Neumann Phones Barrett and Walker

From the Mark Neumann campaign:

WAUKESHA, Wis. - April 30, 2010 - Mark Neumann today personally placed a phone call to his fellow candidates in the race for Governor, seeking a joint meeting to create a plan that keeps Harley Davidson in Wisconsin.

"Let's put jobs above politics and assemble a solution that makes sense for Harley and for the state of Wisconsin," Neumann said. "Let's show this company, this state and this nation that we are all serious about wanting to lead Wisconsin forward."

Neumann responded to the news Thursday that Harley is considering moving out of Wisconsin, putting some 1700 jobs in jeopardy, including more than 1,300 in metro Milwaukee. Neumann also reached out to Harley CEO Keith Wandell Thursday, calling him to seek a face-to-face meeting to make the case that help is on the way.

..."Together, we can work with Harley Davidson to convince this American institution not to give up on Wisconsin," Neumann stated. "I urge my fellow candidates to join me in showing that we are all committed to doing right by Wisconsin, and that we are focused on creating job growth for the entire state."

When Neumann called Barrett and Walker, I wonder if he claimed to be calling on behalf of the Wisconsin Republican Party.

If I were with Neumann's campaign, I wouldn't be sending out any press releases that mention phone calls.

Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno: '60 Minutes'

Conan O'Brien is a bitter, bitter man and CBS loves it.

Naturally, O'Brien is using a CBS program, 60 Minutes, as his forum to trash Jay Leno. The home network of David Letterman, Leno's competition, is perfect for O'Brien to air his anger. What better place for O'Brien to publicly slam Leno on national TV?

Yes, Letterman trounced O'Brien in the ratings when he hosted The Tonight Show; but O'Brien apparently carries no grudges about that. His target is Leno.

CBS has an interest in smearing Leno, too. Now that Leno is back as host of The Tonight Show, NBC has regained the lead in the ratings and beating CBS and ABC in all key demographics.

To date, Jay Leno has ranked #1 in adult 18-49 rating on 37 of 40 nights versus "Late Show," including two ties, since returning as host of "Tonight" on March 1. In total viewers, Jay has ranked #1 on 40 of 40 nights.

That has to be making NBC affiliates very happy and O'Brien very humiliated.

From CBS:

Conan O'Brien says he would have left NBC rather than do what Jay Leno did to him, in his first interview since being forced off the Tonight Show.

O'Brien's interview with "60 Minutes" correspondent Steve Kroft will be broadcast this Sunday, May 2, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

"He went and took that show back and I think in a similar situation, if roles had been reversed, I know...I know me, I wouldn't have done that," O'Brien says. "If I had surrendered The Tonight Show and handed it over to somebody publicly and wished them well and then…six months later. But that's me, you know. Everyone's got their own, you know, way of doing things," he tells Kroft.

Asked by Kroft what he would have done, O'Brien says, "Done something else, go someplace else. I mean, that's just me."

O'Brien eventually left NBC, deciding not to play second-fiddle to Leno. He says he didn't see the point in giving his all in a relationship that seemed to have no future. "I think this relationship is going be toxic and maybe we just need to go our separate ways," he says. "That's really how it felt to me…and I started to feel that I'm not sure these- people even really want me here….I can't do it [anymore]."

O'Brien does not play a victim well. He's acting like a spoiled brat by demonizing Leno. It's very small of him.

I don't like to see O'Brien acting this way. I was a fan and regular viewer of Late Night as well as The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. He was part of my late night TV viewing for years and years and years, so it's not like I come at this from an anti-Conan perspective.

But I must side with Leno.

I would have some sympathy for O'Brien if he hadn't forced Leno out as host of The Tonight Show.

Leno was number one. He wasn't struggling at all. He consistently beat Letterman in the ratings race.

O'Brien doesn't seem to want to point out that he got Leno fired. Yeah, Conan did that.

O'Brien needs to acknowledge that fact. He's being disingenuous when he leaves out that part of the equation. He wants to be seen as the victim without taking any responsibility for being the villain.

Blaming NBC would be a much better strategy for O'Brien than bashing Leno. Making Leno out to be the bad guy in The Tonight Show drama isn't fair.

"If I had surrendered The Tonight Show and handed it over to somebody publicly and wished them well and then…six months later. But that's me, you know. Everyone's got their own, you know, way of doing things."

What a crock!

O'Brien's "way of doing things" was to get NBC to fire Leno. That's not exactly being Mr. Nice Guy.

Granted, it was NBC's decision to go along with O'Brien's demands.

Obviously, that was a big mistake on NBC's part, and the network paid for it. But O'Brien set the mess in motion. He pushed Leno out of a job.

Bottom line: The fault, dear Conan, is not in Leno, but in yourself.

It's really too bad O'Brien is sniping like this, but as O'Brien said, "Everyone's got their own, you know, way of doing things."

Rick Santorum and Russ Feingold

Last night, Sen. Rick Santorum was the guest speaker at the Annual Education Fund Dinner and Auction of Wisconsin Right to Life.

The event was made available to everyone via Twitter.

With Santorum being in Milwaukee for this pro-life function, I'm reminded of the haunting exchange he had with Russ Feingold when they both were serving in the U.S. Senate.

On September 26, 1996, during debate on partial-birth abortion, Feingold revealed just how radically pro-abortion he is.

Transcript

Sen. Santorum: Will the Senator from Wisconsin yield for a question?

Sen. Feingold: I will.

Sen. Santorum: The Senator from Wisconsin says that this decision should be left up to the mother and the doctor, as if there is absolutely no limit that could be placed on what decision that they make with respect to that. And the Senator from California [Sen. Barbara Boxer] is going up to advise you of what my question is going to be, and I will ask it anyway. And my question is this: that if that baby were delivered breech style and everything was delivered except for the head, and for some reason that that baby's head would slip out -- that the baby was completely delivered -- would it then still be up to the doctor and the mother to decide whether to kill that baby?

Sen. Feingold: I would simply answer your question by saying under the Boxer amendment, the standard of saying it has to be a determination, by a doctor, of health of the mother, is a sufficient standard that would apply to that situation. And that would be an adequate standard.

Sen. Santorum: That doesn't answer the question. Let's assume that this procedure is being performed for the reason that you've stated, and the head is accidentally delivered. Would you allow the doctor to kill the baby?

Sen. Feingold: I am not the person to be answering that question. That is a question that should be answered by a doctor, and by the woman who receives advice from the doctor. And neither I, nor is the Senator from Pennsylvania, truly competent to answer those questions. That is why we should not be making those decisions here on the floor of the Senate.

That exchange is absolutely chilling, so chilling that Feingold had the Congressional Record altered.

Feingold actually refused to say that the life of a baby who survived a late-term abortion should be protected.

That's not just being pro-abortion. That's pro-infanticide.

Video.

Russ Feingold: Radically Pro-Abortion from Wisconsin Right to Life on Vimeo.

Fall of Saigon - 35 Years Ago

Thirty-five years ago today, Saigon fell.



In the New York Times today, Linh Dinh writes:

DEPENDING on which side you were on, Saigon either fell on April 30, 1975, or it was liberated. Inside Vietnam, the day is marked as Liberation Day — but outside, among the Vietnamese refugees, it is called Deep Resentment Day. (The resentment is not just over losing a war, but also a country.)

The Associated Press details the celebrations in Vietnam, marking the communist victory.

Communist Vietnam marked the 35th anniversary of the end of its war Friday with a dramatic re-enactment of the day North Vietnamese tanks smashed through the gates of the former Presidential Palace and ousted the U.S.-backed South Vietnam government.

The celebration took place as signs of the emerging market economy are everywhere in the city once known as Saigon and communist banners now compete with corporate logos.

A crowd of 50,000, many waving red and gold communist flags, lined the parade route, which was adorned with a massive poster of Ho Chi Minh, the father of Vietnam's revolution.

The proceedings brought back vivid memories for Do Thi Thanh Thuy, 49, who watched the tanks roll by her home on April 30, 1975, when she was a junior high student. She and her neighbors on the outskirts of the former Saigon ran into the streets to cheer.

"When I saw those tanks, I felt so happy," said Thuy, who carried a red and gold flag adorned with communism's hammer and a sickle symbol. "The South had been liberated, the country was united, and the war was over."

The fall of Saigon marked the official end of the Vietnam War and the decade-long U.S. campaign against communism in Southeast Asia. The conflict claimed some 58,000 American lives and an estimated 3 million Vietnamese.

