Recently in Government and Politics Category

I just returned home from the fabulous First Annual Ben Dover Beer Bash and I must say it was one of the best quasi-political/social events I have had the privilege of enjoying in many a fortnight.

Sincere thanks to Ben and the entire Too Conservative gang for putting it on. You all did a really good job with this, everything to follow notwithstanding.

That being said, I must emphasize how deeply we all appreciate the Virginia State Police being invited to play such an integral role in the event. I mean, when I am invited to a "beer bash," just knowing the state police have been tipped off and are stationed nearby makes the suds go down a little bit smoother. Thankfully, the vast majority of attendees did have 4-wheel drive and most of us took the "back way" out of the Old Dominion Brew Pub via the power line easements and as far as I know everyone managed to slip the gauntlet.

I know, everyone is wondering: DID WE FIND OUT? As in, did we find out who are the real people behind the notorious Too Conservative pseudonyms?

Well, the answer is, yes and no.

Yes in that we DID find out who every single one of them was. And no, in that I don't remember, dammit. It was a "beer bash" after all. Sorry about that. I suppose it will all come back to me in a dream someday. I vaguely recall shots of vodka and ancient Polish drinking songs, but that is all.

Linda B. and I had a very nice conversation with Lori Waters and her husband, and I must say I'm glad we will have Lori in office for another four years. I truly wish Phyllis Randall had run for another office.

MY major excitement of the night was my Quest for Stevens Miller, and boy was it more than I bargained for!

Y'see, I was told by several people that newly elected Loudoun Supervisor Stevens Miller was a "moderate Democrat" whom I should really talk to about the illegal hiring issue. I was intrigued because it seemed like "moderate Democrats" always turned out to be simply "Democrats" - but something about this fellow rang true. He turned in a very thoughtful candidate survey to Help Save Loudoun, and his public statements were not half bad - better than many Republicans, in fact. So I wanted to meet this fine gentleman.

Well, on account of either the spite toward me being on the losing side of some of these recent elections, or my opponents being cruel swine, some folks decided to have a little fun with old Joe and send me on a good old-fashioned snipe hunt for this Stevens Miller. Jonathan, the heartless bastard, was ringleader, and pointed me towards busboys, sous chefs and other patrons - "THAT'S Stevens Miller" - and after about five of these fruitless interviews I began to catch on to the fact that Jonathan did not have my best interests at heart.

I had a fascinating, 45-minute policy discussion with an exceedingly polite, well-groomed "Stevens Miller" who, when I began to pin down dates for specific Board appearances, revealed "Oh no, I am not a Supervisor, I am Glenn Maravetz!"

"Augghh!" I exclaimed. "MARAVETZ!! Most evil of my many evil nemeses!" This was like learning your long lost "uncle" was in fact the man who had killed your father.

I was about ready to give up when Jonathan informed me that "Stevens Miller" was in fact a soccer ball whom I have since named "Spalding" and who I have been conversing with here in the dining room. So that whole confusing incident worked out just fine in the end.

I did get to talk with a couple of the newly-elected supervisors, which was enlightening. I asked them if there would be any common ground between Help Save Loudoun - which had proposed an "Honest Business Initiative" - and their own commitment to reduce rampant development in the county. On the face of it, one might assume we DO have some common ground, because we are all skeptical about developers' profits and how they make them.

Unfortunately, the answer I received was that Help Save Loudoun PAC's endorsement of Eugene Delgaudio was a bit of a dealbreaker - even though we also endorsed Lori Waters, which presumably was not a dealbreaker. I tried to explain the pragmatic aspect of a single issue group that only looks at VOTES but I got the sense that, on this evening, that narrative was not going to resonate. Story of my life.

I think we have a new crop of supervisors who do not think illegal immigration is a problem they can solve - and possibly a problem that does not even really exist here at the local level. This is going to create a very interesting dynamic in the relationship between the supervisors and their constituents. Specifically, the residents of Sterling are going to find themselves disenfranchised if they don't get a few supervisors from other districts to join Eugene Delgaudio in championing their concerns.

After seeing the unabashed disdain for Eugene, I am quite intrigued about how the new Board will respond to the citizens of eastern Loudoun.

But at least the conversation has been started. I think the new Board members are approachable, and I think they have the citizens' best interests in mind. The ones I spoke with do not seem at all like elitists, and though I think their antagonism toward Eugene is misplaced, I think their animus is meant to benefit the legal residents. This is a very good sign.

BRAVO, LI - bravo.

This is an off-the-top-of-the-head report based on my observations of tonight's results, meaning, no links or final stats. Here's a very general Post report.

Here is the Post's running results page.

Our two Republican Loudoun supervisors who took the strongest positions on local immigration enforcement, who stuck their necks out the furthest and also took the most heat for it - Lori Waters and Eugene Delgaudio - won.

They are also the supervisors in whose districts Help Save Loudoun PAC had the heaviest coverage with the lit drop project. In Sterling and Ashburn, the citizens spoke.

The rest of the Republican board candidates, if the numbers hold, got their asses handed to them.

Not a great year to have an "R" next to your name.

I think the growth issue and general Republican fatigue were major obstacles for these candidates to overcome.

In the Sheriff's race, Steve Simpson won reelection, which shows the undeniable problem posed when the party departs from its candidates. Greg Ahlemann won the nomination in June, and a powerful segment of the party swiftly went to work for the losing candidate who ran as an independent. Three months after the Convention, the party did run a full page newspaper ad supporting Greg Ahlemann and Lori Waters - the candidates beset by newly "Independent" challengers. It might have been helpful if the party had acted sooner. A united Republican party could have produced a victorious Republican Sheriff.

Patricia Phillips lost the Senate race, apparently by about 5,000 votes - a significant margin. Patricia did not run on the immigration enforcement issue in the general election - the issue which won her the primary. I am going to suggest running to the middle on this issue was not a winning strategy.

I think these two races provided an opportunity for Northern Virginia residents to demonstrate their desire for more local immigration enforcement. There were a number of issues in play, however, with both of these contests. The Sheriff race, in particular, evolved into a rabbit's warren of side issues. Greg Ahlemann truly had a mountain to climb to win this election.

Delegate Bob Marshall and Senator-elect Jill Holtzman Vogel won their races, and these were two of the top immigration enforcement candidates for the next session in Richmond. These are two more huge victories.

I don't have results on any of the other Richmond contests.

It appears the GOP lost the Virginia Senate, which is not a great development. On the other hand, the GOP-controlled Virginia Senate in 2007 managed to kill almost every good immigration-enforcement focused bill that passed the House of Delegates last session. So, it's not entirely evident how the next Senate could necessarily be worse with the Dems controlling.

More to come.

So what's going to happen tomorrow?

WTOP reports that, based on absentee ballots, tomorrow's turnout is not going to set any records.

The crummy weather we are having will undoubtedly not help the situation, especially with just the third early-dark evening of the year and morning and evening temperatures that will approach freezing out here in the hinterlands of Loudoun. Election Day will also be "Welcome to Winter Day." It will be tempting to get home from work and stay home.

Based on the weather, and the fact that so many of the issues in the various races are ones which make most voters' eyes glaze over, I think there could be a really low turnout on Loudoun. On the face of it, I think this scenario benefits the Democrats because there will likely be an even mix of political activists from both sides voting, plus the obligatory sprinkling of actual citizens - and this year, I think the latter will break Dem.

LI has a nice prediction thread going, I recommend you check it out.

I don't have a feel for any of the other Supervisor races, but I think Eugene Delgaudio is going to win Sterling District in a landslide. After this is all over, I will share some scans of the direct mail pieces his campaign has sent out. Pretty effective stuff.

I think the Sheriff and 33rd District Senate races will be the most telling. The wild card is the illegal immigration issue, and whether it motivates a sufficient number of citizens - especially in the voter-rich Broad Run and Dulles districts.

If not for the latest iteration of the local GOP weenie wing, Greg Ahlemann would have clear sailing to election as our next Sheriff. Unfortunately, former Republican Steve Simpson decided to play spoiler and make that victory a wee bit harder to attain, and make a Democrat Sheriff that much more likelier.

My personal preference - no surprise - is that all voters pay close attention to the immigration enforcement issue, and vote up or down on that one alone. Lots of other questions can be discussed and hashed out after we've ascertained whether we will still have a country or not.

If the issue has been solidly framed in the sphere of public opinion, that certain candidates are for and others against local immigration enforcement measures, I think the HSL-PAC "ticket" will achieve 90% success and particularly Greg Ahlemann will be our next Sheriff. However, this is by no means assured, because the immigration enforcement message has primarily been expounded on the Web and in various blogs, which are to the votership as a whole as Joe's Home Brew is to Budweiser.

If the turnout is ridiculously low, all bets are off. The only non-aligned people who bother to vote may indeed be those who care about immigration enforcement. The HSL-PAC lit drop campaign, which reached 30,000+ households, might bring an extra 3,000 voters to the polls countywide. It could make the difference.

If you want to help end the illegal immigration crisis in this country, a place to start is with tomorrow's Virginia elections.

Help Save Loudoun PAC's "Immigration Enforcement Ticket" focuses on a number of northern Virginia races in which voters have a clear choice between candidates with very difference conceptions of local and state governments' role in immigration enforcement.

Those who are in favor of a strong local and state role will help put us on the road to fixing the problem. Those not in favor of such a role will help ensure the problem is never solved.

You can download a copy of the "Ticket" here - and please circulate it to everyone you know in Loudoun, Fairfax, Fauquier and Prince William Counties who may have the opportunity to vote for one of these candidates.

To read the educational flyer from Help Save Loudoun PAC which has been hand-delivered to many thousands of households in Loudoun County over the past five days, click here.

I don't know whether a single lit drop to a portion of this county's residences can make a difference in such a geographically massive area, but rest assured more voters now understand how to solve this problem than did a week ago.

Please pass along the above links to every voter you know and encourage them to VOTE TOMORROW, NOV. 6.

I'm calling out all you whimps. Yes, I mean those gutless wonder commentors that allude to knowing all these juicy secrets about candidates but don't elaborate. Well it's time to grow a pair (yes, ladies, you too) and show us what you are made of. I feel that you owe it to our readers to devulge knowledge of candidates that may affect our voting. I surely don't want to cast the wrong vote for not knowing all the dirt. Is Delgaudio a Mafia Don? Is West a member of the KKK? How about York taking lunch in county offices with a dominatrix? Did Phillips use to work for the KGB? I want the dirt where someone has photocopied neighborhood kids on their shorts.

The rules are simple:
1. If it is public knowledge or already known-who cares.

2. It has to be why a candidate shouldn't hold office-not why a candidate should.

3. Local/state candidates only. We'll get to the nationals later on.

4. Has to be PROVABLE and easily ACCESSABLE. Confirmation is a MUST. Pictures, videos, audio at legitament locations golden! "an anonymous source says" or "it is rumored that" or "my aunt Jenny told me" are no good and not provable.

Time to show us what you REALLY know. Change my mind-I'm susceptible to change. After the election doesn't count. If the comment count remains zero I won't be suprised. As the saying goes, "wind blows free".

James Atticus Bowden is running for the Republican nomination for the First District U.S. Congressional seat made vacant by the untimely death of Jo Ann Davis. The nomination will be decided by a convention on November 10.

Jim Bowden is one of those individuals who conservatives WISH would represent them in the halls of government - as opposed to those we usually get who simply march under the ideological banner. This is a truly unique opportunity to get someone in office who really believes, and lives by, the tenets we see exemplified so rarely in public life.

I have corresponded with him a number of times via the blogs and had the honor of spending over an hour talking with him at the bloggers' conference this past summer.

I told Jim that I heartily endorsed his candidacy the second I heard about it.

The catch is, he needs delegates from the First District to show up on November 10 (he also needs money, but the delegates he cannot do without.)

Please go learn all about Jim at his excellent campaign Web site. Especially see the series of videos.

If you know anyone who lives in the First District (extends from Newport News to Fredericksburg - use this link - fill out the form, and see if it says "Congress: Jo Ann Davis" near the bottom) have them e-mail their legal name, address, best telephone and email address to jatticus1@yahoo.com.

[My opinion: Heh. To the extent anyone pays attention to this story, it is ultimately going to work to Greg Ahlemann's favor. Dismissing tickets is a widespread practice, and Mr. Ahlemann inadvertantly, by simply telling the truth, caused his opponents for the sheriff's seat to take untenable knee-jerk public positions which anyone familiar with the workings of law enforcement will immediately recognize as BS. Mr. Ahlemann apparently did a fine job making his case more clearly on all of the local television news outlets this afternoon. This is the type of story that is only effective if it does not have the opportunity to percolate in public consciousness. Once people begin to think about it, they realize the guy telling the truth is on the much more solid ground. The Post sprang it a week too early.]

[Mr. Ahlemann also stated today: "Any voters who don't want to hear their Sheriff telling the truth shouldn't vote for me."]

Yesterday's attempted October surprise on Loudoun County Sheriff Candidate Greg Ahlemann by reporter Bill Brubaker of the local "we try harder" publication has, unsurprisingly, turned into another signature boomerang piece by the Washington Post.

Discerning readers might have gathered from the original story that the contention of supposedly "experienced" Loudoun sheriff candidates Mike George and Steve Simpson that they never dropped tickets or asked for them to be dismissed does not quite ring true. As two officers interviewed in the story stated, it is a common practice. How could Mr. Simpson and Mr. George, with such long service records, have avoided the practice?

Former Loudoun County sheriff's deputy Dave Price (2001-2006) has an explanation: "Total hogwash."

"Dropping tickets" is, according to Mr. Price, "very commonplace."

Regarding the Washington Post reports of the statements by both candidates Mr. Simpson and Mr. George, Mr. Price said any law enforcement officers "read that, they know he's either straighter than any straight arrow they've ever known - or else he's lying."

Mr. Price said his father, a police officer for over three decades, confirmed he "did not know of any that haven't taken a call" to drop tickets.

Mr. Price recalled an incident in which he ticketed a teenage girl for speeding. Soon afterwards, a Fairfax County Police Department lieutenant asked Mr. Price to dismiss the ticket because the girl was on the local softball team. Mr. Price complied - which he said is the practice nearly all the time.

Another incident precipitated Mr. Price's resignation from the Sheriff's Office, about three weeks before he left.

On that day in 2006, Mr. Price was manning radar on River Creek Parkway in Landsdowne, where residents had been complaining of frequent speeders in the 35 mile an hour zone. He clocked a vehicle traveling at 55-60 miles per hour, and proceeded to pull it over. The driver became "belligerent with me, cursing me up and down," Mr. Price relates.

"He would not calm down. Finally his friend in the passenger seat told him to 'shut up, let's just go to court.'"

After writing the ticket, as he drove away, Mr. Price got a message from Sheriff Steve Simpson asking him to call Mr. Simpson's personal cell phone number. According to Mr. Price, Mr. Simpson asked him to drop the ticket, saying "The guy is some building contractor the county is trying to schmooze to get some building built. He said you were very professional with him. He has had lots of tickets and is worried that his insurance will go up. Would you mind getting rid of the ticket?"

Mr. Price agreed to drop the ticket and reports this is when he begain looking for another job.

The Post's Mr. Brubaker elected to just now release a story that would have been breaking news in January of this year.

At that time, former deputy and candidate for sheriff Greg Ahlemann issued a press release detailing an incident that took place in September, 2006, when Lt. Colonel Randy Badura pressured a deputy to agree to drop charges against Bruce Zurschmeide, who the deputy had charged with the triple misdemeanors of DUI, refusal to submit to a breathalyzer test and attempting to elude police. The deputy was asked to agree to the charges, which might have resulted in a sentence of year in prison, being dropped to a petty "drunk in public" which only carries a $50 fine.

Sheriff Simpson reportedly backed Mr. Badura in seeking the reduced charges.

Mr. Ahlemann took an interest in the incident as symptomatic of corruption which was hurting morale within the Sheriff's Office. He proceeded to investigate the details, some of which were divulged in the press release.

He was interviewed by Mr. Brubaker months before he won the nomination.

The Post reporter elected to sit on the story until this past Friday, October 26, when he called Mr. Ahlemann with some follow up questions.

Today, Mr. Ahlemann released to the media some background data which adds a layer of important information to the story. First is an audio recording of Mr. Ahlemann's interview with an internal affairs investigator.

The interview is worth listening to a couple times through, because it demonstrates the IA investigator is not investigating at all, but is in fact attempting to fix the story of what happened to match what would be in Mr. Badura's and Mr. Simpson's best interests. The investigator attempts to ascertain from Mr. Ahlemann that Mr. Ahlemann has not let out any information that would be damaging to the department.

Another interesting note is that the Zurschmeide family now appears to be actively promoting the false idea that the arrest of Bruce Zurschmeide was invalid (the IA interview above affirms the "arrests were good," putting the lie to the Zurschmeides' contention). A recent e-mail circulated from a member of the family argued:

Last Fall my brother was erroneously arrested on his own property by the current Sheriff's department for a DUI. After investigation, the Commonwealth Attorney reduced the charge to a misdemeanor.

In an effort to support his platform, Mr. Ahlemann claims and recently reported in the October 28th issue of the Washington Post that my brother received special treatment "by a high-ranking sheriff's official". The truth is that the arrest took place on private property and after an unsolicited investigation, the Commonwealth Attorney decided to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor. My brother does not have a relationship with any high-ranking official from the Sheriff’s office, nor has he ever met Sheriff Steve Simpson. At no time did Ahlemann bother to speak to the arresting officer or to my brother about the facts of the arrest. Instead he chooses to falsely cite this incident as a platform for change.

The data - in particular the IA interview - accompanying this post, clearly shows the Zurschmeide family should have let this story die.

Regular, non-connected residents of Loudoun County know that for similar behavior they would be behind bars.

So while the Post's front page story attempted to paint Mr. Ahlemann as engaging in unusual practices, the truth of the matter strongly appears to be that Mr. Ahlemann is the only one telling the truth. Mr. Simpson - by advocating for lessening charges that would have any normal citizen facing extended time in detention - has some explaining to do in the case of Mr. Zurschmeide.

As the former deputy Mr. Price noted about Mr. Ahlemann, this entire story should "put Greg up higher because he's actually being honest about it. What's the point of lying about it?"

Supporting the original press release from Mr. Ahlemann, below the fold are copies of the original complaints in the Zurschmeide case filed by the arresting officers.

This story from the FRONT PAGE of yesterday's Post - along with the Loudoun Times-Mirror, certainly among the area's foremost political advocacy organizations - deserves thoughtful comment which I unfortunately am not yet in a position to provide.

(Day jobs are a killer, and this is one of the periodic weeks when I can't break away to do a lot of "free" work such as this blog surely can be.)

But I will try and get to it late tonight.

Just on the facts contained in the article it should have raised eyebrows among careful readers about what exactly the reporter, Brubaker, or his editors were trying to accomplish. It should also raise SERIOUS questions about why anyone would trust either of the old guys running for this office. More later ....

In the meantime, below the fold is a response from the Greg Ahlemann camp.

What is not to like about this man?

Eugene Delgaudio, Sterling District Supervisor, has stood by the legal residents of Loudoun County and is one of our few advocates for immigration enforcement on the Board of Supervisors. He stood by the residents of Herndon during the 2005 imbroglio over the day labor center and ensuing, mildly resonant 2006 elections.

He is the hardest working supervisor in Loudoun County, overseeing the Sterling District from dawn till dusk till dawn. The many residents on his e-mail list get constant updates on everything from crimes, to emergency situations, to store openings, to volunteer opportunities.

He is, frankly, beloved by the Sterling residents. Countless residents have saved his letters of congratulations and thanks - for making the honor roll, or for displaying the American flag. They know that nobody else, not even as nice a lady as Jeanne West, would cheerfully put in the time and energy that Eugene Delgaudio contributes day after day, year in and year out, advocating for this district. He has a personal connection with so many members of the Sterling community and the residents of Loudoun County.

He personally championed the immigration enforcement resolution the Loudoun Supervisors eventually approved unanimously in July - at a time when the media were excoriating any politician who dared to breathe a word about local immigration enforcement.

Small wonder all of Eugene Delgaudio's public events draw huge audiences.

Some people disapprove of his irreverent style: Oh yes, he appears to enjoy his job too much - that I will grant. But in the effort to bring a common sense approach to local government it sometimes becomes necessary to laugh certain things off. Or rather, to laugh a LOT of things off - and this is a way he particularly connects with his constituents. We all know the way the government uses our tax dollars is often ridiculous. It is refreshing to have a Supervisor such as Eugene Delgaudio who is not afraid to say when that is the case.

Although the vote was an extremely positive result, here are the ugly details about how some prominent senators voted. Notably, the top Democratic candidates for president, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, once again demonstrated their pro-amnesty position.

Also, we saw some key Republican defections. A friend writes the following:

Senator Sam Brownback - a lost cause

Barely days after dropping out of the presidential race Senator Sam Brownback showed his true colors and voted AYE for the Amnesty. He never fooled many of us. Hopefully from this day on no one else will be fooled by this open borders/amnesty advocate. This duplicitous Senator should simply be ignored from now on. He is not to be trusted.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison - needs severe chastising

Senator Kay Baily Hutchison voted AYE as well - on this AMNESTY bill that had NO enforcement provisions whatsoever. Even the very flawed so called "comprehensive amnesty bill" defeated this past summer had some enforcement provisions. This bill had none. Senator Hutchison showed that she cares more about illegal aliens than she does about her own constituents and the law abiding citizens of the United States. Senator Hutchison is not however a lost cause. She does however, need to be reminded who voted for her and whom she is supposed to serve. She needs severe chastising by the people of Texas.

Further evidence we need to take a close look at candidates demonstrating radical changes of heart on illegal immigration - both of these went through some gyrations over the past two years on the previous amnesty measures. This also brings to mind that quisling-like fellow ...

Harry Reid is trying to push through the "DREAM" act in S 2205 while he thinks no one is looking.

This is a bad, bad bill. See the reasons below. Main reason, it is a front-door amnesty which will lead to immediate reward for illegal behavior while millions are waiting in line to enter the U.S. legally! It is an outrage. Because of chain migration it will result in a new flood of under-educated and unskilled immigrants when social services at every level of government are unable to provide adequate benefits to existing citizens.

We just received word that a group of U.S. senators' staffers are right now in a meeting with a contingent of illegal aliens pleading their case.

We also heard that the phone calls are largely against the "DREAM" act. Let's keep that momentum going!

CALL YOUR SENATORS NOW: Ask them to commit to voting "no" on cloture tomorrow on S 2205 in order to keep it from coming up for a vote in the full Senate.

DC Office of Senator John Warner
Washington, DC
202-224-2023

Midlothian Office of Sen. John Warner
Midlothian, VA
804-739-0247

D.C. Office of Sen. James Webb
Washington, DC
202-224-4024

Virginia Beach Office of Sen. James Webb
Virginia Beach, VA
757-518-1674

If you are in another state find your senator's contact info by clicking here.

Highlights:

• S. 2205 would do what all amnesties do -- entice millions more people to become illegal aliens here. The word across the world would be that immigration crime pays.
• The DREAM Act amnesty doesn't just offer U.S. citizenship to illegal alien teenagers, it also provides amnesty to the parents of most of them. Once the amnestied teens become citizens they can obtain an amnesty for their parents.
• Plus, anybody who can claim to be under the age of 30 can also make a claim to have arrived before the age of 16 and make a move for the amnesty (plus all of their relaties through chain migration).
• S. 2205 provides for no extra enforcement to help ensure that families around the world don't risk their teenagers' lives by forcing them to enter the U.S. illegally across the deserts. Passage of this amnesty likely would increase deaths of illegal aliens in the desert as more and more people attempt to get into the country in preparation for the next amnesty.
• Many of the advocacy groups pushing the DREAM Act amnesty openly say it is intended as a way to break the barrier and then to push for several more amnesties and rewards for illegal aliens.
• Many of these teenagers weren't brought to the United States illegally by their parents. Rather, many of them came on their own and found illegal shelter with legal immigrants who were from their country. Passing this amnesty will encourage millions more families to consider forcing their young teenagers into dangerous journeys to America to become illegal aliens and hope to get similar rewards.
• If there is a compelling story for giving amnesty to any of these high school students, it should be told only after the rule of law has been restored, including a fully functioning entry/exit system at the border and mandatory verification of all new hires by all businesses, governments and non-profits.

