Immigration Update, Cloture passes part II

This is a continuation of the Immigration vote thread started here: http://wwwwakeupamericans-spree.blogspot.com/2007/06/immigration-update-cloture-passes.html

The Corner

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Cloture Tomorrow [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

A Senate source with well-established good instincts predicts: "Vote should be close... I'll be very surprised if this bill lives beyond tomorrow morning. Not certain, but four of the 64 are now on record as changing to “no” votes. One more and it’s over—assuming none of the “no” votes flip."

As I've said before, I can't help but think Harry Reid would love to be the guy who tried to get the president's bill through and simply couldn't because of Republicans. All he needs is for cloture to not happen tomorrow. Amnesty 8, give him that gift!

THIS IS BAD LEGISLATION THAT WE DO NOT NEED. I don't know how much more clearly it can be said than that.

Enough is enough. This has got to end, before it results in armed revolt and bloodshed. Is that what our Senate wants? Is that what our President wants? Because God KNOWS that is what is being said will happen by certain sections who are FED UP with this.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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Waiting...

The "Will he or won't he?" question may soon be answered concerning Fred Thompson entering the race as a Presidential candidate. There are many, many factors that come into play when determining when to enter a campaign, a great many of them concern laws governing campaign finances. As the primaries approach, however, it becomes a more crucial thing to enter at exactly the right moment and officially announce as a candidate.

WSMV-TV: Thompson Announcement Set For Nashville
Headquarters To Be Based At Fall School building
Reported By Dennis Ferrier

POSTED: 4:29 pm CDT June 22, 2007
UPDATED: 7:15 pm CDT June 22, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Channel 4 News Nationwide Exclusive


Fred Thompson is set to announce that Nashville will be the home of his national campaign headquarters, WSMV is reporting.

A source close to the campaign planning tells WSMV that that Thompson planned to announce his candidacy on the steps of the historic Fall School Building Tuesday, but Thompson campaign officials deny that Tuesday's announcement is an official run for the White House.

The source tells WSMV report says that the Thompson campaign has obtained the lease for that building to turn it into a national campaign office.

"Everything's in place for tuesday," the source told WSMV. "There are three major events built around his announcement." But Bob Davis, the Tennessee Republican Party Chairman, and Thompson's former Chief of Staff says "There will not be an annoucement Tuesday."

The Fall School is Nashville's oldest still-standing school building. It currently houses office space, including a local office for U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander.

I personally have made my own position on this very clear. If Fred Thompson enters the race, that's my candidate, that's who I'm backing.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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Taking a Stand against the United Nations

For several years now I've been a proponent of removing the United States from involvement with the United Nations. I see the organization as being a body that tries not to solve international problems through diplomacy and negotiation but as one that tries to become a governing body for the entire planet. I've also pointed out on numerous occasions how that the UN uses Israel as their "whipping boy" every time that the Israeli's do anything to defend themselves, blaming Israel for starting conflicts that have been brought to them by others.

Our world is by no means in a place for global governance. I doubt that it ever will be, given our cultural and social differences from country to country. Look at our own nation, if you need convincing. How many southerners are more than happy to "help a Yankee go home?" How many northerners look at southerners as being JUST like the Beverly Hillbilly's? California is referred to as "the left coast" because of their political views, not just because of their location on the map.

We DO NOT need to be as heavily involved in the United Nations as we are.

Mayhap our government is starting to realize this as well.

US House bars funding for UN rights council

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US House of Representatives moved to prohibit US funding of the UN Human Rights Council, derided by one member as a "poisonous talk shop," as part of a mammoth funding bill passed early Friday.

The United States has repeatedly expressed frustration with the council over its rules, targets for monitoring -- including US ally Israel -- and the way it conducts business.

The amendment, to a measure funding the State Department and US diplomacy, passed by unanimous voice vote, and prevents US funding for the overall United Nations budget from being used for the council's 15 million dollar annual operations.

"We were right to refuse to dignify that poisonous talk-shop with our membership, and we must refuse to support it with our tax dollars," said Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

"By pulling its membership from the broader UN General Assembly without any membership criteria, the council has gone further than its predecessor in giving gross human rights violators the power to shape the international human rights agenda," Ros-Lehtinen said.

