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May 31, 2006

Next After Illegal Aliens: Selling Us Out to Felons

You might think that demonstrating a willingness to sacrifice our country's economic and social stability in exchange for the votes of illegal aliens would be as low as Senators could go, but no. Shrillary Clinton and Hanoi John Kerry (both of whom voted for amnesty, of course) can go lower still. Now they're pandering for the votes of felons by stealthily pushing a bill that would grant them the vote.

The universal assumption that voting felons would overwhelmingly favor Democrats tells you all you need to know about the party of Clinton and Kerry.

Hat tip: William

Posted by Van Helsing at 9:05 PM | Comments (2)

Murderer Demands Free Sex Change

It seems not a day goes by that we don't discover more excellent reasons for the time-honored custom of promptly hanging convicted killers.

Convicted murderer Robert Kosilek is demanding that taxpayers finance a sex change operation, on the grounds that not giving him one would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. The put-upon strangler's psychiatrist testified yesterday that Kosilek would do the world the favor of killing himself if he is not surgically assisted in his quest to become a woman.

Instead of the rope killers were once treated to, Kosilek has been receiving psychotherapy, female hormone treatments, and laser hair removal, courtesy of silently suffering taxpayers. In an earlier suit, Kosilek got a judge to rule that society owes him free treatment for "gender identity disorder." But the ruling stopped short of forcing the state to pay for a sex change operation, so with nothing better to do, Kosilek is suing some more.

The idea is to convince the same judge, U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf, that the sex change surgery is "medically necessary." Given that the farce is playing out in Massachusetts, this should be a piece of cake for Kosilek's lawyer Frances Cohen, who has been publicly demanding "that gender identity disorder be treated like any other medical condition."

Meanwhile Kosilek's wife Cheryl, whom he strangled in 1990, continues to be dead.

Posted by Van Helsing at 1:36 PM | Comments (4)

The U.S. Senate: May Moonbats of the Month™

In association with Something... and Half of Something, Moonbattery is disappointed to name two thirds of the U.S. Senate as May Moonbats of the Month™. This award is the least they deserve for the amnesty abomination they have proved willing to inflict on the nation.

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) notes a few of the shamnesty bill's key features:

1. The largest amnesty in American history. Illegal aliens who have been in the U.S. for more than 5 years would be given citizenship; those who have been here between 2 and 5 years would receive foreign worker cards with a path to citizenship; those here for fewer than 2 years would allegedly go home. Critically, the bill allows flimsy documentation (such as pay stubs and utility bills) to prove how long illegal aliens have been in the U.S., which virtually begs for massive document fraud.
2. Amnesty now, enforcement later — or never. The Senate abandons the House's enforcement-first approach in favor of granting massive amnesty now and phasing in security and enforcement provisions over time. The same chronology was used in 1986. Twenty years later, more than 10 million illegal aliens have entered the U.S. and law enforcement has been negligible.
3. The largest legal immigration increase in American history. The Heritage Foundation estimated last week that the Senate plan would result in 66 million additional legal immigrants into the U.S. over the next 20 years. The House has not had hearings nor debated the merits of any guest worker plan, let alone one that would result in such a drastic increase — yet the massive foreign worker plan could be tacked onto the bill because of the Senate's actions.
4. Minimal interior enforcement. The Senate bill does not overturn so-called sanctuary city policies that purposefully violate federal law by refusing to assist law enforcement on immigration matters. It allows unscrupulous employers to pay no back taxes and no fines or penalties for hiring illegal aliens (even though the illegal aliens are forced to pay their own back taxes). And the bill provides numerous new benefits for illegal aliens including the right to Social Security benefits and taxpayer-subsidized tuition rates at colleges and universities.

Dana Rohrabacher lists several of the outrages included in the Senate's shamnesty handiwork:

• In-state tuition for illegal aliens. Your kid has to pay full freight if they cross state lines, but the illegal alien who broke into the country doesn't.
• All temporary guest workers have to be paid the prevailing wage. American citizens do not have to be paid prevailing wage.
• All agricultural guest workers under this bill cannot be fired by their employers except for what the bill calls "just cause." However, American agricultural workers can be fired for any reason.
• Illegal aliens are made eligible for Social Security. Not only will they receive retirement benefits, but their children will receive survivor benefits should the parents pass away. This is at a time when we are trying to keep Social Security solvent for the next generation.
• Expands the visa lottery program, which is itself a questionable way to make visa distribution decisions.
• Employers of illegal aliens get amnesty, too. Employers would be exempt from civil and criminal tax and criminal liability under immigration law. God forbid we hold employers accountable for helping illegal aliens break the law and being the magnet that has drawn them here for years.
• Taxpayer dollars to radical immigrant-rights groups so they can help illegal aliens adjust their status. Millions of your tax dollars will go to the same groups that organized those rallies where people who came here illegally waved foreign flags and thumbed their noses at our laws.

Of course, not all of our Senators are the sort of treasonous fools who would endorse this depraved piece of legislation. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) lists his top ten reasons for voting against it (see his website for supporting details):

1. Rewards Illegal Behavior with Clear Path to Citizenship and Voting Rights — Amnesty
2. Creates Temporary Worker Program That is Neither Temporary Nor Work-Based
3. Unprecedented Wave of Immigrants — 66 Million Over 20 Years
4. Insufficient Border Security
5. Terrorist Loophole Disarms Law Enforcement
6. Social Security Benefits, Tax Credits for Illegal Work
7. Costs Over $50 Billion A Year to Federal Government; States Foot The Bill for Immigrant Health Care
8. Hurts Small Business
9. Gives Some Immigrant Workers Greater Job Protection Than American Workers
10. Weak Assimilation/English Requirements

There were a few other Senators who voted against this iniquity and therefore can be spared our contempt. Here's the complete list:

• Alexander (R-TN)
• Allard (R-CO)
• Allen (R-VA)
• Bond (R-MO)
• Bunning (R-KY)
• Burns (R-MT)
• Burr (R-NC)
• Byrd (D-WV)
• Chambliss (R-GA)
• Coburn (R-OK)
• Cochran (R-MS)
• Cornyn (R-TX)
• Crapo (R-ID)
• DeMint (R-SC)
• Dole (R-NC)
• Dorgan (D-ND)
• Ensign (R-NV)
• Enzi (R-WY)
• Grassley (R-IA)
• Hatch (R-UT)
• Hutchison (R-TX)
• Inhofe (R-OK)
• Isakson (R-GA)
• Kyl (R-AZ)
• Lott (R-MS)
• Nelson (D-NE)
• Roberts (R-KS)
• Santorum (R-PA)
• Sessions (R-AL)
• Shelby (R-AL)
• Stabenow (D-MI)
• Sununu (R-NH)
• Talent (R-MO)
• Thomas (R-WY)
• Thune (R-SD)
• Vitter (R-LA)

Those who voted for the bill have expressed a clear willingness to sacrifice this country's future for their own perceived political advantage. They have betrayed the American people, and it is absolutely essential that each and every one of them be voted out of office at the first opportunity. They are:

• Akaka (D-HI)
• Baucus (D-MT)
• Bayh (D-IN)
• Bennett (R-UT)
• Biden (D-DE)
• Bingaman (D-NM)
• Boxer (D-CA)
• Brownback (R-KS)
• Cantwell (D-WA)
• Carper (D-DE)
• Chafee (R-RI)
• Clinton (D-NY)
• Coleman (R-MN)
• Collins (R-ME)
• Conrad (D-ND)
• Craig (R-ID)
• Dayton (D-MN)
• DeWine (R-OH)
• Dodd (D-CT)
• Domenici (R-NM)
• Durbin (D-IL)
• Feingold (D-WI)
• Feinstein (D-CA)
• Frist (R-TN)
• Graham (R-SC)
• Gregg (R-NH)
• Hagel (R-NE)
• Harkin (D-IA)
• Inouye (D-HI)
• Jeffords (I-VT)
• Johnson (D-SD)
• Kennedy (D-MA)
• Kerry (D-MA)
• Kohl (D-WI)
• Landrieu (D-LA)
• Lautenberg (D-NJ)
• Leahy (D-VT)
• Levin (D-MI)
• Lieberman (D-CT)
• Lincoln (D-AR)
• Lugar (R-IN)
• Martinez (R-FL)
• McCain (R-AZ)
• McConnell (R-KY)
• Menendez (D-NJ)
• Mikulski (D-MD)
• Murkowski (R-AK)
• Murray (D-WA)
• Nelson (D-FL)
• Obama (D-IL)
• Pryor (D-AR)
• Reed (D-RI)
• Reid (D-NV)
• Sarbanes (D-MD)
• Schumer (D-NY)
• Smith (R-OR)
• Snowe (R-ME)
• Specter (R-PA)
• Stevens (R-AK)
• Voinovich (R-OH)
• Warner (R-VA)
• Wyden (D-OR)

These two apparently didn't regard the issue of preventing our country from being utterly inundated by tens if not hundreds of millions of penniless, uneducated immigrants important enough for them to bother voting on it:

• Rockefeller (D-WV)
• Salazar (D-CO)

Kudos to the 36 Senators who care enough about this country to try to preserve it for future generations by voting against this suicide pact. To the other 64: may you take appropriate pride in being Moonbats of the Month™ — and may you find yourself voted out on your ears the next time the citizens you stabbed in the back get a crack at you.