More background info here and here.

We've addressed this matter innumerable times since March, but as the election approaches and the next General Assembly as well, it seems worthwhile to post some reminders.

Twelve House bills dealing with illegal immigration, most of which passed by overwhelming - if not veto-proof - majorities in the General Assembly, were killed in Senate committees this past session.

If you want to research bills yourself, you can of course go to the GA Web Site and type in the bill number or search by representative.

To save you a little time, here are some research aids produced by friends at ANCIR and Help Save Herndon:

Some good bills which died in Senate committees.

Details on some of the bills.

This is why a number of us were saying, after the session had ended, that this Senate needs to be burned down and replaced. It looks like we did not succeed in getting rid of Ken Stolle - but who knows, maybe he has seen the light. It certainly means we need to dump some career politician types and replace them with people committed to implementing immigration enforcement measures in our state.

More to come.

How rich. Employers of illegal aliens attempt to convince business reporters that they cannot function without the cheap labor.

We have heard this sob story before: Work will not get done and, oh my, fruit will rot on the vines. This Post reporter, at least, attempts to answer the obvious questions.

Local and state enforcement of hiring laws causes illegal aliens to leave and legal workers to earn better wages:

"They will not stay here if they know they will get no taxpayer subsidy, and they will not stay here if they know if they ever come into contact with one of our fine law enforcement officers, they will stay in custody until they are physically deported."

Hispanic business groups, citing school enrollment losses and church parish figures, say the laws, which start going into effect later this year, have caused as many as 25,000 undocumented workers to flee the state in recent months. The loss is being decried by the Oklahoma State Home Builders Association.

"In major metro areas we are seeing people leave based on the perception that things are going to get bad for them and that this state doesn't want them here," said Mike Means, executive vice president of the association. "Now we're looking at a labor shortage. I've got builders who are being forced to slow down jobs because they don't have the crews. And it's not like these people are going back to Mexico. They're going to Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Arkansas, anywhere where the laws aren't against them."

Means said that while construction wages haven't yet gone up in Oklahoma, they are likely to do so if the shortage worsens. Advocates of such laws say that is precisely how strict regulations on illegal immigration can help American workers -- by forcing wages higher. But construction industry leaders counter that a wage increase in Oklahoma, where builders are already paying $15 to $20 an hour for labor in a state with low unemployment, would lead to a net loss of jobs as some businesses are forced to close, particularly if other states allow less stringent hiring practices.

Of course, SOME companies would eventually do the construction work in Oklahoma, being as how you have to be there to do the building. These companies would obey the law. And if no states "allow less stringent hiring practices" then we would be back to the rule of law everywhere. What a concept.

It took a ridiculously long time, but we have finally arrived:

We got Laura Valle's undivided attention:

In a brief interview, Valle said she left La Voz for personal reasons and to become more "politically active" in light of the county's tougher stance on illegal immigration.

"I'm going to keep tabs on Help Save Loudoun," she said, referring to a group that supports local governments enforcing immigration laws.

In response, Help Save Loudoun spokesman Joseph Budzinski said: "I salute Laura for everything she has done and I can't think of a better person to keep a close eye on Help Save Loudoun."

Notwithstanding the fact we all could have avoided so very much unpleasantness if Ms. Valle had simply made this decision a couple weeks earlier, I am pleased to welcome her to the realm of free and open debate.

All snarkiness aside, I think we got off on the wrong foot with Laura because she took a cursory overview of the playing field and decided Help Save Loudoun was her enemy - without spending one single second finding out what Help Save Loudoun actually was. As happens so often in cultural disputes, the La Voz folks imputed their worst fears onto their presumed opponents, and before you knew it we were all blood-enemies without having learned a thing about those on the other side.

Laura seems particularly mixed up about the relationship between Help Save Loudoun and tbe initiatives that have moved through the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors' proceedings since July. There is an evident lack of historical knowledge.

It might surprise her to learn the only formal proposals that Help Save Loudoun has brought to the Board have been 1) support for county government participation in the ICE 287(g) training program and 2) a crackdown on illegal hiring.

Does Laura actually have a problem with either of these proposals? If so, I'd love to hear the rationale.

As hinted at here last month, there appears to have been a bit of back room treachery going on among a clique of local Republicans for the purpose of getting Steve Simpson re-elected as sheriff, after Mr. Simpson got clobbered at the Republican Convention in June and took about four hours to break his pledge to support the party nominee.

The chicanery seems to have included a really pitiable whispering campaign which a semi-prominent local Republican even attempted to disseminate here but which has gone absolutely nowhere - especially now that the superior candidate, Greg Ahlemann, has decided to confront all the allegations directly (more here).

Tough luck for the weasels: Greg Ahlemann is no shrinking violet.

Now comes the revelation via a leaked e-mail exchange - just posted by Loudoun Insider - that some prominent GOPers may have basically leaned on the Ahlemann campaign to shut up about the activities of Simpson supporters within the party. So rather then being thrown out on their arses, the turncoats were permitted to stay, and - if the e-mails are genuine - they counterattacked.

No one I've spoken with has confirmed the e-mail messages are for real, although the lack of response suggests to me they are. Read them for yourself and you'll see they have the semblance of authenticity.

What this means is some people supposedly in the party are really not going to make it easy for the party nominee, Greg Ahlemann, to win this election. What this says about the party is, in my opinion, not much, but then, I have a REALLY cynical view of human nature. There is no reason to think the natural snakiness inhabiting the human race as a whole would not also inhabit the Loudoun County Republican Committee in precisely the same proportions.

More significant is what this episode portends for the public perception of Steve Simpson.

My take on Mr. Simpson from the beginning, since I began following the illegal immigration issue last year and the campaign at the beginning of this year, is he is a decent guy, a little on the feckless side, who happens to have so interest whatsoever in doing anything proactive about discouraging illegal aliens from coming to this area. In Mr. Simpson's words, it's a federal issue, end of story. Until Greg Ahlemann stepped onto the scene in February, Mr. Simpson's entire stated philosophy on the issue was a litany of excuses for why his department will NEVER do anything more than it was currently doing. (You can read the Sheriff's take on the issue, and some of the flack he took from locals, during the February townhall meeting here and here; a little more citizen flack here.)

Mr. Simpson's response to citizens' complaints has been, in essence, you really have nothing to complain about because things are getting better, and in any case there is nothing I can do about it.

Naturally, this approach has not endeared the sitting sheriff to many local residents, and the current controversy will sully his reputation even further while providing quite a bit of motivation to those who want him out of office. QUITE a bit of motivation, I would guess.

I can imagine that local activists who might be getting a bit weary of the campaign season, which has been going on for nearly a year, might get a fresh blast of energy if messages begin circulating to the effect "Hey look at this outrage! Are we going to let them get away with this? Do you need any MORE reasons to work to get Greg Ahlemann elected?" Getting Steve Simpson out of there, while also knocking his supporters down a few pegs, could provide the inspiration to take a few more hours off of work, get up a little earlier on a Saturday, knock on a few more doors.

In a low-turnout election, a few more motivated people three weeks out could make a difference, if such messages were to circulate. Hypothetically.

Accomplishing swiftly what Prince William and Loudoun Counties have not yet been able to pull off, and which the town of Herndon is on the brink of, the city of Chesapeake, Virginia has just passed the most far-reaching legislation in the state to limit illegal hiring practices.

The City Council voted 6-2 Tuesday to adopt an ordinance requiring city contractors and vendors to certify that they are not hiring illegal immigrants.

Officials say they think Chesapeake is the first city in Virginia to support an ordinance like this, although other cities also are taking steps to regulate what has largely been a federal issue.

"It makes companies think twice about hiring illegal aliens," Councilwoman Patricia Willis said. "It puts them on notice that somebody is looking..."

Edge was approached by a group of citizens calling themselves Help Save Hampton Roads. Members of the group say they have met with city leaders in Norfolk and Virginia Beach and have redoubled their efforts after a Virginia Beach crash that killed two teenage girls. An illegal immigrant named Alfredo Ramos was charged.

"It's against the law for them to be here, and we know they're here," said group member Pam Gordon of Chesapeake. "We hope this is going to be the door-opener for Norfolk and Virginia Beach."

Congratulations to the folks in Help Save Hampton Roads! While all the media has been focused on the efforts in Northern Virginia, these guys have quietly moved the ball further down the field than anyone could have expected.

And thanks from the entire state to the forward-thinking City Council members of Chesapeake, who have now demonstrated it is possible to get something like this done in a short time. It is fully within the authority of a municipality to set conditions for businesses operating with their jurisdiction. This is the first, most effective step that every local government should have already taken to reverse the illegal migration trend.

Maybe some Chesapeake Council members could come up here and give a few lessons lessons to our local government officials.

Loudoun Sheriff Candidate Greg Ahlemann dropped in with another great comment here, in the Loudoun Farce thread:

I had a great interview with Loudoun Force. Clearly, this issue stirs emotions on both sides. Loudoun Force and I have different beliefs on how to deal with the illegal immigration problem, as I probably disagree with them on social issues as well. From a former deputy's perspective who worked 5 years in Sterling Park, the community has gotten significantly worse. My former co-workers and members of the gang unit who have seen it change would agree.

Statistics can be manipulated to show about whatever you want. For example, people might look at the # of traffic tickets given out last year compared to five years ago and say "statistics show there are more violations now". When in fact, we have more traffic deputies writing tickets now than we did five years ago. The focus on the traffic division is to write 100 tickets a month now (per motorcycle officer). In fact, in fiscal year 2006, I wrote @ 1,200 tickets, probably the most in the entire department, but my evaluation from my supervisor said I needed to "write more tickets". Huh? So use these statistics with a grain of salt. The statistics written on a piece of paper don't help the citizens feel safer.

If Mr. Simpson believed that crime and these issues were getting better as his statistics show why did he reverse his stance on the ICE issue after 2 and 1/2 years of saying we don't need it? I have stated my intentions with the ICE program. There are those like National Council of La Raza, La Voz and others who disagree with it. I don't expect their vote, but I will gladly speak with them. This is why we have elections. I am giving the citizens a choice, a new direction, in dealing with this.

On a separate note, I was wondering if Jonathan was going to correct or update the factual information about me on his website? Google my name. As far as I know unless Jonathan or the poster is anti-semitic they could put at least an update to that post. I believe Loudoun Force could verify that if needed also.

I say this because I have seen past statements from David and/or Jonathan criticizing candidates for not "updating information they know is false". I just wondered if that works both ways?

Again, if people disagree with me on my patriotism or religious views and choose not to vote for me because of them, that is your choice. Unlike many politicians (which I have seen enough of already from both sides of the aisle), I embrace who am I am and what I believe. I respect that quality in others, even when I disagree with them.

Truly a stand up guy - just what we need in a Sheriff, in my opinion.

Ok, joke's over: This is what I really meant to say.

...I do not blame Mr. Weintraub for his confusion about the illegal migration conundrum, and I truly thank him for making it public, because it is a crazy situation.

But I really had you going for a while there, Jonathan and David, didn't I?

UPDATE: The letter that initiated the discussion has fallen off the Times-Mirror front page, so here is the link again for those who have not read it. There is a fascinating discussion going on in the comments.

UPDATE: Read my accompanying letter at the Loudoun Times-Mirror Web site here. Read David Weintraub's "assuming readers have a very short memory" response here. Compare the facts in the latter column, printed Sept 24, with the article below.

The recent behavior of David and Jonathan Weintraub, prominent Democratic activists from Lovettsville, illustrates how clinging tenaciously to a position you know is wrong can get you a little unhinged. (They are also bloggers.)

The Weintraubs are liberal, pro-illegal alien advocates .... a formulation which, I sincerely believe, most Americans are soon going to recognize as a contradiction in terms. "Construction company owner" pro-illegal alien advocates, or "poultry processing magnate" pro-illegal alien advocates each make perfectly good sense. But "liberals" advocating to redirect funds from disadvantaged Americans and reduce wages for American workers makes absolutely no sense.

Staggering under the burden of this predicament, David Weintraub lashed out in a letter to the Loudoun Times-Mirror, and Jonathan chimed in with a comment, with plucky, yet ultimately feeble, attempts to shift public attention from their plight.

Bizarrely, both Weintraubs denounced certain local people by stating outright lies about things these people allegedly said or did at recent events - without even bothering to check whether there was a reviewable record of what actually occurred. As it turns out, there is. And while it will bring me great pain to lay out all of these facts and corrections, I feel compelled to do so as a service to the Weintraubs, in order to help them take the first difficult steps back toward intellectual coherence.

A Shameful Start

David got the ball rolling with the letter, modestly titled "Shame on Mr. Budzinski".

First of all, shame on Mr. Joseph Budzinski, spokesman for Help Save Loudoun, for trying to claim that La Voz is engaging in improper political activity. Mr. Budzinski knowingly made this misrepresentation.

Now, this is a direct assertion that I said a specific thing, made even more unambiguous by the second sentence, that I did so "knowingly." Presuming to know what I know, David probably should have gone the extra yard and hazard a guess about what I might do, which is to fact-check him.

David is referring to a public statement I made about two weeks earlier about Laura Valle and the organization for which she serves as executive director, La Voz of Loudoun. Ms. Valle had been featured in several recent media reports about opposition to the Loudoun Board of Supervisors' July 17 resolution on immigration enforcement.

Two of the reports linked Ms. Valle with Mukit Hossain, executive director of the Virginia Muslim Political Action Committee, with the Post article stating the two of them would be "rallying" people to attend the Board's next meeting.

My statement was made during an interview with reporter Jason Jacks in a front page story of the August 24 edition of ... the Loudoun-Times Mirror. Since it is the same newspaper, it's not a stretch to think someone might go back and read it. But apparently David's zeal overcame his reason, and he left himself a tad exposed. Because it has an online edition, we can see exactly what was in Mr. Jacks' August 24 report:

What's more, Joseph Budzinski, spokesman for Help Save Loudoun, a group that thinks local governments should enforce immigration laws, said he questioned the public money because La Voz's interim executive director, Laura Valle, has been acting like a political "activist" of late rather than the head of a nonprofit.

"It appears to me that some of what La Voz does goes beyond that of a 501(c)3 [nonprofit]," he said. "I think there are some questions to be answered about this. ... It came as a surprise to me to learn how much money they get from Loudoun..."

Note the word "activist" is in quotes, indicating something I said, but the word "political" is not. I have requested the editors of the Times-Mirror ask Mr. Jacks to check his record of our conversation, because I am pretty sure I did not use the word "political." My primary reason for questioning La Voz' funding was because I thought Ms. Valle seemed to be providing services for and advocating for illegal aliens, and against the citizens of Loudoun County - which is fine for her to do, but not with public funding.

But let's assume Mr. Jacks used the word "political" in his question and I responded without a correction, or let's even assume I used the word somewhere in my reply: What I said is that because of how Ms. Valle has been "acting" and what "appears" to be going on, I thought the question needed to be asked whether La Voz should be receiving public funding - asking this question was the action by Board member Eugene Delgaudio that I was being asked to comment on. Affirming there is a "question" is not the same as to "knowingly" "claim that La Voz is engaging in improper political activity." This is a deliberate misrepresentation.

But wait, there's more. Shortly afterward, Mr. Jacks quotes Ms. Valle:

With respect to political activism, she said La Voz "is pretty light" compared to other immigrant groups ...

.
Ms. Valle here admits that La Voz does engage in political activism. So in the article David Weintraub used as evidence for my "misrepresentation" - the only person who makes a "claim" that La Voz engages in political activity is ... the executive director of La Voz.

David Weintraub apparently lives in a world where people can say all sorts of crazy nonsense and no one ever asks for citations or bothers to check the record. It is my mission to deliver David from that world.

A Note About Laura Valle

In case you are wondering why anyone would give a rat's patoutie about public funding for this nonprofit organization called La Voz, some background:

Though I had met Ms. Valle once, briefly, after television interviews in Leesburg, my first extended introduction to her occurred when I read a provocative July 23 column on the Times-Mirror Web site (which I encourage everyone to read), in which she compared "so called anti-illegal immigrant activists around the country" to Adolph Hitler. The only "ranting and raving" party named by Ms. Valle in the column was Help Save Loudoun, the local citizens' group for which I am a spokesman. Help Save Loudoun is the only such group mentioned by name in Ms. Valle's column.

Ms. Valle wrote that Help Save Loudoun's members

....will preface their outrageous statements by saying that this 'is a nation of immigrants' or that 'my Grandmother came from Italy', etc. They say these things to counter the accusations that they are bigoted, discriminatory, or anti-immigrant.

After labeling Help Save Loudoun as "anti-immigrant" and putting the above phrases into our mouths, Ms. Valle proceeded to launch into a breathtaking display of obfuscation, invoking further caricatures to say that people who are concerned about overcrowded houses are "making an assumption about a person based on the color of their skin or the language they speak."

Then, from her sheltered aerie out in Lucketts (in western Loudoun County), Ms. Valle delivered a tidy slap in the face to the residents of Sterling and those of our neighboring state:

Do these people not realize that if every undocumented person in this county were deported they would still have overcrowded houses with unregistered cars parked in the drives, they would still see people peeing outside (on a side note - I most recently observed that behavior on a private golf course when a golfer had had too much to drink, apparently could not make it to the restroom in time, and instead used a tree). When all the illegals are gone and their neighborhood has still not returned to what it once was, well, what issue will they hide behind then? And if overcrowded, run down houses with cars parked on the lawns are an indication of an 'infestation of illegals' then I am afraid we might have to check the papers of a significant percentage of West Virginia's residents!

The above paragraph perfectly represents the sanctimonious perspective of the elite illegal alien advocates. It is no surprise that the Weintraubs, hailing from Lovettsville, display a natural kinship with Ms. Valle's sneering appraisal of the citizens of eastern Loudoun County who simply want the rules in their neighborhoods enforced. How unsurprising to learn Ms. Valle deems her experience at the golf course in any way proportional to what so many residents of Sterling have to deal with from the house next door.

Memo to the Weintraubs and Ms. Valle: The reason the tide has turned in America is because millions of us who live in regular neighborhoods now have firsthand experience with the negative effects of the influx of illegal aliens into our communities. We do not have the benefit of a ten mile cushion of farmland between our homes and the new suburban reality. Many of us do not even play golf.

After reading her column, a number of people had the distinct impression that Ms. Valle was unfairly targeting Help Save Loudoun, which had prided itself on NEVER ranting and raving nor making broad statements about illegal immigrants. Our primary focus of action, in fact, was on illegal employers. Many of our members took exception to her broadside, which seemed disingenuous, and were surprised to learn she was taxpayer funded.

Shortly after this column appeared and she was featured as spearheading the rallies against the Board, it came to light that Ms. Valle's organization receives over $25,000 in annual funding from Loudoun County taxpayers.

On August 15, La Voz held a public meeting in Leesburg to discuss illegal immigration. Ms. Valle stated the following in response to the question: Does La Voz use taxpayer money to provide services to illegal aliens?

How do you deny somebody the opportunity to learn English, or to help their children that are in the schools - we don't have the capacity, I don't think we have the will, and I don't think it's in anyone's interests to do so.

In other words: Yes.

The final exhibit in our discussion of La Voz is an extremely revealing letter by Ms. Valle printed in the September 4 edition of the Times-Mirror.

Ms. Valle takes a moment to explain how her organization got its name:

The name La Voz (The Voice) was chosen in 2002 by a group of concerned citizens during a community meeting. We have always hoped that it would communicate the message that we are an organization that cares for immigrants.

Why would she bother to spell this out? She had to because she got called on it.

The name La Voz' leaders decided on matches that of another organization which was already prominent in 2002 and, along with the Mexica Movement, is one of the most notorious ideological entities engaged in the illegal migration debate: La Voz de Aztlan.

La Voz de Aztlan exemplifies everything that the most shrill, apocalyptic and paranoid anti-illegal advocates might warn you about, and then some. La Voz (de Aztlan) celebrates anchor babies and unabashedly promotes the reconquista of the southwest U.S., proclaiming Los Angeles the "Capital of Aztlan."

This La Voz also gleefully promotes the agendas of America's enemies. The death of NFL player-turned-soldier Pat Tillman draws snide remarks; the beheading of journalist Nick Berg is portrayed as taking place in Abu Ghraib prison; Osama bin Laden is viewed as the modern Pancho Villa; and, in case there was any doubt about La Voz' sympathies, their Web site even reprints the infamous blood libel against the Jews, Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

La Voz (de Aztlan) takes a benign view of Nazi Germany:

This acceptance of the jew history of Germany would be laughable when one studies the true dogma of the Third Reich. Consequences of internalizing jew lies and acting on them, as we Aztecas, like others, have had led to a misinformed and erroneous view of Nazi Germany. If the jewish depiction of Nazi Germany was true, Hitler would not have supported Francisco Franco in Spain, Mussolini in Italy or have aligned himself with Emporer Hirohito's Dai Nippon (Great Japan). Himmler's Waffen SS was the most perfectly multinational combat organization in the war. Arab civilians prospered more under the Axis than British/jewish occupation. We must be careful not to accept as fact the lies which are published and broadcast about Nazi Germany. We must remember at all times that the jew media censors what gets aired and printed and what most people read, see or hear has been censored to assure it conforms to the zionist agenda.

In sum, La Voz de Aztlan is the type of odious organization that any reasonable American would run away from as fast as our feet could carry us. To the contrary, La Voz of Loudoun adopted their name. This would be akin to the founders of Help Save Loudoun deciding to name our organization the "Ku Klux Kaptains."

Ms. Valle's letter goes on to note

... a bull’s-eye painted squarely on our backs. For what? For helping people. It has been a challenge to navigate through the minefield that is this issue, all the while trying to keep my own opinions and emotions at a healthy distance. It has been a tremendous learning experience, and though I have stumbled along the way, I am proud of my work and the work of the Board of La Voz of Loudoun....

The Board of Directors, volunteer members, and paid staff of La Voz of Loudoun wants it known that we will continue to stay on the high ground. We hope that others will join us there.

Let's all be clear about this: La Voz (of Loudoun) only got a "bulls eye" on their back because they compared Loudoun citizens asking for better law enforcement to Nazis. Claiming "the high ground" in the debate is a pitiful attempt to deflect attention from what Ms. Valle has actually said and done. She admits her "stumble." Good. But this is misdirection, plain and simple, unartfully employed and completely transparent.

The reasons some people might have questions about public funding for La Voz (of Loudoun) have nothing to do with alleged improper "political" activity, but with the organization's aiding and abetting of illegal migration and working against the interests of Loudoun County's citizens.

Crazy Over Greg Ahlemann

The Weintraubs' unstable ground gets even shakier when they discuss Greg Ahlemann, the Republican candidate for Loudoun County Sheriff. Democrats and turncoat Republicans Independents are noticeably freaked out by the Greg Ahlemann candidacy. Ahlemann is such an excellent public speaker and exemplary individual, and has such a compelling vision for the Sheriff's Office that the other two candidates pale in comparison. This has supporters of the trailing candidates very, very scared. Their only resort is to disinformation.

Unfortunately, that pesky public record stands in their way.

