It’s a lesson he’s learning

As radio station Air America continues taking on water faster than Sean Penn paddling in a dinghy, liberal loud-mouth Al Franken is getting a taste of his own medicine. The last laugh is going to be on him.

Over the last few months, Brian Maloney and Michelle Malkin have been chronicling the sinking scandal of Air America, and it looks like the rats are fleeing the ship.

Malkin reports: “[We’ve] been hearing rumblings about various Air America departures. Another one is now official. (VP of finance Sinohe Terrero resigned earlier this month.) Via the Air America blog this morning:

It is with great regret that we write to let you know that Katherine Lanpher will be leaving “The Al Franken Show.” Katherine has received a book deal from a new imprint at Time Warner to write a memoir of her move to New York.

In addition:

Via the Philadelphia Inquirer, WHAT-AM is dropping Al Franken and Randi Rhodes

Pretty soon, Al may find himself with some more free time on his hands. Maybe he can write another book. Perhaps a revised edition of “The Truth”

Just an idea.

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Air America: Hurry, While Supplies Last
Inside Air America: The Plot Thickens
Lies and Lying Liberals: Al Franken
and The Air America Scandal
The Air America Scandal

And the ACLU is dancing in the streets.

AP reports: “Pictures of detainee abuse at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison must be released despite government claims that they could damage America’s image, a federal judge ruled Thursday.”

Not that anyone cares.

U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan have proven they “do not need pretexts for their barbarism.”

The American Civil Liberties Union sought the release of 87 photographs and four videotapes as part of an October 2003 lawsuit demanding information on the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody and the transfer of prisoners to countries known to use torture. The ACLU contends that prisoner abuse is systemic.

But will Judge Hellerstein carry any responsibility for fueling the fires of anti-American hostility in the Middle East?

We always wonder why the terrorists think America is controlled by Jews.

Hellerstein is one who’s helping their cause, not to mention the ACLU. That’s irony.

See StopTheACLU

UPDATE: (9/30)
Bill O’Reilly condemns it as “A national disgrace…”

Mayor Gavin Newsom must like snow.

S.F. Chronicle reports: “A promotional ski-jump contest that will begin taking over an intersection of San Francisco’s Fillmore Street and surrounding blocks in Pacific Heights this afternoon will be able to use loudspeakers after all.”

In San Francisco’s toniest neighborhood, they know how to spell NIMBY.

And residents who live near the section of the Fillmore Street hill where the jumpers will be flying Thursday — and who objected to the issuing of city permits for the event because of the disruption it would cause and financial risk the city would face — are angrier than before.”

So why would Mayor Newsom upset his most important constituents?

The event was organized by Icer, a spray-on ski wax and apparel seller based in Verdi, Nev., and founded by Glen Griffin and Erik Gordon. Gordon, it turns out, played baseball with a young Gavin Newsom at Redwood High School in Marin County in the mid-1980s.

Griffin told The Chronicle that the idea for Icer Air had been hatched with Olympic skier Jonny Moseley, whose clothing line Icer sells, at the Balboa Cafe on Fillmore Street, which is owned by PlumpJack, the restaurant and resort company founded by the mayor.

We bet they’ll use the extra ice to mix a few drinks after the show.

Photos here.

UPDATE:
What will Mayor Newsom do next? Marry polygamists?

RELATED:
Boycott San Francisco

Earlier this week, AP reported: “Illegal immigrants are increasing despite tighter border security and now outnumber foreigners moving to the United States legally.”

And in some places more than others.

“The Pew Hispanic Center reported Tuesday that immigration in general has been picking up, tracking the reviving American economy and improving jobs picture.

Immigration — both legal and illegal — topped 1.5 million people in 1999 and 2000, according to the report. The number of people entering the United States then plummeted to 1.1 million people by 2003, the same level as in 1992.”

While the immigration “debate” has garned MSM headlines only recently, Americans have been expressing concerns for decades. Polls reveal they want to stem the inflow.

Due to imminent threats of terrorism and national efforts to bolster homeland security, and thanks in large part to the publicity of the Minuteman Project, the media and politicians have finally been forced to recognize the crisis — and, hopefully, deal with it.