Posted by Van Helsing at 6:41 AM | Comments (9)

May 30, 2006

The Dutch Degenerate Party

Making the most of the last decade or so before a Muslim majority imposes Sharia on the Netherlands, Dutch degenerates have launched the new Charity, Freedom and Diversity Party, with the slogan "We are going to shake The Hague awake!" The party's platform includes the following:

• Cut the age of consent to 12, and eventually get rid of it altogether, on the grounds that restricting sexual relations with kids "just makes children curious."
• Allow private possession of child pornography.
• Allow daytime pornography broadcasts.
• Provide sex education for toddlers.
• Make adolescents aged 16 and up eligible to be prostitutes and appear in porno films.
• Legalize sex with animals.
• Legalize going naked in public.
• Legalize all drugs.
• Provide taxpayer-financed "free" train rides.

Lest you think these people are irresponsible moonbats, they hold that broadcasts of violent pornography should be limited to late evening hours.

Posted by Van Helsing at 3:10 PM | Comments (5)

Doctors or Lawyers?

The Bronx civil jury is the greatest tool of wealth redistribution since the Red Army.

—Left-wing litigator Ron Kuby

While it's great for trial lawyers like the Breck Girl that they are so easily able to convert their cheesy glibness into mountains of cash, the rest of us have to pay for the litigation gravy train — and we pay in many ways, as Deroy Murdock describes on NRO.

When it comes to the lucrative medical malpractice racket, the first to pay are doctors. Between 1975 and 2003, malpractice insurance premiums rose 406%. Unsurprisingly, some of this outrageous expense is passed along to us, contributing heavily to the 525% rise in the cost of medical care over the same period.

Another cost is in quality of care, as doctors are forced to practice "defensive medicine," by which the objective is not the health of the patient, but to avoid giving ambulance chasers anything they can twist into malpractice. Defensive medicine often entails unnecessary tests and trips to specialists, and avoidance of any drugs targeted by looters.

John Edwards and his colleagues have no trouble shopping around for vindictive juries too dim to understand that as potential consumers of medical care, they are being looted right along with the doctors. As a result, the figures involved can be stratospheric. Helping to explain why vaccines will be in short supply if a bird flu epidemic ever becomes a reality, one vaccine lawsuit demanded $30 billion in damages. Annual revenues for the entire industry come to $6 billion.

A cost that's hard to gauge is the price we pay in valuable drugs that are not on the market because in this legal climate, it's not worth it to keep them there. When Glaxo was forced to withdraw LYMErix, Lyme disease infections shot up 40%. When Merrell Dow had to pull Bendectin, morning sickness hospitalizations doubled.

As U.S. Chamber of Commerce chairman Tom Donahue puts it:

The trial lawyers look at the pharmaceutical guys the way Willie Sutton looked at banks: That's where the money is.

It's bad enough when the need to finance lawyers' lavish lifestyles results in outrageously expensive, substandard medical care and the unavailability of useful drugs. What's worse is that it can result in no medical care at all. John Edwards isn't the only one to sue people into the ground for delivering babies. As a result, seven counties in New York have no OB/GYNs. Hospitals in poor neighborhoods, like Methodist Hospital in South Philadelphia, have been forced to stop delivering babies.

In the end, we have to chose: who does more for us, doctors or trial lawyers? Remember the answer when you go to the polls in November. The reason the tort system doesn't get fixed is that the 56,000-member Association of Trial Lawyers of America gives the Democratic Party $millions to block any attempt at reform.

Posted by Van Helsing at 1:55 PM | Comments (6)

Saint Al Purchases Eco-Indulgences

Fresh off having his messianic ego pumped to a new immensity at Cannes, Al Gore has popped up at the Hay Festival in Britain, where he bellowed about the "planetary emergency" that is about to engulf us all in cosmic doom if we don't regulate the American economy to a standstill.

Insufficiently taxed and regulated carbon emissions constitute a "danger which could bring the end of civilization!" Al intoned. Without video, you can only imagine his eyes popping like the Runaway Bride's, his arms pinwheeling wildly.

On a more sober note, Gore glumly observed that most Americans don't perceive the miniscule effect carbon emissions might have on natural climate fluctuations to be a problem. Now members of the global warming cult getting into a position to sabotage the economy — that would be a problem.

We have ten years left, according to Prince Albert, before "crossing the point of no return." After this, progressives will presumably give up on trying to hobble the economy, since it will be too late to save planet Earth anyway.

Undoubtedly, Al's tireless jetting around to promote global warming hysteria emits a lot more carbon than a fleet of Hummers in constant motion. Yet the man who never gets tired of saying "I used to be the next President" remains pure in his heart by "purchasing verifiable reductions in CO2 elsewhere."

Posted by Van Helsing at 8:01 AM | Comments (11)

May 29, 2006

Google's Tribute to Memorial Day

It seems Google has a cute special logo for every conceivable holiday. The company thoughtfully commemorates Mother's Day:

St. Patrick's Day:

of course Martin Luther King day:

in addition to Louis Braille's birthday:

and even the Persian New Year, if you can believe it:

But there is one special day the left-leaning "don't be evil" folks don't bother to acknowledge. Here's today's Memorial Day logo:

They ran the same one last year.

Sometimes what you don't say means more than what you do. As Google grows ever more powerful, maybe conservatives are right to worry about its moonbat corporate culture.

Hat tip: DANEgerus Weblog

Posted by Van Helsing at 8:12 PM | Comments (14)

Ted Nugent For Governor of Michigan

Great news for the Great Lakes State: Ted Nugent, outrageous rock legend and supercharged gun rights advocate, plans to run for Governor of Michigan in 2010.

The Motor City Madman admittedly displays the attitudes and manner of an Eleventh Century Viking berserker, but it may take a little craziness to counter the left-wing lunacy that has been slowly but surely sucking Michigan down the drain for decades, as unions continue to bleed the auto industry to death and moonbat politics relegate Detroit to the Third World.

Any Michiganders who doubt that the Nuge deserves their vote are referred to his recent interview in The Independent. The fussy British liberal conducting the interview asks about the wildlife the avid hunter Nugent feeds on his land:

What do these deer think when they see you coming? Here comes the nice guy who puts out our dinner? Or, there's the man that shot my brother?

Nugent's priceless response:

I don't think they're capable of either of those thoughts, you Limey asshole. They're only interested in three things: the best place to eat, having sex and how quickly they can run away. Much like the French.

His basic approach to dealing with terrorists, the Ku Klux Klan, the Black Panthers, child rapists, etc. is a little crude, but he's on the right track:

First of all you have to find all the bad people. Then you kill them.

Who knows? If we launch Nugent at the UAW in time, we might still be able to rescue GM and Ford.

Hat tip: Leather Penguin

Posted by Van Helsing at 6:46 PM | Comments (2)

Schoolgirl Jolted With 3-Day Suspension For Giving Away a Piece of Gum

We still haven't heard it all when it comes to the hysterical totalitarianism imposed on kids by educrats. A middle school student in Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania has been suspended for three days for giving a piece of Jolt Gum to another student, on the grounds that it contains caffeine.

Two pieces of Jolt are supposedly equivalent to a cup of coffee in terms of caffeine, which is now regarded as poisonous by some moonbats because it allegedly depletes calcium, affects heart rate, causes depression, etc. etc. ad nauseam.

The school's open-minded commissars say it's okay to possess the gum, you just can't give it to others, which apparently makes you a dealer.

Posted by Van Helsing at 4:28 PM | Comments (6)

Moonbat Jack Celebrates Memorial Day

Moonbat Jack Murtha celebrated this Memorial Day weekend by appearing on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," where he continued to ride his new pony — alleged American atrocities at Haditha — back into the MSM limelight.

According to Murtha, the November 19 incident was not a matter of collateral damage. Serving as prosecutor, judge, and jury, Murtha has determined that the as-yet uncharged Marines are guilty of killing innocent civilians "in cold blood."

In case you missed out on Moonbat Jack's latest antics, you can see the video at Expose the Left. Vets are advised to avoid the part where Newsweek's "rock-solid patriot" raves:

An IED exploded, it killed one Marine. And then a taxi drives up. When the taxi comes up, there's four or five people in it, and they shoot those four or five people — unarmed! And then they go on a rampage throughout the houses and kill people.

"They" in this story are American troops. Their friend Murtha then goes on to spread the rumor that "One woman... was bending over a child pleading for mercy and they shot her in cold blood."