David Weintraub's letter continues:

He was present at the Sterling informational forum that Sterling Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio refused to attend, and he knows that the only person there who had to be reprimanded for political campaigning of any kind was Greg Ahlemann, candidate for Loudoun sheriff.

And Jonathan said this in the comments:

Joe Budzinski lied about my community on his Nova Town Hall blog and collaborated with the local anti-gay industry.

Now we see the most transparent political stunts, like sheriff candidate Greg Ahlemann politicizing a La Voz forum and then testifying to the BoS that their funding should be cut because their forum was politicized.

[As to the first sentence, I would say simply: Prove it, Jonathan. My statements about your "community" and my collaboration with said "industry" should be easy enough to cite if such evidence exists. Of course, the way you've framed it, just about any statement could be presented as about a "community" or "industry."]

Let's turn first to the newspaper report:

During questions and answers, Republican Loudoun sheriff candidate Greg Ahlemann, a former Loudoun deputy, said police can detain someone for something as simple as "running a red light" if they are not carrying identification.

He also recounted an incident of an illegal immigrant from Sterling who last year hit and killed a Herndon man with his car. The driver, Jose Santos Sibrian Espinoza, had been cited by police at least a dozen times for traffic violations before the incident.

"I support the 287(g) program," Ahlemann said.

After Ahlemann's comments, Christ the Redeemer's Father C. Donald Howard reminded Ahlemann that the meeting was not a political forum and asked him not to speak again.

This confirms that Mr. Ahlemann was reprimanded, although the evidence of his "campaigning" or "politicizing" is quite absent.

As luck would have it, I have audio recordings of everything Mr. Ahlemann said after he introduced himself.

After one of the panelists had talked about the 287(g) Immigration and Customs Enforcement training program for local law enforcement, during the questions and answer session, Mr. Ahlemann raised his hand and was handed the microphone. He said "My name is Greg Ahlemann and I am running for Loudoun County sheriff" and he proceeded to provide the following information about 287(g). The first recording begins with the interpreter translating Mr. Ahlemann's first words which were before I got out my recorder:

Shortly thereafter, an audience member was called on, and had a question for Mr. Ahlemann, which he answered as follows:

At this point the priest stood up and said Mr. Ahlemann was no longer allowed to talk. They went back to Q & A, and the next question was for Mr. Ahlemann. When the interpreter explained that Mr. Ahlemann was no longer allowed to answer questions, three or four other hands that had been raised went down and there was an audible sigh of disappointment from the audience.

When the event was over, Mr. Ahlemann was surrounded by a crowd of at least 10 audience members, and he spent 15 solid minutes speaking with them.

After listening to the recordings, which are raw audio captures of the event, you will see that Mr. Ahlemann did not do ANY campaigning. The only reason he was "reprimanded" is the priest did not want him speaking - despite the fact that the audience clearly wanted him to talk more. Mr. Ahlemann had direct knowledge of things the people wanted to know. School board member Warren Guerin - who is also a candidate for office - was allowed to speak without reprimand.

But hey, maybe I doctored the audio. Anyone who was at the August 26 event can listen to the recordings and, if truthful, will tell you that is exactly what was said. But maybe it's a conspiracy. Well, we do have another test.

Jonathan Weintraub claims Ahlemann testified about La Voz "that their funding should be cut because their forum was politicized" to the Loudoun County Supervisors on September 4.

WHOOPS! Wouldn't you know it, but there also happens to be a very public record, which is totally incontrovertible, of exactly what Mr. Ahlemann said in that forum. It turns out the Loudoun government has this newfangled thing called a "webcast" on the Internet.

Go to the Loudoun County video archive on this page. Scroll down to the "Board of Supervisors' Business Meeting" of Sep 4, 2007, and click on "Watch."

On the right side of the page, scroll down till you can see item #III, "Public Comment" and click on the link This will skip you ahead in the recording. Then grab the little bar under the video window on the left side of the page and move it as close as you can to 54:38. There you will get to hear and watch Greg Ahlemann's speech verbatim.

For your convenience, in case you cannot watch it, I have transcribed Mr. Ahlemann's September 4 speech below:

My name is Greg Ahlemann. I reside in Leesburg. I appreciate the opportunity to come before you today to speak. I will say that some politicians and power players within politics don't care for me very much, because I'm very outspoken about what I believe. I also believe that's what elections are for. That's one of the reasons why I'm here today.

I'm quite concerned with the fact that we can use county tax dollars to provide services for illegal immigrants, who are in this country illegally, and reward contracts and donations to groups like La Voz who provide services for illegal immigrants when we can't afford to pay our deputies and our teachers enough to live in this community.

I look at the deputies at the back of the room, the deputies in the lobby that are here today. I venture to say that many of the new deputies that come to work for the Sheriff's Office don't live in Loudoun County. Some of them don't even live in the state of Virginia. We can't afford to get them shift differential.

But for people that are in this country illegally we can take our tax dollars and provide services for them. While we neglect the people whose very lives our deputies are paid to protect. It seems like a problem to me.

Our deputies are not members of our communities, many of them. Their kids don't go to our schools. Their not part of our neighborhoods because they can't afford to live here, all while we're sending tax dollars to fund illegal immigrants. Is this really what we think is best for our county and for our communities?

I've spoke to you before about contracts. And I've read just briefly what the attorney had to say about the contracts here. I can tell you, car washes and things like that, we're going to have studies and these things are going to go on long past the election. We could have studies on this for years.

I could tell you, personally, if elected sheriff, I'm not gonna need a study to tell me that our deputies can wash their own vehicles until the Board of Supervisors can decide whether or not we will pay for illegal immigrants if they're working there and send our tax dollars there. I will take a stand on that.

Unfortunately, since January of 2004, when the Department of Homeland Security contacted the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office to invite them to participate in the ICE program, nothing's been done about it. It took until May 1 of this year when I sat in this room and listened as the Sheriff's Office talked about how they were gonna look into the ICE program. During that time, there have been accidents, there have been people killed, like the gentleman that was in Herndon who was killed by someone that the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office had in their custody.

How long do we need to have studies to enforce the law? These things are no brainers. And I also wonder how sincere are our elected officials about really doing something about this. The programs that you guys will decide, and our elected officials will decide on, will only be as effective as the sincerity of those enforcing it.

Thank you

There is, to put it mildly, substantial evidence against the Weintraubs. Without putting too fine a point on it: Their claims are blatant deceits.

Greg Ahlemann did not say a single word about cutting funding for La Voz "because their forum was politicized."

The Weintraubs are lying. The evidence proves it.

Conclusion

Pro-illegal migration "liberals" are in an untenable situation because they have pitted themselves against lower- and middle-class Americans who should be their natural constituency. For a number of years they have employed terms like "compassion" and "civil rights" to justify illegal employment practices without any thought to the other people who might be deserving of compassion, namely their fellow citizens, nor the historical population of citizens who truly have been victims of civil rights abuses, such as African Americans.

The common definition of a progressive activist does not include "facilitator of corporate corruption," but we are living in an unusual time, an ellipsis in American political history. Major social and economic structural changes have occurred during the past two decades, and the political end result is still a long way off. At the moment, we live in an environment of contradictions.

Country club Republicans and self-proclaimed "liberal" elites, who do not live in the communities most affected by illegal migration, are lined up with bad-citizen business owners to encourage the influx of unskilled workers from other countries.

This corrupt elite has a definite constituency among profiteers and illegal migrants, but is solidly opposed to the best interests of most of the legal residents. What is happening in American today is, the citizens have begun to push back.

When illegal migration was only a trickle, the impact was minimal and localized. Today, the effects are broad-based. The local situation serves as an instructive example.

Over the past few years, legal residents of Sterling could be excused for becoming cynical after assuming the county government would take action on businesses hiring under the table, commercial vehicles on their streets, businesses run from homes, single-family houses turned into multi-family residences, drivers without operators licenses or proper insurance, and an assortment of other infractions for which citizens felt they would be held liable but for which illegal migrants seemed to enjoy a lower level of scrutiny and enforcement.

To protect the illegal employment establishment, government agencies seemed to have a policy of looking the other way on infractions by illegal aliens. The general approach has appeared to be: The feds won't take them, and we do not know what to do with them, so we will just let them go.

Now that so many communities have been affected by the influx, legal residents are demanding a different approach. When the problems were largely confined within Sterling Park, the rest of Loudoun County's residents had the luxury of viewing illegal immigration as a theoretical matter. Today, the problem is recognized almost everywhere east of Rt. 15.

For many of us in this county and this country, the problem is right next door. Citizens have seen their livelihoods impacted by corrupt employers who game the system, their local governments' budgets strained by increased demand for social services, and their neighborhoods blighted by unenforced local regulations because authorities are inclined to look the other way.

This is where Help Save Loudoun comes in. We are the advocates for legal immigrants and legal residents. We believe the illegal migration problem is directly rooted in corrupt business practices, and the only way we are going to turn the corner on this problem is by enforcing the law on employers who hire illegal aliens.

We believe that solving this problem must begin at the local level. Just as local police are permitted to catch bank robbers for the federal crime of robbing banks, local governments can take specific steps toward enforcing immigration laws. We also believe that our local and state governments can end the don't ask/don't tell policy toward crimes committed by illegal aliens.

We believe our local government officials have wide discretion to ensure the safety and security of our communities, and they need to exercise it.

If our local, state and federal governments would simply do what they are supposed to do, the majority of illegal aliens would leave - self-deport - and companies would be forced to become good citizens and do what it takes to hire and house legal workers (hey, guys, check out the eastern regions of North Carolina - bet you could find some laborers there), and people like the Weintraubs would have an unambiguous calling to work for the betterment of our least fortunate citizens, remember how to tell the truth, and go back to being classical liberals again.

Republican candidate for Loudoun County sheriff, Greg Ahlemann, left the following note in one of our comment threads. Mr. Ahlemann makes some important points so it belongs on the front page.

(As always, there is an open invitation to the other candidates for sheriff to submit their own posts, and I will also put them on the front page and edit only for punctuation, about which I am frighteningly zealous.)

The true significance of the upcoming Virginia elections was underlined in grand fashion by filmmaker Ron Maxwell at a tremendously successful fundraiser for Greg Ahlemann. Read Ron's speech below the fold. The Greg Ahlemann for Sheriff campaign held a public meeting in Leesburg last night, the best political event I've personally attended in the current campaign season.

Thanks!!! to Ron Maxwell, Redskins hero Dexter Manley, who hung out and signed autographs, and a multitude of local luminaries who showed up.

I counted over 120 attendees throughout the evening. Not bad for a Tuesday night when "Back To School" night appearances provided substantial competition for candidates.

Attendees included Treasurer Roger Zurn, Commissioner of Revenue Bob Wertz, Commonwealth's Attorney Jim Plowman, Senate candidate Patricia Phillips, LCRC Chairman Paul Protic, and former Delegate Dick Black.

I was particularly gratified to finally meet my countryman Jeff Wolinski, and perpetual gadfly, the bulletproof one, Dean Settle. We did not have much time together, but I can tell the three of us could be trouble.

Ron Maxwell's speech traversed the illegal alien issue from A to Z, from the symptoms to the cause. He illuminated the problems citizens have experienced and the corporate interests that foster the influx.

Greg Ahlemann is the sheriff candidate who proposed FULL participation in the ICE 287(g) program, as well as putting a full court press on the Board of Supervisors to implement strict enforcement on zoning and businesses. Sheriff Simpson followed by parroting Ahlemann's proposals with a "me too" response, but Ahlemann set the agenda.

At the local level, everything depends on the WILL of our local officials to enforce the law, because there are innumerable escape clauses for those who do not wish to do so. As an example, Loudoun County receives $59.00 per night in compensation for federal prisoners held in our jail. Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, receives $109.00 per night. As the Mecklenburg County PR person told us, the only reason for the better payoff is they demanded it.

What else are the citizens of Loudoun County not getting, because our elected officials do not have the will to ask for anything better?

Most importantly, electing Greg Ahlemann will put the guy in office who truly believes in immigration law enforcement. Both current Sheriff Steve Simpson and Democratic candidate Mike George are exemplars of the non-enforcement approach. We can all see where that has gotten us.

Following are portions of Ron Maxwell's speech. If you want to understand what is happening with the illegal immigration problem in America today, I strongly recommend you read all of Mr. Maxwell's remarks.

UPDATE: My bad: Board of Supervisors candidate Geary Higgins was in attendance for most of the evening. (In fact he was the ONLY supervisor candidate in attendance. Too bad for the rest of them, they really missed something). I spoke to him and shook his hand so I really should have included him on the luminaries list above. Hey, the first draft of history often includes major omissions ...

The Sunday Washington Post was just full of interesting articles. You have the Dems playing the "word" game where there are no more "earmarks" on their bills. They change the name to something else and say that "....it is perfectly legal". Anybody that shows me a work-around and tells me that it is perfectly legal is skirting the rules. Earmark is earmark. The word carries a bad tone associated with "pork", "special interest" and the like. What that means is spending YOUR money wastefully. What the Dems do with proficiency (as well as some out-of-step Republicans). Let's just say that those people associated with the left are at it again!

The GOP is wanting to pander to the Hispanics and can't understand why no Republican candidates other than John McCain are willing to show up with the Democratic candidates for a forum tonight in Miami on Hispanic issues. I wonder if they are talking about foreign policy? Otherwise, why would a candidate single out an ethnic group? Special favors? I thought the object was to tell Americans (U.S.) what their positions were to help all? Does this smack of "special interest" also?

Al Gore is going to support one of the Dem candidates...any except the Clintons. Do you think that Hilly is better off because of this? I certainly have my own opinion.

And Mark (I'm the best Governor of Virginia in your lifetime) Warner is in a quandary as to which position to run for. If he chooses U.S. senator, he will be assessed with the other Democratic candidates (and he doesn't stomach that well). Does this say something? He wants to be governor of Virginia again and thinks that his record will landslide him right in. The governor who took a deficet and turned it into a surplus....with a tax increase! Heck, anybody can do that. The Dems are NOTORIOUS for that mindset. Kaine't wanted to save that surplus for a rainy day and increase taxes (and has) more. What is that surplus of our money for? I sure could use it. I forgot. The government under liberal thinking needs ALL your money so that it can manage your life since you are too inept to be able to do that yourself. Government for all. Viva Lenin!

I need more coffee so I can work the crossword.

There will be a FANTASTIC event on the evening of Tuesday, September 11, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm, at Bunker Sports Cafe at 510 East Market Street in Leesburg.

Director Ron Maxwell, of "Gettysburg" and "Gods and Generals" fame, will be the special guest speaker at a fundraiser for Sheriff candidate Greg Ahlemann. Also present will be Washington Redskins legend Dexter Manley!

Details here and here.

Mr. Maxwell is one of the most cogent and compelling historical writers in America. His films are masterpieces, classics in the depiction of American history.

This is a rare opportunity to meet an inspirational artist/intellectual while at the same time supporting a Sheriff candidate who will be one of the key pieces in the effort to take back our nation one community at a time.

Be sure and be there! This will be a memorable evening. I have heard Mr. Maxwell speak before and I can assure you it will be well worth your time.

Getting Dexter Manley's autograph is just icing on the cake.

Following are some excellent columns by Mr. Maxwell which you should read to get a sense of what is in store on Tuesday night.

Sowing The Seeds Of Separatism And Strife

Virginians Are Taking Back Their State

What President Bush Fails to See at the Border

Spread the word!

The Tuesday, September 4 meeting of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors was supposed to be a wild public affair, but the circus never made it to town.

The authorities were well-prepared. Several officers each from the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office and Leesburg Police Department were posted around the government building - seven or eight more than you'd see at a typical Tuesday morning meeting. The entire area fronting Loudoun Avenue was blocked off with yellow tape, apparently to ensure the crowds filed through a narrow corridor where several law enforcement personnel were on gatekeeper duty. Parking meters all the way down Harrison Street up to Tuscarora Mill were bagged to keep the street clear.

Everything hinted at the expectation of busloads of attendees pouring in.

And the expectation was not without reason.

After the Loudoun Board unanimously passed an immigration enforcement resolution on July 17, leaders of two local advocacy groups opposing the resolution essentially admitted they were caught flat-footed, and they promised a vigorous response at the September 4 meeting.

Both Mukit Hossain, president of the Virginian Muslim Political Action Committee, and Laura Valle, Executive Director of La Voz of Loudoun, told reporters they were going to bring large numbers of people to the hearing:

Two of the groups leading the charge against the board's efforts are La Voz of Loudoun, a Hispanic outreach and advocacy nonprofit organization, and the Cascades-based Virginian Muslim Political Action Committee...

Hossain's group and La Voz are rallying supporters to attend the Loudoun supervisors' Sept. 4 meeting. At that meeting, the board is expected to hear from county staff members about which services can be cut off to people without legal status and what the financial effect on the county might be.

More from the Connection:

VALLE’S LA VOZ and other groups opposed to the possibility of restricted county services said that they are focusing on educating residents and those with questions about the realities of illegal immigration.

"The goal is not to say they are right or wrong to want to do something," Valle said. "But we want the Loudoun citizens to be involved in this."

Mukit Hossain, president of the Virginia Muslim Political Action Committee, said he is also concerned with making Loudoun residents civically engaged. Hossain, along with other immigrant groups, recently formed the American Dream Alliance, which will work on voter registration and campaigns that support the immigrant community.

"These sort of issues should be dealt with in the ballot box," Hossain said. "I think if you can create activity leading up to the November election, I think we can alleviate the situation."

As it turned out, there were no crowds opposing the resolution, and the audience for the hearing consisted overwhelmingly of immigration enforcement supporters, including at least 10 people wearing "Ahlemann for Sheriff" T-shirts. (Speaking in support of immigration enforcement were Mr. Ahlemann himself and Senate candidate Patricia Phillips).

Although Ms. Valle attended the hearing she did not speak during the public comment portion, and only two of the 14 or 15 people who testified on the issue spoke in opposition to the proposed immigration enforcement measures - and neither of the two seemed to be part of any coordinated opposition.

So why the no show? Perhaps the abysmal failure of the "boycott" and related pro-illegal public events in Prince William County last week left a bad taste.

Whatever the reason, the reversal is a notable shift in tactics from a month ago.

UPDATE - Laura Valle of La Voz responds:

I told no reporter at no time that we (La Voz) was going to try and get a large show at the Board meeting. Our effort to get people involved was the August 16 Panel presentation and the August 26 community meeting. Over 300 people showed up to those meetings. Those are some good numbers.

I did not speak at the Board meeting in part because I was very confident that there would be no action with out further review.

Also, the media misreported when they stated that La Voz is leading the charge against the Board. I am sure you are aware that the media does not always get it right. We have repeatedly stated that we support the Board's effort to look into the issue.

Also I was contacted by Ricardo Juarez (Mexicans Without Borders) in late July at which time I told him that La Voz would not support protests, boycotts, etc. La Voz actually deserves some credit that Loudoun has not experienced what Prince William has over the past few weeks. We have been very outspoken against extremes. We held a meeting at the Sterliing Community Center to get input from the community about what La Voz could/should do in reaction and though we recieved a lot of suggestions to protest and coordinate with other regional groups, we did not pursue any of them as they contradict the stated purpose of our organization which is to integrate and to unite the community.

And no- La Voz has nothing to do with La Voz de Atzlan. (I still have no idea what that is). That's getting old. There are dozens of organizations that use the name La Voz, most of which are Spanish language newspapers, and we are not affiliated with any of them. Please refer to my op ed in the LTM for more on that.

As for the next Board meeting, I am encouraging people to come and speak, but I do not care what they say. 15 people was a pathetic turnout on an issue of such importance.

I cannot speak for Mukit Hossain as I have only met him once but after following all the links it appears he expects people to act at the polls and not during Board meetings.

So Joe, if you are going to continue to write about La Voz at least take the time to get it right, and don't belive everything you read in the media unless it is a direct quote,a nd even those can be taken out of context. I would think as a conservative you would be more sceptical of the media, in particular the Washington Post.

There is no coordinated opposition in Loudoun County that I am aware of. There need not be. The suggested actions brought forth have raised enough questions and concerns all by themselves, as the County Board acknowleged on Tuesday.

The signs have begun appearing on the VDOT right-of-ways. Me, personaly, believe it nothing more than an eyesore. If you think that I don't understand your name by the first sign and you must remind me every five feet for a quarter mile, I am assuming that you believe me to be a moron and you don't need my vote if that is the case.
A sign like "Kerry/Edwards-For A Stranger America" has great truth but doesn't really tell you much. Find a sign, write down the name, and when you get back to your computer find out what he/she is all about. The sign won't tell you that. Also, if the sign shows up in SPANISH, time to nix that candidate. If you can't understand English, you can't vote. This sign would be considered pandering.
Be careful with your contributions. When a candidate uses his funds to obliterate the countryside with signage, that is ill spent. The bigger the sign, the bigger the eyesore. If older people need something that big to read then they are probably already reading Braille. Remember, the one with the most signs, LOSES!
I find that VDOT has found a way to tax every utility I get to keep the right-of-ways clean and maintained. Yet there are always signs left over from winners and losers for months to come. Put the signs in your yard. Keep the right-of-ways clean. And do your research BEFORE you vote for a sign!

Ah, well.

It appears one of those individuals you would not want at the top of your party, is now going to be right there at the top of our party.

This, of course, fits a pattern within the GOP.

Reminder: It is telephone book season throughout Northern Virginia - they showed up in recent weeks and they are littering our curbs and office building foyers. I have at least 70 pounds of phone books in my office doorway, for instance.

If you are still getting solicitations with postage-paid reply cards or envelopes from the national Republican Party, the Republican Party of Virginia, the Republican Senatorial Committee, the George W. Bush Cheerleader Society, or whatever, you have a perfect avenue for protest: Send 'em a phone book or three, COD. They will need them.

Support individual candidates, while defunding the party.

The party needs a slap in the face.

UPDATE: Good guy Shaun Kenney, who bears the heavy burden of a paycheck with the word "Republican" on it, seeks to clarify that the Republican Party of Virginia should not be lumped in with the others I mentioned and therefore does not deserve any C.O.D. telephone books as the others most certainly do:

In defense of little ol' RPV, it is a grassroots organization -- meaning that it doesn't take policy positions unless explicitly authorized to do so by the State Central Committee, nor does it automatically endorse incumbents as the RNC does.

In short, RPV operates as the collected voice of the grassroots in Virginia. Please don't send phonebooks.

I'll buy that .... for now.

An acquaintance spent some time visiting with the Loudoun County Zoning Department yesterday and learned the following:

During inspections of overcrowded housing complaints, if the inhabitants profess to having no identification, and claim to be either A) "extended family" or B) in a Bible study, the Zoning Department inspectors automatically give everyone a pass and cease the investigation. Case closed.

There's some food for thought there, especially regarding how the excuses are being coordinated. These certainly seem to be very common stories, both from anecdotal and press reports. Might there be agencies or NGO's facilitating illegal behavior?

The neighboring town of Herndon, population 24,000, has three times as many inspectors as Loudoun County, population 200,000. In the past, I have stated this is a problem and Loudoun needs to have many more inspectors.

In light of the current revelation, I wonder if Loudoun's Zoning Department might actually deserve to be cut back further. Who needs 'em?

In a related story, someone I know just filed a report to the Sheriff's Office on a house nearby for residents who were switching license plates among cars. A deputy came to the reporting citizen's house during daylight hours and knocked on the door to "discuss" the supposedly anonymous complaint. The citizen said they definitely did not want to publicly discuss the complaint.

The deputy then walked across the street to the allegedly offending residence. The complainant watched through the window as the deputy knocked on the offender's door, and when it was answered the deputy pointed back at the complainant's house.

More on the Sheriff's Office here. It seems like everyone on Sterling Park has stories like these.