Border security gained national attention last month after the governors of two states, Arizona and New Mexico, declared states of emergency on their borders with Mexico. The governors cited security shortcomings by the federal government.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said at the time that he had already ordered a review of border security strategy.

“The Pew report is yet another indicator that the immigration system is broken,” said a statement by John Cornyn, chairman of the Senate’s Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship Subcommittee. “Immigration reform must be comprehensive and address both enforcement and improved avenues for legal immigration.”

Burdened by the enormous costs on infrastructure resulting from illegal immigration, California may be taking a lead on addressing the border crisis.

Juan Mann reports:

“In the wake of the hugely-successful Minuteman Project, the California Border Police Initiative currently gathering signatures in the Golden State is shaping up to be yet another shot-heard-round-the-world, 9.9 magnitude earthquake against illegal immigration, the likes of which America has never seen.”

We remain hopeful that something will come of it, but also skeptical whether Washington will provide the necessary support. As Mann notes:

“Without enacting comprehensive summary removal of illegal aliens and criminal aliens at the federal level, these heroic state efforts will be largely for naught.

The bottom line: any increased boots-on-the-ground immigration enforcement by police officers, immigration agents, the U.S. Border Patrol—or even a citizen Border Protection Corps—also desperately needs companion immigration legislation from Congress to see to it that the aliens arrested for immigration violations are actually deported!“

According to a recent report, our skepticism is justified.

Columnist and one-time presidential nominee Pat Buchanan is never one to mince words.

In a recent editorial, Buchanan calls illegal immigration a “national emergency” and, to drive the point home, also calls for an impeachment of President Bush.

George Bush has taken an oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Article IV, Section 4 of that Constitution reads, “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against invasion.

Well, we are being invaded, and the president of the United States is not doing his duty to protect the states against that invasion.“

No chance of an impeachment. But we appreciate Mr. Buchanan’s point as a means to draw more attention to the problem, and we understand the sense of urgency.

If there’s talk of “impeaching Bush,” maybe we can even get the moonbats to agree that we’ve got a problem at the borders.

Drink this… has a recent round-up of illegal immigrant news from around the nation. Very interesting.

The first installment may be found here.

Relatedly, Mark Tapscott reports on a federal judge ruling that “Criminal Aliens Have Privacy Rights That Trump Public’s Right to Know How Well Government Immigration Enforcement Works”

Not only do we have a problem at the border, but also on the bench. If we can’t people to recognize that the law is on our side, immigration reform will continue to be nothing more than political rhetoric.

RESOURCE:
For current news and opinions regarding immigration, visit VDARE.com

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Energy bills receive bi-partisan suppor.

SacBee reports: “A House committee voted Wednesday to end long-standing moratoriums that have prevented opening new areas off the coast of California and other states to natural gas development.”

Sounds like progress.

If enacted into law, the provision could immediately open for development the Eel River basin in Northern California and the smaller Pitas Point gas field in the Santa Barbara Channel.

The federal Minerals Management Service estimates that there is some 2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in those deposits, mostly in the Eel River area.

But there’s actually more than 17 trillion available.

Led by Reps. John Peterson, R-Pa., and Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, drilling proponents said that short supplies and high prices are driving U.S. businesses such as aluminum smelters and fertilizer plants to countries where natural gas is a fraction of the domestic price.

“We are talking about the survival of this country,” said Abercrombie, a Democrat with moderately high ratings from environmentalists.
. . .

Among the bill’s sponsors is Rep. John Doolittle, R-Roseville, who said that an increase in natural gas prices of as much as 70 percent after Hurricane Katrina will be heavily felt in California.

The bill passed on a 27-16 vote. The legislation containing the offshore provision almost certainly would pass the House. Whether such a provision could win passage in the Senate is uncertain.

SacBee reports: “California has become the nation’s most generous contributor to victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, say Red Cross and Salvation Army officials, donating about $100 million so far to the two relief agencies.”

“Residents of the Golden State account for nearly 9 percent of donations nationally to the agencies - a total that’s expected to climb as high as 17 percent, based on California’s record after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, last year’s four Florida hurricanes and the Asian tsunami disaster.”

We did our small part.

Despite her incompetence matched only by her audacity, Louisiana Gov. Kathy Blanco was let off the hook yesterday by Republicans, who agreed not to question her about the handling of Katrina.