How thoughtful of Moonbat Jack to provide al Qaeda with such potent recruiting propaganda. But lest you get the idea that Rep. Murtha is lowlife who would publicly knife the troops in the back in exchange for fawning attention from the liberal media, he is quick to point out that "There's nobody done more for the troops than I have."

Atrocities occur in every war, and if an atrocity occurred at Haditha, it should be punished. But it should not be used as propaganda to undermine the war effort, particularly when the facts of the incident have not even been determined.

Congrats, Jack. Instead of the trip before a firing squad your despicable behavior would have earned you in WWII, you've gotten yourself an extension on your 15 minutes of fame — or rather, infamy.

Posted by Van Helsing at 1:24 PM | Comments (2)

Gray Lady's Influence at the Richmond Times-Dispatch

They say the corrosive propaganda spewed in the pages of the New York Times is so damaging to the well-being of our country not because many people outside of NYC read the paper, but because the rest of the media takes cues from it, giving the insufferable Pinch Sulzberger and his band of politically correct ideologues power to determine what is news and what is not on a national basis. As Times Watch puts it,

The New York Times is arguably the most influential media outlet in America. Not only is it the most influential newspaper in the media capital of the world, New York City, but it is also read nationwide and frequently sets the agenda for the television news programs from which most Americans get their news.

Further evidence of the Gray Lady's baleful influence has cropped up at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where reporter Paul Bradley has been fired for emulating a technique pioneered by Jayson Blair of the NY Times, whereby instead of wasting time and shoe leather gathering news, you simply make it up, or steal it from other sources without attribution.

Apparently inspired by a story in WaPo, Bradley invented an interview with some day laborers to give their fictitious response to a speech by Bush on immigration.

"What I did was wrong and an indefensible journalistic sin," said the now jobless Bradley. But he complains that "the punishment far exceeds the crime."

You almost have to agree that Bradley got a raw deal. Given that liberal ideology appears to dictate what most newspaper stories will say in advance, and reporters merely coax the "man in the street" to provide appropriate quotes while conveniently filtering out anything that doesn't fit the template, the actual interview is only a formality. Why bother?

Hat tip: Wiggins

Posted by Van Helsing at 9:42 AM | Comments (2)

May 28, 2006

Durbin Favors Fence Consultation

As mentioned earlier, the Senate's amnesty outrage includes a requirement that we consult with Mexico before building any fences to defend us from Mexicans. Chris Dodd (D-CT) snuck the language into an amendment by Arlen Specter (RINO-PA). But there are others who like the idea: Dick Durbin, for example.

You might remember Durbin as the guy who showed his patriotic support for our country by comparing the American soldiers tasked with catering to the pampered terrorists at Club Gitmo to the goons who imposed the genocidal socialist regimes of Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot — thus providing valuable propaganda ammo to our enemies and encouraging attacks against American soldiers and civilians everywhere. The Democratic Party's number two man in the Senate continues to display his dedication to our country's best interests by urging the House to accept Dodd's absurd provision.

As Durbin explained:

To think that we would build a fence without any conversation or consultation with Mexico — that doesn't make sense. ... We ultimately want to have the cooperation of the Mexican government.

But we already have the cooperation of the Mexican government. It is fully cooperating in the colonization of America by indigent Mexicans who serve Democrats by being likely to rely at some point on government handouts, Republicans by driving down wages, and the Mexican government by shipping billions of dollars out of our economy and into theirs.

The American people seem to be cooperating too — by voting for the sort of politicians who would sell their own country down the river by refusing to stop the Mexican invasion. But who knows, maybe we'll start to wise up this November.

Hat tip: Wiggins

Posted by Van Helsing at 8:45 PM

Outraging Public Decency

Further evidence that civilization is coming apart at the seams reaches us from the parking lot of a Wal-Mart in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where a woman's toes were licked as she loaded her groceries by a "Hispanic or Indian" man who had been lying under her vehicle.

If the suspect is caught, he'll face a misdemeanor charge of battery or outraging public decency.

Hat tip: Wiggins

Posted by Van Helsing at 10:27 AM | Comments (1)

May 27, 2006

Arizona Legislature Tries Once Again

At least Arizona's legislature has been trying to do something to defend the voters they represent from foreign invasion, in the absence of responsible leadership in Washington. Its latest attempt is modest, but certainly a step in the right direction. Provisions would include:

• Application of trespassing law to illegals, so that it would actually be illegal to be illegal.
• $160 million to help authorities resist the invasion.
• Fines for businesses that refuse to stop employing illegals even after warnings.
• Training in immigration law enforcement for local police.
• Requirement that businesses fire employees with invalid Social Security numbers.
• No more in-state tuition for people who don't even belong in this country.

The trespassing law could only be enforced when invaders had been approached for some other offense, like driving recklessly while drunk and without a license, a popular activity among illegal aliens. First offenses would only be a misdemeanor. The bill is too little too late, but at least represents an effort.

It passed the House 33-22 and the Senate 16-9. However, the chances of it passing Governor Janet "Nappy the Troll" Napolitano are nil. Every attempt to defend Arizona from foreign incursion meets with Nappy's vetoes. Let's hope Arizona voters remember this when she comes up for reelection this fall.

Hat tip: Wiggins

Posted by Van Helsing at 4:51 PM

Mini Molester Followup

Not everyone is incensed that Nebraska judge Kristine Cecava let a child molester off with probation on the grounds that at 5' 1", he's too short to serve time.

Said Joe Mangano, secretary of the National Organization of Short Statured Adults (no I didn't make that up):

I'm assuming a short inmate would have a much more difficult time than a large inmate. It's good to see somebody looking out for someone who is a short person.

But others disagree that the special privileges due to people for belonging to this obscure victim group should include a get-out-of-jail-free card. Even the local chapter of the ACLU reports that no one has ever come to the ACLU whining about height discrimination, and neither the U.S. nor the Nebraska constitution provides protections based on height. A spokesman for the state prison systems says there are protections to help inmates who feel threatened, but no one has ever resorted to them because of their height — and some prisoners are shorter than Richard Thompson, the pint-sized child molester who Cecava worries would not enjoy jail.

Observed State Senator Ernie Chambers:

If shortness is an excuse and protection from going to prison, short people ought to rob banks and do everything else they would wind up going to prison for.

Maybe Willie Wonka should move his chocolate factory to Nebraska and take up organized crime. Imagine the havoc his Oompa-Loompas could cause with their stature-based immunity. They might want to start their crime spree by burglarizing Judge Cecava's house.

Hat tip: William

Posted by Van Helsing at 10:48 AM | Comments (2)

May 26, 2006

Mexican Consultation Required For Border Defense

In case anyone thought the Senate was even remotely interested in defending this country from the Mexican invasion, here's some language from an amendment to its recent immigration reform abomination:

Consultation Requirement.—Federal, State, and local representatives in the United States shall consult with their counterparts in Mexico concerning the construction of additional fencing and related border security structures along the international border between the United States and Mexico, as authorized by this title, before the commencement of any such construction in order to—

(1) solicit the views of affected communities;

(2) lessen tensions; and

(3) foster greater understanding and stronger cooperation on this and other important security issues of mutual concern.

Go ahead and believe your eyes: we have to consult with Mexico before building any walls to prevent Mexicans from invading our country. Imagine if Benedict Arnolds like Specter, Kennedy, McCain, etc. had been running the country during WWII. We would have been required to consult with the Japanese before setting up anti-aircraft batteries.

This amendment was sponsored by Arlen Specter (R-PA) and cosponsored by Ted Kennedy (D-MA). It passed 56-41. You can see who voted for and against it here.

Congratulations to President Bush. He wants the country overrun by penniless Mexicans, and he's getting his way.

Actually, both parties are getting their way. As evidenced by most of its policies, a central objective of the Democratic Party is to raise the percentage of Americans who are poor, because the more people depend on government largesse, the more vote for Democrats. This principle is the only explanation for programs that offer generous financial incentives to women if they remain unemployed and unmarried and keep having children. From the point of view of the Democratic Party, the poor are domesticated animals to be bred for their votes.

But why take the time to breed more poor people through welfare, when you can import them by the millions?

For their part, Republicans serve short-term business interests. Cheap labor is so appealing to some that it doesn't occur to them to wonder what business prospects will be like after uncontrolled immigration has broken the back of our social services and fractured our society. That's for our kids to deal with, not us.

The last issue to face America that was as critical as the Mexican invasion was slavery. In the years before the Civil War, Democrats had no interest in putting an end to slavery. The well-established Whig Party didn't have the guts to address it. So those Whigs who did have the guts formed the Republican Party, which produced Lincoln, and put an end to both slavery and the Whigs.

It's time for history to repeat itself. As before the Civil War, nothing good is going to come out of the Democratic Party. It is diseased down to the tips of its roots. Many Republicans understand that America is worth preserving, not just until we get ours, but until our children get theirs, and on for the next generation, and the next and the next. But there are many other Republicans who do not have the integrity to hold to this view, and with Democratic support, they have the leverage to betray us by refusing to defend the country from foreign invasion.

