee for an [easy] excuse (the fee is for a criminal background check on the applicant). But after my visit last month with a bud that owns a ranch on the Border I decided to go ahead and join.

I have been in phone and email contact with my rancher bud for years. He is one of the few that still is alive from my previous life. He has told me, it has never been an issue with him or with any of the law enforcement agencies or Border Patrol that he has talked to or with any of the the new " Minuteman association" volunteers that he has talked to. He stated also that  the coyotes and illegals knew of and kept track of their locations. This is mainly because its impossible to keep it a secret in the first place. The news media and the trails of dust going hundreds of feet in the air make movement and placement of observers impossible to keep secret. Plus, the coyotes have their own intelligence systems; they have been doing this for decades and are experts.

Yes, it is a requirement that any and all border activities be shared with Mexico, has always been and will be until we are in a state of war with them (which I believe we should be at this time.)

The Minuteman Mission is not to sneak up on the illegals and capture them. 

That would only result in getting people injured or killed. The mission is to Observe and Report and that is all...end of Mission Statement.

Oh, and if you're a Border Patrol Officer, you follow orders or you stop being one. They don't brook corruption or lone rangers in the Border Patrol. They have not only fired hundreds of officers but arrested many and put them in jail for infractions and corruption.

The Texas Sheriffs Assoc. is trying to form a Sheriffs Assoc comprising all of the Sheriffs in the Border states. This is not just for tactical purposes but for political purposes. If successful they could become a driving force for law enforcement and border security.

He stated also, that even though Americans are getting "mighty upset about the illegals situation, that we still have to live and work with those already here and need  to work out new laws that won't start a war, which will hurt us just as much as it will them." We also discussed the many latino gangs that are in all the large cities. We agreed that they will have to be not only faced soon but that it will be more than the local law enforcement will be able to handle safely alone.

This issue about illegals is not going to go away. But we need not bite off more than we need to to start off with. The border must be closed NOW and take the other issues one at a time. If the results are not satisfactory, we have to vote out those that won't vote the will of the people and vote in those that will.

That is the way that it is supposed to work in a Republic.

This sorry situation took years to develop into what it is today and will take years to completely straighten out.

Papa Ray

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Papa Ray also wrote, while we were waiting on permission to quote his rancher friend:

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Reference the "reporting of Minuteman activities in areas outside the border" I had heard of that sometime last year and I believe that that information is being passed at the highest levels from within the Homeland Security Dept. But is it being ordered to be passed on from even higher up? Who knows, maybe a "leaker" will tell us later.

This is what needs to be done:

"The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps media offices will contact the reporter to inquire about copies of the documents and the timing on a follow-up story with the reports to the Mexican Government of activities of Minutemen in INTERIOR states, as if reports of our locations in the border states weren't bad enough."

If this is true (I won't worry about it until its proven to be true), then I do believe that whoever did this, should be called out for an explanation.

But the media making this whole thing sound like it is something new (the cooperation at the border) and like they are breaking the code, or that cooperation between law and border officers is something that has been secret is not only nonsense but pandering to those who want to see our government to be shown as something it is not. Or at the very least to just to damage the Bush Administration.

You have to remember whenever you read something from the MSM, what their political leanings and aspirations are.

And it appears that "the right" is going right along with it. They neglect to say that cooperation on the border is necessary and without it, makes law enforcement harder and more dangerous.

Everyone is for closing the Border, but those that live along the border understand that without cooperation between Mexico and the United States, it will soon turn into a war zone.

No sane person wants that.

Papa Ray

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Allahpundit: Border patrol says they’ve asked for a retraction

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Don't miss Greyhawk's latest Open Post.

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Promoted from the comments:

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In the Declaration of Independence, amongst the particular items of grievance two stand out in this context. One was the complaint that George III had failed to provide adequate and appropriate means for attracting immigrants to the colonies and naturalizing them, and that he was doing nothing to protect the borders of the Colonies from the incursions of hostile Indian tribes. To collate and interpret these two points - he's keeping out useful immigrants and failing to protect us from bad. Seems evocative of what our modern day George III is doing. (Washington was George I, HW was George II). Other grievances involved taxation and loosing upon the colonies a swarm of officials. And he didn't much like the original Minutemen either.

