Graham Goes Green...TODAY!

No, I'm not joining the Al Gore Panic Brigades. I'm broacasting today from Dublin, Ireland. It's cloudy and gray today, but they're promising me great weather the rest of the week.

We'll be talking about the latest from Boston, of course--Deval's devotion to the 9/11 nuts, statie big-wigs pulling $200k to sleep in their cars, the Cadillac of Governors leaning on state employees to help out his political pals (again!). But we'll also have some special guests from here in Ireland to talk about what to eat, what to drink and where to go when you make the trip.

So if you're Irish, or you just drink like one, don't miss today's show!

(Special thanks to Newstalk Radio here in Ireland for making today's broadcast possible)

Deval's Disclaimer

This is what passes for leadership from the Cadillac of Governors:

"The views expressed by users of MyIssue.DevalPatrick.com do not necessarily represent the views of Deval Patrick, the Deval Patrick Committee or anyone else other than the person responsible for posting them."

This disclaimer appears at the top of the "9/11--It Was Them Jews!" page at Deval Patrick's website. That conspiracy kook page is STILL UP and being paid for by the governor.

This argument--"Hey, it's not my fault that devalpatrick.com = anti-semitism. I just OWN the page"--is laughable on its face. Any rational person would agree that Patrick isn't responsible for every word posted on the blog sites of his grassroots webpage. You're always going to have a nut or two log on and show their ignorance.

But dedicated an entire section of your website to 9/11 conspiracy kookery isn't just an "oops!" moment. By including this topic up on his webpage along with property tax relief and education, Gov. Patrick is giving the 9/11 nonsense the same standing and credibility. Patrick is affirming the idiotic idea that there may HAVE been a 9/11 conspiracy and it's worth considering.

This is shameful and embarrassing, period.

Paranoid Kooks for Patrick

ATTENTION: Here is the link you're looking for!

I don't know if Rosie O'Donnell has formally joined the Deval Patrick campaign team, but given her political delusions, she could certainly be their poster child (assuming one could find a poster large enough to accommodate her).

When you go to Deval Patrick's new, updated website--you know, the one that may be violating the state's privacy laws?--you'll find this webpage quoting the same moonbat memos Rosie is reading from: 9/11 was an inside job, we tricked Iran into kidnapping the British sailors so we can invade, the Bushies blew up the World Trade Center, blah, blah, blah.

Why would Deval Patrick post this paranoid nonsense on his webpage? Is he that dependent on the Cambridge Kook Coalition for his political power? Is he thinking "Keep the loonies energized and they'll help me push through my tax increases in the legislature?"

One thing is sure: Every day Patrick leaves this hateful lunacy posted on his page with his logo, he's adding his credibility to it. If Romney's website had a page dedicated to "The Jews started the war in Iraq," he'd be held responsible for it.

Gov. Patrick, this is your website. It's not your fault that so many of the people who support you are kooks. But if you support this kookery, you know what that makes you?

Exactly.

UPDATE I: Be sure to note the disclaimer at the bottom of the page: "Paid for by the Deval Patrick Committee."

UPDATE II: Rational Bostonians (OK, they're actually listeners to my show...) react to the DevalPatrick.com "9/11 Was A Hoax" web page below. Keep reading!

UPDATE III: Below are actual postings from Deval Patrick supporters currently up at his official website [all typos/errors in the original].

Ryan Sullivan of Boston
9/11 was a joint Bush administration/Israeli operation. It is time America wake up and smell the thermite.

Christopher Coburg of Williamstown

The Bush Crime Syndicate MUST be stopped NOW! 911 was obviously an 'inside job.' Cui bono?

Ahmed Mohammed Shabaz of Cambridge
Thank Allah that the Governor and so many of of his supporters understand the truth about 9/11. I have personal knowledge that Bush,Cheney and Rumsfeld secretly made an agreement with Halliburton to set explosive charges at the WTC and the Pentagon and that they were ignited by Air Force planes that were in the air at the time.All peace loving peoples must demand that everyone,from Bush on down,responsible for 9/11 and the filthy crusade againt Muslims that followed,must be sent to The Hague for trial and we must demand that hanging be establihed at The Hague as the only fitting punishment for crimes of that magnitude!

Heather Lane of Boston

9/11 was the pretext for the removal of civil rights, the destruction of the Constitution and the never-ending "war on terror" that has created multi-billion dollar profits for the military industrial complex.

The USA PATRIOT ACTS I and II are eerily similar to Hitler's "Enabling Act" and if the truth does not come out, we are headed in a very dangerous direction.

Nicole Beaumier of Lawrence

Thank you SO much for speaking up about this. I am proud to have you in office and actually standing up for this!!

Tammy Erickson of Milton
PLEASE consider the evidence.Why does everyone assume certain factions within our government are telling us the truth on everything?It is not a given that everyone in the position they are in,are telling the whole truth.There is substantial evidence out there all you need to do is look into it.Follow who had the motive and who was going to profit and who had the means.Why was norad told to stand down and by who?Why did Silverstien have a huge ins. policy in the months right before? Follow the money ON ALL OF THE ISSUES OF 911.I am afraid the plans have been laid out and certain plans have been carried out,as we speak it may be too late to stop the progress in motion.You have nothing to loose if you would just look at everything.Pilots for 911 truth is a good site.Also jonesreport.com.

Don't let anyone be so quick to call almost 1 third of Americans WHICH ARE 911 truthers crazy.We love our country and frankly we know what we are up against and it scares the hell out of us.Scared to wake up and find we are living in Nazi Germany.If you know what I mean.Seriously look into it.We the people need someone to take us seriously and LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE THAT IS HIDDEN IN PLAIN SITE-PLEASE THIS IS FOR REAL AN ALL OUT S.O.S.THANK YOU

Ken Wagner of Mansfield

Those who have studied 911, know it was an inside job. Get the real terrorists. They're much closer than the average American realizes.

Jeffrey Schwartz of Brookline

9/11 Truth now is the most important issue.

