The feds won't do it, so local governments have begun trying to enforce the law. And this aggression will not stand.

A yet unanswered question is “Why is the open borders lobby pushing for amnesty?” After all, they had it pretty good with no federal enforcement.

Chertoff and Kyl both seem to have answered that question recently, Kyl in his Wall Street Journal interview and Chertoff on Fox News yesterday: because businesses are starting to worry about efforts to enforce immigration laws at the local level. One state in the vanguard of that effort is KylÂ’s (and McCainÂ’s) home state of Arizona, where the legislature has passed numerous laws (usually vetoed) on the issue, and where the public voted for Prop 200 back in 2004.

To me that says something far more ominous than that Congress is being disingenuous or naïve on the matter. Far from simple being empty promises, this amnesty bill is actually a blatant attempt to head off any attempts at enforcement at all. After all, states and cities can’t deny services or enforce laws against illegals if the government makes them all legal.

In a Rasmussen poll, a whopping 69% of Americans anti-Hispanic bigots preferred a less comprehensive bill that put enforcement first.

Just 20% of American voters want Congress to try and pass the immigration reform bill that failed in the Senate last week. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 51% would like their legislators to “take smaller steps towards reform” while 16% believe they should wait until next year. The survey was conducted on Monday and Tuesday night as the President was publicly attempting to rally support for the legislation.

Sixty-nine percent (69%) of voters would favor an approach that focuses exclusively on “exclusively on securing the border and reducing illegal immigration.” Support for the enforcement only approach comes from 84% of Republicans, 55% of Democrats, and 69% of those not affiliated with either major party.

Overall, just 21% are opposed to the enforcement-only approach.

MSM anmest-pologists continue polling on hypothetical bills, their questions focusing on hard-to-say-no-to generalities like whether Hispanic immigrants should have the opportunity, like any other people in the entire world, to apply for legal status and a green card and even citizenship. Note the opportunity part; note especially the "apply" part, which implies a chance at legalization, not an automatic legalization within 24 hours of application.

Rasmussen finds that only 20% of the public supports the bill as written. Why don't the LAT and other amenesty-boosters simply ask if the public supports the bill? Why do they continue asking about, essentially, other bills that aren't currently being debated? Kaus answers:

The LAT could have countered Rasmussen by asking voters what they thought about the actual bill. They didn't. Why take chances?

Indeed. It seems our MSM is -- get this -- simply lying to us at this point. They know damn well what results would flow from actually asking about the bill under consideration. So they deliberately ask about just about anything other than that, then push their results as being, actually, about the bill itself.

At Hot Air, a clip of Laura Ingraham and Michelle Malkin agreeing the conservative coalition is "finished" if this amnesty bill passes. Indeed, I think it's come to that.

At Ingraham's website, a list of all wavering/soft Senators with their contact information.

As the establishment/"leadership" is making threats...

Senate conservatives have been warned by Republican leaders that they must either accept a series of largely symbolic floor votes on a handful of amendments to the immigration reform legislation or see themselves shut out of the process altogether when the chamber resumes work on the bill later this year, GOP lawmakers and aides said Tuesday.

... it's time to start making counter-threats.

How The Left Gets Paid Off: Why is the left going along with a plan to artificially depress labor wages by importing in tens of millions of new legal low-skilled workers? I mean -- besides the fact that these undocumented Americans will vote liberal by 4-to-1 ratios.

Kaus has the answer: Barney Frank has promised to offset the wage-depressing effects of the amnesty/guest worker program by giving the unions even more power to artificially raise wages!

It's the perfect compromise: The no-borders pro-business-subsidy WSJ crowd gets artificial wage depression, but this is all exquisitely balanced by giving the no-borders pro-union left gets artificial wage increases! You see -- everybody wins!

The free market in full effect! Milton Freedman just stood up in his grave to cheer wildly!

Your MSM Is On The Job! To honor Flag Day -- which, let's face it, isn't really much of a holiday, but still -- the Washington Post runs a picture in its free commuter tabloid of the American flag.

Held by an illegal alien, of course.

Posted by: Ace at 10:34 AM | Comments (19)
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Come for the cans. Stay for... well, don't stay for anything, but I guess if you're going to stay it would also be for the cans.

Posted by: Ace at 09:46 AM | Comments (18)
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"I will not take the low road to the highest office in this land. I want the presidency in the best way, not the worst way. A clear choice will be offered, a choice between my optimistic and welcoming conservatism and the negative message of fear..I'm going to fight with every ounce of strength I have, but I'm going to keep fighting clean, I'm going to keep fighting fair, and I'm going to keep fighting the battle of ideas."

