Showing posts with label Holder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holder. Show all posts

Friday, June 11, 2010

Obama strikes back at Arizona: ICE to provide beverage bars, movie nights, dance classes and computer training to illegals

The Houston Chronicle reports that the Obama administration is making things considerably more comfy for illegal immigrants. ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is rolling out a series of upgrades to detention centers including self-serve beverage bars, continental breakfasts, movie nights, art classes, internet access, computer training classes, bingo, dance classes, decorative plants and a variety of other upscale benefits.

The changes, detailed in an internal ICE e-mail obtained by the Houston Chronicle, were welcomed by immigrant advocates who have been waiting for the Obama administration to deliver on a promise made in August to overhaul the nation's immigration detention system.

The 28 changes identified in the e-mail range from the superficial to the substantive. In addition to “softening the look of the facility” with hanging plants and offering fresh carrot sticks, ICE will allow for the “free movement” of low-risk detainees, expand visiting hours and provide unmonitored phone lines.

ICE officials said the changes are part of broader efforts to make the immigration detention system less penal and more humane.

But the plans are prompting protests by ICE's union leaders, who say they will jeopardize the safety of agents, guards and detainees and increase the bottom line for taxpayers. Tre Rebstock, president for Local 3332, the ICE union in Houston, likened the changes to creating “an all-inclusive resort” for immigration detainees.

“Our biggest concern is that someone is going to get hurt,” he said, taking particular issue with plans to relax restrictions on the movement of low-risk detainees and efforts to reduce and eliminate pat-down searches.

To demonstrate the scale of the problem, ICE houses nearly half a million illegal immigrants annually. Many are convicted criminals (recidivists included) including rapists, drug dealers and murderers.

The unions that represent prison guards are rightfully worried. Reducing pat-down searches will allow weapons, drugs and other contraband into detention centers.

The ICE memo reads as follows:

From: Conry, Steven
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2010 2:38 PM
To:
Cc:
Subject: Immeidate Attention - New ICE Requirements
Importance: High

Below, please find a list of facility modifications which we will discuss at our
upcoming meeting at 2:45 pm.

In addition [to the policy reforms], CCA will provide the following no-cost
improvements at each of those nine facilities. [Elizabeth; Eloy; Florence;
Houston; Laredo; Hall County; San Diego; Stewart; Hutto]

· Allow visitors to come for as long as they like during a 12-hour period each day and on weekends.
· Increase availability of legal supplies and postage to indigent detainees for legal correspondence.
· Add research resources at the law libraries.
· Play the “Know Your Rights” legal orientation video in each housing unit every day (not in lieu of in person legal programs but in addition to them).
· Increase contact visitation space for legal counsel.
· Design and provide an area at each facility for contact visitation.
· Allow free movement within the institution for detainees of appropriate classification levels.
· Allow detainees of appropriate classification levels to wear their own clothing, within reasonable limitation, and providing non-penal clothing for detainees to wear.
· Eliminate lock downs and lights out for appropriate classification levels
· Reduce the frequency of and, as reasonable, wholly eliminate pat down searches
· Provide more normalized common areas.
· Soften the look for the facility with hanging plants, flower baskets, new paint colors, different bedding and furniture, wall graphics and framed pictures on the walls, and enhance the aesthetics of the living areas.
· Expand programming for detainees to include movie nights, bingo, arts and crafts, dance, walk and exercise classes, health and welfare classes, basic cooking classes, tutoring and self-paced computer training on portable computer stations.
· Provide celebrations of special occasions and allowing a detainee to receive outside, packaged food for celebrations and while visiting with family and friends.
· Increase the number of phones and unmonitored lines for attorney calls.
· Design new menus with greater variety and reduce repetition of food
· Offer continental breakfasts that are completely self serve on holidays
and weekends.
· Provide fresh carrot sticks and celery or other vegetables in a bar format.
· Provide self-serve beverage bars.
· Offer water and tea in the housing areas at all times.
· Provide a unit manger so detainees have someone available to talk to and to solve problems in the facility other than the immediate guard.
· Increase training unique to each facility so staff are aware of the nature and needs of the population of each facility.
· Survey community-based immigration advocacy groups and immigration attorneys for suggestions that may improve communication and ease of access.
· Designate an employee at each facility for consular access issues to improve consular access.
· Ensure third party legal education programs are made available at all ICE sites.
· Provide four hours or more hours of recreation in a natural setting, allowing for robust aerobic exercise.
· Provide email access for detainees, as is currently provided at Hutto.
· Provide internet-based free phone service.

