Thursday, June 20, 2013

MOVIE POSTER: Gen. Bennet Sacolick Presents a New Kind of Special Operator Because "The Days of Rambo Are Over"

You really can't make this s*** up:

Special forces opening to women; ‘days of Rambo are over,’ general says

A top general says cultural, social and behavioral concerns may be bigger hurdles than physical fitness requirements for women looking to move into the military's special operations units... Maj. Gen. Bennet Sacolick, director of force management for U.S. Special Operations Command, says "the days of Rambo are over."

He says he has seen women working alongside special operations teams in Afghanistan who met difficult physical requirements. But he says the commandos usually deploy as small teams, often with a dozen or fewer troops, in austere conditions for long periods of time.



Hat tip: BadBlue Real-Time News.

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis: "Rich White People" to Blame for My Union's Catastrophic Failures

Guest post by Investors Business Daily


Education: The president of the Chicago Teachers Union charges that racism and "rich white people" are to blame for the immense financial and educational crisis facing the Chicago Public Schools.

The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) represent everything that is wrong with public education in America. They are in thrall to the unions that run the system and bankrupt it through bloated salaries and pensions while too many of the students trapped inside graduate as functional illiterates, if they graduate at all.

Poor academic performance generally, a huge budget shortfall and poorly attended schools in declining neighborhoods recently forced CPS to close 49 schools in an attempt to close a $1 billion budget gap. But according to CTU President Karen Lewis, the root cause is not the lack of educational competition or the inability to fire or reward teachers on the basis of student academic performance.

In a speech Wednesday before the upscale City Club of Chicago, Lewis asked, "When will we address the fact that rich, white people think they know what's in the best interest of children of African-Americans and Latinos — no matter what the parent's income or education level."

She decried members of the "status quo, the people who are running the schools and advising the mayor on how to best run our district, know what good education looks like because they have secured it for their own children in well-resourced, public and private institutions."

As we have noted, the unions run Chicago schools and seek to preserve the status quo of a virtual education monopoly. Lewis has fought the use of any objective analysis of teacher performance despite the fact that just 15% are proficient in reading and that four of 10 CPS students do not graduate from high school.

EXCLUSIVE: Anthony Weiner's Mayoral Campaign Unveils New Set of Special Interest Bumper-stickers!

TMZ didn't get this one first!



Hat tip: Mark Levin.

Crime Pays: And the Rubio-Schumer Amnesty Bill Proves It

You and I are second-class citizens. The illegal immigrant -- who stole into this country without clearing customs, without a background check, without any medical screening, and without being fondled by the TSA -- is noble and virtuous. The illegal immigrant must receive preferential status over you and I.

It's true: the federal government believes you and I exist to serve the illegal immigrant.


You and I, who pay everyone's freight, are no longer citizens. We are the subjects of a ruling class: a federal leviathan grown so large and centralized and authoritarian and uncontrollable that it no longer operates with the consent of the government. It exists to feed itself. And it would appear that it simply can not be satiated.


Hat tips: @AnitaMonCrief and Mark Levin.

Larwyn's Linx: Creating a permanent Democratic majority

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Creating a permanent Democratic majority: Betsy McCaughey, Rare
NYT Highlights Border Insecurity in Texas: Jerry Kammer
Memorandum on Arms and Freedom: Brian Puckett

Socialism Through Immigration: All About the Votes: Loudon
Thousands Turn Out to Protest IRS Abuse: ‘Targeted Enough Already’: Tatler
4 Painfully Accurate Paragraphs About Barack Obama: IMAO

Capitol Hill Police Block Tea Party Activists from Immigration Rally: Breitbart
When GOP Ignores Grassroots It Loses: CHQ
Kris Kobach Discusses the Angry Mob of Illegals Outside his Home: TPNN

Malkin: It’s not secure the border first, it’s secure the border PERIOD: Scoop
Dana Loesch’s EPIC speech at the Audit the IRS Rally: Scoop
IRS: Corrupt to the Core: Timothy Reeves

Economy

O’Keefe Reveals Fraud, Abuse in $2.2B ‘Obama Phone’ Program: Nice Deb
Entitlements: Face the Truth or Face the Consequences: Sheryll Poe
Guess who's getting $70 million in bonuses?: Katie Pavlich

Capitalism Kills ... Poverty: Bruce Edward Walker, Mackinac
Union boss Karen Lewis: Chicago school woes due to ‘rich white people’: EAG
The Department of Labor vs. me: Rhea Lana Riner

Scandal Central

Elijah Cummings and the Democrats are actively trying to sabotage IRS investigation: John Lott
Claim: Robert Bauer, Previous Obama White House Counsel, Directed Illegal IRS Attacks: Breitbart
Did the IRS target a DHS whistleblower?: Hot Air

GOP Drops Hammer On Garcia’s Alleged “Well Intentioned” Voter Fraud: Shark Tank
Obama Debates Himself: Debra Saunder
The Short Career and Sudden Death of Michael Hastings: Robert Stacy McCain

Media

Matthews: Berlin Sun Ruined Obama’s Use of Teleprompters: WFB
Interviewing Helen Smith On: “Men on Strike": RWN
Here’s Why a Florida Hotel Says It Canceled the Reservation of an Anti-Common Core Group: Billy Hallowell

CNN poll shows Obama’s case for big government is losing the public: David Freddoso
Immigration Battle Gets Heated: Hannity
Sanders: S.744 Tramples Young Americans in Rush to Bring in Foreign Workers: CIS

‘We Will No Longer Accept the Lies’: Beck’s Prepared Remarks for Washington, D.C. Rally: Blaze
It’s not Edward Snowden who Betrayed Us: TAC
“Houston Man Arrested After Threatening to Kidnap, Murder and Burn Ted Cruz and His Father”: Protein Wisdom

Must Read! “A Helpless Military: Just What Obama Ordered”: Loudon
Lib Icon Noam Chomsky: Obama “Running The Biggest Terrorist Operation That Exists, Maybe In History”: WZ
Shameless: NBC Never Tells Viewers it Smeared Zimmerman with Doctored Audio: Matt Philbin, MRC

World

Acceptance, Silence, and Submission: Mark Steyn
Tweet Of The Day: WZ
Obama offends Catholics in the UK, says religious schools are divisive: BizPacReview