From today's Politico:

In another sign of John McCain's plan to assault former Mitt Romney over his alleged flip-flops, the Arizona senator's campaign has purchased the website "www.mittvsfact.com" and will launch it in the coming weeks as a compendium of what they say are the former governor's differing stances.

The McCain camp yesterday attacked Romney on abortion under a "Mitt vs Fact" letterhead that aped their rival's campaign logo. Late in the day, a tipster pointed out that a URL of the same had been purchased and privately registered. A McCain aide confirmed today that they secured the site last month and indicated that they would use it as a sort of one-stop shop "to brand" Romney.

Posted by: Slublog at 08:37 AM | Comments (28)
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Jorge Arbusto decides to import a new political base from Latin America:

Aide: Sir, with all due respect, I donÂ’t think you can just replace the American people as part of some political strategy.

GWB: Nonsense, boy! The Brain hereÂ’s got it all worked out. Tell him, Genius!

Karl Rove: White people are yesterday’s news, son. They don’t have kids anymore and they don’t vote in a bloc. Tomorrow is all about the Hispanic vote. It’s a plan I call “Tomorrow’s Manana,” and it’s working like a charm. Did you know that Dubya here got over 40% of the Hispanic vote in one of his elections? Now imagine if the Hispanic population were doubled! That’s over 40% of almost twice as many people!

Aide: WouldnÂ’t you need to get more than 50% of a group to benefit from its doubling?

Karl Rove: We may have us a bigot, here, Dubya.

Thanks to CAD Daddy.

Posted by: LauraW. at 07:49 AM | Comments (7)
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If you are like me (and, God willing, you aren't) you just can't get enough of the television experience that is "Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld". It's like stalking hobos for sexual release: you just can't stop after enjoying it once.

So, assuming you are like me, you worry that you might miss an episode! After all, with it's 2:00 AM EST time slot, and the ever changing seasonal migration of the homeless to the local Greyhound station, it is not always possible to stay up to watch it.

To allay this concern, I have consolidated a handy-dandy "transcript" of an episode that never actually aired so that, should you accidentally miss an episode, you can still get your "fake but accurate" fix. From the Gut's "Geraldo Rivera" like BOOMING VOICE to the incredible androgenous sexual tension between Bill and Greg and the incredible vapidity of D-list guests like Samantha Judge, all your favorite "Red Eye" moments are here.

I hope this provides you with as much comfort as it has provided me on those nights when the cable is out and the hobos are too fast.

Roll Credits. more...

Posted by: Jack M. at 01:24 AM | Comments (46)
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If there were such a thing as the Republican Party anymore, this would probably be a good issue to attack the Democrats with.

Alas.

To secure congressional funding for a pet project, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., made a surprising claim: The little-known National Drug Intelligence Center was about to take charge of the "vitally important" terrorist no-fly list.

The Most Ethical Congress In History Washington

Murtha's news, in a letter he sent to the House Intelligence Committee last month, came as a surprise to the nation's intelligence community. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence already had recommended that the NDIC, in Murtha's hometown of Johnstown, Pa., be closed for poor performance. It also puzzled the Justice Department, NDIC's parent agency, where spokesman Dean Boyd said there are no "current" plans for such a transition.

Murtha got the committee to approve a $23 million "earmark" for the facility, anyway. Intelligence Committee member Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said he and his colleagues never saw Murtha's letter with the apparently inflated claim.

Don't question his commitment to national security, though.

Shock: NYT Identifies Political Affiliation In Democratic Corruption Snafu: Though I suppose, given that it is Barack Obama's ties to an indicted "collector of politicians" that is at question, it would have been difficult for even the NYT to airbrush out the word "Democrat:"

Antoin Rezko, an entrepreneur of considerable charm who found riches in fast food and real estate, is known around Chicago as a collector of politicians.

Back in the 1990s, Mr. RezkoÂ’s office was adorned with framed photos of candidates he viewed as up-and-comers. Among them was Barack Obama, a state legislator whose first campaign donations included $2,000 from Mr. RezkoÂ’s companies. As Mr. Obama built a career that carried him to the Senate in 2004, Mr. Rezko was there with him, holding fund-raisers and rallying support.

Now, as Mr. Obama runs for president, the once-beneficial relationship with his old friend and patron has become problematic.

Last fall, Mr. Rezko was indicted on federal charges of business fraud and influence peddling involving the administration of Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois, whose picture was also on Mr. RezkoÂ’s wall. Since then, Mr. Obama, a Democrat, has had to answer questions about a land deal with Mr. RezkoÂ’s wife, Rita, and about other ties to him.

Since early June, Mr. Obama has given to charity more than $21,000 in donations that his Senate campaign had received from Rezko associates now linked to the federal inquiries. He gave away $11,500 from Mr. Rezko himself last fall.

