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The Lunch Counter
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Wednesday, May 31, 2006
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I like his pride in his country and his position. People who want to be Americans see speaking English as the way to succeed in this country, and will assimilate. And people who want to use America will not assimilate. It's that simple.
One, my grandparents came legally. How come these guys can't? And, two, my grandparents had to learn English. How come these guys don't?
So says Joey Vento, third generation of legal Italian immigrants. His cheesesteaks? 
GENO'S SAYS: SPEAK ENGLISH. If you know Philadelphia, you know Geno's. Best cheesesteaks in the world. Reader Willie S. sends word via the Philly Inquirer that Joey Vento, the grandson of Italian-born immigrants who owns Geno's, is taking a stand for assimilation and... [Michelle Malkin]
The Immigration Debate | Then vs. Now: An old struggle to adapt. How do you say cheesesteak with in Spanish? Joseph Vento, the owner of Geno's Steaks, doesn't care. Just read the laminated signs, This is America. When Ordering, Speak English.
1:21:31 AM 
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Tuesday, May 30, 2006
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The story title and the backdrop of 'Honest Leadership, Open Government' are sort of amusing. I'm not one to make a mountain out of a molehill, the tickets amount to chump change for Harry Reid. The picture says it all, complete with the pep rally of supporters in the background.
Sen. Reid accepted free boxing tickets (AP).  AP - Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, who has criticized Republican ethics, accepted free ringside tickets to three professional boxing matches from Nevada officials who were trying to influence his federal legislation regulating the sport.
At a news conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Reid said he would continue to accept free tickets. "I'm going to go whenever I have the opportunity," he said
[Yahoo! News: Politics News]
8:18:42 PM
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There's a lot of time between now and the mid-term elections this November, politically speaking that is. Call it wishful thinking on this conservative's part, but the growing support for Sen. Sarbanes' (D-Md) senate seat for candidate and Maryland's Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R) has got the attention of the Democrats outside the State motivated to campaign against him. Mostly because Michael Steele is Black, not because he is Republican. They see it as pivotal, and I agree.
In this column, Sun-Times Columnist Robert Novak gets Steele's take on what this Senate run means to him, especially now since he is getting the endorsement of a Democrat, high-school buddy and Largo High School principal, Richmond Myrick, a Black registered Democrat in a heavily democrat district. Novak writes:
Myrick is African American, as are most students at Largo High. So is Steele. If enough non-political blacks follow Myrick's course, Steele will become the first black Republican elected to the Senate in 32 years. That is the Democrats' worst nightmare. Democratic dominance in Maryland has been based on maintaining a hammerlock over the state's substantial African- American vote. Steele threatens that domination.
Steele sees national implications and put it to me this way in a conversation before the recent rally in Upper Marlboro: ''It's a breaking point. I've heard the talk: 'Hillary, Bill, Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, all are coming in to campaign against you. They can't bear to see you win this race.' If I win this race, I am sure that the whole dynamic changes.''
I hope they are right and that Steele prevails. Democrats in Maryland have kept Black voters on their side of the dam for so long, and with what to show for, that they will need more fingers to plug the dam than have Bill and Hillary Clinton, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Seems obvious to me that empowerment is on the other side of the dam.
2:36:50 PM
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Monday, May 29, 2006
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Nedra Pickler should know that there is a war going on. 'Ol Nedra piles on the 'more bad news' story, in keeping with the 'Bush polls at new low' theme, it's no wonder people like Nedra would think of the war as 'his mission' rather than our war. Maybe Nedra's citizenship had a bearing on the use of 'his' rather than 'our?' But I doubt it.
His Mission snippet:
Add the trouble to the continuing daily violence in Iraq — at least 33 were killed in a series of bombings Monday, including two from a CBS News crew — and Bush could be in danger of losing even more support for his mission.