Negotiating the Terms of America's Humiliation: Power Line
Irish Lawmaker: You've Made Us a Nation of Pimps, With Your Ridiculous Slobbering Over Obama: Ace
Obama: Our efforts against al Qaeda are ‘evolving’: Charlie Spiering

Avoid the Need for Spying Using One Not-So-Weird Trick!: Ann Coulter
UK’s Daily Telegraph: ‘Barack Obama Bombs In Berlin’: Stephen Kruiser
Obama sticks his nose into Catholic education in Ireland: Catholic News Live

Damn you, TOTUS, damn you!: Keith Koffler
Obama's Newest Peace Partners: Jawa
South American & Mexican Hezbollah Jihadis Threaten the United States: WatchdogWire

Sci-Tech

Microscopic batteries created through 3D printing: CNet
Awesome Billion-Pixel Panorama Spins You Around Curiosity Rover's Worksite on Mars: Wired
The Hilarious Difference Between Google and Bing in One Picture : Gizmodo

Cornucopia

Out-Of-Touch Elitists: 10 Pathetically Stupid Shopping Mistakes Democrats Made in the SNAP Challenge!: Sooper
“Ich bin ein Dubliner, und nach dem mittagessen, ein Berliner.”: MOTUS
Constitutional War Powers: A Guard Against Tyranny: TAC

Image: Thousands Turn Out to Protest IRS Abuse: ‘Targeted Enough Already’
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Sign the Petition at SecureBordersNow.com

QOTD: "A sale is never an exchange of goods. It’s a transfer of emotion." --Bernadette Jiwa

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

STUNNING PHOTOGRAPHS: Virtual Civil War

Mike Lynaugh's Virtual Civil War is a treasure trove of photos from the cataclysmic War Between the States. Four of my favorites (of hundreds):


Click here for the whole gallery.


Hat tip: Wanda.

TRULY PATHETIC: MADD Silent on Amnesty Law That Rewards Illegal Alien Drunk Drivers

Guest post by JudicialWatch

As preposterous as it may seem, illegal immigrants with drunk-driving, domestic violence, aggravated assault and child abuse convictions will qualify for amnesty under the immigration bill pending in the U.S. Senate unless an amendment introduced by a Texas lawmaker is adopted.

Incredibly, groups that would normally be vocal on these sorts of issues have remained silent. For instance, the nation’s largest organization working to stop drunk driving and support victims of the violent crime—Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)—refuses to criticize the proposed law even though it will essentially reward those convicted of driving dunk. Through a spokeswoman, MADD said it “doesn’t get involved in immigration matters.”

Under the current legislation, crafted by the bipartisan Gang of Eight in the senate, illegal aliens convicted of the crimes mentioned above are eligible for probationary legal status, officially known as Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI). This means they can qualify for a Social Security number and state driver’s license as they embark on a 10-year path to permanent residency. Three years later, candidates become eligible for American citizenship.

Here is a gut-wrenching example of who could benefit from this; an illegal immigrant who killed a 28-year-old father and seriously injured his two young children over the weekend while driving drunk on a New Jersey highway. The illegal alien, Manuel Gutierrez Vazquez, did not have a valid driver’s license yet had been arrested a few weeks earlier for driving drunk in another state, according to a local news report.

Though the outcome of the first DUI arrest is not clear, it’s not unreasonable to assume it wasn’t a felony because the illegal alien was released and he kept driving. Even if he was charged with misdemeanor DUI after the arrest weeks earlier, Vazquez would have been eligible for amnesty under the measure pending before Congress because it allows up to two misdemeanor convictions. Drunk-driving statutes vary by state and are often handled as misdemeanors settled with fines and community service when there are no serious injuries.

In many cases, as in this one, drunk drivers become repeat offenders. This week prosecutors in New Jersey’s Mercer County charged Vazquez with multiple felonies, including death by auto and causing serious injury while unlicensed. Convictions for those DUI felonies would forbid the illegal alien from receiving amnesty but it shouldn’t take the atrocious murder of an innocent person and serious injuries of his kids to exclude a candidate.

An amendment recently introduced by Texas Senator John Cornyn would change this. It aims to prohibit illegal aliens convicted of “serious misdemeanors,” such as domestic violence, aggravated assault, child abuse, violation of a protection order, and drunk driving from receiving RPI status under the immigration reform bill, which is being heavily promoted by Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio, the Gang of Eight’s self-appointed captain.



Via the all-new BadBlue Report.


SOMEONE PINCH ME: I agree with Bernie Sanders

Vermont's self-professed socialist senator is a man I've never agreed with -- until now. Sanders took to the Senate floor to defend young, job-seeking Americans saying they are being completely ignored by the corporatists who want to drive down wages through open borders.

...There are millions of young people who graduate high school and want to go out and start their careers and make some money and move up the ladder. There are others who have dropped out of high school. We cannot turn our backs on those young people. They need jobs as well. If young people — young high school graduates, for example — are unable to find entry-level jobs, how will they ever be able to develop the skills, the experience, and the confidence they need to break into the job market? And if they don't get those skills — if they don't get those jobs and that income — there is a very strong possibility they may end up in antisocial or self-destructive activities...

...At a time when poverty in this country remains at an almost 50-year high, and when unemployment among young people is extremely high, I worry deeply that we are creating a permanent underclass — a large number of people who are poorly educated and who have limited or no job skills. This is an issue we must address and must address now. Either we make a serious effort to find jobs for our young people now or we are going to pay later in terms of increased crime and the cost of incarceration.

Now, why is this issue of youth unemployment relevant to the debate we are having on immigration reform? The answer is obvious to anyone who has read the bill. This immigration reform legislation increases youth unemployment by bringing into this country, through the J-1 program and the H-2B program, hundreds of thousands of low-skilled, entry-level workers who are taking the jobs young Americans need...

...At a time when youth unemployment in this country is over 16 percent and the teen unemployment rate is over 25 percent, many of the jobs that used to be done by young Americans are now being performed by temporary guest workers.