The war left divisions that would take years to heal as many former South Vietnamese soldiers were sent to communist re-education camps and hundreds of thousands of their relatives fled the country.

Friday's celebration featured patriotic songs, some of them put to a pulsing disco beat. And in the day's re-enactment of the war's end, everyone in the former Saigon greeted the troops with jubilation.

...In his anniversary speech, Lt. Gen. Le Thanh Tam, the chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Veterans Association, warned that Vietnam must be wary of "hostile forces who use democracy and human rights as a pretext to sabotage Vietnam."

"We affirm that the Communist Party of Vietnam is the only party which has the prestige to lead the Vietnamese people to stable development and international integration," Tam said.

From the San Jose Mercury News:

The first inkling Kim Lien Pham had that the war was finally ending came when she found the gold bars her mother had sewed into her underwear.

Growing up in Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, the 7-year-old had turned a blissfully blind eye to the blood being shed on battlefields across her war-weary country. Until the spring of 1975, when children began finding bullion in their briefs, many remained largely untouched by the fighting.

"But I knew something was going on when my mom began exchanging money for gold bars," she recalled recently. "My father said, 'Any day now, if I come home and say, "Run," you run.' "

Thirty-five years ago tomorrow, they ran.

Eventually Pham — who changed her name to Melissa — settled in San Jose, which has the largest Vietnamese population of any American city. Now 43 and herself the mother of two children, Pham is yet another golden product of the American immigrant dream, a member of what is among the largest diasporas in modern history — the Vietnamese "boat people."

Like many Vietnamese-Americans around the South Bay, on Friday, Pham will once again mark the fall of Saigon. But unlike those for whom the suddenness of the South's surrender and the subsequent brutality of the North's authoritarian regime have made "Black April" a somber annual remembrance, time and distance have not made Pham long to return to her homeland. During her only visit since the family fled Vietnam, she found the country depressing. "The whole time I was thinking, 'I'm so glad I'm not living here,' " she said.

...Melissa Pham's passage to freedom began the day Saigon fell aboard a South Vietnamese navy vessel, the most surprising aspect of which was that South Vietnam had a navy. "We had no clothes except what was on our backs," said Pham, who had two gold bars sewed into her underwear in case of emergency. "My father had filled a gas can with water and people were trying to steal it, but they couldn't because my father had a gun. That's how you defended your water on the boat. It was scary."

After drifting for days while "packed like sardines" on the boat, Pham hung from her father's neck as he climbed aboard a barge on the high seas. After stops in Guam and Arkansas, her family was sponsored by two churches in Milwaukee, where she and her siblings learned to speak English from Catholics. She learned it so well that she later had to relearn Vietnamese by watching dubbed Chinese kung-fu movies.

"My father said we would go with whatever religion would help us out; it didn't matter what they believed," said Pham, a Buddhist.

By Christmas of 1975, an estimated 130,000 Vietnamese refugees had been sponsored by churches and families who provided them with new homes in the United States. According to an article in Vietnam magazine, an American publication, the only state that initially resisted the influx of boat people was California, where Jerry Brown was then in his first term as governor. Brown's administration reportedly attempted to prevent planes loaded with refugees from landing at Travis Air Force Base.

Brown received a stinging rebuke from White House photographer David Hume Kennerly, who had photographed the evacuation. According to the article, Kennerly said Brown had "no compassion for your fellow human beings."

Four years later, while positioning himself for a presidential bid, Brown created a task force to help boat people find homes in the state. A spokesman for his current campaign for governor, Sterling Clifford, declined to comment on Brown's previous positions.

[Melissa Pham] returned to Saigon during the 1990s and came home disillusioned. Pham went back with her parents, visiting Saigon — which she refuses to call Ho Chi Minh City — and Dalat, a once-beloved retreat in the Central Highlands. "Dalat was like a dream when we were children, foggy and mysterious," Pham said. "Now it's stark and bright, with no trees. And there goes your dream."

Interesting that California, under Gov. Jerry Brown, was the only state unwilling to accept the Vietnamese refugees.

'Illegal Aliens: Law and Sovereignty in Arizona'

Read Andy McCarthy's column, "Illegal Aliens: Law and Sovereignty in Arizona."

McCarthy elaborates on the Arizona law in this blog post.

He makes a spot-on conclusion:

The people who are complaining about this law almost certainly either have not read it or are demagogues who would make the same absurd claims no matter what [the] law said.

Robert Menendez: 'Second-Class CITIZEN'?

Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey doesn't seem to understand that one can't be treated like a "second-class citizen" if one isn't a citizen in the first place.

On his radio show yesterday, Mark Levin played a clip of Menendez absolutely embarrassing himself.

Transcript

MARK LEVIN: Sen. Robert Menendez from New Jersey... He's in charge of electing more and more Left-wing Democrats to the Senate. Exactly what we need, don't you think? And he was on CNN today. See if you can make any sense of what he says here....

(Audio clip)

SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ: Arizona has become the 'show me your papers' state. And if I was a citizen of Arizona or if I were visiting in Arizona, the only papers I would intend to show is the Constitution of the United States that says that I have rights as a citizen and that I am not a second-class citizen in this country.

(End clip)

LEVIN: No, you're not a citizen at all if you're an illegal... What are you talking about, you moron? I wonder if this fool has even read the Constitution. Does he even hear how stupid he sounds?

'Uh, I'm here illegally and I'm waving the Constitution around because I have rights as a citizen. I'm not a second-class citizen.'

No, a third, fourth, or fifth-class citizen either. You're not a citizen, Get it?

I think Menendez does get it. And Obama gets it, too. They all get that ILLEGAL immigrants are not citizens, but that's not how they're framing the debate.

They want to cloud the issue by focusing on ILLEGAL immigration as a civil rights matter rather than the law-breaking.

This isn't about being ANTI-immigration or against civil rights. It's about enforcing the law.

Video of Menendez and other Democrats protesting Arizona's law.



Expanded remarks from Menendez:

ROBERT MENENDEZ: I wanted to come to join with my colleagues from the Tri-Caucus and the House of Representatives and the national organizations who are here to not only protest a great injustice, but to say that this is slide back on the rights of each and every American.

Arizona has become the 'show me your papers' state. And if I was a citizen of Arizona or if I were visiting in Arizona, the only papers I would intend to show is the Constitution of the United States that says that I have rights as a citizen and that I am not a second-class citizen in this country. And that is in essence the slide that we are down here.

You know, I read the Arizona law and it is just replete with the type of broad descriptions that invite discrimination, that invite racial profiling, that invite violations of constitutional rights and civil rights. It requires officials and agencies to reasonably attempt to determine the immigration status of a person involved in a lawful contact.

Menendez is being so deceptive.

He's playing on people's fears to score political points. It's a disgrace.

According to Kris W. Kobach, the law will NOT require Arizona police officers to stop and question people.

Kobach explains:

The law only kicks in when a police officer already has made a "lawful contact" with a person, such as stopping him for breaking another law. The most likely contact is during the issuance of a speeding ticket. The law does not require the officer to begin questioning a person about his immigration status or to do anything the officer would not otherwise do.

Only after a stop is made, and subsequently the officer develops reasonable suspicion on his own that an immigration law has been violated, is any obligation imposed.

Menendez is a liar. He's a fear monger.

Arizona has NOT become the "show me your papers" state.

The people of Arizona don't deserve this berating.

It's wrong. It's so sleazy.

Unfortunately, it's so typical of the Obama adminstration and the Democrats.

FEAR THE DEER

The Bucks finally seem to be getting the respect they deserve.

With Andrew Bogut cheering from the bench, Brandon Jennings teamed with Kurt Thomas in a duo for the ages to push the Milwaukee Bucks one win from an improbable first-round upset.

Jennings scored 25 points, Thomas drew a crucial charging foul against Joe Johnson and the Bucks stunned the home team with a 14-0 run late in the game, beating the favored Hawks 91-87 on Wednesday night for a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Milwaukee's third straight win over third-seeded Atlanta gives the upstarts a chance to wrap up the series at home in Game 6 on Friday night.

Bogut is watching the playoffs with a cast on his right hand after taking a gruesome fall late in the regular season, but the 20-year-old Jennings keeps stepping up big with darting moves to the hoop and timely jumpers.

"The main thing was just keep attacking, keeping attacking," Jennings said. "The pressure's not on us."

...Atlanta dominated the first two games on its home court and fully expected to win at least one game in Milwaukee, which would have set them up to clinch at home in Game 5.

