This song is from the "Chasing Daylight" album, and it really spoke to me as I listened to it on the way into work this morning. I think more than anything it's about regret, and not doing things halfway. The singer, as far as I can tell anyway, is saying that if you truly care for someone, no one wants to be considered a mistake, but more than that, if two people don't make it, you'd rather go down swinging, haven given it your best and doing everything within your power to do to try and make it work. That sounds just about right to me, but judge for yourself.
Sister Hazel
"Your Mistake"
ALBUM: Chasing Daylight
"I'm not right
And I'm not fine
I wanna be rain that tastes like wine
I wanna be good
I wanna be great
I wanna be everything except for your mistake
Send me inside your mind
I wanna know what you're thinking
This time I'll try to be the one you always thought you knew
It's true
I'm blue
And without you -
[Chorus]
I'm not right
I'm not fine
I wanna be rain that tastes like wine
I wanna be good
I wanna be great
I wanna be everything except for your mistake
Let me into your view
I wanna know how you see this thing that's us
I must keep managing my madness over you
It's true
I'm blue
And without you -
I'm not right
I'm not fine
I wanna be rain that tastes like wine
I wanna be good
I wanna be great
I wanna be everything except for your mistake
And I don't want your sympathy just understanding
We'd be better off if I just took some time to try to understand you
[Instrumental]
I'm not right
I'm not fine
I wanna be rain that tastes like wine
I wanna be good
I wanna be great
I wanna be everything except for your mistake
I'm not right
I'm not fine
I wanna be rain that tastes like wine
I wanna be seen
I wanna get clean
I wanna just fall out of in-between
I'm not right
I'm not right
I don't wanna be your mistake."
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Avoiding the Vicious Cycle of Payback
In this MSN article, the key theme is that people should make a conscious effort not to repay pain inflicted on them in a relationship with the same or greater amount of pain in return. By remaining calm and managing the situation, most conflicts can be resolved if both partners are willing to be calm, and communicate openly and honestly. It's sage advice, but it's also much easier preached than practiced.
"Want to know what causes the dissolution of far too many relationships in this world?
As a best-selling author and motivational coach, I can tell you how it goes in three acts:
Act I: You hurt me.
Act II: Because you hurt me, I hurt you.
Act III: You hurt me even more because I just hurt you, so I hurt you even more. Then you hurt me; then I hurt you; then you hurt me because I just hurt you, so I hurt you more, etc. …
The point: It's easy to act cold/hurtful/stonewalling to someone who you feel has said or done something you perceive as cold/hurtful/stonewalling to you.
But that's the point. That's the easy thing to do.
Basically, most of us people as a species aren't mean. We are weak.
It takes effort to consciously, openly, bravely, warmly speak up about the hurt you feel before things spiral negatively downward.
Yes, it takes effort to take the high road and to express your vulnerabilities and concerns with warmth and candor. But this effort is worth it ... because love and connection are your true sources for happiness—not money, not shoes, not sports cars ... and definitely not the satisfaction of being right about someone or something. (Yes, I know that last one really sometimes does feel as if it will bring us happiness ... but in the end it brings us more misery than glory.)
So next time someone you care about does something that you feel isn't very caring at all—put in the brave effort and kill that relationship monster while it's still small.
With this in mind, here are some helpful communication tips to keep in mind:
1. Pick the right time, the right place. Do you have at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted time ahead? Are you in a place where your partner feels like he or she can talk openly and not self-consciously? Are you in a loud restaurant where it's hard to hear and so you must shout—even before your partner makes you want to shout? In general, the best place to talk is at home alone, where you can sit facing each other, with good strong eye contact. Many psychologists even suggest holding hands as you talk—to keep a warm connection ongoing through all the bumps in the conversation.
2. Before you begin a difficult conversation, make it very clear to your partner that your goal is to create the best relationship possible. Admit you recognize talking about difficult subjects can be uncomfortable, but you'd rather have a difficult conversation now, than a decaying, untruthful, less intimate relationship later. Remind your partner how much you value him or her. Compliment your sweetie on a few qualities you appreciate. In general, be 100 percent certain your partner completely understands and believes your goal in talking is to increase the love, not wound to the quick, before you begin any difficult discussion.
3. If you are upset at your partner for something specific, try not to generalize by saying "You always do this. You always say that." Generalizations will only escalate your partner's emotional state because they're vaguer and less believable. Come on. Be honest with yourself. An "always" action is in reality a very rare thing. And psychologists all agree it's best to limit your talk to the one specific recent event that is bugging you and make past offenses not admissible evidence.
4. Be conscious of trying to begin as many of your sentences with "I" as you can. Likewise, try not to begin your sentences with "You." The goal: Own your feelings. Don't slander your partner. For example, try to say something like: "I feel like you were ignoring me yesterday—and I was hurt because I needed your warmth after my proposal was rejected at the office," instead of "You are cold, heartless, and don't offer me an ounce of support."
5. Create an obvious upside to talking, so you and your partner will want to talk again. In other words, be sure to close the conversation by consciously listing all the positive things you learned thanks to talking. Make a specific list of all the new actions you both will try to do to keep your relationship as strong and loving as possible. Oh ... and this is where that good, old-fashioned reward of "makeup sex" comes in! By ending on an upbeat "rewarding note," next time a difficult conversation comes up, you'll associate positives with talking, like: "Make love, not war!"
"Want to know what causes the dissolution of far too many relationships in this world?
As a best-selling author and motivational coach, I can tell you how it goes in three acts:
Act I: You hurt me.
Act II: Because you hurt me, I hurt you.
Act III: You hurt me even more because I just hurt you, so I hurt you even more. Then you hurt me; then I hurt you; then you hurt me because I just hurt you, so I hurt you more, etc. …
The point: It's easy to act cold/hurtful/stonewalling to someone who you feel has said or done something you perceive as cold/hurtful/stonewalling to you.
But that's the point. That's the easy thing to do.
Basically, most of us people as a species aren't mean. We are weak.
It takes effort to consciously, openly, bravely, warmly speak up about the hurt you feel before things spiral negatively downward.
Yes, it takes effort to take the high road and to express your vulnerabilities and concerns with warmth and candor. But this effort is worth it ... because love and connection are your true sources for happiness—not money, not shoes, not sports cars ... and definitely not the satisfaction of being right about someone or something. (Yes, I know that last one really sometimes does feel as if it will bring us happiness ... but in the end it brings us more misery than glory.)
So next time someone you care about does something that you feel isn't very caring at all—put in the brave effort and kill that relationship monster while it's still small.
With this in mind, here are some helpful communication tips to keep in mind:
1. Pick the right time, the right place. Do you have at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted time ahead? Are you in a place where your partner feels like he or she can talk openly and not self-consciously? Are you in a loud restaurant where it's hard to hear and so you must shout—even before your partner makes you want to shout? In general, the best place to talk is at home alone, where you can sit facing each other, with good strong eye contact. Many psychologists even suggest holding hands as you talk—to keep a warm connection ongoing through all the bumps in the conversation.
2. Before you begin a difficult conversation, make it very clear to your partner that your goal is to create the best relationship possible. Admit you recognize talking about difficult subjects can be uncomfortable, but you'd rather have a difficult conversation now, than a decaying, untruthful, less intimate relationship later. Remind your partner how much you value him or her. Compliment your sweetie on a few qualities you appreciate. In general, be 100 percent certain your partner completely understands and believes your goal in talking is to increase the love, not wound to the quick, before you begin any difficult discussion.
3. If you are upset at your partner for something specific, try not to generalize by saying "You always do this. You always say that." Generalizations will only escalate your partner's emotional state because they're vaguer and less believable. Come on. Be honest with yourself. An "always" action is in reality a very rare thing. And psychologists all agree it's best to limit your talk to the one specific recent event that is bugging you and make past offenses not admissible evidence.
4. Be conscious of trying to begin as many of your sentences with "I" as you can. Likewise, try not to begin your sentences with "You." The goal: Own your feelings. Don't slander your partner. For example, try to say something like: "I feel like you were ignoring me yesterday—and I was hurt because I needed your warmth after my proposal was rejected at the office," instead of "You are cold, heartless, and don't offer me an ounce of support."
5. Create an obvious upside to talking, so you and your partner will want to talk again. In other words, be sure to close the conversation by consciously listing all the positive things you learned thanks to talking. Make a specific list of all the new actions you both will try to do to keep your relationship as strong and loving as possible. Oh ... and this is where that good, old-fashioned reward of "makeup sex" comes in! By ending on an upbeat "rewarding note," next time a difficult conversation comes up, you'll associate positives with talking, like: "Make love, not war!"
Monday, May 29, 2006
Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester from Nashville, TN
In honor of Memorial Day, a pair of posts about a Tennessee soldier performing heroically in combat is definitely appropriate. Sgt. Hester is the first woman ever to be awarded the Silver Star, but in the interviews I have read, in true soldier fashion, she says it has nothing to do with being a woman, and everything to do with her training and the great team she works with. Congratulations on your award Sergeant, my condolences on the loss of your buddies over there, and we are glad to have you home safe. This wonderful holiday and a round of drinks are for you, for all of those who fought and fight to keep us free, and for those and their families who didn't make it back. We love and appreciate every last one of you, and you all remain in our thoughts and prayers. The first link shows a photo of Sgt. Hester, and the second, reposted in its entirety at the bottom, recounts the events that led to her award.
"Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, photographed at Camp Liberty, Iraq, is the first female soldier to be awarded the Silver Star Medal since World War II. A native of Kentucky, the 23-year-old joined the National Guard on April 20, 2001, and currently resides in Nashville, Tenn. She and seven other soldiers from the Kentucky Army National Guards 617th Military Police Company were cited for gallantry in action against anti-Iraq forces on March 20, 2005. SSgt. Timothy Nein, her squad leader, and Spc. Jason Mike, a medic, also were awarded Silver Star Medals; Spc. Casey Cooper, Spc. William Haynes II and Spc. Ashley Pullen were awarded Bronze Star Medals with V Devices; and Sgt. Dustin Morris and Spc. Jesse Ordunez were awarded Army Commendation Medals with V Devices. Sgt. Hester, while noting the honor of being the first woman to receive the Silver Star since World War II, said at the time of her award ceremony, It doesnt have anything to do with being a female. Its about the duties I performed that day as a soldier.
The narrative accompanying Sgt. Hesters citation reads:
Sergeant Leigh A. Hester is cited for conspicuous gallantry in action against an armed enemy of the United States while engaged in military operations involving conflict with anti Iraq forces (AIF) as a team leader for Raven 42B, 617th Military Police Company, 503rd Military Police Battalion (Airborne) stationed at Camp Liberty, Iraq on 20 March 2005, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The teams mission was to assist Raven 42 in searching the Eastern Convoy Route for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and provide additional security to sustainment convoys traveling through their area of responsibility.
While patrolling Alternate Supply Route (ASR) Detroit, Raven 42B was shadowing a sustainment convoy consisting of 30 third country national (TCN) semi-tractor trailers with a three vehicle squad size escort, call sign Stallion 33, traveling from LSA (logistics support area) Anaconda to CSC (convoy support center) Scania. The weather for this ASR patrol was 75 degrees and sunny with a 10 knot breeze from the southwest. While traveling on ASR Detroit approximately 50 AIF ambushed the convoy with heavy AK47 fire, RPK heavy machine gun fire, and rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) from the southwest side of the road at 1140 hours. The AIF were utilizing irrigation ditches and an orchard for the well planned complex attack. The AIF had cars combat parked along a road perpendicular to the ASR with all doors and trunks open. The AIF intent was to destroy the convoy, to inflict numerous casualties, and to kidnap several TCN drivers or U.S. Soldiers.
The initial ambush disabled and set on fire the lead TCN vehicle, which effectively blocked the southbound lanes of ASR Detroit, stopping the convoy in the kill zone. The squad leader, SSgt. [Timothy] Nein, directed the squad to move forward, traveling on the right shoulder and passing through the engagement area between the enemy and the convoy. Sgt. Hester directed her gunner to provide heavy volumes of MK 19 and M240B fires into the field where an overwhelming number of insurgents were executing a well coordinated ambush on the convoy. Raven 42 elements were outnumbered five to one. SSgt. Nein ordered the squad to flank the insurgents on their right side.
The squad continued to come under heavy machine gun fire and rocket propelled grenade fire when Sgt. Hester stopped her vehicle, the middle vehicle, at a flanking position enfilading the trench line and the orchard field where over a dozen insurgents were engaging the squad and convoy. She then directed her gunner to focus fires in the trench line and the orchard field. Sgt. Hester dismounted and moved to what was thought to be the non-contact side of the vehicle. She ordered her gunner to continue to fire on the orchard field as she and her driver engaged insurgents in the orchard field with small arms. Sgt. Hester began engaging the insurgents with her M203 in order to suppress the heavy AIF fire.
Sgt. Hester followed SSgt. Nein to the right side berm and threw two well placed fragmentation grenades into the trench eliminating the AIF threat. Sgt. Hester and SSgt. Nein went over the berm into the trench and began clearing the trench with their M4s. Sgt. Hester engaged and eliminated three AIF to her front with her M4. They then made their way to the front trench and cleared that as well. After clearing the front trench cease fire was called and she began securing the ambush site. The final result of the ambush was 27 AIF KIA (killed in action), 6 AIF WIA (wounded in action), and one AIF captured."
"Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, photographed at Camp Liberty, Iraq, is the first female soldier to be awarded the Silver Star Medal since World War II. A native of Kentucky, the 23-year-old joined the National Guard on April 20, 2001, and currently resides in Nashville, Tenn. She and seven other soldiers from the Kentucky Army National Guards 617th Military Police Company were cited for gallantry in action against anti-Iraq forces on March 20, 2005. SSgt. Timothy Nein, her squad leader, and Spc. Jason Mike, a medic, also were awarded Silver Star Medals; Spc. Casey Cooper, Spc. William Haynes II and Spc. Ashley Pullen were awarded Bronze Star Medals with V Devices; and Sgt. Dustin Morris and Spc. Jesse Ordunez were awarded Army Commendation Medals with V Devices. Sgt. Hester, while noting the honor of being the first woman to receive the Silver Star since World War II, said at the time of her award ceremony, It doesnt have anything to do with being a female. Its about the duties I performed that day as a soldier.
The narrative accompanying Sgt. Hesters citation reads:
Sergeant Leigh A. Hester is cited for conspicuous gallantry in action against an armed enemy of the United States while engaged in military operations involving conflict with anti Iraq forces (AIF) as a team leader for Raven 42B, 617th Military Police Company, 503rd Military Police Battalion (Airborne) stationed at Camp Liberty, Iraq on 20 March 2005, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The teams mission was to assist Raven 42 in searching the Eastern Convoy Route for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and provide additional security to sustainment convoys traveling through their area of responsibility.
While patrolling Alternate Supply Route (ASR) Detroit, Raven 42B was shadowing a sustainment convoy consisting of 30 third country national (TCN) semi-tractor trailers with a three vehicle squad size escort, call sign Stallion 33, traveling from LSA (logistics support area) Anaconda to CSC (convoy support center) Scania. The weather for this ASR patrol was 75 degrees and sunny with a 10 knot breeze from the southwest. While traveling on ASR Detroit approximately 50 AIF ambushed the convoy with heavy AK47 fire, RPK heavy machine gun fire, and rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) from the southwest side of the road at 1140 hours. The AIF were utilizing irrigation ditches and an orchard for the well planned complex attack. The AIF had cars combat parked along a road perpendicular to the ASR with all doors and trunks open. The AIF intent was to destroy the convoy, to inflict numerous casualties, and to kidnap several TCN drivers or U.S. Soldiers.
The initial ambush disabled and set on fire the lead TCN vehicle, which effectively blocked the southbound lanes of ASR Detroit, stopping the convoy in the kill zone. The squad leader, SSgt. [Timothy] Nein, directed the squad to move forward, traveling on the right shoulder and passing through the engagement area between the enemy and the convoy. Sgt. Hester directed her gunner to provide heavy volumes of MK 19 and M240B fires into the field where an overwhelming number of insurgents were executing a well coordinated ambush on the convoy. Raven 42 elements were outnumbered five to one. SSgt. Nein ordered the squad to flank the insurgents on their right side.
The squad continued to come under heavy machine gun fire and rocket propelled grenade fire when Sgt. Hester stopped her vehicle, the middle vehicle, at a flanking position enfilading the trench line and the orchard field where over a dozen insurgents were engaging the squad and convoy. She then directed her gunner to focus fires in the trench line and the orchard field. Sgt. Hester dismounted and moved to what was thought to be the non-contact side of the vehicle. She ordered her gunner to continue to fire on the orchard field as she and her driver engaged insurgents in the orchard field with small arms. Sgt. Hester began engaging the insurgents with her M203 in order to suppress the heavy AIF fire.
Sgt. Hester followed SSgt. Nein to the right side berm and threw two well placed fragmentation grenades into the trench eliminating the AIF threat. Sgt. Hester and SSgt. Nein went over the berm into the trench and began clearing the trench with their M4s. Sgt. Hester engaged and eliminated three AIF to her front with her M4. They then made their way to the front trench and cleared that as well. After clearing the front trench cease fire was called and she began securing the ambush site. The final result of the ambush was 27 AIF KIA (killed in action), 6 AIF WIA (wounded in action), and one AIF captured."
Sunday, May 28, 2006
A Righteous Anti-Idiotarian Tribute to the Soldiers for Memorial Day
Via Emperor Darth Misha:
May 28, 2006
Memorial Day
"Enough bloody politics, I've just about had it with that nonsense.
Let's turn to those truly worthy of our attention, the men and women at the sharp end of the spear to whom we owe the privilege of having a Memorial Day to celebrate in the first place.
While we're all here safe at home enjoying the official start of summer with our families, we owe it to those fine men and women out there to recognize their sacrifice and to honor them for it, because without them, we'd be celebrating whatever our new masters would tell us to celebrate.
We are what we are and we enjoy the status that we, as a nation, enjoy because of those brave crusaders for freedom.
We didn't become the greatest, most free and most prosperous nation that the world ever saw because of unwashed freaks dancing in the streets with papier mache dolls or brave protesters Speaking Truth to Benevolence and Indifference; we became what we are because of our belief in Liberty, Justice and the Pursuit of Happiness, and the only reason that we had a chance to pursue these noble goals is because of those overworked, underpaid heroes manning the battlements.
Without them, we'd have fallen prey to the first predator to contest our right to exist.
Without them, we'd have no opportunity to celebrate all that is good and wonderful about this nation of ours that we love.
The names of the battlefields upon which they've fought and bled are many and varied, but the cause for which they gave their lives is the same:
They fought for these United States of America, they suffered for the ideal of a nation where everybody was free and equal and they gave their lives for something much greater than themselves, knowing full well that they might never see the fruits of their labor and sacrifice.
