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Future of Politics

More news on Karl Rove being the leak:

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/07/18/rove050718.html

And a cartoon:

jd050716.gif


If Bush was using his own brain, rather than Rove's, perhaps the state of affairs in the US wouldn't be so bad. Nothing much would get done, since Bush's own brain isn't too dangerous due to the lack of information up there.
 
Karl Rove did not break any laws, let it go.
 
seems our favorite ny times reporterette jailbird has been named as the source of this leak in some speculative writing... this would make her the source for her own imprisonment... that is one hell of a statement to be making if this speculation is accurate... oh, and said speculation came from a rich liberal white lady... :)


********EDIT********

http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5538031.html

perhaps novak (who first "exposed" plame) may have gotten the name "valerie plame" from the "whos who" book, where it appeared... i love this... story is above, and i can attest to this papers horrific liberal bias... we call it the minneapolis red star...
 
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Uh-oh. Hell just froze over. I am in complete agreement with you, Texan, on this one. I wish Canada would do the same, as well.
 
Tex,

I guess hell has frozen over as I also agree. But do you really think that the US govt. couldn't close our borders if they really wanted to? They don't, there are too many special interests making sure we don't.

Something I just became aware of. I was just on a trip out west and wound up staying in 5 or 6 different hotels. Virtually all of the wait staff, at each hotel, was spanish speaking, probably of foreign origin. Coincidence? Maybe, but I doubt it. I certainly knew about migrant workers in the ag and landscaping industries, but motels is new to me. Anyone else notice this? And what other industries are there doing this that I don't know about.

So it seems to me that if the govt. wanted the borders closed, they could and would.
 
I am marking this day on my calendar, now if my buddy War would just chime in agreeing as well....

I can go on and on about this horrible problem we have mainly on the Mexican border, it is far worse than you think, in my opinion it is the number one threat to the national security of this country. There are way too many special interest groups with large screaming mouths that would prevent the full closure of American borders, i.e. LULAC, GI Forum, etc. These groups need to be disclosed for what they are, RACIST.

http://www.ranchrescue.com/
Great factual stories about the border issue.
 
Just changing my stance a slight bit. I don't advocate a completely closed border. However, I do advocate a border which has a very good filtration system, where only those who are legitimate immigrants (and legal immigrants) are allowed into the country (whatever it may be, Canada, the US, the UK, etc.).

All illegals, if found inside a nation, should be deported immediately. This is unless they are applying for refugee status and have a legitimate reason for it (like fear of persecution or for political, but not for economic reasons).

Otherwise, PM Blair's proposal sounds excellent.
 
Tex,

LULAC, GI Forum?

Never heard of them. Please explain.
 
LULAC=League of United Latin American Citizens

Washington, DC—The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) has expressed adamant disapproval of an immigration bill establishing an armed militia to patrol the Mexican border.

Introduced by Rep. John Culberson of Houston, Texas, the “Border Protection Corps Act” authorizes governors to create a Border Protection Corps of citizens in their states by invoking the militia provisions of the U.S. Constitution.

Furthermore, the bill recruits citizen volunteers working as sworn law enforcement officers, and encourages them to keep and bear arms, as well as use any means and any force to prevent people from unlawfully entering the United States.

Organizational leaders are concerned that the proposed legislation will create a fury of dangerous and uncontrollable activity along the U.S.-Mexican border as it places the lives of U.S. citizens and foreign nationals at risk. In addition, the Border Protection Corps would attract racists from all parts of the United States eager to hunt down Mexicans along the border and give them a license to kill.

“The immigration system in this country is extremely convoluted, and we cannot simply equip untrained American citizens with arms to patrol our borders,” said Hector Flores, LULAC National President. “If this bill is passed, it would likely result in the official sanction of dangerous and uncontrolled activity by weekend warriors along the U.S.-Mexican border,” added Flores.

LULAC will work hard to prevent this bill from getting any serious consideration in Washington.

The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization in the United States. LULAC advances the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, health, and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community-based programs run by more than 700 LULAC councils nationwide

A local LULAC mouthpiece here compared the Minuteman Project to the Nazis.
http://www.lulac.org/ Take a look if you want to learn more.

American GI Forum

Out of the days of World War II arose stories of valor of America's young men and women and of hope and renewed idealism. As millions of veterans returned home, many looked to the GI Bill of Rights, which guaranteed educational, medical, housing and other basic benefits. But these benefits were being denied in large part to Americans of Mexican descent and other Hispanics throughout the United States.