The Obama administration claims that there's not enough money for key defense programs. Minor things like, oh, I don't know -- freaking missile defense!

But there's apparently plenty of money to keep illegal immigrants in clover. Yes, these Democrats are really fine at this governin' business.


Hat tip: Charlie Foxtrot.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

The Costs of Illegal Immigration vs. State Budget Deficits: a Chart

I'll let the figures speak for themselves.

StateIllegal Immigration Population (000's omitted)Total Cost to State TaxpayersCurrent Budget DeficitImmigration Enforcement Could Close % of Budget Shortfall
Nevada210$0.8B$1.2B67%
Massachusetts225$1.0B$2.6B39%
Maryland250$1.3B$2.0B65%
Arizona470$2.7B$3.2B84%
Illinois775$3.5B$5.7B61%
Florida950$3.8B$3.2B118%
New York1,000$5.2B$8.2B63%
Texas1,740$4.7B$11.0B43%
California3,470$10.5B$19.0B55%

The costs represent only the 'hard dollar' toll for the lack of border enforcement, including education, health services, incarceration, welfare, etc. 'Soft dollar' costs -- the toll on the victims of illegal immigrants' crimes, drug addiction, inferior educational programs for citizens and legal immigrants, etc. -- are not included in the figures.


Sources: Arizona ($1.6 billion from Arizona's education system, $694.8 million from health care services, $339.7 million in law enforcement and court costs, $85.5 million in welfare costs and $155.4 million in other general costs); California ($2.5B for incarceration, $2.5 billion for medical services, education $3.2B, total $10.5B); Maryland; Massachusetts, New York; State Budget Deficits.
Related: Aren't 'Sanctuary Cities' that promote illegal immigration cool? Suspect in Times Square bomb plot was known to be living illegally in Boston


Aren't 'Sanctuary Cities' that promote illegal immigration cool? Suspect in Times Square bomb plot was known to be living illegally in Boston

Gee, David Gregory, you mean terror suspect So Pir Kahn was known to be living in the U.S. illegally -- and nothing was done?

The magnificent investigators at Judicial Watch unearthed this startling news, which you most definitely will not be reading in your state-run media periodicals.

In an alarming example of how sanctuary cities can protect terrorists, a Pakistani man arrested for the Time Square bombing admitted on a city license application that he entered the U.S. illegally and authorities took no action.

That’s because he applied for the cabbie license in a state (Massachusetts) that openly protects illegal immigrants from deportation. Local law enforcement agencies throughout Massachusetts have don’t-ask-don’t-tell policies regarding illegal aliens and in this case the Boston Police Department has for years known that the terrorist, So Pir Khan, was in the country illegally.

Khan was recently arrested in an FBI terror sweep for his involvement in the Time Square bombing earlier this month. The Boston cab driver is one of three men who funneled money to the fellow Pakistani terrorist (Faisal Shahzad) who tried to blow up New York’s Time Square with a series of bombs hidden in a sports utility vehicle.

When Khan applied for a license to drive a taxi, he admitted in writing that he had come to the United States illegally in 1991. The application was submitted to Boston Police but no action was ever taken. Khan easily obtained the cabbie license and regularly drove around one of the nation’s busiest airports with few restrictions. In fact the Boston Police Hackney Division approved Khan’s license to drive a taxi 13 times since he first applied in 1997.

JudicialWatch also reports that despite his employment as a gas station attendant, Boston authorities never thought anything was suspicious when he ponied up $190,000 in cash to purchase taxi medallions. A few years later, he doubled his investment when he sold his shares and, again, no one investigated.

Massachusetts is one of many sanctuary regions; most cities in the bankrupt state of California, Chicago, the District of Columbia, New Haven (CT), Salt Lake City (UT) and Provo (UT) are but a few of the areas that are protecting the rights of criminals and terrorists by willfully ignoring federal law.