They fought and died, and continue to fight and die, for people that they never knew and might never know at all, for an ideal that we should all be willing to fight and die for, lest their sacrifice be in vain.
We owe these young men and women a debt that we can never truly repay, but we can do something nonetheless: We can treasure, appreciate, and defend to our last breath this gift that they've bought with their own blood, we can stand up and face whatever fate may throw at us, defiant and unyielding in our commitment to hold on to what they've given us, or we can be forever damned for discarding the greatest gift of all.
From Lexington to the deserts of Iraq, those soldiers have been ready, willing and able to give their all.
We owe them nothing less in return.
As we remember our fallen and give thanks for their sacrifice, let us renew our commitment to hold high the torch of freedom, to never waver, falter or fail no matter what may face us, and to devote ourselves with all that we are and ever will be to live free or die."
May God Bless Our Troops, and May God Continue to Bless the United States of America."
May 28, 2006
Memorial Day
"Enough bloody politics, I've just about had it with that nonsense.
Let's turn to those truly worthy of our attention, the men and women at the sharp end of the spear to whom we owe the privilege of having a Memorial Day to celebrate in the first place.
While we're all here safe at home enjoying the official start of summer with our families, we owe it to those fine men and women out there to recognize their sacrifice and to honor them for it, because without them, we'd be celebrating whatever our new masters would tell us to celebrate.
We are what we are and we enjoy the status that we, as a nation, enjoy because of those brave crusaders for freedom.
We didn't become the greatest, most free and most prosperous nation that the world ever saw because of unwashed freaks dancing in the streets with papier mache dolls or brave protesters Speaking Truth to Benevolence and Indifference; we became what we are because of our belief in Liberty, Justice and the Pursuit of Happiness, and the only reason that we had a chance to pursue these noble goals is because of those overworked, underpaid heroes manning the battlements.
Without them, we'd have fallen prey to the first predator to contest our right to exist.
Without them, we'd have no opportunity to celebrate all that is good and wonderful about this nation of ours that we love.
The names of the battlefields upon which they've fought and bled are many and varied, but the cause for which they gave their lives is the same:
They fought for these United States of America, they suffered for the ideal of a nation where everybody was free and equal and they gave their lives for something much greater than themselves, knowing full well that they might never see the fruits of their labor and sacrifice.
They fought and died, and continue to fight and die, for people that they never knew and might never know at all, for an ideal that we should all be willing to fight and die for, lest their sacrifice be in vain.
We owe these young men and women a debt that we can never truly repay, but we can do something nonetheless: We can treasure, appreciate, and defend to our last breath this gift that they've bought with their own blood, we can stand up and face whatever fate may throw at us, defiant and unyielding in our commitment to hold on to what they've given us, or we can be forever damned for discarding the greatest gift of all.
From Lexington to the deserts of Iraq, those soldiers have been ready, willing and able to give their all.
We owe them nothing less in return.
As we remember our fallen and give thanks for their sacrifice, let us renew our commitment to hold high the torch of freedom, to never waver, falter or fail no matter what may face us, and to devote ourselves with all that we are and ever will be to live free or die."
May God Bless Our Troops, and May God Continue to Bless the United States of America."
Saturday, May 27, 2006
"They Were Doing God's Work", by Ben Stein
Remarks delivered by Ben Stein on Saturday evening in Arlington, Virginia, at the Memorial Day weekend seminar and grief camp of TAPS -- the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors.
"THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME be a part of your family. This is the most important family on the planet right now. There is a First Family on Pennsylvania Avenue, but this is the real first family. The family of those who have paid the ultimate price to keep us free and dignified and alive.
A bad day for me is when I get stuck in traffic or have a toothache or notice that I have gained weight or my teenage son is surly.
A bad day for you is realizing that the only man or woman you have ever loved is gone for this lifetime.
A difficult day for me with my wife is when she's out at her bridge lesson and comes home late so my dinner is late.
A difficult day for you is when you wake up from a dream that your husband or wife or son or daughter or mother or father was alive and laughing with you and realize you'll never see that loveable person again for the rest of your natural lives.
A bad day for an ordinary American is seeing the stock market go down or watching his son sneak a beer.
A bad day for you is a sort of loneliness, a hopeless, cruel loneliness that cuts right to the bone like the cut of a knife, that tells you that there is no one there to hug you, no one to kiss you, no one to fix the kids' bikes, no one to wipe away the tears that just come uncontrollably when you least expect them.
A bad day for me is getting stuck in an airport security line. A bad day for you is being on the plane alone.
Yet your loneliness has meaning. Your loneliness, your pain, is the mortar and concrete that anchors the nation. The sacrifice your loved ones made, the sacrifice you made, that your kids made, is what makes the whole American world safe from terror.
Your loved ones' lives had what we all want: meaning. The knowledge you were doing something big for others. That is EVERYTHING in life.
Wall Street does not have it. Hollywood does not have it. They're just in it for the fame and the money.
Your loved ones were in it for unselfishness, for kindness, for love of one's fellow man. There is no higher meaning on this earth.
The media try to rob your husbands' and wives' and kids' lives of meaning saying this war is not about anything.
They're wrong and they say what they say because they don't see the truth. They print a story on the front page about Marines killing civilians in a town in Iraq and if they did, it was wrong. But the big media never report a MARINE throwing himself on a bomb to protect an Iraqi child, or a Marine giving his life to rid a town of murderers or a Marine or an Army man or woman or a Navy Seal or a Coast Guardsman offering up his life so that Iraqi human beings can have the same freedoms and rights we take for granted here in America.
The media are like grave robbers, robbing you of the certain knowledge that your spouses gave their lives for something deeply worthwhile: human dignity.
Your loved ones' lives and deaths had as much meaning at the lives and deaths of every American who died for freedom from Valley Forge to the Battle of the Bulge to Cho-Sin Reservoir to the Cu Chi tunnels to the Balkans to Kabul, Afghanistan, to Falluja, Iraq.
And if the media doesn't know it, every other American does. This is a very difficult fight, but the ordinary American knows what your loved ones have done and respects them.
Your families, your loved one, your children have more respect than Sean Penn and Barbra Streisand and the Dixie Chicks all put together times a million. And the media like to criticize because they know -- in their hearts -- that they will never have the guts that the man and woman in uniform have. I think media envy of your loved ones' courage has a lot do with media mockery of the war.
To heck with them. Your husbands are the real stars. Your wives and kids are the real stars. They burn brightly forever as long as there are free men and women and the longing for human freedom burns bright in the human heart.
John F. Kennedy said that here on earth, God's work is our work. That doesn't mean Wall Street's work. It doesn't mean the Washington Post's work. It doesn't mean Hollywood's work. It means the work you guys do and the work of your husbands and wives and kids. Living and dying for your fellow man. That is God's work in the deepest sense, and God bless you for what you do, and God keep you until you are with your loved ones again."
"THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME be a part of your family. This is the most important family on the planet right now. There is a First Family on Pennsylvania Avenue, but this is the real first family. The family of those who have paid the ultimate price to keep us free and dignified and alive.
A bad day for me is when I get stuck in traffic or have a toothache or notice that I have gained weight or my teenage son is surly.
A bad day for you is realizing that the only man or woman you have ever loved is gone for this lifetime.
A difficult day for me with my wife is when she's out at her bridge lesson and comes home late so my dinner is late.
A difficult day for you is when you wake up from a dream that your husband or wife or son or daughter or mother or father was alive and laughing with you and realize you'll never see that loveable person again for the rest of your natural lives.
A bad day for an ordinary American is seeing the stock market go down or watching his son sneak a beer.
A bad day for you is a sort of loneliness, a hopeless, cruel loneliness that cuts right to the bone like the cut of a knife, that tells you that there is no one there to hug you, no one to kiss you, no one to fix the kids' bikes, no one to wipe away the tears that just come uncontrollably when you least expect them.
A bad day for me is getting stuck in an airport security line. A bad day for you is being on the plane alone.
Yet your loneliness has meaning. Your loneliness, your pain, is the mortar and concrete that anchors the nation. The sacrifice your loved ones made, the sacrifice you made, that your kids made, is what makes the whole American world safe from terror.
Your loved ones' lives had what we all want: meaning. The knowledge you were doing something big for others. That is EVERYTHING in life.
Wall Street does not have it. Hollywood does not have it. They're just in it for the fame and the money.
Your loved ones were in it for unselfishness, for kindness, for love of one's fellow man. There is no higher meaning on this earth.
The media try to rob your husbands' and wives' and kids' lives of meaning saying this war is not about anything.
They're wrong and they say what they say because they don't see the truth. They print a story on the front page about Marines killing civilians in a town in Iraq and if they did, it was wrong. But the big media never report a MARINE throwing himself on a bomb to protect an Iraqi child, or a Marine giving his life to rid a town of murderers or a Marine or an Army man or woman or a Navy Seal or a Coast Guardsman offering up his life so that Iraqi human beings can have the same freedoms and rights we take for granted here in America.
The media are like grave robbers, robbing you of the certain knowledge that your spouses gave their lives for something deeply worthwhile: human dignity.
Your loved ones' lives and deaths had as much meaning at the lives and deaths of every American who died for freedom from Valley Forge to the Battle of the Bulge to Cho-Sin Reservoir to the Cu Chi tunnels to the Balkans to Kabul, Afghanistan, to Falluja, Iraq.
And if the media doesn't know it, every other American does. This is a very difficult fight, but the ordinary American knows what your loved ones have done and respects them.