This aroused a young Army Major veteran, Hector P. Garcia, a physician from Corpus Christi, Texas, and in 1948 he was inspired to rally his former comrades-in-arms. Thus was born the American GI Forum dedicated to addressing problems of discrimination and inequities endured by Hispanic veterans.

The Forum, its Women's and Youth Auxiliary Forums, soon became an advocate for all Hispanics and broadened its activities throughout the states to promote civic affairs.

The American GI Forum Founder Dr. Hector P. Garcia, MD was recognized by the Nation for his work in service to America and was presented the country's highest civilian award, the Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan.

Following, Dr. Garcia's pioneer work for veterans and in public affairs was further recognized by the United States Treasury issuing a new series of Savings Bonds with the $75 Bond bearing Dr. Garcia's portrait.

The Forum's motto is: "Education is Our Freedom and Freedom should be Everybody's Business." This concept is the basis for two of its largest programs: the Veterans Outreach Program (VOP) and Ser-Jobs for Progress, Inc. (SER). VOP is based in San Antonio, Texas, providing employment training & employment, and counseling for veterans in the Southwestern U.S. Local chapters carry out outreach activities affecting their communities.

SER has its headquarters in Dallas, Texas. The SER Board of Directors has representation from the American GI Forum, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and major corporate sponsors. Local SER affiliates operate employment training centers, residential and other services in the continental U.S. and Puerto Rico.

The American GI Forum today continues to be a beacon of hope and an avenue for involvement for the returning veteran and/or the ordinary citizen aspiring to improve conditions within his own community. Local, State and National Conferences continue to promote and move forward an agenda put forth in 1948 for the betterment of all citizens and by the American GI Forum.


Spend some time in my backyard and you will soon discover the truth about these groups.
 
Tex,

Thanks for the info. I do have to say that I don't think it best for groups of "weekend warriors" to be out patrolling our borders, I could foresee all kinds of problems arising from such a scenario, (even though I do share their concerns). This should be a federal responsibility, but........

You know, there has to be a better way of doing this. I've met a couple of migrants over the years and they've seemed like pretty good people. The few I've met were just here for the summer to make some bucks and then went back to Mexico for the winter (they couldn't handle the Wisconsin winters). One guy was such a good worker that he got a job working for the company I was with and did very well. So I guess what I'm saying is that I don't blame the people coming here, I understand their motivations entirely and, if I was in their shoes, would probably do the same thing to make sure my family was fed.

But I sure blame the feds for not figuring out a better way of handling this. I mean, logistically and logically, this doesn't seem to be all that difficult a problem to figure out. You have industries that need the workers on the one hand and workers that need jobs on the other. The ideal situation would seem to be that you could license and check each worker as they cross the border, let them do their thing for 6 months or so, and then have them go back.

I realize that this argument is probably a bit naive as I have very little experience with migrants. I do agree that something needs to be done about securing the border, I just think that there have to be better ways of doing it.

One interesting thought though. The feds could, probably, secure the southern border with tech and national guards but the northern border? That would be almost impossible. Granted, I don't think Canada will be invading any time soon (unless CMan goes off on a bender) but I have spent quite a bit of time up there (fishing and/or hunting) and it is really easy to get across, given certain provisions.
 
From Yahoo and the AP:

WASHINGTON - Despite a zero-tolerance policy on tampering with voters, the Republican Party has quietly paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide private defense lawyers for a former Bush campaign official charged with conspiring to keep Democrats from voting in New Hampshire.

James Tobin, the president's 2004 campaign chairman for New England, is charged in New Hampshire federal court with four felonies accusing him of conspiring with a state GOP official and a GOP consultant in Virginia to jam Democratic and labor union get-out-the-vote phone banks in November 2002.

A telephone firm was paid to make repeated hang-up phone calls to overwhelm the phone banks in New Hampshire and prevent them from getting Democratic voters to the polls on Election Day 2002, prosecutors allege. Republican John Sununu won a close race that day to be New Hampshire's newest senator.

At the time, Tobin was the RNC's New England regional director, before moving to President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign.

A top New Hampshire Party official and a GOP consultant already have pleaded guilty and cooperated with prosecutors. Tobin's indictment accuses him of specifically calling the GOP consultant to get a telephone firm to help in the scheme.

"The object of the conspiracy was to deprive inhabitants of New Hampshire and more particularly qualified voters ... of their federally secured right to vote," states the latest indictment issued by a federal grand jury on May 18.

Since charges were first filed in December, the RNC has spent more than $722,000 to provide Tobin, who has pleaded innocent, a team of lawyers from the high-powered Washington law firm of Williams & Connolly. The firm's other clients include Bill and Hillary Clinton and former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros.

