Just got back from a family trip, so here’s a small LinkSwarm while I get back into the swing of things.
“For a decade, from the election of Bush 43 forward, the Left has lied and cheated as it tried to return to power. The left wants us to be civil — after being so uncivil for a decade. Bite me.”
This post from Roy Beck of the anti-amnesty NumbersUSA, which is further analyzed by Mickey Kaus here, goes into detail about which Senators flipped from pro- to anti-amnesty. Short version: Republicans were a lot more scared of a Tea Party primary challenge in 2012 than Democrats were of general election challengers. Sayeth Kaus:
Score one for losing Delaware Tea Partier Christine O’Donnell, who knocked off establishment pick Rep. Mike Castle (who voted for DREAM) in the GOP primary. Even score one for Alaskan Joe Miller. He probably alienated Republican Lisa Murkowski by beating her in the primary, and ultimately she won reelection anyway as a write-in. But that’s just one lost Senate vote. By my count, Miller’s primary coup may have helped gain around ten votes by terrifying GOP incumbents who might otherwise have been tempted by the prospect of a feel-good, bipartisan, MSM-approved pro-DREAM stand.
Beck also noted at least two Democrats, Conrad of North Dakota and McCaskill of Missouri, who voted for an amnesty despite coming from deep red states and being up for reelection in 2012. Those two seats should be big, juicy GOP takeover targets two years hence…
Democrats Max Baucus of Montana, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mark Pyror of Arkansas and Jon Tester of Montana (all Senators from deep red states) all voted against the bill. And boy, the head Kossack is sure pissed about Tester, who had previously been his bestest of buddies.
Son of Kyoto is effectively dead, mainly because there’s no way in hell the Senate will approve the U.S. doling out tens of billions of dollars in subsidies for the likes of Iran, Cuba, and North Korea.
Contrary to popular belief that Arizona’s immigration law would alienate Hispanic voters from the Republican Party, Republicans candidates actually did better among Hispanic voters in 2010, garnering 38% of the vote compared to 29% in 2008 and 30% in 2006. “Many Hispanics indeed voted for the very Republican candidates most identified as having a pro-enforcement or anti-amnesty stance. And these Republicans generally did as well as, or better than, the Republicans running for the same positions in the previous election.”
Thomas Sowell sees TSA policies as part and parcel of this administrations contempt for average Americans: “This administration is so hung up on political correctness that they have turned ‘profiling’ into a bugaboo. They would rather have electronic scanners look under the clothes of nuns than to detain a Jihadist imam for some questioning.”
As seen by this video by a Houston Police Officer talking about how her husband (another police officer) had been killed by a multi-arrested illegal alien while Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White was touting Houston as a “sanctuary city”:
I haven’t spent much time on the Texas gubernatorial race as I’ve thought all along that Perry was going to beat White like a drum, and this video is a good example why.
With the economy still struggling and unemployment still high, you might think that Senate Leader Harry Reid’s top priority would be working on bills to get Americans back to work.
There are many theories about why Reid tried to push such an unpopular and divisive issue through less than two months before the election. One theory is that Reid, locked into a very close race against Sharron Angle, will need all the help he can get come November, and thus the need to pander to Hispanic voters. I think there’s an element of truth to that.
Another theory is that the Democratic leadership simply doesn’t care what American voters think. After all, they were more than happy enough to ram ObamaCare down the country’s throat despite widespread opposition, and the judicial arm of the Democratic Party has made it clear than voters will only be allowed to give their opinion on gay marriage if they approve it. They seem to regard the Nascar retards of flyover country (or should I say “Jesusland) with contempt, and “the consent of the governed” simply isn’t an important factor to Democratic congressmen when living in their natural home of Washington, DC. They know that none of their friends inside the safe reality bubble spun by The New York Times, NPR, MSNBC, Salon and Media Matters would ever offer them anything but praise for their “brave” stance in favor of illegal alien amnesty.
And those panicked political consultants complaining about a coming tidal wave of Republican gains uneseen since 1994? Well, those are hard to hear over the clink of self-congratulatory champagne glasses, and the sounds of all your friends on Capitol Hill and in the MSM saying how awesome you are.
The Department of Homeland Security is systematically reviewing thousands of pending immigration cases and moving to dismiss those filed against suspected illegal immigrants who have no serious criminal records, according to several sources familiar with the efforts.
[snip]
Critics assailed the plan as another sign that the Obama administration is trying to create a kind of backdoor “amnesty” program.
[snip]
“They’ve made clear that they have no interest in enforcing immigration laws against people who are not convicted criminals,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for strict controls.
“This situation is just another side effect of President Obama’s failure to deliver on his campaign promise to make immigration reform a priority in his first year,” said U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. “Until he does, state and local authorities are left with no choice but to pick up the slack for prosecuting and detaining criminal aliens.”
Between this and the lawsuit against Arizona, I wouldn’t say that the Obama Administration is indifferent to controlling the border, I’d say they’re actually hostile to it.
Warning: Graphic Material Contained in Links Below
Dwight linked to this after-action report on a two-hour gun-battle between the Mexican Army and members of drug cartel in Nuevo Laredo. (Warning: Includes some graphic images.)
But there are many news bulletins about the battle itself. Also, the vast majority of those photos appear to be from that shootout, many of which are also shown here. (Again, remember that graphic clip warning. We’re talking serious, non-CGI exploded skulls here.) Of course, maybe that set of photos is from another shootout as well, but the photos do seem to be, at the very least, compatible with the (admittedly sketchy) news stories on the event.