If wars nowadays are measured in body count, I doubt that WWI and WWII would have occurred, and we might be speaking a different language here in North America. It's tougher on the psyche nowadays to wage a long term war when the media has a microwave mentality on fighting them, and is effective in mis-characterizing the war to all but about 33% of Americans. Can't be too long or too many dead you know. Well, how long, and how many? Because they have politicized the war so much, the answer depends solely on who is in the White House, a Republican or a Democrat.
The picture attached to this article is the reporter's admission that it was Memorial Day. There is not one mention of Memorial Day and honoring our war dead in the article. All 16 paragraphs are accentuating the negative.
I'm on the side of making sure we can live in the U.S., instead of being killed in the U.S. by an enemy we left standing in Iraq, Afghanistan, and wherever else they are breeding.
 Bush gets more bad news from Iraq (AP). AP - Just when President Bush was trying to accentuate the positive in Iraq and declare a new beginning in the war on terror, a rash of bad news comes from multiple fronts in the global struggle.
[Yahoo! News: Politics News]
5:00:40 PM
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True, it may. But not as much as the gift that keeps on giving, like John Murtha. After the funerals, there's still John Murtha out there bashing the effort and boosting enemy morale. Takes 'courage' to do that nowadays. He ought to get an award for that.
Murtha: Iraq killings may hurt war effort (AP).
 AP - The fallout from the killing of as many as two dozen Iraqi civilians by Marines could undermine U.S. efforts in Iraq more than the Abu Ghraib prison scandal did, a lawmaker who is a prominent war critic said Sunday.
[Yahoo! News: Politics News]
8:22:40 AM
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Sunday, May 28, 2006
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Friday, May 26, 2006
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The immigration bill that the Senate passed goes way too far, and into areas that have nothing to do with immigration. But for the wholesale political tug of war for the hearts and minds of illegal aliens by both political parties, I wouldn't be talking about it now. This is like a call to arms, only with pens and keyboards. If you haven't already done so, take the time now to let your federally elected so-called representatives know exactly how you feel about what the Senate passed.
Below is the content of an email I sent to my federal elected officials on the above subject. If you haven't already sent one to yours, please do it. Let them know how you feel about it. It's not too late to tell them either, the bill has to go back to the House. But do it ASAP.
==============================
We all, everybody, would like a solution to the immigration problem, which was 'fixed' nearly 20 years ago. We are where we are today because of the lack of enforcement of existing laws for the same 20 years.
That aside, this immigration bill as before you now goes way too far, and into areas that have nothing to do with immigration. But for the wholesale political tug of war for the hearts and minds of illegal aliens by both political parties, I wouldn't be talking about it now. There are not only rewards given to illegals, but there are also bennies that our own citizens don't qualify for. Then there are provisions that will further pile on our already failing Social Security System. These so-called 'comprehensive' items are nothing more than you selling out our country, our sweat and success to people who don't respect us, our laws, our sovereignty, and don't want to be American. They only want to make money to send home, not assimilate into society, and who also profess to take 'their' country back. These are not the kind of people we should be embracing to become citizens.
First, you need to get control of the border and prove that you can control the border, before all and any other grand schemes of assimilation can be even contemplated. I'm wrong, first you need to recognize that this is our country, and Mexico is their country.
According to polls, you politicians are bucking us, your constituents. Rather than represent us, and not be our monarch or something, with amusing welfare smokescreens in the name of immigration reform, with special laws for illegals, for purely political ambitions, you are sealing your own political fate. And from what this bill says now, you don't know better, and you don't have the long-term picture in mind. The saying that politicians get smarter once they are inside the beltway is a myth. They really don't.
The bill will be fine with me providing the following gets struck out first:
- Strike out wage and labor laws that apply only to them. I.e. Minimum wage for non-federal related work and 'no termination' language.
- Strike out the language that automatically wipes clean the list of 31 crimes related to illegal immigration. Among them using fake Social Security numbers. Pardoning those who entered the country illegally, which currently carries a penalty of six months in prison and $250,000 fine. Falsifying federal income tax forms, worth up to five years in jail and $250,000 fine. Wasn't it a lack of enforcement that got us to this point in history?