Mike Evans of Abington

The people who committed the atrocities of 9/11 will never admit guilt. There will never be an official admittance. You must tell your family and friends the truth. Everyone deserves to know the truth.

Chris Carter of Boston

This issue is the key to stoping this war! Thank you for posting it!

Richard Hornick of Newton

YES a new 9/11 investigatgion is urgently needed. Just read any part of the 9/11 commission report and you'll se they were lied to! "We to this day don't know why NORAD [the North American Aerospace Command] told us what they told us," ... "It was just so far from the truth. . . It's one of those loose ends that never got tied." Thomas H. Kean, the former New Jersey Republican governor and co-chair of the 9/11 Commission.

96.9 FM TALK LISTENERS REACT!

I just heard that idiot on the air... It makes me sick to my stomach to heard such idiocy! My brother-in-law was in Building 1 when the 1st plane hit... He went outside, looked up, and witnessed the 2nd plane hit... He saw the people jumping to their deaths... He almost tripped on someone who was dead on the ground as he ran from the buildings as debris fell.... How can these idiots who watch this on TV pretend to be experts and say that it didn't happen... tell that to my brother-in-law... oh yeah, and if you do - a word of advice... duck and then run VERY VERY fast! -- John

I just tuned in. I went to the site and was infuriated with what was posted. My next door neighbor was a flight attendant on the united flight. Are my tax dollars supporting this bile? -- David.

[The good news, David, is that you are not paying for it. The bad news is that Gov. Patrick is using his own money to spread this idiocy.--mg]

I knew Coup Deval was going to be the biggest mistake this state could elect, but this is beyond my comprehension of … I just can’t find the words.... Why, please tell me why we do not have recall proceedings in this state? If this is not the straw to break the camel’s back…?--Steven in Lynn, MA

I just saw the website and it shows we got the small mind along with the small man. He probably also believes in the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny. Beware of the coupe De Ville behind the curtains should on a sign in front of the state house. --Rick in Westford

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Gov. Patrick showed up one day on The View, Rosie's daily anti-American, anti-Christian show. They seem to share the same misguided viewpoints.

I am not really surprised at his conspiracy theory website. I felt from the first day that he announced he was running for governor that he was not governor material. Just the opposite. When he began to dissemble on the Benjamin LaGuer, (convicted rapist) issue, I was convinced. The longer he remains in office, and the more "mistakes" he makes, goes to prove that my original assessment of him was correct. With him at the helm, all I can say is "God save the Commonwealth."--Jennie in Framingham

Hey, Bomar, Hate Getting Smucked? So Don't I!

If you aren't sure what a bubblah is, or have never gone to Cumbie's for some hermits, you definitely aren't from Boston.

Two great places to update your Boston lingo are here, and here.

Sharia Comes To America?

If the pathetic, p.c. collapse of "24" this season weren't bad enough, now it turns out that concerned American airline passengers are being targeted in the name of the Religion O' Peace.

The angry imams who terrorized a Nov. 20th US Airways flight aren't just suing the airlines. They're also coming after the "passengers...who contacted US Airways to report the alleged 'suspicious' behavior of [the imams]."

That's right: Report suspicious activity, become a defendant.

This story is just one of the more disturbing from a litany of tales of the creeping rise of Sharia in America and throughout the West. Whether it's a (now abandoned) proposal to allow Islamic cab drivers to reject liquor-toting passengers, or a European judge claiming that wife-beating should be treated differently if the married couple is Muslim, more and more liberals are willing to make room for the bigotry, anti-Semitism and violence of Sharia law in the West.

Katherine Kersten has an excellent overview of the latest cases in the Wall Street Journal.

UPDATE: Jeff Jacoby is on the job, too!

"Parents, Have Some Guts!"

That's what the Boston Herald's Joe Gwinnell says about this story from Westboro where some angry dad beat up at 10-year-old at a hockey game, while other adults just stood around and watched.

“No one did anything to prevent this. That was very disturbing," said Westboro Police Chief Alan Gordon, and he's right.

Sure, it's easy to say "Why should I jump on the guy? I might get hurt. Let the cops do it." But who's going to jump on the next guy who's beating up YOUR kid?

Folks, we've got to grow some gonads here. What are we--Europeans?

Because this is the EU/UN theory of the proper use of force brought to a local hockey game. The UN sees a bully (Darfur, Iraq, Serbia) beating the crap out of somebody, and then stands around saying "Gee, where are the cops? Why aren't they doing something about this? I think we'll have a meeting."

Of course, if the cops are the US, the UN weasels will then start explaining why the bully wasn't so bad anyway and he probably wouldn't have kicked the little kid if George Bush hadn't made him.

Keep The MCAS...

...dump the stupid people!

That's my take in the Boston Herald today.

Your Cell Phone Ban Quiz Of The Day

Where and when was the first cellular phone introduced in the United States?

1. Chicago in 1972
2. New York in 1992
3. Los Angeles in 1957
4. St. Louis in 1945
   

Find the right answer here.

Lexington, MA Cracks Down On The Scourge Of...Drunk Limo Drivers!

That is the story here, right? Kids can't take limos to the Lexington High School prom anymore because of the dangers of drunk driving. Instead, girls in $5,000 prom dresses will be strap hangers on school-run trolleys or sitting in buses, otherwise they can't attend.

Are there really that many limo services using drunks as drivers? Is there some prom night tradition among limo professionals of letting the kids take the wheel for a while?

No? Then why get rid of the limos?

Some people--including several alleged education bureaucrats in Lexington--claim that the problem they're trying to solve is KIDS driving drunk to and from the prom. But that's got to be bad reporting by the media. The people who run the Lexington school system can't be that stupid.

After all, how many kids have been killed driving limos in Lexington, MA, drunk or sober? None. In fact, how many kids have died driving to and from any prom in Lexington, MA? None are mentioned in the news coverage.

