GPS for Illegals?

Ruben Navarrette, a columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribute, frequently appears in the Sacramento Bee. His recent tortured narrative “Border-hopping app belies a poor grasp of civil disobedience”, discusses a cell-phone application that guides the user through the southern California desert, aiding illegal immigration, by pointing out emergency water stations along the way. In his discourse, he seems confused over certain issues like proper use of state taxpayer funds and the legality of such devices. If it’s a cry for help, perhaps I can assist:

The production of a device or app that provides guidance and assistance to those attempting to enter this country illegally is against the law. Any individual who produces such a device is a criminal.

Navarrette states the thought that “state tax dollars may have gone to fund this research” doesn’t bother him. Oh, really? Well it certainly bothers me – and I suspect - the majority of my fellow California citizens and taxpayers.

If Professor Ricardo Dominguez developed and produced this device on UCSD property, utilizing public funds, he should be investigated, dismissed and - if appropriate - prosecuted. Such utilization of UCSD facilities and funding certainly do not lie within the scope of activities most California taxpayers would consider proper.

Moreover, if we have individuals or groups who place their ethereal notions of “trans-global rights” above this nation’s border sovereignty, we need to examine their motives carefully.

Regarding immigration, my surname clearly does not trace back to the Mayflower. Navarrette often tries to fog the issue by blurring “immigration” with “illegal immigration”. However, they are two entirely different topics. While I encourage immigration through proper channels (like my father did), I strenuously oppose illegal immigration. Those who participate in or facilitate the latter are, in my mind, criminals.

Simple enough?

Captain Kirk vs. Rush Limbaugh!

Quite by accident, I happened to catch a “Shatner’s Raw Nerve” segment today, featuring an interview with Rush Limbaugh. William Shatner (Captain Kirk of Star Trek fame and more recently seen in Boston Legal) hosts a half-hour segment featuring probing conversations with the noted and the notable in a relaxed, congenial ambiance. Unscripted and free-flowing, it’s always interesting to watch.

It was unexpectedly refreshing to see these two have an animated, yet cordial discussion about a number of topics, including what it means to be conservative. It branched out into Limbaugh’s take on what the Obama Administration is really trying to achieve with health care reform, etc., which is, in effect, to extend maximum control over as many Americans as possible, (a fact that I happen to believe is spot on). Limbaugh laid it all out on the line in his usual articulate and compelling manner. Great interview!

Which leads me to this: Do you get the feeling that the Obama forces are pedaling as fast as they can to keep us distracted on a number of fronts, hoping to get their socialist agenda entrenched before too many of us wake up and stop it? Doesn’t it seem like there’s just too much happening at once?

First, Harry Reid is trying to snooker the public with a “public option” end run, by announcing a Senate deal in the works to expand Medicare coverage to include those 55 and older. There’s even been talk of covering folks as young as 45! One way or another, that equates to a form of public option!

Next, Obama’s in Copenhagen, laying the groundwork from some international climate treaty, with the potential to force “Cap ‘n’ Trade” (and Lord knows what else) down our throats.

In addition, we’ve got the EPA conveniently declaring that carbon dioxide is now officially a pollutant in their eyes, even though it’s an inextricable part of the life cycle? This apparently could provide an avenue to pursue “Cap ‘n’ Trade” via the regulatory side, in the event Obama is unable to jam it through Congress as legislation.

Democrats are running so fast to get this stuff into law, one way or another, before tables are turned in next year’s elections and they’re tossed out of office. What next? Oh, yes! A mammoth spending package - just what we need in this soggy economy! This Administration is of the belief that it can spend its way out of a recession, no matter what! Too bad they don’t remember the lessons of history. Henry Morgenthau, Roosevelt’s Treasury Secretary wrote of that Administration’s attempt to do the very same thing. At least Morgenthau had the moral courage to admit that it was a monumental mistake. Apparently, what really brought the U.S. out of the depression was World War II.

Now, if the Obamanistas would only listen…

Sarah Palin: Why is the left so afraid of her?

Okay, okay! I get it! The Sacramento Bee is a determined liberal rag! Witness the latest guest opinion slam against Sarah Palin: “Palin doesn’t let the facts impede a good manifesto” by Michelle Goldberg, who incidentally, writes for the “The American Prospect – Liberal Intelligence”. This, a publication so unabashedly left-wing, that their mission statement is as follows: “At the dawn of a new progressive era and a time of economic transformation for the United States and the world, The American Prospect will strengthen the capacity of activists, engaged citizens, and public officials to pursue new policies and new possibilities for social justice. The Prospect was founded in 1990 by Robert Kuttner, Robert Reich, and Paul Starr as an authoritative magazine of liberal ideas, committed to a just society, an enriched democracy, and effective liberal politics…”

A bit of perspective on the above: the term “social justice” is generally considered a leftist euphemism for socialism. And co-founder Robert Reich (former Clinton Labor Secretary) is remembered as saying that care must be taken to prevent TARP/stimulus money from going to “white male construction workers”!

So what is it about Palin that makes liberals go all frothy at the mouth? Is it the fact that she resonates well with conservatives, yet appeals to middle-of-the-roaders as well? Perhaps most progressives believe she's a far more formidable potential candidate than many realize.

Wouldn’t it be refreshing to see something published in the same paper that reflects what the real world thinks of her? You know – the “un-American tea-baggers/Astroturfers/great unwashed?” Those, who don’t believe she’s the “dragon lady” who keeps liberals awake at night, but rather someone who reflects the values most Americans believe in? Okay, I guess in the leftist world view, we’d all be better off to shut up and meekly get in line, for Obama’s brand of creeping socialism. It’s just that it’s so tiring to hear the same old progressive rant shouted by one hard-core liberal propaganda organ after another…