-- Rurik

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Andrew C. McCarthy: Is the U.S. Giving Mexico Intelligence about Americans?

Sara A. Carter: Officials disclaim Bulletin 'tipping' report

Posted by Bill Faith on May 10, 2006 at 04:56 PM in Mexican-American War 2, Papa Ray, Rurik | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Professional author George "Rurik" Mellinger, a fellow Viet Nam vet (a Combat Engineer, which is not irrelevant here) who stopped just short of a PhD in Russian and Mideastern History after the war, has been kind enough to send me a "Cinco de Mayo gift" in the form of a two-part essay on the illegal immigration aliens situation. Please read What To Do - Part I - The Wall and What To Do - Part II - Behind the Wall. I'll update this post with some thoughts of my own on his essay in a little bit, but for now I'll quote a piece of an email he sent while I was preparing his essay for posting:

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The more I've thought about this immigration issue, and from what I've seen in the past few weeks, I've become convinced that this is the challenge, the one danger which in a worst case scenario would destroy us. Even more dangerous than the Middle East. If we lost there, we would still manage some sort f a survival. Even at nuclear terrorist worst, we'd lose a city or two - but that's still a lot less than a third to a half of the country and fragmentation of the rest. I'm not much of a chess player, but I know enough to understand that if you lose your queen your game is in deep shit, but if your king is checkmated its over. That is one reason I am convinced that some of our foreign enemies are involved in supporting the protests.

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George, I hope it doesn't come down to that sort of choice but if I does I guess I have to agree with you. The jihadis may be more dangerous in the short term but in the long run the Aztlanists may be our greatest danger. I guess we'd better remember soon how to fight a two-front war.

I'll add some thoughts of my own on George's essays to this post in a little while.

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Promoted from the comments:

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Thanks Bill,

Like you, I hope it does not come to the worst in either theater. But like you, and everyone else who has ever done active duty in a serious time, I believe firmly in the motto "Pray and hope for the best, plan and prepare for the worst".

Rurik

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George, some thoughts on your essay after having time to reread it and digest it for a while. Assume I'm with you all the way on anything I don't mention.

I couldn't agree with you more about sealing the border by military means, but I know that means I've just joined you in a small minority. I see no hope at all of getting Congress to approve the use of land mines, claymores and the like. Maybe there's hope for getting a physical barrier like you propose, and maybe even Bouncing Betties that release persistent dye or nausea-inducing chemicals, but I think our hope for any lethal automated device of any sort is in vain. The irony here is that I think your approach would actually save lives in the long run. What would happen to the number of illegals dying of thirst in our southwestern desserts, or of heat strokes locked in the back of abandoned semis, with the barrier you propose in place? I submit that a few bodies left to rot on the wire as proof that we mean business would reduce that number to near zero.

I'd modify your tax on wire transfers to only impose the tax you propose on people who can't provide proof of their right to be in this country, by showing that national ID card you propose.

Well, that didn't take long, did it? Now if Congress just had the good sense and balls to do what needs done.

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Don't miss Greyhawk's latest Open Post, Allahpundit's Weekend Link Dump, Kit's Friday Drop Zone, or OTB's Beltway Traffic Jam.

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Promoted from the comments:

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Bill,

Unfortunately, I totally agree that "...no hope at all of getting Congress to approve the use of land mines, claymores and the like. .....our hope for any lethal automated device of any sort is in vain."

And also, I strongly agree with your point that it would save lives in the long run (which is why I want it)... not only from illegals dying in the desert and locked trailers, but also illegals and American citizens butchered in a spasm of the ethnic cleansing contest which will inevitably result if we continue on our current course.

In fact, I am less optimistic than you about which of my recommendations politically can be implemented, which is why my previous posts were so pessimistic.

But then, my doctor tells me I MUST go on a no salt, no fat, no cholesterol, no anything good diet for my hypertension. And he also issues dire warnings about the consequences.

His recommendations have about as much chance of implementation. So I accept that I will probably have my heart attack fairly early. My individual choice; lifestyle over longevity, since I've got no dependants.

As a society, America should be confronted with the facts and choices. Since America has an entire globe of dependants, I must urge my country to make the other choice. But I remain cynical.