It's true that one kid did die in a car accident last year, but he wasn't anywhere near a prom and the police say that alcohol MAY have contributed to the wreck but they're not sure.

So why aren't we banning kids in Lexington, MA from getting into cars? From going to parties? Why don't we put breathalyzers at every school entrance? Why not have a lab at the prom and collect urine samples at random?

When it comes to our children's safety, the only acceptable standard is irrational over-reaction! I say "Death To All Proms!"

If you don't agree, then you are killing our children.

Avoid Migraines: Read This Op Ed

This is as good an explanation of the Alberto Gonzales/US Attorneys "scandal" as I've read. There's a longer, mild headache-inducing take from former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy.

Bottom line: As usual, the cover up is worse than the crime, though neither are particularly shocking.

Will The REAL Liberal Please Stand Up?

Which of the following presidential candidates is, according to their voting records, is the biggest liberal in the race?

A--Hillary Clinton.

B--Dennis Kucinich.

C-- Barack Obama.

Think the answer is obvious? Better check here.

Too Dumb To Pass 10th Grade? Congratulations, Graduate!

Nearly 70% of black students in some Massachusetts school systems get through 12 years of public education without mastering 10th grade math and English. About 20% of all freshmen in many Boston-area school systems simply drop out of school because they're too dumb for the 10th grade.

Which means these young people head into adulthood with a distinct disadvantage. College success is unlikely, the pool of available jobs is diminished and they're likely to suffer economically for the rest of their lives. What's the solution to this problem?

Why, give these failed 10th graders high school diplomas, of course!

That's what Massachusetts representative Carl Sciortino wants to do. He and a gang of the usual suspects (Sen. Wilkerson, Rep. Wolf, Rep. Khan, etc.) want to end the requirement that all Massachusetts high school graduates must pass the 10th grade MCAS test. They claim that this standard is too high and is forcing otherwise quality students to drop out of school. After all, if you know you're never going to pass the MCAS, why stay in school?

One might ask the question "If you can't do 10th grade math by the 12th grade, why aren't you studying harder?" Or even the more politically incorrect "If you're still this dumb after 12 years of taxpayer funded education, your teachers must have REALLY sucked!"

Speaking on behalf of employers everywhere, sending me potential employees who can't read at a 10th grade level is a waste of time. If I want employees who can't read and write English, I'll just hire illegal immigrants and save some money. If I wanted employees who can't do math, I'll put Deval Patrick's budget team on my staff.

Is it really too much to ask of Massachusetts students to master the 10th grade? Is it asking too much of our teachers to get these kids there after 12 years? If the 10th grade is too hard, why not make the standard the 9th grade? 8th? Why have a standard at all?

Meanwhile, kids from backwaters like Malaysia and the Slovak Republic are kicking our algebraic asses. Their schools aren't saying "10th grade is too hard." They're saying "12th grade isn't good enough--let's learn some college math, too!"

So when our Massachusetts students get bumped from the best schools or lose out on good jobs to these kids from India and Asia, should the Americans say "Hey--that's not fair! Nobody said anything about 'standards' when I was in school!"

In the real world, my government-school-stooge friends, there is NO affirmative action. There is accomplishment and competence, or incompetence and failure.

Time to choose, Rep. Sciortino.

UPDATE: Special thanks to Larry in the 11th Grade for correcting the grammar on this post.

Hello, Haters!

Yes, I'm talking to all you "angry white male Americans" who listen to talk radio. In particular, you haters who support border security and hatefully demand that America's hateful immigration laws be enforced like any other law--probably by hate-filled immigration agents.

At least, that's what Ken Hartnett at the New Bedford Standard Times thinks of you. Here he is, in his own words:

You are an angry white male American, and you once thought you ruled the world; now you rule talk radio. You are unreconciled, and so you rant, and your target shifts day to day. Some days it's black people. You hate Deval Patrick. Some days it's liberals. You hate Mike Dukakis. Before him, you could drink and drive. Some days, its uppity women. You hate Hillary Clinton. Some days it's gays. You hate Barney Frank....

Oh, you know damn well why you are so angry.

You felt it was bad enough with jobs so scarce having to get in line with black people, but now it's brown people and copper-skinned people who got here by breaking the law. They're criminals. Ship them back home and spare the tears.

You hate to remember. The loss is too painful. But you are aware that everything started going downhill with people feeling sorry for the black people, who shined your shoes, washed your car, knew their place.

Now, they are in your face, competing with you, living in your neighborhood and sometimes in neighborhoods you know you can't ever afford.

They never would have gotten there on their own. Never would have challenged you. Not in a million years. It was the liberals and the Jews who got them there and legislating judges rewriting the constitution.

Got it, you haters? The only reason you want a nation of laws, a nation that applies those laws like every other nation in the world does, is because you're disgusting, hateful, white supremacists pigs!

Oh, and you're stupid, too! Why can't you be as intelligent and fact-based as Mr. Hartnett? Why do you evil talk-radio listeners always lower yourselves to name calling?

Mr. Hartnett knows. Because he's so much better than you are.

What You Don't Know About Iraq

The MSM are working overtime to give you their perspective on the war in Iraq. For example, instead of reporting that the Iraq war began four years ago this week, we get instead convoluted reporting about "the war entering its fifth year." Have you ever heard "so-and-so is beginning his 40th year" at a 39th birthday party?

Me, neither.

So you know you can't trust the MSM to report on the war honestly. That's why check websites like this, this and this to get information I know I'm never going to read in the Boston Globe- Democrat.

Nobody I know is arguing that the war has been well planned or well executed. However, there are many arguments for why the war, as difficult as it has been, is necessary.

There may be other strategies for fighting the rise of global Islamism that would work better than helping a Muslim nation in the heart of the Middle East make its way to democracy. But if it exists, Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton are keeping it a deep, dark secret.

UPDATE: This is an excellent analysis of the latest poll of Iraqis.