But don't worry -- mainstream media is too busy misconstruing Rand Paul's comments on the Constitution and the 1875 and 1964 Civil Rights Acts to concern themselves with the safety of American citizens.

So don't fret, folks, we're in the best of hands. After all, our beloved Attorney General Eric Holder and our equally outstanding DHS Chief Janet Napolitano are both watching over us like hacks hawks.


Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Unbelievable: Houston TV uncovers federal indictment that indicates 'hundreds of terrorists' may have recently infiltrated the U.S. from Mexico

Austin's KVUE-TV recently received word that the Department of Homeland Security had issued a bulletin to local police and sheriff's deputies concerning a terrorist who could be entering the U.S. through Mexico.

In the process of investigating the story, KVUE discovered 'a smuggling corridor' that specializes in the transportation of terrorists and other dangerous individuals into the U.S. A federal indictment filed two weeks ago indicates that hundreds of individuals affiliated with terror groups have likely infiltrated the U.S. from points south.

The alert focuses on Mohamed Ali, a suspected member of the terrorist group Al Shabaab. It indicates he may be traveling to the U.S. through Mexico. Al Shabaab is a terrorist group based in Somalia with links to the Somali attacks dramatized in the movie “Blackhawk Down.” A few months ago, the group announced its allegiance to Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden.

"[Al Shabaab operatives] are certainly a real threat to U.S. security and an increasing threat to U.S. security," said Rice University Baker Institute Fellow Joan Neuhaus Schaan. Schaan is an expert on Homeland Security and terrorism, and her research is reviewed by the U.S. government, military and civil authorities... She said Al-Shabaab trains extremists and wants to turn Somalia into the next Afghanistan.

"Similar to the set up in Afghanistan in 2001 when Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden had a strong relationship with the Taliban that allowed them free reign in Afghanistan,” Neuhas Schaan said.

The route from Somalia to Texas is shorter than Americans would like to think. It goes through Mexico. Two weeks ago, a federal indictment was filed in San Antonio against a Somali citizen. It alleges Ahmed Muhammed Dhakane led a "large-scale smuggling enterprise," moving east Africans into the U.S., including members of a terrorist group called AIAI.

"It was hundreds of individuals," Neuhaus Schaan said, in reference to the indictment...

So let's not do anything hasty like sealing the border.

But, remember folks, even in the event that you get shot or blown up in a terrorist attack, you can take comfort in the fact that we didn't profile or ask anyone for their papers.


Hat tip: M7P

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

The unparalleled brilliance of Eric Holder: Al Qaeda bomber who killed 166 and planned World Cup attack had been released from U.S. custody in 2009

Next month's soccer World Cup in South Africa was the target of an Al Qaeda attack according to Iraqi security personnel. The mastermind was reportedly a man who had already killed 166 Iraqis in various bombings -- after his release by the Obama administration last year.

The 30-year-old Saudi national [Qahtani], who was arrested two weeks ago, had been in contact with Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri... Qahtani, who adopted the nom de guerre "Sinan al-Saudi," held a degree in business administration and also graduated from King Fahd Security College with the rank of lieutenant.

He entered Iraq in 2004, shortly after the US-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, and was involved in operations in the towns of Al-Qaim and Husayba near Iraq's border with Syria.

According to Atta, Qahtani was apprehended by the US military in 2007 under the false name Muzawar al-Shammari, and was released last year.

More recently, he participated in the planning of a series of co-ordinated attacks against Baghdad hotels in January which killed 36 people, and in the organisation of five vehicle-borne bombs that killed 127 people in the capital in December.

...[Also captured was] Algerian national Tareq Hassel Abdul Qader was the network's military chief for Karkh, Baghdad's western district... Qader also helped plan several attacks in Iraq, but did not say whether he was involved in the organisation of the potential World Cup attack.

The World Cup is anticipated to draw nearly 400,000 foreign fans, so it makes an Olympic-sized target for terrorists.

Curiously, the few American sources reporting this story, including AOL News, the Associated Press and MSNBC, somehow failed to note that the terrorist had been released from U.S. custody in 2009.

Thanks to the outstanding leadership of President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, the line distinguishing warfare from law enforcement has been thoroughly eradicated.   The inevitable outcome -- demonstrated by this, the latest in a series of close calls -- is guaranteed to be toxic to the civil society.