The council, of which the United States is only an observer, was formed last year to replace the discredited UN Human Rights Commission.

The United States earlier this week said it was disappointed by new rules adopted by the Human Rights Council and accused the fledgling institution of denying its own members voting rights

The 47 members of the Geneva-based council agreed to continue scrutiny of Israel and sought the abolition of independent rights experts monitoring Cuba and Belarus.

The United States said it was also concerned about what it called "procedural irregularities" employed to deny council members the opportunity to vote on the agenda.

In a statement, Ros-Lehtinen's office faulted the council for failing to condemn genocide in Darfur, the "sprawling gulag of North Korea" and political and rights abuses in Cuba, Belarus, Myanmar and Zimbabwe.

I believe in giving proper credit where it's due. A big "Well Done" to the House of Representatives for this one. Thank you for doing the right thing.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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The grass is always greener...

The late Erma Bombeck once wrote a book entitled The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side of the Septic Tank. Humorous, witty, I wonder if the Palestinians are feeling any sort of humor and wit at their current situation as they lament not being under the protection and jurisdiction of Israel.

We told you about this situation in recent weeks with spree's posting this week "First They Came for the Jews", my posting on the 3rd entitled "The enemy of my enemy...?", and we revisit it today with hat tips to little green footballs and News Busters.

To refresh everyone's memory, there has yet to be a nation named "Palestine." The Dinosaur media has created in the public mindset the concept of a misplaced people living in refugee status since the middle of the last century; people misplaced by the creation of the nation of Israel. What the media fails to report is that in truth it was the Israeli people who had been displaced for CENTURIES and that they had returned to their homeland.

The "Palestinians" were squatters.

And now, after decades of the media making Israel to be so unfair to the Palestinians and being so harsh to them, where are Palestinians heading to escape violence in the Gaza Strip?

Israel.

From the Jerusalem Post:

Earlier, dozens of Palestinians arrived at the Erez Crossing in an attempt to escape the Gaza Strip and enter Israel. IDF soldiers shot into the air to try to prevent the approaching crowds from infiltrating through the security fence.

Many of the Palestinians arrived at the crossing carrying large suitcases and were planning to run away from the Strip following Hamas's takeover.

One young man shouted "bye, bye, Gaza," and waved as he walked through the covered walkway that leads to the Israeli side.

My my my my my what oh WHAT will the leftist anti-semitic dinosaur media DO now that Israel has been SHOWN not to be the bad guy here?

Katie Couric might just explode on camera.

One can only hope...

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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Geritol Commandos?

It's an amazing thing how older couples who have been together for some time can read each other, know each other, and trust each other even during moments of crisis. There is something to be said for the strength of such relationships, even in this day and age, as the following story illustrates:

Graying duo keep passenger in check
By Kevin Cullen, Globe Staff | June 5, 2007

Shortly before landing, Bob Hayden and a flight attendant had agreed on a signal: When she waved the plastic handcuffs, he would discreetly leave his seat and restrain an unruly passenger who had frightened some of the 150 people on board a Minneapolis-to-Boston flight Saturday night with erratic behavior.

Hayden, a 65-year-old former police commander, had enlisted a gray-haired gentleman sitting next to him to assist. The man turned out to be a former US Marine.

"I had looked around the plane for help, and all the younger guys had averted their eyes. When I asked the guy next to me if he was up to it, all he said was, 'Retired captain. USMC.' I said, 'You'll do,' " Hayden recalled. "So, basically, a couple of grandfathers took care of the situation."

The incident on Northwest Airlines Flight 720 ended peacefully, but not before Hayden, a former Boston police deputy superintendent and former Lawrence police chief, and the retired Marine had handcuffed one man and stood guard over another until the plane touched down safely at Logan International Airport around 7:50 p.m.

State Police troopers escorted two men off the flight. Trooper Thomas Murphy, a State Police spokesman, said one of the men was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital for "an unspecified medical issue, possibly mental health."

He said State Police detectives will investigate whether the man's behavior should be treated as a medical or criminal matter. A second man escorted off the plane identified himself as the unruly passenger's brother. Murphy said police would not release the names of the men, who Hayden said appeared to be in their 30s or 40s.