In Defense Of LEGAL Immigration

All the people who should be offended by the open borders/amnesty movement led by George W. Bush and Sen. Kennedy, the most outraged should be every legal immigrant and nationalized citizen who obeyed the law.

I mentioned the story of my father's former employee, Eugen, who came from Romania, stayed and worked and paid ALL his taxes until his visa expired, and now is sitting in Canada waiting for permission to return...all while millions of immigration criminals steal the jobs he would like to be doing here legally.

I've written about Eugen's case, and asked amnesty supporting politicians to get involved. You know what that got him? Nada. The cheaters still win, and the law-abiding, honest immigrants are turned into suckers.

As I asked amnesty-supporter US Sen. Lindsey Graham: "Why, Sen. Graham, should a handicapped Romanian TV repairman have more respect for our laws and our borders than you do? "

If You Insist

If you're determined to figure out the Alberto Gonzales/US Attorney "scandal," this is the best, most comprehensive article I've come across.

Summary: There was just as much a criminal conspiracy to install secret-agent Bush US Attorneys as there was a criminal conspiracy to "out a covert CIA agent" in the Wilson/Libby case.

This entire story is a WOT: Waste Of Time.

El Presidente Jorge Speaks!

"My pledge to you and your government, but more important to the people of Mexico, is I'll work as hard as I possibly can to pass comprehensive immigration reform," Bush said during a sun-splashed arrival ceremony that opened two days of meetings with Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

(hat tip: Mark Krikorian at the Center for Immigration Studies)

Sen. Kennedy, How Can You Sleep At Night?

OK, admittedly there are many things that could keep Massachusetts' senior senator up at night, from his memories of Chappaquiddick to the two college interns lying on top of him. But I'm specifically referring to what Sen. Kennedy has done to this poor woman, Barthila Solano.

Ms. Solano's sad tale is in today's Boston Globe-Democrat, and it reveals just how heartless and cruel liberals like Sen. Kennedy are when it comes to illegal immigrants. They couldn't be more brutal.

Solano's story is heartbreaking: Earning $5 a day in Ecuador, she and her husband borrowed $25,000 from criminal human smugglers to sneak into the United States. She traveled for 100 days, burned under the desert sun, had to be carried by two men and was caught twice (fortunately, the nice smuggler men told her to lie and claim to be Mexican so she could stay in Mexico and keep coming).

Once in the US, she got the worst jobs at the worst pay because, as she says herself, she had no papers. Now she's been caught, she faces deportation and she owes more than $22,000 to the smugglers waiting back in Ecuador. The four children she abandoned back in Ecuador--including a daughter with epilepsy--have no parents and, now, no money.

Broken families, physical abuse, horrifying poverty and crippling debt--Sen. Kennedy, have you no shame? You're partially responsible for this horror.

What do you mean it's not Sen. Kennedy's fault because he opposes immigration law enforcement? Don't you see that none of this would have happened to Ms. Solano if America enforced the law?

If people like Solano knew that there was a reasonable chance of being caught and deported, it wouldn't be worth the risk to borrow tens of thousands of dollars to steal low-paying American jobs. Unfortunately for Ms. Solano, Sen. Kennedy, the Mira Coalition, and La Raza have been luring people like her to the US with promises that the law would not be enforced, that she could avoid the consequences of her illegal actions, that it isn't a gamble to come to the US, but more like a "sure thing."

Well, Sen. Kennedy, you got her here. You've helped screw up her life forever, along with the lives of her four abandoned kids. What are you going to do about it?

You might consider "enforcing the law."

The Part Of "Illegal" They Don't Understand

My latest column, on illegal immigration, is here.

Have You Gotten YOUR 50% Pay Increase Yet?

That's what Massachusetts cities and towns have gotten from us, the taxpayers, since 2000. A 50% increase in property taxes paid by local homeowners, on top of the illegal income tax increase above 5% that, supposedly, is paying for more local aid to lower our property taxes.

But does it? Local aid is up every year since 2003, and so are our property taxes.

Now the the "override" season begins, with a vote in Winchester to raise property taxes even higher than the 2.5% annual increase allowed by law. Some 27 communities are considering tax hike override votes this year, with even more likely to follow.

So we pay illegally high Massachusetts income taxes to give more tax dollars to local towns, and the towns react by pushing new votes for even higher taxes on local homeowners.

This is "property tax relief," Deval Patrick-style.

Your Boston Globe-Democrat Puzzler Of The Day

All of the stories linked below are from the Boston Globe-Democrat.

All of these stories are about the raid at the New Bedford sweatshop where more than 300 illegal immigrants were caught.

All of these stories also have something in common. They are all...missing something. What is it?

To find out, open each story and use your "find" tool to look for a key phrase that should appear in every one of these stories.

Or, just think about the current state of "journalism" at the Boston Globe-Democrat and use your common sense. Good luck!

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/03/12/dss_urges_release_of_21_more_detainees?mode=PF

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2007/03/dss_social_work.html

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/03/11/state_fails_immigrants?mode=PF

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/03/11/dss_teams_arrive_in_texas_to_interview_detained_immigrants?mode=PF

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/03/11/state_fails_immigrants?mode=PF

You Won't Like Him When He's Angry

Harry Spence is “extremely upset and angry.” Extremely. And as the head of the Massachusetts DSS, he has quite a bit to be upset about.

After all, it was DSS under Spence that left 11-year-old Haleigh Poutre in the clutches of her abusive step losers for 18 months, despite repeated burnings, bruises and reports of abuse. When DSS could no longer ignore Haleigh’s case—because she had finally been beaten into a coma on their watch--DSS did everything they could to kill the little girl, including lying about her condition to the courts in order to pull her prematurely from life support.

But is Harry Spence “upset and angry” about Haleigh Poutre? Nah. He’s proud of how DSS handled that case and says his staff has “nothing to be ashamed of.”