Right now, what we are talking about is hundreds of thousands of foreign workers coming into this country not to do great scientific work, not as great entrepreneurs to start businesses, not as Ph.D. engineers, but as waiters and waitresses, kitchen help, lifeguards, front desk workers at hotels and resorts, ski instructors, cooks, chefs, chambermaids, landscapers, parking lot attendants, cashiers, security guards, and many other entry-level jobs. …

The J-1 program for foreign college students is supposed to be used as a cultural exchange program — a program to bring young people into this country to learn about our customs and to support international cooperation and understanding. That is why it is administered by the State Department. But instead of doing that, this J-1 program has morphed into a low-wage jobs program to allow corporations such as McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts, Disney World, Hershey's, and many other major resorts around the country to replace American workers with cheap labor from overseas. Each and every year companies from all over this country are hiring more than 100,000 foreign college students in low-wage jobs through the J-1 summer work travel program...

...Unlike other guest worker programs, the J-1 program does not even require businesses to recruit or advertise for American workers. What they can do is pay minimum wage. They don't have to advertise for American workers. And guess what. For the foreign worker, they do not have to pay Social Security tax, they don't have to pay Medicare tax, and they don't have to pay unemployment tax. So, essentially, we are creating a situation where it is absolutely advantageous for an employer to hire a foreign worker rather than an American worker.

I'll reiterate: "Amnesty will destroy America."


Via the all-new BadBlue Report.

Afghanistan: Another Spectacular Administration Foreign Policy Success

Dan from New York calls the following a "slow-mo replay of Obama's latest diplomatic meltdown":

US, Taliban to start talks on ending Afghan war - AP, June 18, 2013

The Taliban and the U.S. said Tuesday they will hold talks on finding a political solution to ending nearly 12 years of war in Afghanistan, as the international coalition formally handed over control of the country's security to the Afghan army and police... The Taliban met a key U.S. demand by pledging not to use Afghanistan as a base to threaten other countries...

Afghanistan: Taliban 'Admit' US Troop Attack - Sky News, June 19, 2013

The Taliban has said it was behind an attack that killed four US troops in Afghanistan, just hours after Washington announced planned talks with the insurgents...

Afghan leader backs away from Taliban talks - AP, June 19, 2013

Afghanistan's president said Wednesday he will not pursue peace talks with the Taliban unless the United States steps out of the negotiations... Hamid Karzai's strong response and the Taliban attack deflated hopes for long-stalled talks aimed at ending nearly 12 years of war in Afghanistan...

Karzai, angry about Taliban's Qatar office, suspends peace, security talks - CNN, June 19, 2013

Afghan President Hamid Karzai lashed out Wednesday at the United States over the opening of a Taliban office in Qatar, pulling out of security talks with U.S. officials and refusing to take part in peace talks with the Taliban that he said would only benefit "foreigners' strategies and goals."

Comforting.


Larwyn's Linx: Rubio helps kill the same border security amendment he claimed to support

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Rubio helps kill border security amendment he claimed to support: Boyle
Mark Levin goes rounds with Paul Ryan on immigration reform: Scoop
Rubio flips again, helps defeat border security visa: Picket

But We Should Trust Them Now: Ace
DHS wants same cyber-spying powers as NSA: Josh Peterson
FLASHBACK: DHS Frees Illegals Arrested For Violent Crimes: JW

Impeach Eric Holder: Dexter Wright
Who Are the Oath Keepers?: Dean Scoville
CNN: Is the IRS targeting whistleblowers? Sure looks that way: Scoop

Economy

CBO’s Unicorn Cost Study on Amnesty: Daniel Horowitz
Amnesty Would Cost Taxpayers $6.3 Trillion: Amy Payne, Foundry
NLRB’s Continuing Mischief at the Expense of Worker Rights: Wszolek

First Take on CBO Report: Amnesty Hurts U.S. Workers: Foundry
Media ignores record numbers on food stamps, trumpets 'cuts': BizzyBlog
But, Sequester! Obama's Lavish Trip to Africa: Hannity

Scandal Central

The IRS Immigration Fraud Scandal: Jeffrey Lord
MADD Silent on Amnesty Law That Rewards Drunk Drivers: JW
Confidential Administration Document Details Plan To Sell Obamacare Through Social Media: Buzzfeed

Climate & Energy

The lessons of Fukushima: Liberty Hollow
North Dakotans Building First Oil Refinery in 57 Years: ObjStd
EPA’s Pinocchio nose grows with farmer privacy scandal: Chris Bennett, Western Farm Press

Media

Gerson, Wehner, and the Losing Old Ways Crowd: Jeffrey Lord
The Feeling is Mutual, You Shrink-Wrapped Hag: WZ
FreedomWorks’ Director of New Media Ribali calls Mark Levin an “Angry Elf”: Jen Kuznicki

Halbig v. Sebelius: ‘All of ObamaCare Hangs on the Outcome’: Kelly William Cobb, Cato
Organizing For Action Tweets Political Threat From Joe Biden: Glob
OFA To Release Propaganda Film On “Undocumented Immigrants” Saved By Obama’s Executive Order: WZ

“100% Security”: Obama’s Cradle-to-Grave Surveillance: Ian Huyett
Lil Wayne the American Flag Stomper: MagNote
Rand Paul: Clapper lied to Congress: Aaron Blake, WaPo

World

Immigration: No Job Needed for Green Card – Border Agents Put Under Civil Rights Div of DOJ: MagNote
State Dept. Wages War of Intimidation Against Cover-up Whistleblower: Lid
Snowden and the NSA reflect a millennial climate change: Robert X. Cringely

Sci-Tech

Tools for Mobile UX Design: Steven Hoober, UX Matters
Mystery on Venus: 'Super-Hurricane' Force Winds Inexplicably Get Stronger: Space
Visualized: this is where the Higgs Boson was discovered: Engadget

Cornucopia

Little League Requires More Documentation Than Voter Registration: LoneCon
"Because Hope is Contagious": MOTUS
O border fence, border fence! wherefore art thou border fence?: William Jacobson

Image: Lil Wayne the American Flag Stomper
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Today is the AUDIT THE IRS RALLY

QOTD: "Obama's campaign promises and election gave me faith that he would lead us toward fixing the problems he outlined in his quest for votes. Many Americans felt similarly. Unfortunately, shortly after assuming power, he closed the door on investigating systemic violations of law, deepened and expanded several abusive programs, and refused to spend the political capital to end the kind of human rights violations like we see in Guantanamo, where men still sit without charge." --NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

PREVIEW OF COMING OBAMACARE ATTRACTIONS: Veterans Administration patient information found in recycle bin

With the recent disclosure that the bureaucrats running Obamacare want to give your Personal Health Information (PHI) to various state and local organizations, I'm sure this kind of thing could never, ever happen.