Unless we are able to get the likes of Specter, McCain, and W out of the driver's seat in the immediate future, it's time to get off the bus and find some other form of transportation — a new party that will serve the country's interests.

Hat tip: Michelle Malkin, on a tip from V the K.

Posted by Van Helsing at 4:25 PM | Comments (8)

The Word "America" to Be Allowed in Michigan Schools

Here's some good news: the words "America" and "American" will be permitted (for now) in Michigan social studies classes.

Karen Todorov, consultant for the Michigan Department of Education's social studies department, managed long ago to get these objectionable (to moonbats) words banned from Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) social studies testing, on the absurd grounds that since Mexico and Canada are also part of North America, their citizens are also Americans, and therefore it is "ethnocentric" to refer to Americans as Americans. "The Loathsome Land of Racist Oppression" and "The Evil Capitalist Pigs Who Cannot Be Named" would apparently be more apt designations from the point of view of the deranged America-hating fools in charge of children's education.

But now Todorov has overreached by telling a meeting of the Michigan Social Studies Supervisors Association that teachers should be told not to use the dirty words "America" and "Americans" in class. Enough publicity was generated over this bizarre outrage that state school Superintendent Mike Flanagan was forced to announce that social studies teachers will still be permitted to say the name of our country (though it is still not allowed on the MEAP test).

No doubt the vulgarities "America" and "American" will be banned again when educrats think no one is paying attention. If they get away with it next time, they might move on to forbid other words that are obscene from the progressive point of view, like "capitalism" and "individuality" and "freedom."

With thanks to V the K.

Posted by Van Helsing at 12:48 PM | Comments (4)

Jihad George Dips His Poisonous Tongue in a Pool of Blood

Jihad George Galloway, the British MP who has gone to the Middle East to egg on Muslims to commit terror acts against the West, who raked in about $600,000 in shady oil-for-food deals, and who has appeared on television performing robotic dance in a leotard, has managed once again to hit a new low by announcing that it would be "morally justified" for a suicide bomber to murder Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Armed Forces minister Adam Ingram poetically accused Galloway of "dipping his poisonous tongue in a pool of blood." Labour MP Stephen Pound called him "disgraceful and truly twisted." Even the Stop the War Coalition announced that they don't endorse suicide bombers or assassinations.

But Galloway's outrageous statement was not unprecedented. The idea is that Blair deserves to be killed for his alleged foreign policy crimes. After the 7/7 terrorist attacks, Galloway said London had "paid the price" for Britain's support of the USA in Afghanistan and Iraq. In the wake of 9/11, moonbats in America had a similar reaction: from Susan Sontag to Noam Chomsky to libertarian Harry Browne, there was a whole chorus of kooks crooning that we had been justly punished for our foreign policy.

Galloway followed up his latest outrage by appearing with Fidel Castro on Cuban television yesterday. There he praised the communist dictator and passionately offered his support before giving him a loving hug. Although appalling, support for this vicious dictator is actually common among the dimmer bulbs in the entertainment world (Danny Glover, Harry Belafonte, Chevy Chase, Linda Ronstadt, etc.).

There's nothing terribly original about Galloway — he just follows the left's trajectory a little further than other elected politicians are insane enough to go. If we don't get the better of creeping moonbattery, he may prove to be ahead of his time.

On tips from V the K and Wiggins.

Posted by Van Helsing at 8:25 AM | Comments (5)

May 25, 2006

Illegal Aliens Will Be More Than Equal Citizens

Some believe that with the amnesty W and the Senate are promoting, illegal aliens from Mexico will have the same rights as American citizens. But as Thomas Sowell points out, this is incorrect. Actually, they will have more rights than legitimate citizens:

• Affirmative action preferences for jobs.
• Race-based advantages in landing government contracts.
• Easier admission to college as a reward for not being Caucasian or Asian.
• In-state tuition when they aren't in-state or even in-country.
• No need to pay all back taxes.
• Protection from arrest for other crimes when pulled over for traffic violations.
• A free pass for committing Social Security fraud — complete with benefits paid!

As Sowell wisely observes:

What the immigration bill in the Senate has become is just another attempt to pander to another special interest, in disregard of how that affects the country as a whole.

Amnesty advocates are also disregarding both the past and the future. When similar legislation was misguidedly enacted in 1986, the predictable result was a tsunami of more illegal immigrants. When this happens again, it will be even more predictable.

Also predictable are the cataclysmic consequences of importing a massive underclass that cannot be assimilated, due to sheer numbers and of course to the corrosive sociopathology known as multiculturalism. Sure illegals come to work, and are grateful for the $10 an hour they can make at labor that would pay a quarter of that in Mexico. But their kids won't be so grateful. Cars are set aflame by the hundreds in Paris not by Arab immigrants, but by their unassimilated, utterly alienated offspring.

It won't be long before America develops the sort of "no-go" areas that have been breaking out in Europe like cancerous chancres: pockets of hostile territory within our own country, where English will not be spoken and English speakers will not be safe, and where not even the police will dare to go. Our tax money will pour into these ulcers; violent crime will seep out like pus. With each passing year, the sores will grow larger, until our country just isn't here anymore.

But that's not important — at least not to the Senate. What really matters is the tussle among bureaucrats over who gets the Hispanic voter block.

Posted by Van Helsing at 9:09 PM | Comments (7)

And This Child Molester Won't Be Punished Because...

Ready for the latest excuse for not punishing a child molester? Here it is: District Judge Kristine Cecava of Sidney, Nebraska announced that Richard W. Thompson, a 50-year-old convicted of sexually assaulting a child, should not serve time because he's too short.

The 5' 1'' fiend will be doing probation instead, out of concern that other prisoners might pick on him.

But mind you, probation is no joke. If Thompson doesn't lay off raping or even being alone with children, he's subject to 30 days of jail each year of his probation. Plus he's supposed to throw out his porno collection.

Said the judge:

I truly hope that my bet on you being okay out in society is not misplaced.

The kids Thompson might rape better hope so too. They have a lot more to lose than Judge Kristine does if her bet doesn't pay off.

Posted by Van Helsing at 4:58 PM | Comments (3)

Jimbo Endorses W's Illegal Alien Stance

Any diehard Bush supporters who think there must be some redeeming value to amnesty in place of border enforcement or W wouldn't be pushing it may be interested to learn that Jimmy "The Dhimmi" Carter — the anti-oracle, who of all moonbats can most reliably be counted on to point exactly 180 degrees away from common sense on every conceivable issue — supports the President's tragic stance on illegal immigration.

Carter describes Bush's commitment to immigration reform as "quite admirable." If I might translate, that means that Bush's abject surrender to Mexico's demographic warfare is absolutely unconscionable.

Demonstrating imperious disregard for the will of its constituents — not to mention the best interest of our country — the Senate has been tilting toward amnesty too. But in the House, everybody has to face voters in the fall. Fortunately there seems to be some awareness there that only stiff resistance to amnesty will prevent a bloodbath in November.

On a tip from V the K.

Posted by Van Helsing at 12:50 PM | Comments (4)

Evidence of a Misshapen Mind Inside Bob Kerrey's Misshapen Skull

Anyone concerned that Bob Kerrey might be too much of a grownup to be running an asylum for pretentious perpetual adolescents like New York's New School can rest easy now. The former Senator (D-NE) and presidential candidate is defending the unruly students who went haywire when centrist Senator John McCain (RINO-AZ) delivered a recent commencement address at this overpriced daycare center, including one who took the stage to attack McCain personally.

Although Kerrey admitted the kids were "rude, noisy, and disrespectful," he doesn't seem to see a problem with that, and added some disrespectfulness of his own by foolishly opining that their Animal House antics were no worse than "the absence of civility and courtesy" shown by McCain himself during Senate debates.

Shamelessly pandering to his ill-behaved students, one of whom denounced Kerrey himself as a "war criminal" for having lost part of his leg in Vietnam, the New School's president absurdly compared the spoilt brats to the pro-democracy demonstrators killed at Tiananmen Square, and opined that they showed remarkable restraint for allowing McCain to finish his speech at all.

If only all politicians would represent their constituencies as faithfully as the Kook School's Kerrey, we wouldn't have to worry about the "immigration reform" monstrosity emerging from the Senate.

Posted by Van Helsing at 11:19 AM

May 24, 2006

ACLU Bids to Gag Its Own Members

Since its inception, the American Civil Liberties Union has been about contributing to the corrosion of American civilization, with the ultimate objective of bringing about its demise. Or maybe you thought it had something to do with liberties? Certainly not for Christians. Not even for ACLU members themselves.

True to its communist roots, the ACLU is considering new measures to stifle internal dissent. Proposed new standards include the following language:

Where an individual director disagrees with a board position on matters of civil liberties policy, the director should refrain from publicly highlighting the fact of such disagreement. ... Directors should remember that there is always a material prospect that public airing of the disagreement will affect the ACLU adversely in terms of public support and fund-raising. ... A director... may not criticize the ACLU board or staff.

