A Letter To President Bush
As you probably know, I have been a vocal supporter of President George W. Bush these past 7 years. I am no less a supporter now. Nevertheless, I felt compelled to write him the following letter. Do not think that my words suggest I have turned my back on him. He is still in my thoughts and prayers daily.
Dear Mr. President,
While I am glad that you commuted the sentence of "Scooter" Libby, now it's time to pardon Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean. Scooter Libby actually obstructed justice. Ramos and Compean were just doing their jobs.
With all due respect sir, I cannot understand why you refuse to protect the American people to the best of your ability. You have said that you will protect the United States "on your watch", yet you fail to close the border. By leaving the border open, you allow criminals and terrorists to enter. You talk tough, but we don't see action. You promised to send 6000 National Guard troops to the border. Are they there? You promised to hire 6000 more border patrol agents by the end of 2008. Are we on schedule? You promised to build 700 miles of fence. To the best of my knowledge, we've only built 13 or 14 miles. You promised to implement high-tech surveillance methods including unmanned aerial vehicles to watch the border. How many UAVs are in service? What other high-tech measures have been implemented? You promised us border security, yet you pushed the Immigration Reform bill which would have given amnesty to millions of illegals, including known criminals. To make matters worse, when border patrol agents Ramos and Compean actually did their job, you allowed them to languish in prison for some 169 days now after being sued by illegal alien criminals. Stop me if I'm off-base here. I would be grateful to be proven wrong.
Sir, your record on these issues appears to be dismal. That is very disconcerting. Where is the back-bone you showed after 9/11? Why are you tough on terrorists in the Middle East, but not on the ones trying to sneak in our back door? If you truly believe in protecting the American people, then you need to get tough on border security.
If I may be so bold: What are you thinking, sir? Are you not concerned that terrorists might sneak across the border along with the other illegals? Are you guilt-ridden about the plight of poor Mexicans? Are you trying to buy the Hispanic vote? Are you trying to legitimize "slave labor" for American businesses? Do you really believe that the Senate Immigration Reform bill would have actually "improved security" or "reformed immigration"? (Obviously, I don't.) Or, perhaps you secretly favor a complete opening of the borders from Canada to South America? Perhaps you support eliminating American sovereignty in favor of some Pan-American Union along the lines of the European Union? Many conservatives are of the same opinion as myself... We cannot understand your actions on these issues or the reasons behind them. We can only conjecture. And the conjectures can get wild as you can see.
Respectfully sir, you must remember that we conservatives are your base. If you want our loyalty, you need to find out what we're thinking. You need to show us that you hear us. You need to support the positions we take. For example, you could pardon Border Agents Ramos and Compean, who were just doing their job. You could use that pardon to show your conservative base that you support ALL of those who protect our country, not just the military. You could use that pardon to show us that border security is still an important issue for you. You could use that pardon to help persuade people to join the Border Patrol, by proving that you are willing to back them up in tough circumstances. You could show the country that we give more respect to our own citizens than we do to criminal illegal aliens.
Sincerely,
[Hawkeye]**
**The name has been changed to protect the guilty.
posted by Hawkeye® -- Friday, July 06, 2007
16 Comments
16 Comments:
Good letter Jim! I sent one recently to the senior Senator from Indiana, Dick Lugar. It is PAST time for us to let our elected leaders know how we feel! Here is the letter:
Mr. (supposed) Public Servant,
After hearing that you are voting for amnesty EVEN AFTER MOST Americans have told you that we don't appreciate supposed LAW MAKERS rewarding LAW BREAKERS, I have decided to leave the Republican party!
I have voted for you since when you were Mayor of Indy. I wonder when did you decide that the will of the people was no longer important, and that YOU know what is better for America than us?
What Americans, (LEGAL ones like myself), do NOT believe is, that YOU or our Government is going to enforce this new, (so called), immigration reform ANYMORE that the ones currently on the books!
There should be "votes of no confidence" on 99% of you "Congress Critters", or maybe you haven't seen the polls? I think all of you believe that this will blow over come election time, like past things we have complained about.
Guess what? I am SURE this time you are ALL wrong!
AND, during your next election, YOU will receive your "vote of no confidence"!
With NO due respect,
"R.A.M." *
* name also changed here to protect from Internet trolls, Lugar got my real name and address, although after more than a week, I still haven't gotten a reply.
