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Methamphetamine Watch: Montana Meth Project – “Paint the State”
Associated Press: Meth Project launches new poster contest
The Montana Meth Project today launched a statewide poster contest for teens designed to get them involved in the war on methamphetamine.
The contest is called “Paint the State.”
The Montana Meth Project website is here.
The “Paint the State” Poster site is here.
It’s open to teens 13 to 18 years old. Six-thousand dollars in cash prizes will be awarded in each of the state’s 56 counties. First-place winners from each county will compete for a statewide grand prize of ten-thousand dollars.
The registration deadline is June 15th. Winners will be announced August 9th.
Governor Schweitzer calls the contest — quote — “critically important,” and says it may be the largest public art program in history.
Software billionaire and Montana Meth Project founder Thomas Siebel believes the contest will give state residents a chance to make a difference.
Discuss this blog post and MORE…. at the FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blogs, My Dental Forum.
Flap will cover the contest as it proceeds.
Good Luck to all entrants!
Previous:
Methaphetamine Watch: Meth Has Become a “GLOBAL THREATâ€
Methamphetamine Watch: Ads Battle Methamphetamine in Montana
Technorati Tags: Methamphetamine, MontanaMethProject
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Illegal Immigration Watch: The President’s Speech – WAY TOO LITTLE
In this video image taken from AP Television News, President Bush delivers a speech on immigration broadcast on television from the Oval Office, Monday May 15, 2006 in Washington.
ASSociated Press: Bush to Send Up to 6,000 Troops to Border
President Bush, trying to build support for a major overhaul of the nation’s tattered immigration laws, said Monday night he would order as many as 6,000 National Guard troops to secure the U.S. border with Mexico and urged Congress to give millions of illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship.
“We do not yet have full control of the border and I am determined to change that,” the president said in a 17-minute prime-time address from the Oval Office.
Bush gave strong support to a plan that would give many of the 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States an eventual path to possible citizenship — a move derided by some conservatives in his own Republican Party as amnesty. He rejected that term.
The President’s speech was weak on border security and too strong on illegal alien amnesty.
And Bush’s plan as is the Kennedy-McCain Senate bill is AMNESTY.
Flap does not believe the President is sincere in enforcing border security or exisiting immigration laws. He is simply WRONG on the issue.
Flap doubts that the Congress will pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill this year.
The GOP will NOT support their own President.
No more……..NADA……..
Stay tuned…..
Send Congress a brick…….
La Shawn Barber’s Corner (21 links) “I’ve changed my mind about live-blogging the speech, but you may “live-comment,” if so inclined. I think I’ll read a book instead. Goodnight.”The American Princess (2 links) bRight & Early (1 links) “The ones who are here. ‘This is amnesty and I oppose it.’ Middle ground. This is where I part ways. Wait in line behind those who play by the rules, but not make them leave? I’ll need some details before I swallow that…”Latino Issues (1 links) “It is sad to see so many millions so desperate for a better life! But this doesn’t mean we open our borders, and it does not mean we stop enforcing our laws. I’ll take this moment to remind readers to get involved in making a difference in Latin America. Join your local church mission trips, AND financially support other missionaries or relief charities.”Passionate America (1 links) “Minute Men, these people are heroes and I feel like Bush as portrayed them as vigilantes and turned over their location to the Mexican government. Hey George, are you the Prez of the USA or Mexico? Maybe you should figure that out.”Point Five (1 links) “…instead of liveblogging tonight’s speech, we’re going to liveblog Bush’s September 21, 2001 speech to the joint session of Congress, changing all the ‘terrorist’ stuff to ‘illegal aliens.'”Pursuing Holiness (0 links) “…the complaint that I and many others have about President Bush on this issue is that he is not just one man bravely fighting this battle against entrenched bureaocracy and thirty years of bad policy and a corrupt Congress. No. He is actively working against any efforts to slow the invasion. He’s already apologizing for the illegals. They�re outside the “reach and protection” of American law only because they choose to be.”Right Wing News (0 links) “This was not an impressive speech. He said he’d send the National Guard to the border for a year, where they wouldn’t be actually apprehending any illegals, but everything else is this same old same old. So, in my view, this isn’t even an olive branch to people who are serious about defending this border and dealing with illegal immigration. Overall grade for the speech: F”Outside the Beltway (0 links) “‘To secure our border we must create a temporary worker program.’ While I agree with the policy, it’s absurd to think this adds to our security. He’s right that it would have a whole lot of anciliary benefits. Oddly, exactly the same benefits would acrue from legalizing illicit drugs that are smuggled across our border…”Stop the ACLU (0 links) “We will not militarize the border. Catch and release is not acceptable. Jobs Americans won’t do!!! Drink!!!”The Question Fairy (0 links) “Not militarizing the border; ‘Mexico is our neighbor and friend’— Our friend needs to remember to mow his lawn and take care of his property, a fence would help.”The Beltway Blitz (0 links) ALarge Regular (0 links) “This was an excellent speech. A home run! The speech basically spoke to five specific issues and maybe it would be best if I took them one at a time…”Freedom Folks (0 links) “Well, absolutely nothing new tonight. The usual, typical canards…”Flight of Passage (0 links) Right Side of the Rainbow (0 links) “Perhaps I’m wrong, but I don’t think any other issue � save perhaps for out-of-control federal spending � implicates the future cohesion of the Republican coalition as much as this issue. It’s worth talking about…”The Hosh (0 links) “This was the speech that we needed to hear from the president. Absolutely. This presented a rational, clear problem definition as well as a well-outlined solution. This speech has the potential to unite not only the House on this issue, but also the Senate and actually produce some results. This speech was the necessary statement that clearly communicated the very things that most people want.”Can’t Stop the Signal (0 links) EckerNet.Com (0 links) “I give Bush an F Told us almost nothing new….6K National Guard troops does not warrant a primetime speech from the Oval Office. He did nothing to win over conservatives who want him to get serious. He proposed nothing that will even begin to solve the problem.”Jay Reding.com (0 links) “All in all, a short and sweet speech that tries to put Bush firmly above the fray and on the middle ground. I have a feeling that it will give the President a bit of a bounce, just for speaking out on the issue.”The Blue State Conservatives (0 links) “Working with Mexico? What shall we do, print their step-by-step pamphlets at no cost? Have the Guard notify the Mexican Government of their positions? This is absolutely laughable.”Un-Reserved (0 links) “THE PRESIDENT HAS BLOWN IT. He just couldn�t bring himself to endorse a real, long fence.”Sma’ Talk Wi’ T (0 links) “Outlining the five points and appealing to Congress to pass a strong bill isn’t making me feel like Bush understands what the majority of America wants to see happen. Secure the border now. Send the illegals back home.”Confederate Yankee (0 links) “Give me a few minutes to digest this, and I’ll be back, but my initial reaction is that Bush just split the Republican Party.”The Galvin Opinion (Hispanic Conservative) (0 links) “A decent speech that should be a reminder to all that no matter what you think of him, President Bush has never been gone nasty (remember how Bill Clinton always demonized, complained and whined about his political opponents?)”Patricksemmens.com (0 links) “While not a very compelling speech, Bush outlined a moderate compromise. The elements on the right that want to deport every illegal immigrant won’t be pursuaded by the speech, but they were never the audience that Bush wanted to convince. The question I am left with, is will those on the left (particularly those blinded with anti-Bush hatred) get behind this moderate policy?”Smoke on the Water (0 links) Captain’s Quarters (0 links) “President Bush tried reaching for the center — a position he has occupied on this issue all along. He tried a one-from-column-A, two-from-column-B approach that probably will leave all sides more or less dissatisfied. His declaration that catch-and-release would end was the most welcome news in the entire speech. He delivered