The Los Angeles Times reports from La-La-Land that former USC quarterback and now Arizona Cardinals’ draftee, Matt Leinart, lived the good life during his final year at USC, and the reference is not just to a doting press, a queue of wide-eyed, coquettish coeds, and a course load that would make most any college senior blush with embarrassment (Leinart’s only course for completing his degree was ballroom dancing). Rather, it’s to what the LAT terms an “upscale apartment” that Leinart and USC All-American receiver Dwayne Jarret shared that must have been the size of a hotel ballroom and with a view to match given its $3,866/month price tag. My, oh, my, that sounds a tad more sumptuous than the dormitory room I called home during my college years in southern California!

Reports LAT’s staff writers Gary Klein and David Wharton:

USC’s football program, already embroiled in controversies surrounding Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush and quarterback Mark Sanchez, now faces a new issue involving an upscale apartment that All-American receiver Dwayne Jarrett shared with former quarterback Matt Leinart.

School compliance officials are investigating whether an NCAA rule was violated because Jarrett paid less than half of what Leinart’s father said was a $3,866-a-month lease.

Bob Leinart, who picked up the difference, said he has been told that Jarrett might have to repay him about $10,000.

(Continued…)

Come Monday, May 1st, a rag-tag phalanx of hundreds of thousands of illegal alien border-jumpers, bookended by Marxist organizers, leftist, agenda-driven Latino activists, and naive, misguided do-gooders, will take to the streets of America in a mighty show of force whose ostensible purpose is to shut down American cities, American businesses, and American classrooms in order to demonstrate just how indispensible 12 to 20 million lawbreakers have become to America’s economy.

But what the marches and economic boycott are really all about is blackmailing the United States Congress (they have long had President Bush in their hip pockets) into granting them amnesty, citizenship, “full legalization,” and, as outrageous as it may seem to we bona-fide American citizens, all of the rights and prerogatives that the U.S. Constitution affords. Indeed, this well-orchestrated, in-your-face affront to legitimate American citizens is all about an entitlement mentality run amuck and a Congress (particularly the United States Senate) obsequiously bowing to the demands of Mexican and Central American interlopers behaving as if they were red-blooded Americans. And, truth be known, it’s also about our elected representatives from both political parties engaging in a Faustian pact with lawbreakers and the business interests who knowingly hire them: to wit, a quid pro quo exchange of amnesty and citizenship for future votes and continuing cheap, taxpayer-subsidized labor.

On the outside looking in and lost in the shuffle: the people who most deserve representation — the American middle class — but who have been forsaken by duplicitous power brokers In Washington D.C. and the businesses who lobby them and fund their PACs. What the majority of Americans want — border security first before any consideration of immigration reform legislation (if it’s even needed at all) — gets absolutely no traction with the McCain, Kennedy, Specter crowd in the Senate (America’s version of Rome’s Praetorian Guard) and certainly not with the occupant of the Oval Office. (Continued…)

In today’s snail mail I finally received a reply from one of Texas’ two United States’ senators, Kay Bailey Hutchison, to whom I had forwarded this post. As information, I have yet to hear back from Senators Frist (R-TN) or Cornyn (R-TX).

In her letter, Senator Hutchison writes (and I quote):

I do support the development of a guest worker program which would allow foreign nationals to work in the United States on a seasonal or tempoary basis in industries where labor is in critical demand. However, I believe that granting legal status to those who entered our country illegally would only encourage others to break our laws in the future.

I interpret that to mean she opposes “earned citizenship” for illegals and thus amnesty. If I’m correct in that presumption, then I am pleased.

However, her voting record on immigration remains mixed. So I’ll keep an eye on her!

Senator Hutchison, Immigration, Border Security, Earned Citizenship, Amnesty, Illegal Aliens, Politics, Texas, Senator Cornyn, Senator Frist, GOP

Kudos to Mark Noonan and GOP Bloggers for a “Straw Poll” that lists Newt Gingrich and Tom Tancredo among the roster of candidates for the 2008 presidential nomination.