Hey, ever wonder why Sterling residents are so reticent about filing zoning or other complaints?

Between Zoning and the Sheriff's Office, the Loudoun County government has done a remarkable job elevating official indifference to an art form - a drive around Sterling Park illustrates this fact quite impressively.

In my view, these and other instances demonstrate why we need a change in mindset among the Loudoun County Supervisors - with Eugene Delgaudio and Mick Staton as good indicators of how the entire Board should be focused - and a change in leadership in the Sheriff's Office, with Greg Ahlemann as the man for the suit.

Virginia's socio-political revolution continues apace as another jurisdiction rediscovers self-government, and those of us who get their kicks from this sort of thing spend the last lazy, hazy days of summer in a public work-session on a Saturday night. At a police station, no less.

Blog Khan counted 100 participants at tonight's initial meeting of Help Save Fairfax. That's pretty impressive for a meeting arranged with minimal advance notice in a county whose government has given advance notice that little is planned by public officials to address the local effects of illegal immigration.

Numerous elected officials and candidates were in attendance.

Among them was Virginia Senator Ken Cuccinelli (right), currently the strongest advocate citizens have in the state Senate on the issue of illegal immigration.

Representatives of each of the state's "Help Save ... " groups participated in the program. Above are Greg Letiecq (Blog Khan), (left) president of Help Save Manassas, and masters of ceremony Phil Jones and Aubrey Stokes of Help Save Virginia/Help Save Herndon. I spoke on behalf of Help Save Loudoun.

Delegate Tim Hugo

Springfield Supervisor Candidate Pat Herrity

Virginia 33rd District Senate Candidate Patricia Phillips (left) and Loudoun County Sheriff Candidate Greg Ahlemann.

Sterling Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio

(Also present and conversing with the attendees was Fairfax County Supervisor Candidate Gary Baise - picture to follow in a later post).

The presentation and discussions covered many aspects of the illegal alien problem, including the bad things that cause citizens to take notice, the good things citizens have been able to accomplish to help solve the problem locally, Virginia Senator Ken Stolle (without whom no such discussion would be complete), and other items that will be elucidated at a later date.

More than anything, the evening featured extended opportunities for citizens and would-be elected officials to share ideas and concerns. This type of cross-pollination has been a hallmark of Help Save Loudoun's activities and has resulted in some significant political accomplishments. Although in our membership we are non-partisan, so far the only candidates we've gotten the time of day from have been Republicans (and some Republicans have blown us off entirely).

This is somewhat curious and amusing, because our membership composition continues to be pretty bipartisan, but the power-brokers who will talk to us are largely of one party. Don't the Democratic candidates realize they are missing the boat? No, they do not.

We also had a few interlopers, filming, taking notes and photos, seeking intelligence.

Memo: Here's your intelligence, guys: Calling us racists will not slow us down.

And as the venerable Nelson says on the Simpsons, Haaaa Haa!

No time for the usually trenchant level of analytical reporting tonight, because I am a busy, busy man. Tonight all you get are some pictures.

First, from the historic events in neighboring Herndon, Virginia earlier this week:

Citizens gather prior to Tuesday's Herndon Town Council hearings on the future of the Herndon day labor site. The Council voted to require the next operator of the site to verify that all who use it for ad hoc employment are legally permitted to work in the U.S.

Aubrey Stokes of Help Save Herndon speaks with a Fox News reporter.

Senate candidate Patricia Phillips with members of Help Save Loudoun and Help Save Herndon.

Washington Examiner reporter interviews local citizens.

Next, at an event held tonight by La Voz of Loudoun, designed to distinguish facts from fiction in the immigration debate.

The panelists were La Voz Executive Director Laura Valle (left), Sheriff Steve Simpson, and representatives from an organization that provides legal assistance to immigrants, and from National Council of La Raza (sorry, but the first draft of history does not always include the names of everyone involved).

There was a GREAT question asked which I do not have time to transcribe right now, but which essentially linked NOVA TownHall, Help Save Loudoun, candidates Greg Ahlemann and Patricial Phillips, and even Tom Tancredo, for goodness sakes, into a nefarious web of conspiracy. It was absolutely friggin' inspiring. Just magnificent. All I need now is to get my picture posted at the Southern Poverty Law Center and I can die content.

(By the way, if you care about immigration enforcement, please go right now to the Web sites of all three of those candidates and give them some money. Right Now!! No dawdling!)

Finally, also at the La Voz event, the man Loudoun Insider has deemed worthy of a man-crush, Potomac Supervisor candidate Ken Mikeman (left) with our good buddy Jonathan of Equality Loudoun. Mikeman is pretty nice looking, I must say, but I have spoken with the man and Zoolander he ain't.

The Herndon Town Council voted last night to require that the next operator of the day labor center established by the previous council check the legal working status of those who seek employment at the site.

This vote represents a sort of closing-the-circle on the events of May, 2006, in which the citizens of Herndon established the town as America's Bunker Hill in the current struggle.

Under the new Council, Herndon has led the way on several additional initiatives designed to end the influx of illegal aliens, including becoming the first municipality to send police officers for immigration enforcement training earlier this year.

Here is the Post's report on last night's historic vote; here is the Washington Times report; and below is a report by Herndon resident Bob Rudine.

08-15-2007

By Bob Rudine

The Herndon Town Council decided tonight that the Herndon official day labor site will have to check the legal status of the laborers who use the site. In a 6 to 1 vote after two evenings of citizen comment a resolution was passed which sets the stage for a new operator of the site.
The current operator is Project Hope and Harmony (PH&H) aka Reston Interfaith, with funding provided by Fairfax County and a site provided by the Town of Herndon. Herndon also has an anti-solicitation ordinance which prohibits employers from hiring Day Laborers anywhere else within the town. This ordinance has been upheld in a court challenge based on the existence of the formal day labor site.

The Town Council is seeking a site operator who will validate the legal status of the day laborers' right to work within the United States. Several request for proposals have gone out and they currently have one bidder on the contract. Due to the length of time it is taking to find a qualified operator, the town had to consider an extension for PH&H to operate the site until a new operator who will verify legal status can take over.

The resolution to extend the special exception has two sets of conditions governing the operation of the site. The first (Operator A) is for the continued use by PH&H until a new operator can take over. The second (Operator B) defines the conditions for the new operator. Several changes were requested by PH&H and were incorporated into the special exception including extended hours and an expansion in the number of day laborers the site is allow to have on site.

A third option is available to the council which would eliminate the site altogether if the extension is not approved. This option is not being considered since the anti-solicitation ordinance would be overturned allowing the day laborers to return to the informal day labor sites within the town.

Several amendments were offered during the council deliberations. Two amendments were discussed which would allow charitable donations to be distributed at the site for PH&H. The first would allow all charitable donations to be distributed at the site. The second would allow for food donations only to be distributed. Both amendments failed.

Harlon Reece, the only current councilmen who voted to establish the current day labor site offered an amendment to delete all reference to Operator B from the resolution. This would, in effect, eliminate the immigration status checking altogether and allow the site to operate unchanged in its current configuration. His amendment did not receive a second vote required to proceed and died.

In passing the resolution the Council explained that their oath of office required them to uphold the law and that the law could not be applied selectively. The Mayor said that the town would do anything necessary to ensure the citizens that the day laborers would not return to the streets of Herndon. Reston Interfaith was thanked for their service to the community and the town promised to work with them in their other projects within the community.

During the public testimony, 50 people spoke on the Special Exception which allowed the day labor site to operate. I think it fair to say that everyone there believed that the challenges faced by the Town are caused by the absolute failure of the federal government to enforce immigration law. The issue of what the town can and cannot do is still being debated.

The supporters of the current site claim that the current site operator provides the best solution for the town by removing the day laborers from the streets of Herndon. They are still gathering all around town, and have been since the formal site opened, due to a lack of employers using the formal site. Photos of the 7-11 at Elden and Alabama and other informal sites in Northern Virginia were shown to support their claim. Photos were shown which clearly show day laborers congregating in and around the former informal site. The reality is that street solicitation was curtailed by vigorous enforcement by the Herndon Police of the anti-solicitation law after it was upheld in court.

The supporters of Operator B with legal status checking of day laborers support the notion that current site supports illegal aliens and the town would be better off without the site. The town council’s approach was supported by most of these speakers, recognizing the importance of the anti-solicitation enforcement program to the town. Clearly they believe that this is the best compromise available at this time. One speaker requested that the Town consider adoption of an alternative version of the anti-solicitation law used by some localities which does not require a formal site in order to withstand legal challenge. The notion that the day labor site is a temporary solution was mentioned by several of the speakers including one recommendation to eliminate the annual renewal provisions in the special exception. Residents, from the adjacent county of Loudoun, expressed their concerns regarding the possibility of day laborers establishing an informal site just inside their county if this plan were adopted.

Several residents requested that the council not renew the extension which would close the site outright.

Law suits against the town were expressed or implied by some of the speakers against the anti-solicitation ordinance and Operator B if the current plans were implemented.

Other issues discussed by the speakers included the use of the site as a location to distribute charitable contributions of food and clothes which is the current practice. Crime statics were presented showing the percentage of crimes committed by Hispanics was increasing when compared with non-Hispanics. Since the police do not collect data regarding legal status of criminals, the extent and impact of illegal aliens on crime is still subject to some conjecture and debate. Overcrowded housing was also mentioned by some speakers even though the extension does not address this issue specifically.

In related news, the pro-illegal national Republican Party has firmly established itself as the entity we cannot defund quickly enough. IF you are still receiving solicitations from the Republican Party, AND you still have any telephone books left in your house, you know what to do.

Bricks will suffice in a pinch.

The coming North American "framework" that would eliminate hard borders between Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. Such a plan would also hasten the demise of the United States as we know it, and usher in a North American Union--similar to the European Union!

That is why I am again asking readers of Novatownhall blog to take immediate action by adding your name to a national petition opposing any and all efforts to establish a North American "framework." This is not the same deal as NAFTA, it is far more intrusive. In the EU unelected bureaucrats make social and economic policy without oversight. This is not a democratic way to govern and is something all Americans should reject. The NAU is something that George W. Bush wants to foist upon us. This is not a right v. left issue, it is a freedom and sovereignty issue.

Please click here to add your name to the petition.

UPDATE!! (see below)

It appears that the county, state and federal governments are starting to get the picture; the citizens have had enough and we want the power back in our hands. Illegal Immigration is truly becoming a sweeping issue across the land and there are many changes starting to take place and issues discussed. Even the "Old Guard" is turning 180 degrees because of the consequences of elitist pomp raising the ire of the populace. This isn't due to the Republicans, Democrats, Christians or even you godless individuals ( calm down. I was just having fun). It is due to the left, right, middle, moderate; all idealogies coming together as one.

I am sincere in saying thank you to all who get involved. I believe if we stay away from the issues of most controversy (homosexuality, abortion, global warming, etc.) and relate to the real issues at hand; illegal immigration, american sovereignty, North American Union, China's death grip on the economy-that we can really get alot done and turn this political fiasco around. Blogs, phone calls, media editorials and interviews are getting peoples attention. You people are making a difference.

I may sound naive in what I believe but I do believe with a passion. Keep spreading the word to others to take back our governments. Let's make it the "We, the people..." land again. Yes, we will always continue to have those diverse discussions on issues but let's have more of the issues that count. Elections are coming oh so soon.

The Washington Post is reporting that Loudoun County Supervisors Steve Snow (R-Dulles) and Scott York (I- At Large) have said that if the neighboring town of Herndon finds a new operator for its controversial day labor center who will ensure that all those served are legal workers, Loudoun County may set up its own day labor center.

This is going to cause a firestorm of a controversy in Loudoun County, but it is important to point out the issue is not clear-cut.

It is widely acknowledged that Herndon's day labor center, operated by an entity called "Project Hope and Harmony" - which is really just a committee of the local non-profit Reston Interfaith - serves primarily illegal aliens. It came into existence largely because for several years a 7-11 store at the intersection of Alabama Avenue and Elden Street had served as an informal, ad hoc hiring site which was very disruptive to the surrounding community.

The Herndon day labor center was opened in December, 2005, by the town government, against the wishes of the majority of the town's citizens.

Several months later, the citizens voted the mayor and most of the town council members out of office, with great fanfare.

After several months in office, the new town council passed an "anti-solicitation" ordinance to restrict freelance hiring on the town's streets. When the ordinance was challenged, a judge ruled the ordinance was lawful - as long as the town had an alternative for those who wished to seek employment and employees.

Ironically, the day labor center became the legal prerequisite for the anti-solicitation law.

Herndon is now seeking bids from organizations to run the day labor center when Project Hope and Harmony's contract (actually a "special exception") runs out in September. It is generally assumed the town would like to find an operator for the center who will take one additional, important step: check the legal status of all prospective workers - something Project Hope and Harmony will not do.

If such an operator is found, one might logically conclude that many of the illegal aliens currently served by the Herndon day labor center will go to the adjoining Loudoun County community of Sterling to seek work.

Within 50 yards of the Herndon day labor center is another 7-11 on Sterling Road (Rt. 606) which is already the site of some hiring solicitation activity. It appears that Loudoun Supervisors Snow and York are considering the necessity of passing an anti-solicitation law similar to Herndon's, on the assumption the illegal hiring will simply move across the street and into other areas of Loudoun County if the Herndon center becomes inhospitable to illegals.

In order for such an ordinance to pass judicial muster in Loudoun County, the supervisors apparently wish to duplicate Herndon's model of having an established day labor center which can serve as the designated, legally approved location for ad hoc hiring.

It seems inconceivable that Supervisors York and Snow would have any intention of establishing a workers' center which did not ensure all those served were legally allowed to work in the U.S. Loudoun's supervisors have, after all, been in close contact with the Herndon government to discuss the issue.

Setting up a day labor center for illegal aliens in Loudoun County would not only be a massive affront to the citizens of Sterling, it would be political suicide for any Loudoun County official who signed on to such a plan.

Assuming the Loudoun supervisors are not complete fools, but instead merely wish to replicate the end result Herndon is seeking - a day labor center that only serves legal workers - it seems appropriate that Loudoun County should pay close attention to the current RFP process in Herndon to find a new operator for the Herndon day labor center.

Longtime local resident Butch Baughan is forming a non-profit organization and is one of the applicants to run the Herndon day labor center, under the concept of a vocational education and job-pairing service for all citizens of the area. Butch can speak very eloquently about the need for job training and mentoring for disadvantaged citizens, having spent much of his career as a high school vocational teacher.

Perhaps the new operator of the Herndon workers' center could be considered to run a Loudoun County center as well?

This post over at VA Virtucon reminded me of something that I've been discussing with some of my insider political friends. Is the United States of America on the verge of falling apart?

Among those that still care about the state of affairs in this country (a dwindling number for the last 50 years), we seem to have become a country split in twain. The American people have ceased to speak with one voice. From illegal immigration to the war on terror, frustration rather than unity reigns. The Supreme Court's approval ratings are down and had been below 50% in the past two years, and the President and Congress are none too popular either.

Jesse Jackson, Jr. and a Republican from the midwest almost came to blows on the House floor, and the video below the fold speaks for itself about the way Republicans and Democrats are getting along in Congress.

Ultimately, I believe that apathy will prevent a true split in this country because Americans are too lazy to secede or create a true political realignment.

As for external threats, the Jihadists are bent on causing another attack on American soil (and experts routinely claim they have the capability), but they have no real standing army at this point, and therefore pose no threat to conquer. The Chinese lack a radical element at this point and have not made any serious moves that show that they want to abruptly disrupt the geopolitical order. The Russians with their claim to the North Pole and the Iranians (just crazy generally) have been acting more irrationally, but I'm not sure World War III is that imminent either.

Thoughts?

The Republican members of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors took a stand we should all be grateful for when they sponsored the strong immigration enforcement resolution on July 17.

Thanks to Mick Staton, Eugene Delgaudio, Bruce Tulloch, Steve Snow, Jim Clem and Lori Waters for sponsoring the resolution.

The resolution ended up passing 9-0, with the Board's Democrat and two Independents joining the Republican majority.

This action followed the Loudoun County Republican Convention - well over a thousand people - unanimously passing its Resolution In Support Of Legal Immigration on June 9. That resolution has not gotten nearly the publicity it deserves, because with it the largest political convention ever held in Loudoun County delivered an extremely strong statement for immigration enforcement at all levels of government.

In Loudoun County, at least, the GOP is standing up for the citizens.

Now, as the Virginia political season ramps up, those battling for the seats up for election in November are speaking out further on this issue. Here are some statements delivered this week by our pro-enforcement candidates for office:

1) "As supervisor ... I would take action against employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants," and "partner with Immigration and Customs Enforcement so that our Sheriff's Office is authorized to enforce federal immigration laws ... shut down document mills that illegally produce phony identification, and enforce zoning ordinances to prevent the overcrowding of homes."

2) "The main 'service' an illegal immigrant comes to Loudoun for is a job ... I oppose illegal immigration and want to see effective measures to fight it. That's why I want to see an end to the employment of illegal aliens in Loudoun."

3) "The most important power localities may possess is the ability to penalize employers who knowingly employ undocumented workers. The local response to the problem might just lie in penalizing the Americans who are breaking the law."

4) "Put simply, illegal is illegal. Our first priority must be to deport any illegal immigrant who commits a crime and shut down the document mills ... We must crack down on businesses that lure illegal immigrants to our community ... People come here because there is work and money to be found. This situation is not fair to honest businesses that hire legal employees and must compete with unscrupulous businesses, which hire illegal immigrants for low wages."

(See if you can guess which local conservative made each statement - answers are below the fold)

[Following is a guest editorial by Nan Matthis of American Daughter]

The First Victims of the North American Union?

The bridge that collapsed in Minnesota yesterday carried United States Interstate 35 over the Mississippi River. And, as we pointed out in a previous article, the proposed NAFTA superhighway will use the I-35 corridor.

Inspection reports had raised some concerns about fatigue in the metal components of the span. Such indicators should have triggered retrofit beyond the rather cosmetic efforts being made at the time of the catastrophic failure, particularly for such a critical component of our highway system. So the question arises, Why was this bridge not repaired or replaced in a timely manner?

Since this is a federal highway, garden variety negligence and incompetence by Congress is one obvious answer. The federal transportation budget had enough money, but the funds were squandered on pork barrel projects designed to buy votes for the incumbents (recall that bridge to nowhere in Alaska).

But there is also a more sinister possibility. It is possible that repairs were deferred, in anticipation of complete replacement with a wider bridge when the North America Supercorridor Coalition (NASCO) project reached Minneapolis. The 2001 report to the Minnesota Department of Transportation, prepared by the University of Minnesota, contains the following statement:

Well, the rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated...

Ok, there were no rumors, but like a hobo, I have once again rolled into blog town.

Here's what I've been thinking about lately: LG Bolling recently endorsed Mitt Romney for President (press release below the fold).

While an interesting move (and not one I agree with--see my early endorsement of Fred Thompson, whose campaign is worrying me lately), it made me wonder where AG McDonnell is placing his support.

While he may be waiting for Fred Thompson to get in the race, it would seem unwise to me for a statewide officeholder to place his national political future in the hands of an unannounced candidate whose campaign may or may not actually happen.

I would have expected him to jump on the Mitt bus before the LG could. With Kilgore heading the Giuliani train and LG Bolling going with Mitt, there isn't really anybody left if Fred's campaign stalls before it happens.

Anyone know where McDonnell is leaning or why he hasn't endorsed anyone?

Trying to find out how much money the local public school system spends on English as a Second Language instruction is like pulling teeth - from a mako shark. For whatever reason, they really don't make this data easy to locate.

I've recently gotten the following pages from the Loudoun County Public Schools FY08 Appropriated Budget which detail actual expenditures on ESL from 2004-2006 and budgeted amounts for FY07 and FY08. The first image shows the FY08 increases and the second the budget detail for all years.

The data is interesting to review both for the change in expenditures over that span and also how the amounts compare to other portions of the overall Loudoun County budget.

First, though: The following chart, from details of the Washington Area Boards of Education budgets, shows the change in ESL participation in the area school systems from 1999-2006. (Click the image for the Excel spreadsheet).

"When we have legal taxpayers struggling to keep medical insurance, I don't think this is too much to ask."

Following the actions taken by the superintendents of Loudoun and Prince William counties, Page County (Shenandoah), Virginia will consider a similar resolution next month:

"I don't feel like there is anything wrong with legal immigration," said Hoke. "But if they want to come here illegally and use our services that are paid for by taxpayers, I have a problem with that."

Hoke would also like to see policies put in place to fine employers hiring illegal immigrants.

Page County has seen an increase in the number of immigrants in the last several years. Over the last two years, Page County Public Schools had to hire staff to educate students that do not speak English.

"We have to allow them medical services and to go to school," said Hoke, "but if we wouldn't allow this to happen maybe they would stay in their own country. When we have legal taxpayers struggling to keep medical insurance, I don't think this is too much to ask."

Not a major surprise:

A federal judge has struck down the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, ruling Hazleton's proposed crackdown on landlords and employers doing business with illegal immigrants is unconstitutional. In a 206 - page opinion, U.S. District Judge James M. Munley stated "federal law prohibits Hazleton from enforcing any of the provisions of its ordinance."...

A previous court order issued by Munley has put Hazleton's ordinance on hold since November. Today's decision is expected to be appealed to Third Circuit Court in Philadelphia.

Actually, Mayor Lou Barletta has already made clear the effort won't stop at Circuit Court, either.

UPDATE: (Via Blog Khan) - Here is the decision. The most relevant portion (in my estimation) begins around page 92.

Fred Thompson just brought Spencer Abraham, former senator and Energy Secretary, onto his campaign team.

Spencer Abraham is, to put it mildly, an open borders guy

A good friend, who has been advocating for immigration enforcement since the 1980s, writes:

For years we were at war with Spencer Abraham. Worse than Ted Kennedy. He virtually killed any chance that the Senate would deal with legal immigration in 1996. He was a steady feature in the ANCIR newsletter back in those days. FAIR and Numbers launched an ad campaign against Abraham that caught him at a bad moment in the summer before his re-election. He was forced to drain his election coffers defending himself and he never recovered. FAIR and Numbers took a lot of heat for this (in 2000 people didn't care much about immigration) but it was enough to get Debbie Stabenow elected.

If the rumor that Abraham will be the campaign manager turns out to be true, Fred Thompson will not be the next president of the United States.

U.S. District Judge James Munley is supposed to issue his decision on Hazleton, PA's Illegal Immigration Relief Act in the next few hours.

More on the Hazleton story here, here and here.

[Following is a guest editorial by the most excellent Nan Matthis of American Daughter]

North American Union

by Nancy Matthis at ADMC.

It's almost a done deal. While most patriotic Americans have been preoccupied this summer with the invasion of illegal aliens across our southern border with Mexico, President Bush has been quietly finalizing plans with Stephen Harper and Felipe Calderon to eradicate our national sovereignty. They'll wrap it up on August 20 at a meeting in Montebello, Quebec.

Soon the United States will be subsumed into a North American Union, just as the nations in Europe have been gobbled up by the European Union. Boundaries will melt away and our dollar will be replaced with the amero, giving the "globalistas" an opportunity to get rid of that pesky phrase In God we trust which reminds us of our rapidly vanishing heritage.

Judging from reports we receive from our friends across the pond, this is not a good thing for nations with successful economies. What it does is bring all the participants into the same business climate, a sort of socialism at the national level -- an advantage for the less robust nations and a huge disadvantage for the vibrant economies.

One of the worst results of such a union is the migration of people within the union that results. In the European Union, for example, poor Romanians are pouring into the United Kingdom and dumping themselves onto the overburdened social services system. Currently in the United States, illegal immigration across our southern border is overtaxing our schools, hospitals, law enforcement and welfare systems. Within the North American Union, the fiscal penalties to our citizens would be greatly multiplied, and it would be legal.