Image: AOL News.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Illegals by the truckload: BIP documents the flow of illegal aliens that somehow escapes the watchful gaze of Janet 'The Falcon' Napolitano

The invaluable BorderInvasionPics website just posted new pictures and videos that help illustrate the unchecked flow of illegal aliens into the U.S.

Are these trucks transporting drugs? Weapons? Criminals? The poor who need medical care and know they won't be refused at hospitals in the U.S. no matter how expensive the procedure?

Who knows -- the utterly clueless Janet Napolitano and the willfully inept Democrats in Washington are ignoring the border. In doing so, they hope they can convert some of the swarms of welfare recipients into Democrat voters.

And everyone knows that's the Democrat agenda. Everyone. The Democrats aren't even trying to hide the approach. And not only is it anti-American, it's flat out dangerous. Literally anything could be transported over the border and, one day, some serious weapons -- RPG's, dynamite, bio-weapons, even radiological material -- will make the journey from the south into our cities.

To illustrate just how despicable the Social Democrat approach has become, consider the brochure circulated a few years ago in Texas (left). At various rallies for illegal immigration, Democrat "community organizers" handed out these brochures which were written in Spanish (on the reverse side) and English.

They provide directions for non-citizens to game the system and vote the Democrat ticket. Consider the hubris: Democrats offering clear instructions to illegal aliens so that they could corrupt the process and override the votes of American taxpayers.

That's how despicable and power-hungry the Democrats have become.

And every day, some hidden cameras set up by a few brave patriots at BIP and other sites capture the flow of hundreds of illegals making the trek into Arizona as easily as you or I would drive to Palm Springs from Los Angeles.

This outrageous administration and its pathetic sycophants in Congress spent trillions on "shovel-ready" projects that only harmed the economic health of the country. They borrowed hundreds of billions of dollars from China, which our children must repay with interest when they grow up.

And the border remains open, even though the one construction project that makes sense -- a freaking border fence -- is supported by upwards of 80% of Americans. American citizens, that is.

No country with generous welfare benefits and guaranteed medical benefits can survive unlimited illegal immigration. And that's why Democrats that support this mess can truly be said to be anti-American: they seek the collapse of the system.

And despite the capabilities of our brilliant men and women who serve in the military, in the intelligence community, in law enforcement and as first responders, they are utterly hamstrung by disastrous leaders like Janet Napolitano, Eric Holder and Barack Obama.

It's November or never.


Linked by: Protein Wisdom. Thanks!

Sunday, May 09, 2010

Did White House Order Policy Changes That Allowed Times Square Bomber to Gain Citizenship Even Though He Was on a Watch List?

Accused Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad had been on a terror-related watch list since 1998. He was caught bringing $80,000 in cash into the U.S. from Pakistan.

Shahzad, born in Karachi Pakistan, was granted an F-1 student visa in December 1998. He earned a B.A. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Bridgeport in 2000 and was granted an H-1B visa -- reserved for skilled "specialty occupation" workers -- in April of 2002. Three years later, on that same visa, he earned an M.B.A.

On Oct. 20, 2008, he reported to immigration authorities that he had married Huma Asif Mian, an American citizen. Shortly thereafter -- on April 17, 2009 -- he gained his citizenship via a naturalization ceremony in Bridgeport.

The key question that no one seems to be asking is this: how, after showing up on at least one Treasury Department watch list, was Shabazz (whatever) granted his citizenship? No one is talking on the record, but the implication is clear: it is extremely likely there was a policy change directed by the White House and/or State Department.

...Christopher Bentley, a spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), would not comment on Shahzad's case but said generally that all immigrants seeking permanent residency and later citizenship undergo routine background screening. He said the FBI does a name check and looks for any criminal records.

"They run a very detailed look into a person's background for anything that would preclude them from getting citizenship," he said. "They also look at associates who may be connected with a criminal background. It's a very comprehensive look."

Once a person passes that initial screening, the pathway to citizenship includes being able to speak English and pass a test about U.S. government and history... ...Soon after Shahzad took that oath and got his U.S. passport -- and no longer had to pass muster in the eyes of U.S. immigration and law enforcement officials -- he reportedly traveled to Peshawar. According to the criminal complaint filed today, Shahzad admitted to undergoing bomb-making training in Waziristan, a hotbed of extremists not far from the Afghanistan border. He returned in February after a five-month stay in his native country. According to The New York Times, he used two Pakistani passports and one U.S. passport in his travels.