I recently expressed my disapproval that a “Straw Poll” up at Hugh Hewitt’s site had Gingrich and Tancredo omitted.

Was someone listening to me?

Right now a Gingrich-Tancredo ticket has appeal for me, but I’m also giving thought to the Constitution Party given the fact that President Bush and the GOP-controlled Senate are determined to hand amnesty to 12 - 20 million border-jumping lawbreakers and I’ll not abide that.

GOP, Republican Party, Straw Poll, Polls, 2008 Election, Politics, Constitution Party, President Bush, Senate, Amnesty, Illegal Aliens, Newt Gingrich, Tom Tancredo

From a radio address by President Bush (released on May 5, 2001):

In the United States, I’m happy to say, we’re putting old fears and quarrels behind us.  We know that we must protect the integrity of our border, yet we understand how that border can be viewed from the other side, as the gateway to better wages and a better life.  I’ve often said that family values don’t stop at the Rio Grande.

From a MichNews.com column by J. Grant Swank, Jr.:

Operation Predator reports that 85% of arrests for child sex crimes focus on illegals in the US.

There are 11 million illegals here.

More than 6000 arrests are criminal immigrants in America. They should not be here. Yet they are here. They need to be sent home, wherever that is.

Law-abiding Americans have long been stating that this nation is not meant to harbor criminals from other countries. We have enough of our own in-bred types without importing the same ilk from other parts of the globe.

(Continued…)

David Montgomery, writing for the Washington Post, makes the following observation with regard to the latest machination of the Marxist-led illegal immigrant juggernaut — the commandeering of the United States of America’s national anthem:

Can “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and the republic for which it stands, survive? Outrage over what’s being called “The Illegal Alien Anthem” is already building in the blogosphere and among conservative commentators.

And why shouldn’t outrage be building? The American flag has been flown upside down and below the flag of Mexico and now Latino activists have not only commandeered our nation’s anthem, but bowdlerized it to suit their nefarious agenda:

In the Spanish version, the translation of the first stanza is relatively faithful to the spirit of the original, though Kidron says the producers wanted to avoid references to bombs and rockets. Instead, there is “fierce combat.” The translation of the more obscure second stanza is almost a rewrite, with phrases such as “we are equal, we are brothers.”

A “rewrite.” The unmitigated gall of it.

(Continued…)

Oh, my! Do read this piece in Human Events Online about Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) as a vote-getting 3rd party candidate for president in 2008.

A new poll from Rasmussen Reports has some bad news for Republicans—well, almost all Republicans. If you’re Rep. Tom Tancredo (R.-Colo.), the news couldn’t be better.

While a generic Republican candidate trails a generic Democrat by 12 percentage points, according to the poll, a third-party candidate who runs on a get-tough-on-immigration platform not only beats the Republican, but also actually runs even with the Democrat.

H/T: Free Republic

(Continued…)

Makes absolute sense to me.

Resolve to do so once you see the illegals and their Marxist organizers in the streets come May 1st!

Why should we just take this in-your-face insult from lawbreaking border-jumpers in stride? Bad enough we’ve had the President of the United States and the United States Senate boycott “majority rule” and turn their backs on bona-fide American citizens.

(Continued…)

The genius of John Hawkins (and it is a function of his popularity) is that he can take everything that we lesser souls pontificate on endlessly, distill it all down to its bare essence, and then enumerate it in straightforward, unpretentious, readily understood terms. And he’s done that very thing in this post.

Here are two pieces of advice from John that resonate with me:

2) America Should Always Come First: Whether we’re talking about international treaties, foreign policy, or even illegal immigration, Republicans should NEVER put the interests of foreigners above those of their own countrymen. Americans should always come first.