Your families, your loved one, your children have more respect than Sean Penn and Barbra Streisand and the Dixie Chicks all put together times a million. And the media like to criticize because they know -- in their hearts -- that they will never have the guts that the man and woman in uniform have. I think media envy of your loved ones' courage has a lot do with media mockery of the war.
To heck with them. Your husbands are the real stars. Your wives and kids are the real stars. They burn brightly forever as long as there are free men and women and the longing for human freedom burns bright in the human heart.
John F. Kennedy said that here on earth, God's work is our work. That doesn't mean Wall Street's work. It doesn't mean the Washington Post's work. It doesn't mean Hollywood's work. It means the work you guys do and the work of your husbands and wives and kids. Living and dying for your fellow man. That is God's work in the deepest sense, and God bless you for what you do, and God keep you until you are with your loved ones again."
Friday, May 19, 2006
Nice Guys Do Finish Last, Just Not Forever...
and they always have the last laugh. This post is borrowed in its entirety from my friend Angie, just because it is so right on and fits me (and many other real, good, solid men I am sure) to a T...so ENJOY!
"This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what assholes guys are, while disproving the very point. This is dedicated to those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores. This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support. This is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern. This is in honor of the guys who respect a girls every facet, from her privacy to her theology to her clothing style.
This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from parties and never take advantage once they are at her door, for the guys who accompany girls to bars as buffers against the rest of the creepy male population, for the guys who know a girl is fishing for compliments but give them out anyway, for the guys who always play by the rules in a game where the rules favor cheaters, for the guys who are accredited as boyfriend material but somehow dont end up being boyfriends, for all the nice guys who are overlooked, underestimated, and unappreciated, for all the nice guys who are manipulated, misled, and unjustly abandoned, this is for you.
This is for that time she left 40 urgent messages on your cell phone, and when you called her back, she spent three hours painstakingly dissecting two sentences her boyfriend said to her over dinner. And even though you thought her boyfriend was a chump and a jerk, you assured her that it was all ok and she shouldnt worry about it. This is for that time she interrupted the best killing spree youd ever orchestrated in GTA3 to rant about a rumor that romantically linked her and the guy she thinks is the most repulsive person in the world. And even though you thought it was immature and you had nothing against the guy, you paused the game for two hours and helped her concoct a counter-rumor to spread around the floor. This is also for that time she didnt have a date, so after numerous vows that there was nothing serious between the two of you, she dragged you to a party where you knew nobody, the beer was awful, and she flirted shamelessly with you, justifying each fit of reckless teasing by announcing to everyone: oh, but we're just friends! And even though you were invited purely as a symbolic warm body for her ego, you went anyways. Because you're nice like that.
The nice guys dont often get credit where credit is due. And perhaps more disturbing, the nice guys don't seem to get laid as often as they should. And I wish I could logically explain this trend, but I cant. From what I have observed and what I have learned from talking to friends at other schools and in the workplace, the only conclusion I can form is that many girls are just illogical, manipulative bitches. Many of them claim they just want to date a nice guy, but when presented with such a specimen, they say irrational, confusing things such as oh, hes too nice to date or he would be a good boyfriend but hes not for me or he already puts up with so much from me, I couldnt possibly ask him out! or the most frustrating of all: no, it would ruin our friendship. Yet, they continue to lament the lack of datable men in the world, and they expect their too-nice-to-date male friends to sympathize and apologize for the men that are jerks. Sorry, guys, girls like that are beyond my ability to fathom. I cant figure out why the connection breaks down between what they say (I want a nice guy!) and what they do (Im going to sleep with this complete ass now!). But one thing I can do, is say that the nice-guy-finishes-last phenomenon doesnt last forever. There are definitely many girls who grow out of that train of thought and realize they should be dating the nice guys, not taking them for granted. The tricky part is finding those girls, and even trickier, finding the ones that are single.
So, until those girls are found, I propose a toast to all the nice guys. You know who you are, and I know youre sick of hearing yourself described as ubiquitously nice. But the truth of the matter is, the world needs your patience in the department store, your holding open of doors, your party escorting services, your propensity to be a sucker for a pretty smile. For all the crazy, insane, absurd things you tolerate, for all the situations where you are the faceless, nameless hero, my accolades, my acknowledgement, and my gratitude go out to you. You do have credibility in this society, and your well deserved vindication is coming."
"This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what assholes guys are, while disproving the very point. This is dedicated to those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores. This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support. This is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern. This is in honor of the guys who respect a girls every facet, from her privacy to her theology to her clothing style.
This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from parties and never take advantage once they are at her door, for the guys who accompany girls to bars as buffers against the rest of the creepy male population, for the guys who know a girl is fishing for compliments but give them out anyway, for the guys who always play by the rules in a game where the rules favor cheaters, for the guys who are accredited as boyfriend material but somehow dont end up being boyfriends, for all the nice guys who are overlooked, underestimated, and unappreciated, for all the nice guys who are manipulated, misled, and unjustly abandoned, this is for you.
This is for that time she left 40 urgent messages on your cell phone, and when you called her back, she spent three hours painstakingly dissecting two sentences her boyfriend said to her over dinner. And even though you thought her boyfriend was a chump and a jerk, you assured her that it was all ok and she shouldnt worry about it. This is for that time she interrupted the best killing spree youd ever orchestrated in GTA3 to rant about a rumor that romantically linked her and the guy she thinks is the most repulsive person in the world. And even though you thought it was immature and you had nothing against the guy, you paused the game for two hours and helped her concoct a counter-rumor to spread around the floor. This is also for that time she didnt have a date, so after numerous vows that there was nothing serious between the two of you, she dragged you to a party where you knew nobody, the beer was awful, and she flirted shamelessly with you, justifying each fit of reckless teasing by announcing to everyone: oh, but we're just friends! And even though you were invited purely as a symbolic warm body for her ego, you went anyways. Because you're nice like that.
The nice guys dont often get credit where credit is due. And perhaps more disturbing, the nice guys don't seem to get laid as often as they should. And I wish I could logically explain this trend, but I cant. From what I have observed and what I have learned from talking to friends at other schools and in the workplace, the only conclusion I can form is that many girls are just illogical, manipulative bitches. Many of them claim they just want to date a nice guy, but when presented with such a specimen, they say irrational, confusing things such as oh, hes too nice to date or he would be a good boyfriend but hes not for me or he already puts up with so much from me, I couldnt possibly ask him out! or the most frustrating of all: no, it would ruin our friendship. Yet, they continue to lament the lack of datable men in the world, and they expect their too-nice-to-date male friends to sympathize and apologize for the men that are jerks. Sorry, guys, girls like that are beyond my ability to fathom. I cant figure out why the connection breaks down between what they say (I want a nice guy!) and what they do (Im going to sleep with this complete ass now!). But one thing I can do, is say that the nice-guy-finishes-last phenomenon doesnt last forever. There are definitely many girls who grow out of that train of thought and realize they should be dating the nice guys, not taking them for granted. The tricky part is finding those girls, and even trickier, finding the ones that are single.
So, until those girls are found, I propose a toast to all the nice guys. You know who you are, and I know youre sick of hearing yourself described as ubiquitously nice. But the truth of the matter is, the world needs your patience in the department store, your holding open of doors, your party escorting services, your propensity to be a sucker for a pretty smile. For all the crazy, insane, absurd things you tolerate, for all the situations where you are the faceless, nameless hero, my accolades, my acknowledgement, and my gratitude go out to you. You do have credibility in this society, and your well deserved vindication is coming."
Thursday, May 18, 2006
More Tripe, Smoke, and Shell Games re: Amnesty
I've had a few days to digest the tripe, smoke, and mirrors offered as a "solution" to our broken immigration system by the President Monday night, and I hereby pronounce myself unconvinced of any will to secure our borders at all, much less as a first priority as it should be. Yes, I believe the Sessions amendment to S. 2611, which passed 83-16, mandating a minimum of 375 miles of border fence and 500 miles of vehicle barriers is a good start. Unfortunately, two other amendments didn't survive...one to prevent the "guest workers" from becoming permanent (there goes the myth of temporary workers who will return home), and the other, because it was killed, will allow illegal criminal aliens to get credit in our Social Security system for time they worked in this country ILLEGALLY (some even using stolen SSN#s from actual citizens to get said 'credit') prior to the amnesty under which they became citizens! What in the crap is wrong with these Senators? I sincerely hope that the House has enough sense and willpower to kill this whole mess of a bill...enforcement has to come first and that's that.
For the first word we go to David at Third World County:
"The President proposes serious penalties for illegal aliens. They must pay their taxes, work, and learn English in order to earn citizenship. Penalties, eh? Gee. I pay taxes, work, and speak English. What am I being penalized for?
OK, so if President Bush's plan is not amnesty, are the illegal aliens going to be prosecuted for forging/or using forged documents? Tax fraud/evasion? Illegal entry? What? If it isn't amnesty, then they will be prosecuted under the applicable laws, and if convicted, punished under those laws. Aliens here legally, those who have followed all the rules, jumped through all the hoops and waited patiently in line to enter lawfully, are all subject to deportation for breaking our laws.
So, if those here illegally are not to suffer the consequences of their illegal actions as defined in the laws at the time they violated them, then what President Bush proposes is amnesty. That again confirms that he lied through his teeth to us all Monday evening.
Saying they will pay a meaningful penalty for breaking the law but NOT prosecuting them under the laws they broke but instead simply placing on them the responsibilities all legal inhabitants of this land already must address, President Bush proposes no penalty. Nada, zilch, nothing, zero-with-the-rim-kicked-off. That's amnesty. And President Bush, and every single person pushing that lie, knows it."