- Strike out the provision to add millions of illegal aliens to our already failing Social Security System. This is all of absurd, reckless, and insulting that you would approve of such a stunt.
I don't have a problem with the employer protection language. As an employer, I know that there is not yet a way for me to be able to verify the validity of an SSN that an applicant puts on their application and that they are who they say they are. That problem needs to be fixed.
Thank you in advance for your thoughtful and quick consideration in striking out these items that are deal breakers for me.
4:47:05 PM
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Thursday, May 25, 2006
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
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We at The Lunch Counter are increasing our bandwidth here in order to be able to handle the flow of apologies from all of the media and other enemies of Big Oil and the free-enterprise system, including most of the Democrats and half the Republicans in Congress, for their now proved baseless accusations of the oil companies like Exxon, and the industry in general of engaging in price gouging. My political sense tells me that there won't be a flow of apologies coming.
The latest report, as all those that preceded it, says that the oil companies did not artificially raise prices, did not gouge, and, that the price fluctuations were due to market fluctuations. I remember vividly seeing politicians practically fall over each other for TV face-time, for the sole purpose of jumping on the anti-big-oil bandwagon. Oh how silly they look now.
FTC finds minimal gas price gouging after Katrina
4:40:27 PM
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House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) needs to get a grip and not confuse the separation powers with law enforcement. Churches or mosques are not safe havens for terrorists, same as the Capitol isn't a safe haven for corrupt politicians.
Speaking to the FBI raid on William Jefferson's offices, Speaker Hastert said "The actions of the Justice Department in seeking and executing this warrant raise important Constitutional issues that go well beyond the specifics of this case."
If there ever was a phony issue, this is one. This is not a separation of powers issue. This is a law enforcement issue, and the trail lead to William Jefferson's office. An intrusion? Not. Not when you also consider that the people he was involved with were Nigerian officials. The same country and people he was making trade deals with in his official capacity as senior member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee and its subcommittee on Trade. He is also a member of the House Committee on the Budget. He serves as Co-Chair of the Africa Trade and Investment Caucus as well as the Congressional Caucuses on Brazil and Nigeria.
and then there's this factoid. . .
Two of Jefferson's associates have pleaded guilty to bribery-related charges in federal court in Alexandria. One, businessman Vernon Jackson of Louisville, Ky., admitted paying more than $400,000 in bribes to the lawmaker in exchange for his help securing business deals for Jackson's telecommunications company in Nigeria and other African countries.
Given that, wouldn't you say that a search of the Representative's office would be prudent from a law enforcement standpoint? Rep. William Jefferson's (D-La) legal problems have absolutely nothing to do with any separation of powers issue. Hastert is now calling for all the evidence that the FBI collected to be returned. Is he nuts or just crazy? Or is his arrogance and 'I'm holier than thou' attitude showing?
10:52:15 AM
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Monday, May 22, 2006
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I don't understand why Californians retain these justices after all that they do. The most overturned Circuit Court in the nation needs a collective lobotomy, or a 1-way ticket to France, or Baghdad.
GOD - NO; ALLAH - YES. Compare and contrast... In Dallas, a school district strikes the words "In God We Trust" from the photo of an enlarged nickel on a yearbook cover for fear of offending students of differing religions. In California, the 9th Circuit Court... [Michelle Malkin]
7:33:47 PM
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
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Tonight on 60 Minutes, a year-long FBI investigation ends with video of a Congressman accepting $100,000 cash to use to bribe a foreign politician. 
The tease doesn't tell you that the Congressman is William Jefferson, a Democrat from New Orleans, Louisiana. Well, the truth be told, 60 Minutes never said a word about it. It certainly would tend to dispel the democrat talking point that a 'culture of corruption' involves only republicans, when corruption is in fact a bi-partisan issue. The media would never do anything to counter that, even if it means reporting the truth. In this case, the truth is better not said. And who believes that the media would be equally quiet if this guy was a republican? I'm sure we would see it on all 60 of their minutes.