Naive liberals and libertarians who have been drawn to the ACLU by its free speech rhetoric are showing early signs of waking up to smell the coffee. Clearly misjudging the purpose of the organization, former board member Nat Hentoff gasped:

For the national board to consider promulgating a gag order on its members — I can't think of anything more contrary to the reason the ACLU exists.

But executive director Anthony Romero points out that it's hardly novel that the ACLU would attempt to suppress speech it doesn't care to hear:

Take hate speech. While believing in free speech, we do not believe in or condone speech that attacks minorities.

Of course, this depends on the minority. White Baptists who live in the South are a minority. But we can rest easy in the knowledge that the ACLU will go to any length to defend our right to make fun of them.

Behind the scenes, things are getting ugly, as some board members begin to realize the nature of their own organization. They don't like the sophisticated data-mining techniques used to recruit members, or the tactics employed to silence abortion opponents.

Those in favor of the gag order are right to worry that if the public knew more, fundraising would suffer. As too few people are aware, the ACLU was founded by a radical named Roger Baldwin, who summed up his motives and objectives like this:

I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and the sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal.

Now that communists are no longer the primary threat to this country, the ACLU has found a new ally in radical Islam. The organization has impeded the war on terror every step of the way, actively encouraging municipalities not to comply with the Patriot Act and even working with the likes of Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist Sami Al-Arian and the Hamas front group CAIR.

Communism and Islamic extremism would have limited appeal to a group truly devoted to civil liberties. But the ACLU is not on the side of the angels — as they would like to prevent disillusioned members from letting the world find out.

With thanks to V the K.

Posted by Van Helsing at 9:41 PM | Comments (4)

Madeleine Albright Condemns Bush's Christian Notions

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, a disturbing remnant from the Carter and Clinton regimes who serves as a living reminder as to why Democrats should never be allowed in the White House, has been in London pitching a book and bashing the current administration in front of a foreign audience.

While it would be unheard of for a Republican to behave in such a contemptible manner, it is by now to be expected of Democrats. What you might not expect is the nature of Albright's criticisms. The problem with America's president, Albright inveighs, is that he takes Christianity too seriously, which not only alienates Muslims but leads to a "rigid" distinction between good and evil.

Of the presidents under which Albright served, she boasts that "they did not make their religious views part of American policy." Certainly no one would accuse Clinton of that, assuming that he ever had any religious views.

Islamist propagandists aver that America is waging a religious crusade against Islam. Always the adroit international strategist, Albright plays into their hands by characterizing President Bush as a religious fanatic who thinks he's on a mission from God.

Albright also helped to shore up support from our British ally by croaking that the war in Iraq "may eventually rank among the worst foreign policy disasters in U.S. history."

Despite her denunciation of Bush for letting theocratic notions like right and wrong influence his political views, it seems possible that Albright's own religious views have shaped her political outlook. When asked about her own beliefs, she said that she had "a very confused religious background."

Hat tips: Byron, Alamo Nation

Posted by Van Helsing at 6:13 AM | Comments (14)

Yes, Ecoterrorism Is Terrorism

Some question whether the antisocial activities of moonbat cults like Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front qualify as terrorism. The Seattle Times explains why the answer is yes:

These criminal acts are wholly intended to intimidate and demoralize people to change their behavior and change public and political policy. That is a classic definition of terrorism.

Attempts to soft-pedal the sabotage as somehow less ugly and threatening because it is aimed at property, not people, is insulting. All of the fiery menace and destruction is focused directly at people who construct, sell or study things and ideas that offend and incense a radical minority.

When these kooks burn down a ski resort or destroy university facilities, it is not run-of-the-mill vandalism. It is a political crime, "intended to frighten, intimidate and discourage," as the Times puts it. It is an attempt to impose political will through the illegitimate use of force. It is terrorism, pure and simple.

Posted by Van Helsing at 6:04 AM | Comments (3)

May 23, 2006

Sweden: Canary in the Coalmine of Moonbattery

Sweden is often held up by progressives as a model of how society should be. Rather it should be presented as a dreadful warning of how quickly moonbattery can destroy whole civilizations, as a terrifying piece by Baron Bodissey at Gates of Vienna makes clear.

Sweden's third-way welfare state — a misguided attempt to compromise between economic freedom and communism — simply isn't working. People choose not to work, but rather go on sick leave or long-term disability. Half a million Swedes are on "early retirement" — many of them are under 40. The standard of living has unsurprisingly declined. Bodissey suggests that this could be inevitable:

Maybe the welfare state only seemed to be a success in Scandinavia because these nations had been dynamic capitalist countries prior to this, ethnically homogeneous and based upon a Protestant work ethic. While this legacy kept the welfare system afloat for some time, it is now rapidly being eroded.

As in the impending American crisis, immigrants are relied on to provide a tax base to subsidize those who aren't working. However, immigration is actually costing Sweden as much as several hundred billion kroner a year. Children of immigrants are 10 times as likely as native Swedes to claim welfare benefits. As Bodissey observes:

While their political elites insist that immigration is "good for the economy," Scandinavians are in reality funding their own colonization. Although the cost of welfare is significant, it pales in comparison to the price paid through rapidly declining social harmony and increasing insecurity caused by Muslim immigration.

Insecurity is particularly acute in the government:

Nearly three out of four Riksdag (parliament) deputies say that they have been subjected to harassment, threats or violence because of their positions. For elected representatives in local government the figure was around one in three.

Two out of three Swedes doubt Islam can be combined with Swedish society. But their voices are not heard in a closed system that does not allow deviation from the politically correct, dhimmified left. As Jonathan Friedman put it:

No debate about immigration policies is possible, the subject is simply avoided. Sweden has such a close connection between the various powerful groups, politicians, journalists, etc. The political class is closed, isolated.

Just as American flags were banned from schools for fear of annoying illegal immigrants, schoolgirls have been sent home from Swedish schools for having tiny Swedish flags on their sweaters, lest an immigrant deem them offensive. But the corrosion is more advanced in Sweden, where dissent from left-liberal cultural suicide simply is not tolerated. Although a majority would like to avoid having their country obliterated by Muslim immigration, members of the only political party critical of immigration, the Sweden Democrats, are marginalized, demonized by the media and subject to violence by leftist hooligans who have no compunction about physically assaulting opponents in order to silence them.

Although limiting immigration is denounced as "undemocratic," communism, which has killed 100 million people and enslaved over 1 billion, is very much accepted. Hard-core leftists are prevalent in the government. They openly dominate the media, and don't even pretend that the news isn't biased accordingly. Said radio correspondent Cecilia Udden:

On such issues as the US right and Israel…there was a Swedish…consensus, and any reporting had to be based on that.

Demographically, the Swedish people are being displaced — and not gently. In some areas, blonde girls dye their hair "to avoid unwanted attention and sexual harassment." The number of rape cases has quadrupled in 20 years. Rape of children under 15 is six times as common as a generation ago. An investigation of one court found that 85% of rapists were either foreigners or first-generation immigrants. Apparently Muslims express their contempt for the native Swedes who finance their idle lives by raping Swedish women.

Sweden's third-largest city Malmö will soon be majority Muslim. Crime there is epidemic. Nearly 90% of robberies are committed by gangs, some of which are consciously waging a "war against Swedes." One favorite multicultural activity is burning down schools. The kids laugh at the firemen, and start new fires as soon as they leave.

As anarchy swallows up whole cities, demands that Sweden institute Islamic law have already begun. Radical Islamic politics dictate Sweden's foreign policy. Within a matter of years it will become questionable whether Sweden is still part of the West.

There is a single positive aspect to the historic tragedy unfolding in Sweden and other parts of Europe: perhaps the rest of the world can learn from it. If we acknowledge that socialistic, multicultural moonbattery is not just nauseating, but lethal — that it can literally destroy our civilization — we might avoid the same fate.

Thanks to V the K for the tip.

Posted by Van Helsing at 5:01 PM | Comments (4)

Mort Kondracke: BDS Threatens Our National Survival

Forget about bird flu — if there's a disease that poses a serious threat to America, it's Bush Derangement Syndrome, as Mort Kondracke makes clear in a column that pleads for liberals to put our national interest ahead of their petty resentment of the President.

Kondracke's cry that Bush-hatred is "threatening our national survival" does not come from a conservative. He stakes out the middle ground between the right (Fred Barnes, Charles Krauthammer) and the left (NPR's Mara Liasson and Juan Williams) on the discussion panel on Fox New's "Special Report with Brit Hume," and usually comes off sounding like a pre-McGovern Democrat.

He blames Bush-hatred for government bureaucrats leaking critical secrets that undermine our ability to fight Islamic terrorists, as well as the appalling irresponsibility of demagogues like Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and liberal media outlets like Newsweek, both of which have hyped the NSA's use of anonymous call logs to analyze terrorist threats into a phony civil liberties crisis — much to our country's strategic disadvantage.