OK. Then is Harry Spence “extremely upset and angry” about Rebecca Riley, the four-year-old girl poisoned to death while under DSS “protection” by her sick freak parents? Is he mad that, as with Haleigh’s case, there were repeated questions from school officials about Rebecca’s treatment and warning signs that she was being overly medicated? Is he upset that there was no medical professional working for DSS who could speak out about the radical step being taken of treating then-2-year-old for bipolar disorder with powerful psychotropic drugs?

No. Harry Spence isn’t upset about Rebecca Riley’s case either—other then his annoyance with being criticized. It’s not his fault, he says. He didn’t have enough money for enough staff, he says. We’re doing the best we can, he says. Massachusetts’s taxpayers should just accept these outcomes.

Wow.. One girl dead and another in a coma, and Harry Spence remains nonplussed. So what did it take to get the unflappable Mr. Spence “extremely upset and angry?”

Unhappy immigration criminals.

Parents who chose to sneak into the US, break the law, commit ID fraud, tax fraud, commit felonies by obtaining and using forged federal documents—these are the parents Harry Spence wants to champion. Children whose parents allowed them to remain at risk rather than tell immigration authorities where they were, these are the children Harry Spence worries about.

So why the difference in treatment? Why the outrage for the children of criminals, but not for the children being abused by criminal family members thanks to DSS incompetence?

Because Haleigh and Rebecca don’t represent a voting bloc or special interest group. There is no “La Raza” for little girls being beaten into a coma by their aunt, no MIRA Coalition for children dying at the hands of scam artist parents. Harry Spence doesn’t complain about this abuse. He defends the DSS incompetents who let it happen.

But now, Harry has found his voice. He’s finally found victims whose cause he will champion: Immigration criminals.

The same Harry Spence who—until Rebecca Riley died—wouldn’t put a competent doctor on staff to review extreme medical treatments on little girls, found the money to send 38 DSS agents to Texas to talk to illegal immigrants about their child care plans.

How many DSS agents flooded Haleigh Poutre’s house to check up on her DSS case worker after the 5th, 10th and 15th reports of abuse?

Zero. Too bad Haleigh and Rebecca weren't Juanita and Rosalita. Maybe then, Harry Spence would give a damn about them, too.

Mark Steyn Nails The Libby Case...

...as usual. How can any rational person read this and then treat the Libby story as news--except for the "news" of an abusive prosecutor?

The MSM: Not Even Trying

When you're married to a journalist, you get it drummed into you that they're "news"papers and not "truth" papers. Nobody's perfect, I get that.

But the mainstream media have completely descended into the arena of embarrassing tabloid advocacy with no sense of shame or restraint. The fact is, sadly, that the media have given up even the pretense of journalistic integrity. It's all bias, all the time.

Take this one example that jumped off my Google screen this morning:

After taking the rap for lying about the betrayal of a CIA agent, former vice-presidential aide Scooter Libby has a new nickname in Washington DC ...

This is the lede for a piece in the UK's Sunday Herald. It's nonsense from the first syllables and wanders into sheer lunacy by the final graph. Doesn't anyone care that Scooter Libby wasn't charged or convicted for "the betrayal of a CIA agent?" Doesn't anyone care the Valerie Wilson's status as a CIA employee was specifically banned from the jury's deliberations by the judge--who himself said he did not know what her employment status was when the alleged crime took place and he didn't want to?

Doesn't anyone at this paper care about the facts at all?

I write a column. It's full of opinion. But the facts that I base my (wildly unfounded) opinions on are actually factual. The coverage of the Libby case has been overtly anti-factual.

On NPR, news(?)casters repeatedly said Libby had outed a "covert CIA operative," ignoring the fact that Plame was neither covert nor an operative. This directly untrue allegation was repeated ad nauseum by NPR "reporters," despite the fact that a cursory review of the case shows that, at best, Plame's covert status was disputable and, the consensus is that she was not covered by the laws regarding covert agents.

This helps explain why Scooter Libby was never charged with crime out outing a spy. And why the man who actually did "out" Valerie Plame--Bush-hater Richard Armitage--has not been charged with a crime, even though the audiotape of the "outing" to reporter Bob Woodward was played in evidence to the court.

Does NPR care? Does the Sunday Herald? Does anyone?

No. The mainstream media's high-school-paper advocacy standards are so low that even some of its own members are starting to notice. Brian Williams, reporting live from Iraq, wondered aloud why so many Iraqis and American soldiers were telling him the US was welcome in Iraq, but he never heard that on the nightly news.

Well, Brian, it's your show...

I've written on the collapse of journalism standards before and, unlike some conservatives, I don't celebrate it. Like every other American, I have to rely on the media for information to some degree. I need to know that, when I read a news story on 1-A, that it's accurate within knowable parameters. That's the only way I can use it as a source of conversation and debate (a key requirement of a talk show host).

I wish the MSM could be shamed into professionalism, but those days are long gone.

Don't Worry, Michael. We'll Stop 'Em At The Border!

Uh....no.

New Bedford: Who's The Bad Guy?

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is outraged that illegal immigrants who had children were detained in New Bedford and are being deported. He's angrily denouncing the "heavy handed" enforcement of the law, the "human tragedy" the "humiliation, fear, anxiety and uncertainty" these immigration criminals felt because the mean-spirited bastards of Immigration and Customs Enforcement did their jobs.

In Deval Patrick's Massachusetts, the criminals are the good guys and the folks who enforce the law are the bad guys.

OK, fine. So tell me who's the bad guy in this scenario:

A young man with limited education lives in New Bedford, MA. He tries to get a job, but because New Bedford has the highest unemployment rate in Massachusetts, he can't find one in his hometown.

So he leaves, goes and stands in line for government benefits, and the taxpayers end up paying him to stay poor and not work. Meanwhile, the job he was denied is being done by people who AREN'T paying the taxes they owe, many of whom are sending large portions of their checks to Guatemala and Mexico.


Governor Patrick, who's the bad guy here? Can't blame the young man--he wants a job. Can't blame the illegals, either--not as long as you continue to welcome them to Massachusetts and announce your opposition to enforcing the law. Governor, they assume you WANT them here.