You may remember that William Jefferson (not Clinton) was the politician who commanded National Guard troops and vehicles to go to his house to pick up stuff in the immediate aftermath of Katrina, when the Guard was busy saving lives and restoring order.
What else does Rep. William Jefferson do? From his home page (emphasis added)
U.S. Representative William Jennings Jefferson is now serving is eighth term as a Member of the United States House of Representatives. Representing the 2nd District of Louisiana since 1991, he is the first African-American to be elected to Congress in Louisiana since Reconstruction. Jefferson is an active and senior member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee and its subcommittee on Trade. He is also a member of the House Committee on the Budget. He serves as Co-Chair of the Africa Trade and Investment Caucus as well as the Congressional Caucuses on Brazil and Nigeria. Jefferson is also the current Chairperson of the Board of Directors for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, a non-partisan, non-profit, public policy, research and educational institute founded by members of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1976.
Unlike John Murtha, who accused our troops of being cold blooded murderers before trial and before anyone has even being charged, I'll assume that William Jefferson is innocent until proven guilty. Jefferson certainly has the opportunity to use his political sway to be crooked, while at the same time showing the international community that we can be as crooked as the French, Germans, Russians, and Chinese. Probably like John Murtha, Jefferson either believes that no one pays any attention to what he says, or, he must think that diplomats, and Vice Presidents don't talk to each other.
One week later, 5/27/06, we begin to learn more about the Jefferson investigation. There are seven other investigations of William Jefferson, or investigations into seven other bribery schemes, where he "sought things of value in return for his performance of official acts."
10:59:30 PM
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Saturday, May 20, 2006
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I don't know if Al Gore's comment about a relapse was something like a trial balloon or wishful thinking. Doesn't matter. Politically speaking, Al Gore would be the Republican's secret weapon to gain enough of a majority to overcome the RINOs in the party.
Al Gore Hints at Presidential Run [NewsMax.com]
4:52:34 PM
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Despite denials by his supporters to the contrary, Murtha, like his comrade John Kerry, is out there again accusing, trying, and convicting our marines of cold blooded murder without the benefit of a trial and without the benefit of our legal system. You know, innocent until proven guilty. Apparently that only applies to conservatives, but it's OK for liberals who want to trash the Administrations' handling of the war.
I guess he feels the enemy needs a morale booster.
US Rep. John Murtha, D-PA, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Murtha, a former Marine colonel, accused US Marines of killing innocent Iraqi civilians after a Marine comrade had been killed by a roadside bomb.(AFP/Getty Images/Win McNamee)
8:56:36 AM
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Friday, May 19, 2006
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Listening to the president speaking yesterday in Yuma, AZ, I think he did a good job of identifying the problem, but the solution still isn't clear enough to me. The focus on 'a comprehensive immigration bill' makes me cringe. Not because I don't want the problem fixed, but because he is not putting border security first on the list.
He said 'I strongly believe that Congress needs to pass a comprehensive immigration bill, because you cannot secure the border unless you have all elements of a comprehensive plan in place.'
If that statement doesn't send chills down your spine I don't know what will. Seems to me that you don't need an excuse to secure the border, and to suggest that it can't be done until something else gets done just doesn't make sense to me. Instead, he is making an excuse why he isn't going to secure the border first.
His statement below in it's total context.
I strongly believe that Congress needs to pass a comprehensive immigration bill, because you cannot secure the border unless you have all elements of a comprehensive plan in place. Doing our duty to secure the border requires a comprehensive approach. The United States Senate needs to end by the act -- act by the end of this month. They need to do their duty and get a bill out so we can get on about the business of getting a comprehensive bill to my desk.
I have to give credit to Neal Boortz for this analogy, it's a good one. Let's assume you have a water pipe break in your house and the floor starts to flood. Under the President's plan, remember you need to have a comprehensive plan to do it right, so you go about trying to determine what will be damaged and how you are going to repair or replace, who is going to do the work, and where you're going to get the supplies from, and get competitive bids while you're at it, all BEFORE you shut off the water. And that makes sense to who?