Instead, it's the gritty Bucks, appearing in the playoffs for the first time since 2006, who are on the verge of moving on to face waiting Orlando in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

I like this article from FOX Sports, "Hawks have talent, but Bucks have guts."

It begins:

The Bucks have it. The Hawks don't.

That's a great opening line.

Credit the Bucks for their gutsy 91-87 win that gained them a commanding 3-2 advantage as the series returns to Milwaukee. The Bucks fashioned their victory by making big plays at both ends of the court, never giving up, and getting terrific play from their bench players.

At the same time, discredit the Atlanta Hawks for their impatience, for their pathetic cheap-shot attempts to try and prove that they're really a bunch of tough guys, and for their dismal team-wide performance in the clutch.

The Bucks have shown that they have guts and talent, a winning combination.

Fear the Deer!

Arizona Immigration Law Myths

This is a must-read.

In the Washington Times, Kris W. Kobach debunks the myths about the recently passed Arizona ILLEGAL immigration law.

The law is not ANTI-immigration, not at all. It simply addresses those BREAKING THE LAW.

Listening to Obama and his hacks and late night comedians, one gets a very wrong impression of the Arizona law.

Kobach sets the record straight.

On April 23, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law S.B. 1070, sponsored by state Sen. Russell Pearce. The law makes it a state crime for an alien to commit certain federal immigration violations while in Arizona. However, based on the hyperventilating reaction of the open-borders left, one would think Arizona had constructed a police state.

Protesters took to the streets in Arizona displaying Mexican flags, chanting "Si se puede" and carrying signs saying, "Legalize Arizona." Media hound Al Sharpton declared that he would organize "freedom walkers" to challenge the law. Not wanting to miss a chance to play to his liberal base, even President Obama got into the action. He called the Arizona law "misguided" and said that it threatens to "undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans."

Mr. Obama's reaction was true to form. Just as with the Cambridge, Mass., arrest fiasco last year, he rushed to the microphone without knowing the facts in order to stir up and capitalize on accusations of racial profiling.

However, far from inviting racial profiling, the Arizona law actually makes racial profiling less likely. But that doesn't fit the story the left would like to tell. There are numerous inaccuracies in what critics of the law are saying, the most prominent of which are the following.

Myth No. 1: The law requires aliens to carry identification that they weren't already required to carry. On the contrary, the law simply penalizes aliens who fail to carry the registration documents that federal law already requires them to keep on their person. These federal crimes (8 United States Code Section 1304(a) or 1306(e)) have been around since 1940. The Arizona law simply adds a layer of state penalty to what already was a crime under federal law.

...As for U.S. citizens, the law does not require them to carry any identification whatsoever. Indeed, the law cannot possibly be applied against U.S. citizens; only an alien can be found guilty under the Arizona statute.

So U.S. citizens of Hispanic heritage or any other heritage are NOT required to carry identification.

The civil rights of American citizens are not being threatened.

Myth No. 2: The law will encourage racial profiling. The terms of the act make clear that such profiling cannot occur. Section 2 provides that a law enforcement official "may not solely consider race, color, or national origin" in making any stops or determining an alien's immigration status. In addition, all of the normal Fourth Amendment protections against racial profiling still apply.

Moreover, the law actually reduces the likelihood of racial profiling by forcing police officers to contact the federal government to verify a person's immigration status when they suspect a person is an illegal alien. It already was permissible for police officers across the country to make arrests for violations of federal immigration law where reasonable suspicion existed that a violation had occurred. Now, in Arizona, officers will have to make a phone call to Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) 24/7 hot line to confirm that any aliens in their custody really are present unlawfully. Officers can no longer proceed based solely on their own assessment of a person's immigration status. In this way, the Arizona law takes any consideration of race out of the equation - strengthening the protections against racial profiling.

Get it? NO RACIAL PROFILING. The law prohibits it.

Myth No. 3: The law will require Arizona police officers to stop and question people. Here again, critics of the law are failing to read it carefully. The law only kicks in when a police officer already has made a "lawful contact" with a person, such as stopping him for breaking another law. The most likely contact is during the issuance of a speeding ticket. The law does not require the officer to begin questioning a person about his immigration status or to do anything the officer would not otherwise do.

Only after a stop is made, and subsequently the officer develops reasonable suspicion on his own that an immigration law has been violated, is any obligation imposed. At that point, the officer is required to call ICE to confirm whether the person is an illegal alien. Are critics seriously suggesting that local law enforcement officers should ignore the violations of federal law that they see at that point?

In other words, Arizona does not bear any resemblance to Nazi Germany.

In sum, the law doesn't make any radical changes. Rather, it is a reasonable step that gives Arizona police officers another tool in their toolbox when they come into contact with illegal aliens during their normal law enforcement duties. It also prohibits Arizona cities from implementing sanctuary policies that prevent their officers from contacting ICE.

Arizona police officers need the tool that S.B. 1070 provides. Arizona is at ground zero with respect to illegal immigration and its criminal consequences. Arizona has witnessed hundreds of violent crimes committed by illegal aliens. Most recently, the brutal murder of rancher Robert Krentz on his own property by a suspected illegal alien shocked all Americans. Phoenix is now the kidnapping capital of North America and the hub of human smuggling into the United States. Three Phoenix police officers have been shot by illegal aliens since 1999.

Arizona is in a state of crisis. No wonder 70 percent of Arizonans support S.B. 1070, with rank-and-file police associations voicing their approval as well. Meanwhile, Mr. Obama accuses Arizonans of having racist motivations and declares his intention to push for an amnesty - which would only trigger an even larger flood of illegal immigration.

Will Mr. Obama recognize his mistake and hold a beer summit this time to atone for his rash accusations? I'm not holding my breath.

What a terrific analysis by Kobach!

Obama and Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano and Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and their followers are shamelessly misrepresenting Arizona's law.

These critics of the law need to read and be honest about it.

The lying must stop. The law addresses ILLEGAL immigrants. ILLEGAL.

It's a disgrace that Obama is acting like Al Sharpton rather than the president of the United States.
______________________

Another worthwhile piece: "A carefully crafted immigration law in Arizona," by Byron York.

Zuckerman: 'Obama's Jerusalem Stonewall'

In today's Wall Street Journal, Mort Zuckerman explains Obama's disastrous decision to reverse decades of U.S. policy toward Israel.

He schools Obama on the ramifications of his derailing of the peace process.

Zuckerman writes:

Thanks to a deadlock engineered by the U.S. government, the Middle East peace process is stalled. President Obama began this stalemate last year when he called for a settlement freeze, and he escalates it now with a major change of American policy regarding Jerusalem.

The president seeks to prohibit Israel from any construction in its capital, in particular in a Jewish suburb of East Jerusalem called Ramat Shlomo. This, despite the fact that all former administrations have unequivocally understood that the area in question would remain part of Israel under any final peace agreement. Objecting to any building in this East Jerusalem neighborhood is tantamount to getting the Israelis to agree to the division of Jerusalem before final status talks with the Palestinians even begin.

From the start of his presidency, Mr. Obama has undermined Israel's confidence in U.S. support. He uses the same term—"settlements"—to describe massive neighborhoods that are home to tens of thousands of Jews and illegal outposts of a few families. His ambiguous use of this loaded word raises the question for Israelis about whether this administration really understands the issue.

It certainly sends signals to the Palestinians. The Palestinian Authority followed the president's lead and refused to proceed with planned talks until Israel stops all so-called settlement activities, including in East Jerusalem.

...The reality today is that in the area referred to as East Jerusalem— that is, an area north, south and east of the city's 1967 borders—there are roughly a half a million Jews and Arabs living in intertwined neighborhoods. The idea of a purely Jewish West Jerusalem or a purely Palestinian East Jerusalem is a myth: Building in particular neighborhoods in no way precludes the possibility of a two-state solution.

Ramat Shlomo, the center of the most recent row, is a thriving community of over 100,000 Jews located between two larger Jewish communities called Ramat and French Hill. Its growth would in no way interfere with the contiguity of new Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. And in every peace agreement that has ever been discussed, these areas would remain a part of Israel.

No wonder the Israelis reacted so strongly when Mr. Obama called this neighborhood "a settlement." For over 43 years, there has been a tacit agreement that construction here did not constitute an obstacle to negotiations. Thus, the new policy was seen as an Obama administration effort to force Israel to accept the division of Jerusalem, taking yet another negotiating card off the table for the Israelis.