Dean Breest, a spokesman for Northwest, confirmed that "there was an incident that required State Police to come on board the aircraft" but declined further comment.

Hayden said the unruly man's behavior upset some passengers. One told Hayden the man had said, "Your lives are going to change today forever," as he shouted and refused to take his seat before takeoff and at various times during the nearly three-hour flight. He said that at one point the man lay on his back and was screaming, moaning, and thrashing on the floor.

"Some people were crying," Hayden said. "I thought it might be a diversion. I kept scanning the back of the plane to see if anyone was going to rush forward. The flight attendants did a great job, literally surrounding the two guys who were making all the noise. I told one of the flight attendants I was a retired police officer and would be willing to assist, so we agreed on a signal."

When the captain announced preparations for landing, the man jumped up shouting, the flight attendant held up the handcuffs, and Hayden and the Marine came bounding down the aisle. Hayden said he and the retired Marine, whose name he never got, received an ovation from fellow passengers, and "some free air miles."

Hayden's wife of 42 years, Katie, who was also on the flight, was less impressed. Even as her husband struggled with the agitated passenger, she barely looked up from "The Richest Man in Babylon," the book she was reading.

"The woman sitting in front of us was very upset and asked me how I could just sit there reading," Katie Hayden said. "Bob's been shot at. He's been stabbed. He's taken knives away. He knows how to handle those situations. I figured he would go up there and step on somebody's neck, and that would be the end of it. I knew how that situation would end. I didn't know how the book would end."

Now THAT is not only courage from a generation that understands, but trust in one's partner, in my book.

OUTstanding.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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The enemy of my enemy...?

Middle East politics is an amazing thing to follow. Just when you think you have it all figured out, something happens that absolutely changes the shape of everything that analysts and political scientists have speculated on and predicted.

Hat Tip to Moderate Voice for this amazing story that you won't likely find on the front pages or in the opening segments of the nightly news:

'We Are Facing a Second Nakba'-Reactions in the Palestinian Press to the Hamas-Fatah Clashes

By: C. Jacob

"The situation in the Gaza Strip, and especially in the city of Gaza, is scary. Murders are committed by the dozen, using every [conceivable] weapon... The murder machine, fueled by every conceivable type of hatred, is hurtling in every direction, all the time, everywhere... in the mosques... in the schools... [There are] executions... Leaders are attacked, and their families humiliated... Children and innocent civilians are being murdered..." Talal Okal, columnist for the Palestinian Authority daily Al-Ayyam, May 17, 2007.

Introduction

The current wave of violent Hamas-Fatah clashes is one of the most brutal the PA has known, especially considering that it broke out only a short while after the signing of the Mecca Agreement, which was supposed to put an end to the mutual fighting. The large number of casualties, and the fear that has taken hold of the Gaza streets, have sparked intense protest among Palestinians and Arabs, with harsh criticism directed towards both the PA and Hamas.

Some consequences of the clashes are public statements by residents calling on Israel to reenter the Gaza Strip, and concerns regarding the effect of the fighting on the international community's faith in the Palestinians' ability to establish a state, to honor agreements, and to maintain peace.

Among the solutions proposed in the Palestinian media were to launch a third intifada, this time against those responsible for the internal chaos, and to bring in Arab or international forces to keep the peace between the Fatah and Hamas.

Does that sound like the peace that Palestinians had expected from not being under Israeli rule?
What would one expect the reactions to be from this situation? Not, probably, what you would think...

Who is Responsible for the Clashes? - Mutual Accusations by Fatah and Hamas
Fatah and PLO spokesmen accused Hamas of staging a coup against the Palestinian Authority and of trying to renege on the Mecca Agreement. The PLO Executive Committee issued a statement saying: "What is happening in Gaza is an attempted coup against the legitimate security apparatuses, aimed at imposing by force the legitimacy of the armed militias, and especially the legitimacy of the Hamas militia [known as the] Executive Force." It should be noted that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pronounced the Executive Force illegal immediately after its establishment." [1]