that well and sounded forceful and presidential, but most people will wonder why this practice didn’t end on September 12, 2001.”but that’s just my opinion (0 links) “This seems to be a pro immigrant speech…Too little too late, same crap….”ThatTheyMayB1.net (0 links) Small Talk With T (0 links) Lonewacko: Illegal immigration news (0 links) “Is he insane? This is the same speech he’s delivered countless times. Does he expect a different result? Is he intentionally trying to drive his popularity down to 20%?”Cobb (0 links) “Bush confirmed that the National Guard will be hands off. Just eyes and ears. UAVs! Some contractor feels good. Catch and release is over. Good. As of when?”Betsy’s Page (0 links) “When he talks about a period of transition from National Guard soldiers patrolling the border to handing it off to the Border Patrol, it sounds like the Border Patrolization of the borders much as we are trying to hand off the policing of Iraq in an Iraqification policy there.”Michelle Malkin (0 links) “Bush has lost touch with reality, arguing that guest worker/amnesty will reduce the incentive to cross the border…Too little, too late.”Darleen’s Place (0 links) “I only wish there was more details on the fence and I would, personally, like to see the border permanently monitored by the military, not a temporary stint by the National Guard…”Carol Platt Liebau (0 links) “To some extent, the President fudged the distinction between “virtual security,” (that is, the “high tech fences” that he prescribed for urban areas) versus the “barriers” that would be directed toward rural areas. It matters how much of which goes where — and just how that determination will be made and exactly what it means isn’t clear. The fact that he alluded to “manpower and technology” at the speech’s outset doesn’t engender a lot of confidence that he’s thinking in terms of substantial, numerous physical impediments. This matters — but we’ll have to wait and see.”PostWatch (0 links) Powder Tracks (0 links) “The down the middle pitch does not fly across the plate with me! It is like a lame John F Student Kerry pitch [sic]! “Tapscott’s Copy Desk (0 links) “So we must ask: If things have gotten so bad in the most recent two years despite the actions initiated in 2004 that Bush is now calling out the National Guard, is that a confession of failure of the measures detailed above, including especially those high-tech measures that were again presented tonight as the key to protecting our borders?”Cagey Mind (0 links) “It was a pretty good speech and I agree with much of it. A secure border, comprehensive immigration reform, a limited amnesty/legalization for those who have been here for an extended time, and assimilation/acculturation are all things I think make plenty of sense.”Discuss this blog post and MORE…. at the FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blogs, My Dental Forum.
Previous:Illegal Immigration Watch: President Bush – WAY Too Little, ALOT Too LATE
Illegal Immigration Watch: President Bush to Address Nation About Immigration on Monday Evening
Illegal Immigration Watch: Immigration Bill to Be Called Up in the Senate
Illegal Immigration Watch: Arizona Posse Begins Illegal Alien Crackdown
Illegal Immigration Watch: Arizona Deputies to Seek Illegal Immigrants
Illegal Immigration Watch: RECONQUISTA 101Illegal Immigration Watch: After May 1 Protests – So Now What?
Illegal Immigration Watch: Great American Boycott 2006 Mid-Day Round-Up
Illegal Immigration Watch: Pajamas Media Update From Los Angeles Protests
Illegal Immigration Watch: Great American Boycott 2006 – Los Angeles Getting Ready for Protests
Illegal Immigration Watch: Immigration Roundup Fear Spreads
Illegal Immigration Watch: May 1 Protest to “CLOSE DOWN†American Cities – Redux
Illegal Immigration Watch: California State Senate Supports Mexican “NOTHING GRINGO†DAY
Illegal Immigration Watch: May 1 Protest to “CLOSE DOWN†American Cities
Illegal Immigration Watch: President Bush SELLS OUT on Immigration Reform Redux
Illegal Immigration Watch: President Bush SELLS OUT on Immigration Reform
Hillary Clinton Watch: Clinton – “Wall Would Be Appropriate in Certain Areasâ€
Illegal Immigration Watch: Send a Brick Project
Illegal Immigration Watch: The BACKLASH
Illegal Immigration Watch: La Reconquista
Illegal Immigration Watch: Flush Illegal Alien Amnesty
Illegal Immigration Watch: Democrat Party Recruiting at Illegal Immigration Protests
Illegal Immigration Watch: Immigration Rights Activists on March Again
Illegal Immigration Watch: Senate Compromise Bill Delayed? NOW Shelved…..