10) If The Base Isn’t Happy, You’re In Trouble: George Bush’s approval rating is in the low thirties and Republicans in Congress are even less popular. Yet, if the Washington GOP had done nothing but keep the base and Republican leaning independents happy, their polling numbers would at least be in the upper forties and they’d be on track to gain, not lose seats in November. That doesn’t mean that the GOP should do anything and everything the base wants, but there’s a lesson in those numbers: keeping your base happy is the foundation of all political success.

It’s a shame that neither the president, nor the RNC, appears to be listening.

I’ve taken a run at it.

Now, as a long-standing, registered, Reagan Republican and proud Conservative, I’m taking a long, hard look at the Constitution Party.

John Hawkins, Right Wing News, GOP, Republican Party, RNC, President Bush, Constitution Party, Politics

Sorry, Folks, but beyond my control.

“Bandwidth problems upstream have affected service throughout the entire state of Texas.”

Tell me, why can’t companies talk to their customers in terms intelligible to them, rather than to the companies? I’d rather a “message” read:

Sorry, we’re currently letting you down, and for that we apologize, but please know we are working diligently to restore service.

Blogging, DSL, Customer Service

On one end of the spectrum you have President Bush colluding with Democratic and Republican senators predisposed to amnesty, Guest Worker Programs, and earned citizenship for border-jumping lawbreakers.

And on the other end, you have this unadulterated crap:

Citing the humanitarian aid the city offered to victims of Hurricane Katrina, Mayor Phil Hardberger said Tuesday that the city is considering helping the families of undocumented workers swept up in last week’s immigration raids at a local company.

Hardberger made the comments to reporters after meeting with some of the wives and children of workers who were arrested and deported and members of activist groups, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the César Chávez Immigrant Defense Organizing Committee. The 15-minute meeting also included workers who escaped the raid.

The April 19 raids on IFCO Systems locally resulted in the arrest and deportation of 27 undocumented workers. The raid was executed as part of a national crackdown on the company, which makes crates and pallets, and resulted in the arrests of 1,187 workers who were in the United States illegally.

What burns my butt is that these misguided do-gooders act as if that “aid” is something other than the taxes paid by bona-fide American citizens. There are plenty of real Americans dispossessed of home and hearth in the Gulf Coast who are still waiting on FEMA to get its act together. But it appears illegals will do the rebuilding construction in the Gulf and if they’re swept up in ICE raids, not to fear: they’ll be back out on the streets the same day and mayors of Sanctuary Cities (and San Antonio may be next), will tend to their every need.

(Continued…)

Fom this Fox News’ interview of former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, and his assessment of the Republican Party’s prospects in the November midterms:

I think they’re in very serious danger of having a very bad election this fall. And I think that you have to respect — when you get poll after poll telling you basically the same thing, you have to respect the right of the American people to say they want change.

And the question for the Republicans in the next 90 days is are they going to become the party of real change, and are they going to learn some lessons and get their act together, or are they going to try to go into the fall campaign focusing one district at a time, hoping that somehow incumbency will survive public anger.

I think it’s very dangerous to stay on defense when you get these kinds of numbers, and I would hope they would take a real message to the American people, which is not about general direction. It’s about performance, and it’s about specific components of what they’re doing.

And this is true for the White House and it’s true for the House and Senate. And I think, frankly, the debacle two weeks ago on immigration is one more piece of this. The McCain-Kennedy bill and the compromise that followed is so far from the average American that it further widened the gap and raised the danger of Republicans staying home.

And what does Speaker Gingrich think of the well-orchestrated “compromise” bill that is moving through the United States Senate?

… it is amnesty. I mean, let’s be clear what the bill is. It’s amnesty.

FOLLOW-UP: More on Newt Gingrich’s positions vis-a-vis border security and immigration reform at Wizbang and NRO.

Newt Gingrich, Immigration, Border Security, GOP, Republican Party, President Bush, Senate, Amnesty, Politics, Midterm Elections, Current Events

I just contacted the Republican National Committee’s “Constituent Services” at 202-863-8500 (click #1) and vented. I reached a real person, not a message service.