5:09:18 PM
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What do you call a country that repeatedly shoots itself in the foot? Every time our 'lawmakers' refuse any effort to get to our own oil, that is what they're doing. So the action-line is unchanged, NO to increasing domestic oil supply, and then blame high energy prices on the President. Why is it that common sense seems rare during election season?
I suggest we all remember the votes our so-called representatives made on this and other issues of late. Fool me once, shame on you. . .
All it takes to get my vote is simple; don't shake my hand with one hand and a knife for my back in the other. (McCain, Jeffords, Kennedy) Be driven by principle, not poll. Right is always right, and wrong is always wrong. It's that simple.
House Vote Preserves Offshore Drilling Ban (AP).
 AP - The House rejected an attempt Thursday to lift a quarter-century congressional ban on offshore oil drilling in coastal waters outside the western Gulf of Mexico amid arguments that new supplies are needed to lower energy prices.
[Yahoo! News: Politics News]
8:20:59 AM
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Wednesday, May 17, 2006
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Some Context on Those Poll Numbers.
How many times have we seen headlines like this one, from UPI this morning: "Iraq war drags Bush to record poll low." So many "record lows" have been announced in President Bush's poll numbers that the casual headline-watcher could be excused for thinking that no President in history has ever been so reviled.
As we noted here, however, Bush's poll numbers are typical for just about any president at his low ebb. Bush, according to UPI, is currently at 33 percent. Here are the low water marks for presidents from Lyndon Johnson through Bill Clinton:
*Johnson: 35%
*Nixon: 24%
*Ford: 37%
*Carter: 28%
*Reagan: 35%
*Bush I: 29%
*Clinton: 37%
Contrary to what you might surmise from screaming newspaper headlines, every president from Johnson to the present has gone through a period when his poll numbers were around where Bush's are now; in several instances, lower. So maybe it's time to ease off on the poll hysteria and get back to talking about the substantive pros and cons of the president's policies. [Power Line]
4:40:26 PM
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Why Are College Professors Afraid of Dr. Condoleezza Rice?
Project 21 Senior Fellow Deneen Moore wonders why liberal college professors seem so afraid of Dr. Condoleezza Rice:
Ideally, college professors should provide an open environment for the free exchange of ideas... on some college campuses, these ideals aren't applied to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice because she is an accomplished black female conservative. Instead, protests, petitions and prejudice are the faculty-led antics designed to demean and silence her.
Observe, for example, the recent circumstances concerning Dr. Rice and Boston College. Considering her significant accomplishments, one would think that having the Secretary of State speak at their commencement ceremony would be a privilege and an honor for the Boston College community, especially since Dr. Rice addresses only one commencement annually.
To the contrary, hundreds of students are supporting the efforts of faculty members who not only oppose Dr. Rice addressing Boston College's Class of 2006 but also oppose the decision by College officials to award her an Honorary Doctor of Law degree. To-date, about 200 of the 1,000 faculty members have signed a petition designed to prevent Dr. Rice from speaking. A student petition demanding the invitation be rescinded has also been circulated throughout the campus...
Dr. Condoleezza Rice is one of the finest examples of a leader for people of all races, colors and creeds...
One must ask just what these liberal professors so afraid of and why are they so ardently trying to prevent Dr. Rice from addressing Boston College's Class of 2006. Are they afraid that Dr. Rice will, in one afternoon, undo the years of brainwashing the students have endured at Boston College? Are they afraid that Dr. Rice will talk about the benefits of a free market society versus statism? Are they afraid that Dr. Rice will talk about the triumphs of liberty over oppression and how Boston College's Class of 2006 can go into the world of opportunities with a plan by using their brain to think, and be independent, successful, responsible citizens?
Be afraid, liberal Boston College professors. Be very afraid.
4:12:15 PM
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Sessions Amendment Passes.