Veterans' patient information found in recycle bin


The Veterans Affairs hospital in Fayetteville says documents containing the personal information of nearly 1,100 veterans were found in a recycling bin two months ago.

The Fayetteville VA Medical Center announced Friday it's notifying the 1,093 affected veterans whose consultation reports from the optical shop were incorrectly placed in a recycle bin over a three-month period. The documents found April 17 contained patients' names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses and prescriptions.

Officials say there's no indication the information has been misused. But the hospital is notifying veterans who visited the optical shop between Jan. 11 and April 16 and offering them free credit monitoring services.

The hospital says the staff member who had been collecting the documents was retrained on what items should be shredded.

BUT DON'T WORRY, I'M SURE THE WHITE HOUSE WILL TREAT YOUR MEDICAL RECORDS WITH THE UTMOST RESPECT FOR PRIVACY, just as they do with your tax returns at the IRS.


Hat tip: BadBlue Science & Tech News.

THE RUBIO-SCHUMER SHAMNESTY BILL: Why Gun Owners Should Be Very, Very Concerned [GOA]

Guest post by GOA


As you probably know, the immigration amnesty bill is on the Senate floor.

This is a status report on where we are, and we will attempt to give you regular follow-ups over the next two weeks.

For starters, why should gun owners care about immigration amnesty?

First: It will add up to a net 8.4 million anti-gun voters in the next 13 years or so. This could make comprehensive gun control and confiscation inevitable within our lifetimes.

Second: Victory feeds on itself; but so does defeat. If anti-gun Senator Chuck Schumer passes this bill out of the Senate with a strong bipartisan majority, he has already said he intends to bring gun control back by the end of the summer. Obama would emerge from the fight reenergized to take away your guns.

Third: If people get used to having to have the government's permission to get a job -- even to clean your house or mow your lawn -- it will be a lot harder to fight universal background checks and gun registries.

Fourth: There is the concern that the bill will create a de facto National ID card. In a Saturday New York Times article entitled, “Fears of National ID with Immigration Bill,” some in Congress have openly worried about the “potential for another sprawling data network that could ultimately be the equivalent of a national ID system.” Gun Owners of America has long opposed anything that smacks of this because of the danger that such data collection poses to gun owners’ privacy.

Here's where we are:

Most Republicans -- in our opinion, foolishly -- "threw the vote" on the motion to proceed to the bill. It would have been better to have an early show of force, but this is not the end of the world.

For the last week, the Senate has been debating Grassley and Cornyn amendments which would require border security before illegal aliens could get legal residence and/or a green card.

Why is this important?

In 1986, Ronald Reagan signed the Simpson-Mazzoli amnesty bill. The supposed trade-off was that illegal aliens would be granted amnesty, but illegal immigration would be stopped.

Illegal aliens were, in fact, granted amnesty. But, fueled by this first round of amnesty, 12 to 20 million more illegals flooded into the country. The border was never secured.

Now, Chuck Schumer is telling Marco Rubio, that this new bill will grant amnesty, but, in return, secure the border. But when Grassley and Cornyn offer amendments to require border security before amnesty, what does Schumer say? In effect, "border security is unachievable, so Schumer's supposed wonderful amnesty program would never happen under that condition."

Huh? Isn't this tantamount to saying that Schumer is lying to Rubio? Besides, as the DHS, ICE, IRS and NSA scandals suggest, Obama cannot be trusted to obey the law, once he's gotten his 8.4 new anti-gun voters.

But there will be follow-up votes on more anemic "border security" measures which will supposedly be the "candy" to pick up the votes necessary to send this bill from the Senate with 70 or more votes. If that happens, it will be harder to stop in the House.

Supposedly, these "poison candy" amendments are being considered by Senators like Tom Coburn and Bob Corker.

ACTION: Contact your Senators. Tell them the anti-gun amnesty bill needs to be plucked up by the roots without trying to sweeten it with phony "border security" measures.

Click here for a pre-filled form letter you can send instantly.

Amnesty Will Destroy America [Denninger]

Guest post by Karl Denninger

Marco Rubio has repeatedly claimed he "wants more" from the Amnesty Bill now moving through Congress.

Yes, folks, it's an amnesty bill.  Let's cut the crap and call it what it is, because only through calling something what it is can we debate it.

"Legalization" of those who are here illegally today is amnesty.  I don't care whether it leads to citizenship now or later, the fact of the matter is that it rewards criminal activity by allowing those who stole from Americans and their resources to keep what they stole and remain here in America.

There is no restitution.  There is no penalty of consequence.  There is nothing except benefit for them and a gigantic magnet pulling even more illegal immigrants to America.

America is a nation of immigrants.  I'm the offspring of immigrants and odds are you are too.  Unless you're 100% native American, you are a son or daughter of immigrants, directly or a few generations removed.  Even if you can trace your heritage to the original colonists, you are the product of immigration.

But your parents, grandparents or other ancestors probably came here legally -- unless you're Hispanic. Then the odds are that your parents, grandparents or perhaps even you personally came here illegally.

Everyone wants to talk about "compassion" for the millions who are here already.  But that's exactly identical to apologizing for bank robbers after you disarmed the guards and allowed millions of people to rob banks.  After the fact you now want "compassion" for those who took the money?

And let's not kid ourselves -- that's exactly what happened.  These people have come here, they have consumed our resources, they have suckled at the teat of government.  They don't pay taxes and by and large they don't cover their own costs.  They have children who go to our schools, get free or reduced-price food that they rest of us pay for, they evade the taxation that pay for those schools, they show up in our hospitals with no money and no medical insurance, they drive on our roads with no insurance and when they wreck and injure or kill us by doing so our insurance bills go up to cover the uninsured motorist -- them.

The correct way to deal with this problem is to demand that every single one of these people either leave or pay back twice what they got.  You dropped a kid into our schools for the last five years?  The per-pupil cost in your district is $8,000?  Cough up $80,000 (twice the $40k cost) as the fine for forcing us to support your child's education through your crime, plus double the cost of any other social benefits you've received, pay all of your back taxes for every penny of under-the-table "wages" you've earned and then go to the back of the line and apply for residency.

Of course none of these folks have $80,000.  If they did they wouldn't have come here illegally in the first place.