...Under a new National Security Entry-Exit Registration System adopted in 2002, all noncitizens over the age of 16 from predominantly Muslim countries -- including Pakistan -- as well as North Korea were required to register and be fingerprinted.

Did the White House order the State Department to loosen background checks on those applying for citizenship from Muslim countries.

Set the wayback machine to June 3, 2009, Mr. Peabody...

That day's update from Stratfor Research described the background of a then-recent attack on U.S. soldiers in Little Rock, Arkansas. One soldier was killed and another critically wounded by a lone gunman who began shooting from a pickup truck.

Police quickly apprehended a suspect, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, a 21-year-old African-American man and convert to Islam. In his vehicle, police recovered an SKS rifle and two handguns. Muhammad reportedly admitted to the shootings and claimed he had specifically targeted U.S. military personnel; he stated had more soldiers been in the parking lot, he would have shot them too.

A disturbing aspect of the attack is that Muhammad had been brought to the FBI’s attention months ago, according to ABC News.

But U.S. counterterror teams may have been intentionally prevented from investigating radicalized converts to Islam:

Several weeks ago, STRATFOR heard from sources that the FBI and other law enforcement organizations had been ordered to “back off” of counterterrorism investigations into the activities of Black Muslim converts. At this point, it is unclear to us if that guidance was given by the White House or the Department of Justice, or if it was promulgated by the agencies themselves, anticipating the wishes of President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder.

Stratfor implies, however, that the investigations were canceled for purely political reasons.

...politics have proved obstructive to all facets of counterterrorism policy. And politics may have been at play in the Muhammad case as well as in other cases involving Black Muslim converts...

Is it possible that the White House or Eric Holder's Justice Department blocked counterterror investigations that could have saved the targeted soldiers? That would indeed appear to be the case.

Did the White House order the State Department to "loosen up" background checks on those applying for citizenship from terror watch-list countries? That would be consistent with the reports from Stratfor that "outreach" to Muslims is precluding basic security practices.

Congress must demand an immediate investigation of these reports. Too much is at stake to play politics with the lives of American citizens and our military personnel.


Update: DOJ Tells Intel Community to Stonewall Members of Congress! (hat tip: Jay.Mac)

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Suitable Attire for the Next Tea Party Protest

Now, reading The New York Times and other left-wing blogs, you would discover that this is the attire of a Nazi-slash-Klansman-slash-Right-Wing-Extremist and possible terrorist threat.

Therefore, I encourage Tea Party activists to adopt clothing that more accurately reflects the tender sentiments of the Left. Like this.

I wouldn't encourage carrying batons, though in the case of bringing weapons to polling places, apparently that's encouraged by this administration.


Friday, April 23, 2010

November and the Lost Sanctity of the Polls

Breaking news this evening: election voting was marred by violence that killed three people and closed polling places across the country.

About 11 percent fewer polling places opened than originally estimated as election day violence spilled onto the streets. Sarah Goodscott is tracking the situation in our election center. Sarah?

Thanks, Bip. Federal election officials have decried the outbreaks of violence that have killed at least three people across the country and injured hundreds.

One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, reported that his organization had tracked 135 separate clashes.

Increasing militarization and conflict at polling places had been predicted before the election, but no one was anticipating anything like this.

Security concerns clearly had an impact on voter turnout.

"I wanted to vote, but what I heard was happening at the polls I decided not to." This 70-year old woman from Philadelphia said she had voted in every election since 1960 until today.

Prior to the election, the New Black Panthers, the SEIU, ACORN and other left-leaning organizations had promised to "ensure a fair election by maintaining a presence at every polling location."

But in Chicago, ACORN protesters accosted voters wearing American flag pins.

In Lowell, Massachusetts a gunfight erupted after more than a dozen Republicans were denied entry to a polling place by members of the SEIU.

In East Los Angeles, a shootout raged for more than three hours between members of an unidentified leftist group and police after dozens of reports of voter intimidation.

The fight only ended after a heavily armed National Guard unit arrived at the scene. Two persons were killed and more than two dozen injured in that incident alone.