And like Emperor Misha, my question is where are all my nice free goodies that I qualify for by having paid said "penalties" my entire adult life...this is the very definition of amnesty, excusing commissions of multiple criminal acts and rewarding those criminal offenses...in exchange for these lawbreakers belatedly behaving exactly like citizens and legal immigrants are expected to...riiiiiiiight. Screw 'em, every last one of the RINOs from the President on down...they are in the electoral crosshairs from now on, especially in the primaries, because Lord knows the Democrats would only be worse (if that's possible). To quote Captain Jean Luc Picard from Star Trek: TNG during a Borg invasion: "The line must be drawn here. This far, no further!"
From Answers.com, we get definitions of amnesty followed by my comments in italics:
Amnesty- (from the Greek amnestia, oblivion) an act of justice by which the supreme power in a state restores those who may have been guilty of any offence against it to the position of innocent persons. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the offence.
No matter if "the law" or "the state" remembers the lawbreaking, American citizens and legal immigrants do remember, much as with 9/11. The invasion of illegal immigrants is no less serious than an act of terrorism, and is, in fact, worse, because it is state-sponsored by Mexico, an alleged friend.
amnesty- The state's magnanimity to those offenders whom it would be too expensive to punish. This includes political calculations by spineless politicians too afraid of the New York Times, their own shadow, and confrontation of Democrats to do what is right and what their constituents sent them to Washington to do.
amnesty- in law, exemption from prosecution for criminal action. It signifies forgiveness and the forgetting of past actions. Amnesties are usually extended to a group of persons during a period of prolonged disorder or insurrection. The criminals are offered a promise of immunity from prosecution if they will abandon their unlawful activities. This is what kills me, because not a single one of these illegal alien criminals would be forced to abandon their criminal activities, but would instead be rewarded for breaking the law.
amnesty- The action of a government by which all persons or certain groups of persons who have committed a criminal offense, usually of a political nature, that threatens the sovereignty of the government (such as sedition or treason)are granted immunity from prosecution. Amnesty allows the government of a nation or state to "forget" criminal acts, usually before prosecution has occurred. Amnesty has traditionally been used as a political tool of compromise and reunion following a war. The President and his party's cowardice in refusing to treat the invasion of millions of illegal aliens, mostly from Mexico, as an act of war, smacks of the moral bankruptcy that defines the U.N. By not calling the genocide in Sudan "genocide", the U.N. doesn't actually have to DO anything to stop it and can go on mouthing empty platitudes while innocent people are slaughtered, just as our current crop of squishy politicians can evade actually stopping illegal immigration by not calling this invasion what it truly is.
The only thing Americans hate as much as hypocrisy is having their intelligence insulted, and El Presidente and his party would do well do quit doing both to his base, oh I dunno, say, yesterday, or it will be a very bloody November indeed for the GOP.
For the first word we go to David at Third World County:
"The President proposes serious penalties for illegal aliens. They must pay their taxes, work, and learn English in order to earn citizenship. Penalties, eh? Gee. I pay taxes, work, and speak English. What am I being penalized for?
OK, so if President Bush's plan is not amnesty, are the illegal aliens going to be prosecuted for forging/or using forged documents? Tax fraud/evasion? Illegal entry? What? If it isn't amnesty, then they will be prosecuted under the applicable laws, and if convicted, punished under those laws. Aliens here legally, those who have followed all the rules, jumped through all the hoops and waited patiently in line to enter lawfully, are all subject to deportation for breaking our laws.
So, if those here illegally are not to suffer the consequences of their illegal actions as defined in the laws at the time they violated them, then what President Bush proposes is amnesty. That again confirms that he lied through his teeth to us all Monday evening.
Saying they will pay a meaningful penalty for breaking the law but NOT prosecuting them under the laws they broke but instead simply placing on them the responsibilities all legal inhabitants of this land already must address, President Bush proposes no penalty. Nada, zilch, nothing, zero-with-the-rim-kicked-off. That's amnesty. And President Bush, and every single person pushing that lie, knows it."
And like Emperor Misha, my question is where are all my nice free goodies that I qualify for by having paid said "penalties" my entire adult life...this is the very definition of amnesty, excusing commissions of multiple criminal acts and rewarding those criminal offenses...in exchange for these lawbreakers belatedly behaving exactly like citizens and legal immigrants are expected to...riiiiiiiight. Screw 'em, every last one of the RINOs from the President on down...they are in the electoral crosshairs from now on, especially in the primaries, because Lord knows the Democrats would only be worse (if that's possible). To quote Captain Jean Luc Picard from Star Trek: TNG during a Borg invasion: "The line must be drawn here. This far, no further!"
From Answers.com, we get definitions of amnesty followed by my comments in italics:
Amnesty- (from the Greek amnestia, oblivion) an act of justice by which the supreme power in a state restores those who may have been guilty of any offence against it to the position of innocent persons. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the offence.
No matter if "the law" or "the state" remembers the lawbreaking, American citizens and legal immigrants do remember, much as with 9/11. The invasion of illegal immigrants is no less serious than an act of terrorism, and is, in fact, worse, because it is state-sponsored by Mexico, an alleged friend.
amnesty- The state's magnanimity to those offenders whom it would be too expensive to punish. This includes political calculations by spineless politicians too afraid of the New York Times, their own shadow, and confrontation of Democrats to do what is right and what their constituents sent them to Washington to do.
amnesty- in law, exemption from prosecution for criminal action. It signifies forgiveness and the forgetting of past actions. Amnesties are usually extended to a group of persons during a period of prolonged disorder or insurrection. The criminals are offered a promise of immunity from prosecution if they will abandon their unlawful activities. This is what kills me, because not a single one of these illegal alien criminals would be forced to abandon their criminal activities, but would instead be rewarded for breaking the law.
amnesty- The action of a government by which all persons or certain groups of persons who have committed a criminal offense, usually of a political nature, that threatens the sovereignty of the government (such as sedition or treason)are granted immunity from prosecution. Amnesty allows the government of a nation or state to "forget" criminal acts, usually before prosecution has occurred. Amnesty has traditionally been used as a political tool of compromise and reunion following a war. The President and his party's cowardice in refusing to treat the invasion of millions of illegal aliens, mostly from Mexico, as an act of war, smacks of the moral bankruptcy that defines the U.N. By not calling the genocide in Sudan "genocide", the U.N. doesn't actually have to DO anything to stop it and can go on mouthing empty platitudes while innocent people are slaughtered, just as our current crop of squishy politicians can evade actually stopping illegal immigration by not calling this invasion what it truly is.
The only thing Americans hate as much as hypocrisy is having their intelligence insulted, and El Presidente and his party would do well do quit doing both to his base, oh I dunno, say, yesterday, or it will be a very bloody November indeed for the GOP.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
The Irony of Love
Irony of Love
The greatest irony of love;
loving the right person at the wrong time,
having the wrong person when the time is right
and finding out you love someone right after
that person walks out of your life...
Sometimes, you think you're already over a person,
but when you see them smile at you,
you'll suddenly realize that you're just pretending
to be over them just to ease the pain of knowing that
they will never be yours again...
For some, they think that letting go is one way
of expressing how much they love that person...
in my opinion, some are afraid to see the one they love being held by someone else...
Most relationships tend to fail not because
the absence of love...love is always present.
it's just that one was being loved too much and the
other was being loved too little...
We all know that the heart is the center of the body
but it beats on the left...maybe that's the reason
why the heart is not always right...
Often we fall in love with the person we think we love
but to only discover that for them
we are just for passing time. while the one who truly
loves us remains either a friend or a stranger...
So here's a piece of advice;
let go when you're hurting too much.
give up when love isn't enough.
and move on when things are not like before...
For sure there is someone out there
WHO WILL LOVE YOU EVEN MORE...
The greatest irony of love;
loving the right person at the wrong time,
having the wrong person when the time is right
and finding out you love someone right after
that person walks out of your life...
Sometimes, you think you're already over a person,
but when you see them smile at you,
you'll suddenly realize that you're just pretending
to be over them just to ease the pain of knowing that
they will never be yours again...
For some, they think that letting go is one way
of expressing how much they love that person...
in my opinion, some are afraid to see the one they love being held by someone else...
Most relationships tend to fail not because
the absence of love...love is always present.
it's just that one was being loved too much and the
other was being loved too little...
We all know that the heart is the center of the body
but it beats on the left...maybe that's the reason
why the heart is not always right...
Often we fall in love with the person we think we love
but to only discover that for them
we are just for passing time. while the one who truly
loves us remains either a friend or a stranger...
So here's a piece of advice;
let go when you're hurting too much.
give up when love isn't enough.
and move on when things are not like before...
For sure there is someone out there
WHO WILL LOVE YOU EVEN MORE...
Monday, May 15, 2006
A Presidential Speech and RINO Window Dressing on Illegal Immigration
All I can say is read the whole thing, and this goes double for the Congress-critters trolling for votes south of the border. President Bush had a grand opportunity to lift his sagging poll numbers, re-energize the conservative base, cement the Congressional majority for the forseeable future, and lay out a plan for fixing illegal immigration, the next biggest problem after terrorism facing our nation...to use the baseball parlance, he went 0 for 4 with four very ugly strikeouts tonight.