A gentleman on the other end of the line listened to me and heard me out without interruption. At the conclusion of my remarks, I asked him if he was merely being a good listener or if I could count on the fact that my opinions and disenchantment with President Bush and the Republican Party would be conveyed. He assured me that my remarks would reach RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman.

Here’s the gist of what I had to say (I paraphrase from memory):

I want President Bush and the Republican Party to know I am absolutely furious over the president’s and GOP-majority Senate members’ determination to force-feed amnesty in the form of a Guest Worker Program and so-called “earned citizenship” down the throats of the American people, the majority of whom oppose amnesty and want our borders secured.

I’m outraged over the meeting President Bush conducted in the White House yesterday with a select group of Democratic and Republican senators which, according to The Washington Times, excluded Senators Cornyn and Kyl and others who similarly oppose amnesty or any camouflaged form of it.

I voted for the president in 2000 and again in 2004 and he has absolutely disappointed me with his stubborn insistence on listening to Mexico City, Vicente Fox, and Latino activists, rather than to people like me — registered Republicans of long-standing and members of the Conservative Movement who form his “base.”

If the president and the Senate persist in this course, I will seriously weigh how I will vote come the November midterm elections in sending a much-needed message to the GOP.

I urge you to take a few minutes and make a similar call. It’s not enough that we write about the issues of border security and illegal immigration; and, it’s not enough that we read all we can on these thorny, front-burner problems. WE MUST CALL AND MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD! 

H/T: Many thanks to Free Republic and Mayflower Sister. I hope my post will have a similar effect that yours did on me!

(Continued…)

Grab another cup of coffee and read this entire piece by Bob Lonsberry! I’d like to meet this man, as he tells it like it is and shares my boundless disenchantment with President Bush and the GOP-controlled Senate, hellbent as they are in selling our country down the river and in pandering to lawbreakers and their leftwing Latino activist cabal.

Some excerpts:

There’s no doubt that the Mexican president stands up for his country. There’s no evidence that the American president stands up for his.

George W. Bush is about 12 months away from impeachment hearings if the Democrats take over the Congress, and the way things are going they’re apt to get at least half of it come November.

… the Republican Party has turned off the Republicans.

Between the debt he has accumulated and the millions of illegals he has let sneak into our country, it is quite likely that the negative effect of this presidency will be felt for decades and decades.

George W. Bush has abandoned our values and our borders. And we’re abandoning him.

H/T: Free Republic

FOLLOW-UP: Thanks, President Bush, for this travesty — lawbreaking non-citizens marching in the streets of America. Your open borders’ administration has been principally responsible for this development. “Earned citizenship” for radicals. Amnesty for border-jumpers. Marxist organizers “shaking the ground under Congress.” The whole sorry situation is an abomination and your “base” will abandon you and the GOP over it.

President Bush, Vicente Fox, Mexico, Immigration, Border Security, Illegal Aliens, Immigration Reform, Amnesty, GOP, Republican Party, Senate, Politics, Current Events

The die appears to be cast, according to Stephan Dinan of The Washington Times.

President Bush and a group of senators yesterday reached general agreement on an immigration bill that includes a pathway to citizenship for many illegal aliens.

Excluded from the White House meeting among President Bush and a select group of 17 senators going against the grain of the American people they’re supposed to be representing were “senators who oppose a path to citizenship,” among them Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ).

Also excluded from the meeting was were the rule of law and the will of the American people.

(Continued…)

There appears to be near universal applause from the conservative side of the blogosphere over Tony Snow’s expected appointment as White House press secretary. Could someone please tell me why? Is his selection all upside?

I read the following excerpts from columns he has written and I, for one, greet his likely ascendancy with some genuine concern, particularly given the fact most reports indicate that he has asked for and will be given ample access to the president and a voice in policy decisions.

(Continued…)