You can blame the employer, but not much. Once again, he's giving jobs to friends of Deval. If the owners of the sweatshop had announced that they were firing all the illegals and turning their names over to ICE, would Gov. Patrick have held a press conference praising them for upholding the law?


Yeah, right.


The person to blame for the "humanitarian crisis" in New Beford is...Gov. Patrick. He and his fellow supporters of open borders/amnesty are doing everything they can to keep sweatshops like these open all over America. If busting the immigration criminals is wrong, then leaving them here in America, stealing jobs and services, must be right.


Patrick would say "No, the right thing to do is to grant them legal status." Fine. Let's do it tomorrow. Gov. Patrick, would you then support workplace enforcement the day AFTER tomorrow? No. The day after amnesty was granted, Patrick would be denouncing the deportations of the next wave of illegal aliens.

Somone is going to suffer under the open borders policy supported by Deval Patrick. He just wants to make sure that the people suffering are Americans--not the immigration criminals who come to Deval's Massachusetts.

Barney Frank's SAT Question

"These aren't criminals."-- Congressman Barney Frank on the illegal aliens arrested in New Bedford, MA this week.

"What out to be done is...to give these people legalization."--Congressman Frank, two sentences later.

Essay Question for Barney Frank and his open-borders allies: If they aren't "criminals," why do they need "legalization?"

Please show your work.

Illegal Advocates: "It's All America's Fault!"

Hundreds of illegal immigrants break the law, commit identity fraud, cheat on their taxes and get caught. Who are the bad guys?

Why, the people who caught them, of course!

The arrest of these criminals in New Bedford yesterday is a "humanitarian disaster," an "outrage," and "injustice!" Adrian Walker at the Boston Globe-Democrat says that enforcing immigration laws is a bigger crime than breaking them. The usually sensible Boston Herald (hey, they run my columns!) blames law enforcement for " a chain reaction of unspeakable human misery" because some of the immigration criminals have kids.

Wrong.

All of the misery in New Bedford began when hundreds of illegal aliens chose to sneak into the US and steal jobs, and five people (mostly immigrants) chose to hire, aid and abet them. If our immigration laws had been enforced, those jobs would have gone to legal US residents. They would have paid more, and been done in better conditions than the sweatshop squalor spawned by lawlessness.

If the law had been enforced, the city of New Bedford, state of Massachusetts and US Treasury would all have collected more tax dollars for public services. The children of legal residents would have had working parents with more money to provide for them.

Instead, we have the horrors of New Bedford, all thanks to the many, many Massachusetts politicians who think law enforcement is the problem.

A spokesperson for the MIRA Coalition says "We are going to ask that [ICE officials] don't deport anyone."

And why should they? If anyone should be deported, it's the ICE agents themselves. They're the real criminals here. Right, Adrian?

Who Is Deval Patrick?

The media buzz of the day is that Gov. Patrick's limousine liberal constituents are preparing to abandon ship in the wake of his many missteps since taking office. Patrick pleads "Don't give up on me," while lefties whine about his calls to people he regulates on behalf of the worst predatory lender in America.

My question: Why so surprised?

Deval Patrick is a millionaire corporate lawyer who made his money taking high-profile jobs at businesses after they were caught engaging in bad behavior. If you've been caught screwing over black people, you hired Deval Patrick and he provided good corporate cover--at a generous price, of course.

Coca-Cola had just settled a $193 million racial discrimination suit when the brought Patrick on board. Ameriquest was under fire for predatory lending to black, Hispanic and low-income borrowers when they reached out to Deval. Patrick was sent to Texaco by the courts after their racial discrimination imbroglio, but stayed on at a comfortable salary afterwards.

This work as a "fixer" for companies in trouble with the black community covers nearly the entire time line of Patrick's private sector career. Rich, mostly white, corporate bigwigs get in trouble, and Deval Patrick shows up with a smile and an open wallet.

They gave him big cars, helicopter rides, personal secretaries, etc. In exchange, they expected him to make key phone calls to key players and use his influence to keep their corporate cash flowing.

Today, Governor Patrick expects the taxpayers to give him a big car, helicopter rides, personal secretaries, etc., while he uses his influence to help his rich buddies.

And this is a surprise?

Only to people who haven't been paying attention.

Amnesty Uber Alles!

That is the battle cry of pro-open borders activists in Massachusetts today in the wake of yesterday's arrest of 300+ illegal immigrants at a sweat shop in New Bedford. Groups like the Mira Coalition are denouncing the arrests and demanding that the illegals be released immediately. How DARE the evil, racist American government do something as evil as (gasp!) enforce the law!

This position puts us evil Americans--you know, the radicals who think nations are entitled to police and secure their borders--in a strange position. Exactly what would the Left have us do about borders?

Mira, La Raza, the Democratic Party and other pro-illegal groups oppose a wall at the border, they oppose an American military presence on the border and they blame border security efforts for the deaths of illegals every year in the deserts of the American southwest.


So we're not allowed to defend the border.


Once Rosalita sneaks into the US, she is (the amnesty advocates say) entitled to public schools, medical services, tax-funded housing, and full protections at the workplace like any US citizen.


So we're not allowed to uphold the laws regarding the treatment of illegal aliens.


Then, if we happen to catch Rosalita working at an illegal sweatshop in New Bedford, she should not be arrested, not be detained and not be deported.


Which means we're not allowed to deport illegal immigrants, either.


This is the "border security" plan of the Left? Then I have a question: If we're not going to stop you from getting in, keep you out of the taxpayers' pockets, or kick you out when we catch you--why wouldn't EVERY would-be illegal immediately head for the US border? Why not?


And if no security/no enforcement/no deportations is such a great policy, why is America the only country in the world giving it a try? If it's so smart, why aren't the French doing it, eh, Sen. Kerry?

Did Patrick Call From His Car Phone?