A statement issued by the Fatah Central Committee said: "Behind the mutual killing of Palestinian by Palestinian stand local leaders and field [commanders] from Hamas who are working to overthrow the national unity government and the Mecca Agreement." [2] In a similar vein, Fatah spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa accused Hamas of losing control over its armed militias. [3]

Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Azzam Al-Ahmad demanded that all armed gunmen from both sides be removed from the streets, saying: "PA President [Mahmoud Abbas] issued a presidential decree proclaiming the Executive Force illegitimate only two days after its establishment was announced." On another occasion, Azzam Al-Ahmad called to dismantle the Executive Force, accusing its men of carrying out executions that were pushing the Palestinians to the brink of civil war. [4]

Yousef Al-Qazzaz, a senior Palestinian Broadcasting Authority official and columnist for the PA daily Al-Ayyam, wrote: "A strong smell of Al-Qaeda is rising from what is being done in Gaza by the [forces] of chaos, which are murdering Palestinian security personnel and killing innocent women and children [right] in front of Prime Minister [Ismail Haniyya] from Hamas, who is unable to restrain them." [5]

Hamas spokesmen, on the other hand, accused Fatah of collaborating with the U.S. and with Israel, and claimed that the revolutionary faction within Fatah was rebelling against the Palestinian government. In response to Azzam Al-Ahmad's call to dismantle the Executive Force, Hamas demanded that his immunity be revoked and he stand trial. Hamas Spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said: "Al-Ahmad represents the Legislative Council and the Fatah party. How can he demand the dismantling of a legitimate police force?" [6] Hamas representative Ayman Tah asked: "Why doesn't Azzam Al-Ahmad speak of the Fatah's [own] executive force, about its illegitimacy and its massacre of residents? Why doesn't he speak of the presidential club, which has become an execution chamber for residents and which has made it licit to kill the [Palestinian] people?" [7] Another Hamas statement said: "Israel's jets did not hesitate to respond to Azzam Al-Ahmad's call to [come] and wipe out the interior ministry's Executive Force." [8]

Hamas also characterized the events in Gaza as a rebellion by commanders from the revolutionary faction within Fatah against the Palestinian government and against the agreements signed by Abbas and Haniyya. [9] Haniyya's political advisor Ahmad Yousef accused factions within Fatah and the security apparatuses of "following orders from the U.S. and Israel to escalate the violence. Both movements," he added," need a second Mecca Agreement in order to resolve the problems that still remain, such as the hierarchy within the security apparatuses and the appointment of an interior minister." Ahmad Yousef also accused the U.S. of strengthening Fatah at the expense of Hamas." [10]

Arab on Arab violence in the Gaza Strip? Is this what was expected with Israeli withdrawal?

The Clashes "Are Murdering the Palestinian Cause"

Al-Ayyam columnist Abdallah Awwad attacked both Fatah and Hamas: "Between one murder and another, between one kidnapping and the next... our leaders continue to sit in their [meaningless] seats and to speak of 'resistance,' 'liberation,' 'unity,' and 'return'... They are all liars. The weapons they wish to retain, [ostensibly] as the weapons of resistance, are actually weapons of internecine terrorism and murder... You are murdering the [Palestinian] cause, [our] people and [our] future... Oh murderers, you have ruined our world, castrated our nationalism, prostituted our resistance... You have turned our lives into hell. [In fact,] hell is preferable... Take your government, your militias, and your gangs and go to hell." [16]

Palestinian columnist Abd Al-Nasser Al-Najjar wrote in a similar vein: "Oh murderers in the streets of Gaza, we renounce you. You cannot have emerged from the womb of the Holy Land. You are despicable. You are chasing after [what is left] of our shattered government, [pursuing your own] interests... You are neither Muslims nor believers... Today, we are ashamed to speak out loud of our Palestinian [identity], when in the past we took pride in our Palestinian self-sacrifice, revolution and martyrdom. Oh you mercenaries, you have betrayed our dreams and murdered our promised state. [Our] enemies have used you as a Trojan horse. Oh murderers, you are the Satan of Palestine... Know that a bullet you fire in the Gaza street, no matter what your affiliation, will turn into a curse that will pursue you to your own graves. Oh murderers of Gaza... you have no place [among us] now that you have killed everything that is beautiful within us." [17]