The GOP's filings with the FEC list the payments to Williams & Connolly without specifying they were for Tobin's defense. Political parties have wide latitude on how they spend their money, including on lawyers.

Republican Party officials said they don't ordinarily discuss specifics of their legal work, but confirmed to The Associated Press they had agreed to underwrite Tobin's defense because he was a longtime supporter and that he assured them he had committed no crimes.

"Jim is a longtime friend who has served as both an employee and an independent contractor for the RNC," a spokeswoman for the RNC, Tracey Schmitt, said Wednesday. "This support is based on his assurance and our belief that Jim has not engaged in any wrongdoing."

The Republican Party has repeatedly and pointedly disavowed any tactics aimed at keeping citizens from voting since allegations of voter suppression surfaced during the Florida recount in 2000 that tipped the presidential race to Bush.

Earlier this week, RNC chairman Ken Mehlman, the former White House political director, reiterated a "zero-tolerance policy" for any GOP official caught trying to block legitimate votes.

"The position of the Republican National Committee is simple: We will not tolerate fraud; we will not tolerate intimidation; we will not tolerate suppression. No employee, associate or any person representing the Republican Party who engages in these kinds of acts will remain in that position," Mehlman wrote Monday to a group that studied voter suppression tactics.

Dennis Black and Dane Butswinkas, two Williams & Connolly lawyers for Tobin, did not return calls Wednesday seeking comment. Brian Tucker, a New Hampshire lawyer on the team, declined comment.

Tobin's lawyers have attacked the prosecution, suggesting evidence was improperly introduced to the grand jury, that their client originally had been promised he wouldn't be indicted and that he was improperly charged under one of the statutes.

Tobin stepped down from his Bush-Cheney post a couple of weeks before the November 2004 election after Democrats suggested he was involved in the phone bank scheme. He was charged a month after the election.

Paul Twomey, a volunteer lawyer for New Hampshire Democrats who are pursuing a separate lawsuit involving the phone scheme, said he was surprised the RNC was willing to pay Tobin's legal bills and that it suggested more people may be involved.

"It originally appeared to us that there were just certain rogue elements of the Republican Party who were willing to do anything to win control of the U.S. Senate, including depriving Americans of their ability to vote," Twomey said.

"But now that the RNC actually is bankrolling Mr. Tobin's defense, coupled with the fact that it has refused some discovery in the civil case, really raises the questions of who are they protecting, how high does this go and who was in on this," Twomey said.

Federal prosecutors have secured testimony from the two convicted conspirators in the scheme directly implicating Tobin.

Charles McGee, the New Hampshire GOP official who pleaded guilty, told prosecutors he informed Tobin of the plan and asked for Tobin's help in finding a vendor who could make the calls that would flood the phone banks.

Allen Raymond, a former colleague of Tobin who operated a Virginia-based telephone services firm, told prosecutors Tobin called him in October 2002, explained the telephone plan and asked Raymond's company to help McGee implement it.

Raymond's lawyer told the court that Tobin made the request for help in his official capacity as the top RNC official for New England and his client believed the RNC had sanctioned the activity.
 
Ice,

"Jim is a longtime friend who has served as both an employee and an independent contractor for the RNC," a spokeswoman for the RNC, Tracey Schmitt, said Wednesday. "This support is based on his assurance and our belief that Jim has not engaged in any wrongdoing."

Yeah, right. Wouldn't we all provide $722,000 for a "friends" legal defense. BS
 
Now fellas think about it, even if he did conspire to perform such an act, how did they prevent voters from voting? Jamming a call center does not prevent someone form grabbing their car keys and driving to the polling center.
 
Tex,

I'm not an expert on political campaigns but I did work on one a few years ago (a county board race for a friend). One of the things that this lady's call center did was to contact elders to see if they had transportation to a poll (many elders don't). If they didn't, arrangements would be made so the elder could get to the voting booth.

That would certainly have an effect on voter turnout.
 
mindido said:
Tex,

I'm not an expert on political campaigns but I did work on one a few years ago (a county board race for a friend). One of the things that this lady's call center did was to contact elders to see if they had transportation to a poll (many elders don't). If they didn't, arrangements would be made so the elder could get to the voting booth.

That would certainly have an effect on voter turnout.

Still no laws are broken, that is the point I am trying to make.
 
Tex,

Laws? I don't know about that. But it certainly is a continuation of Tricky Dicks bag of dirty tricks. But when I think about it, some laws must have been broken or why would they be spending $722,000 on lawyers?
 
Well isn't that sweet...compared to the Clinton Admin that's nothing.

Maybe we should talk about the clintons dropping the "national security" ball
 
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