As this calamity bears down on us, the mainstream media are strangely silent. One has to look to Canada to find anyone sounding the alarm. We want to call our readers' attention to this copyrighted article by Global Research. We excerpt a portion here under the principle of "fair use" but we urge everyone to visit their website and read all of it:

I was reading Tom Rust's website trying to find out why this man (the ex-mayor of Herndondo whose watch allowed the significant increase of illegals in the town) would initiate such ridiculous and prejudice fines on the drivers of Virginia. On his site was most recently asked questions as to why only Virginians? The response was...constitutionality...working on ways....unfortunately...

Yes, I believe that it is unfortunate that the thinking is that stiffer fines on Virginia drivers will help fill the transportation coffiers of our area. This under the guise of "reducing drunk and reckless driving". In reality, it is a sham for non-enforcement of all driving code laws. Much of this comes from the areas police forces and lack of monies for additional officers or the courts being overworked and understaffed. I have heard this arguement for years.

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted 9-0 in favor of a resolution which states the Board's opposition to illegal immigration into the county, and directs county staff to investigate the extent to which illegal aliens use county services, and how much this costs the taxpayers.

The resolution goes one step further than that passed in Manassas last week. Supervisor Jim Burton had initially offered a substitute motion to delay consideration of the resolution so it could be examined further, including into how a provision might be added to find ways to punish employers who hire illegal workers. The substitute was defeated, but Supervisors Scott York and Lori Waters drafted an amendment to the resolution instructing the staff and attorney to also investigate means to crack down on employers who game the system.

The resolution also included a provision that "strongly encouraged" the Sheriff's Office to enter into a 287(g) Immigration and Customs Enforcement training agreement with the Department of Homeland Security - however, it was revealed almost as an aside that the Sheriff's Office had already sent the request to ICE in the past several days.

The supervisors were, to a person, statesmanlike in their reasoning for supporting the resolution. (We hope to have transcripts of some of the remarks along with the text of the resolution here later tonight).

The investigations by county staff will involve all of the areas where services are provided to illegal aliens - and I believe the reports regarding the amounts spent on ESOL instruction alone will be of great interest to the citizens of the county.

Because of the valuable information which will now be brought to daylight and especially the clear support for proactive immigration enforcement across the ideological divides usually attributed to this Board, this vote represents a watershed moment in Loudoun County history.

Congratulations to all of the Supervisors - they each deserve thanks and praise from every citizen of the county.

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted to interject into today's agenda consideration of the "Resolution Reaffirming County Policy With Respect To Compliance With Federal Law And Issue Directives Incident To Such Reaffirmation To Loudoun County Staff."

Sterling Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio, one of the resolution's six sponsors, held a press conference this morning prior to the session in which he stated "we need help" and rattled off a list of ways illegal aliens are unjustifiably being subsidized by Loudoun County taxpayers.

(He did not expand the explanation to include the corporations, and foreign government officials and oligarchs also being subsidized by county taxpayers, but that is a discussion for another day).

The Board voted unanimously this morning to send a letter to the town of Herndon and Fairfax County expressing (to paraphrase) this Board's opposition to the continued operation of the Herndon Day Labor Center as a service for illegal aliens. Text of the letter should be available tomorrow.

Sheriff Candidate Greg Ahlemann, Leesburg Council Member Ken Reid, and I spoke in favor of the Resolution.

Because the letter to Herndon passed unanimously and the Resolution already has six sponsors, I'm cautiously optimistic the latter will pass by a large margin if not unanimously.

The sponsors of the Resolution which will be considered in the next hour are: Mick Staton, Eugene Delgaudio, Bruce Tulloch, Steve Snow, Jim Clem and Lori Waters.

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors will likely see a resolution similar to that passed in Prince William County last week interjected into tomorrow's Board meeting agenda.

The gist of the resolution will be to emphasize that taxpayer-funded government benefits not mandated otherwise by federal law should be restricted to legal residents of the county.

Vice Chair and Potomac District Supervisor Bruce Tulloch said the resolution will affirm that the beneficiaries of local government benefits should be the citizens who paid for the benefits.

It is not exactly a controversial stand for the Board to take, because the citizens of Loudoun should support the proposal by a wide margin, and I expect the resolution to pass by a wide margin. Thanks to Supervisors Tulloch, Delgaudio and Staton for introducing this proposal.

This is the video the pro-illegal alien advocates don't want you to see.

Because of the state's tough immigration enforcement law that just went into effect July 1, illegal aliens in Georgia are leaving in droves - some returning to Mexico, some going to other states.

If we in Virginia can take action at the local and state level to convince the illegals that this may not be the ideal place to come to, more will return to Mexico or other home countries, and thus will begin the process of advocating for reforms there. Which is what should have been happening in the first place and which the corrupt people running those countries are extremely grateful not to have had to deal with.

The following should be required viewing for every current or prospective office holder at every level of government.

This came to mind just before Independence Day and I was really feeling good about it. Then the computer went down for a week. Now I read a blog that elicited much comment and debate about God, liberals, conservatives, democrates, republicans, even the idiosyncrasies of our founding fathers. Although viewpoints are a wonderful thing and that free speech is one of our must cherished laws, I saw much disconnect and no commonality. Then I read a piece today from Ronald Maxwell and I felt good again. I think our commonality is civic duty.

I heard this term frequently growing up in the 50's and 60's but at the end of the 60's it seemed to die out. I would get it from scouting, teachers, parents, policemen, firemen, politicians; you name it. Now I never questioned my civic duty as it was told to me because common sense has always been my motivation (with God's help, of course). But recently I wondered why I don't here it anymore and I think it is because people don't understand what it is or how to perform it. If you don't know what your civic duty is, well, I'm going to tell you.

The Prince William County Board of Supervisors has passed John Stirrup's immigration enforcement resolution unanimously!

Some notes from a friend on the scene:

- There is a massive demonstration going on right now outside the government building, what appears to be a huge crowd of illegal aliens and their advocates. Many are holding signs, written in English, saying things like "America is a migrant country" and "We just want to feed our families." There is a big pile of English-language signs on the ground, apparently brought by the organizers. From the phone conversation I could hear loud chanting and yelling in Spanish.

- During the hearing, the board chair had asked there be no booing, hissing or clapping. A large crowd of illegal aliens had come into the anteroom - packed all the way up the staircases and along the balcony - who did not understand and proceeded to boo, hiss and cheer throughout the hearing, until a Latino reporter went out and explained to them in Spanish they were not supposed to be doing that.

- One person testifying in support of the resolution nodded toward the crowd of illegals outside and said something to the effect: "Look outside at the other room: That is where we are headed, to become a third world country."

- One of the two Democrats on the board said he took exception to reports in the press that the two of them were against the resolution, and said "I have always been against illegal immigration and would support deporting them back to their own countries."

- There were a couple last minute revisions to the resolution, made so it did not make any legislative changes which would have required a longer period before the resolution could have been voted on. One of the changes was to remove the "writ of mandamus" provision which would challenge existing U.S. law.

- A board member indicated the County had considered including a provision to deny free education to the children of illegal aliens - a direct challenge to the 1982 Supreme Court decision in Plyler v Doe, that all children have a constitutional right to a public education. The board member said the time is ripe to challenge this narrowly-decided case and that Prince William County would be inclined to do this in the future.

- A board member also stated this resolution should serve as a wake up call to surrounding jurisdictions to follow suit.

UPDATE: The illegals appeared to have been bused in (I wonder if they were paid). Here's who most likely provided the signs they were carrying:

Teresita Jacinto, of the Woodbridge Workers Committee, which works with day laborers in the county, helped organize the large contingent of Latinos who showed up at the meeting.

Observation: I bet no one had to bus in the people supporting the resolution.

UPDATE: Full wrap-up with great photos at Blog Fu.

In just about an hour the Prince William County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on Supervisor John Stirrup's resolution which instructs law enforcement and basically ALL government agencies to begin enforcing existing state and federal laws immediately - on pain of "writ of mandamus to compel any non-cooperating agency to comply with such reporting laws."

The local police chief has already gotten the message.

More at Blog Fu. Also, here.

The resolution will likely be voted on during the 2:00 pm meeting. Whether it passes or not, it will set in motion a series of similar efforts elsewhere in the state.

Check back for updates.

UPDATE: 1:45 pm. A friend got one of the last seats in the Board chamber and said the anteroom is filling up with people in folding chairs. The parking lot is packed. At least one film/news crew is present. There are no actual protests going on, but reportedly a group of what appear to be migrant workers under a tree outside the building and a number of "concerned Hispanics" inside. The latter could be anyone, of course, but my friend's take is they are there to oppose the resolution.

UPDATE II: I hear Help Save Manassas was signing up a boatload of new members before the hearing.

UPDATE III: Ted reports:

I listened to a lot of it and it sounded like the pro-illegals had slightly more speakers.

They of course resorted to calling proponents of the resolution racists; saying that proponents wanted to recreate apartheid South Africa; this is an "un-Godlike" resolution; anyone who votes for this should be ashamed; migrant workers were the ones who built this country over the last 100 years because they were the only ones who would do the dirty work etc.

As usual, no facts accompanied by the typical rants we get from our friends on the Left.

While Eileen at VB Dems has discovered some supposed nefariousness with our Attorney General's immigration enforcement initiatives (and rediscovered her special love for Ken Stolle in the process), today's RTD contains this reassuring column from Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling:

While Congress fails to act, states are forced to do what we can to address the issue on the state level. While the primary responsibility for immigration rests with the federal government, there are things we can do in Virginia to help address this problem.

We can require the governor to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) to allow state and local law-enforcement agencies to enforce civil immigration laws. This would enable our state and local police to arrest and detain illegals when they encounter them, rather than releasing them.

We can make sure that illegals in Virginia are not receiving the benefits of citizenship. While we have already acted to take most of these benefits away, we still allow the children of illegal immigrants living in Virginia to pay in-state tuition at our colleges and universities. That should be stopped.

And finally, we can pass our own laws holding Virginia employers accountable for knowingly hiring illegal workers or knowingly failing to confirm their immigration status prior to hiring them.

Read all of that. Local and state legislation will be the next major front in the culture war during the next several months.

As I noted in the last post, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano just a few hours ago signed the strictest legislation in the U.S. regarding businesses that hire illegal aliens.

Georgia's and Oklahoma's are not so bad either; unlike almost everyone else at least they got something passed.

But Arizona's is the one all of our state legislators should be looking at. I'll link to the final bill once it is posted. For now -

Here is the Senate version.

here is the House version.

Now that the beast is seemingly dead, the tar has been allowed to cool and the pitchforks hung back neatly in the barn, many are ruminating: What next?

Notorious illegal alien Elvira Arellano is threatening immediate, widespread transgression of U.S. immigration law.

(In related news, notorious duck Chester L. Mallard is threatening to land in a river and paddle around, occasionally quacking.)

La Raza Newspaper's Blog reports:

Arellano, who has remained in a Northwest Side church since August 15 to avoid an order of deportation, said this would be the deadline the government will have to "revive and pass a comprehensive immigration reform."

Otherwise, pro-immigrant organizers will begin a campaign "aimed at bringing this government and this economy to a halt."

La Raza, in case you were wondering, is a major proponent of "comprehensive" immigration reform - of the pathway-to-citizenship variety - and also strongly opposes allowing local jurisdictions to enforce federal immigration law and file illegal aliens in the National Crime Information Center database.

La Raza is notably better funded than groups on the pro-enforcement side of the issue, and enjoys some pretty sweet financial support from a number of companies you might have heard of before:

The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) recognizes those corporations that have invested in NCLR's long-term strategic efforts with multiyear, multimillion-dollar commitments, including NCLR's Empowering An American Community Campaign.

The Allstate Corporation
Bank of America
The Coca-Cola Company
Citi
Fannie Mae
Freddie Mac
Ford Motor Company
General Motors Corporation
MBNA Corporation
PepsiCo Foundation
The PMI Group, Inc.
State Farm Insurance Companies
UPS
Univision
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

(Interesting and true side note: Just yesterday I was considering trading my Explorer for a Hyundai. This must be fate.)

For more details, check out La Raza's 990 return from 2005: Page 30 is an eye-opener.

And whereas everyone I know involved with this issue is a volunteer, squeezing in time between work and personal life to advocate to the public and local and federal officials, those La Raza folks are doing really well - I mean, some major buckage. Check out pages 7 and 23.

Anyways, despite all the money and corporate and U.S. government funding on her side, I think Senora Arellano is misreading the tea leaves.

I think this type of thing is far more likely to be the kind of next immediate action you will see happening around our nation:

As the paper of record reports, the death of the amnesty bill represented the will of the American people:

The justifiably furious reaction of the American public, which deluged senators with telephone calls, e-mails and faxes, forced the Senate to reverse itself yesterday and send the amnesty bill crashing to defeat - a potentially fatal blow. It was a devastating setback for the Bush administration and its Democratic Party allies, in particular Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Ted Kennedy.

In addition to being an extraordinary substantive triumph for the American people, it was a huge victory for the conservative movement. Talkers such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham and many others played an indispensable role in making available the research by the Heritage Foundation and NumbersUSA and analysis from editorial pages such as this one to tens of millions of Americans in a very short period of time. But ironically, by demonstrating in a powerful way its ability to reach and educate the public about the specific problems with the bill, talk radio has also made liberal politicians like Sen. Dianne Feinstein even more determined to revive the so-called Fairness Doctrine (the equal-time policy enforced by the Federal Communications Commission until it was eliminated in 1987 at the urging of President Reagan) in an effort to take away the one part of the mass media that conservatives dominate. On the final vote, virtually the entire conservative movement lined up against the bill. On the losing side were the leading Democratic presidential contenders — Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama - and the Bush administration, vividly demonstrating the political gap between the president and the conservative movement.

On Tuesday - just 48 hours before the legislative coalition supporting the bill crumbled - the bill appeared to have been given a new lease on life. Despite the abysmal poll ratings of the president and Congress, and the fact that barely one-quarter of the American public favored the bill, 64 senators (four more than needed) voted for cloture. This permitted Mr. Reid with White House support to bring the bill to the floor, together with a carefully selected group of amendments that amnesty advocates believed either 1) were unlikely to pass; or 2) if passed would not change the pro-amnesty thrust of the bill in a significant way; and 3) if necessary, could be stripped out of the legislation in conference.

Yet just 48 hours later, the amnesty coalition collapsed, and the 64 Senate supporters became just 46. What happened? As we noted above, talk radio proved that in modern times, it is indispensable for conservative political success. Much of the credit should also go to the bipartisan lobbying organization NumbersUSA, a powerful advocate for strengthening border security, which made it clear to members of Congress that they weren't buying the phony games some lawmakers wanted to play: proposing tough-sounding amendments that stood little chance of becoming law, while voting for cloture - and in effect for amnesty. The 18 senators who switched from supporting amnesty on Tuesday to opposing it yesterday are Democrats Jeff Bingaman, Sherrod Brown, Tom Harkin, Ben Nelson, Mark Pryor and Jim Webb; and Republicans Kit Bond, Sam Brownback, Richard Burr, Norm Coleman, Susan Collins, Pete Domenici, John Ensign, Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski, Ted Stevens, George Voinovich and John Warner.

A point I'd like to make is that the whole "talk radio" element might be overplayed. I never listen to any talk radio at all, and I think a lot of people are in the same boat. I think a lot of the information about the amnesty bill was circulated via the Web and e-mail.

What is significant about this is that Web and e-mail communications fall into the realm of "news" rather than "rabble rousing" which is the mainstream media framing of talk radio.

Really, in the end, the defeat of the amnesty bill was simply the result of wider distribution of information. Wire services delivered all the facts - we did not need Sean Hannity - and that is why the amnesty bill failed.

I was lucky enough to attend a very impressive fundraising event in Manassas tonight for Virginia Delegate Jackson Miller, an amazing individual who in his first year in the House emerged as a leader on the immigration reform issue and sponsored legislation that passed the House (before dying in Senate committees).

BVBL reports the crowd surpassed 200. Delegate Scott Lingamfelter (left) gave a rousing introduction.

I can tell you I was among the many who were blown away by the keynote speech by film director Ron Maxwell (Gettysburg, Gods and Generals).

Maxwell discussed the successful defeat of S. 1639 in the U.S. Senate earlier in the day, and the hope this offers that Americans have now risen up to take back their country one community at a time from the "masters of the universe" - business elites who live only for the present, and who are exploiting cheap labor from south of the border and destroying communities on both sides of the Rio Grande.

The American people are a generous people, but they are not dupes and they are not fools. They have moved from skepticism to mistrust to outrage. Where is our national leadership? Who is defending America and our way of life? Not just in Iraq or Afghanistan. Who is defending it here, in our own homes and our own communities?

It is a healthy feeling of self-survival the American people are feeling, in which they are finally turning to political action and imposing on their elected officials - who sometimes forget who elected them and whom they are supposed to serve. Americans intuitively understand that what's at stake here is nothing less than the survival of our country.

We must ask: Who is profiting from the importation of this cheap labor? Who is it that wants to exploit these poor, third world people? Who is encouraging young men and women to leave their children and their parents behind? Who is causing the division of these families, the millions of broken families and separated loved ones. Who is profiting from their exploitation, only then to pontificate - after the fact, after the damage has been done to the fabric of these communities, after the emotional damage to real life people - that all they really want to do is reunify those families, but not, of course, in their native countries, but here in the United States of America.

Why here? Why not in their countries of origin? So that the present-tensers can then legally import millions more of their relatives through chain migration so that they can be exploited as well. So they can put more American citizens out of work, replacing high-priced American workers with those who will do the work that they, the 300 million citizens of the United States are told over and over again by their own president that they really do not want to do.

As if America, all it's great cities and farms and railroads and highways and skyscrapers and navies and air forces and bridges, all its universities, all its industrial might and its space program were built by Mexicans, Hondurans and Guatemalans.

What rhetorical mischief. What political chicanery. What a colossal con game perpetrated on the American people and on our neighbors to the south.

Maxwell's address was a cry for humane efforts to fix the problems in communities north and south of the border.

If we want "comprehesive" immigration reform, that is how it has to happen.

There are a number of extremely important public offices that will be decided in the November, 2007 elections, and Jackson Miller is among the key ones. He needs your support if you are concerned about solving the illegal alien problem in Virginia.

A few of the other good soldiers in this fight were present at tonight's event, including Delegate Bob Marshall, Delegate Jeff Frederick, Senate Candidate Bob Fitzsimmonds, Loudoun County Sheriff Candidate Greg Ahlemann and Senator Ken Cuccinelli.

UPDATE: Here is the full text of Ron Maxwell's speech.

Congratulations to the current graduates from Loudoun County schools. I hope you continue in your pursuit for knowledge and obtaining a quality life. I am very concerned, though, for what is being taught to our children and whether we are creating a better environment for them to build upon. Let me explain to you why I am worried about this countrys' future.

I'm not 100% sure that ANYTHING new needs to be done to deal with illegal aliens in the U.S., beyond the executive branch of our government enforcing existing laws - which, when you look them over, are not too shabby, albeit so utterly unrelated to the actual reality we inhabit they almost seem as though they belong to another country, possibly on another planet.

But if anything was to be done right now, in the spirit of striking while the iron is hot, it ought to be something exactly like this:

United States House of Representatives
Immigration Reform Caucus
Rep. Brian Bilbray (CA-50), Chairman

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Kurt Bardella
(202) 225-0508

June 28, 2007

WITH KENNEDY-BUSH AMNESTY DEFEATED, BILBRAY CALLS ON CONGRESS TO TAKE ACTION NOW TO ADDRESS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Brian Bilbray (R-CA), Chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus, released the following statement regarding the defeat of the Kennedy-Bush amnesty bill this morning. The Senate fell short of garnering the 60 votes needed to end debate and move ahead with final passage of the bill. The motion failed 46-53.

"Once again, Americans across our nation took it upon themselves to call Senators and Members of Congress asking them to vote against this flawed bill. Because of their perseverance - this bill is dead. It is important that this defeat not signal the end of our efforts to address illegal immigration but rather represent a new opportunity for Congress to take immediate action and pass legislation that will increase penalties on employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, implement a working employer verification system and secure our border."

The senators listed below the fold all voted for cloture on S. 1639, which would have allowed the bill to go forward.

Here is the bill.

Here is the package of amendments.

Reasons why anyone who voted to allow this bill to proceed should be bounced out of office at the next available opportunity are here, here, and here.

There are some fairly prominent names on this list. Good. Some nice fat targets.

UPDATE: And let the gloating begin.

... who voted against cloture on S. 1639.

Here is the tally. Go see whether your senator was a good guy or a bad guy.

Here are the Web forms you can use to send a thank you to your senators who voted against cloture. (Maybe via e-mail would be nice - to give their phones a rest).

Click here to send a thank you to Senator Jim Webb.

Click here to send a thank you to Senator John Warner.

John Hawkins has a source inside the Senate.

Then on Wednesday morning, the bill was out on the internet and bloggers started picking it apart and that morning around 10 AM, Reid pulled the bill so it could be re-drafted because he said there were mistakes in it. They spent almost the whole morning drafting it and when they re-released it, it was 400 pages long. That means that it's likely when the vote occurs tomorrow, not a single senator voting on the bill will have had an opportunity to actually read it. Reid's response to complaints about that has basically been, "Trust me." My source told me that the general response to that from the anti-amnesty senators has been something akin to, "Yeah, right."

Read all of that, it is sure to boost your cynicism to unprecedented levels.

I have to say, despite how unbelievably asinine our Republican 'leaders' are, the Democrats manage to go them one better every step of the way.

Last year the Republicans presided over the passing of S. 2611, likely one of the worst pieces of legislation ever devised anywhere. How do the Democrats surpass that one? By pushing through a piece of phantom legislation that is not even written yet and which - obviously - no one has even read.

I just had a private conference with Not Larry Sabato and Black Velvet Bruce Li; and although the meeting was supposed to be completely off the record, I feel morally compelled to share the entire content with all of you right now.

Blogging ethics allow this.

Let's put it this way: The discussion ended with NLS head honcho Ben Tribbett screaming at me "I will bust you down to COPPER, Budzinski, I will bust your sorry little blog down to freakin' zinc!"

"Get out of town, you crazy bald man" I yelled back, "Zinc isn't even a metal!"

Well, it turns out we were BOTH partially right and partially wrong in that exchange, but who's to quibble over minor details. The important thing is that Don Ben is laying the heavy hand of blog dominance on my back, and I don't intend to submit without a fight.

We've had our run-ins with the Don before, as many of you will recall.

In this instance, the sticking point was illegal immigration. Namely, are those of us talking the talk walking the walk?

Here's what is wrong with the Republican Party.

Senator Voinovich's cluelessness should serve as a reassuring reminder that our Republican "leaders'" proclivity to destroy the country via instant amnesty for tens of millions of illegal aliens is the result of ignorance more than malice. So we have that going for us.

In light of today's vote to move ahead with legislation to destroy America, I'd like to offer the public service of identifying available domain names which some of you may find useful.

All of the URLs below are available as of this moment. I personally prefer to reserve domain names at GoDaddy, but leave it to each of you to use the management tool of your choice.

The easiest move is to go to GoDaddy and reserve the domain there; it takes about 2 minutes.

SenatorNoMore.com

RecallTheSenate.com

MySenatorSucks.com

IHateTheSenate.com

IHateMySenator.com

SenatorTraitor.com

TreasonousWeasel.com

TreasonousWeasels.com

SenatorDickwad.com

BurnDownTheSenate.com

DefundTheRNC.com

DefundTheGOP.com

KillTheRNC.com

KillTheGOP.com

StarveTheGOP.com

SlimeTheSlime.com

SenateScum.com

TheSenateSucks.com

OnARail.com

Grab 'em while the grabbin' is good. But most importantly - USE 'EM!