...The reality today is that in the area referred to as East Jerusalem— that is, an area north, south and east of the city's 1967 borders—there are roughly a half a million Jews and Arabs living in intertwined neighborhoods. The idea of a purely Jewish West Jerusalem or a purely Palestinian East Jerusalem is a myth: Building in particular neighborhoods in no way precludes the possibility of a two-state solution.

Ramat Shlomo, the center of the most recent row, is a thriving community of over 100,000 Jews located between two larger Jewish communities called Ramat and French Hill. Its growth would in no way interfere with the contiguity of new Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. And in every peace agreement that has ever been discussed, these areas would remain a part of Israel.

No wonder the Israelis reacted so strongly when Mr. Obama called this neighborhood "a settlement." For over 43 years, there has been a tacit agreement that construction here did not constitute an obstacle to negotiations. Thus, the new policy was seen as an Obama administration effort to force Israel to accept the division of Jerusalem, taking yet another negotiating card off the table for the Israelis.

...The reality today is that in the area referred to as East Jerusalem— that is, an area north, south and east of the city's 1967 borders—there are roughly a half a million Jews and Arabs living in intertwined neighborhoods. The idea of a purely Jewish West Jerusalem or a purely Palestinian East Jerusalem is a myth: Building in particular neighborhoods in no way precludes the possibility of a two-state solution.

Ramat Shlomo, the center of the most recent row, is a thriving community of over 100,000 Jews located between two larger Jewish communities called Ramat and French Hill. Its growth would in no way interfere with the contiguity of new Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. And in every peace agreement that has ever been discussed, these areas would remain a part of Israel.

No wonder the Israelis reacted so strongly when Mr. Obama called this neighborhood "a settlement." For over 43 years, there has been a tacit agreement that construction here did not constitute an obstacle to negotiations. Thus, the new policy was seen as an Obama administration effort to force Israel to accept the division of Jerusalem, taking yet another negotiating card off the table for the Israelis.

...The reality today is that in the area referred to as East Jerusalem— that is, an area north, south and east of the city's 1967 borders—there are roughly a half a million Jews and Arabs living in intertwined neighborhoods. The idea of a purely Jewish West Jerusalem or a purely Palestinian East Jerusalem is a myth: Building in particular neighborhoods in no way precludes the possibility of a two-state solution.

Ramat Shlomo, the center of the most recent row, is a thriving community of over 100,000 Jews located between two larger Jewish communities called Ramat and French Hill. Its growth would in no way interfere with the contiguity of new Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. And in every peace agreement that has ever been discussed, these areas would remain a part of Israel.

No wonder the Israelis reacted so strongly when Mr. Obama called this neighborhood "a settlement." For over 43 years, there has been a tacit agreement that construction here did not constitute an obstacle to negotiations. Thus, the new policy was seen as an Obama administration effort to force Israel to accept the division of Jerusalem, taking yet another negotiating card off the table for the Israelis.

...But what the world never remembers is what the Israelis can never forget. When Jordan controlled the eastern part of the city, including the Old City and the Western Wall (a retaining wall of the ancient Temple), it permitted reasonably free access to Christian holy places. But the Jews were denied any access to the Jewish holy places. This was a fundamental departure from the tradition of freedom of religious worship in the holy land, which had evolved over centuries, not to speak of a violation of the undertaking given by Jordan in the Armistice Agreement concluded with Israel in 1949. Nobody should expect the Jews to risk that again.

Since Israel reunited Jerusalem in 1967, it has faithfully protected the rights and security of Christians, Muslims and Jews. Christians now control the Ten Stations of the Cross; Muslims control the Dome of the Rock. Yet the Palestinians often stone Jewish civilians praying at the Western Wall below. Their leaders and imams repeatedly deny the Jewish connection to Jewish holy sites. Freedom of religion in Jerusalem should not be compromised by American policy.

That's not all. Dividing Jerusalem would put Palestinian forces and rockets a few miles from Israel's Parliament. And Jewish neighborhoods would be within range of light weapon and machine-gun fire. This is exactly what happened after the Oslo Accords, when the Palestinians fired from Beit Jalla toward Jerusalem's Gilo neighborhood, wounding scores of residents.

The vast majority of Israelis believe Jerusalem must be shared—not divided.

...The final status of Jerusalem will be on the table if and when Palestinians and Israelis talk. But Mr. Obama's policy reversal has, yet again, given the Palestinians every reason not to negotiate.

Obama's first 15 months in office have been a nightmarish whirlwind. He's moved so fast and with such recklessness on so many major issues that focusing on the latest fresh hell leads one to be distracted from Obama's other catastrophic motions.

Attention must be paid to the changes Obama has introduced regarding U.S. policy toward Israel.

I'm glad Mort Zuckerman is paying attention. I'm glad he's raising awareness of the terrible damage Obama is doing in the Middle East.

With Obama, it's one train wreck after another. It stresses me out.

I need to laugh. I wonder if Obama's national security adviser, James Jones, knows any good jokes.

I Love Bob Uecker

Bob Uecker is irreplaceable.

He's the voice of summer. He is baseball in Milwaukee.

When I think of summer, I think of the Brewers. When I think of the Brewers, I think of Bob Uecker.

The man is hilarious. It doesn't matter whether the Brewers are winning or losing. Uecker always makes listening to the game worthwhile. He's so entertaining. He makes me laugh out loud. He makes me happy. He lifts my spirits. He's a treasure.

I'm so sorry to learn that Uecker will be undergoing heart surgery on Friday and facing 10-12 weeks of recovery.

On the bright side, and there definitely is a bright side, Uecker's heart problem can be repaired.

He'll be back.

From FOX 6:

Bob Uecker has made a 40-year career out of delighting baseball fans with his self-deprecating sense of humor. Even facing heart surgery at the end of the week, that didn't change.

Addressing reporters Tuesday afternoon, the Milwaukee Brewers radio announcer opened up by joking that he called a press conference to announce that he was joining the Brewers' active roster. Then he turned serious -- well, as serious as he could be. "I'm looking forward to getting it done and getting back to work," Uecker said.

The 75-year-old Uecker will have his aortic valve replaced Friday morning, and will be away from the team for up to three months while recovering.

Uecker plans to broadcast home games Tuesday and Wednesday, then return to the booth as soon as he can after the procedure Friday. He said he would likely return to do only home games at first, but eventually return to traveling with the team. "I've been in baseball 55 years," Uecker said. "This is all I know. Or want to know, for that matter."

Uecker said he hasn't had any pain or other symptoms, beyond occasional breathing issues during his daily swim.

But his doctors have been monitoring a heart murmur, and a recent scan revealed that his problems were escalating and he needed surgery soon.

One of Uecker's doctors, Jim Kleczka of Froedtert Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin, said Uecker's aortic valve will be replaced, as will part of his enlarged aortic root. "I don't know if I'd call any heart surgery routine," Kleczka said. "But it's a commonly done operation."

Uecker said he had a similar procedure on a different heart valve several years ago, but only needed a few weeks to recover then. "That's the bottom line, it has to be done," Uecker said.

Milwaukee manager Ken Macha and several Brewers players, including Prince Fielder, Trevor Hoffman and Rickie Weeks, were on hand for Uecker's news conference.

"I'm a part of the club, too," Uecker said. "I've been here forever. These guys, when I walk in the clubhouse, I'm like one of them. That's the way they treat me." Uecker says he'll be watching and listening to games during his absence.

"Winning's great, losing's bad, and when they lose, I feel bad," Uecker said. "I hate it. I played. Well, I didn't play, but I sat around."

...Uecker said he looks forward to going to the ballpark every day, and doesn't foresee retirement any time soon.

"I don't ever want to quit," Uecker said. "I don't want to become a jibberish idiot on the air, either. I'll know when to quit."

More, from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Leave it to Bob Uecker to immediately apply his unique brand of humor to the sobering news of a serious health problem.

"A lot of you don't know, and some do, I have been added to the active roster of the club," said Uecker.

Thus began a news conference Tuesday afternoon at Miller Park in which it was revealed that the Brewers' Hall of Fame radio voice has a leaking aortic valve as well as an enlarged aorta.

Uecker, 75, will undergo heart surgery Friday morning at Froedtert Hospital to repair those problems.

...In his 40th season in the Brewers' radio booth, Uecker is expected to be out of action 10 to 12 weeks. The surgery will be performed by cardiac surgeon Alfred Nicolosi, who will replace the valve and a portion of the aortic root.

After that procedure, Kleczka said he would determine if additional bypass surgery is necessary.

...Attending the news conference were manager Ken Macha and several players, including Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, Craig Counsell, Casey McGehee, Trevor Hoffman and Jim Edmonds. When mentioning the support of the team, Uecker choked up.