And that's the problem, in a nutshell.  They came here because they could "get" rather than earn.  That's theft and fraud and until we call things what they are we cannot make progress.

The Libertarians want to argue that there should be "free movement of human capital."  Fine -- I'm good with it when, and only when, there is utterly no means to access any taxpayer service for those who cross borders in this fashion and anyone who tries it is immediately charged and prosecuted for felony grand theft.  But not one second before.

The Democrats want to argue that this is about compassion?  Fine -- see above.  Put a stop the magnet games and handouts and I'm ok with it.

In the early 1900s when millions of people came through Ellis Island there was no welfare system.  You either worked hard and earned a living, assimilating into our culture, learning English and strove to become educated or you starved.  Yes, there were groups that provided help but it was voluntary; Churches and other groups, most faith-based, did indeed provide help to those who couldn't help themselves and that's fine.  But there was no Section 8 housing, no WIC, no Food Stamps and no free medical care.  

You worked or you starved.

Now there is such a system and it is not only abused it is why these people come in the first place.  Jose the roofer shoots a nail through his foot and you get the bill for that accident because Jose has no medical insurance or money and his "employer" isn't paying workman's comp insurance either because he's working illegally.  Then Jose goes home and screws his wife or girlfriend, she gets pregnant and you get the bill for the prenatal care and birth because he has no money and neither does she, and they both access that care under EMTALA when things get ugly.  

Try that crap as a US Citizen in Mexico.  Go there on "vacation" and try to work.  Forget it -- you'll go to jail.  Get hurt and want the Mexican hospitals to treat you for free.  Forget it -- you'll die.  Think I'm kidding?  I'm not -- I'm a diver and there are myriad warnings about exactly that risk if I choose not to carry dive insurance for recompression treatment.  If I get bent in Cozumel I better either have a policy that will cover it outside the United States that the recompression chamber will accept or the ability to pay in cash before I get treated or I will be left crippled or even be allowed to die in agony -- literally.

This crap must stop and no bill that fails to put a 100% hard stop to it can be supported.  What we have now is theft and fraud against the American people and ratifying that will simply bring more theft and fraud.  We proved this the last time around when the promise was made to secure the border and stop the infiltration of people coming here for the benefits rather than to provide labor and advance our economy.  We were told the flood of illegals would cease; it instead accelerated.  

I want a strong, vibrant economy that is open to all who wish to come here and contribute on the same terms as Americans.  That means assimilating into America -- becoming Americans.  It means an end to groups like "La Raza."  If you wish to be an American there is no hyphenation in your identity and there is no subgroup to which you belong -- you choose to speak English because that is the language of the nation, you choose to live under the political and legal system of our country, you integrate into our society and you cut the crap about being "special", "different" or having a right to get a pass on the laws and customs that the rest of us all live under and with.  Period.

If your first act was to break the law by setting foot on our soil in an act of furtive evasion of said law and you then accessed our vast resources under the table you must (1) admit your sin and theft of that which did not belong to you, (2) make full penance for every dime of cost you imposed on us at a penalty rate in recognition and admission that what you did was wrong and (3) go stand at the back of the line behind all those who did neither of those things.

Marco Rubio refuses to face this because he's "afraid" of Hispanic reaction, as are others.  But he's pandering to the wrong constituency.  The people he's pandering to and afraid of are not citizens and cannot vote -- at least not without committing even more felonies.  Hispanic people who are here legally and are citizens are broadly (and rightly!)*****ed off that there are millions of others who look like them that (1) damage their relationship with the rest of America by association and (2) are cutting in front of the line of their friends and family members who wish to come to America legally, willfully bearing the costs of citizenship to obtain the benefits.

The Democrats simply want to pander for votes and think they can turn the 20+ million illegals here into a new voting block by finding ways to give those who came here unlawfully the franchise.

That sort of thinking is exactly identical to giving bank robbers a controlling vote on whether bank robbery ought to be illegal.  

Anyone with an ounce of common sense would discern that such a vote would destroy banking overnight.

The Democrats lack that common sense.

Does anyone on the other side of the aisle possess it?



Karl Denninger writes at Market Ticker.


Cracka Crack and World's Dumbest Blogger Impugns Bobby Jindal's Intelligence While Casting Racist Aspersions

I refer, of course, to the twisted and stunningly dimwitted Slate blogger named Matthew Yglesias -- if that is his real name -- who excreted this missive earlier today:


What would you expect from a progressive Democrat? I mean, they were the party of slavery and the KKK; and that ancestry appears to be showing more and more each day.

Furthermore Yglesias is the same man who won the World's Dumbest Blogger Award in 2010 and 2011 with unintentionally hilarious nitwitticisms covered here:

• 2010-12-01: World's Dumbest Blogger's Latest Brainstorm -- Let's Print More Money and Hand It Out to the Poor So We Can Save the Economy

• 2010-11-11: World's dumbest blogger not sure why deficit reduction is needed

• 2010-03-10: World's dumbest blogger slams new waterboarding memos, but somehow forgets to mention Pelosi and other Dems helpfully approved process

There are more, but you get the picture. Yglesias is to journalism what Pee Wee Herman is to basketball.


Hat tip: BadBlue Report.

Larwyn's Linx: The Real Risks of Amnesty

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

The Real Risks of Amnesty: Heather Mac Donald
Boehner won't back Amnesty bill without majority GOP support: David Drucker
SCOTUS opens the door for illegal aliens registering to vote: WyBlog

Where Were You On The Gang Of Eight Deal When It Mattered?: FrstThngs
In Our Name: Former Spook
Our Last Stand for Freedom Is This Wednesday: Sara Noble

The Loss of Trust: Thomas Sowell
Cruz Files Amendment Allowing States To Require Voter ID: LoneCon
Left Loses Big in Voter ID Supreme Court Case: J. Christian Adams

Economy

Rotting, Decaying And Bankrupt: Detrot and America: Michael Synder
Obamacare will share personal health info with other agencies: Paul Bedard
The $9,000,000,000,000 Missing From The Federal Reserve: Theo Spark

Obamacare has federal work force panicked: Charles Hurt
Should Food Stamps Be in Farm Bill? : Kelsey Harris
Union bosses threaten Hurricane Sandy cleanup contractors: Robby Soave