I wish this prediction hadn't turned out to be correct:
"George Waffle Bush is going to go on the air tonight and make an announcement. I am going to make the following prediction:
It is going to be an underwhelming speach which leaves American citizens scratching their heads, thinking to themselves "He wanted prime time to announce that?" He is going to announce that troops in the form of guardsmen are going to be deployed along the southern border. Temporarily. He is also going to push for some sort of "earned citizenship" program which amounts to amnesty. In the end, he will basically have given the Left everything they want, and he will throw the conservatives a bone by deploying troops until the midterm elections are over."
For some real solutions and straight talk, via Kim at The Other Side of Kim:
"Allow me to explain, and let me confine myself to the biggest problem, illegal immigration from south of the U.S. border...we're not being submerged by illegals from Belarus or Canada.
1.) There has always been a simmering resentment among U.S. citizens about illegal immigration. They see that illegal immigrants have access to free medical care, to (fraudulent) welfare payments, who can escape paying taxes (by being paid in cash), and if they ever commit a crime, can in essence escape the consequences by just running back over the border (to re-enter later under a different name). The Powers That Be, however, have never really noticed this resentment before, and in any event, the resentment has been written off as nativism, racism and all the other PC buzzwords with which the transnationalists demonize people who feel this way.
2.) Illegal immigrants dont assimilate. Thanks to a supporting infrastructure of Spanish TV, radio, newspaper and magazines, there is no need for Spanish-speaking illegal immigrants to learn English. Even worse (from our point of view), government has acquiesced to their demands by printing official documents in Spanish, and employing Spanish-speaking officials to deal with people who, in essence, are not interested in learning the language of their adopted countryand this is as true for legal immigrants as for illegal immigrants, by the way.
So far, there's still nothing new about all this; these are problems which have existed for many decades. But now we come to the part which has catapulted this issue to the forefront of the nations consciousness.
3.) 9/11. Say what you will, part of the responsibility for 9/11 lies with the fact that the Muslim terrorists were able to gain access to the United States with relative ease, and were able to study towards their ghastly goal while in the country, thanks to a lenient and over-supportive education system. By extension, a porous southern border means that 9/11's terrorist descendants can gain access just as easily as before, which renders irrelevant all other new controls at access points like harbors and airports.
4.) Europe. While many in the U.S. might have experienced a frisson of schadenfreude (if you'll forgive the mixed languages) at the TV visuals of burning cars in Paris, the message nevertheless got through to the average American: this is what happens when immigrants don't assimilate. Add to that the continuing immigrant-related problems with which the rest of Europe is grappling, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that Europe's policy of appeasement, accommodation and yet more appeasement isn't working. Now apply those same kinds of policies here (for which our state and local governments are as guilty as the FedGov), and the conclusion is equally plain: appeasement doesn't work, assimilation does. And if assimilation is rejected by the immigrant body, what's left is alienation...which brings me to my next point.
5.) Reconquista. Not only are Spanish-speaking immigrants refusing to assimilate, but now they're claiming that parts of the United States belong to Mexico, and in this, they are aided by the MexGov (more on this, below) which permits Mexican schoolchildren to be taught that the U.S. occupied part of Greater Aztlan, and that California, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico are actually part of Mexico, not part of the United States. The recent protest marches didn't help either, with signs reading nonsense like We didn't come here, the border moved south. Try as pro-immigraiton apologists may, they cannot conceal this underlying chauvinism, and ordinary Americans have seen the movement exactly for what it is.
6.) MexGov interference. When a nation aids and abets its citizens in perpetrating criminal behavior inside its neighbors borders, there is bound to be a backlash. When the MexGov started issuing phony ID documents (consular matricular) to illegal immigrants, that was bad enough. When U.S. institutions like banks and even local governments started accepting these things, allowing illegals to have access to licences and documents of U.S. citizens, people were bound to notice, and resent it. As more and more of this kind of MexGov activity has come to light, the more resentment has grown towards Mexico, not the least when people realized that Mexico treats its illegal immigrants with far more hostility and brutality than the United States could ever do to Mexican illegal immigrants. So while the MexGov was decrying any efforts by the U.S. to control Mexican illegal immigration, they themselves were pursuing a harsh policy on their own southern border. If anything rankles with Americans, its hypocrisy.
7. The Minutemen. Despite all efforts by our own government to marginalize and demonize the Minutemen (and eternal shame on them for doing so), what escaped the notice of the government was the popularity of the organization among ordinary Americans. It's not like the Minutemen are lacking for volunteers: every time they need replacements or additional volunteers, they only have to ask, and the people respond.
8. The size of the problem. If there were only a few hundred thousand illegal immigrants, or even a million, this would not be an issue. But over twelve million? And the absolute worst response from any politician could be: The problems too big to solve! In a pig's ear it is. This is America. There is no problem too big for us to solve. We ended slavery; we built the Hoover Dam, the Golden Gate Bridge and the interstate highway system; we defeated the Nazis; we overcame Communism in the Cold War, and we are defeating even as nebulous and difficult an enemy as terrorism. There is no problem we can't overcome: the only way we can be defeated is through a lack of will on the part of our government...which brings me to my final point.
9. Weak and vacillating government. If there is anything Americans despise, it is a flabby, irresolute government when faced with a crisis. In no small part, one of the primary reasons that the Democrats have a problem getting back into power, for instance, is that they are (rightly) perceived as being weak on terrorists and irresolute when facing blatant aggression. To this day, Jimmy Carter is excoriated for not acting with a firmer hand during the Iran hostage crisis. Lest we forget, those hostages were released within hours of Reagan becoming President, because he was perceived as a man who would brook no terrorism. Now, ordinary Americans perceive that the illegal immigration issue is also a crisis, not the least of which thinking is because, as I stated earlier, a flaccid response to border incursions means that terrorists can enter the country with relative ease, undetected and untraceable.
Could this country assimilate twelve million immigrants? Easily...we've done so before, with greater numbers of immigrants relative to the population of the country as a whole. But there is a huge caveat attached to that easily: the illegal immigrants have to prove that they are willing to assimilate into the fabric of the nation. This means, for example, learning English and forswearing the use of their native tongue, regardless of the difficulty; leaving behind the Mexican flag (with a pass given on, say, Cinco de Mayo, just as its okay for immigrant Micks to wave Irish flags on St. Patricks Day), and in short, becoming full citizens of this great nation, instead of part-timers who are here just for the money, and whose loyalties still lie with the Old Country.
But experience has shown Americans that Mexicans are not really willing to do any of that. Instead, we hear about cultural consciousness and other multi-culti buzzwords, all of which mean simply: well live here on our terms, not on yours.
To quote another immigrant (who managed to assimilate quite well): I don theenk so, Lucy.
In addition, the more the FedGov cozies up to this group of ingrates, the more ordinary Americans resistance is going to stiffen. And the longer this appeasement goes on, the firmer and harsher will be the popular response to any initiative which doesnt seem to be solving the problem.
Want an example?
Fifteen years ago, there would have been no support for erecting a fence or similar hard method of closing off the southern border. Too much like the Berlin Wall, too much like the East-West boundary across Europe, would have been the response. Today, popular opinion has forced Congress not only to consider it, but to appropriate funds to begin construction thereof. And if the fence is done in a haphazard, ineffective way, you had better believe that support will grow for stronger policing methods than a fence.
That's the problem: as Congress, and for that matter we as a people have allowed the illegal immigration issue to be ignored, or immigration laws enforced in only a token fashion, the time for gentle policing methods has passed. Now, instead of the couple million illegal immigrants of 1989, we now have an enormous sub-culture of over twelve million.
Of necessity, therefore, the means of deporting these illegal immigrants must be of a harsher and more general a nature, just as medical treatment for early cancer growth is milder than that for ignored cancer growth which requires drastic measures.
I don't want to hear from our politicians that we can't deport 12 million illegal immigrants.
Yes, we can. We just don't have to deport them all at once.
Lets start with closing off the border so that the dear-deported can't just stroll back the next day. Then let's start by deporting the ones we can get to easily: that, for the Clueless, would be those illegals already in prison for serious crimes. Let Mexico have them back. Then, as we catch more illegal aliens, through workplace inspections and other means, they can take the places of those who have just been deported, and thus we can set up a conveyor belt of deportation. I don't want to hear moans about how it's 'Crool & Hartless' to dump otherwise law-abiding workers into the feral jungle which has become our prison system...perhaps the prospect of that, as much as anything, might cause some illegals to do the best kind of relocation: voluntary.
Here's the amnesty I would offer illegal aliens: bus fare or train fare back to the Mexican border, with a small food allowance, after fingerprinting and DNA sampling. Then, if they are ever caught in the country again without legal papers, it's straight to jail, and involuntary deportation. In other words, illegals get one, and only one, chance to make things right.
Here's the final statement for our Elected Representatives, and for the business lobbyists who have supported their inaction on this issue: the illegal immigration gravy train is over.
And if you don't eliminate the gravy train, We The People will elect others who will, regardless of party affiliation.
I hope that this provides them with food for thought."
I wish this prediction hadn't turned out to be correct:
"George Waffle Bush is going to go on the air tonight and make an announcement. I am going to make the following prediction:
It is going to be an underwhelming speach which leaves American citizens scratching their heads, thinking to themselves "He wanted prime time to announce that?" He is going to announce that troops in the form of guardsmen are going to be deployed along the southern border. Temporarily. He is also going to push for some sort of "earned citizenship" program which amounts to amnesty. In the end, he will basically have given the Left everything they want, and he will throw the conservatives a bone by deploying troops until the midterm elections are over."
For some real solutions and straight talk, via Kim at The Other Side of Kim:
"Allow me to explain, and let me confine myself to the biggest problem, illegal immigration from south of the U.S. border...we're not being submerged by illegals from Belarus or Canada.