"Hopefully, I'll be ready to go back to work in a relatively short period of time," he said. "I'll miss this. I look forward to coming to the ballpark every day. It's the highlight of my day."

Fielder said the players considered Uecker a key part of the team and wished him a speedy recovery.

"He's one of us," said Fielder. "He's always got a good attitude. Whenever he's around, it's always fun. The way he is, with his personality, you don't worry as much. You just think things will work out for the best."

Before the start of the fifth inning of the Brewers' game Tuesday evening against Pittsburgh, Uecker was shown on the Miller Park video board with the message "Get Well Soon, Bob." He received and acknowledged a standing ovation from the crowd.

Uecker originally hoped to go on the West Coast swing to San Diego, Los Angeles and Arizona that begins Thursday. Instead, broadcast partner Cory Provus will take over all play-by-play duties with help from Davey Nelson, who also serves as an analyst for Brewers television coverage on FS Wisconsin.

After that trip, WTMJ-AM will announce further plans for radio broadcasts without Uecker, who has been calling games for the Brewers since 1971. Uecker was honored for his longtime radio work with the 2003 Ford C. Frick Award and induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

"A lot of people have problems worse than mine," said Uecker. "I wasn't worried about it because they told me I could swim, you know. It was just in the last three months that this thing started to increase in size. I know, because I saw it (on a scan) yesterday."

Though admittedly "woozy" at times while taking medication for the heart condition, Uecker said he never considered skipping the 2010 season or calling it a career.

..."I don't think I'm ready (to quit) until someone tells me to, (team owner) Mark (Attanasio) or someone. Then we'll probably have a scuffle."

Uecker, of course, was again joking. He was absolutely serious about returning to work as soon as possible, however, beginning with home games at some point.

"When they think I'm ready to travel, I'm going to go," Uecker said. "And I'll keep going."

Video here, from WISN.

This summer won't be the same without Uecker on the air, our beloved "Mr. Baseball."

I'm so grateful that he chose to stay in Milwaukee with the Brewers, opting not to move to a larger market.

That sort of loyalty is rare. It hasn't gone unnoticed or unappreciated.

I wish Bob Uecker all the best and I'll be praying for his speedy recovery.

I'm looking forward to July.

Leno: David Letterman and the Geezer Bandit

JAY LENO: Well, a man called the 'Geezer Bandit'-- have you heard about this? The bank robber nicknamed the 'Geezer Bandit' has struck again. This old guy, take a look at this news story.

(Clip from CBS 2 News)

KENT SHOCKNEK, NEWS ANCHOR: The FBI is looking for the 'Geezer Bandit.' He's an elderly, gray-haired robber suspected in at least eight bank stick-ups.



(End clip)

LENO: Now, you know, I saw that story and it wasn't till I saw the story on CBS I realized who that guy is. Liz, show that picture again. Look. Look who it is. Look.



LENO: Look! It's Dave! It's Dave! I was stunned by that. Stunned!

Leno: Illegal Immigrants, Arizona, and Los Angeles

JAY LENO: As you know, Arizona has recently passed the toughest anti-immigration bill in American history. The idea behind this bill is to drive illegal immigrants out of Arizona and back to their homeland, Los Angeles.

Carl Levin: 'Sh-tty'

Do you get the feeling that Carl Levin really enjoys saying "sh-tty deal"?

I do.

Video.

Joe Biden, UWM: 'Collecting the Women'

Joe Biden is in Milwaukee at UWM right now.

He's making a speech about Wall Street reform.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee business students that financial regulation legislation now before Congress must be passed in order to protect the financial security of all Americans.

"This is an important and just cause," Geithner said in remarks prepared for delivery. "It requires reform. Not small changes at the margin, but comprehensive change, clear rules with teeth, enforced by people who care."

Geithner, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, was in Milwaukee for a "Middle Class Task Force," designed to lobby in favor of the financial regulation bill.

Geithner said the debate over the bill should not be left "to the banks and their protectors. This is about the business of America. And here at a university that has sent so many Americans out into the world to build great companies, you know how important credit and capital is to the entrepreneur and the innovator. We need a financial system that can finance future investment in real businesses that will make us stronger as a nation."

Geithner told the hand-picked audience, consisting of UWM business students and area politicians, that the economy was beginning to improve, but said there is still the long way to go.

...Following Geithner was Biden, who echoed similar themes in support of the legislation. "This is a big deal moment," Biden told the students. "It matters."

New opportunities for Americans, he said, help build the middle class.

Talking about the middle class, Biden said it was important for citizens to be able to live in a decent home, on a quiet street, send your kids to college and be able to retire with a decent standard of living.

"They measure their success based on whether or not their children have an equal or better chance than they had," he said.

Biden called Wall Street "private casinos" in which banks and investors lost a bet that Americans now have to pay for.

Yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah. Whatever.

You know that Biden can't speak at any length without adding something to his blooper highlight reel.

Here's the latest addition:

While dissing greedy Wall Street fat cats, he chastised them for "collecting the women."

He quickly corrected himself and said, "collecting the winnings."

Freudian slip, Joe? "Collecting the women"?

I didn't catch all of Biden's remarks. Did he make any anti-Semitic jokes, like National Security Adviser James Jones?

Did Biden drop the F-bomb?

It would be so disappointing if Joe "Champ" Biden didn't. It's his signature line. According to the Journal Sentinel, he did say "This is a big deal moment." A big f---ing deal? Maybe it's not that big.

Still, "collecting the women" is a pretty good Biden blunder.

God love ya, Champ.

Chris Matthews and George W. Bush's Book

MSNBC's Chris Matthews still suffers from Bush Derangement Syndrome.

He's in dire need of an intervention.

Video, from Breitbart.

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Next, 'the Decider' on the record. We just got our first look at President Bush's memoirs, Decision Points. That's the name of the book his publisher says will center around 14 key decisions that Bush made over his lifetime. His publisher also says that since leaving office the former president, quote, has spent almost every day, close quote, writing the book.

Whoa! Writing? Actually putting words down, writing paragraphs, organizing chapters? OK, I know he's the Decider but let's not overdo this claim. Let's just say he approved the book.

It comes out this November 9th. We invite the President to come on Hardball and flog the hell out of it.

Classic Chris Matthews.

The man needs help.

Mr. Obama's Wild Ride

Kentucky Abortion Center Fails to Report Abuse

EMW Women's Surgical Center, (A National Federated Abortion Center), 138 W. Market St., Louisville, Kentucky, was exposed as failing to report sexual abuse of a child to authorities.



Here's a media release from Live Action:

Friday, student-led pro-life group Live Action sent full footage of their undercover investigation showing a Louisville abortion facility failing to report sexual abuse of a child to Kentucky authorities.

The 34 minute tape was taken by Live Action President Lila Rose and actor Jackie Stollar who posed undercover as minors with Rose telling the staff that she was 14-years-old and impregnated by her 31-year-old “boyfriend.” In the state of Kentucky, sex between a 14-year-old and a 31-year-old is rape in the third degree. Kentucky law requires child abuse to be reported to law enforcement immediately.

In media reports following the release of the footage to the public last Wednesday, the clinic admitted that an abused child report was not filed and that they “would never report it at that point” to authorities because of a lack of information. Live Action President and UCLA student Lila Rose disagrees, “This abortion center does not get to choose when to report abuse of a child. Kentucky law states that child abuse must be reported immediately and after clinic staff was clearly told about the abuse scenario, they failed to report or even ask the appropriate questions.”

Live Action is also requesting authorities investigate the clinic’s compliance with state informed consent laws. The clinic staff presents misinformation about fetal development, saying that, “you don’t get brain activity till like 18, 19 weeks” despite the fact that brain waves have been detected as soon as 6 weeks and 2 days after fertilization. The clinic also falsely implies that the unborn child is not living by stating that, “it’s not a living, breathing, baby at this point”. Live Action believes these statements indicate the clinic may be disregarding state health standards and informed consent laws.

The Kentucky authorities who are receiving copies of the footage are Commonwealth’s Attorney R. David Stengel, State Attorney General Jack Conway, and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

Live Action has previously released videos of statutory rape cover-up at Planned Parenthood abortion clinics in Bloomington, IN, Indianapolis, IN, Memphis, TN, Birmingham, AL, Los Angeles, CA, Tucson, AZ, Phoenix, AZ, and Milwaukee, WI. Prompted by a Live Action video, the Alabama Health Department placed the Birmingham clinic on probation after conducting its own investigation which found 9 legal violations.