Mr. Obama says he never did any favors for Mr. Rezko, who raised about $150,000 for his campaigns over the years and was once one of the most powerful men in Illinois. There is no sign that Mr. Obama, who declined to be interviewed for this article, did anything improper.

Mr. Obama has portrayed Mr. Rezko as a one-time fund-raiser whom he had occasionally seen socially. But interviews with more than a dozen political and business associates suggest that the two men were closer than the senator has indicated.

Mr. Obama turned to Mr. Rezko for help at several important junctures. Records show that when Mr. Obama needed cash in the waning days of his losing 2000 Congressional campaign, Mr. Rezko rounded up thousands of dollars from business contacts. In 2003, Mr. Rezko helped Mr. Obama expand his fund-raising for the Senate primary by being host of a dinner at his Mediterranean-style home for 150 people, including some whose names have since come up in the influence scandal.

And when Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, bought a house in 2005, Mr. Rezko stepped in again. Even though his finances were deteriorating, Mr. Rezko arranged for his wife to buy an adjacent lot, and she later sold the Obamas a 10-foot-wide strip of land that expanded their yard.

The land sale occurred after it had been reported that Mr. Rezko was under federal investigation. That awkward fact prompted Mr. Obama, who has cast himself as largely free from the normal influences of politics, to express regret over what he called his own bad judgment.

Posted by: Ace at 09:32 PM | Comments (16)
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I'm not sure how on earth this is supposed to work -- if he destroys Romney, Romeny's more social-con consitutency moves to... McCain? Why wouldn't they go to the more reliably conservative Thompson?

Wouldn't it make more sense to try to knock out the other maybe-too-liberal-for-the-Republican-Party candidate actually leading in the polls?

Thomas Edsall officially starts the McCain Doomsday Clock a-tickin' here.

The McCain campaign's abrupt decision to lash out at Mitt Romney as a flip-flopper on abortion is a last ditch bid to revive a candidate whose poll numbers and financial resources are dwindling.

The McCain camp recognizes that its original strategy of establishing front-runner status and claiming the honored position of "next in line" is now in tatters -- leaving McCain with nothing but highly unpleasant choices.

He and his strategists have decided to risk everything on a high-visibility, direct assault on Romney, praying that it will draw enough press attention to wound the former Massachusetts governor.
...

In a series of three email replies, the Romney campaign sought to rebut McCain. "Good afternoon, folks -- Lovely day to rapidly respond to desperate, faltering campaigns, isn't it?" one stated. But the substance of the McCain-Romney altercation is far less important than what the dispute says about the state of McCain's operation.

McCain and his backers have watched in the past week as he dropped from number two to number three in the polls....

The net result has been the marginalization of McCain. Marginal candidates cannot raise money, making it much more difficult for McCain to compete in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, the three early primary states that can make or break campaigns.

That's actually why he's targetting Romney -- Romney leads in Iowa and New Hampshire, despite being barely first-tier in national polling. McCain doesn't have the money to challenge Giuliani nationally, but Iowa and New Hampshire are cheap places in which to campaign.

So maybe it makes some sense. But I'm not sure if there's any good options left for McCain. Romney trails in the polls but leads in the still-important first-to-vote states of Iowa and NH. Giuliani leads nationally. Fred! either ties for the national lead or else is close behind, despite not officially declaring yet.

Which leaves McCain with... nothing at all.

So... who gets McCain's 10 or 12 percent support? If the majority of that goes to Giuliani, he actually might win this thing, having that huge pile of votes waiting for him in the liberal big states voting on MegaTuesday.

Via HotAir.

Posted by: Ace at 09:21 PM | Comments (30)
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...on suspicions of being an idiot.

This story's all sorts of weird.

Italian police have arrested a Russian "ninja" who had been spreading fear across farmlands in the north of the country.

The man, camouflaged in an all black suit, had robbed several farmers and their families at knife point, police say.

Police had been searching for him for several weeks.

For several weeks the police had been scouring the countryside looking for shadows.

The "ninja" was known to have struck several times - his head wrapped in a black bandana, a powerful bow in one hand and a knife strapped to his leg.

He targeted isolated farms late at night forcing farmers to hand over cash and valuables at arrow point.

...

But on Monday night the "ninja" was outwitted.

As he smashed through the door of a farmhouse, a feisty old pensioner was waiting for him.

The old man came down the stairs but tripped on the last step letting off his rifle.

Ummm... the pensioner picked up a rifle and was going to shoot the intruder. "Outwitted." Yeah, grabbing a powerful firearm with which to shoot someone is classic tactic in a "battle of wits." It's a regular Kobyashi Maru maneuver.