Rurik

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Well Rurik I don't know you but you sound just ornery enough to outlive your doctor.

I like your ideas, not just because they echo my thoughts and feelings but because they are sound positive steps that we could take. But like Bill I have to tell you that the congressvarmits we have now (and President) just ain't gonna do it, or anything even remotely near it. We will be lucky if we get the promised Border Patrol increase in the next five years.

Now, why is that?

Is this not a Republic? Do we not appoint and send out our representives to represent our wishes, dreams and hopes. To assure us of a Nation that is protected from those that would do us harm?

Is it our fault? What the hell has gone wrong here? Why are our representives not listening to us?

I really think its because, even with the apparent furor of the last few months, our representives know (in their politically muddled minds) that it will all soon settle back down and the American voters will go back to their little bubbles and resume their little lives and leave them alone to continue politicing as they please. I really believe that.

I really believe that the group think in DC is that the American public has an attention span of a five year old.

They may be right.

I left a comment to an excellent post back last year about the opinion polls.

Nothing that has happened lately has changed my opinion. They are still sure if they screw around long enough, with the proper use of smoke and mirrors we will all return to our little bubbles (mine is well armed, stocked and prepared).

Somehow, I don't think it will happen this time.

I hope not, for my Sweet Sarah's sake. [BF note: Sarah is Papa Ray's granddaughter.]

Papa Ray
West Texas
USA

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**********************   2006.05.09   **********************

Promoted from the comments:

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Well, as one would expect, I did not find myself disagreeing with Rurik too much. On a couple of points I do disagree. Not in principle, but in practical implementation.

1st point of disagreement is the issue of deportation. Even if it is the right thing to do, there is no real way to implement it in practice. There is a number of reasons, why. 1st of all, if you are advocating this, then you should be prepared to follow through and advocate massive rounding up of whole families, old and young, men, women and children. Because this would be the only way to do it. And you cannot spend 20 years deporting all illegals, because you'll find yourself deporting people that grew up here, and this is the only country they know. You might also have to detain those people in some sort of camps, while they are being processed. There is a valid argument to be made in favor of the deportation, but while you are making that argument, you should also remember what you thought of Janet Reno when you saw this picture: http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2001/breaking-news-photography/works/eliansma.gif. Little Elian was technically an illegal alien. I thought that there was no other way of getting out of Cuba, until I found myself working with a bunch of Cubans at company called di/dt, now Power One. They told me that now there is a process to emigrate, similar to the one that existed in the old Soviet Union. So, you could make an argument that his mother should have applied for a permission to leave Cuba and come to the US to be re-united with her relatives.

Of course, the difference between the Cubans and the Mexicans is that the Cubans actually come here with the intent to become Americans. So, we are back to the problem of assimilation.

But back to the issue of deportation. Even if you prepared to make an argument for it, knowing that there will be many more pictures like the one linked above, there is no way it will ever be implemented in practice. Even Tom Tancredo always rushes to point out that "nobody talks about deportation". Even if the only reason it will never be implemented is the fact that the politicians of both parties do not have stomach for it, this a reason enough not to waist time dreaming about it. As an engineer, I don't spend time on designs that are impossible to implement, once I establish that the feasibility is low. Let us concentrate on solutions that are practical.

The other thing that will never get implemented is the mine fields along the border. Again, it might the ideal solution, but it will never be done. I think I also mentioned the mines on the border in my earlier comment [Click here -- BF] on the subject, but unfortunately it is not going to be done. On the other hand, "mines" with paint or teargas are feasible. In fact, everything else Rurik suggested is doable. The only hard part of the rest is abolition of dual citizenships. Not because it is not practical, but because the other countries often consider a person their citizen whether that person likes it or not. I have a friend who is married to a Russian girl from Volgograd. Unlike me, she is a real Russian. She is a naturalized American Citizen, and very patriotic at that. But her parents still live there, and she still has her Russian passport. So whenever they go for a visit, the Russian authorities demand of her that she use her Russian passport, not American. I don't know what would happen if she would just let that Russian passport expire. I suspect she does not know either. They never tried to lie and say that she does not have a Russian passport when they go there. But my point is, she is treated by the Russian authorities as a Russian Citizen, whether she likes it or not.