Scandal Central

Sharyl Atkkisson: I Think I Know Who Hacked My Computers: Ace
State Department Whistleblower: The Government Is Attempting to Intimidate Me Into Silence: Ace
James O’Keefe Confronts Attorney General “Richard Head” Over Indicting Journalists: iOTW

The Obvious Question No One Will Dare Ask: BizzyBlog
3 NSA veterans speak out on whistle-blower: We told you so: Peter Eisler and Susan Page, USA Today
Edward Snowden Q and A: NSA whistleblower answers your questions: Guardian

Media

The Hill Baffled About Obama: ‘Who Is He?’: JWF
The failed Michael Gerson's dishonorable and unjust arguments about the NSA: David Limbaugh
Whom Does Lindsey Graham Think He Works For?: Bruce Carroll

Elbert Guillory’s ‘Why I’m A Republican’ Video: HayRide
Survival in the PRISM Era: BlurBrain
Gotta Love the Coinkydinks!: OregonGuy

World

Obama Lies America Into Another War: Daniel Greenfield
Then What In Syria?: Cal Thomas
Edward Snowden Q&A: Dick Cheney traitor charge is 'the highest honor': Glenn Greenwald

Lindsey Graham’s “breakthrough” immigration victory math: 2/3 of Republicans vote against: William A. Jacobson
Immigration and America’s political future: Richard Baehr
Turkish man inspires hundreds with silent vigil in Taksim Square: Guardian

A Radical Imam’s Infiltration of Philadelphia: Ryan Mauro
President Obama: NSA Spying Programs ‘Transparent’: Abby D. Phillip
US Rappers Dedicate Their Songs to Mexican Drug Lords: Borderland Beat

Sci-Tech

Top Google Engineer: Human Immortality Is Within Our Grasp: Cadie Thompson, CNBC
How Can Any Company Ever Trust Microsoft Again?: Glyn Moody, ComputerWorld UK
The Most Amazing Map You’ll See Today (No Matter What Day It Is): Corey S. Powell, Discover

Cornucopia

Profiles in Privilege: Compare & Contrast: Doug Powers
Snicker! Iowahawk does it again: Zings ‘world’s biggest baby daddy’: Twitchy
Feminists Riot Over Swiffer's Offensive Rosie-the-Riveter Ad: Cube

Image: Miss Utah's Gaffe Goes Viral
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Gun Owners of America Fighting to Preserve Liberty

QOTD: "Harvard economist George Borjas has recently estimated that low-skilled American workers already suffer wage losses of $402 billion a year because of immigrant labor, a sum that does not include the costs to taxpayers of welfare paid to low-skill immigrant workers and their children. Amnesty proponents should explain how providing legal status to millions of illegal aliens will affect the job prospects of the poorest Americans." --Heather Mac Donald

Monday, June 17, 2013

YO, KARL ROVE: The 1986 Amnesty Bill Turned California Into the Closest Thing America Has to a Third World Country

Another phenomenal guest post culled from a comment at City Journal.


"What pragmatic assessment leads to thinking that the Simpson-Mazzoli 1986 amnesty program did anything bad? Anything at all?"

Let's see how many bad things came from that 1986 Amnesty. California is America's number one immigration state and the state most impacted by the IRCA (the 1986 Reagan Amnesty).

1. California once had the best public schools in America. Now they compete with Mississippi for the bottom. Sometimes they "win".

2. California once had the most affordable and best middle-class housing in America. Now it ranks at the bottom.

3. California once paid the highest real wages to workers of any state in the union. Now wages (adjusted for the local cost of living) are rock bottom.

4. California once had income inequality somewhat below the national average. Now it's far above the national average.

5. California once offered mobility to its people. Gridlock is now the norm.

6. California was once a place where Americans from every state could go looking for a better life. Now its a chamber of horrors that even illegal aliens flee.

The Los Angeles Times published a great story about how Amnesty and mass immigration wrecked the once great state of California.

U.S. immigrants' stories often are about reinvention and newfound prosperity, about leaving behind poverty and limitations... But that is not Magdaleno's story.

Both Magdaleno and Anzaldo are illegal immigrants, settled for years in an immigrant enclave. Magdaleno has the same number of children as her parents, who were peasant farmers in Mexico. Like her parents, she is living in poverty and struggling to provide for her family.

"It's not sweet," said her 36-year-old sister, Alejandra. "It's very sad. The life for girls back there in Mexico is the same as the one Angela has now. They marry and have children, and that's their lives."

Neither Magdaleno nor her husband speaks English, though she has been in the United States 22 years and he 28. Even her teenage daughters speak mostly Spanish; their English vocabulary is limited."

"As Angela was having children, her siblings were undergoing a transformation of a different kind. They were slowly leaving Los Angeles.

Her sister Alejandra was the first to leave. In Los Angeles, she and her husband were barely able to make ends meet. As in Mexico, "there was little work and it's poorly paid," she said.

Eight years ago, she and her family moved to Kentucky, where a friend said there was more work and were fewer Mexican immigrants bidding down the wages for unskilled jobs.

In Kentucky, Alejandra picked tobacco. The work was hard and she didn't know the language. But soon, life improved. Over the years, she invited her siblings to join her. One sister married a man who managed a Golden Corral, a chain of all-you-can-eat buffets. Soon several Magdaleno siblings were working in Golden Corrals. Their husbands found work installing windows and as farm-labor contractors. They went to night school to learn English because few people in Lexington speak Spanish.

Today, the Magdalenos in Lexington earn more than they did in Los Angeles, in a city where the cost of living is lower. Kentucky is now their promised land, and they talk about California the way they used to talk about Mexico.

"What we weren't able to do in many years in California," Alejandra said, "we've done quickly here.

"We're in a state where there's nothing but Americans. The police control the streets. It's clean, no gangs. California now resembles Mexico -- everyone thinks like in Mexico. California's broken."

If illegal aliens can recognize that mass immigration has "broken" California, it should be possible for you to make the same intellectual leap.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

"If they pass an immigration bill that even remotely resembles this one, we can say goodbye to the GOP"

Guest post by the Commenter


Nothing better illustrates the divide between the Republican establishment and the base than this issue. Health care, taxes, abortion, gay marriage, all are small change compared to immigration. The GOP leadership's failure to understand this is practically inexplicable.