1.) There has always been a simmering resentment among U.S. citizens about illegal immigration. They see that illegal immigrants have access to free medical care, to (fraudulent) welfare payments, who can escape paying taxes (by being paid in cash), and if they ever commit a crime, can in essence escape the consequences by just running back over the border (to re-enter later under a different name). The Powers That Be, however, have never really noticed this resentment before, and in any event, the resentment has been written off as nativism, racism and all the other PC buzzwords with which the transnationalists demonize people who feel this way.
2.) Illegal immigrants dont assimilate. Thanks to a supporting infrastructure of Spanish TV, radio, newspaper and magazines, there is no need for Spanish-speaking illegal immigrants to learn English. Even worse (from our point of view), government has acquiesced to their demands by printing official documents in Spanish, and employing Spanish-speaking officials to deal with people who, in essence, are not interested in learning the language of their adopted countryand this is as true for legal immigrants as for illegal immigrants, by the way.
So far, there's still nothing new about all this; these are problems which have existed for many decades. But now we come to the part which has catapulted this issue to the forefront of the nations consciousness.
3.) 9/11. Say what you will, part of the responsibility for 9/11 lies with the fact that the Muslim terrorists were able to gain access to the United States with relative ease, and were able to study towards their ghastly goal while in the country, thanks to a lenient and over-supportive education system. By extension, a porous southern border means that 9/11's terrorist descendants can gain access just as easily as before, which renders irrelevant all other new controls at access points like harbors and airports.
4.) Europe. While many in the U.S. might have experienced a frisson of schadenfreude (if you'll forgive the mixed languages) at the TV visuals of burning cars in Paris, the message nevertheless got through to the average American: this is what happens when immigrants don't assimilate. Add to that the continuing immigrant-related problems with which the rest of Europe is grappling, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that Europe's policy of appeasement, accommodation and yet more appeasement isn't working. Now apply those same kinds of policies here (for which our state and local governments are as guilty as the FedGov), and the conclusion is equally plain: appeasement doesn't work, assimilation does. And if assimilation is rejected by the immigrant body, what's left is alienation...which brings me to my next point.
5.) Reconquista. Not only are Spanish-speaking immigrants refusing to assimilate, but now they're claiming that parts of the United States belong to Mexico, and in this, they are aided by the MexGov (more on this, below) which permits Mexican schoolchildren to be taught that the U.S. occupied part of Greater Aztlan, and that California, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico are actually part of Mexico, not part of the United States. The recent protest marches didn't help either, with signs reading nonsense like We didn't come here, the border moved south. Try as pro-immigraiton apologists may, they cannot conceal this underlying chauvinism, and ordinary Americans have seen the movement exactly for what it is.
6.) MexGov interference. When a nation aids and abets its citizens in perpetrating criminal behavior inside its neighbors borders, there is bound to be a backlash. When the MexGov started issuing phony ID documents (consular matricular) to illegal immigrants, that was bad enough. When U.S. institutions like banks and even local governments started accepting these things, allowing illegals to have access to licences and documents of U.S. citizens, people were bound to notice, and resent it. As more and more of this kind of MexGov activity has come to light, the more resentment has grown towards Mexico, not the least when people realized that Mexico treats its illegal immigrants with far more hostility and brutality than the United States could ever do to Mexican illegal immigrants. So while the MexGov was decrying any efforts by the U.S. to control Mexican illegal immigration, they themselves were pursuing a harsh policy on their own southern border. If anything rankles with Americans, its hypocrisy.
7. The Minutemen. Despite all efforts by our own government to marginalize and demonize the Minutemen (and eternal shame on them for doing so), what escaped the notice of the government was the popularity of the organization among ordinary Americans. It's not like the Minutemen are lacking for volunteers: every time they need replacements or additional volunteers, they only have to ask, and the people respond.
8. The size of the problem. If there were only a few hundred thousand illegal immigrants, or even a million, this would not be an issue. But over twelve million? And the absolute worst response from any politician could be: The problems too big to solve! In a pig's ear it is. This is America. There is no problem too big for us to solve. We ended slavery; we built the Hoover Dam, the Golden Gate Bridge and the interstate highway system; we defeated the Nazis; we overcame Communism in the Cold War, and we are defeating even as nebulous and difficult an enemy as terrorism. There is no problem we can't overcome: the only way we can be defeated is through a lack of will on the part of our government...which brings me to my final point.
9. Weak and vacillating government. If there is anything Americans despise, it is a flabby, irresolute government when faced with a crisis. In no small part, one of the primary reasons that the Democrats have a problem getting back into power, for instance, is that they are (rightly) perceived as being weak on terrorists and irresolute when facing blatant aggression. To this day, Jimmy Carter is excoriated for not acting with a firmer hand during the Iran hostage crisis. Lest we forget, those hostages were released within hours of Reagan becoming President, because he was perceived as a man who would brook no terrorism. Now, ordinary Americans perceive that the illegal immigration issue is also a crisis, not the least of which thinking is because, as I stated earlier, a flaccid response to border incursions means that terrorists can enter the country with relative ease, undetected and untraceable.
Could this country assimilate twelve million immigrants? Easily...we've done so before, with greater numbers of immigrants relative to the population of the country as a whole. But there is a huge caveat attached to that easily: the illegal immigrants have to prove that they are willing to assimilate into the fabric of the nation. This means, for example, learning English and forswearing the use of their native tongue, regardless of the difficulty; leaving behind the Mexican flag (with a pass given on, say, Cinco de Mayo, just as its okay for immigrant Micks to wave Irish flags on St. Patricks Day), and in short, becoming full citizens of this great nation, instead of part-timers who are here just for the money, and whose loyalties still lie with the Old Country.
But experience has shown Americans that Mexicans are not really willing to do any of that. Instead, we hear about cultural consciousness and other multi-culti buzzwords, all of which mean simply: well live here on our terms, not on yours.
To quote another immigrant (who managed to assimilate quite well): I don theenk so, Lucy.
In addition, the more the FedGov cozies up to this group of ingrates, the more ordinary Americans resistance is going to stiffen. And the longer this appeasement goes on, the firmer and harsher will be the popular response to any initiative which doesnt seem to be solving the problem.
Want an example?
Fifteen years ago, there would have been no support for erecting a fence or similar hard method of closing off the southern border. Too much like the Berlin Wall, too much like the East-West boundary across Europe, would have been the response. Today, popular opinion has forced Congress not only to consider it, but to appropriate funds to begin construction thereof. And if the fence is done in a haphazard, ineffective way, you had better believe that support will grow for stronger policing methods than a fence.
That's the problem: as Congress, and for that matter we as a people have allowed the illegal immigration issue to be ignored, or immigration laws enforced in only a token fashion, the time for gentle policing methods has passed. Now, instead of the couple million illegal immigrants of 1989, we now have an enormous sub-culture of over twelve million.
Of necessity, therefore, the means of deporting these illegal immigrants must be of a harsher and more general a nature, just as medical treatment for early cancer growth is milder than that for ignored cancer growth which requires drastic measures.
I don't want to hear from our politicians that we can't deport 12 million illegal immigrants.
Yes, we can. We just don't have to deport them all at once.
Lets start with closing off the border so that the dear-deported can't just stroll back the next day. Then let's start by deporting the ones we can get to easily: that, for the Clueless, would be those illegals already in prison for serious crimes. Let Mexico have them back. Then, as we catch more illegal aliens, through workplace inspections and other means, they can take the places of those who have just been deported, and thus we can set up a conveyor belt of deportation. I don't want to hear moans about how it's 'Crool & Hartless' to dump otherwise law-abiding workers into the feral jungle which has become our prison system...perhaps the prospect of that, as much as anything, might cause some illegals to do the best kind of relocation: voluntary.
Here's the amnesty I would offer illegal aliens: bus fare or train fare back to the Mexican border, with a small food allowance, after fingerprinting and DNA sampling. Then, if they are ever caught in the country again without legal papers, it's straight to jail, and involuntary deportation. In other words, illegals get one, and only one, chance to make things right.
Here's the final statement for our Elected Representatives, and for the business lobbyists who have supported their inaction on this issue: the illegal immigration gravy train is over.
And if you don't eliminate the gravy train, We The People will elect others who will, regardless of party affiliation.
I hope that this provides them with food for thought."
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
"Every Time I Hear Your Name", by Keith Anderson
I heard this song for the first time on the way home from work today, and it really struck a chord within me somewhere because I have definitely been there before...except for the part about chasing cars, checking license plates, and driving by someone's place, 'cause that's just plain creepy!). Just reading the words doesn't do the performance of the song justice, but it's the best I can do on here without changing my song profile, and I don't wanna go there yet.