Anyway, this is my 2 cents on the issue.

Eric.

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Eric, I agree with you that mass deportations are out of the question. On the other hand I think pretty much the same thing could be accomplished by implementing steps 2 - 5 of the 6-step plan I posted here. If we make being in this country illegally unpleasant enough the illegals will deport themselves.

**********************   2006.05.11   **********************

Promoted from the comments:

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First, I differ with Eric on the issue of Elian Gonzalez. Since 1960 we have accepted refugees escaping communism as a category different from other immigrants. They have always been, and continue to be my favorite immigrants (Eric himself a prime example of why I so value them.) It is only because Slick Willie and his leading administration figures had such a long and blatant sympathy for Marxists that Elian was handed back - a "mini-Operation Keelhaul". Certainly there is a significant difference between Castro and the Mexican government, obvious even to the most strident anti-Mexicans. If the pro-migras wish to debate this last point, I will be interested to hear it.

As stated in earlier rejoinders, I understand that certain of my measures are not politically acceptable, but that does not mean I accept it. Once we accept that closing the border is not a desirable but essential, we must take whatever measures are necessary. While chess and board game theory may be partially applicable here, it cannot be taken too far. In a board game, you accept defeat if outmaneuvered. Maybe so also in overseas contests, where the stakes are not national survival. Here we must do WHATEVER is necessary, or reconcile ourselves to the dismemberment of our country with all the wider ramifications I have already stated. And if that means lethal devices, then that is unfortunate. But better to take such a measure earlier rather than later, it will mean fewer lives lost in total.

As for deportation, again, I think we must deport as many as we possibly can. If we miss a few, we will at least make them keep their heads down, and force them to try to assimilate for the sake of their own cover. Shrugging off deportation as "undoable" means accepting a permanent unassimilated alien element amongst us, and encourages others to try to come and join them.

And it is not just the fact that the Mexicans are coming illegally, but even more the problem that they do not want to assimilate. If the illegals were swarming the ESL classes, trying to learn American tastes and habits, and trying to assimilate in, far, far fewer Americans would mind their presence here. In fact, Far fewer would even notice it. As evidence let me offer the resentment by some of non-assimilated Cuban-Americans ((let me note I definitely do not share this resentment), or of Puerto Ricans, though all of them are Americans by birth. "It's the culture Stupid." Middle class Anglos, and also Blacks and other assimilated groups do not want to see their culture supplanted by Latinism. True, certain other groups have not assimilated completely, but such enclaves as Brighton Beach remain localized, and thus are nothing more than tourist attractions for the rest of us. If we were to find suddenly that Russians had swollen to 15% of our population, and everywhere were refusing to learn English, and displacing taco stands for piroshki palaces, I'd start objecting to them too.

It is the culture. And that is all the more important when we are reminded that the migras supposedly are fleeing here to escape a culture that has allegedly failed. And yet they stubbornly bring that failed culture with them, and insist that we accommodate that failure.

-- Rurik

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Posted by Bill Faith on May 10, 2006 at 01:03 AM in Eric B, Mexican-American War 2, Rurik | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack

(Read Part 1 here.)

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What To Do - Part II - Behind the Wall

Simultaneously as we close the borders, we must establish control over, and eliminate the illegals who are already here, and require the legal aliens to assimilate or leave. It is not just the illegality of the hordes crossing our borders, it is also the way their culture seems to be replacing our own. It is large areas of major American cities where English is no longer spoken and a native-born American feels himself on foreign soil - IN HIS OWN CITY. It is driving the highways and finding hordes of Spanish language stations up and down the radio dial. It is the flood a TV ads for taco and burrito places. In my own city, Sioux Falls, I have watched both our Asian groceries and several Asian restaurants go out of business, replaced by Mexican places. It is the inundation in our network media of all things Mexican. It is the institutionalization of May 5 as a north-of-the-border celebration. Before someone throws Saint Patrick’s day in my face, let me quickly agree, that it also annoys me. But it is at least in part religious (St. Patrick is recognized by the Eastern Church as well as the Irish) as well as Irish. And more important, that one day does not lead into 364 more days of potato-eating, and Irish culture immersion. And let me also note that nobody here observes Bastille Day, or whatever the German holiday is. Nor do we see our other ethnic minorities being given the sort of special privilege granted to Mexicans. Americans of Vietnamese heritage, of German, of Russian, and Chinese, should all start feeling worried. And particularly Blacks. The experiences are all petty and insignificant, each by itself, but added together lead to a feeling of deliberate and contrived cultural supplantation. Like Star Trek’s Borg, they mean to assimilate US, and resistance is futile. If they have their way, where they rule, it will not be a diverse culture, but monoverse. We must reclaim our country.

