Amazed!

I have contacted my senators on several occasions and never received an answer. I thought I would try again one more time and not only did I get an answer, I got it in the same day! This is what one of my senators has to say about immigration:

May 23, 2006

Dear Anna:

Thank you for contacting me regarding illegal immigration. I agree that illegal immigration is a very serious problem and appreciate knowing your views.

Currently, there are approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, with close to 1 million more arriving every year. Yet, our current immigration system is broken. It is a system that is not good for American security, particularly during our fight to combat international terrorism. It is not good for American workers and businesses. And, it is not good for the immigrants, themselves.

To tackle this problem, we must have a comprehensive immigration plan that toughens our borders, documents illegal immigrants, and provides for American labor needs. On March 28, 2006, the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which I am a member, passed immigration legislation out of Committee. The legislation is the first step toward comprehensive immigration reform. I voted in favor of the bill, which would secure our southern border by providing for an additional 12,000 border patrol agents, increased use of technology, and a fence along portions of the border. The bill also includes a guest worker program limited to approximately 400,000 people per year and a way to document and provide legal status for immigrants already here. Currently, the Senate is working on reaching an agreement on immigration reform legislation.

Again, thank you for contacting me. If you have any additional concerns, please feel free to contact me anytime.

Very respectfully yours,
MIKE DeWINE
United States Senator

Though I'm not sure his answer makes me feel completely reassured, but at least the legislation he's supporting would put an additional 12,000 guards on the border and it would only allow 8 million "guest workers" in over the next 20 years. That is much better than s.2611 which would allow 103 million of them into the US within the next 20 years and cause the downfall of our economy!

There is Good News

Sheile School-Back to School in Style

MOSUL, Iraq – A newly constructed school located in the center of Dahuk will provide service to approximately 840 students and 36 teachers.

This new two-story complex consists of a 12-room classroom school with a detached exterior lavatory building, a play-yard and a generator building; all of which is surrounded by a three-meter high perimeter wall.

The exterior and interior walls are of masonry construction with a concrete super structure and terrazzo tile flooring. The exterior wall finishes are cut stone and plaster.

“The architectural design and material selection was made by a local Iraqi engineer in coordination with the Director General of Education and then provided to the Dahuk Residence Office,” said Joshua Adekanbi, Dahuk resident engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The DG of Education uses a standard primary school design with the same floor plan. Since the plans are recycled, varied exterior architectural elements are chosen for each school.

This $460,000 project was funded by the Iraqi Relief and Reconstruction Fund and built by a local Iraqi construction company. Of the 317 IRRF-funded school projects in the northern region of Iraq , 315 are complete and two are in progress.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers participated as the Contracting and Construction Management and Quality Assurance of the over-all project.
Multi-National Force Iraq

Despite what you may read in the MSM or see on the alphabet soup of news channels, there is good news coming out of Iraq. This is but one story. I will continue to share the good news because it is just as important, if not more so than the slanted bad news views the MSM feeds us on a minute-by-minute basis!

Milbloggers on FOX

"Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it."

I went to check out Fuzzilicious Thinking and what do I find? Fuzzy, along with many other Milbloggers, have been prominently featured on FOX News! She seems a little embarrassed by the whole thing, but I am proud of her and our other Milblogging friends! It's about time someone paid some national attention to them! A huge thank you to Andi of Andi's World for setting up the first Milblog conference that got this story rolling.

Here's a bit of the article, but it's a long one, so I encourage you to go read the whole thing even though a certain left-wing cretin is mentioned as well!

As the war in Iraq and the national debate over it continue, military-themed American bloggers have been voicing their support for U.S. troops and, in most cases, the war itself.

"We're not only fighting a physical war, we're fighting an information war as well," said "Andi C.," organizer of the first annual MilBlog Conference, which took place last month in Washington.

"The Bush administration and the DoD [Department of Defense] have not been very effective in the information war," explained Andi C., who, like many "milbloggers," prefers not to use her full name. "Milblogs have been doing the heavy lifting. Both entities could learn a thing or two from milbloggers."
FOX News

Some of the other big names involved in the Milblog Conference and the Fox News article are Mudville Gazette, Dadmanly, Threats Watch, Blackfive, Argghhh!-The Donovan, The Indepundit and of course, the author, Michael Lawhorn's blog Kosovo Dad. You are all awesome!