Philadelphia was arguably the birthplace of the militarized polling place, after the controversial 2008 incident in which New Black Panther Party members harrassed voters.

In a 2009 interview, civil rights attorney Bartle Bull called the incident "the most blatant form of voter intimidation he had ever seen."

"I watched the two uniformed men confront voters and attempt to intimidate voters. They were positioned in a location that forced every voter to pass in close proximity to them. The weapon was openly displayed and brandished in plain sight of voters."

"They tried to interfere with the work of other poll observers ... whom the uniformed men apparently believed did not share their preferences politically... one of the Panthers turned toward the white poll observers and said 'you are about to be ruled by the black man, cracker.'"

Why, then did President Obama, and the Justice Department under Attorney General Eric Holder, decide to drop charges against the Panthers?

No one knows the answer to that question, but there is no dispute that the incident encouraged lawlessness at polling places across the country this time around.

Officials across the country have promised that investigations will get to the bottom of this terrible day in American history, but some are already decrying November 2, 2010 as an ominous milestone.

Speaking today at the National Press Club, talk show pundit and best-selling author Mark Levin called it "the day the United States became a third-world country. When the President and the Attorney General conspire to abrogate the rule of law, as they did in the 2008 Panther case, this sort of anarchy is inevitable. This is a terrible, terrible day in American history."

This is Sarah Goodscott reporting from Washington.


Postscript: Obviously, I hope and pray that this sort of thing never happens. But I fear that tolerating voter intimidation -- in any of its forms -- is antithetical to Democracy. That would be the case if any legitimate voter were denied their right to vote, no matter their skin color, ethnicity or religion. But the precedent set by Obama and Holder is an ominous one. If our polling places are not kept pristine from the threat of violence, then our Democracy is truly on the precipice.


Friday, April 09, 2010

Civil Rights Commission Sets Panther Case Deadline for Eric Holder's New, Super-Transparent DOJ

Several weeks ago, Eric Holder's Department of Justice celebrated a "year of transparency".

On Monday, March 15, the Department of Justice celebrated the first anniversary of Attorney General Eric Holder’s 2009 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) guidelines. Issued this week last year, the Attorney General’s guidelines were supposed to usher in President Obama’s “new era of open government” by establishing a “criteria governing the presumption of disclosure” and creating “effective systems for responding to requests..."

Held in the Great Hall at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, the “celebration” was roughly an hour long, and featured several self congratulations by FOIA representatives from the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative. Attorney General Eric Holder made some short remarks touting the Justice Department’s work in creating a new era of transparency. According to Mr. Holder, President Obama has “delivered” on his pledge “to restore the sacred bond of trust that should exist between our nation’s government and its citizens.” Holder also announced that the Justice Department will present an Open Government Plan on April 7th. The celebration did not feature a question and answer portion.

Oh, that Eric Holder! He's such a card!

Gerald A. Reynolds, chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, sent a letter today asking Attorney General Eric Holder to launch a “full-fledged, nationwide investigation of ACORN... with all deliberate speed.”

The Oct. 9 letter, also signed by four other commissioners, notes that ACORN is now “the subject of vote fraud investigation in some 15 states.” The letter cites an internal report in which ACORN itself raised “serious questions about the relationships between its nearly 175 affiliates and possible violations of federal law” – including money transfers, possible conflicts of interest of employees working for more than one affiliate, and widespread evidence of ACORN’s role in fostering vote fraud.

The commissioners called the filing of “possibly hundreds of thousands of fraudulent voter registration applications in some 14 states” an “invidious invitation for corruption” that disenfranchises legitimate voters, and called on Holder to take “serious and rapid action.”

Commissioners previously criticized Holder for dropping a Department of Justice investigation into alleged voter intimidation in Philadelphia by the New Black Panther Party.

Confidential Memo to Eric Holder: the voters are coming for you in November. Then you can try stonewalling Congress.


Wednesday, April 07, 2010

'This is impeachment-level criminal negligence'

In a series of posts, the Strata-Sphere provides compelling evidence that the White House implemented policies that led directly to a Jihadist terror attack and a very near miss.