Anyone remember the time Laurence Taylor "outwitted" Joe Thiesman's leg in three places? Some real mental jujitsu he used there. Total neurobatic pwnag3.

Whatever, it's the BBC, they're idiots. Let's move on.

Startled, the "ninja" made his escape, hopping onto a bicycle and racing off into the nearby cornfields - followed by police who were quickly on the scene.

...

When asked about his chosen disguise, he told police he had been inspired by his boyhood idol - Robin Hood.

Yes, Robin Hood, the famous bicycle ninja who robbed poor farmers.

Thanks to herbert.

Posted by: Ace at 07:50 PM | Comments (26)
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Yeah. That whole "clapper" thing? It's not just conservatives who are noticing.

Now, I disagree with him that Stewart is particularly funny. But his Craigslist screed accurately diagnoses the audience's thrallish misbehavior:

But TDS audience...I'm not going to mince words...YOU'RE KIND OF FUCKING SHIT UP. And you're making Jon Stewart UNCOMFORTABLE (I can just tell). Because whenever a political joke is made that denigrates upon Bush, Cheney and other Republicans, or an opinion in a similar light is expressed by Stewart towards a guest, YOU ERUPT INTO FUCKING THUNDERING APPLAUSE.

STOP IT! I've never seen ANYONE react to a joke that way, just shaking and stomping like a dog shitting peach pits! And look, I understand--I FUCKING HATE THAT COCKSUCKING PIECE OF SHIT BUSH AND ALL HIS YES-MEN TOO, I hope they lock that motherfucker up forever. I really do. But when you applaud EVERY anti-Bush or anti-Repub joke, it alienates people who could otherwise be persuaded by Stewart's humor and realism (I've watched, anti-Dem jokes get laughter but rarely is there applause).

When guests are on who are basically political pieces of shit, but have a book to sell or whatever (Bill Kristol, Ashcroft, etc), Stewart has to stay in that middle zone...keeping it respectful but still asking hard questions (which you won't see very many other places). So when he checkmates some doucheface, and you all start applauding like mad, it ruins the whole point. It takes 15 seconds off of the interview--and it makes you look like rabid partisans out for blood.

...

But please...applaud at the start, welcome him. Applaud at the end, thank him. But in the middle, just laugh if it's funny. Just laugh.

Colin Quinn had a rule on his show -- no applause. Clapping and whooping it up are cheap. And they're not responses to comedy; they're a response to political statements. Not only would he tell the audience to stop clapping in political sympathy -- often calling them "idiots" or "dummies" -- he'd yell at whichever comic had deliberately pandered to get that predictable response ("I just think that if we can send a man to the moon, we should be able to cure AIDS already! Come on guys! Who's with me?!").

Jon Stewart has no such qualms. and has come to rely upon the clapper as a staple of his act.

PS, Jon Stewart Super-Fan? He's not asking the "hard questions." He's just being an arrogant TV clown.

Meanwhile... Donald "Mr. Classy" Trump is pitching a new show he'd host called Lady or the Tramp, where he takes trashy, slutty chicks to Trump Charm School and classes them up, probably by building 50 floor apartment complexes on them.

It's another Trump original, if you don't count Flava of Love: Charm School or Lady Into Ladettes and probably three or four other similarly-themed reality shows.

Maybe he should just start a series called Trump: Lost, in which a group of 40 strangers is stranded on a mysterious, but luxurious and classy, Mara Lago estate, and every week they learn a tiny little bit about their strange surroundings as well as lessons in business from a mysterious God-like figure called "Donald Trump."

Thanks to PetiteDov.

Posted by: Ace at 07:30 PM | Comments (42)
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Some time ago some moron/geek linked this video. I love it. Some of you may be saying, "Oh God, not another stupid World of Warcraft video," but it's really not. Jonathan Coulton is a singer-songwriter who's gotten a lot buzz from his internet-based distribution system; someone just used World of Warcraft to make a video for a pre-existing, stand-on-its-own-strength song. (I happen to think the video is pretty cute, too; I'm just saying, it's not a WoW fanboy song.)

It's about an evil genius who has kidnapped a woman to his secret lair on Skullcrusher Mountain, and is frustrated that his attempts to make her love him -- such as "making a half-monkey half-pony monster" for her -- result not in a kindling of her affections, but of increasing terror.

It's kinda funny. There are levels -- yeah, it's a silly song about an evil genius, but it really sums up, comically, the absurdity of male crushes. Guys really think like this when they're smitten, alas. If we had a Doomsday Squad with which to "ignite the atmosphere," we totally would brag about it to impress a girl.

more...

Posted by: Ace at 07:20 PM | Comments (11)
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