Area417

Ann Coulter Blasts Away at Huckabee and Thompson

Holy cow, Ann Coulter and I agree on something! I'd mark it on my calendar, except that I don't want to be reminded of the fact.

Ann says of Huckabee that "On illegal immigration, Huckabee makes George Bush sound like Tom Tancredo. He has compared illegal aliens to slaves brought here in chains from Africa, saying, 'I think frankly the Lord is giving us a second chance to do better than we did before." She notes that Huckabee opposed a bill (in Arkansas) that would have prevented illegals from voting and receiving state benefits.

The fact that Bill Clinton has good things to say about Huckabee should worry conservatives.

Coulter goes no easier on Thompson, writing that Nixon once called him "dumb as hell."

Read the rest--Fred Sawyer and Huckabee Finn

George Bush, These Women Have Something They Want to Say to You

ARE YOU LISTENING? What about the rest of you open borders presidential wannabes? Think these women might be speaking to YOU, McCain?

From the women and children of Mexico....

.....to the people of the U.S.A.

Enforce Your Laws.

Please

Close the United States Border to Illegal Migration.

Help us to Keep Our Husbands Home with our Families...

Link to Wetbacks Wives, Wetback Widows, Wetback Orphans of Tecalpulco, Municipio de Taxco Mexico - Dear Pedro how I miss you. you said you were only going to Arizona to get money for our house...

Bush Should Pardon Border Agents Ramos and Compean

Is there any limit to Bush's sucking up to the Mexican government?

Since he has been in the White House, President Bush has handed out 113 pardons--16 of those were in 2006.

A sampling of those pardoned, according to CNN:

• A man who conspired to defraud the U.S.
• Several for the distribution of cocaine
• Several more for bank fraud
• A Connecticut man, for accepting kickbacks

Absent from those year-end pardons were Border Agents Ramos and Compean. These agents were convicted of shooting Osvlado Aldrete-Davila, a drug smuggler from Mexico, and then trying to cover it up.

Aldrete was shot in the buttocks as he fled across the Rio Grande into Mexico after a confrontation with Ramos and Compean. The agents said they shot in self defense, but prosecutors charged that they had no reason to shoot at the fleeing man, who later claimed he was unarmed. (Ex-border agents sentenced for shooting smuggler--DallasNews)

Ramos said that he saw a shiny object in Aldrete-Davila's hand and thought that it was a gun; the prosecution said that he was unarmed. Who wouldn't take an admitted drug smuggler at his word?

Relatives of the smuggler had this to say:

Two of Aldrete-Davila's family members, interviewed by the Daily Bulletin in El Paso last week, said Aldrete-Davila has been smuggling drugs since he was 14 and "wouldn't move drugs unless he had a gun on him," said one. (Carter, Sara. Where is the proof? Those backing border agents want to see evidence of wrongdoing daily bulletin)

The prosecution asserted that the agents were just "out to shoot Mexicans" that day, which seems rather odd since both agents are of Hispanic background.

Because there was gunfire, the mandatory-minimum prison sentence the agents will serve is 10 years. The U.S. Probation Office in El Paso, Texas, has recommended 20 years -- 20 years away from their wives and their children, and among the type of people they've put behind bars.

As for Aldrete-Davila, he faces no charges for the 743 pounds of pot. That leaves him free to carry out his plan to sue the Border Patrol -- that is, U.S. taxpayers -- for $5 million because his civil rights were violated. What a country. (Saunders, Debra. The Border Patrol Inquisition Real Clear Politics)

Ramos, who was nominated for Border Patrol Agent of the Year in 2005, was sentenced to 11 years and a day; Compean got 12 years.

Video: Lou Dobbs Reports

More links: Father In-Law of Border Agent Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Ramos’ Speaks Out; Breaking the silence: Convicted border agent tells his story; Border agents plead for Christmas pardon; PHX: Border Supervisor David Stoddard On Agents Ramos & Compean & Immunity to a Drug Smuggler

Bush's Base Betrayal

Richard Viguerie has an excellent article in today's Washington Post about how conservatives have been utterly betrayed by the President and the GOP.

Conservatives tolerated the No Child Left Behind Act, an extensive intrusion into state and local education, and the budget-busting Medicare prescription drug benefit. They tolerated the greatest increase in spending since Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society. They tolerated Bush's failure to veto a single bill, and his refusal to enforce immigration laws. They even tolerated his signing of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance overhaul, even though Bush's opposition to that measure was a key reason they backed him over Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) in the 2000 primaries.

Bush talks the talks, but seldom walks the walk.

Conservatives can thank President Bush for Judges Roberts and Alito, (though Alito came after the disastrous nomination of Harriet Miers).

And we have him to thank for tax cuts and a booming economy (of which the average Joe seems blissfully unaware).

Sixty-five months into Bush's presidency, conservatives feel betrayed. After the "Bridge to Nowhere" transportation bill, the Harriet Miers Supreme Court nomination and the Dubai Ports World deal, the immigration crisis was the tipping point for us.

Viguerie notes the obvious:

[...]

congressional Republicans have sold themselves to conservatives as the continuation of the Reagan revolution. We were told that they would take on the Washington special interests -- that they would, in essence, tear down K Street and sow the earth with salt to make sure nothing ever grew there again.

Instead, that earth is hog wallow. Republicans have tasted pork and can't get enough of "the other white meat."

He continues:

But unhappy conservatives should be taken seriously. When conservatives are unhappy, bad things happen to the Republican Party.

[...]

In 1992, conservatives were so unhappy with President George H.W. Bush's open disdain for them that they staged an open rebellion, first with the candidacy of Patrick J. Buchanan and then with Ross Perot. The result was an incumbent president receiving a paltry 37 percent of the vote. In 1998, conservatives were demoralized by congressional Republicans' wild spending and their backing away from conservative ideas. The result was an unexpected loss of seats in the House and the resignation of Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).

The current record of Washington Republicans is so bad that, without a drastic change in direction, millions of conservatives will again stay home this November.

And maybe they should. Conservatives are beginning to realize that nothing will change until there's a change in the GOP leadership. If congressional Republicans win this fall, they will see themselves as vindicated, and nothing will get better.

Exactly.

Does that mean that I suggest that conservatives voice their discontent by voting for Democrats? Only if you're a Socialist at heart.

Can the Libertarian Party capitalize on the Republican disaster? (To be continued)

Link: Washington Post: Bush's Base Betrayal.

Check out the following for more on this subject: The foolishness of tribal loyalties