Illegal Immigration Watch: Republicans to Filibuster Immigration Bill
Illegal Immigration Watch: McCain – “Not Enough Votes for Senate Judiciary Committee Billâ€
Illegal Immigration Watch: Senate Majority Leader Frist Wants Immigration Bill Vote this Week
Illegal Immigration Watch: FAQ About Illegal Aliens
Illegal Immigration Watch: Los Angeles Latino DJs Spur Protests
Illegal Immigration Watch: United States Senate Judiciary Committee Approves an Immigration Bill
Illegal Immigration Watch: The United States Senate Judiciary Committee Takes Up the Debate
Illegal Immigration Watch: 500,000 Rally to Protest Immigration Bills
Technorati Tags: illegalimmigration, HR4437, illegalaliens, California, Mexico, Congress, UnitedStatesSenate -
Illegal Immigration Watch: President Bush – “We Do Not Yet Have Full Control of the Border and I am Determined to Change That.”
***Updated***
Michelle Malkin says SAME OLD, SAME OLDBased on the excerpts, Flap agrees and Bush is in trouble with his conservative base.But, Flap will wait for the speech.MORE OF THE SAME = BUSH’S SPEECHA U.S. Border Patrol agent looks at the Rio Grande river with Mexico on the left and the U.S. on the right, Texas May 2, 2006. President Bush is expected to call for thousands of National Guard troops along the U.S.-Mexico border to help curtail illegal immigration as debate over the divisive issue heats up.
ASSociated Press: Bush to Say Border Not Fully Under Control
President Bush is to order as many as 6,000 National Guard troops to increase enforcement at the Mexican border, part of a $1.9 billion drive to tighten security and win conservative backing in Congress for a broad election-year overhaul of the nation’s tattered immigration laws.
“We do not yet have full control of the border and I am determined to change that,” Bush is expected to say in remarks prepared for a prime- time speech from the Oval Office.
The speech will come as the Senate begins work on legislation to strengthen border security, authorize new guest worker programs and give an eventual chance at citizenship to most of the estimated 12 million people already living illegally in the United States.
“Tonight I am calling on Congress to provide funding for dramatic improvements in manpower and technology at the border,” Bush is expected to say.
How do you spell WINDOW DRESSING?
Is President Bush clueless on illegal aliens and illegal immigration?
Congressional officials who were briefed in advance of the speech said the president would ask Congress to increase the number of Border Patrol agents and to support construction of additional facilities to detain illegal immigrants. They said the National Guard troops would not be involved in law enforcement, but would take support jobs currently held by federal agents, freeing them for front-line duty.
Four conditions must be met before a comprehensive immigration reform bill is considered by the Congress:
1. Send the National Guard to the border but allow them to bolster enforcement until more border patrol agents are trained and ON THE JOB.
2. Support legislation in the Congress to fund the training and deployment of additional border agents/officers. Ony when these officers are deployed in sufficient numbers to deter illegal immigration should the National Guard be redeployed away from the border.
3. Support legislation to fund and build physical barriers and walls to physically impede the flow of illegal aliens coming across the border. “Virtual†fencing is NOT acceptable alone. There must be REAL physical impediments to the flow of people.
4. Enforce existing immigration laws against employers. Fine them big, jail corporate leaders, if you have must. America must be freed from the addiction of cheap Mexican and illegal labor.
After you have accomplished these four proposals, and the border is sealed, THEN AND ONLY THEN, we can discuss Guest Worker and Path to Citizenship proposals for the folks who are already here.
On citizenship, the White House told congressional officials the president planned to say that illegal immigrants, required to stand in line behind legal immigrants applying to become citizens, are not being granted amnesty.
If IT SOUNDS LIKE AMNESTY, WALKS LIKE AMNESTY AND TALKS LIKE AMNESTY.