Where's the outrage over this pattern displayed by Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities of covering up the abuse of a child?

Why aren't these medical professionals condemned for this behavior and held accountable?

This is a scandal that's receiving scant attention.

The media's reaction is dramatically different from its intense scrutiny of Catholic Church authorities for their handling of cases of child sexual abuse.

There's a disturbing lack of consistency.

If the goal is to protect children from adult sexual predators, why give these abortion providers a pass?

Sean Duffy: 'This Race Matters to You'

Felipe Calderon: Hypocrite

Felipe Calderon is the president of MEXICO.

He has no authority in the United States, yet he thinks he should determine our immigration policies. I think he should butt out and focus on bettering his country.

In September 2007, Calderon spoke out against the Bush administration and U.S. immigration LAW.

In his speech, Mr. Calderón, who has acknowledged that he has relatives who migrated to the United States, suggested that the deportation of undocumented immigrants bordered on a violation of human rights, and he vowed to help illegal migrants.

“I have said that Mexico does not stop at its border, that wherever there is a Mexican, there is Mexico,” he said. “And, for this reason, the government action on behalf of our countrymen is guided by principles, for the defense and protection of their rights.”

"Wherever there is a Mexican, there is Mexico."

That's nuts.

It's also incredibly hypocritical. Calderon applies a completely different standard when it comes to his country and immigration.

J. Michael Waller offers details on Mexico's immigration law.

Mexico has a radical idea for a rational immigration policy that most Americans would love. However, Mexican officials haven’t been sharing that idea with us as they press for our Congress to adopt the McCain-Kennedy immigration reform bill.

That's too bad, because Mexico, which annually deports more illegal aliens than the United States does, has much to teach us about how it handles the immigration issue. Under Mexican law, it is a felony to be an illegal alien in Mexico.

At a time when the Supreme Court and many politicians seek to bring American law in line with foreign legal norms, it’s noteworthy that nobody has argued that the U.S. look at how Mexico deals with immigration and what it might teach us about how best to solve our illegal immigration problem. Mexico has a single, streamlined law that ensures that foreign visitors and immigrants are:

---in the country legally;

---have the means to sustain themselves economically;

---not destined to be burdens on society;

---of economic and social benefit to society;

---of good character and have no criminal records; and

---contributors to the general well-being of the nation.

The law also ensures that:

---immigration authorities have a record of each foreign visitor;

---foreign visitors do not violate their visa status;

---foreign visitors are banned from interfering in the country’s internal politics;

---foreign visitors who enter under false pretenses are imprisoned or deported;

---foreign visitors violating the terms of their entry are imprisoned or deported;

---those who aid in illegal immigration will be sent to prison.

Who could disagree with such a law? It makes perfect sense. The Mexican constitution strictly defines the rights of citizens -- and the denial of many fundamental rights to non-citizens, illegal and illegal. Under the constitution, the Ley General de Población, or General Law on Population, spells out specifically the country's immigration policy.

It is an interesting law -- and one that should cause us all to ask, Why is our great southern neighbor pushing us to water down our own immigration laws and policies, when its own immigration restrictions are the toughest on the continent?

If a felony is a crime punishable by more than one year in prison, then Mexican law makes it a felony to be an illegal alien in Mexico.

Knowing Mexico's immigration policy, Calderon's remarks about human rights and the United States are especially disturbing.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Monday condemned Arizona's tough new immigration law as discriminatory and warned that relations with the U.S. border state will suffer.

The measure, which will make it a crime under state law to be an illegal immigrant, "opens the door to intolerance, hate, discrimination and abuse in law enforcement," Calderon said.

Calderon said he had instructed the Foreign Relations Department to double its efforts to protect the rights of Mexicans living in the United States and seek help from lawyers and immigration experts.

"Nobody can sit around with their arms crossed in the face of decisions that so clearly affect our countrymen," Calderon said in a speech at the Institute for Mexicans Abroad.

This is such a goofy sentence: The Arizona law "will make it a crime under state law to be an illegal immigrant."

Yeah. I would hope so.

ILLEGAL.

Ignoring the law is not fair to the many legal immigrants to America. It's not fair to American citizens.

Calderon is making demands of the United States, outraged over Arizona's treatment of ILLEGAL immigrants; yet when it comes to immigrants in his country, he fails to grant them the sort of privileges he expects us to offer Mexicans.

Hypocrite.

Boycott Arizona

From the New York Times:

A spreading call for an economic boycott of Arizona after its adoption of a tough immigration law that opponents consider racially discriminatory worried business leaders on Monday and angered the governor.

Several immigrant advocates and civil rights groups, joined by members of the San Francisco government, said the state should pay economic consequences for the new law, which gives the police broad power to detain people they reasonably suspect are illegal immigrants and arrest them on state charges if they do not have legal status.

Critics say the law will lead to widespread ethnic and racial profiling and will be used to harass legal residents and Latino citizens.

Has the new law been used to HARASS legal residents and Latino citizens?

Why have a boycott to address something imaginary?

La Opinión, the nation’s largest Spanish-language newspaper, urged a boycott in an editorial Monday, as did the Rev. Al Sharpton, and calls for such action spread to social media sites. The San Francisco city attorney and members of the Board of Supervisors said they would propose that the city not do business with the state.

They followed the lead of Representative Raúl M. Grijalva, Democrat of Arizona, who had urged conventions to skip the state, though other Democrats who oppose the law, including Mayor Phil Gordon of Phoenix, pleaded for people not to punish the entire state.

Tourism and convention managers, struggling to rebound from the recession, said it was too soon to tell if the effort would have an impact, but some businesses said people were turning away from the state.

...Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, signed the bill on Friday, calling it an important step toward public safety that would help control immigration and give the police a tool to root out criminals.

She criticized opponents for not offering more solutions to problems related to illegal immigration and called the idea of a boycott “disappointing and unfortunate” at a time when the state is reeling from the recession and suffering from border-related crime that “continues to harm our economy and stifle trade.”

Good grief.

Arizona is trying to manage the problems related to ILLEGAL immigration, problems that Obama and his comrades are not adequately addressing.

By demonizing Gov. Brewer and the Arizona legislature and Arizona citizens, Obama hopes to gain politically.

How slimy! It's disgraceful.

Obama is a divider. He's playing politics. He's playing the race card. He's using inflammatory language. He's selfishly positioning for the 2010 election. He doesn't care if he smears people. Obama is ruthless.

In sum, Obama is ignoring federal law to score political points.

It's ridiculous to boycott Arizona because the state is simply upholding federal law.

I fully support Arizona's action to protect the border and deal with lawbreakers.

No LEGAL immigrant or U.S. citizen in Arizona has anything to fear.

Bottom line: ILLEGAL immigration is ILLEGAL.

Gutfeld: 'Hating Arizona'

Greg Gutfeld's take on Arizona's immigration law:

So Obama deemed the new Arizona immigration bill “misguided.”

Translation: he means “stupid.”

See, “misguided” is a word used by people who know better than you. Calling something “misguided” is an intellectual exercise in superiority–even if they don’t call you stupid, they really, really want to.

Too bad Obama has no other plan that’s less stupid. And the Arizona bill is what happens when there is no plan: a plan gets made.

It reminds me of something a really smart guy said on Hannity last week.

Roll Sot:

“Until you make it easier for them to get in legally you have to make it as difficult as possible for them to get in illegally. It’s that simple.”

It really is that simple.

Let’s play it again, but slower, in case you didn’t get it the first time.

(play it again, but really slow)

He really is an underused source of brilliance at Fox News.

Anyway, until we create a front door for these folks, we have to make sneaking in a window harder than hell. Amnesty doesn’t do that. Amnesty just says – “everyone in… is in!” That does not control the tide.

The fact is, it’s called illegal immigration, because it’s illegal. And Arizona has chosen to deal with what we already call illegal. And while, on its surface, it appears mean – it’s not. It’s actually a beginning. It pushes the debate forward to a place where we can finally develop a system that gets all the wonderful, hardworking people in.

And most are hardworking. And most are wonderful. Seriously, most of these folks killing themselves to come here are more deserving than half of the jerks born here.

This is about enforcing the law.

As Gutfeld says, ILLEGAL immigration is ILLEGAL.

The problem: Obama is failing to enforce existing law, and he's challenging Arizona's action to enforce the law.

That's not right.

Jimmy Fallon: Kyra Phillips and John Roberts

JIMMY FALLON: This is exciting. CNN anchors Kyra Phillips and John Roberts got engaged in West Virginia over the weekend. So if you're anywhere near their honeymoon suite, don't be surprised if you hear the words 'This just in!'