Some songs just hit you hard the first time and stick with you for a while, and I think this one makes the short list, even though it is country after all, lol. Fortunately for me, unlike many days past, I believe my time for love is coming, and the woman God has for me will make me happier than I can even imagine right now...but until then, songs like this will resonate with me. ;)
Every Time I Hear Your Name
by Keith Anderson
Finally got over that song of ours
Stopped chasing little red sports cars, to check the license plates
And I quit driving by your place
Back making the rounds at all the hearts,
honky-tonks, restaurants, seeing some of our old friends
feels good to dance again
I can finally smell your perfume
And I look around the room for you
I could walk right by your picture in a frame
and not feel a thing
But when I hear your name
(Chorus)
I feel rain fallin' right out of the blue sky
And it's the 5th of May and I'm right there staring in your eyes
And nothing's changed, we're still the same
And I get lost in the innocence of a first kiss
And I'm hanging on to every word rolling off of your lips
And that's all it takes, and I'm in that place
Everytime I hear your name
Got someone special in my life
Everyone thinks she'd make a great wife
Dad says he thinks she's the one, reminds him of mom when she was young
But it's way too soon to be talking about rings
Don't want to rush into anything
She's gettin over someone too, kinda like me and you
She talks about him every once in awhile
And I just nod my head and smile, cuz I know exactly what she's going through
Yeah, I've been there too, when the conversation turns to you
(Chorus):
I get caught in the "you were the only one for me"
Kinda thought, and your face is all that I see
I Know I can't go back, but I still go back
And there we are, parked down by the riverside
And I'm in your arms, about to make love for the first time
And that's all it takes, and I'm in that place
Everytime I hear your name
Stop thinkin' about the words I left unsaid
(Everytime I hear your name)
Stop trying to change the things that I can change
(Everytime I hear your name)
In my heart I know you're gone, but in my head...
I feel rain falling right out of the blue sky
And it's the 5th of May, and I'm right there staring in your eyes.
That's all it takes, and I'm in that place
And there we are, parked down by the riverside
And I'm in your arms, about to make love for the first time.
And I can't explain, but I'm in that place
Everytime I hear your name
Everytime I hear your name
(Everytime I hear your name)
(Everytime I hear your name)
Everytime I hear your name.....
Some songs just hit you hard the first time and stick with you for a while, and I think this one makes the short list, even though it is country after all, lol. Fortunately for me, unlike many days past, I believe my time for love is coming, and the woman God has for me will make me happier than I can even imagine right now...but until then, songs like this will resonate with me. ;)
Every Time I Hear Your Name
by Keith Anderson
Finally got over that song of ours
Stopped chasing little red sports cars, to check the license plates
And I quit driving by your place
Back making the rounds at all the hearts,
honky-tonks, restaurants, seeing some of our old friends
feels good to dance again
I can finally smell your perfume
And I look around the room for you
I could walk right by your picture in a frame
and not feel a thing
But when I hear your name
(Chorus)
I feel rain fallin' right out of the blue sky
And it's the 5th of May and I'm right there staring in your eyes
And nothing's changed, we're still the same
And I get lost in the innocence of a first kiss
And I'm hanging on to every word rolling off of your lips
And that's all it takes, and I'm in that place
Everytime I hear your name
Got someone special in my life
Everyone thinks she'd make a great wife
Dad says he thinks she's the one, reminds him of mom when she was young
But it's way too soon to be talking about rings
Don't want to rush into anything
She's gettin over someone too, kinda like me and you
She talks about him every once in awhile
And I just nod my head and smile, cuz I know exactly what she's going through
Yeah, I've been there too, when the conversation turns to you
(Chorus):
I get caught in the "you were the only one for me"
Kinda thought, and your face is all that I see
I Know I can't go back, but I still go back
And there we are, parked down by the riverside
And I'm in your arms, about to make love for the first time
And that's all it takes, and I'm in that place
Everytime I hear your name
Stop thinkin' about the words I left unsaid
(Everytime I hear your name)
Stop trying to change the things that I can change
(Everytime I hear your name)
In my heart I know you're gone, but in my head...
I feel rain falling right out of the blue sky
And it's the 5th of May, and I'm right there staring in your eyes.
That's all it takes, and I'm in that place
And there we are, parked down by the riverside
And I'm in your arms, about to make love for the first time.
And I can't explain, but I'm in that place
Everytime I hear your name
Everytime I hear your name
(Everytime I hear your name)
(Everytime I hear your name)
Everytime I hear your name.....
Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Illegal Immigrants are Entitled to Nothing
Via Some Soldier's Mom:
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARE ENTITLED TO NOTHING
"I thought I was pretty staunch about illegal immigration reform until this past winter when the 25 year old son of a friend -- a veteran -- lost his job to an illegal alien who was willing to work landscaping for 1/2 the going wage, with no overtime, no benefits. And when he couldn't find another job, he went to welfare and was told that he was a white, American-born, English speaking male, without ten kids to support -- AND HE DIDN"T QUALIFY. That young man just about starved to death this winter. So much for taking jobs Americans don't want. This incident made me unwavering. And as long as illegals will work for "nothing" they will remain second class, uneducated and poor in America. From an American citizen whose grandparents and great gandparents were immigrants -- LEGAL immigrants -- who is tired of illegal immigrants (forget that "undocumented worker" crap) tell us that they are entitled to be here:
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARE ENTITLED TO NOTHING (NADA) EXCEPT DEPORTATION.
THEY HAVE NO RIGHTS HERE.
THEY ARE ILLEGAL.
WHAT PART OF ILLEGAL DON'T THEY OR OUR CONGRESS UNDERSTAND?!
Everyone keeps complaining that it would be too costly to deport 11 million (more like 20-25 million --Ed.) illegals. I say, they got here on their own and at their own expense and they can leave the same way. Why should American citizens and LEGAL immigrants pay for illegal behavior? Give them 90 or 180 days to get their affairs in order -- including documentation from American employers -- and go home. Then you are ENTITLED to put your name on a list and ASK PERMISSION to come and live and work in America. You can live in the country of your birth until background and health checks are conducted. Those that held jobs here would have priority to return. If you are illegal and are caught in the U.S. after the 90 day period, you get your butt deported and your name on a list that you can NEVER seek residency or a work permit here.
I feel strongly about this. No amnesty. No special treatment because they broke the law. And I don't care how long ago you broke the law and how many kids you've popped while you were here. No more free schooling. No more free medical benefits. No more free welfare. No more signs in Spanish. Learn English, and I don't think I should have to pay for it. No one taught my grandparents English in schools when they came here as adults nor did anyone offer lessons in schools. They had other immigrants that spoke English teach them on their own time at their own expense. It's the price -- and the privilege -- of being in America.
Yes, immigration must be reformed -- but only immigration enforcement. Enforce the laws we have now and BUILD THE WALL. When that is done, we can talk "reform". Now, I'm going out shopping and spending like there is no tomorrow! Boycott my a$$. This is MY little demonstration in support of OUR immigration laws. You don't like those laws? LEAVE. THERE'S THE DOOR. ADIOS."
Amen sister, preach it! And by the way, if the reports circulating about the U.S. Border Patrol tipping off the Mexican government and illegal immigrants about the location of Minutemen border patrols are true and Congress knew about it, that would seem to amount to treason in my book (although I wouldn't say that as a legal opinion without reviewing the statutes first), and those actively undermining our borders and sovereignty in such a flagrant and dangerous fashion should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARE ENTITLED TO NOTHING
"I thought I was pretty staunch about illegal immigration reform until this past winter when the 25 year old son of a friend -- a veteran -- lost his job to an illegal alien who was willing to work landscaping for 1/2 the going wage, with no overtime, no benefits. And when he couldn't find another job, he went to welfare and was told that he was a white, American-born, English speaking male, without ten kids to support -- AND HE DIDN"T QUALIFY. That young man just about starved to death this winter. So much for taking jobs Americans don't want. This incident made me unwavering. And as long as illegals will work for "nothing" they will remain second class, uneducated and poor in America. From an American citizen whose grandparents and great gandparents were immigrants -- LEGAL immigrants -- who is tired of illegal immigrants (forget that "undocumented worker" crap) tell us that they are entitled to be here:
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARE ENTITLED TO NOTHING (NADA) EXCEPT DEPORTATION.
THEY HAVE NO RIGHTS HERE.
THEY ARE ILLEGAL.
WHAT PART OF ILLEGAL DON'T THEY OR OUR CONGRESS UNDERSTAND?!
Everyone keeps complaining that it would be too costly to deport 11 million (more like 20-25 million --Ed.) illegals. I say, they got here on their own and at their own expense and they can leave the same way. Why should American citizens and LEGAL immigrants pay for illegal behavior? Give them 90 or 180 days to get their affairs in order -- including documentation from American employers -- and go home. Then you are ENTITLED to put your name on a list and ASK PERMISSION to come and live and work in America. You can live in the country of your birth until background and health checks are conducted. Those that held jobs here would have priority to return. If you are illegal and are caught in the U.S. after the 90 day period, you get your butt deported and your name on a list that you can NEVER seek residency or a work permit here.
I feel strongly about this. No amnesty. No special treatment because they broke the law. And I don't care how long ago you broke the law and how many kids you've popped while you were here. No more free schooling. No more free medical benefits. No more free welfare. No more signs in Spanish. Learn English, and I don't think I should have to pay for it. No one taught my grandparents English in schools when they came here as adults nor did anyone offer lessons in schools. They had other immigrants that spoke English teach them on their own time at their own expense. It's the price -- and the privilege -- of being in America.
Yes, immigration must be reformed -- but only immigration enforcement. Enforce the laws we have now and BUILD THE WALL. When that is done, we can talk "reform". Now, I'm going out shopping and spending like there is no tomorrow! Boycott my a$$. This is MY little demonstration in support of OUR immigration laws. You don't like those laws? LEAVE. THERE'S THE DOOR. ADIOS."
Amen sister, preach it! And by the way, if the reports circulating about the U.S. Border Patrol tipping off the Mexican government and illegal immigrants about the location of Minutemen border patrols are true and Congress knew about it, that would seem to amount to treason in my book (although I wouldn't say that as a legal opinion without reviewing the statutes first), and those actively undermining our borders and sovereignty in such a flagrant and dangerous fashion should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
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