IT IS AMNESTY……
Stay tuned for the President’s address at 5 PM PST.
Discuss this blog post and MORE…. at the FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blogs, My Dental Forum.
Previous:
Illegal Immigration Watch: President Bush – WAY Too Little, ALOT Too LATE
Illegal Immigration Watch: President Bush to Address Nation About Immigration on Monday Evening
Illegal Immigration Watch: Immigration Bill to Be Called Up in the Senate
Illegal Immigration Watch: Arizona Posse Begins Illegal Alien Crackdown
Illegal Immigration Watch: Arizona Deputies to Seek Illegal Immigrants
Illegal Immigration Watch: RECONQUISTA 101Illegal Immigration Watch: After May 1 Protests – So Now What?
Illegal Immigration Watch: Great American Boycott 2006 Mid-Day Round-Up
Illegal Immigration Watch: Pajamas Media Update From Los Angeles Protests
Illegal Immigration Watch: Great American Boycott 2006 – Los Angeles Getting Ready for Protests
Illegal Immigration Watch: Immigration Roundup Fear Spreads
Illegal Immigration Watch: May 1 Protest to “CLOSE DOWN†American Cities – Redux
Illegal Immigration Watch: California State Senate Supports Mexican “NOTHING GRINGO†DAY
Illegal Immigration Watch: May 1 Protest to “CLOSE DOWN†American Cities
Illegal Immigration Watch: President Bush SELLS OUT on Immigration Reform Redux
Illegal Immigration Watch: President Bush SELLS OUT on Immigration Reform
Hillary Clinton Watch: Clinton – “Wall Would Be Appropriate in Certain Areasâ€
Illegal Immigration Watch: Send a Brick Project
Illegal Immigration Watch: The BACKLASH
Illegal Immigration Watch: La Reconquista
Illegal Immigration Watch: Flush Illegal Alien Amnesty
Illegal Immigration Watch: Democrat Party Recruiting at Illegal Immigration Protests
Illegal Immigration Watch: Immigration Rights Activists on March Again
Illegal Immigration Watch: Senate Compromise Bill Delayed? NOW Shelved…..
Illegal Immigration Watch: Republicans to Filibuster Immigration Bill
Illegal Immigration Watch: McCain – “Not Enough Votes for Senate Judiciary Committee Billâ€
Illegal Immigration Watch: Senate Majority Leader Frist Wants Immigration Bill Vote this Week
Illegal Immigration Watch: FAQ About Illegal Aliens
Illegal Immigration Watch: Los Angeles Latino DJs Spur Protests
Illegal Immigration Watch: United States Senate Judiciary Committee Approves an Immigration Bill
Illegal Immigration Watch: The United States Senate Judiciary Committee Takes Up the Debate
Illegal Immigration Watch: 500,000 Rally to Protest Immigration Bills
Technorati Tags: illegalimmigration, HR4437, illegalaliens, California, Mexico, Congress, UnitedStatesSenate -
Michael Ramirez on Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions
Discuss this blog post and MORE…. at the FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blogs, My Dental Forum.
Technorati Tags: MichaelRamirez, Iran
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Cox & Forkum: Caller ID
NSA Surveillance Watch: Mark Steyn – “To Connect the Dots, You Have to See the Dotsâ€
Discuss this blog post and MORE…. at the FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blogs, My Dental Forum.
Technorati Tags: Cox&Forkum, MarkSteyn
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Illegal Immigration Watch: President Bush – WAY Too Little, ALOT Too LATE
A U.S. Border Patrol agent outside Laredo, Texas, May 4, 2006. President Bush is expected to call for thousands of National Guard troops along the U.S.-Mexico border to help curtail illegal immigration as debate over the divisive issue heats up.
ASSociated Press: Bush to Propose Guard Troops for Border
President Bush will call for thousands of National Guard troops to be deployed along the Mexico border in support of patrols aimed at keeping out illegal immigrants, White House officials said Sunday on the eve of an Oval Office address announcing the plan.