Please do your part and get the good news out there. We all know that the MSM has the bad news covered, but there are stories of strength, honor and valor that are not being shared and they should be!

Thank You!

For the past several days I have been getting a lot of traffic. I know that some is simply people Googling the Shakespeare quote, but a lot more are readers and I cannot thank you all enough for reading my blog! When I started blogging last year, it was simply a way to get my views out there without boring family and friends to tears! I never realized there would be so many other bloggers that would have similar views and how much enjoyment I would get out of this. I have found out just how strong my feelings are on politics, patriotism and our military and I just want to thank you all!

Here Fishy, Fishy...

Blog Fishing for fun, hits and links!

Platypus Society started the game and you can go to Blue Star Chronicles, Random Yak or Third World County to find out more.

We all know how obsessed we are about our sitemeters and technorati and TTLB hits, so have some fun with it!

Here fishy, fishy...

Bookworm Room

Charming Just Charming

The Conservative UAW Guy

Fiddle Dee Dee

Palm Tree Pundit

Spottedhorse 2

THIRDWAVEDAVE

English 101

I was born in California and as a child, watched Sesame Street (a new show at the time) which was pretty much half in English and half in Spanish. In fact, I could count higher in Spanish than I could in English as a child. About half our neighborhood was of Latino descent and a lot of the kids were my friends. Today, I have two teenage daughters and they will both be in high school next year. My youngest is going to take Spanish as her foreign language and I've asked her to bring her books home so I could learn it with her. Obviously, I have no problem with Spanish or speaking Spanish. Having said that, this is the United States of America and the predominate language for the last 225 plus years, has been and still is English. Making English the official National Language makes sense.

What I would like to know, Mr. Reid, how does that make me racist? I could not believe it when he said that! No one said Spanish, Italian, French, Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, Yiddish, Croatian, Russian, German and so on and so on could not be spoken, we would merely like English to be recognized as the National Language! Nathan Tabor put it this way:

Be afraid folks. Be very afraid. Thursday’s travesty on the Senate floor is just one more example of Democrats kowtowing to special interest groups, in yesterday’s case, illegal immigrants.

Senator Jame Inhofe (R-OK) proposed an amendment to the overhaul of a new immigration bill that would declare English as our national language.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid declared that Inhofe’s proposed amendment "…is directed at people who speak Spanish," an interesting charge in light of the fact that Inhofe himself is fluent in Spanish. Reid’s statement, however, totally ignores the thousands of Chinese sneaking into the West Coast or the tens of thousands of Eastern Europeans who operate in the underground economy of illegal workers from New York to Chicago. When in doubt, Harry, play the race card.
The Conservative Voice

What's the matter Harry, are you afraid that by uniting everyone with a common language, thus perpetuating our "melting pot" reputation, will deprive you of votes somehow? No, you can do that all on your own with your crazy ideas! Here is how my Senators voted:

Ohio: DeWine (R-OH), Yea Voinovich (R-OH), Yea

How did your Senators vote? Find out here: Senate Roll Call Vote on the Salazar Amendment

President Bush who was the governor of Texas (where Spanish is spoken predominately along the border towns and more) and where he, as a state leader, often communicated with his fellow Texans in Spanish, stated that English should be learned by all immigrants, so that they can assimilate into our society. Does that make him racist? Not to my mind.

Charles Krauthammer, who is French Canadian by birth, reminds us that dual languages really don't work and can actually cause strife, even rioting, as it did in the 60s. I see dual languages as creating an "us and them" mentality instead of uniting people in one language. I think there is enough strife in our country right now, why add to it by making English and Spanish required learning for new immigrants?

Update: Mark (thank you Mark!) pointed out that I had sited the Salazar Amendment instead of the Inhofe Amendment which was more strongly worded and was passed by a much wider margin. See how your Senator voted: Senate Roll Call Vote On Inhofe Amendment

Tags: English, Immigrants, assimilation, Nathan Tabor.

Armed Forces Day

In case you didn't know it, Saturday is Armed Forces Day. This day was set aside in 1950 as a day to remember and thank our services members currently serving in the United States Armed Forces, thus making it different from Veteran's Day. So, for those of you who truly support and appreciate our troops, this is an official day to thank them, though you should and probably already do thank them every time you see them!