The result is a climate in which treason is regarded as heroic, and commonsense antiterrorism measures are treated as crimes. As Kondracke notes:

Would newspapers in the midst of World War II have printed the fact that the United States had broken German and Japanese codes, enabling the enemy to secure its communications? Or revealed how and where Nazi spies were being interrogated? Nowadays, newspapers win Pulitzer Prizes for such disclosures. ...

The phone companies that are cooperating with the government ought to be congratulated for participating in the war on terrorism — as they would have been during WWII. Instead, they are being hauled before the Senate Judiciary Committee as though they were criminals. And trial lawyers are circling like vultures to make them pay zillions for alleged privacy violations.

His main point is becoming increasingly obvious, and not only to conservatives:

Democrats want to destroy Bush so badly that they are willing to undercut national security.

Remember this when the next terror attack comes, because the media sure isn't going to remind you why it was that the intelligence community was not able to connect the dots.

Kondracke quotes Princeton University professor Bernard Lewis, one of our foremost scholars of Islam, as saying that Osama bin Laden and his kind regard America as "an effete, degenerate, pampered enemy incapable of real resistance." It's not hard to see how this perception would evolve during the Clinton Administration.

Liberals enjoy complaining that Bush is making a bad impression on the rest of the world. They ought to spare a little thought for the impression they are making themselves, particularly on those who want to destroy us.

Posted by Van Helsing at 1:32 PM | Comments (7)

Murtha Receives His Pieces of Silver

As warned previously, yesterday the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award was awarded to Rep. John "Moonbat Jack" Murtha (D-PA), who has managed to elbow his way into the spotlight by spewing defeatist and anti-military rhetoric that crosses the border from irresponsible to treasonous.

Murtha has loudly demanded that we turn tail and immediately "redeploy" out of Iraq. But when House Republicans called his bluff by bringing up a vote on his foolish suggestion, even Murtha voted against it. This clearly demonstrated that his "redeployment" demands were nothing more than a publicity stunt designed to generate favorable media coverage and enhance his status in the Democratic Party. Nonetheless, he continues to demand unconditional surrender, and in addition characterizes our military as "broken, worn out" and "living hand to mouth," poses for photo ops with hard-core anti-American leftists, and has even discouraged recruits from joining the armed forces.

Although Murtha's disgusting behavior would have landed him in front of a firing squad during WWII or any war before it, today pandering to the liberal media by publicly engaging in sedition does not require any courage whatsoever, but rather is certain to result in fawning coverage.

In stark contrast, as OpinionJournal notes, Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) showed real courage when he dared to point out that we are not the bad guys, nor are we losing the war. Instead of leading to a phony award, Lieberman's courage has turned him into persona non grata among Dems, and could cost him his Senate seat.

Speaking of stark contrasts, compare the defeatist rhetoric endlessly spit up by Murtha with these words from JFK's inaugural address:

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

The Democratic Party has come a long way, hasn't it?

Posted by Van Helsing at 8:03 AM | Comments (5)

May 22, 2006

Commencement Craziness

To judge by some of this spring's commencement addresses and the reactions to them, the progression to reality from the realm of academia is going to be a radical transition for graduates.

Boston College was granted an honor that some fall short of deserving when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gave a commencement speech there this evening. No reasonable person could fail to be impressed by Dr. Rice's many accomplishments or deny that she deserves the utmost respect. Moonbats, on the other hand, cannot see past the sputtering hatred inspired in them by any black American who dares to stray from the liberal fold. A petulant clown named Steve Almond actually resigned his adjunct professor position over Rice's appearance, although this might have been a calculated career move. At the speech, left-wing children of all ages responded as you might expect, turning their backs and waving protest signs.

One of the placards displayed the psychotic inversion characteristic of the Left: "No degrees for terrorism." It seems that her contributions to the war on terror have inspired at least one moonbat to demand that Rice be denied an honorary degree from BC — for being a terrorist. The same deranged logic would make FDR a Nazi.

But despite the paucity of mature adults among college faculty these days, some students offer hope for the future. The protest against Rice was smaller than expected per Reuters, "and those among the 25,000 crowd who gave her a standing ovation outnumbered those who sat in silence."

Conservatives also made themselves heard yesterday at Western Connecticut State, where Catherine Crier of Court TV fame annoyed the students with a demented diatribe during which she compared America to a totalitarian police state. Some students responded by chanting, "We love Bush."

Crier would have received a warmer welcome at NYC's fanatic-friendly New School, where RINO John McCain's speech last week defending the President's foreign policy and touching on the need to restore civility to American politics was received like gasoline on a fire:

For his sins, McCain endured an afternoon of insult, including catcalls, derisive shouts throughout his speech, a walkout by some students and a demonstration by others who stood and turned their backs while he spoke.

Demonstrating just how far out there they get at the New School, the audience's venom spilled over onto the school's President, former U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bob Kerrey, whose heroic service in Vietnam cost him part of a leg and earned him the denunciation "You're a war criminal!" from one of his students.

The New School crowd would have much preferred the speech New York Times publisher Pinch Sulzberger offered the grads of SUNY New Paltz yesterday. The Prince of Political Correctness used the occasion to denounce the war on terror; to sanctimoniously congratulate his own paper for publishing classified information that compromised national security; and to declare that abortion, homosexual "marriage," and illegal immigration are "fundamental human rights." Bizarrely, he then proceeded to quote Winston Churchill, a man who I suspect would have regarded the very existence of a creature like Sulzberger as obscene.

Best of luck to this year's grads. The gap between college and the real world is a wide one, but it's well worth crossing.

Posted by Van Helsing at 10:03 PM | Comments (9)

Noose Tightens Around William Jefferson's Neck

Congressman William Jefferson (D-LA) first attracted our attention last fall, when he diverted rescue efforts at the height of the Katrina crisis, apparently to remove incriminating documents and/or cash from his New Orleans mansion. He's back in the news, now that it has come to light that a search of his home in DC turned up $90,000 in cash hidden in a freezer.

Even though Rep. Jefferson had cleverly divided the loot among various frozen food containers, the authorities apparently kept looking until they got it all. Not that Jefferson isn't likely to have more hidden elsewhere. The cold hard cash was from a $100,000 payment received from an informant in a bribery probe, but that's chump change for a player like Jefferson. iGate CEO Vernon Jackson has pleaded guilty to paying the eight-term Congressman over $400,000 to grease government wheels for that company's high-tech ventures in Africa.

Despite having been caught with his whole arm in the cookie jar, Jefferson vows to remain in office. His New Orleans constituents would no doubt reelect him, though he might have to run from a federal prison.

The freezer money, which was actually discovered last August, came to light in an affidavit used to get a warrant to search Jefferson's office. His lawyer Robert Trout croaks that the affidavit serves "no legitimate investigative purpose."

You can't blame a guy named Trout for worrying about fishing expeditions; however, this is anything but. Investigators have evidence linking Jefferson to at least seven other cases where he "sought things of value in return for his performance of official acts," according to the affidavit.

Meanwhile, Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV), the ranking Dem on the House Ethics Committee, was recently forced to resign due to an FBI investigation into pork-barrel appropriations that he apparently used to divert nearly $6 million of our money into his own wallet.

Come again, Ms. Pelosi — what was that you said about a culture of corruption?

Posted by Van Helsing at 11:44 AM | Comments (5)

Do-Gooders Assist Mexican Invasion

Tucson's KVOA is reporting an expected surge in the number of do-gooders who will actively assist the invasion of our country by going out into the desert to help incoming illegal aliens. The groups No More Deaths and Samaritan Patrol boast that they have signed up hundreds of well-meaning fools to deliver food, water, and medical aid to foreigners sneaking across the border. Humane Borders has been putting out water tanks where machine gun nests might be more appropriate, so that the Mexicans displacing us from the southwest third of our country don't get thirsty as they invade.

Ten percent of Mexico's population is already in the USA. The way "immigration reform" is shaping up in the Senate, the other 90% can't be far behind. When they've all left their country, maybe we can have it; we'll need one.

Posted by Van Helsing at 9:20 AM | Comments (4)

Mad Howie Versus the Chocolate City Kid

While not a fan of the clown who has been reelected Mayor of New Orleans after announcing that God wants the city to stay chocolate (i.e., majority black), I have to congratulate anyone who manages to tweak the beak of Howard "Dr. Demento" Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Drudge is reporting that Dean's DNC secretly placed political operatives in the Big Easy to sabotage Nagin's reelection efforts. A national effort by Democrats resulted in Nagin's opponent Mitch Landrieu outraising him $3.3 million to $541,980.

Apparently even the Democratic Party is capable of embarrassment. But race seems to trump even money in some cities, so Nagin isn't going away. With the Democratic establishment's knives sticking out of his back, he may not go out of his way to be nice in return. Already he's been praising President Bush. If the Dems aren't careful, they could find out that blacks don't necessarily have to support their party.