All of these measures will be controversial, and some complicated to institute. But they must be done, and we must start immediately. No need to wait. We have 535 legislators in the House and Congress, and many committees. There is no reason why all these measures cannot be enacted, or at least seriously be begun at the same time.

Immediately we must enact serious penalties for employing illegal aliens. I recommend the following. On a first conviction a fine of $10,000 for each illegal alien hired. For a second conviction, in addition to the fine, additionally a mandatory five years of prison, the sentence to be served cumulatively or sequentially at the discretion of the court, depending on circumstances. For a third conviction, all fines would double and all sentences would be mandatorily served sequentially. It is grossly unfair to penalize the shareholders of corporations for decisions made beyond their control, or even knowledge, so all convictions, fines, and prison time shall be levied not against abstract corporate entities, but at the actual corporate officials, to include CEO, COO, first and higher level supervisors, and Human Resources/Personnel Officers as relevant. In the case of non-corporate hires, the distinction between boss and owner would seem moot. Don Tyson (and other similar executives) might take illegal alien laws a bit more seriously if he knew that penalties would not accrue as business expenses to be passed along to customers and shareholders, but would come out of his own personal hide.

There should be a steep tax on wire transfers of money made internationally. This will adversely impact me personally, since I periodically order archival photos from abroad for my writing, and pay by this method. Tough. It’s a sacrifice I will make gladly if imposed in conjunction with the other agenda items.

All aid for illegal aliens, other than life-saving emergency medical care, must be discontinued immediately. No welfare of any sort, under any name, at any level of government. No food stamps, no unemployment payments. No public schools or any other taxpayer-supported service.

These services and benefits should also be discontinued for "green-card’ holders, except for those approved for permanent residence, or are on a citizenship track, who may receive attenuated and partial benefits. Exceptions may be allowable for political refugees, individually approved by act of congress.

The "Anchor Baby" system must be abolished. This will probably take a constitutional amendment. Citizenship should derive from the nationality of the birth mother. The law should specify that this provision will be retroactive, but that children forfeiting presumptive citizenship will be registered, and after attaining majority may enjoy preferential priority for legal immigration within ten years of their 21st birthday, all other standard provisions having been met.

Immediately, all government forms, applications, and processes should be conducted in solely English, at all levels of government. Voter registration and voting should be only in English. There should be sanctions for subordinate levels of government which fail to comply, including felony convictions for elective and appointive officials.

All public schools must be conducted in English. English as Second Language may be offered as, but only as, a supplement, where there is a significant demand, and providing that all other instruction is conducted in English.

All other governmental and court business must be conducted solely in English. Interpreters may be acceptable for non-English speakers, but only at their own expense, with no requirement or obligation for the government to provide or facilitate, and no guarantee for competence.

All illegal aliens currently in the country must be deported. All of them. Yes, that means 11 million, or even twenty-two million. No we cannot do that all at once, not even within a couple of years. And it will be difficult. But when has such a complication ever dissuaded a government official from a project he wants? Stamping out sexism and heterosexism? There’s a lot more than 22 million of those in this country, does our government want to abandon the struggle? Or racists? Or smokers? Or people who don’t use seatbelts and helmets? You round them up, keep them in custody until deported. And deport them quickly. By all means do give them a chance to contact any immediate family living with them, so that they may accompany. And fingerprint and ID them before departure and log them into a central computer base. Those voluntarily turning themselves in, should be transported free of charge, but the others should be billed.

Not only Mexican illegals should be deported. Mexicans do comprise the vast majority of illegal residents, but not all. The group designated OTM, or Other Than Mexican makes up a notable minority. The great majority of this group are other Central Americans, who are indistinguishable from Mexicans in their cultural and economic impact on the USA.