I have noted many times that the events leading up to the Ft Hood Massacre and near fatal Christmas Day airline bomb attack were suspicious and incoherent with what this nation knew about three people: Major Nidal Hasan (Ft Hood Massacre), Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab (Christmas Day Bomber) and Anwar al Aulaqi (Yemen Cleric).

There are very important details about these three people which resulted in team Obama dismissing them as threats, even with the knowledge and evidence they were enemies of America and reaching out to, or supporting, bloody Jihad against this country. It was these details which were made a priority by team Obama, obliterating the mounting evidence that would have stopped the efforts of these people – if America had kept the national security posture of President Bush.

First off, none of these people were located in Afghanistan, Pakistan or Iraq. Team Obama decided early on to arbitrarily limit the geographic boundaries of terrorism, despite nearly two decades of evidence, going back to the Clinton years at least, indicating global Jihad had truly become ‘global’.

A timeline helps illustrate the disastrous policy changes that led to the Jihadist attacks.

In March of 2009, Obama's legal team adopted new rules regarding detainment in the war on terror. It redefined the rules for fighting conventional, uniformed armies to apply -- nonsensically, of course -- to terrorists: "...the president could detain without trial only people who were part of Al Qaeda or its affiliates, or their 'substantial' supporters."

In other words, unless you carried a laminated Al Qaeda membership card and decoder ring, you were off the hook. Members of Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Ansar al Islam, Abu Sayyaf, Jemaah Islamiyah, Fatah, Darul Islam, etc. were free to launch attacks, it would seem.

The new policies ensured that the Ft. Hood shooter (Hasan) and the underwear bomber (Abdulmutallab) could not be considered material threats because they were not confirmed al Qaeda associates.

What followed were the Fort Hood massacre in November and the related Underwear Bombing attempt on Christmas Day.

As the timeline shows, once the administration took its eyes off the threats it struggled, without any hope, to catch back up. It had tied its hands and blinded itself, and Americans died at Ft Hood. Ten times as many nearly died on Christmas Day. This is not coincidence, but evidence of a pattern of criminal negligence based on naive liberal dogma.

Read Parts One and Two to get a more complete picture of the outrageous malfeasance.

If the GOP can take one or both Houses of Congress in November, I hope and expect a wave of subpoenas will follow shortly thereafter.


Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Aiding and Abetting the Terrorists

By Victor the Contractor

This morning the Wall Street Journal published an article on page A6 detailing the release of one of the planners of the 9/11 terrorist attack due to a lack of evidence. Mohamedou Ould Slahi will soon be released by order of Judge James Robertson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, having granted his petition for habeas corpus. The basis of this ruling is that evidence garnered from his torture was deemed inadmissible in court and without it the prosecution had no case.

This gentleman, and I use the term very loosely, referred to as "the highest value detainee and key orchestrator of the al Qaeda cell in Europe," will be released because the administration decided to try him in civilian courts, which have a much higher threshold of evidence than military tribunal. I suspect that quite a bit of the evidence against him is of a sensitive nature in that its publication would compromise national security and that is really the main reason he is being let out of Gitmo.

That is the real problem with trying terrorists in civilian court: key evidence has to be kept secret or the enemy will learn of leaks or weaknesses in its lines of communication. This policy has led to the release of inmates; only to recapture them in Iraq or Afghanistan during bloody battlefield conflicts.

Will the White House ever learn? My guess is a decided no. I feel the Administration is steering this country into bankruptcy on many levels and a moral vacuum exists in Washington. Gone are the days when overwhelming public opinion was helped guide a political agenda and keep government in line. We turned a corner with the passage of the Constitutionally vacuous Health Care Reform Act, which was anything but reform but was an act.

The coming days will see the Democrat Party emboldened to go further out on the political ledge, but right now the judiciary is playing the the tune set by President Obama. Certainly nothing good can come of releasing the 'brains' of an al Qaeda cell. From now on there will be a hesitancy by intelligence officers to detain suspects: there will be increased pressure to eliminate risks in the field rather than attempt to imprison and glean information from known terrorists.

The White House has declared war on the American people with this travesty of justice. What a pity that the rights of the planners of 9/11 are infinitely more important than the innocents who died in the twin towers that fateful day.

Is this the America we want for our children? Is this the Democracy we want to be an example for the world to emulate? Isn't it time we took our Government back from the far left?