Posted by Van Helsing at 9:07 AM | Comments (1)

May 21, 2006

Belgian Justice Minister Greenlights Vandalism

Ecokooks calling themselves the Flagadas have been scampering around Brussels like naughty schoolchildren, harassing car owners by letting the air out of tires on vehicles of which they disapprove. And why not? According to Minister of Justice Laurette Onkelinx, this form of vandalism is not a crime in Belgium:

If no harm is done to the car, the Flagadas can not be punished. The deflating of tires can not be considered to be a crime. It does not cause any harm to moveable possessions, nor does it make a vehicle unusable. Hence, the Flagadas can not be brought to justice before a court of law.

Rudy Giuliani worked miracles cleaning up New York City by applying the Broken Windows principle, which is based on the insight that if you ignore petty vandalism, before you know it, your city is swirling down the toilet:

Consider a building with a few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it's unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside.

Evidently this lesson was lost on Belgium.

Hat tip: Celestial Junk

Posted by Van Helsing at 7:22 PM | Comments (3)

Sarbox and the High Cost of Moonbattery

A few years ago several corporate scandals came to light, delighting the anti-capitalist Left, which used its dominance of the media to blow the scandals out of proportion. Predictably pandering to the MSM's hysteria, Congress produced Sarbanes-Oxley, senselessly intrusive accounting legislation intended apparently to punish the entire free enterprise system for the transgressions of a few executives.

According to the Wall Street Journal:

Sarbox has added hundreds of billions of dollars in compliance costs, and for no clear public gain. Deloitte has estimated that the average large company has lost 70,000 man-hours to Sarbox compliance, often by its most senior managers.

That's some pretty serious punishment. As always, these outrageous and unnecessary costs will be passed along to us, the consumers.

Wayward executives at Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia, and Tyco received life-ruining sentences of up to 25 years under the pre-Sarbox laws they violated. How many years will Paul Sarbanes and Michael Oxley serve for having caused society far more damage?

Hat tip: Varla

Posted by Van Helsing at 12:03 PM | Comments (1)

Blotting Out Heterosexism Among Scottish Children

The gay agenda will be taking a leap forward in Scottish public schools, thanks to a decree by "senior health officials" that current sex education guidelines need to be revised so as not to be "heterosexist."

Scottish laws banning the promotion of homosexuality in schools were abolished back in 2000, so the only surprise is that it took so long for the Sexual Health and Relationships Education (SHARE) sex ed program to be expanded to include homosexuality. Kids will be learning about "same-sex crushes," legal consent issues, and how to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases while indulging in gay sex.

As a spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland wondered:

Where was it decreed that every aspect of human sexuality has to be addressed in the school curriculum?

But the gay agenda is not so much about sexuality per se, as about a depraved subculture that some would like to impose on children too young to reject it.

Posted by Van Helsing at 11:01 AM | Comments (8)

May 20, 2006

Reid Denounces English As National Language

An amendment to the ongoing immigration mess being perpetrated by the Senate confirms what pretty much everyone on the planet knows, that English is the "national language of the United States." It states that people have no affirmative right to receive government services in foreign languages, except where required by federal law — i.e., the amendment has no legal meaning, and is an attempt at a fig leaf to cover the government's capitulation to the demographic warfare being waging against us by Mexico.

Nonetheless, this amendment was too tough for some, who turned right around and passed a second, even more toothless one, which makes it official that English is "the common and unifying language of the United States."

Democratic Leader Harry "Dingy Harry" Reid, whose home state Nevada lies within "Aztlan," is furious with all this talk of English as our national language. He's declared that it's "racist."

If so, progressives finally have evidence that America is thoroughly infested with racism. According to a 2005 Zogby International poll, 79% of Americans support making English the official language of the USA. Four fifths of first- and second-generation immigrants support it. Even President Bush, who could hardly be characterized as a conservative when it comes to immigration, has acknowledged the importance of Americans speaking a unifying language so that our country doesn't degenerate into a Towel of Babel. He has called English "the key to unlocking the opportunity of America."

But from the Left's point of view, opportunity is the problem. It leads to independence and assimilation, which would dash dreams of a massive Spanish-speaking voting block, consisting of a permanent underclass sealed into their barrios by the inability to speak English, utterly reliant on the government teat through which Dems always promise to keep taxpayers' money flowing.

By the way, I hear that in the near future, the two countries with the most English speakers will be India and China. Adopting English as a de facto official language has been key to India's economic success; in the past, the plethora of languages spoken in that country resulted in crippling inefficiencies. Apparently racism is breaking out everywhere.

Posted by Van Helsing at 10:34 AM | Comments (5)

May 19, 2006

Fatuous Question of the Day

Today Helen Thomas solved the crisis of the maniacal terrorist regime in Iran being on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons with a single question:

Instead of autocratically cherry-picking which nations can join the nuclear club, why doesn't the United States propose global disarmament for a safer world?

I won't bother to comment on this. Thomas is perfectly capable of ridiculing herself and liberals in general without any help from me.

Posted by Van Helsing at 12:33 PM | Comments (9)

Locust Swamp Getting Drained

Swarms of locusts used to terrorize America's heartland, wiping out entire crops, reducing prosperous farmers to ruin with their voracious appetites. Fortunately locusts aren't a problem for us anymore, thanks to development. As the Great Plains were settled, the swamps where locusts breed were drained, radically reducing their numbers.

Now we face a new type of locust, every bit as willing to make itself fat by devouring the fruits of others' constructive labor. But one of the swamps it breeds in is about to be drained.

Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman is the nation's leading class-action securities law firm. Its lawyers have looted an estimated $45 billion from companies. This helps explain why trial lawyers are able to bestow such generous gifts upon the Democratic Party, which in turn does its best to block tort reform.

But drunk with greed, Milberg Weiss has been getting carried away, and now stands charged with paying over $11 million in kickbacks to three crooks who served as plaintiffs in upwards of 150 lawsuits that generated $216 million in legal fees.

The firm and partners David J. Bershad and Steven G. Schulman stand accused of racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. The named partners could get up to 20 years in jail for racketeering.

Here's some poetic justice: this could lead to a class-action lawsuit against Milberg Weiss. However, it's probably the case that the partners' personal assets are protected and the firm itself does not have much cash, despite the billions it has bled out of productive corporations, resulting in a drain on the economy and higher prices for all.

Posted by Van Helsing at 11:27 AM | Comments (3)

It Was I, Hugo Chavez

Congratulations to Aleksander Boyd of Publius Pundit, for having earned the honor of being publicly denounced by Hugo Chavez's buddy Red Ken Livingston, Mayor of London. For an informative summary of just why lefty icon Chavez is so objectionable, see Boyd's excellent response.

Thanks to V the K for the tip.

Posted by Van Helsing at 10:32 AM | Comments (1)

Brokeback Mounties, Lavender Graduations

The gayification of our culture is proceeding at a pace that should turn North America into a cross between a John Waters movie and a San Francisco bath house by the time Arabic becomes the official language of France.

Next month two male members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are scheduled to "marry" each other in an official ceremony complete with scarlet dress uniforms. They may have their colleagues form an honor guard for them.

Said Mounties spokesman Sgt. Frank Skidmore:

Certainly, the RCMP welcomes a workforce that is representative of Canadian society, and that is the case here.

As registered domestic partners, the lovebirds already have the same basic legal rights as a married couple. But everyone loves a wedding.

Meanwhile, USA Today reports that a growing number of schools are holding "lavender graduations" to honor LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, "transgender") students. More than 50 campuses are holding them this year. Participants often receive rainbow-colored tassels to put on their mortarboards.

As University of California regent, Ward Connerly tried to bar funding for separate graduation ceremonies based on identity politics, on the grounds that the balkanization of our society into a collection of isolated victim groups isn't doing us any good. Unsurprisingly, his attempt failed.

Hat tip: William

Posted by Van Helsing at 9:54 AM

May 18, 2006

Murtha Exploits Alleged Massacre

Moonbat Jack Murtha has hit yet another new low by exploiting the tragic story of American Marines alleged to have deliberately killed civilians in Iraq.

Bellowed Moonbat Jack:

There was no firefight, there was no IED (improvised explosive device) that killed these innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood.

You read that correctly: the Marines overreacted in cold blood. Murtha also saw fit to inform us that the incident was "much worse than reported in Time magazine." On Chris Matthews' program, when Tweety asked if the incident was comparable to the infamous My Lai massacre in Vietnam, Murtha enthusiastically pounced with "That's exactly it."

Since Murtha was presumably not present at the event, which is still under investigation, it's unclear how he comes by his knowledge. What is clear is that regardless of what happened, he will say anything that gains him fawning attention from the liberal media at the expense of our troops' morale.