Leno: Arizona's Immigration Law, Conan O'Brien, and George Lopez

JAY LENO: Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed the nation's toughest immigration bill into law. It's unbelievable.

...Well, on this new law, people can be pulled over, made to show their immigration papers, and sent back to Mexico. It's pretty harsh. In fact, they even forced one guy to move his talk show on TBS from 11:00 to midnight.

James Jones: Jews are Greedy Joke

We know that Obama and members of his administration have issues with Israel.

From Yid With Lid:

As the National Security Adviser, General James Jones is not known as a friend of the Jewish State.

...Earlier this week we may have gotten some insight into why Jones is not a fan of the Jewish Homeland. He was giving the key note speech at a Washington Institute For Near East Policy and started it out with a "Joke" that borders on anti-Semitic, teaching the crowd that Jews are just greedy merchants in the same vein as Shakespeare's Shylock.

Video.


Transcript

GENERAL JAMES JONES: In order to set the stage for my remarks, I'd just like to tell you a story that I think is true. It happened recently in southern Afghanistan.

A member of the Taliban was separated from his fighting party and wandered around for a few days in the desert -- lost, out of food, no water. And he looked on the horizon and he saw what looked like a little shack, and he walked towards that shack. And as he got to it, it turned out that it was a shack, a store, a little store owned by a Jewish merchant.

And the Taliban warrior went up to him and said, 'I need water. Give me some water.'

And the merchant said, 'I'm sorry. I don't have any water, but would you like to buy a tie. We have a nice sale of ties today.'

Whereupon the Taliban erupted into a stream of language that I can't repeat, but about Israel, about Jewish people, about the man himself, about his family. 'I've just said I need water. You try to sell me ties. You people don't get it.'

And passively the merchant stood there until this Taliban was through with his diatribe and said, 'Well, I'm sorry that I don't have water for you. And I forgive you for all of the insults that you've levied against me, my family, my country. But I will help you out. If you go over that hill and walk about two miles there's a restaurant there and they have all the water you'll need.'

The Taliban, instead of saying thanks, still muttering under his breath, disappears over the hill, only to come back about an hour later. And walking up to the merchant, he says, 'Your brother tells me I need a tie to get in the restaurant.'

Whoa!

Jones is Obama's National Security Adviser!

Inappropriate!

This sounds like a joke the twisted Obama would tell, dissing one of our allies and sucking up to the enemy.

Where's the outreach to Israel?

Conan O'Brien and Jim Carrey: 'Superman'

From Mediaite:

Conan O’Brien live comedy/music tour took him to a familiar place last night – the Universal lot where he used to shoot The Tonight Show.

He used the opportunity to perform what may be the highlight of the tour so far – a duet with Jim Carrey (who was dressed as Superman) – with a clip craftily disseminated to his millions of fans through new media.

“I’m doing my live show tonight from the Universal lot where I taped The Tonight Show. So if a shot rings out, tell my wife I loved her,” Conan tweeted before the show last night. And the references to his former employer, and the location irony, continued during the show. “Listen very carefully,” he said, pointing NBCU’s direction. “Bad ideas are being greenlit.”

The celebrities came out in full force for the L.A. show, but none bigger than Carrey, a frequent guest from Conan’s Late Night days. The two shared the stage for a funny, but also solidly sung, performance of Five For Fighting’s early 2000s hit “Superman” – with Carrey dressed as the character.

Sean Duffy and David Obey - New York Times

UPDATE, May 5, 2010: DAVID OBEY WON'T RUN.

It's a beautiful day!

ROLL WITH SEAN!
_________________

The race in Wisconsin's 7th Congressional district is featured in the New York Times today.

Democrats’ Long-Held Seats Face G.O.P. Threat

Representative David R. Obey has won 21 straight races, easily prevailing through wars and economic crises that have spanned presidencies from Nixon’s to Obama’s. Yet the discontent with Washington surging through politics is now threatening not only his seat but also Democratic control of Congress.

Mr. Obey is one of nearly a dozen well-established House Democrats who are bracing for something they rarely face: serious competition. Their predicament is the latest sign of distress for their party and underlines why Republicans are confident of making big gains in November and perhaps even winning back the House.

...“It’s not a lifetime appointment,” said Sean Duffy, a Republican district attorney here in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, where he has established himself as one of the most aggressive challengers to Mr. Obey since he went to Washington in 1969. “There are changes in this country going on, and people aren’t happy.”

Mr. Obey, who leads the powerful Appropriations Committee, is one of three House Democratic chairmen who have drawn serious opposition. Representatives John M. Spratt Jr. of South Carolina, who oversees the Budget Committee, and Ike Skelton of Missouri, who runs the Armed Services Committee, have been warned by party leaders to step up the intensity of their campaigns to help preserve the Democratic majority.

...Democratic Congressional officials — well aware that a president’s party typically loses seats in midterm elections — have long been preparing for a tough year. But that Mr. Obey here in Wisconsin and other veteran lawmakers like Representative Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota suddenly find themselves in a fight reflects an increasingly sour mood toward the Democratic Party and incumbents.

...In the Seventh District of Wisconsin, which covers 17,787 square miles from the middle of the state to Lake Superior, signs of Mr. Obey’s service in Congress are found in new bridges, highway expansions and countless other projects. Yet there are fewer signs of Mr. Obey himself. At the Democratic Party office in Wausau, his hometown, campaign placards hang in the window for Senator Russ Feingold, but none for Mr. Obey.

When asked to discuss his re-election bid, Mr. Obey declined, saying that it was too early to begin talking politics and that he was focused on his legislative duties. “I have never met anyone who thought political campaigns were too short,” he said.

Mr. Obey, 71, was elected two years before Mr. Duffy, 38, was born. Mr. Duffy is widely seen as leading in the Republican primary — his opponent is the candidate who lost to Mr. Obey two years ago by 22 percentage points — and his race has drawn support from party leaders in Washington, Tea Party activists and Sarah Palin.

He has been elected four times as the district attorney of Ashland County, but the attention surrounding him began in 1997 when he was on MTV’s “The Real World: Boston.” He also is well-known here as a champion lumberjack sports competitor.

He said he decided to challenge Mr. Obey because of his leading role in the economic stimulus bill, health care legislation and the growth of government. “I know that I can have a serious impact on the direction of the country if I could take out Obey,” he said.

It's time for Washington insider, big taxer, big spender, ethically challenged Obey to be replaced. He's been there so long he's like a statue.

We need new faces, like Sean Duffy.

Joe Biden: UWM on Tuesday

UPDATE, April 27, 2010: Joe Biden: "Collecting the Women"
________________

Joe Biden is going to be speaking at UWM on Tuesday.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Hitting the road to promote reforms of Wall Street regulation, Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will travel to Milwaukee on Tuesday to discuss how the measures affect the middle class, the White House announced late Friday.

"The vice president and Secretary Geithner will discuss the need for Wall Street reform and the importance of reform for America's middle class families," the White House said.

The meeting at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Student Union, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd., is not open to the general public, said a UWM spokesman.

The event, hosted by the Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business, will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The White House preselected and invited the attendants. Also in attendance will be UWM business school students.

Too bad the event is NOT open to the general public.

"The White House preselected and invited the attendants."

Why waste the jet fuel to come to Milwaukee? This White House choreography is a joke. Big f---ing deal.

Archie Comics Gay Character: Kevin Keller

It's been a long time since I've seen Archie Comics. I barely recognize the gang.

Things have really changed at Riverdale High.

From the Archie Comics website:

Archie Comics, home of the famous Riverdale High students Archie, Betty, Veronica, Reggie and Jughead, is about to welcome a new classmate this fall! On September 1st, Kevin Keller, Archie Comics' first openly gay character, will be welcomed into the town of Riverdale.

"The introduction of Kevin is just about keeping the world of Archie Comics current and inclusive. Archie's hometown of Riverdale has always been a safe world for everyone. It just makes sense to have an openly gay character in Archie comic books," stated Archie Comics Co- CEO, Jon Goldwater.

VERONICA #202 features the full-issue story, "Isn't it Bromantic?" that introduces Kevin, Archie Comics' first openly gay character. Kevin Keller is the new hunk in town and Veronica just has to have him. After Kevin defeats Jughead in a burger eating contest at Pop's Chocklit Shoppe, she desperately latches onto him. Mayhem and hilarity ensue as Kevin desperately attempts to let Veronica down easy and her flirtations only become increasingly persistent.