What’s worse, because the Republicans must be sooo worried about accusations of fingerpointing, they THANKED HER for “taking the high road.”

This coming from the same folks who beat up former FEMA director Michael Brown just a day earlier.

What the hell?

While we don’t mind taking off the gloves in the spirit of gender equality, TheAnchoress beats us to the punch.

No ducking this one, as she writes:
(Hattip: Michelle Malkin)

As a woman I am appalled at the kid-glove treatment of Gov. Blanco who makes all women in positions of power look bad. As a fairly new conservative, I just don’t understand.
. . .

I’m sorry…but you sit around day after day watching the opposition savage your party leadership and blame your president for every ill in the world, with the full complicity and assist of the press, and then - on two occasions in one week - you find yourself with LEGITIMATE (not spurious) reasons to do some serious jawboning with members of the opposition party, and you roll on your backs and pant, “please rub our bellies…”
. . .
No…nope! You’ll have to convince me that there is something going on in the GOP besides a suicidal desire to be loved, before I can - in good conscience - send another dime of our hard-earned your way.

Perhaps the RNC has been made soft by too much “sensitivity-training.”

Gentlemen, time to toughen up. Or is Tom DeLay the only one ready to fight?

RELATED:
Laura Donoho tells the story of Blanco’s visit to Wonderland
(Poor Alice…)

S.F. Chronicle reports: “Google Inc. confirmed late Wednesday that the search engine would lease up to 1 million square feet of space at the NASA Research Park at Moffett Field in Mountain View.”

“The company also said it will collaborate with the space agency in a variety of areas, including large-scale data management, supercomputing, as well as the encouragement of entrepreneurs.”

Interesting.

They’re at it again.

StopTheACLU reports:

Two residents of a New Mexico town are suing to remove three crosses from the official town seal. The suit says “the crosses serve no governmental purpose other than to disenfranchise and discredit non-Christian citizens” and accuses the city of violating the plaintiff’s constitutional right to religious freedom, invading their privacy, and violating the civil rights act of 1964.

The mayor says he plans to fight the lawsuit since, he says, the crosses have a historical reason for being in the logo. After all, the town in question is Las Cruces, which is Spanish for “The Crosses.”

Maybe the town will have to change its name, too. Nothing suprises.

This small town is standing up to the ACLU, and that should be commended. With a population of 474 this is no small feat. Its these small communities the ACLU love to prey on. These kind of lawsuits are the ACLU’s specialty, and its sad for an organization that claims it is protecting our civil liberties, to be one that practices daily at stripping them away.

Hence, we must remain vigilant to thwart their efforts.

See StopTheACLU for more.

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Fisking a transcript explains her thinking.

Not exactly a shocker that Boxer plans to vote “no” on the confirmation of John Roberts to the Supreme Court, but it certainly takes her a lot of words to explain why. I’ll stick to the more fun excerpts.

The question before us as Senators is not whether Judge Roberts is a brilliant lawyer, and not whether he is well-qualified or well spoken, affable or unflappable. He is certainly all of those things.

Doesn’t “well-qualified” make him, well, qualified for the position? Not in Boxer’s world.

But examining his credentials is where our analysis should begin, not end. In poll after poll, the American people say that before we vote, it is important for us to know where Judge Roberts stands on key issues that define who we are as Americans, and what kind of country we will leave behind for our children.

Poll after poll (after poll) has shown that more Americans want Roberts confirmed than not.

In recent years, the court has issued 5-4 decisions to protect our air, to safeguard women’s reproductive health and the rights of the disabled, to give HMO patients the right to a second opinion, to allow universities to use affirmative action, and to guarantee government neutrality towards religion.

It’s not the job of the judiciary to make law. That’s YOUR job, Senator, and the fact that the courts have taken over by legislating from the bench does not speak well for the job Congress is doing.

In fact, some of Judge Roberts’s writings raised serious concerns about whether he understands the ugly history of discrimination and injustice in our country, or the proper role of government in combating them.

You, Senator, don’t understand the “proper role of government” as far as the branches of government are concerned.

As I said before, legislating is the duty of Congress, not the Courts. And I’d bet the farm that Roberts understands the “ugly history of discrimination and injustice in our country” far better than YOU do. (continue reading post »)