White House aides worked into the night Sunday to iron out details of the proposal and allay concerns among lawmakers that using troops to man the border would further burden an overextended military.
Two White House officials said Bush would propose using troops as a stopgap measure while the Border Patrol builds up its resources. The troops would play a supportive role to Border Patrol agents, who would maintain primary responsibility for physically guarding the border.
And in the return for this SHOW of border security the public is supposed to rally to Bush’s Guest Worker and Path to Citizenship propsals ala the Kennedy-McCain bill?
Mr. President, with all due respect, this is a “DOG AND PONY SHOW.”
California demonstrates “REAL” problems with illegal immigration. We have too many illegal folks who are eating away at society both financially and socially. Their arrival has meant a REDUCED QUALITY OF LIFE for legal residents.
Mexican immigrants walk in line through the Arizona desert near Sasabe, Sonora state, in an attempt to illegally cross the Mexican-US border, 06 April 2006.
Mr. President sending National Guard troops to the border with Mexico is WAY TOO LITTLE, WAY TOO LATE. You and your administration have done NOTHING while hundreds of thousands of Mexican illegal aliens have illegally crossed the border. You have NOT enforced existing immigration laws against employers who brazenly IMPORT these folks to work at sub-minimum wage while paying NO income taxes. Sir, you have NO credibility on this issue.
Your conversation and wimping out towards the President of Mexico, Vicente Fox, does not bespeak your leadership in this regard.
Therefore, what does Flap recommend:
1. Send the National Guard to the border but allow them to bolster enforcement until more border patrol agents are trained and ON THE JOB.
2. Support legislation in the Congress to fund the training and deployment of additional border agents/officers. Ony when these officers are deployed in sufficient numbers to deter illegal immigration should the National Guard be redeployed away from the border.
3. Support legislation to fund and build physical barriers and walls to physically impede the flow of illegal aliens coming across the border. “Virtual” fencing is NOT acceptable alone. There must be REAL physical impediments to the flow of people.
4. Enforce existing immigration laws against employers. Fine them big, jail corporate leaders, if you have must. America must be freed from the addiction of cheap Mexican and illegal labor.
After you have accompliushed these four proposals, and the border is sealed, THEN AND ONLY THEN, we can discuss Guest Worker and Path to Citizenship proposals for the folks who are already here.
Will you obtain a compromise reform proposal by Memorial Day?
NO WAY!
Mr. President, after these many years and inaction, Flap simply doesn’t trust you on this issue.
U.S. Border Patrol agents detain three men in the desert near Sasabe, Arizona, in this April 24, 2006 photo
Michelle Malkin has TOO LITTLE, TOO LATEYou want the American people to buy into “comprehensive immigration reform?”
Message to Congress (since the White House still isn’t listening): Drop the guest worker plan and the amnesty sham. Comprehensive immigration enforcement first. Enforcement now.
No more bull.
***
Grass-roots conservative blog reaction gives Bush two thumbs down. Way down.
Round-up at Polipundit
Right Wing News
Cavalier X
La Shawn will be liveblogging.
Scrappleface spoofs.
Bizzy Blog on more things Bush won’t talk about tonight.
Scott Johnson on the flabbergastingly idiotic Hagel-Martinez bill.
Andrew McCarthy dispenses with the mass deportation canard.
John Derbyshire on the Bush speech: “milk-and-water leaky-bandaid stuff.”
Ankle Biting Pundits: Throwing a bone…
Related:Tim Graham busts the Washington Post’s Minutemen coverage
Tom Tancredo at Human Events Online: Come home, Mr. President.Stay tuned………
Discuss this blog post and MORE…. at the FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blogs, My Dental Forum.
Previous:
Illegal Immigration Watch: President Bush to Address Nation About Immigration on Monday Evening
Illegal Immigration Watch: Immigration Bill to Be Called Up in the Senate
Illegal Immigration Watch: Arizona Posse Begins Illegal Alien Crackdown
Illegal Immigration Watch: Arizona Deputies to Seek Illegal Immigrants
Illegal Immigration Watch: RECONQUISTA 101Illegal Immigration Watch: After May 1 Protests – So Now What?