Big deal.

An openly gay character.

What could be more hilarious than Veronica desperately trying to seduce Kevin, the "HOT NEW GUY"?

Kevin arrives in VERONICA #202's "Isn't it Bromantic?" this September,
in comic shops 9/1/2010 and on newsstands 9/14/2010.

I'm not surprised that there's a gay character. I'm surprised that Archie Comics are still around. I had no idea.

I guess introducing "Kevin Keller" was a shrewd marketing ploy. $$$$$

Looking at the Archie website, I was surprised to see how different the old characters look. They've all had makeovers, updated clothes and hair. Betty and Veronica appear to have had some surgical enhancement.

Weird.

I don't object to the gay guy. I object to the girls dressing like whores.



Riverdale and Archie's gang, circa 1969

Remember November

We will remember.

From Republicans Governors Association:

We Will Remember from Republican Governors Association on Vimeo.

Abortion and Earth Day

David Kernell and Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin testified today at David Kernell's hacking trial.


David Kernell leaves the Federal Courthouse for a lunch break Thursday, April 22, 2010 in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

David, son of DEMOCRAT Tennessee state Rep. Mike Kernell, is suspected of being a cybercriminal. He knowingly violated Sarah Palin's privacy. His alleged crime had negative consequences for her entire family.

Bristol Palin, Sarah Palin's daughter, testified on Wednesday, relaying the fall-out from Kernell's actions.

Sarah Palin's daughter testified Wednesday against a former college student charged with breaking into her mother's e-mail account, saying she got anonymous phone calls and hundred of text messages after her cell phone number was posted online.

"There was one that really scared me," Bristol Palin testified in federal court. She said she was concerned when a bunch of boys called, claiming they were at her front door and needed to be let in.

"We live in the middle of nowhere in Alaska ... in the middle of the woods," Palin said.

Palin said her number was included with a photo she snapped of her brother Trigg taking his first bite of solid food and e-mailed to her parents while they were away during the 2008 presidential campaign.

This wasn't a prank. It was an illegal act with far-reaching consequences. Kernell was attempting to influence the presidential election. (He should apply for a job at CBS.)

There is no justification for what cyber-thug Kernell did. None.

Sarah Palin wants Kernell to be given an appropriate punishment for his illegal acts.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Sarah Palin testified Friday against a 22-year-old man accused of hacking into her e-mail account, saying later it's up to the judge to decide whether he should serve prison time if convicted.

Palin testified that the hacking compromised one of the main ways she communicated with her family back in Alaska as she campaigned in 2008 as the Republican vice presidential candidate. Outside the courthouse, when asked whether she thought community service was punishment enough rather than prison, she said, "That's up to the judge."

...Asked outside court if she thought the charges against Kernell were excessive, Palin said, "I don't know, but I do think there should be consequences for bad behavior."

I think Kernell should serve some prison time, but I doubt that he will. A slap on the wrist is an inadequate punishment for this cyber-thug and those of his ilk.

Kernell was ruthless.

The indictment alleges he reset the account's password and read Palin's e-mail, then posted screenshots and the password to a public message board.

...Kernell could face five years in prison and fines up to $250,000 if convicted.

Cybercrime needs to be taken seriously.

The long-term, lingering effects of this sort of breach of privacy must be considered.

If you had your e-mail account hacked and your personal information shared and posted on the Internet, you'd understand how serious this is.

Perhaps Kernell will get the punishment he deserves.

An egregious breach of privacy deserves a hefty sentence.

But once your privacy is violated, it's too late.

Nothing, no sentence, no settlement can undo that damage.

Tax Hike Rally - Illinois

Union members rallied in Illinois to push a tax hike.

WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE!

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

In one of the largest Statehouse rallies ever, thousands of unionized government workers and social-service advocates rallied for an income-tax hike that could avert billions of dollars in crippling budget cuts.

Three hundred busloads of people, mostly from AFSCME Council 31, SEIU, the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, converged outside the Capitol while lawmakers were in session.

On several occasions during the late-morning rally, protesters turned away from the stage across from the Capitol to face the ornate seat of state government and chant, "Raise our taxes!" and "Save Our state!"

Organizers of the rally and the Illinois secretary of state's office estimated the crowd size at 15,000, requiring that streets around the Capitol be shut down during a demonstration that had union leaders lobbing fiery insults at lawmakers unwilling to support Gov. Quinn's push to raise the individual income tax from 3 percent to 4 percent.

"These 177 people who have a job don't want to do their job," AFSCME Executive Director Henry Bayer shouted, referring to each member of the House and Senate. "We're here today to tell them to do their job!"

Maria Whelan, executive director of the child-welfare group Action for Children, told the sign-waving crowd that its voice was louder than anti-tax rallies involving the Tea Party despite getting less attention in the media.

Video.


Misguided fools.

The way to grow the economy and raise the quality of life for everyone is by lowering taxes.

The Teabagger Boogie

Can you say "cherry-picking"?

These images do not represent the Tea Party protests.

Isolated individuals with offensive signs are highlighted. One wonders how many of them are real protesters and how many are pro-Obama, Leftist "party crashers."

In any event, this video is meant to marginalize the protesters. They're depicted as fringe loons. The intent is to attack the messenger in order to attack the message.

In other words, don't pay attention to the Americans voicing dissent. Only nutcase extremists disagree with Obama.

That, of course, is not true.

I think this video indicates just how desperate Leftists are. They are afraid.
__________________

Now THIS is offensive.

South Park: Free Speech Lost

When Muslims threaten to kill, people listen.

Their words aren't empty.

When South Park's creators were threatened by Muslims, Comedy Central caved to the extremists' demands.

From the Los Angeles Times:

In its 200 shows, the irreverent animated program "South Park" has mercilessly satirized Christianity, Buddhism, Scientology, the blind and disabled, gay people, Hollywood celebrities and politicians of all persuasions, weathering the resulting protests and threats of boycotts.

But this week, after an ominous threat from a radical Muslim website, the network that airs the program bleeped out all references to the prophet Muhammad in the second of two episodes set to feature the holy figure dressed in a bear costume. The incident provides the latest example that media conglomerates are still struggling to balance free speech with safety concerns and religious sensitivities, six years after Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was slain for making a film critical of Islamic society.

Comedy Central declined to comment on the latest incident. But "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone clearly disagreed with their bosses' handling of the situation. A statement posted on their website said that executives "made a determination to alter the episode" without their approval and that the usual wrap-up speech from one character didn't mention Muhammad "but it got bleeped too."

The network may have thought it had no choice after revolutionmuslim.com, the website of a fringe group, delivered a grim warning about last week's episode, which depicted Muhammad dressed as a bear.

"We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show," the posting said. A photo of Van Gogh's body lying in the street was included with the original posting, which has been unavailable to some Web users since news of the item broke earlier this week. "This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them."

Here's a video clip from the censored episode:



Assuming this hasn't all just been a publicity stunt, I can understand why Comedy Central took the steps it did. It was prudent to bleep out all the mentions of Muhammad because radical Muslims have shown themselves to be barbarians. Beheading and comedy don't mix.

The lives of employees of Comedy Central may have been in danger had the network ignored the threats. It would be irresponsible to not take the warnings of the extremists seriously. We've seen what they do.

However, there is a problem. Trey Parker and Matt Stone didn't grant permission for their episode to be altered. They claim they didn't want to cave, but the network forced the changes. It was probably for the best. The risk would have been too great.

Here's the message posted on their website:

In the 14 years we've been doing South Park we have never done a show that we couldn't stand behind. We delivered our version of the show to Comedy Central and they made a determination to alter the episode. It wasn't some meta-joke on our part. Comedy Central added the bleeps. In fact, Kyle's customary final speech was about intimidation and fear. It didn't mention Muhammad at all but it got bleeped too. We'll be back next week with a whole new show about something completely different and we'll see what happens to it.

I'm sure as long as next week's show doesn't mention Muhammad it will be good to go.

Every bleep in episode "201" serves as a reminder of how uncivilized and violent and intolerant radical Muslims are. Each time a bleep replaces Muhammad, it's a victory for the barbaric factions of Islam.



There's a reason President Bush and the Bush administration crafted the policies they did to protect the people of the United States and our allies. When our liberty came under attack, we didn't apologize and appease. We fought back.

We recognized the enemy. A distinction was made between terrorists, radical Muslims bent on killing us, and Muslims willing to peacefully coexist with people of other faiths.

Of course, things have changed since Obama was elected.