I still maintain that the GOP leadership has a very small constituency - these people could not win an election without the GOP rank and file and the independents who have basically walked away from the Party due to the leadership's continued bungling and missteps. That is another story - how the GOP leadership has caused so many people in the Party to leave in disgust. Although that started with Bush's out of control spending, it really got rolling with Bush's amnesty plan.

Bush's approval rating went to 13% when he got behind amnesty. Rank and file Republicans, who are so much more conservative than the leadership, see this issue as a matter of right and wrong, and they clearly viewed Bush as wrong. And, as a direct result of this issue more than anything else, they stayed home in 2006, and again in 2008.

These people simply never learn - it is maddening.

In fact, Bush basically lost any ability to run the country after pushing amnesty. He literally tore apart the party. Many people forget that the country was on a path to a permanent conservative majority in 2000. Bush more or less single-handedly changed the direction of the nation with bone-headed move after bone-headed move - starting with his inexplicable failure to rein in spending. I mean, wasn't the guy a Republican? Aren't we for limited government?

You can read Rove's book in order to gain a good understanding of the foregoing. Karl "Deficits Don't Matter" Rove blames Republicans in Congress, but that is a very thin excuse indeed since Bush did nothing about it and enthusiastically joined in the spending spree. In fact, his book proves how completely disconnected both Rove and Bush were from any notion of conservative values. Bush was given a great trust by the American people, and he blew it in the worst way. But his spending pales in comparison to his destruction of the conservative majority by pressing ahead with amnesty.

But it was also Bush's inability or unwillingness to respond to Democratic media critics, leaving it to those of us who knew the Democrats were more than able to use their powerful control of the media, as well as their ability then and now to set the nation's agenda. This ineptitude destroyed Bush's Presidency and his party.

I've never forgiven Bush, and never will forgive him, for the foregoing - I could care less that he is supposedly a decent man. After all the guy more or less set us on a path to what we have today. The election of Obama is more than anything else the result of Bush and Rove's arrogance, blindness, and - call it what it is - stupidity.

You get the feeling in Rove's book that he was so rattled by the Plame scandal that he ran from Washington with his tail between his legs. The fact that he came back into the spotlight says a whole lot about the man's lack of character. And Rove is still - still - hard at work destroying the Republican party - by going after the Tea Party. Rove thereby demonstrates that he is incapable of learning from his mistakes. And Bush's silence since the Obama election is an indication that he has no problem with the direction of the country. To think I voted for the man - we would have been better off had Gore or Kerry won, and maintained control of Congress.

But, back to immigration. What this issue says is that the Republican leadership has again shown it has no ability to think strategically - it remains bound to the old rules of politics, and acts like the past couple of decades have never happened. It has no real adherence to a consistent policy, no passion for the issues, and it doesn't understand its own constituency.

More than that, the Republican leadership doesn't have a constituency - there is no large group of rank and file Republicans out there supporting the leadership's policies. The leadership may have access to money but informed voters can't be bought as easily as uninformed voters - as both Romney and Karl Rove learned in the last election. But Rove should have known better - he had seen the same thing in 2006. How deaf, dump and blind can one person be? And how troubling is it that the monied elite still fund Rove's repeatedly failed agenda?

In fact, the rank and file is far more conservative than the leadership, which for some reason doesn't understand its own - it is living in the past when Republcans were comfortable as a minority party where it was expected to make some noise and then give in to the Democrats.

The GOP leadership has time and again shown that it is incapable of running the party - it is frightening indeed that the nation's last hope is with these people. This is not the place to recite the litany of horribles committed by the leadership (I could start with the Boehner's absolutely disastrous record as House leader), but if they pass an immigration bill that even remotely resembles this one, we can say goodbye to the GOP.

And with the GOP gone, the Democrats will have free rein and will ultimately destroy this nation. As I've written before, the Democrats are quite comfortable with poverty, since it means all the votes - there is no bottom for the Democrats since they don't care - prosperity is not even remotely on the agenda (look what they have done in places like Detroit, D.C., California, etc.).

It is too depressing to think about - but I'll say this again - if the GOP passes this bill, they will lose the rank and file completely. Not only will the GOP never win another national election they will lose control of Congress - permanently until the country is torn apart.

I could go on, but what's the point? The Senate will do what it will do, and it doesn't appear that the fact that the people in the party and those independents supporting the (supposed) goals of the party makes not one whit of difference to the blind, arrogant despicable people at the top. And no amount of spending will put the party back together again.


Note: This article is an amalgam of several excellent comments related to Heather Mac Donald's article "The Real Risks of Amnesty. Related reading: Politico lets the cat out of the bag: immigration "reform" would give Democrats a permanent majority

Larwyn's Linx: Goodbye America -- Heather MacDonald on Amnesty Bill

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Goodbye America -- Heather MacDonald on Amnesty Bill: Sara Noble
Shamnesty's New ID rules would threaten citizens' rights: Richard Sobel
Obama’s Amnesty Speech: Bogus Promises, Empty Rhetoric: Jessica Zuckerman

Is Amnesty bill really tough on immigrants with criminal records?: Byron York
What does the SCOTUS ruling on DNA mean?: Leischen Stelter
How Many Crimes Are Committed By Legal Gun Purchasers?: Extrano's Alley

Glass Houses and "The Party of Stupid": Villainous
Rubio Works To Stop Illegals From Getting Federal Benefits…: RWN
Report: Obama runs immigration bill from White House: Neil Munro

Economy

Barack Obama’s ‘Social Innovation’ Slush Fund: Michelle Malkin
Obamacare’s Insurance “Solution”: Medicaid for All: Chris Jacobs
A Culture of Spying at Bloomberg: Ed Driscoll

Obamacare benefits mandate could further phase out full-time work: Patrice Hill
Obamacare co-ops are focus of four federal investigations: Richard Pollock
5 Lies the Democrats Told To Sell Obamacare: John Hawkins

Scandal Central

No, the FBI isn’t investigating the IRS. They’re on the same team.: Bob Owens
Confirmed: Obama IRS Targeted, Infiltrated and Harassed Christian Churches: Jim Hoft
IRS Supervisor Admits Personally Handling Dozens of Tea Party Cases: Tony Lee

Who’s Up for a Fresh State Department Scandal? : JWF
Contradicting IRS Claims, D.C. Personally Scrutinized Tea Party Tax-Exempt Applications: Dave Urbanski
Exposure of NSA surveillance draws attention to Mueller remark about real time email tracking: Catherine Herridge