Palestinian Officials: The World Perceives Us as a People Incapable of Establishing a State

Columnists also expressed concern that the fighting would affect the Palestinians' image in the eyes of the international community. Bassam Abu Sharif, who was an advisor to Arafat, wrote: "The situation in Gaza has reached the explosion point, and the Israeli message to the West and to Washington is 'do you really want these people to establish an independent state? If they are shooting each other [now], what will they do when they have a state? If they violate the agreements they have signed with each other and with the Arabs, what will they do with the agreements [they sign] with Israel?" [18]

Columnist and Palestinian official Yousef Qazzaz wrote: "To this very day, I do not understand why most of our senior [officials] are afraid to declare in all honesty that we - [our] government, [our] security apparatuses and the [Palestinian] people - have [all] failed in implementing the law and in maintaining security. We are immersed in the worship of chaos, in the destruction of our national institutions and our home. Why are we angry with those who say that the Palestinians are incapable of managing their country's affairs?" [19]

So what do the Palestinians see as a solution to their problems? Here's the surprise to this story:

Columnists: People in Gaza Long for the Return of the Israeli Occupation

Papers reported that some people in Gaza even want the Israelis to return to the Strip. Faiz Abbas and Muhammad Awwad, journalists for the Israeli-Arab weekly Al-Sinara, wrote: "People in Gaza are hoping that Israel will reenter the Gaza Strip, wipe out both Hamas and Fatah, and then withdraw again... They also say that, since the [start of the] massacres, they [have begun to] miss the Israelis, since Israel is more merciful than [the Palestinian gunmen] who do not even know why they are fighting and killing one another. It's like organized crime, [they said]. Once, we resisted Israel together, but now we call for the return of the Israeli army to Gaza." [20]

Al-Hayat Al-Jadida columnist Yahya Rabah wrote: "When the national unity government was formed, I thought, 'This will be a government of national salvation.' If a government that includes Fatah, Hamas, other factions and independents associated with [various] factions has not been able to save the day, it means that no one can, unless Israel decides that its army should intervene. Then it will invade [the Gaza Strip], kill and arrest [people] - but this time not as an occupying [force] but as an international peace-keeping force. Look what we have come to, how far we have deteriorated, and what we have done to ourselves." [21]

Palestinian journalist Majed Azzam wrote: "We should have the courage to acknowledge the truth... The [only] thing that prevents the chaos and turmoil in Gaza from spreading to the West Bank is the presence of the Israeli occupation [in the West Bank]... [as opposed to] its absence from the Gaza Strip." [22]

Bassem Al-Nabris, a Palestinian poet from Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip, wrote: "If a there was a referendum in the Gaza Strip [on the question of] 'would you like the Israeli occupation to return?' half the population would vote 'yes'... But in practice, I believe that the number of those in favor is at least 70%, if not more - [a figure] much higher than is assumed by the political analysts and those who follow [events]. For the million and a half people living in this small region, things have [simply] gone too far - in practice, not just as a metaphor. [It did not begin] with the internal conflicts, but even earlier, in the days of the previous Palestinian administration, which was corrupt and did not give the people even the tiniest [ray of] hope. The fundamentalist forces which came into power [after it] also promised change and reform, but [instead, people] got a siege, with no security and no [chance of] making a living... If the occupation returns, at least there will be no civil war, and the occupier will have a moral and legal obligation to provide the occupied people with employment and food, which they now lack." [23]

Isn't it an amazing thing how that Israel has been so villainized for their treatment of the Palestinians? How long has the world blamed Israel for the plight of Palestine? Let me fill you in on a little clue that so many seem to forget or overlook. Ready? Hold on, this is HUGE. THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A NATION CALLED PALESTINE. But how much terrorist activity has taken place in it's name? TOO much. Israel IS the Jewish homeland, historically as well as Biblically. And now the Palestinians recognize exactly what they had under Israeli rule, having suffered greatly since Israel withdrew from Gaza.

Amazing, that.

Read the whole story here. It boggles the mind. And it goes to show that Israel is not the horrible overlord that the dinosaur media and the U.N. paints it to be...

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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