Senator Jeff Sessions' amendment to the Senate's immigration bill, which requires the construction of a fence and erection of vehicle barriers, passed the Senate this afternoon. The Associated Press' report conveys a sense of the passions that were generated by the floor debate. The vote wasn't close, however; the Sessions amendment passed 83-16. Which means that even most Democrats have figured out how serious Americans are on the issue of border security.
The Senate has moved on to debate an amendment that would strip the "path to citizenship" and guest worker provisions out of the current bill.
Via Power Line News. [Power Line]
4:03:48 PM
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The French, once again, are out-Frenching even themselves. This time by naming a street after a convicted cop killer.
Behaviors that go beyond normal, beyond simply not being on board with taking military action against Saddam, but to do whatever it can do to stick a finger in the eye of the United States, is what I call 'Frenching.' France is the reference point and origin of the term.
For example, being against any sort of military action against Iraq in the UN Security Council because Saddam has bought and paid for your opposition via the oil for food program, that is Frenching.
Sending your diplomats around the world to actively advocate against the United States and 40 some other countries, that is Frenching.
Now, and in a much more personal manner, they name a street after the killer responsible for the fatal shooting of a Philadelphia cop. This takes Frenching to a new low.
Paris suburb names street for cop-killer Abu-Jamal  . As Philadelphians cope with another police slaying, news comes that a suburb of Paris has named a street for Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of the 1981 murder of Police Officer Daniel Faulkner.
[Front Page -- Philadelphia Inquirer]
12:40:20 AM
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Monday, May 15, 2006
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I have changed the comment server here at The Lunch Counter. This was done out of the necessity to help eliminate the spam in the trackbacks. The bad news is that all the 'comments' that were entered by anyone have gone to the great big bit bucket in the sky.
1:58:31 AM
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Friday, May 12, 2006
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So the polls show Bush's poll numbers are at an all time low. This is causing some in the other party to start ordering drapes for their new majority offices. As bad as things look if you're only looking at the mainstream media's version, is it worse than the alternative?
I had this exchange on The Lunch Counter Forum last night, which brought out the most of what I am disappointed about what the Bush administration is doing.
Catatonic wrote: But if things keep on track, Democrats will take control of congress and the house in 2006 and as John McCain has said, Republicans will regret all the outrageous tactics they used to dominate congress.
My response:
No. Not because of that. It will be because of the creation of the most unaffordable entitlement program on earth, government spending two or three times more than what it was 10 years ago, I'm guessing. I think the term 'compassionate conservative' really means 'there's no person we won't spend money on whether they need it or not.'
It will be because he is ambiguous, playing the same politics that the Dems are over illegal immigration and protecting the borders. I could scream every time I hear a politician say 'we need a comprehensive plan'. That is code for 'I'm not going to secure the border until after months if not years of thoughtful consideration, if at all.' Any plan they could come up with will be a waste of time if they can't first prove that they will stop the illegal crossing of our borders in the first place. I get the impression that the pinheads in Washington want to dream up a plan that will perpetually accept border crashers rather than stop them and make them immigrate the legal way. We need to be removing all incentive for illegal aliens in terms of social welfare. Don't hire them, unless they want to work for 40 cents an hour.  That's about 10 cents an hour less than what they could make in their own dam country.
It will be because Bush has been sounding like a Democrat lately when it comes to energy. 'Addicted to oil' is emotional blather that could have come from any Greenpeace member, and has no place in a rational discussion of our current dependency on foreign oil.
People tend to get a bit apprehensive when someone they thought they knew begins to act contrary to what the average Republican would expect.
I wouldn't count your eggs before they hatch though. Because above all that, Democrats want to spend even more, want to make illegal aliens able to vote, want to repeal Bush's tax cuts, want to increase taxes to finance class warfare and income re-distribution, want to exit Iraq prematurely, don't believe that the war on terror is real, and don't believe in pre-empting terrorist attacks with all tools available (NSA projects). There's more but I'm tired... 
4:52:44 PM | |
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