R.A.M.,
Way to go! But I must admit, I was surprised to learn that Dick Lugar was a Senator from Indiana. For the life of me, I thought he was the Senator from Utah! Now how do you suppose I got that one screwed up?
(:D) Best regards...
R.A.M.,
P.S.-- I guess I got him confused with Orrin Hatch.
Amen to what you wrote, Hawkeye.
About three or four months ago I sent an email through Instapundit (I think) requesting the President reconsider the plight of two border agents who were only doing their job but were railroaded by the system.
I hope everyone can send words of encouragement to our President before something terrible happens to the men in prison. I couldn't believe it when I heard they were put into the general population. I hope God and His angels continue protecting them until President Bush acts.
Hank,
I must admit that this is my main gripe with GW... that is, immigration and border security. God's blessings be on Ramos and Compean. They deserve better.
Best regards...
Amen to your letter ,Hawkeye, and to yours,R.A.M.
here is another all the Republicans need to read:
"After the showing of the Republican Senators during the debate and votes on the McCain/Kennedy Amnesty Bill, I will NEVER again support a national Republican organization for as long as pandering RINOs who are willing to legitimize our Alien Invaders can put an (R) behind their names and be financed for re-election!
I will continue to support pro-enforcement, anti-amnesty candidates directly, however not one dollar will go to the party itself."
I didn't write this ,I copied it and I should have noted where I got it . I am going to put this on every "survey" the Republican party sends me ,and read it to all the callers I get ,wanting money.
Threatening not to vote may or may not get their attention ,cutting off the money,however, should.
Prettyold,
Yup! Money (or lack thereof) gets their attention every time.
(:D) Best regards...
reading that makes me glad I no longer live in S.Cal. If folks think there is no problem with the border, then I will point the way for them to go down south for a year or so.
I have little doubt they will ever think the same again
Hawkeye: I thought I was in "The Twilight Zone", for real, when I heard that one Indiana Senator voted for illegal immigrants, and one against, and it turned out the one voting right was Evan Bayh (D), and the one voting wrong was Lugar (RINO)!
Of course I have since figured out that Bayh did a "Bill Clinton, finger in the wind" when he got calls from Dems and Repubs, while Lugar just dug in deep, being stubborn and counting on his previous record on other issues to "cover him", not realizing how serious we are about this pressing issue.
I am STILL a Christian Conservative, but WILL register as an Independant now!
I think my biggest beef with President Bush is the same thing I like about him in the "War on Terror". He will NOT change his mind!
In the War on Terror, he is right, in the Immigration issue, he is WRONG!
Prettyold: I like your letter too. The last time the RNC called wanting a donation, (about a month ago), after their "speel", and a request for $100, I told him that I was not happy with Republicans stance on illegal immigration. He brushed that off, continued to go on about how "we have to get rid of Pelosi and Reid" and asked for $50. This guy wasn't even listening to me, so I started playing with him. I then told him what I thought about Republicans government spending and how it resembled Democrat spending!
He came down to $20 and said we have to keep Hillary out of the Whote House, and that is when I slammed the phone down, which was dumb because, on the other end, it simply makes a click, the same as if you hang up gentley! lol
I also had fun sending back an "URGENT REQUEST" from John McCain. On the four page survey of important issues, I simpy wrote in big block letters, 'NO AMNESTY'.
It was nice of him to enclose a prepaid envelope! ;-)
Sorry, I just noticed that I said Whote House, it should have been an "i" instead of an "o".
Of course when Bill was Prez, the "t" could have been replaced by another letter, (which I won't mention, except to say it precedes it in the alphabet two letters), and it would have been pretty descriptive.
Let me know if/when you get a response...
Hawkeye,
I hope you and RAM are not holding your breath while waiting for a reply from the Whitehouse.
Maggie,
I got a response to a previous e-mail I sent to the White House. It wasn't a very timely response... 3-4 weeks maybe? It was signed by the White House Director of Communications. Nothing too personal... "Thanks for writing". A basic statement of policy or position... that sort of thing. My guess is that they will do the same here. Some kind of canned answer. But hey, they're probably swamped with letters and e-mails, and I am no one of any import. Will post the response if and when I get one.
(:D) Best regards...
Hawkeye – take a peek! Might give y'all a little more insght as to why the Mexicans prefer Minnesota!
'We need to wake up to what's going on in Mexico NOW.