You have to wonder if Gov. Deval Patrick was rollin' in his DTS when he made the call to Citibank on behalf of his former employer Ameriquest. Hey--isn't this what rich elitists do? When they're not flying in the state helicopter or putting his wife's personal secretary on the state payroll, they use their public offices to lean on businesses they regulate to get favors for their friends, right?

So why are we surprised the Gov. Patrick has been caught doing exactly that? What do you expect from an arrogant, elitist snob like the Cadillac of Governors?

Before the election, I dismissed the conventional wisdom that Patrick might be weak on policy, but he's be great at politics. Wrong, I said. Patrick is an elitist ideologue who has never been in the political arena. He's going to strut around, making tin-eared edicts and insisting that his liberalism covers a multitude of sins.

Since taking office, he's done exactly what I predicted he would: "I'm good, and you're bad. So what ever I do must, by definition, be right. Period." Thus, the ethically-challenged, taxpayer-abusive, arrogant "leadership" of Coupe Deval.

The Smoke Nazis Strike Again!

Is anyone in Massachusetts surprised that the same legislators who think 13-year-old girls should be able to have invasive medical procedures to terminate the life of an unborn child without their parents knowledge or permission ALSO think those parents should be arrested for smoking with the 13-year-old in the car?

13-year-old having an abortion without any guidance: Acceptable risk.

Parent smoking around that 13-year-old: Unacceptable risk.

Meanwhile, does anyone in the Massachusetts legislature care what the ACTUAL risk is when it comes to being around smokers?

Will being around smokers kill you? The answer is, from a measurable, statistically-significant standpoint, no. That's what the largest specific study to date on that subject has found. There may be some, small risk of an increase in heart disease or cancer, but it's too small to measure.

Now, some Massachusetts liberals believe that the existence of such a small amount of risk is enough to legislate behavior and send the cops climbing onto our cars. If so, why don't they support mandatory helmets for all children in cars? Riding without a helmet increases the risk of injury in a car crash vs. not wearing a helmet, right?

And doesn't riding in a car increase the risk of fatality vs. mass transit or walking? Why not ban children from cars?

If the argument is that ANY risk, however slight, justifies stupid government action, then folks, there are lots and lots of stupid government actions yet to come.

Kumbaya Kern Strikes Again

When we last checked in with Judge Leila Kern, she was handing out probation--ZERO jail time--for a guy who allowed a nine-year-old girl to be repeatedly raped in the same room with him while he was hooking up with the mom. She could have sentenced this perv to 30 months for child endangerment. He got nada.

Now, Kumbaya Kerns is back. Prosecutors want her to impose the mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years on two dirtbags who broke into a 76-year-old woman's home, held her hostage and repeatedly assaulted her. Instead, she's planning to give them...NO JAIL TIME. Probation for the crime of home invasion (once again, the legislature put a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years for this crime.) They would instead get 8-10 years for other violent crimes they've committed.

What do you have to do in Salem, MA to get your criminal assets tossed in jail where they belong?

The Most Jaw-Dropping Video Of The Day

...is not Ann Coulter's speech at CPAC. It's this video of an 80-year-old driver who STILL HAS HER LICENSE!

Drive accordingly.

Ann's Bad Attitude

Ann Coulter is funny. Sometimes, she is very, very funny. This joke, however, was not one of those times.

I am not going to denounce Coulter for using the word "faggot" in public, any more than I would denounce half the comics I see on HBO or the Comedy Channel for using various and sundry words and phrases that I never use and rarely hear during Sunday Mass. It is NOT the case that simply having the word "faggot" come out of your mouth makes you a bigot.

Just ask the late Carroll O'Connor, a.k.a. "Archie Bunker."

However, I wouldn't have told the joke Ann told for two reasons. The first--it's not particularly funny. My line would have been "I've been asked to talk about Edwards, but I don't believe in beating up on women." OR if the gay theme were essential, "I've been asked to comment on John Edwards' campaign, but I'm afraid his boyfriend might be me up."

Which brings me to reason number two: It didn't make her point. Coulter's joke wasn't entirely about John Edwards' offputting femininity. It was also a swipe at p.c. sensibilities.

Coulter is right. It is a strange America we live in where college professors who teach students that Halliburton blew up the World Trade Center can keep his tax-funded job, while an actor who uses the word "faggot" is forced into re-hab to keep his role in a TV show.

But this ham-fisted application of an offensive term in what reasonable people will see as an offensive manner undermines the argument. How about "I'd like to talk about Edwards, but if I did, I'm afraid I'd lose my cameo on Grey's Anatomy?"

Meanwhile, Ann is laughing all the way to the front page. People who turn to Coulter for political punditry don't understand the job she has signed up for. She's no Carville or Novak--her gig is satire. You may find it funny and insightful, you may find it mean spirited and juvenile. Either way, Ann Coulter says "fine. Just keep buying my books."

She is not in the service of the conservative movement, nor is she (obviously) an apparatchik of the GOP. She's telling jokes and making points.

She's also, in my opinion, making mistakes. But even with the mistakes, Ann Coulter makes the world a better place, because she's smart enough to challenge the arrogant elites and funny enough to (often) make me laugh while she does it.

Putting The "Hard" In Harvard

Ever think to yourself "Gee, I wish I were smart enough to attend Harvard. But I couldn't possibly understand all that abstract thought and intellectual discourse." Well, here's what that "intellectual discourse" looked like in a recent email from the Harvard Dean of Freshmen:


***SPECIAL EVENT***
Hooking Up: Hot Hints For Making Your Harvard (or Future) Sex Life Great
Thursday, March 1 7:00 PM
Ticknor Lounge

Want to know more about how to access pleasure, how to communicate your desires and how to make sure that you're getting what you want and need from your partner? Do you have questions about sex or sexuality that you've never had answered? You won't want to miss this!

Join us for a scintillating and sexy talk with Amber Madison, author of the recently released book "Hooking Up: An All-Out Guide to Sex and Sexuality," before her appearance on the Today show the following day! Amber will share helpful advice and crucial information about having a gratifying sexual life now, or later! You'll also have the opportunity to submit a question anonymously to have answered during the session.