Well, it is late at night, the cows are lowing, and our U.S. senators have all presumably hit the hay. The treasonous bastards.

If you try to call the pro-amnesty hotline, chances are you will not get through. I think this means we have done our jobs tonight.

That's toobad, though, because it would be entertaining to be able to abuse your senator over why he or she is in the process of selling off the United States. But the voice mailboxes are now all full.

Here is what to keep in mind: The U.S. Senate is currently at war with the American people, and the senators believe they have the upper hand.

The Senate is poised to pass a bill which will punish Americans and people who have applied via legal means to become Americans. The Senate bill 1639 amnesty for illegal aliens will bankrupt social security, our kids and grandkids, and local governments, and will toss every applicant for U.S. citizenship who has applied for citizenship since May 1, 2005, to the back of the line behind tens of millions of lawbreakers. Every illegal alien who applies will receive legal status within 24 hours, regardless of criminal history or willingness to play by the rules.

The bill was started in a backroom and will be finished in a backroom. This legislation represents the greatest usurpation of power by elected officials in the history of our nation.

Our government intends to replace us - or dilute us - with a more compliant class of voters.

If the Senate allows this bill to go forward tomorrow morning, the upshot will not be merely the end of the Republican party and destruction of the political careers of all those who vote for cloture - it will be setting the stage for insurrection.

They can turn off their phones and fax machines, but they will not be able to squelch the will of the people.

If cloture on S 1639 passes tomorrow morning this won't be simply a matter of electoral 'payback'. This will be war.

As Ace says, you've ------ed us over for the last time.

Only about 2 hours left:

Use the local numbers if the DC line is busy.

Special focus should be on Bond, Burr, Cochran, Hatch, Nelson (of Nebraska), Webb. - all these have given hints they are not planning to vote for the bill S 1639 unless it is substantially changed, and will not commit to voting against cloture. BUT THEY DO NOT SEEM TO REALIZE THE AMENDMENT PROCESS IS A SHAM. The only important vote is on cloture on the motion to proceed tomorrow morning.

Click here for some quick points to emphasize.

UPDATE: When the offices close tonight, start using those fax numbers!! Then please start calling again tomorrow morning prior to the approx. 11:30 am vote on cloture on the motion to proceed.

UPDATE II: Whoa! Here is something you can do tonight to stave off the frustration and rage: Make some calls to the Pro-Amnesty Hotline. Follow the simple instructions to bypass the recording and go to your senator's in box. Let him or her know how much you appreciate the fact they have an "Amnestia, Si!" hotline set up.

The latest word is we need six senators from this list I posted this morning to either vote NO on cloture on the motion to proceed on S. 1639 tomorrow morning, or miss the vote, or simply vote "present."

That means we have about five hours before the offices close to make a point to six senators. Use that list and tell them what you think!

Points to bear in mind:

- If any senator is saying they want to go through the process of discussing the upcoming amendments, they need to be told THIS IS A SHAM. Kennedy and Lott have already indicated anything they do not like will be stripped out in conference. The entire amendment "debate" is an exercise in obfuscation. The outcome is rigged and predetermined.

"THIS BILL STARTED IN A BACKROOM AND IT WILL BE ENDING IN A BACKROOM."

- This bill has already been debated in late May and early June and it died. This is where it should be left. Even bringing it back up is a vote for the bill.

- Your vote on final passage is meaningless politically - it only takes a simple majority to pass the bill, which is likely to occur. The only way to kill the bill is with your vote against cloture on the motion to proceed tomorrow morning. If you have any inclination to vote for cloture and against the bill that would be highly deceitful because it will very likely result in the bill getting passed.

(See this post for explanation of the "clay pigeon" tactic which will make it harder to defeat the bill if cloture is invoked on the motion to proceed tomorrow.)

- The bottom line is this bill promises a host of enforcement provisions which go into effect after the tens of millions of illegal aliens will have been legalized through the instant "probationary" Z-visa program. AND THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION HAS ALREADY PROVEN FOR SEVEN YEARS IT HAS NO INCLINATION TO ENFORCE EXISTING IMMIGRATION LAWS, SO ALL OF THESE PROMISED ENFORCEMENT MEASURES ARE ILLUSIONS, VAPORWARE. Let them show they can enforce existing laws, and build the fence that was promised last year, and then maybe "enforcement" could be used as a bargaining chip.

Click here for the list of senators to call and fax.

As this morning's Washington Post reports, over 1,100 immigration bills were introduced in state legislators this year, double the number from 2006. The reason? Our federal government has failed in its responsibility to enforce the laws. As we reported recently, the current bill under consideration in the Senate would nullify all local enforcement efforts (and hand a nice fat bonus to corrupt employers).

So the feds are not only NOT doing their job, but they are trying to make it impossible for localities to get their own houses in order.

Your Monday morning assignment: Kill S. 1639!

This post contains contact information - office locations, phone and (where available) fax numbers - for a group of senators who have been identified as on the fence on the cloture vote on proceeding with S 1639. The information is all below the fold.

Thanks to Ace for the list of "wobbly" senators. I went ahead and added John Warner in since many of you are in Virginia and should be contacting him. Ace reports we need 3/4 of these to vote against cloture.

You will find the local offices are a great way to get through when the DC lines are jammed, especially for faxing.

The vote on cloture on the motion to proceed will likely take place Tuesday, late morning, so today and tomorrow morning - the next 24 hours - are the prime time for working the phones and faxes.

To recap: We need to send the message to these senators that "a vote for cloture is a vote for amnesty," so we want them to either vote NO on cloture, or simply fail to vote on Tuesday. If cloture passes, the bill will move forward and will likely pass the Senate for the reasons explained here.

Voting for cloture, and later voting against the bill (after the bill has been determined to have enough votes to pass) will offer no cover because we voters understand that any senator voting for cloture is voting for amnesty.

More information about why this is such a terrible bill can be found here and here, and here are seven things you can do right now to help kill the bill.

Click the following link for a complete listing of contact information for all the "on the fence" senators, and PLEASE start contacting them. Also, pass this information to everyone you know who is concerned about stopping this disastrous legislation before it goes any further.

Go read about the BIG "sanctuary" problem down in PWC over at Blog Fu (and most importantly in the comments).

More about the apparent hands-off, see-no-evil policy in Manassas here and here.

Read about some episodes in Loudoun County here and here - thankfully, these are of far less import than rape and murder. But the entire trend is a troubling one and, like Blog Fu, I know of innumerable anecdotal local incidents involving crimes by illegal aliens for which there is insufficient documentation to report.

Help Save Manassas is reportedly going to be taking the sanctuary issue up with the Board of Supervisors - every Prince William County and Manassas citizen should be involved and supporting those efforts.

UPDATE: Further evidence of special treatment of the "undocumented" revealed at Not Larry Sabato. As a side note: I recall reading a recent commentary somewhere that pointed out the "undocumented" are not undocumented nor living in the shadows. Through underground channels they can easily obtain sufficient documentation for banking, getting credit cards, buying and registering a car, renting or buying a domicile, attending public schools and getting free medical treatment at the local emergency room. The only sense in which they are "undocumented" is by the lack of presence on U.S. and local government tax rolls - which is not such a bad deal when you think about it.

UPDATE II: More here.

More taxes generated for more roads that someone thinks we need. Who do these roads serve? I moved to Loudoun county over 30 years ago to get away from the metrpolitan area. I also took a job that was close to where I lived. What don't you people understand about "work where you live or live where you work?

My job is driving the roads in this area the majority of my work day. It has gone from bad to worse, especially since we don't have "savvy" drivers that know how help make traffic flow. What I see is a great "gaggle" (always liked that word) of cars on Rt. 7 heading to Tyson's and beyond. Then there is Rt. 28 towards 66 and on to points beyond. Fairfax County Parkway to 95. We built these roads for easement of traffic congestion when in actuality we have been creating a new breed of people...cake eaters!

One of the groups to which I belong, the IEEE, has for many years pushed grass roots efforts to help the plight of U.S. engineers (with a little bit of schizophrenia, as they also have "international" in the name, and have explicit ties to helping engineers world wide). It should come as no surprise that they publish books on how to influence the legislative branch. The one way that works best is to visit in person. You have to visit your representatives, but that has more effect than any other method. I am going to Washington in two weeks if I can get an appointment. The immigration issue is worth it.

Republican candidate for Loudoun County Sheriff, Greg Ahlemann, shown here addressing the Help Save Loudoun meeting this past Monday, has just released the following letter to Senator John Warner:

The Honorable John Warner

United States Senate

225 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

June 21, 2007

Dear Senator Warner,

As a constituent and candidate for public office, I am writing to express my concern over S.1639, better known as the Immigration Reform Bill. As a former Loudoun County Deputy Sheriff, I have seen first hand the influx of illegal immigrants into our County. Along with this increase, I have witnessed the gang problems, crime and residential overcrowding that have resulted.

On June 9th, 2007, I received the Republican nomination for Sheriff of Loudoun County. This was decided by the voters at the largest county convention in the history of Virginia. Unseating a three term incumbent from within the Party was due, in large part, to my stance against illegal immigration. I have expressed my desire for the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office to participate in the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement- 287g) program and the voters have responded.

As you know, this bill would provide amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants and effectively make the ICE program obsolete. Federal and local law enforcement have been losing the battle against illegal immigration and I believe passage of this bill would hinder what little enforcement is available.

Securing our borders and deporting criminal illegal aliens is not an issue tied to one political party or the other. I believe, as my supporters do, passage of this bill would have adverse consequences for our County, our Commonwealth and our Country. I urge you to vote against this or any impending bills that would provide amnesty for those that would attempt to enter this country illegally.

Sincerely,
Greg Ahlemann
Republican Nominee - Sheriff of Loudoun County, VA

Thank you, Greg! And thanks to Mick Staton for getting the ball rolling.

It would be nice to see whole lot more of our Loudoun County officials do the same between now and Tuesday morning when the Senate will vote on cloture on the motion to proceed with S. 1639. Tell our senators to either skip the vote, vote "present" or vote NO on cloture. A yes vote on cloture is a vote for amnesty. Contact info for Warner is here, for Webb is here.

In case you have been one of the many people getting busy signals when attempting phone and fax contact with Senator John Warner's Washington, DC office, below the fold are all his other offices. Generally you can get through immediately to any of them.

Sending faxes throughout the weekend and up until Tuesday morning would not be a bad thing to do.

American Daughter has seven things you can do right now, sitting at your desk, to put a stake through the heart of this unholy piece of trash the U.S. Senate is attempting to ram down our throats.

Go do all of them right now! It won't take ten minutes.

When you return, please click here for contact information and talking points to carry you through Tuesday when there will likely be a vote on cloture on the motion to proceed with S 1639.

You want to ensure that both of your senators vote NO on cloture on the motion to proceed - or else vote "present" or else simply find something else to do while the vote occurs. We just need to avoid "yes" votes on cloture on the motion to proceed at all costs.

This bill cannot be permitted to go forward. It will will provide instant amnesty - within 24 hours of applying - to tens of millions of lawbreakers, with only the promise of future law enforcement.

It will serve as an open invitation to tens of millions more to stream across our southern border rather than stay home and work for political and economic reform in their own countries.

It will import and eventually legalize a vast underclass which will destroy whatever is left of our Social Security system and create a catastrophic tax burden on our children and grandchildren.

If you are so inclined, make it a point to contact Virginia's junior senator, Jim Webb. He was elected partially on the basis of having a mind of his own and being "one of us." If he is one of us, he has to see what a complete mess S 1639 is, although as a rookie he is undoubtedly under tremendous pressure to follow the GOP leadership off the cliff. He won a historic Senate race: Now let's all tell him we will stand behind him for taking a historic stand against legislation that threatens to destroy this country.

Contact information for Senator Jim Webb at all of his offices is below the fold.

Bottom line: Senator, please oppose the Grand Swindle!

Supervisor Mick Staton attended the Help Save Loudoun meeting Monday night, along with a number of other local dignitaries and candidates, and spent some quality time conversing with Loudoun County citizens.

We had a decent crowd, about 35 people. Attendees also included Supervisor Steve Snow, Sheriff Candidate Greg Ahlemann, Senate Candidate Patricia Phillips, and Supervisor Candidates Ken Mikeman and Jack Ryan.

Mick Staton announced the letter he has sent to our one possibly reasonably U.S. Senator, Jim Webb. This is an extremely intelligent act by Supervisor Staton, one which should be duplicated by all of our elected local officials statewide.

It is a slap to the face to every citizen of every community who has to deal with the day to day problems that illegal immigrants bring. Finally, it is a slap to the face of local officials, like myself, who are plagued by the problems created by illegal immigration, but are not even permitted to enforce existing immigration laws due to 'lack of jurisdiction.'

I urge you to vote against this fatally flawed legislation...

Bravo to Mick for initiating this. Let's hope all of our other local officials will follow suit.

...and a crackdown on employers.

Some highlights from a nationwide poll conducted Monday night:

National Immigration Survey of 1,000 Likely Voters
Conducted June 18, 2007 by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC

2* Roughly 95% of illegal immigration occurs at our southern border. Should securing this border be accomplished before trying to legalize unlawful aliens and before creating a guest worker program, or should they all be attempted at the same time?

62% Before legalization or guest worker programs are begun
27% All should be attempted at the same time
11% Not sure

8* Should employers who repeatedly and knowingly employ illegal aliens be subject to jail time in addition to stiff fines?

65% Yes
28% No
7% Not sure

13* Would you support mandatory, tamper-proof ID cards for all non-citizens seeking to work in the United States?

82% Yes
12% No
6% Not sure

14* If an illegal alien entered the US prior to 2007, should we offer them permanent legal resident status if they pay $5,000, pass a thorough background check and agree they will not be able to become a US citizen?

28% Yes
55% No
17% Not sure

15* If an illegal alien becomes a legal US resident, should their relatives in the home country get preferential treatment if they apply for US residency?

22% Yes
68% No
10% Not sure

Watch out, fat cats.

...for refusing to yield to the Pro-Amnesty "Masters of Disaster"! (New ad from Eagle Forum).

I decided to quit sitting on the sidelines and become more involved in the world of politics. After all, just voting doesn't do enough anymore. Sooooo I became a delegate for the Republican Convention. What an interesting surprise. I thought that the Clyde Beatty circus had come back to town. One of the highlights was the forever endless tape loop of people talking about the party and how wonderful it was. Then things started going downhill. I was subjected to a whole bunch of whining (which I can get at work on a daily basis) and then some name calling. We had a couple cherleaders that tried to pump up the audience but basically just made asses of themselves. They did have more spunk than my preacher to give them due. Then we got to vote; or didn't get to vote. Better planning would have meant that ALL the delegates would have had a say. Seems that some decided to jump ship and go do something more interesting. I stuck it out so that I could complete the process. What a waste of time.

I found out that you only need to be a Republican until you don't win the nomination from your party. Then your oath goes out the door and you become an Independant. Now would that be an Independant Republican or Independant Democrat? I voted for York the first time until he failed on his word. It seems that the Republican party didn't like that either so when he didn't win the nomination, he became an Independant.....Independant Democrat that is. Now Sheriff Steve wants to go Independant also. Ryan is heading down the same path after his loss. Where is the party loyalty? Why not wait for the next Convention and try again? If Simpson realized that it is the CITIZENRY that doesn't want him anymore, I feel he would back down. What didn't he complete? I think the brick hit him between the eyes and now he gets it. Too late. Should have got it before. If Ryan had got it then it would have been Waters going to the Independant side. You know why these people didn't win their nomination? They didn't bring enough delegates to the game. Talk about stacking the deck! We all get to hear and see how ALL Stupidvisors act when it comes to the goings-on of county business. I want to know why I couldn't vote on the other district races. It affects me as a whole when it comes to county edict. This doesn't make sense. I should have the same right to pick the jurors at my trial if I got in trouble with the law. That way I could guarentee the outcome. I wish there was a Wig party. I would join if for no other reason than to keep my head from getting sunburn outside after forgetting my hat!

There was but a few candidates that had some maturity about them and had the right things to say. Some won, some didn't. I would like to see Ahlmann stick to his beliefs and bring some honor and integrity to our sheriff's department. Then again, I would like to see that in all positions of our government; county, state and U.S. government. I guess honor is only among thieves as the saying goes. I hope that those individuals that left the party to try again for county positions realize this; if your word is no good and you show that, why in the hell would we want to stick you in any position of authority? You can't be trusted. The people will decide on election day and I am going to help in that decision making process. Let's start getting serious about politics. It is not a job and definitly not a career. It is not a stepping stone to more power and prestige. It is a citizen that wants to selflessly give up his or her personal time so that everyone earns the fruit of this labor. Better accountability, safer environment, quality lifestyle and a personal well being that we live in the right place. The time is now to change what you believe we need and listen to what we deserve. That is your task. If you can't do that, back away and give someone that truly cares about all others the opportunity to have a crack at it. Don't be selfish, be SELFLESS!

Citizens of this county and this state need to stop sitting back and waiting for someone else to FIX THE MESS! It takes more then voting. You need to be aware of what is going on and who is doing OR not doing something and GET INVOLVED! Trust me, there is a place for anybody and everybody who wants to be part of the solution. Don't wait till it becomes a fad and is the NEW thing to do. Be a leader and jump in. ACT NOW!

The clay pigeon cometh.

I've heard the first "motion to proceed" on what will likely be a REVISED COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM BILL will take place later this week.

S 1348 is being rewritten as we speak.

Bottom line: The new bill will be introduced with a "clay pigeon" of amendments:

Under the tentative plan, Reid as early as Friday would launch his target - an amendment encompassing all 22 proposals - and shoot it into its component pieces. The Senate would then vote on ending debate on the immigration measure, which would take 60 votes and limit discussion of the bill to 30 more hours. After that interval, all 22 amendments would have to be voted on, with little opportunity for foes to interfere.

This is apparently hard to fight.

What this means is, at the outset of renewed debate there will be a motion to vote for cloture (shut off debate) on the motion to proceed. We need to fight that initial vote for cloture because once the new bill is moving forward in the Senate it will be hard to stop.

Two points grassroots opponents of the Grand Swindle need to continue to hammer on:

1). A vote for cloture on the FIRST motion to proceed is a vote for amnesty!

2). Senators who vote for cloture with the hope they can escape responsibility by later voting against the bill will not be let off the hook by voters this time: We understand that backroom negotiations on amendments and what will occur in committee will result in Senate passage and we will hold responsible any senator who votes for cloture.

Contact your Senators and tell them A VOTE FOR CLOTURE IS A VOTE FOR AMNESTY.

Here is contact information for senators who need to be contacted:

No major surprise here:

It's immigration, an issue with a lot more life in it than the controversial bill recently put on the Senate's back burner, maybe permanently, maybe temporarily, in the face of mostly Republican opposition. Opponents say it offers amnesty for 12 million illegals; proponents, with justification, say it does no such thing, but who's reading the bill?

Top idea of the month: Whoever throws in against Lindsay Graham in a primary will immediately become the largest Internet fundraiser of all time

A letter from the Costa Mesa, CA city council to President Bush:

Dear President Bush:On behalf of the Costa Mesa City Council, I wish to convey our position on illegal immigration. We feel it is vital that local governments such as ours communicate our concerns in this area. Our community suffers significant social, civil and law enforcement impacts, which appear to be the result of unfettered illegal immigration.

Promoting the deeply flawed SB 1348 is an affront to all law-abiding Americans. Passage of such legislation would be a disaster for our community and nation. We strongly oppose amnesty by any other name; just making something legal does not set things right, and will not address the impacts Americans suffer.

Since December 2006, we have had an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent assigned to work in our city jail. In the last six months, an astounding 262 arrestees have been flagged as probable illegal aliens from points around the globe who will be subject to deportation after their jail time is served. This demonstrates at a local level that existing laws can work if they are applied.

The immigration system is not "broken," the only thing that is broken is the will to uphold the law. Your administration's lack of will to meet its obligations regarding immigration enforcement is disrespectful toward all American citizens and legal immigrants.

Please uphold the existing federal immigration laws. Please provide all federal, state and local agencies the necessary resources and training to assist where they can. Federal funding is also needed to reimburse local governments' social, civil, and incarceration costs of illegal immigration.

Mr. President, we are weary of the massive local impacts of unfettered illegal immigration. We do not want amnesty for tens of millions of illegal aliens; we do want strong enforcement of our existing immigration laws.

Sincerely,

Allan R. Mansoor

This follows on my post earlier in the week about how the Grand Swindle will overturn all local enforcement efforts:

Ragnar at My Pet Jawa comments on a theory from Mickey Kaus that "businesses are starting to worry about efforts to enforce immigration laws at the local level."

Ragnar notes business executives look around at what the grassroots are beginning to demand from local and state officials and they are shaking in their Bostonians:

If you're an employer who's been skirting the law for years with a wink and a nod, this change in the winds has to be keeping you up at night--with good reason. Some CEOs looking at public opinion polls and knowing their employment rolls haven't been even close to right with God, have to be dealing with some serious heartburn at the thought of angry villagers at the corporate gates demanding massive fines and/or a few years in federal pound-me-in-the-*ss prison.

If the employers can just get across the line on this, they've significantly reduced their exposure. This Amnesty Bill represents a sort of "get out of jail free" card for these executives.

This seems plausible. We need to make sure this message gets out loud and clear the next few days. It is surprising there are not more Democratic politicians getting on board with the pro-enforcement efforts so far.

Senators Jim Demint, David Vitter and especially JEFF SESSIONS have been heroically performing the duty of a lifetime as the three key opponents to the Grand Swindle, and they deserve our sincere thanks.

If you have been making phone calls and sending faxes to scold all of those who are leaning toward supporting the treasonous legislation, perhaps you might enjoy a change of pace with a positive call or two?

The men could use any words of support and encouragement to stop the progress of this insane legislation. The more info Americans get about this bill, the more of them will be outraged it is even being discussed.

These three senators deserve a pat on the back and support for putting on the brakes and allowing more time for word to get out about what exactly is being rammed through the Senate under a veil of secrecy about the actual contents (the bill is not even in final form yet!).

Contact information for the "Hero trio" is below the fold.

You could not make this stuff up.

You know that fence they promised last year and again, albeit smaller, this year?

Well now the Grand Swindle is supposedly back on track because - brace yourself - the president has now promised ... actual money to pay for the fence!!

Oh yeah, this is rich. And I mean Alice-in-Wonderland rich, 1984-rich.

Not only that, but the money will also pay for ... enforcement of immigration laws!

Which, incidentally, are already on the books, but why quibble over technicalities.

Not only that, but the money which is suddenly needed to do what was supposed to already be getting done will come from ... funds raised by this new legislation. As in, after millions of lawbreakers have received their "probationary" Z-visas and millions of would-be legal immigrants who were dumb enough to get in line after May 1, 2005 are pushed to the back of the line behind all the lawbreakers.

In other words, no time soon. Pretty sweet deal, huh?

We need to recall this entire government.

Ace says keep calling because the GOP now says it has enough senators to invoke cloture, and he has a bunch of good phone numbers, including a special hotline for non-citizens who want to call a senator in favor of amnesty.

If you can believe that.

He also asks the question so many of us are asking, the one regarding a third party. Yes, Ace, there are a few, such as this one.

Along the lines of my post from last night: John Hawkins has an important brief on what is really happening with the "comprehensive" immigration reform bill in the Senate. Click here to read it which I HIGHLY recommend.

I'm probably going to just outright steal the post and reprint it here next week - it is that important - but for now I encourage you to visit John's site if you are concerned about this issue.