For about the last month or so, I have been watching with increasing concern dangerous developments in Mexico. Not just regarding the election being stolen from AMLO, increasingly violent escalation between drug cartels and government forces, or even the flight of economic refugees across the US/Mexico border. In my opinion, these are all symptoms of one overriding political and economic problem: oil depletion. In 2004, oil production peaked in Mexico and by almost all accounts, the decline is not going to be gradual:
Mexico: Peak Oil in Action
There is a present-day example of the World Problematique unfolding on the North American continent. It involves Peak Oil, climate change, food scarcity and socioeconomic instability. It brings the nature of the problems the world will face over the next few decades into stark relief.
The Scenario
* Mexico's biggest oil field is Cantarell. Its 2 million barrel per day output was responsible for 60% of Mexico's production, and all its oil exports to the United States.
* Those oil exports account for 40% of Mexico's public funding.
* Cantarell's output is known to be crashing (see graphic above). Production has declined by 25% in the last year and is predicted to be down about 60% from its peak by the end of 2007. The field will probably lose over 75% of its production capacity by the end of 2008.
* When this happens Mexico's economy will probably implode.
* The United States currently exports about 20% of its corn crop.
* Next year, 20% of the United States' corn crop is going to be used for ethanol.
* Mexico imports a substantial amount of corn from the United States.
* As Cantarell's output declines, oil exports to the US will drop in lockstep.
* As oil imports drop in the US, the pressure will mount to produce more ethanol as a substitute.
* As more corn is bought by the American ethanol industry, US corn exports, especially to Mexico, will slide.
* At the same time the probability is high that Global Warming will result in higher temperatures in Mexico, a country already at temperature risk.
* Rising temperatures will bring more drought conditions and a drop in Mexico's own corn production.
* Now you have a country with a decimated economy and declining food. This is a recipe for massive migration.
* The migration moves North as it has in the past, but this time in enormous numbers.
* As the economic refugees cross the border what do they find?
* In January, 2006, KBR (a subsidiary of Halliburton) was given a $385M contract to build a string of very large detention camps in the United States...
Peak oil, global warming, food, biofuels and authoritarianism — all rolled up into one neat but ugly little package. Coming to a border near you within 3 years.
snip
The Spectre of Revolution
When contemplating Mexico's future you should always remember her past. Mexican history is full of revolutionary episodes: the War of Independence of 1810; the Mexican Civil War or War of Reform of 1857; the Mexican Revolution of 1910; the Zapatista actions in Chiapas in 1994; and the recent violent confrontations in Oaxaca.
The effect of NAFTA on the lives of the Mexican poor has been devastating. In an echo of the enclosure movement in Britain many have been forced off land they traditionally occupied, either by economic circumstances or legislation. A good overview of Mexican agrarian history, including the impact of NAFTA, is available in this FAO document.
The 100+ year-old push-pull effect of the US economy on Mexican migration is a very well documented historical phenomenon. This time, circumstances are somewhat different. Many Mexican campesinos — subsistence farmers that either owned their own land or held it jointly in a collective called an ejido — were forced off their land due to NAFTA rules that allowed the dumping of highly subsidized, below market-priced US corn on the Mexican market. The land is still there, but now sits idle. In the event of a severe economic downturn there would likely be a large movement to return to the land as well as increased northward migration.
Cantarell's crash and PEMEX's impending bankruptcy present a political crisis of the first magnitude for Mexico's elite and threaten the stability of the small middle class. This crisis presents a great opportunity for the long downtrodden majority to gain power as has happened in Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela. Conditions will be ripe for a resurgence of revolutionary sentiment in Mexico, which will probably take the form of an import of the Bolivarian Revolution championed by Hugo Chavez.
Of course, having such an incendiary political movement on their very doorstep will not sit well with the American industrial/political establishment. The probability of direct American political, economic and even military involvement in Mexican affairs as a result should not be lightly dismissed.
more...
http://www.paulchefurka.com/Mexico%20and%20the%20Proble...
This is a perfect recipe for recession in America and revolution in Mexico. If those numbers are correct expect that stew to come to a boil before Dumbya leaves office in January 2009. As you can see, the pot is already starting to simmer:
Mexico: A Nation-State Dissolves?