Illegal Immigration Watch: Great American Boycott 2006 Mid-Day Round-Up
Illegal Immigration Watch: Pajamas Media Update From Los Angeles Protests
Illegal Immigration Watch: Great American Boycott 2006 – Los Angeles Getting Ready for Protests
Illegal Immigration Watch: Immigration Roundup Fear Spreads
Illegal Immigration Watch: May 1 Protest to “CLOSE DOWN†American Cities – Redux
Illegal Immigration Watch: California State Senate Supports Mexican “NOTHING GRINGO†DAY
Illegal Immigration Watch: May 1 Protest to “CLOSE DOWN†American Cities
Illegal Immigration Watch: President Bush SELLS OUT on Immigration Reform Redux
Illegal Immigration Watch: President Bush SELLS OUT on Immigration Reform
Hillary Clinton Watch: Clinton – “Wall Would Be Appropriate in Certain Areasâ€
Illegal Immigration Watch: Send a Brick Project
Illegal Immigration Watch: The BACKLASH
Illegal Immigration Watch: La Reconquista
Illegal Immigration Watch: Flush Illegal Alien Amnesty
Illegal Immigration Watch: Democrat Party Recruiting at Illegal Immigration Protests
Illegal Immigration Watch: Immigration Rights Activists on March Again
Illegal Immigration Watch: Senate Compromise Bill Delayed? NOW Shelved…..
Illegal Immigration Watch: Republicans to Filibuster Immigration Bill
Illegal Immigration Watch: McCain – “Not Enough Votes for Senate Judiciary Committee Billâ€
Illegal Immigration Watch: Senate Majority Leader Frist Wants Immigration Bill Vote this Week
Illegal Immigration Watch: FAQ About Illegal Aliens
Illegal Immigration Watch: Los Angeles Latino DJs Spur Protests
Illegal Immigration Watch: United States Senate Judiciary Committee Approves an Immigration Bill
Illegal Immigration Watch: The United States Senate Judiciary Committee Takes Up the Debate
Illegal Immigration Watch: 500,000 Rally to Protest Immigration Bills
Technorati Tags: illegalimmigration, HR4437, illegalaliens, California, Mexico, Congress, UnitedStatesSenate -
NSA Surveillance Watch: Mark Steyn – “To Connect the Dots, You Have to See the Dots”
Mark Steyn at the Claremont Institute Dinner, December 5, 2005
Chicago-Sun Times: To connect the dots, you have to see the dots
Here are two news stories from the end of last week. The first one you may have heard about. As “The Today Show’s” Matt Lauer put it:
“Does the government have your number? This morning a shocking new report that the National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone records of tens of millions of Americans.”
The second story comes from the United Kingdom and what with Lauer’s hyperventilating you may have missed it. It was the official report into the July 7 bus and Tube bombings. As The Times of London summarized the conclusions:
“Mohammad Sidique Khan, the leader of the bomb cell, had come to the attention of MI5 [Britain’s domestic intelligence agency] on five occasions but had never been pursued as a serious suspect . . .
“A lack of communication between police Special Branch units, MI5 and other agencies had hampered the intelligence-gathering operation;
“There was a lack of co-operation with foreign intelligence services and inadequate intelligence coverage in . . .”
Etc., etc., ad nauseam.
So there are now two basic templates in terrorism media coverage:
Template A (note to editors: to be used after every terrorist atrocity): “Angry family members, experts and opposition politicians demand to know why complacent government didn’t connect the dots.”
Template B (note to editors: to be used in the run-up to the next terrorist atrocity): “Shocking new report leaked to New York Times for Pulitzer Prize Leak Of The Year Award nomination reveals that paranoid government officials are trying to connect the dots! See pages 3,4,6,7,8, 13-37.”