Since I have not seen anyone else do this yet, here goes: Congratulations to the Loudoun County Republican Committee for putting on a fantastic convention this past Saturday. It did not run as quickly as some might have hoped, but it ran well and there were not many controversies after the votes.

Paul Protic, Suzanne Volpe, Mark Sell, Eve Barner and whoever else was involved at a management level deserve everyone's thanks for a job well done.

There are a number of quasi-prominent people on the Web who have made something of a cottage industry of obsessing about the purportedly ominous machinations of the LCRC.This extremely well managed convention should quiet them. But it won't.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who worked so hard to put it on. It was no small feat. Just managing the number of people would be one thing, but there seemed to be a large number of non-political newbies in attendance and they (and their kids in many cases) had to be treated somewhat gingerly and herded around relatively gently compared to the hard-edged politicos, and for the most part everyone seemed content with the way it all worked.

I understand there was some frustration with the way the voting was conducted and how long it took, but I believe any "lost votes" from delegates having to leave early would have cut both ways - and although I was planning to write a very snarky post on the matter I now understand that it was a question of erring on the side of accuracy which, after all, is sort of key.

Great work, LCRC. Thank you!

How utterly ironic and, frankly, sick: John McCain is "guardedly optimistic":

...that we can get the bill to the floor of the Senate just before the fourth of July recess, and pass it through the United States Senate.

How utterly blatant an example of what Fredo Arias King identified as usurpation.

In a mind boggling exercise in governmental overreach, these idiots are attempting to shove down our throats a policy that will undermine our laws and livelihoods, despite massive public opposition - and they are planning to get it done just prior to the anniversary of our independence from the overreach that led to our emergence as a nation.

Ironic? You bet.

Comic? Only if you are on the delivering end rather than the receiving end.

If you are on the delivering end, it is a friggin' hoot what this bill would do to the typical American citizens....

You know, all of us retrogrades who cannot afford to live in gated communities and have to send our kids to the public schools. In other words: all of us chumps.

Bernard Bailyn identified the dominant ideological foundation of the American Revolution in the "radical" movement of 17th and 18th century England:

They insisted, at a time when the government was felt to be less oppressive than it had been for two hundred years, that it was necessarily - by it's very nature - hostile to human liberty and happiness; that, properly, it existed only on the tolerance of the people whose needs it served; and that it could be, and reasonably should be, dismissed - overthrown - if it attempted to exceed its proper jurisdiction.*

Dismissed and overthrown. Has a nice ring to it, does it not?

[*Bernard Bailyn, The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1967, p. 47]

The current "comprehensive immigration reform" swindle has an added feature that has been greatly underreported: It would nullify all local and state legislation aimed at curbing the negative effects of illegal aliens because - voila - they would all be "legal" within 24 hours.

As an e-mailer to Rich Lowry notes:

Far from simple being empty promises, this amnesty bill is actually a blatant attempt to head off any attempts at enforcement at all. After all, states and cities can't deny services or enforce laws against illegals if the government makes them all legal.

(Thanks to Glenn Reynolds for the link).

Adios, Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act.

Adios, Beaufort County, SC, Lawful Employment Ordinance.

Adios, Hazleton, PA, Illegal Immigration Relief Act.

Adios, everything you might be working on at the local or state level. S 1348 trumps all of it.

The bill does nothing to ensure local business licensing rules or zoning laws are enforced. It does nothing to crack down on employers who hire under the table. It does nothing to limit the influx across our southern border. It provides blanket amnesty, and opens the door for migrants to apply for state benefits, with the promise of enforcement sometime in the future.

The president and a substantial portion of the U.S. Senate have essentially declared war on the American people.

The "bill" currently under discussion is so utterly detrimental to the interests of most Americans that if more of them simply understood what it contains, there would be talk not so much of "voting them out" in 2008, but of descending on the White House and Capitol with tar and feathers right now.

Howard Fineman makes this interesting but not entirely accurate observation:

His timing was perfect, as in wrong, just as he was preparing to attend the Senate Republicans' weekly luncheon on the Hill. "I'll see you at the bill signing," he said, chestier than usual.

He might live to regret such playground bravado. If you are president, the only thing worse than issuing a public threat to your own party is failing to make it stick.

It really is quite extraordinary. Here he is, an unpopular leader fighting an unpopular war. His two-term presidency is clattering to a conclusion, besieged on all sides, taking hits on everything from his attorney general to his general incompetence. And so he decides to do what? Climb into the ring for an ultimate fighting bout with the base of the very Republicans who got him to the White House.

The fissure in the Republican Party over immigration is significant, and - by the way - it precedes George W. Bush. There are far more powerful forces than the U.S. president advocating cheap labor and open borders. But Bush has chosen to ignore the concerns of the regular citizens.

These are now everywhere disingenuously referred to as "the base" whether "Republican" or "conservative." In reality, the outrage is coming from Americans of every ideological stripe who are now seeing the negative effects of the illegal alien invasion in their own communities.

There is no doubt the president is on course to destroy the Republican Party, although not because of besmirching it over the illegal alien issue. Certainly, many Americans will realize that if not for a handful of Republican senators this bill would have passed the Senate weeks ago.

He is going to destroy the GOP by forcing the question of party loyalty and deepening internal fractures to the breaking point in the 2007 and especially 2008 elections. As blogger Ace of Spades has promised:

Every single one of you voting for this bill is looking into your political grave. There will be casualties; there will be a bloodbath...

You're done. You've radicalized the right into a Kos-like political vendetta machine, and we will not only cut our own throats in order to slice yours, we'll enjoy doing so.

Read all of that, by the way.

Beyond the party, what Bush is saying to mainstream Americans is "trust me, and follow me over the cliff" by allowing him to open the floodgates once and for all. He is not just picking a fight with the hard core of his party - he is picking a fight with the citizenry as a whole. Luckily, Americans are now inclined to view the "trust me" exhortation skeptically and more and more of them are realizing they, their kids and their grandchildren are under attack.

The time is ripe for patriotism of the kind that inspired the "revolutionaries" here 231 years ago, who were not trying to overturn a social system but rather fight off a pernicious threat being imposed on their existing social and cultural order from above.

The first send-off for No Relation was such a roaring success we had to do it again, so a few of us gathered at Leesburg's Downtown Saloon again to bid a fond farewell and godspeed to our local hero.

NR joined the military right out of high school - about ten years ago - when he was just 17 years old. He completed his first tour of duty overseas (Afghanistan) in 2005 and goes back on active duty next week. He will be in the Middle East around the end of summer. In total, he will be out of civilian life and living the infantry life until about the end of next summer.

Sterling Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio made a very welcome surprise appearance.

Among other dignitaries present was Republican precinct captain for Sterling, Fred Avila, and artiste-wunderkind Kevin of Digital Camel (also an esteemed NVTH "amnesty" blogger). Kevin drove down from Baltimore for the event.

Funny thing: After we first arrived the topic of conversation turned to Eugene Delgaudio, with several of us trying to explain to Kevin the ineluctable, mysterious charm of our Supervisor, and me finally saying "You just have to meet Eugene sometime. Words hardly do him justice."

When ten minutes later who should walk in but the Supervisor himself! Suffice it to say, before long Kevin had the full experience and I trust he now understands how to know Eugene is to love him.

The old and the new: After returning from Afghanistan NR spent several months working for Eugene. Here he is with current Delgaudio laborers Josh and Ryan. Josh emceed the recent candidate debates hosted by Patrick Henry College and Ryan was campaign manager for Patricia Phillips' successful primary campaign.

Not long after Kevin left, the shadowy Jacob Ash of NVTH Blog arrived. I somewhat regret those two did not get to meet, but since this was merely a biker bar I was also relieved on behalf of the customers the encounter did not occur. I'm thinking "Clash of the Titans" type stuff and I don't know if the other patrons' tender sensibilities could have handled it.

I'll be seeing NR at least once more before he leaves so there will be further posts here in the near future.

One of our socialist readers from Across the Pond posted an interesting comment yesterday. He concluded:

Three things should be eternally free from commercial interests - religion, education and health. Making money from any of those is morally contemptible.
-- Har Noah Neemus

I would like to address these seriatim.

'"Put simply, the Constitution does not allow the President to order the military to seize civilians residing within the United States and then detain them indefinitely without criminal process, and this is so even if he calls them 'enemy combatants'," the court said.'

Article below the fold

[The following Resolution was passed unanimously by the Loudoun County Republican Committee Convention delegates on Saturday, June 9. Congrats to Chair Ranjani Johnson (shown below reading the Resolution) and the LCRC Issues Committee. It is a very strong statement which reflects the growing sentiment among American citizens that something must be done to address the negative effects of illegal immigration in their communities.]

Resolution in Support of Legal Immigration and Enforcement of Current Immigration Law

Whereas, respect for the rule of law unites Americans of diverse ancestry and national origin, and legal immigration is grounded in respect for the rule of law; and

Whereas, fundamental fairness dictates that those individuals who respect our laws should first receive the benefits of citizenship under current law; and

Whereas, current law, which mandates deportation of those who violate our immigration laws, should be enforced; and

Whereas, the negative effects of illegal immigration are pervasive and create an increasing burden on every segment of society; and

Whereas, any weakening of our current immigration law compromises the rule of law and our national security; and

Whereas, the negative effects of illegal immigration include a depressed wage base, increased violent crime, degradation of community standards, and overburdening of our education, healthcare and social welfare systems; and

Whereas, these negative effects cumulatively threaten the national sovereignty of the United States of America; and

Whereas, it is unconscionable for those entrusted with the protection of our society to ignore these negative effects or reward the violation of our laws; now, therefore be it

Resolved, that we, the delegates to the Loudoun County, Virginia Republican Convention of Two Thousand and Seven, call on all our elected officials to oppose any legislation which rewards violation of our current immigration laws; and, be it further

Resolved, that we call on our elected officials, at all levels of government, to support and enact legislation which effectively penalizes any entity which aids or abets or promotes the violation of these laws; and, be it further

Resolved, that the Convention directs its Chairman to cause a copy of this resolution to be distributed to the Chairman of the Republican National Committee, to the Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, to the Republican members of the General Assembly representing Loudoun County, to our statewide elected officials, to our members of the House of Representatives and United States Senate, to our members of the Board of Supervisors and to members of the press.

[The following message is from Greg Ahlemann, who - in a major upset - won the Republican nomination for Sheriff at yesterday's Loudoun County Republican Convention. More info on Mr. Ahlemann is available here.]

I want to publicly thank Roger Zurn for his support. I respect all of the constitutional officers and the exceptional work they have done and continue to do. I am honored to receive the Republican Party's nomination for Sheriff.

I would have hoped that Sheriff Simpson would have kept his word when he took the oath to support all the Republican Party's nominees, but I was not suprised as this had been discussed for some time within the Sheriff's Office. It is unfortunate that he described his tenure as Sheriff with words such as "honesty and integrity" when I and the other officers in the department saw this lack of sincerity on a regular basis.

I have been flooded with calls and emails from deputies who are excited about the change that will be taking place. Much like 4 years ago when three officers gave up their jobs with the Loudoun Sheriff's Office, I resigned in January of this year to give the deputies a leader who they believe in.

When I resigned, I knew it would be difficult to unseat a three term incumbent from within the party. I also knew that at the time, the constitutional officers were running as a team to fend off challengers. I understood the rules and the risk I was taking but believed it was the right thing to do for the department and the county. I was encouraged early on by one of the officers who ran last time, to "take Simpson to the convention" because of his belief that many citizens were ready for change as well. More than two thirds of the delegate vote, and I believe every district, chose "Ahlemann" for Sheriff.

Despite this clear message by the voters, Simpson has again reversed himself. I believe that Simpson should have given up his party affiliation prior to the convention if he was going to run as an Independent. Instead, he allowed many of his supporters, as well as mine, to spend hours waiting, to have their voices heard in this race, only to be told by him that he did not care by choosing to ignore their voice in the election process. I glady accept the Republican nomination and will continue to work hard to secure the win for our deputies, our party, and our county. I believe the citizens of Loudoun are ready for a Sheriff that is not a politician. I believe they want a Sheriff who gives his word and keeps it.

I also believe the residents of Loudoun want a Sheriff who will make tough decisions based on what is best for the community and not what is best politically. I am a conservative Republican but I believe the enforcement of our federal immigration laws is more important than party affiliation. For these reasons, I look forward to November when all the residents of Loudoun - Republican, Democrat and Independent - will choose their next Sheriff. I will work for and support all the Republican nominees, as I pledged I would do, but more importantly, I look forward to providing Loudoun with a Sheriff not a Politician.

I want to express my appreciation to Help Save Loudoun and Help Save Herndon for their dedication to bettering our communities.

Following is Greg Ahlemann's speech to the Loudoun County Republican Convention in June 9.

More from the Loudoun County Republican Convention:

How do I work this? I was a bit dumbfounded about how to best maximize the fortuitous melding of Republican politics and Christian real estate.

I needn't have worried. After Brian Withnell gave his reasonably nuts-and-bolts speech about why he wished to be Clerk of the Circuit Court, it all became very clear.

As soon as Withnell left the podium, the lights dimmed and the spotlight swirled as fog covered the stage floor.

A twangy, syncopated funky bass line cut through the thick air. I was wondering whether this was Bootsy Collins from his P-Funk days or his Talking Heads days when, suddenly, a tall figure appeared stage right flanked by two hunched-over assistants who pulled the shiny, purple cloak from his back as he stepped up to the mike.

A booming voice exclaimed "Ladies and gentlemen of the Republican Convention, give it up now for the CLERK OF SOUL!!"

The white lights zapped to full intensity as he shouted "Hellooo, RePUBLICANS!!! Are you all proud to be REPUBLICANS??!"

We all shouted "Yeah!"

"And are you proud to be here affirming the principles of representative government?"

We all screamed "YEAHHH!"

"And are you HAVING A GOOD TIME!!!?"

"YEAAAHHHH!!!"

The funk went up numerous decibels, we all began clapping, while this amazing showman commenced telling us each our life stories. The entire auditorium seemed to sway:

"I believe in our families and communities, do YOU?!!"

"YEAHHH!!!"

"Do you believe in the HOPE of our principles and the TRUTH of our conservative movement and the FAITH of our dedication to what we have always held dear?!!"

"OHHHH!!! YEAHHHH!!!"

The guy in the seat next to me asked "What does any of this have to do with his Clerk of Court job?"

I answered, "For the love of all that is good and holy, man, DON'T THINK ABOUT IT - JUST EXPERIENCE IT!!!"

And at that moment I realized:

Brian Withnell was merely running for Clerk of Court.

Gary Clemens was running for Clerk of GOD. And how you gonna compete with that?

Clemens bounded from one side of the stage to the other, delineating the accomplishments of his office:

"We cut wait times from an average of 30 minutes to 22 minutes."

"YEAAAAHHHH!!"

"We met all federal standards for on-time filing of records!"

"YEAAAAAHHHH!!!!"

By this time I could feel the subconscious excitement building and the hairs on my neck began to stick up. Something strange was happening here, some preternatural expression of bureaucratic excellence on the level of the Pharoahs and the Caesars. My arms were twitching; the audience was shouting incomprehensibly, when Clemens let loose the cannon blast:

"In 2005, the state compensation board recognized my office as being ranked in the top 15 out of 120 offices in Virginia for financial management practices."

My neck muscles tensed and my eyes bulged while an explosion formed in my lungs; my head shook spastically from side to side as I exclaimed "YEAHHHH!!! YEAHHHH!!!"

I looked at my neighbor and our eyes locked as we both shouted in unison "OHHHHH!! YEAHHHHH!!!".

Financial management practices? Oh, gosh, yeah! That's WHY I became a Republican.

The entire crowd went berserk. I needed air so I lurched out into the aisle, lay down on the floor, watched the ceiling spin above me, gasped for air, when suddenly a wing-tipped toe smashed into my chest between the 3rd and 4th ribs. It was Deacon Ken Reid, charging down the aisle.

Or leaping, I should say. I should have been more careful.

I had noticed during Brian Withnell's speech that the Deacon was jogging up and down the aisles passing out signs and whispering instructions. The Deacon covered the entire hall, from one end to the other, and by the time Rev. Clemens was into his sermon, the Deacon was literally jitterbugging with his "Clemens" signs and rousting others to join in.

I tried to get in sync but it was hard. Clemens exclaimed "We have established standard operating procedures. We have provided training for our staff."

This denotation of bureaucratic accomplishment is surely red-meat for most Republicans so the cries rang out "YEAHHHH!! AUGGHHHHH!!! WHOOOO-HOOOOO!!!"

But I was pretty sure some internal organs were damaged so as much as I wanted to join the shouting, I just rolled to the side of the aisle and let the Deacon have his runway.

I was flecked with Deacon Reid's sweat and spittle. By this time the music was so loud, the sweat so infusive, and (I was pretty sure) incense so pervasive, I was ready to pass out.

When the Reverend said: "My fellow Clerks thought so highly of my customer service initiatives that I am first vice president of the Clerk's Association of Virginia, and if I'm elected today I'll be president!" the audience went ballistic.

Flashbulbs were popping. Women swooned. Babies wailed. Men howled and slapped each other in the face for no reason.

It was pure bedlam, but a good kind of bedlam. We all put the funk on, which is definitely what you want to get from your Clerk of Court.

[Full disclosure: Most of this post is imaginary. Only those in attendance will appreciate the elements which bear on reality.]

[UPDATE: Loudoun Insider is labeling this post and the fact we DARED to print a letter from Brian Withnell an "assault" on Gary Clemens. Apart from the fact I wrote immediately after the Convention I was planning to have fun at Gary's expense - thereby giving him plenty of time to brace himself - I think Gary's speech was unusual enough to merit some kidding. LI has become a bit of a Withnell-phobe and it appears he will not rest easy until Brian Withnell leaves the country and is expunged from all public records. I have to believe Gary Clemens has slightly thicker skin.]

Here is the video of Eugene's speech yesterday - posted pretty quickly, I must say. It provides a good window into why he is so popular in the local community.

[The following was submitted by Republican candidate for nomination for Clerk of Court Brian Withnell. Withnell lost out for the nomination to incumbent Clerk Gary Clemens at yesterday's convention.]

Now that the contest is over, I'll actually make some comments.

First, I wish Gary all the best. In fact, I hope--very definitely hope--that the problems in his office are over (and they might be). I hope I also had a part to play in that correction.

Now, why run. From a very strict point of view, the running is just part of who I have always been. Not that Loudoun County would ever know it. I used to live in Maryland many years ago (where being a Republican was equal to having no voice in politics) and still managed to work toward moderating the liberal bent there. I happened to have worked in Maryland political circles many years ago, mostly on an issues basis. Bethany Christian Services got a lot of work from me helping them establish a home for unwed mothers. I set up the Annapolis chapter's computers for them (and donated computers to them). I worked in Wicomico county with the local Life Line Pregnancy Center in much the same way. I worked with the College Republicans in Salisbury.

Why not around here? First, when I moved here, my wife became pregnant soon after. When the child was one year old, my first wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, and for the next 3 1/2 years, my focus was helping her. After she died, it took a lot out of me, and I was a single Dad. Try that with 3 children for a while. It is busy.

Then I met a wonderful woman, and we married. My top priority in this world was then integrating her into a family of five. After that, we had my second, then third son (that's right, we have five children in all).

At this point, time is just now starting to be something other than "already taken" by higher priorities. Oh, sorry, I believe all those things are in fact higher priorities--disagree if you wish, but you never have to worry about me doing something for ulterior motives.

Now again, why choose to run for this office? First, I really do believe Gary had done a rather lame (at best) job. His record speaks for itself. I love the fact that he stated he had two clear audits from the accounting office (he actually had three, the first one was the first year he was in office--the errors were not left over from the prior clerk, the prior clerk had clean audits at the end of his term, and Gary's first was clean also). The fact is that it takes time to get things into a mess, and the audit I cited was almost three years into his term. So just from the standpoint of audits, out of the seven years he was in office, he had only three years that were "okay." The first was okay (from the prior clerk's work) and the most recent two. What that says to me is that he mismanaged the office for at least 4 of the prior 7 years. 3 of 7 right (at best) is a failing grade in every math course I've taught.

But why run? If you aren't willing to be part of the solution, you don't have any right to complain about the problem. I was willing to run for two reasons. First, I really believe I could have done a better job. Believe it? That is a little weak. I know I could do a better job. It may have been a lot better for me to become involved sooner, let myself be known more, put in an appearance for a year or so ahead of time. But that isn't what I thought I could do at the time. And guess what? This only opens up once every eight years. I certainly hope Mr. Clemens doesn't repeat his prior performance (i.e., do poorly for five years, followed by getting his act together at the last 2 prior to election). I threw my hat in the ring the only time I could have, and while that did not allow for a thorough campaign, it will have at least made it plain that people do care about his performance.
Would I run for a different office? Perhaps I would. But I would want to know that I would be able to do the best job of those that are running. That said, I also have to admit that part of the job (getting a nomination, and then being elected) is not my strong suit. But then, I have always thought that while that is the most important part of actually getting the job, it may be the most contrary indicator of who is best for a job. (For example, Clinton was elected easily, but I certainly think he was one of the worst people for the office of President yet).

As I said before, I wish Gary Clemens all the best. He is unopposed in November, so he should sail into another eight years. I hope I don't have any reason to run for that office again.

Brian Withnell

P.S. as a corollary to not being able to complain if you aren't willing to be part of the solution, I now have earned the right to complain. :)

Changing course again! Loudoun County Sheriff Steve Simpson, who signed a pledge to support all Republican candidates in the November elections, took less than 24 hours to decide to violate that pledge, apparently, and has decided to run as an independent.

Hey, here's an interesting question: I wonder what the rest of our "constitutional officers" are going to do? If the LCRC is going to be so gung ho about party purity, getting a solid statement of support from all three officers for Greg Ahleman might be a great place to start.

Yes!

The Ahlemann's made major sacrifices to pull this off - and by sacrifices I mean money and time for a family not awash in either, and living for months under a big cloud of uncertainty about the future. To see the sheer exhileration and relief when the big announcement was made was pretty darn touching.

Loudoun County Republican Convention report:

Greg Ahlemann won by what someone overheard was a "huge" margin - though this is third-hand information so I can't vouch for it.

But from the response during the speeches, which was an order of magnitude louder than that for any of the other candidates, it sounds reasonable. The cheer for Ahlemann was a massive roar that caught me by surprise. This was a groundswell, an outpouring - whatever you want to call it - flowing directly from the overflowing reservior of frustration that has been building here, particularly over the illegal alien problem.

Listen to Greg Ahlemann's Convention speech here:

Sheriff Steve Simpson was the most immediate target of resident's ire, and though he probably did not help himself by his responses (or lack thereof) in certain cases, the Sheriff went down a little harder than he really deserved to. But candidates at every step up the hierarchy had better take note. This was just the first shot for 2007 (well, counting Patricia Phillips I guess this was the second) in Loudoun and Virginia as a whole.

In other races:

Geary Higgins beat Robert Bruton.
Mark Albright beat Ben Weber.
Gary Clemens beat Brian Withnell.
Eugene Delgaudio beat George Hidy.

And the biggest shocker of all: Lori Waters beat Jack Ryan.

Because of acclamation (we all agree on a candidate and leave the contest behind) none of the numbers are available (yet) except for Delgaudio beating Hidy 110-22 because of the lack of acclamation.

Don't ask me to explain any of that because I cannot.

Congrats to all the winners. They all deserve our support. The GOP has a strong slate going into the fall campaign.

All in all a pretty well-run affair. There were some hiccups but you have to hand it to the LCRC - it was really fairly smooth excepting a VERY long delay counting the votes. But better late than inaccurate.

(I am going to have some fun at Gary Clemens' expense in an upcoming post which I hope he will also see the humor in.)