"Armed Forces Day, Saturday, May 20, 1950, marks the first combined demonstration by America's defense team of its progress, under the National Security Act, towards the goal of readiness for any eventuality. It is the first parade of preparedness by the unified forces of our land, sea, and air defense."
Former Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson

Note the day and date of the first Armed Forces Day!

"It is fitting and proper that we devote one day each year to paying special tribute to those whose constancy and courage constitute one of the bulwarks guarding the freedom of this nation and the peace of the free world."
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953

"Today let us, as Americans, honor the American fighting man. For it is he--the soldier, the sailor, the Airman, the Marine--who has fought to preserve freedom. It is his valor that has given renewed hope to the free world that by working together in discipline and faith our ideals of freedom will always prevail."
Admiral Forrest P. Sherman

"We cannot, in this day of exploding world competition on all fronts, be content to maintain the status quo. We must also realize that the preservation of our freedom in the years ahead may require greater sacrifices from us than those made by Americans who have walked before us."
General Nathan F. Twining, 1960
Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

"...Word to the Nation: Guard zealously your right to serve in the Armed Forces, for without them, there will be no other rights to guard."
President John F. Kennedy, 1962

"... Our Servicemen and women are serving throughout the world as guardians of peace--many of them away from their homes, their friends and their families. They are visible evidence of our determination to meet any threat to the peace with measured strength and high resolve. They are also evidence of a harsh but inescapable truth--that the survival of freedom requires great cost and commitment, and great personal sacrifice."
President John F. Kennedy, 1963

Defense Link

So, whenever and wherever you see someone in uniform, shake their hand and thank them because without them we would not be free!

TR Quote

"I believe in nationalism as the absolute prerequisite to internationalism. I believe in patriotism as the absolute prerequisite to the larger Americanism. I believe in Americanism because unless our people are good Americans first, America can accomplish little or nothing worth accomplishing for the good of the world as a whole."

She Did What She Had To Do

I love to read the soldiers' stories at the US Army website (as well as the stories on all our military websites). This one I had to share.

Spc. Maria C. Flores-Sanz earned the Army Commendation Medal with valor device after driving two Soldiers in her vehicle to safety, and then returning to the scene of a July 3 terrorist attack to help evacuate other injured Soldiers.

Flores-Sanz was part of a three-vehicle convoy traveling from Baghdad International Airport to central Baghdad, when the vehicles were attacked simultaneously by a rocket-propelled grenade shot from a rooftop and an improvised explosive device that was remote-detonated on the ground. Amidst the smoke and confusion, Flores-Sanz drove the two passengers of her vehicle to safety and later returned to the attack site to help evacuate the wounded soldiers.

"I'm not a hero, but I did what I had to do," she said.

"She was on the ball," said Sgt. 1st Class Tracy Randall, the assistant inspector general with the 1st Armor Division, who was a passenger in her vehicle July 3. "She didn't panic, she knew exactly what to do."

Shortly after the event, Flores-Sanz re-enlisted in the Army on Aug. 5. She had deployed with 1st Armored Division to Baghdad in May.

"I was nervous about going, but I was mentally prepared," she said. "I was ready to do my duty."
U.S. Army Soldier Stories

There are many heros in this war on terror and I don't know why her story is more special than any another, except that her comment really resonanted with me, "I did what I had to do." This is a comment I've made many times over the years though it never applied to a situation anywhere near as harrowing as she found herself. But it is a way of thinking and behaving that I could relate to. When a particular situation or just life in general gets rough, you just do what you have to do to get through and move on. And Spc. Maria C. Flores-Sanz did just that and more when she re-enlisted. She is an inspiration.

An Interesting Letter

This morning I was checking my email as usual and received my daily serving of The Conservative Voice. In this particular issue, I spotted an article entitled "An Open Letter to America About Bad Immigration Policy" and it caught my attention. This letter, written by Steven Voigt, hit a lot of the same issues that I have with this entire immigration issue. And like Voigt, I don't think the President's speech tonight is going to fix it.

Dear Fellow Americans,
On the eve of the President’s speech on illegal immigration and facing the imminent reincarnation of the Senate’s three-tiered amnesty proposal, I write to you again on this important issue. Illegal immigration is indeed the topic of the day, but illegal immigration is but a symptom of the greater issue we face – a crisis of failed leadership on both sides of the aisle in the Senate.

My disgust with our political "leaders" has reached new highs. I have tried to contact my Senators and have never received a response. I thought I was one of the people who put them in office and they were supposed to work for me...isn't this insubordination?