How do you connect the dots? To take one example of what we’re up against, two days before 9/11, a very brave man, the anti-Taliban resistance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud, was assassinated in Afghanistan by killers posing as journalists. His murderers were Algerians traveling on Belgian passports who’d arrived in that part of the world on visas issued by the Pakistani High Commission in the United Kingdom. That’s three more countries than many Americans have visited. The jihadists are not “primitives”. They’re part of a sophisticated network: They travel the world, see interesting places, meet interesting people — and kill them. They’re as globalized as McDonald’s — but, on the whole, they fill in less paperwork. They’re very good at compartmentalizing operations: They don’t leave footprints, just a toeprint in Country A in Time Zone B and another toe in Country E in Time Zone K. You have to sift through millions of dots to discern two that might be worth connecting.
I’m a strong believer in privacy rights. I don’t see why Americans are obligated to give the government their bank account details and the holdings therein. Other revenue agencies in other free societies don’t require that level of disclosure. But, given that the people of the United States are apparently entirely cool with that, it’s hard to see why lists of phone numbers (i.e., your monthly statement) with no identifying information attached to them is of such a vastly different order of magnitude. By definition, “connecting the dots” involves getting to see the dots in the first place.
Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) feels differently. “Look at this headline,” huffed the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. “The secret collection of phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. Now, are you telling me that tens of millions of Americans are involved with al-Qaida?”
No. But next time he’s flying from D.C. to Burlington, Vt., on a Friday afternoon he might look at the security line: Tens of millions of Americans are having to take their coats and shoes off! Are you telling me that tens of millions of ordinary shoe-wearing Americans are involved with al-Qaida?
Of course not. Fifteen out of 19 of the 9/11 killers were citizens of Saudi Arabia. So let’s scrap the tens of millions of law-abiding phone records, and say we only want to examine the long-distance phone bills of, say, young men of Saudi origin living in the United States. Can you imagine what Leahy and Lauer would say to that? Oh, no! Racial profiling! The government’s snooping on people whose only crime is “dialing while Arab.” In a country whose Transportation Security Administration personnel recently pulled Daniel Brown off the plane as a security threat because he had traces of gunpowder on his boots — he was a uniformed U.S. Marine on his way home from Iraq — in such a culture any security measure will involve “tens of millions of Americans”: again by definition, if one can’t profile on the basis of religion or national origin or any other identifying mark with identity-group grievance potential, every program will have to be at least nominally universal.
Last week, apropos the Moussaoui case, I remarked on the absurdity of victims of the London Blitz demanding the German perpetrators be brought before a British court. Melanie Phillips, a columnist with the Daily Mail in London and author of the alarming new book Londonistan, responded dryly, “Ah, but if we were fighting World War Two now, we’d lose.”
She may be right. It’s certainly hard to imagine Pat Leahy as FDR or Harry Truman or any other warmongering Democrat of yore. To be sure, most of Pat’s Vermont voters would say there is no war; it’s just a lot of fearmongering got up by Bush and Cheney to distract from the chads they stole in Florida or whatever. And they’re right — if, by “war,” you mean tank battles in the North African desert and air forces bombing English cities night after night. But today no country in the world can fight that kind of war with America. If that’s all “war” is, then (once more by definition) there can be no war. If you seek to weaken, demoralize and bleed to death the United States and its allies, you can only do it asymmetrically — by killing thousands of people and then demanding a criminal trial, by liaising with terrorist groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan and then demanding the government cease inspecting your phone records.
I yield to no one in my antipathy to government, but not everyone who’s on the federal payroll is a boob, a time-server, a politically motivated malcontent or principal leak supplier to the New York Times. Suppose you’re a savvy mid-level guy in Washington, you’ve just noticed a pattern, you think there might be something in it. But it requires enormous will to talk your bosses into agreeing to investigate further, and everyone up the chain is thinking, gee, if this gets out, will Pat Leahy haul me before the Senate and kill my promotion prospects? There was a lot of that before 9/11, and thousands died.
And five years on?
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Day By Day by Chris Muir
Discuss this blog post and MORE…. at the FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blogs, My Dental Forum.