Posted by jeffvail on July 12, 2007 - 10:00am
In my annual new years predictions, I said that the most significant, and surprising, development of 2007 would be the collapse of both Mexico’s economy and its very existence as a viable Nation-State. While there hasn’t been a spectacular, single event confirming my prediction, there has been a steady erosion on all fronts—with five months left in the year, I’m not yet willing to push back my prediction of Mexico’s “collapse” to 2008. The decline of the Mexican Nation-State is a bellwether for the massively complex network of geopolitical influences sometimes termed above ground factors. It provides some insight into how symptoms of oil scarcity already being felt in poorer parts of the world will increasingly spill over into our own back yard…
snip
Before I highlight the specific events that are undermining the Mexican Nation-State, let me talk first for a moment about what it means for a Nation-State to collapse, an important topic as it’s an experience that will become increasingly common over the next decade. When a Nation-State collapses, the cities don’t all catch on fire simultaneously whilst roving hoards pillage the countryside and the population starves. Nation-State collapse is not the apocalypse—it is exactly what it suggests to be: the collapse of the notional union of Nation and State under one central, viable government. Nation-State collapse also doesn’t suggest that there will no longer be Nation-States. It is my prediction that there will be a Mexico, an Iraq, etc. for quite a long time. What collapse does mean is that the importance of Nation-States will decline sharply, as they become increasingly ineffectual both domestically and internationally. Nor does the decline of the Nation-State mean the decline of Nationalism and similar identifying sentiments. Quite the opposite: as States increasingly fail to care for their constituent Nations, those Nations will become increasingly susceptible to the black shirts and brown shirts of history, but these movements will be increasingly dissociated from States, more similar in organizational model to al-Qa’ida than to Nazi Germany. (See The New Map, a paper that I presented at the 2006 Yale International Law Conference, for an overview of this notion of the end of the Nation-State)
Mexico’s Oil Production is Collapsing
Production from Mexico’s Cantarell field is collapsing, and production from new fields are not making up the difference. It appears very likely that Mexico has permanently passed its peak oil production. On top of that, domestic consumption is rising, creating the classic Export Land effect: declining production and rising domestic consumption equal accelerated declines in exports. Taxes from these export revenues generate the largest share of revenue for the federal government. Recent reductions in the tax rate that the government applies to PEMEX, the state oil company, shows that this key source of revenue is failing. The collapse of Mexican oil production has been extensively discussed elsewhere—here it is only my aim to highlight this as a component in the collapse of the Mexican Nation-State, and the positive feedback loops between the two events.
snip
Mexico’s Monopoly on Violence is Collapsing
Not that Mexico was ever a poster-child for civic safety and effective policing, but the situation has grown considerably worse in the past year. There are mass desertions among the federal police. Outright infantry battles between crime organizations and the government are becoming a common occurrence. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of police, judges, government officials, and reporters have been assassinated over the past few years. What control the federal government continues to exercise in states such as Sonora, Sinaloa, and Nuevo Leon is mainly due to the fact that crime organizations don’t want to actually take over the territory—they already experience the benefits of acting as a sovereign government without the burdens, and they’re happy to leave those burdens to the “official” government.
more...
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/2752
Then there was this in yesterday's LA Times:
Mexican troops to guard energy sites
Guerrilla attacks on pipelines have caused fuel shortages for factories.
By Héctor Tobar, Times Staff Writer
July 13, 2007
MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Felipe Calderon has dispatched a new 5,000-strong elite military unit to guard strategic sites, including oil refineries and hydroelectric dams, in the wake of guerrilla attacks on pipelines operated by the national oil and gas company, Pemex, according to news reports Thursday.
Business leaders said as many as 1,000 factories and other businesses in the Guanajuato-Queretaro region of central Mexico have been forced to shut down or reduce operations this week because of fuel shortages caused by attacks this month.
The leftist Popular Revolutionary Army, or EPR, claimed responsibility for the attacks Tuesday, saying they were in retaliation for the disappearance of two of their militants last year in the southern state of Oaxaca.
The EPR communique said the rebels had bombed three pipelines and a switching station in Queretaro and Guanajuato states. The explosions severed natural gas pipelines and a crude oil pipeline that links storage facilities in the Gulf of Mexico port of Poza Rica to a refinery in Salamanca, in Guanajuato, reducing fuel supplies in the region.
more...
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pem...
You heard it here first, Mexico is going to be THE campaign issue by summer of 2008 and we better be prepared to deal with this humanely to counter the racism and/or xenophobia of the Rethugs. As you can see from the bold section on KBR's detention camps and with the increased use of PMCs by the neo-cons, they already have a plan to deal with this situation.'
Cheers
Elroy
Elroy,
Thank you for your "concise" comment. Sounds like all the more reason for a fence in my estimation...
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home