Media

Lindsey Graham: 'If We Pander To Hispanics, They'll Love Us And We can Elect Jeb Bush In 2016': Joshua
The NRA Highlights Manchin’s Record: Extrano's Alley
Announcing The 2013 Paul Revere Awards: Clown Parade

World

GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert Rips FBI For Working With CAIR: WZ
Secret Service Disguising Themselves As Farmers To Protect Obama At G8 In Ireland: WZ
Tensions Simmer After Attack on Chinese Students in France: WSJ

Mike Rogers: Examples of thwarted terror plots will spur Americans to support surveillance: Sean Sullivan
Apple reveals US surveillance requests, following Facebook's lead: Guardian
French church vandalized: "Death to France, long live Islam, long live bin Laden": JihadWatch

Sci-Tech

Company PRISM Reports Reveal Extent of NSA Requests: Mandy Nagy
Revealed: Yahoo FOUGHT against NSA's warrantless spying program but lost: Daily Mail
Drone Net: The Next Big Thing: John Robb

Cornucopia

UNITED NATIONS MUST SEND FORCES TO STOP MURDERS IN BARACKISTAN (CHICAGO): AWD
Happy Father's Day: MOTUS
My Only Question Is...: Sondrakistan

Image: Trevor Loudon
Sponsored by: Keep KeyWiki Naming America’s Enemies, for Only a Few Dollars a Month

QOTD: "Now back in 1927 an American socialist, Norman Thomas, six times candidate for president on the Socialist Party ticket, said the American people would never vote for socialism. But he said under the name of liberalism the American people will adopt every fragment of the socialist program.

There are many ways in which our government has invaded the precincts of private citizens, the method of earning a living. Our government is in business to the extent over owning more than 19,000 businesses covering different lines of activity. This amounts to a fifth of the total industrial capacity of the United States.

But at the moment I’d like to talk about another way. Because this threat is with us and at the moment is more imminent.

One of the traditional methods of imposing statism or socialism on a people has been by way of medicine. It’s very easy to disguise a medical program as a humanitarian project. Most people are a little reluctant to oppose anything that suggests medical care for people who possibly can’t afford it.

Now, the American people, if you put it to them about socialized medicine and gave them a chance to choose, would unhesitatingly vote against it. We had an example of this. Under the Truman administration it was proposed that we have a compulsory health insurance program for all people in the United States, and, of course, the American people unhesitatingly rejected this" --Ronald Reagan

Sunday, June 16, 2013

President Obama sets extremely bad example for America's youth, uses high-cap magazine in Father's Day activity

Is Mayor Bloomberg aware of this tweet?


As Robby Soave reminds us, these activities come at a time when liberals are hysterically convulsing over toy guns and even references to them.

A 14-year old faces suspension and up to a year in jail for failing to remove an NRA T-shirt he wore to school.

An elementary school student was suspended for biting a Pop Tart into the shape of a gun.

And a 5-year old was booted from school for referring to her "bubble gun", pictured at right.

So I'm sure the outrage from progressive media for the president's activity will build to a crescendo any moment.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

BUT-BUT-BUT BUSH: Feds Admit Listening to U.S. phone calls without warrants, up to 1 million citizens targeted

The National Security Agency disclosed Saturday that thousands of its analysts can listen to domestic phone calls without warrants. That capability appears to extend to email and text messages as well.

The is a far different matter from the oh-so-controversial Bush program of wiretapping international phone calls to and from terror hotbeds.

The National Security Agency has acknowledged in a new classified briefing that it does not need court authorization to listen to domestic phone calls.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, disclosed this week that during a secret briefing to members of Congress, he was told that the contents of a phone call could be accessed "simply based on an analyst deciding that"... If the NSA wants "to listen to the phone," an analyst's decision is sufficient, without any other legal authorization required, Nadler said he learned. "I was rather startled," said Nadler, an attorney and congressman who serves on the House Judiciary committee.

Not only does this disclosure shed more light on how the NSA's formidable eavesdropping apparatus works domestically, it also suggests the Justice Department has secretly interpreted federal surveillance law to permit thousands of low-ranking analysts to eavesdrop on phone calls... Nadler's disclosure indicates the NSA analysts could also access the contents of Internet communications without going before a court and seeking approval.

The disclosure appears to confirm some of the allegations made by Edward Snowden, a former NSA infrastructure analyst who leaked classified documents to the Guardian. Snowden said in a video interview that, while not all NSA analysts had this ability, he could from Hawaii "wiretap anyone from you or your accountant to a federal judge to even the president."

There are serious "constitutional problems" with this approach, said Kurt Opsahl, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation who has litigated warrantless wiretapping cases. "It epitomizes the problem of secret laws."

[Furthermore,] the NSA records the phone calls of 500,000 to 1 million people who are on its so-called target list, and perhaps even more. "They look through these phone numbers and they target those and that's what they record..."

...Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the head of the Senate Intelligence committee, separately acknowledged this week that the agency's analysts have the ability to access the "content of a call."

...Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU's Center for Democracy, says he was surprised to see the 2008 FISA Amendments Act be used to vacuum up information on American citizens. "Everyone who voted for the statute thought it was about international communications," he said.

To recap:

• The NSA admits listening to U.S. phone calls without warrants;

• Federal officials are targeting up to 1 million people in the U.S.;

Curiously, Major Nidal Hasan and the Tsarnaev brothers were somehow overlooked.

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, author of the PATRIOT Act, says that the law does not support these kinds of activity.

...Sensenbrenner, who introduced the PATRIOT Act on the House floor in 2001, has declared that lawmakers’ and the executive branch’s excuses about recent revelations of NSA activity are “a bunch of bunk.”

In an interview on Laura Ingraham’s radio show Wednesday morning, the Republican congressman from Wisconsin reiterated his concerns that the administration and the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court have gone far beyond what the PATRIOT Act intended. Specifically, he said that Section 215 of the act “was originally drafted to prevent data mining” on the scale that’s occurred.

Since we know that Obama's political opposition has been relentlessly targeted by the instrumentalities of the federal government -- including the Department of Labor, the EPA and the IRS -- I have a sneaking suspicion that there are plenty of Tea Party activists, Constitutional conservatives, religious Christians, and Jews, on the list of this administration's targets.

We are witnessing the de-evolution of this country into a Banana Republic.