Today, through nothing we have done except to trust in the ballot box, we find ourselves betrayed – and mired in much the same spot as we stood several years ago, with dark clouds shrouding the horizon that we once gazed on with such promise. Our optimism of years past is muted, and we are left with frustration and disappointment in our leaders.

Friends, mediocrity may be fine in some parts of the world – but not here in America. Not in business. Not in schools. Not in science. Not in technology. Not in our values. And mediocrity shouldn’t be tolerated in government, either. We are America. We expect better. We deserve the best.

I try to be optimistic, I really do. I want to believe that our politicians will realize they are failing and start listening, but sometimes it's so difficult. They only ever seem to be after power and have forgotten why they are in Washington DC...to serve the people.

I write today to tell you that the bright horizon does remain; it is merely veiled behind a few dark clouds. But you have done nothing to dim this nation’s future. Your good hearts still fuel the fires of this nation’s hope, and they will forevermore. The dreams remain, but every leader on both sides of the aisle in the Senate must share the blame for failing to lead us on the bright path to the horizon. They have failed and abused our trust.

With the illegal alien crisis, the Senate continues to defy the will of the American people. Simply put, our Senators lack the guts to secure the border, to punish businesses that employ foreigners illegally, to uphold and enforce the rule of law and immigration procedures, and to reject outright any reward of amnesty for those who choose to evade legal processes. Instead, they seem only capable of self- aggrandizing speeches and pandering slogans that feed their egos.

Sadly, our President also seems to be on the wrong side of this issue, and no amount of feel-good phraseology in his Monday night speech will lessen this betrayal of the American mandate. Apparently, the only leaders who stand opposed to bad policy on illegal aliens are many members of the House of Representatives, who understand – rightly – that border security must be a priority.

Voigt points to one of the really awful effects giving amnesty to illegal immigrants will have on us, our working class and our economy. It depicts a frightening future if our politicians don't start listening to us.

This past Friday as I walked to work in Center City Philadelphia and passed two construction sites, I considered how the ineptitude of our leaders with the illegal alien crisis will impact America. As I approached my office building, to my left, workers in harnesses bolted steel beams together on the city’s next skyscraper. After I turned to the right and walked one block, I passed bulldozers and a second hard hat crew laying new asphalt on a road in William Penn’s grid. These men and women would be a little embarrassed to hear it, and they would never agree with their humble natures, but they are in truth all heroes. Nobles all, these individuals, along with most of us, clock in every day of every week to put bread on the table for their families, and in so doing, represent what is best in America.

In recent weeks, as the illegal alien crisis has come to the fore, time and again, I listened to wealthy, elite, out-of-touch Capitol Hill politicians pay lip service to these construction workers and others in the middle class, and then in the next breath, cater to the illegal aliens who have subverted our immigration laws.

Believe me when I tell you, if the politicians on Capitol Hill award amnesty to the millions of illegal aliens who have flouted our laws, in only a few short years those construction workers that I passed on my way to my office – individuals who are raising families with solid wage jobs – will be replaced by cheap, exploitable labor from a bloated labor pool, with all of the added profit going into the pockets of only a handful of corporate fat cats. Experts and commentators have documented repeated instances of such displacement and depressed wages in regions where illegal immigration is particularly excessive, and this will be the entirety of America if the Senate has its way.

He urges us to keep up the efforts to keep our dreams alive while doing whatever we can to make our politicians open their eyes and their ears and stop worrying about the vote. After all, illegal immigrants aren't supposed to have a vote...they are illegal!

While I pray for our leaders to turn their gaze back to the American people, the longer we tarry on this wayward path with failed leadership, the more I am beginning to believe that it is we who must turn our gaze from them.

I implore you, however, to never give up on our efforts. Since our leaders are failing us, we must redouble our efforts to make them listen. Please continue to call and email your Senators and Representatives and tell them that amnesty is wrong and border security must be a priority.

May God bless all of you and may God bless America.
Steven T. Voigt
Executive Director
Foundations of Law PAC

Let's build that wall (electrified fence that is solar or wind powered could work), let's prosecute those industries that use illegal immigrants even if it means paying more for that produce or that shirt. Our security and our way of life are much more important than a 49 cent head of lettuce.

Political cartoon from Iowa Presidential Watch.
Letter in its entirety can be found at The Conservative Voice.