In addition to sexxxxxy suggestions, come enjoy chocolate covered strawberries and HOT chocolate. Other snacks and opportunities to win prizes (including Amber's book), as well as other great "stuff' will be included. ALL students of every gender are welcome!

Now THAT'S worth $60,000 a year in tuition! Sign me up!

What Kind Of American Ends Up In Radical Islam?

Nice, smart, middle-class ones like Daveed Gartenstein-Ross.

I read his new book, My Year In Radical Islam, not long ago and it blew me away. If you want to understand the mindset of the militant Muslim minority within American Islam, read this fascinating book.

Ballot Box Boneheads

Do Massachusetts liberals view their American citizenship as a privilege...or a hassle?

It they view citizenship as a privilege, as I do, then why do they work so hard to undermine it? Abandoning border security is bad, but I can understand the "hey, we'll never keep illegals out anyway" pragmatism of some open-borders advocates.

But for the Left, it doesn't stop there. The McCain/Kennedy amnesty plan offers citizenship as a direct reward for people who choose to cheat and enter America illegally. LEGAL immigrants don't get the favorable treatment that illegals do.

Gov. Patrick happily offers taxpayer-subsidized housing to illegal immigrants, while American citizens go without. He wants them to have the same subsidized college tuition as American citizens, too.

So should we be surprised that Massachusetts liberals in Amherst, Cambridge, Wayland and now Newton have taken the next step: Giving non-citizens the right to vote.

True, these governments are technically offering the right to vote to legal aliens, but does anyone doubt that this will make it easier for illegal aliens to sneak into voting booths the same way the snuck into the US?

And even if we could be assured that every non-citizen who votes is a legal alien, how does that change the fact that this is yet another assault on the value, the privilege, of citizenship?

When I'm in Ireland, I don't get to vote there. When I was in Iraq, Iraqis were voting on a constitution, but the American soldiers risking their lives to protect them weren't allowed. Is that going to change? No. Do the people of Amherst, Cambridge or Newton think it should?

I'm betting the answer is no.

You can't support giving non-Americans the same rights as Americans without embracing the idea that being an American is no big deal. Nothing special. So what. I'd go so far as to suggest that this is the ultimate expression of the lack of patriotism of the Angry Left. What's more "anti-American" then assaulting the idea of being an American as inherently valuable and worthy of protection?

One last note: Taxpayers in these towns should be aware of the political consequences of immigrants with access to the ballot box. Some immigrants are college professors and the like, and no doubt they will cast well-informed (though overwhelmingly liberal) votes. But the majority of immigrants aren't college professors...or even high school grads. Most come from countries whose political systems are rife with graft and corruption.

If you want Newton's public servants to uphold the high, ethical standards of the Mexican Police Department--then let the citizens of Mexico vote in your elections.

Out Of The Frying Pan And Into The Feminism

Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell's joke about a female ref at Monday's Celtics game wasn't a big deal. Not particularly funny. Not particularly offensive. It was a guy, calling a basketball game, making a joke about a bad call.

Maxwell's apology wasn't much, either. A classic "If you think I did something wrong, you have my permission to think I'm apologizing for it" that has become the norm in this situations.

The real story, in my opinion, isn't the story at all, but rather the reaction to it. My 96.9 FM TALK colleague Margery Eagan sums it up best in her Boston Herald column today. The reason women have reacted to Maxwell's "get back in the kitchen" comment is because of their own conflicted feelings over having left the kitchen in the first place.

One the one hand, there's the motherhood movement, celebrating the decision of smart capable women to do the hard work of raising their own children. On the other hand, as Eagan points out:

"Anytime I hear someone tell a woman doing a man’s job she should get 'back to the kitchen (and) make me bacon and eggs,' here’s what else I think: that nobody respects people who make bacon. It’s bringing home bacon we admire. Oh, we talk a good game. The sacredness of motherhood. The selflessness of setting aside career ambitions to devote yourself to home and hearth, blah, blah, blah. That’s what we say. But those who actually do it? No respect from the world, their men or their children, either.

Sorry, all you stay-at-home moms. And dads. It’s just another Hallmark card scam.

Feminist icon Linda Hirshman is even more direct. Her latest book Get To Work condemns any "elite woman" (intelligent, motivated graduates from elite colleges) who falls into the trap of "choice feminism" and decides to leave the workplace:

"Bounding home is not good for women and it's not good for the society. They aren't using their capacities fully; their so-called free choice makes them unfree dependents on their husbands...

For all its achievements, feminism cannot make more progress, private or public, until it turns its spotlight on the family. Child care and housekeeping have satisfying moments but are not occupations likely to produce a flourishing life....

Deafened by choice, here's the moral analysis these women never heard: The family--with its repetitious, socially invisible, physical tasks…allows fewer opportunities for full human flourishing than public spheres like the market or the government. This less flourishing sphere is not the natural or moral responsibility only of women. Therefore, assigning it to women is unjust. Women assigning it to themselves is equally unjust."

Every mom who shows up for work must deal with the knowledge that her career choices will have some negative consequences on her children. Now every smart woman who makes the ideal choice for her children is being told she's letting down the sisterhood and even Western Civilization itself!

A sister just can't win--in or out of the kitchen.

UPDATE: Special thanks to Linda Hirshman for agreeing at the last second to be a guest on our show today. She's fundamentally wrong about, well, everything, but our conversation was fascinating and revealing.

Additional thanks to my lovely bride, The Warden, for finding the answer to the repeated question, "Does Linda Hirshman have children?" The answer, from Linda's website:

I have had two husbands, including the present one, a biological daughter and two stepdaughters and one standard poodle, Alexis de Tocqueville. The three daughters have, among them, four graduate degrees and three jobs.

I apologize to Linda for missing that during the show today. We had some technical issues and I couldn't access the section of her bio with that information.