Hat tip: Wiggins

Posted by Van Helsing at 9:24 PM | Comments (2)

Mexican Marshall Plan

They say that when all you have is a hammer, every problem is a nail. Democrats don't have many ideas other than their cardinal principle that taxes could never be high enough, but they do have the theoretically boundless piles of our cash their beloved taxes confiscate. Therefore the solution to all problems is to throw taxpayers' money at them.

Most everyone can agree by now that due to the demographic warfare it has been waging against us, Mexico is a problem. So it's hardly surprising that Thomas McLarty, who was Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff, wants to throw money at Mexico.

McLarty likes the idea of financing a new Marshall Plan, involving $20 billion in development aid over 10 years. The idea is that if you just sink enough money into it, Mexico's corrupt system will learn how to capitalize on its oil reserves. Gibbered McLarty:

If you had more development of the infrastructure in Mexico, more development of the resources there, it would bring more employment in Mexico and keep more of their best and brightest at home.

Hello, McLarty, get a clue. It is not Mexico's best and brightest who illegally sneak across our border with nothing but the shirts on their backs, willing to walk across the Arizona desert for the opportunity to pick lettuce, scrub toilets, and deal methamphetamines — any more than we got the cream of Cuba's crop when Castro flushed his prisons and mental asylums toward Florida during the Mariel boatlift.

As usual, government is not the solution, but the problem. According to Mexico's energy minister Fernando Canales, the reason they are not making the most of their resources is that international private investment is against the law. PEMEX, a national monopoly, must have control of all energy development per Mexico's constitution. Consequently much of their oil sits in the ground waiting for the moonbattery to subside so that someone can extract it, just like the oil in ANWR and off the Florida coast.

Posted by Van Helsing at 8:08 PM

7-Year-Old Boy Enrolled As Girl

A 7-year-old Japanese boy reportedly likes wearing skirts and doesn't like baseball. Since he isn't Scottish, authorities were left to conclude that he must suffer from gender identity disorder. Consequently he has been enrolled in grade school as a girl.

"Classmates are apparently unaware of the child's physical gender," said a school board official. They've even got him wearing a bikini to the pool.

If the kid isn't messed up yet, he sure will be when he gets closer to puberty. After all, your gender isn't up to doctors, educrats, your parents, or you. No amount of moonbattery can change your chromosomes.

For now he's using the girl's bathroom. An enterprising lawyer might want to start up a class action lawsuit on behalf of other boys who are being discriminated against by not being allowed in there.

Posted by Van Helsing at 4:01 PM

7-Year-Old Boy Enrolled As Girl

A 7-year-old Japanese boy reportedly likes wearing skirts and doesn't like baseball. Since he isn't Scottish, authorities were left to conclude that he must suffer from gender identity disorder. Consequently he has been enrolled in grade school as a girl.

"Classmates are apparently unaware of the child's physical gender," said a school board official. They've even got him wearing a bikini to the pool.

If the kid isn't messed up yet, he sure will be when he gets closer to puberty. After all, your gender isn't up to doctors, educrats, your parents, or you. No amount of moonbattery can change your chromosomes.

For now he's using the girl's bathroom. An enterprising lawyer might want to start up a class action lawsuit on behalf of other boys who are being discriminated against by not being allowed in there.

Posted by Van Helsing at 3:56 PM

PC Prigs Chastise Snow for Saying "Tar Baby"

The sanctimonious clowns at Think Progress and Crooks and Liars have a new reason to let their righteous disapproval rain down upon Tony Snow: he used the phrase "tar baby" in his first press conference as White House Press Secretary.

As most people fluent in America English are aware, "tar baby" is slang for a sticky situation, or as Dictionary.com puts it:

A situation or problem from which it is virtually impossible to disentangle oneself.

But the high priests of political correctness have decided it's a racial slur — just like the word "niggardly." Never mind that given the context the term was obviously meant to have its traditional meaning, which lies outside the known universe of liberals by having absolutely nothing to do with identity politics.

Wizbang! has details (thanks to V the K for the tip).

Posted by Van Helsing at 1:32 PM

Red Ken Finds Justification for Mao's Reign of Terror

Once the greatest city in the world, London has tragically degenerated to the point that its mayor is Ken Livingston, a cartoon of a moonbat who has recently found a new justification for the genocidal maniac and lefty icon Mao Tse-tung:

One thing that Chairman Mao did was to end the appalling foot binding of women. That alone justifies the Mao Tse-tung era.

"At first, we thought it was just a flippant joke," said a member of the London Assembly. "But it soon became clear that Ken was being serious."

It's Red Ken himself who is the joke, although not a very funny one. In terms of deeds his hero Mao was probably the most evil human who ever lived, having been responsible for the peacetime deaths of over 70 million of his own people, as documented in the new book Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday.

I know, I know. One death is a tragedy, 70 million is just a statistic.

Posted by Van Helsing at 6:33 AM | Comments (7)

May 17, 2006

Mexico to Sue If We Start to Resist

Mexico has zeroed in on America's Achilles heel and the most efficient way to exploit it. Our country is strong on the outside, but within is riddled with the cancer of moonbattery, which is particularly acute in our legal system, being as it is run by lawyers. So to make absolutely sure that Bush's farce of a border security plan doesn't result in any meaningful enforcement, Mexico is threatening to sue America in its own courts if the National Guard detains Mexicans as they invade our country.

You almost have to admire the unmitigated gall. The strategy would probably work, too — if it were necessary. However, the token 6,000 National Guard troops are being sent to the 2,000-mile border not in a legitimate effort to defend the country from demographic conquest, but in a lame attempt to defend Bush from the conservatives who elected him. The troops will be in a support role, doing the sort of the things the Minutemen have been doing, not detaining Mexican invaders.

Too bad we can't use the courts to sue our government into performing its most basic function by defending the country's territorial integrity.

Posted by Van Helsing at 8:40 PM | Comments (1)

Steve White Fired

Teaching will no longer stand in the way of a glorious political career in the Democratic Party for Steve White, who has finally been canned from the West Limestone, Alabama public school where he was supposed to be teaching eighth-grade science.

When White played an obscene video devoted to insulting President Bush for his class, he apparently got off with a talking-to. Nor was it taken terribly seriously that he would force students to say "John Kerry rocks" before letting them leave the room. But then it turned out that not all of the dirty material White played for the kids could be redeemed by moonbat politics.

Superintendent Barry Carroll sent White a letter letting him know the boom was coming down. The reasons listed included the following:

• Mr. White lets students watch videos and computer images in his classroom rather than engage in teaching.
• Mr. White has shown students in his class computer images purporting to show a former president and his wife engaged in sexual activity.
• Mr. White has shown members of his class computer and video images showing an older lady answering questions relating to sex and other subjects using profanity.
• Mr. White has shown students in his class a computer image of a girl exposing her breast.

The road is now wide open for White to pursue his candidacy for State Representative on the Democratic ticket. The party of Bill Clinton is sure to make him feel at home.

Posted by Van Helsing at 2:03 PM | Comments (4)

The Aging and Immigration Train Wreck

Our society is headed for a train wreck. People can see it coming, but almost no one in a position to do something about it has the guts to take action. The resulting catastrophe will be all the more tragic because it could be avoided.

As Robert Samuelson makes clear, the trains roaring along on a collision course are our aging population and excessive immigration. These trains will meet when impoverished Spanish-speaking immigrants and their offspring are asked to subsidize the retirement of well-to-do baby boomers.

To admit this won't work, we would have to admit that entitlement programs urgently need to be reformed to adapt to a population that is older and lives longer. But Democrats will lie across the tracks of even the most modest Social Security reforms; Republicans seem to have given up on the issue.

We would also have to admit that massive numbers of unskilled immigrants are not going to make America a better place. As University of Illinois economist Barry Chiswick testified before Congress recently:

Their presence in the labor market increases competition for low-skilled jobs, reducing the earnings of low-skilled native-born workers. ... Because of their low earnings, low-skilled immigrants also tend to pay less in taxes than they receive in public benefits, such as income transfers (e.g., the earned income tax credit, food stamps), public schooling for their children, and publicly provided medical services. Thus while the presence of low-skilled immigrant workers may raise the profits of their employers, they tend to have a negative effect on the well-being of the low-skilled native-born population, and on the native economy as a whole.

Low-skilled immigrants, who are arriving in numbers that make assimilation impossible, are not going to be able to finance even their own demands on the entitlement state, much less baby boomers' retirements. Meanwhile, native American workers will be forced to work for less if they can find work at all. The strain on our economy will break its back if the government doesn't look the future in the eye by reforming entitlements and radically reducing the torrent of unskilled immigrants.

Samuelson quotes a reader's email:

There are children in my son's school who aren't able to speak a single word of English, and it is causing such frustration amongst the staff and other children... I am afraid for my son's future.

Due to the appalling cowardice and irresponsibility of our leaders, our own future is in jeopardy. Our children's future is curdling into something unthinkable. If the coming tr