The Ahlemann's ran a fantastic campaign. To overcome the odds against such a strong incumbent is hard to conceive of. The amount of support they managed to corral from throughout this really BIG county is amazing.

On a personal note, I almost crashed my car when I got the call that Patricia Phillips had won on May 19. This was right up there.

I am supporting Eugene Delgaudio for Sterling District Supervisor because he works extremely hard for the citizens of Sterling and is the only Supervisor to initiate any public policies to address the negative effects of the growing illegal alien population in our area. He has been a huge asset to our community.

Supervisor Delgaudio literally works all hours for the residents. He has given his personal phone number and e-mail to pretty much the entire community. During snowstorms he rides around looking for areas the plows are most needed. During the gas leaks he was out late that night and sending e-mail updates until after midnight. When the state planned to leave the new Sterling Boulevard/Route 28 overpass closed for weeks if not months, Mr. Delgaudio was getting the message out to the press and citizens about how much time we were all wasting sitting through the traffic lights. He kept up the pressure until the new intersection was opened. He coordinates all sorts of volunteer projects throughout the year and has raised large sums of money for programs to benefit the community.

He led the Loudoun County side of the opposition to the Herndon Day Labor Center and publicly supported the candidates for town council and mayor who eventually swept most of the previous town government out of office. Supervisor Delgaudio has been a strong supporter of Help Save Herndon and Help Save Loudoun.

On the Board, he authored the overcrowding ordinance which reduced the number of people allowed to live in a home from ridiculous to merely surprisingly high levels - more work is needed here but legislation needs to be passed in Richmond to allow local jurisdictions to do more. He was pushing the Sheriff to pursue the ICE 287g training when all of the other Supervisors were still silent on the issue. As it stands, he is only one of nine so it has been a challenge to get the rest of the Board's attention about the illegal alien problem - although this seems to be changing in a big way in recent months.

To address the crisis caused by the negative effects of the influx of illegal aliens into Loudoun County, we need Eugene Delgaudio on the Board of Supervisors - and we need several other Board members to step up and take notice.

Some people have an issue with Eugene's personality, his tendency to joke around regarding issues which are supposedly too serious to kid about.

Personally, I think much of what our government does - at all levels - is so ridiculous the only attitude one SHOULD have to much of it is an attitude of irony. When the entreprise itself is insane, the guy laughing may be the only one who sees the truth.

When he sends out a pseudo-serious press release about a family of ducks saved from certain death at the local shopping plaza, I frankly welcome it.

And I think the vast majority of Sterling residents enjoy him as well.

I am voting for Eugene Delgaudio at the Convention because he is the best advocate the citizens of Sterling have to represent their interests at the county level. He has proven himself serious about addressing illegal immigration: We have a lot more to do, but Supervisor Delgaudio has gotten the job started even when he was the only one toiling away.

No to cloture on S 1348.

Good work, everyone.

Following on the incident of a few weeks ago, here is another example of what people in Sterling Park regard as the Sheriff's Office's hands-off approach to illegal aliens and lack of concern for Sterling residents.

A good friend of mine - who lives on a street where if the majority of residents are not illegal aliens, the actual count is probably not much less than half - saw this from her front porch. It happened the Saturday before last, May 26, at 10:30 pm.

She heard a great deal of noise outside and went to her front door to see what it was. Apparently because of a large party down the street, the street was lined with cars and cars were driving very fast up and down the street. Trash and empty beer bottles were strewn on various front yards.

Suddenly a group of about 10 men came running down the street yelling. When they had passed by her house, they dispersed into several front yards, and several of them could be seen urinating in the front and side yards of different houses.

My friend called the Sheriff's Office and reported a large, loud party that had spilled onto the street, rowdy behavior and obvious evidence of drinking and driving and open containers. The representative at the Sheriff's Office told her that deputies were already on the scene.

She then stepped out into her yard and saw that several houses down there were in fact two deputies sitting in their cruisers, with the engines running. She stood and watched for awhile and they never budged from their cars.

As she told me about it, she asked "What the hell are they doing there if they are not going to put a stop to the speeding cars and rowdy behavior?"

I would go one step further and ask: What does this tell us about how the illegal alien community perceives local law enforcement, when the sight of two deputies is no incentive to slow down or drive more cautiously, and when a group of men feel they have sufficient leeway to run right past two Sheriff's deputies and start peeing in the front yards a short distance away??

As our neighborhoods in eastern Loudoun decline, gang activity continues to spread, and more and more areas become "off limits" after dark and to women walking alone, there is a preception that the Sheriff's department has given up on us.

The longtime residents of Sterling Park - the few who still live there - gave up on this Sheriff's department long ago. I have attended numerous public meetings over the past year where frustrated residents of the Park absolutely lambasted representatives of the Sheriff's Office over what has happened in their neighborhoods. But the rest of Sterling and the rest of Loudoun are becoming equally affected by the huge influx of illegals and the hands-off policy of so many of our elected officials.

If you are elderly or a single woman living alone, you can be forgiven for thinking NO ONE is going to look out for your safety. Citizens and illegals alike can be forgiven if their instinctive reaction is "Oh, that's just the Loudoun Sheriff's department, they won't do anything" about the class of crimes which may not be headline material but make an enormous difference in the quality of life in our neighborhoods.

As we watch U.S. senators debate with straight faces an "immigration reform" bill which will grant immediate amnesty to tens of millions of illegals, citizens of this country have to wonder how such a bunch of traitors and ignoramuses have the authority to sell our country down the river. I will tell you how: Because we as citizens and voters have not paid enough attention to who we put in office at every level and we have not held them accountable when they do not act in the public's interest.

One way or another, the perception of the Loudoun Sheriff's Office - by legal residents AND illegal aliens - needs to change.

I no longer consider him the head of my Republican Party

How true. And how rarely one of our state legislators rises to the level of statesman.

Virginia State Senator Ken Cuccinelli, one of the very few in office at any level that I trust, says what so many of us are thinking - and what so many who hold office are so reluctant to say.

Dear Fellow Republican:

My President Is Wrong. There's no other way to say it.

Like you, I believe that I am a loyal American, Virginian and Republican. As a general matter, I believe that most people view the President as the head of the Republican Party in America. It is not a formal position, but as the elected head of our nation, Presidents typically also function as the head of their respective political party. For much of his Presidency, President Bush has functioned as the head of the Republican Party.

Not any more.

President Bush began his Presidency somewhat inauspiciously by pushing and signing the largest increase in the role of the Federal Government in local education in history with the so-called 'No Child Left Behind' legislation. The President's partner in that enterprise was Senator Ted Kennedy.

More recently, the President has teamed up with Sen. Kennedy again. This time on immigration and the result may be much worse for America than their last partnership.

Given the clear message that had been coming from the Republican faithful on the issue of immigration, i.e., actually secure the border before doing anything else, it could only be said that the President has chosen to ignore us. At least, that is how I would have characterized it until he started attacking those of us that oppose his bill - and with shocking severity.

Not too long ago, the President declared that he would start 'pushing back' against opponents of his bill. This tells me that he wasn't merely ignoring his Republican base, he was thumbing his nose at us (or worse). Well Mr. President, as President you can certainly 'push harder' than I can, but I promise you that on this issue I will 'push back' too.

And I will not be alone.

As research by Heritage's Robert Rector details, the purported "immigration reform" bill would cause a seismic economic shift in the U.S. over the next decade - for the simple reason that low skilled, uneducated people are expensive to have in your economy in the first place, and making millions more eligible for entitlement benefits makes the problem exponentially worse.

But that's not the financial pinch this post is about.

This post is about the tragic, tragic news the National Republican Party is seeing a drop off in fundraising because prior contributors object to the Republican leadership's treasonous policy of encouraging and forgiving illegal aliens. A lot of people have stopped giving to the RNC altogether, apparently.

This is, on one level, an impressive development. But on another level, I have to say there is something juvenile and futile about suddenly cutting off one's contributions to the Party.

If we want to really send a message to the traitors, we have to do more than reduce their revenues: We have to cause reverse cash flow. We have to subtract money, not simply refuse to add it.

This can be done in a number of ways, but as explained in this post, it can be as simple as taping a Republican Party business reply card to a phone book and bringing it to the Post Office counter. Wrap the phone book in some wrapping paper or a brown paper bag and tape the BRC on there and you are good to go - works every time.

Do this over and over and eventually we'll make an impact. When was the last time you used any of your phone books, anyway? And with all the people who are dropping off the RNC's membership roster, they surely need all the contact information they can get. I challenge each of our readers to ship at least 2 phone books COD to the Republican National Committee or the Republican Senatorial Committee.

The Paper of Record also reports that a short list of state Republican parties have seen increases in donations because of the leadership's excellent advocacy for an enforcement-only policy.

Alas, my state's Republican party does not appear on that good-guy list. No huge surprise there.

[UPDATE: Well waddaya know, me and Loudoun Insider agree on a topic du jour. Mark the date, folks, and treasure the memory...]

By Friday, our kitchen table and countertops resemble a Hallmark store after a tornado, from the amount of mail (for me, the wife and two adult kids), newspapers, magazines, political agitprop, knick-knacks and miscellaneous pocket leavings that have accumulated since last week.

And you can't just throw all the crap out willy nilly, because it is inextricably intermixed with numerous credit solicitations which, if purloined intact from our trash, would enable someone to pay for and enroll in college as me, spend four years failing classes and wracking up debt, then mail the final horrific grades to my employer who would immediately fire me and demand repayment of 19 years worth of wages. And I can't have that.

So it ALL sits there and piles up throughout the week until a moment like this one, when I get home, grab a snow shovel, clear a place at the table, and sit down to relax, get the shredder humming, and have a moderate number of drinks.

You can imagine my delight when, upon sifting today's mail haul of about 35 items, I found the Loudoun County Republican Committee has sent a note reminding of the Convention details, on the off chance the 17 previous reminders from various candidates did not make a sufficient impression.

Ok, that's fine: It is important for the LCRC to ensure everyone has that information. And the fact we received another card to detach, complete and return to confirm our attendance is also fine, because my initial sift only resulted in 18 "immediate action" pieces of direct mail and that measly number would leave me twiddling my thumbs for the rest of the evening.

What really got my attention was the letter informing of the new LCRC Pledge Yo' Ass Now! program. I think this is a GREAT idea which will help lead the Republican Party to the final, glorious end stage that I have been predicting here for months.

You see, in order to register as a delegate, one had to sign a simple initial pledge affirming that "by the sacred beard of Odin I hereby foreswear and renounce all previous political affiliations and on the lives of my unborn grandchildren I pledge to support Republican candidates hereafter be they short or fat, wise or dumb, freemen or indicted co-conspirators, and if I violate this pledge I willingly submit to disembowelment and the gouging of eyes." Pretty standard stuff.

Now comes the notice that the onsite registration process for the June 9 Convention will include a separate RE-AFFIRMATION of the pledge, in which attendees will be politely diverted off to the side of the sign-in table by a Credentials and Internal Examination Committee member, asked to recite in loud voice your basic "I hereby declare, for real, that I intend to support all the nominees of the Republican Party of Virginia and renounce affiliations with any other political party on pain of DEATH" re-pledge, salute the flag while exclaiming "huzzah!", stamp their right foot three times to commemorate the victory of Joshua over the Philistines, and bow their heads. New delegates will then have their left pinky cut off and be directed to the seating area.

This may contribute to a slight backup in the registration line, but it will reaffirm the eternal truth that joining the political process is a scary, shadowy business which might well get you killed.

I'm trying to get some friends and family members more involved in public life, some of whom maybe did not consider themselves party animals of any stripe but are concerned about the immigration issue and see the GOP as the best chance to fix the problem, and Pledge Yo' Ass Now! is exactly the sort of initiation I was hoping they would undergo so we can separate the wheat from the chaff.

Some clown is fulminating over at Blog Fu's place about state Senator Ken Cuccinelli, calling the senator weak on an issue that he is actually strongest on.

(The purveyor of this "black is white" argument is also bemoaning the fact Senator Cuccinelli will not return his phone calls. I can help you with that one: Senators don't waste their time on crazy people. The guy also supposedly runs an anti-Cuccinelli Web site, which I would advise also does not elevate that return call on the priority list.)

Senator Ken Cuccinelli has been one of the most important proponents of stricter immigration law enforcement at the state and local level in the entire nation. He has been involved with Help Save Herndon since soon after it was formed and has supported the group's work ever since. He was the highest-ranking local dignitary at the HSH victory celebration after they bounced the former town government out of office.

Here, Senator Cuccinelli chats with Help Save Herndon member and Herndon Compass co-founder John Neil. (The Compass, the newspaper HSH started in order to get a fair hearing after the existing local press either ignored them or wrote them off as bigots, was a key factor in turning out the town council.)

As I mentioned the other day, some state lawmakers are taking proactive steps to ramp up immigration enforcement across the country and have formed an organization called State Legislators for Legal Immigration to further that effort. Along with Senator Jay O'Brien, Ken Cuccinelli is a founding member of SLLI from the state of Virginia.

UPDATE: The individual who made the false claims about the senator has retracted his complaints and has in fact fully reproduced this refutation, even the smackdown phrases. That's an act of intellectual honesty, which should be commended. So while we are in the mode of planting kisses on each others' cheeks, I'd like to ask WHY IN THE NAME OF GOD IS HE TRYING TO BRING DOWN ONE OF THE BEST ADVOCATES WE HAVE FOR FIXING THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IN OUR STATE???

The guys at Too Conservative are having a conniption over the fact that Brian Withnell is challenging Gary Clemens for the Republican nomination for Loudoun County Clerk of Court.

The gist of the argument seems to be "How dare he!"

While I will admit, in the spirit of full disclosure, that I seem to be on the other side of pretty much every political contest from the TC folks, I think there is room for objective discussion here.

[More full disclosure: My totally non-political wife, a couple months ago, said this about TC following her initial naive surfing of the blogosphere: "I thought 'Too Conservative' meant they exposed people they thought were too conservative." Heh. From the mouths of babes...]

Anyway, whatever the relative qualifications of the two men, let's examine a simple fact about the Clerk of Court:

The Clerk of Court gets elected for an eight-year term, and the salary is $130,000 a year - and as some insiders have said, it's not exactly a brutal job.

Interesting factoid: If you state the above sentence to anyone in Virginia, 99% of respondents will reply "reeaally??"

So I would say: Considering all the calculations that go into deciding whether one should run for office, this Clerk of Court deal has the added bonus of being a pretty friggin' good job. Better than the governor's or your average congressman's, in fact.

Yeah, it is "public service." But it is also pretty sweet public service.

The outrage at TC, I would therefore submit, is misdirected. I would say, in fact, that if there is any job that we should expect to see contested every eight years, it might be this one. It's a little surprising to me that people are not falling over themselves to line up for the primary.

Hell, it would be an upgrade for me, that's for damn sure.

I wish I had more information on the issues of the campaign. So far, Brian Withnell has established he is a nice guy but has not made it exactly clear why he would be the better man for this cherry position. Gary Clemens has made it clear he is also a good guy, and who can blame him for wanting another eight-year stint.

While I respect Loudoun Insider much of the time and read his posts pretty regularly, I have to think he is overdoing it a bit to hyperventilate over the fact that Withnell is trying to get this job. We do have a democratic process in this country, and oftentimes it is fought over jobs far less remunerative than the Loudoun County Clerk of Court. Supervisor, for instance. I think Gary Clemens should expect a challenge once every eight years and be ready to defend his position.

Brian Withnell is a tech-wonk guy - this is one of the things he did communicate the other night at the LCRC meeting. A lot can change in eight years, and in a data-intensive environment as a court oversees such a person has solid standing to say he should be considered for the position.

We just stumbled across this interesting post at Virginia Virtucon about Chaz Evans-Heywood, candidate for Clerk of Court in Rockingham County:

Chaz is an up and coming political star who has solid plans to modernize and streamline the clerk's office operation to make it more efficient. He is definitely someone to keep your eye on for the future. So, in an effort to help Chaz launch what promises to be a long and bright future in Virginia politics, Virginia Virtucon is proud to endorse Chaz in this race and add him to our Red Storm Virginia project.

You can check out Chaz's Web site for more info - his background is ideal for the position. If you live in Rockingham County, it sounds like you will have a candidate you can be proud to vote for in November.

Click here to contribute to Chaz Evans-Heywood's campaign.

[UPDATE: This is going to get linked by another post so it will be helpful to address the discussion in the comments. A deputy wrote in to say technically the responding deputies in this instance might have been following proper procedures if the subjects were juveniles. If the deputy was present that night with the four local residents who watched the entire episode unfold from 30 feet away, I'd have appreciated his commentary. And I do appreciate his compulsion to stick up for his colleagues. As it stands, the only hard evidence we have is the direct evidence of what me and my neighbors watched happen, which is two wasted individuals were let go without even a wrist slap, were given back the keys to their car, and that they did in fact drive away within the next four hours - not enough time to have sobered up if there was any intention to even do so. In addition, the episode was treated like a joke. Therefore the strong perception remains that this was treated like a non-event, and if the subjects had been citizens it would have been treated differently. The fact that no one from the Sheriff's Office responded to this inquiry from four citizens who watched the incident take place right in front of their faces indicates at best utter disdain for local residents' concerns. Finally, if the deputies were following correct protocol, then the protocol is screwed up because it completely ignores public safety - which proves the original point of this post.]

Our society is on the brink of crisis because of the increasing disconnect between politicians and American citizens.

Last week we were treated to the spectacle of U.S. senators debating an "immigration reform" bill which, in the very first clause of its very first paragraph, provides for an "exception of the probationary benefits" which - if you scroll down to section 600 - will allow over 12 million illegal aliens to receive "Z" visas "by the end of the next business day" after they apply for the visa if their background checks and other tests have not been completed. As the Washington Post reported yesterday, USCIS, the agency responsible for processing those applicants, is already an "agency mired in inefficiency."

What happens when millions more applications are added to the workload? Instant benefits of citizenship for millions of illegal aliens who, among other bonuses, "may not be detained or deported" regardless of criminal offenses or other legal infractions.

Pretty surreal, huh? Well, it gets worse. You don't even have to dig far into the document to notice that one of the "enforcement" provisions is construction of 370 miles of fence on our Mexican border. Great idea, right?

It was also a great idea last October when the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which provided for over 700 miles of fence, was passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law by President Bush. Only 11 miles of that fence has been built and already we have a new proposed law which shortens it by about 400 miles.

What sort of fools do our elected officials take us for? Class A morons.

Witness the photo of Democratic and Republican senators laughing hysterically at the conclusion of their closed-door "negotiations" on this travesty of a piece of legislation.

This disconnect - which might also be considered indifference, ineptitude ... or corruption - afflicts our government at every level.

Here in Loudoun County, Virginia, some citizens have said the Sheriff's Department is not adequately addressing the illegal alien problem. Deputies allegedly have said things like "Why don't you move out of the barrio" to Sterling Park residents complaining about misbehavior by migrant workers in their neighborhoods.

Sheriff Steve Simpson's change of heart on requesting Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) training for local deputies brought a skeptical response from Greg Ahlemann, his challenger for the Republican nomination. The question of the Sheriff's commitment to dealing with the issue has been a topic of lively debate in the campaign.

Earlier this month, an incident occurred in front of my house which, in a nutshell, depicts the truly frightening situation citizens face when their governing officials adopt a culture of indifference.

I wrote to the Sheriff's Media Information Officer on Monday, May 14 about what happened. He wrote to me:

I am forwarding your email to the appropriate command staff so I can get you more information on the incident. I will get back to you as soon as I can.

It has now been two full weeks and there has been no reply. This confirms, I believe, the conclusions I drew about the incident. I live in a typical suburban subdivision. Following is the message I sent to the Sheriff's Office:

Our commenter Had Enough sends the following:

As the memories of WWII, Korea and Viet Nam grow further away with time we lose perspective of the meaning even though we are currently at war.

Both of my grandfathers served in the military, one of them helped free the Jews in the concentration camps, he never spoke of his bravery and accomplishments during the war. I never asked him about it because I figured it must have been too painful. He kept a journal about the concentration camps documenting each camp, the people and included photos and information, I never saw it until after his death. He suffered a injury in WWII and as a disabled veteran he received a very small monthly check. After he died the government reduced that check to $19. a month for my grandmother, she didn't say anything she just stared at it.

Before he died he was concerned about his flag, military awards, medals, ribbons and other items that he collected from his time in the service and instructed my grandmother what to do with them upon his death. His concern was that they be given to someone who would cherish and preserve them.

Read this essay, then consider the current immigration debate - then say to yourself, "holy crap" as I did:

While Democratic legislators we spoke with welcomed the Latino vote, they seemed more interested in those immigrants and their offspring as a tool to increase the role of the government in society and the economy. Several of them tended to see Latin American immigrants and even Latino constituents as both more dependent on and accepting of active government programs and the political class guaranteeing those programs, a point they emphasized more than the voting per se. Moreover, they saw Latinos as more loyal and "dependable" in supporting a patron-client system and in building reliable patronage networks to circumvent the exigencies of political life as devised by the Founding Fathers and expected daily by the average American.

Republican lawmakers we spoke with knew that naturalized Latin American immigrants and their offspring vote mostly for the Democratic Party, but still most of them (all except five) were unambiguously in favor of amnesty and of continued mass immigration (at least from Mexico). This seemed paradoxical, and explaining their motivations was more challenging. However, while acknowledging that they may not now receive their votes, they believed that these immigrants are more malleable than the existing American: That with enough care, convincing, and "teaching," they could be converted, be grateful, and become dependent on them.

Although we maintain an attitude of objectivity and independence here at the NVTH Blog, usually choosing to endorse candidates individually based on our diverse interests, I am pleased to report that the NVTH bloggers have conferred and agreed to a corporate endorsement of Hamilton 'Ham' Sandwich, Esq., for Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney.

Because of the early date this endorsement is totally unprecedented.

NOVA TownHall's Joe Budzinski said:

While the opponent offers interesting credentials, we strongly believe Ham Sandwich - particularly with a little spicy mustard - presents an overwhelmingly superior alternative.

You can go to the Raising Ham site for more info on this Ham-tastic political movement.

Right now, we have a high-level delegation in China discussing our trade deficit with that country. But what is it we expect China to do? How do we expect them to fix our problem?

One of the issues is the Chinese government's fixing the value of the yuan to the U.S. dollar. The assertion is that the yuan is undervalued, so China is selling to us on the cheap. So let's say a widget costs 9 yuan to produce, and the Chinese sell it to us for 10. Let's also assume that the yuan is pegged at 10 to the dollar. (I'm making up these numbers.) So we get the widget for a dollar. But the yuan is really undervalued, and should be, let's say, 8 for a dollar. So the widget should have cost us $1.25. Essentially, the artificially depressed yuan valuation just resulted in the Chinese' giving us 25 cents. What was the problem again?

Well, the reason the yuan's depressed valuation is considered a problem is that it increases our trade deficit with China. Well, if it weren't China, it would be someone else. If a nation has a trade defecit, it means that it is buying more than it is making. If we were not buying more than we are making, the value of the imports we bought would have to be offset by the value of the exports we sold. So whose fault is this, anyway?

Look in the mirror, folks. Let's assume that our per capita GDP is $100,000. (Again, I'm making these numbers up for illustration only.) If we have a per capita trade deficit of $1000, where does that extra $1000 come from? We did not make it, or our per capita GDP would have been $101,000. No, that $1000 comes from debt.

Our trade deficit is a direct result of our willingness to go into debt. Nothing China does can fix that.

"David Beats Goliath!"

"The Giants Win The Pennant!"

"I Don't Believe What I Just Saw!"

Whatever is your best analogy, this is the time to employ it.

UPDATE ADDED