Victor The Contractor


Sunday, March 07, 2010

Adam Gadahn, aka "Azzam the Porky", caught in Pakistan; Holder may press charges against captors who squeezed arm "hard enough to leave a bruise"

It's Hammer Time as chunky American-turned-terrorist Adam Gadahn is reported to have been captured in Karachi, Pakistan. [Oh, boys, dost thou have turncoats in your midst? Perhaps you should cleanse the ranks of suspected rat-finks.]

Gadahn is, according to MSNBC, the first American to have been charged with treason (richly deserved, I might add) in 50 years. Gadahn is 31 years old and was raised on a farm in Riverside County, California. After visiting a mosque in Orange County, he quickly became -- try and contain your shock -- radicalized and ended up moving to Pakistan at age 19.

Because of his English-speaking skills and his jolly, fleshy appearance, Gadahn was selected as a key spokesman for Al Qaeda. He also is said to have secured a lucrative endorsement deal with Infidel-Beheader Brand™ Scimitars.

In recent years he has called for numerous attacks on the U.S. homeland and has even recommended finding ways to shake "consumer confidence and stifle spending"; as for the latter suggestion, Democrats appear to have taken it to heart with massive failed spending programs including a Stimulus package, Omnibus budget bills, jobs programs, housing rescues, and auto company takeovers.


Update: Darleen Click: "How soon will the Left try and cast Gadahn as a rightwing Teabagger?"

Update II: Apparently, it was not Adam Gadahn but some other American jihadist who was arrested.

Hat tip: Memeorandum.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

A Reminder: Which Republicans Voted To Confirm Eric Holder and His Terrorist-Supporting Appointees in the DOJ

Attorney General Eric Holder has now confirmed that at least nine Department of Justice appointees worked directly or indirectly (e.g., filing Amicus Curae briefs) as terrorist advocates. Other DOJ political appointees also worked for law firms that participated indirectly in the defense of Gitmo terrorists.

This comes on the heels of Holder's outrageous failure to prosecute the New Black Panthers who intimidated voters at a Philadelphia polling station in 2008.

And Holder, of course, had a catastrophically poor track record that should have clearly warned Congress against his confirmation: he had helped free FALN terrorists for Bill Clinton in an apparent quid pro quo; he had approved the pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich after his wife had donated millions to Bill Clinton; and he'd had deep involvement in a variety of other situations that should have disqualified him instantly from holding any public office.

Last August Michelle Malkin helpfully reminded us of the list of Republicans who had voted to confirm Holder:

Alexander (R-TN)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Chambliss (R-Ga)
Collins (R-ME)
Corker (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hatch (R-UT)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lugar (R-IN)
McCain (R-AZ)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Sessions (R-AL)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Voinovich (R-OH)


 
 
 
 
 
 

Voinovich and Specter no longer count, of course, as the former has retired and the other switched his affiliation to the Party of Weakness.

The usual suspects -- Susan Collins, Lindsay "Goober" Graham, John McCain and Olympia Snowe Job voted for Holder -- along with a bunch of more solid Republicans who definitely should have known better. It's high time this foursome left the Senate permanently, replaced by true conservatives.


Monday, February 15, 2010

Obama on KSM Terror Trial: "Just Kidding"

Dan from New York:

Att: Retreating With Guns Blazing Dept.

Administration 'flexible' on 9/11 trial venue

AP, Mon Feb 15

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration prefers a civilian trial for the alleged 9/11 mastermind, but says that in the face of public and political opposition it must be open to a military tribunal.

In an interview published Monday in The New York Times, Attorney General Eric Holder said, "I have to be more forceful in advocating for why I believe these are trials that should be held on the civilian side." [Ed: With Obama & friends it's all about salesmanship]

However, Holder did not rule out a military trial for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, saying, "You have to be flexible."

Vice President Joe Biden defended the White House from critics of its approach to prosecuting accused terrorists, saying in interviews aired Sunday that it is not yet clear where Mohammed and four other Sept. 11 suspects held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will be tried.

However, Biden said he believes Mohammed will be found guilty regardless of the venue.

###

Yo, Joe! Ever heard of the presumption of innocence? That kind of talk could prejudice the jury and get the case thrown out.