It's A Start

From GOPBloggers: Utah Governor Jon Huntsman signed a bill taking away driver's licenses for illegal immigrants. The problem is, the bill allows the illegal immigrants to receive a driving privilege card in exchange. It can't be used for identification or boarding airplanes or to register to vote. But it can be used to drive.

I'm sorry. This is still rewarding someone who is breaking the law to drive. In this case, driving without a license. People who are illegal should not be issued any sort of privilege by any state. I know this will tick off a lot of bleeding heart liberals who think it disenfranchises minorities. In this case, people who are breaking the law by being in this country illegally.

The illegal immigrants have until their birthday or July 1 to turn in their legal driver's license and receive the driving privilege card.

How many do you think will be turned in?

A Clarification

I stated in my earlier post about Brian Nichols that the FBI had to be the ones to take him into custody because if they didn't his chances of coming out of that condo alive were slim. I know that there will be people who don't want to believe this, but it's true.

Cops will tell you, the outsider, that they always want the outcome we had today. And in the interest of justice that is right. We, even civilians such as myself, are indoctrinated in the idea that bringing in the suspect is the best, professional thing to do. But among themselves, they will say otherwise. Now, before anyone starts yelling that cops don't think this way, I am not saying that any cop would have taken pleasure in killing Nichols, or would have killed him just to kill him, or to save the cost of the trial, or for retribution because he "killed one of our own", or because he beat his original escort beyond recognition ("one of our own" again) or anything else. They are professionals, after all. And thank God they are. But had he given them any reason to fire on him, yes, they would have.

I'm glad that the various agencies were able to cooperate and take this man into custody. I want his rights to be very protected. I don't want even the thought of his rights being violated. I want him to have a fair trial. And if convicted, as I believe he will be, I want him to serve whatever maximum sentence is handed down.

Do I want Nichols executed? Truth to tell, I've been bouncing back and forth on that issue for a couple of years. I will say that Nichols would never commit another crime so it's a deterent in that sense. Is it a deterent to crime in general? I don't think so. Death penalty inmates sit on death row for years and even decades before they are executed. Many die of other causes before the state can carry out the sentence. I doubt that anyone thinking about killing another person says, "I can't do this because I might be executed" and decides to sue them instead. I believe that anyone who sets out to kill another person either thinks they are smart enough to get away with it or that it's worth spending a number of years in jail before being released, that's if they are caught.

I'm not sure that I want my tax dollars going to keep a death penalty inmate alive for decades before his appeals play out. It costs the taxpayers millions to house a death penalty inmate while the appeal process goes on. Maybe a life without parole is better. It would certainly be less expensive for the taxpayers.

Of course, in certain cases, my idea of the perfect sentence would be to execute the inmate in the same manner he killed his victims. Only, not telling him when he would be executed, But that would be cruel, wouldn't it? Not that the inmate gave his victim any notice of when they would die or how. And that isn't cruel? To kill someone for whatever reason? At least when you execute a death penalty inmate there is a specific reason. They've taken another life.

Ladies and Gentlemen...We Have Him

Ok, you know I'm not talking about Saddam. This time it's Brian Nichols. This is the suspect in the deaths of the Atlanta judge, court reporter and Sheriff's sergeant. And, apparently also an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent later Friday. In his get-a-way, he pistol-whipped a reporter and took his car. He's in Federal custody now. You thought he was in trouble when he was on trial for rape? I don't know if that trial will continue, but I would think that the jury has been prejudiced against the defendant. If the defense attorney is worth anything, the first thing he'll do is petition for a mistrial.

I'm very confused as to why he wasn't shackled going into that courtroom. The day before he was found to have shanks in his socks. There are two reasons a prisoner has shanks: for protection or to do harm to someone. He didn't need protection in the courtroom, so I have to think he had them to hurt someone. The judge, an assistant DA, and someone else (I know there were 3) asked for additional law enforcement personnel for this trial. So what did they do? One female officer who was shorter, older, and lighter. I'm not as concerned about the older (TV talking heads have referred to her as a "grandma" which considering she is only a year older than me, I take offense to!) because I assume she knew her job. I am more concerned that he was much bigger than she (6'1" to 5'4", 240 to 135 pounds). I understand that she did an admirable job of defending herself. And I also know that there are small women who can subdue much larger men. But, wouldn't it have made more sense to send a large male to escort this prisoner?

Anytime you take a prisoner out of his cell, anything can happen. Apparently Nichols was just waiting for his opportunity to act. He is smart and probably took in a lot of information during the days of his trial. He saw who was around and what was happening when he was being moved to the courtroom. Any distraction would give him an opportunity to act. And apparently that opportunity came Friday morning. I'm not critizing the Sheriff's deputy who was escorting him, mostly because I don't know the details of how he came to get himself out of her custody. I don't know who he was looking for in the courtroom, it could have been the judge, it could have been his ex-girlfriend. I do know that three people are dead because of him. I won't attach "alleged" to him. There is no doubt that he did this. After he managed to leave the courtroom, he pistol-whipped a news reporter and stole his car. Why the SO didn't close down the garage and nearby streets, I don't know. I would have thought that would be SOP. Maybe there wasn't time and they figured or had information that he was already on the street.

Then, he apparently shot and killed David Wilhelm, the ICE agent. I have to say "alleged" and "apparently" here because there were apparently no eyewitnesses to this act. Reports are that Nichols wanted to know from the news reporter where Lennox Square was. That's where Wilhelm's body was found. I heard this morning that he might have been looking for this agent in particular. I have doubts about this. Unless he had set up to meet this agent at that location, he couldn't have known the agent would be there. It's now being reported that the agent's pickup, badge, and weapon were found at the condo where Nichols was arrested. So, I'll now remove the "alleged" and "apprently" attachments from this crime. I can't imagine any circumstances under which he would be in possession of those items unless he he took them from Wilhelm. The FBI had to be the ones to take Nichols into custody, had it been Customs or local cops, the chances of Nichols coming out alive were slim. Sorry, but that's the way it is.

Let's see, his crimes now include:

On trial for rape, kidnapping, and false imprisonment

Now arrested for: three counts of murder, one battery (possibly attempted murder), assault and battery, car-jacking, murder of a federal agent, car theft, and theft of federal property. Nichols is apparently a felon, so being in possession of a firearm is another charge. And maybe kidnapping or false imprisonment in the hostage situation and breaking and entering. And probably a host of other charges to come.

He went from a possibility of life in prison for the rape and related charges, to lethal injection for any of the murders. Believe me, the Federal prosecutor will ask for the death penalty and the state prosecutor will also ask for the death penalty in the deaths in the courtroom. There won't be any bargaining down to a lesser charge. He could get the death penalty off the table if he confesses to everything and agrees to life. Life will be the absolute best he can look at, but I wouldn't count on it if I were him.

What a waste. Not only of four lives, but of his own. Nichols was by all accounts intelligent. His life should not have ended this way. And believe me. Life as he knew it is over.

Update: I've heard more about Nichols' background. Apparently he has a history of holding girlfriends against their will. He did this at least once prior to the charges he was one trial for. He was in child support arrears. He was thrown off a college football team for stealing from other students.He was felon who was convicted of weapons charges and having ten pounds of marijuana in his possession. Ten pounds! That's a little more than what would be used for personal consumption. Of course I can only compare it to tobacco. I remember when my aunt went on a kick where she bought loose tobacco (maybe a pound or two?) and and a rolling machine. She had us kids roll her cigarettes for her. I'm surprised none of us took up the habit.

Gas Prices

We've all heard that the cost of barrels of crude oil is going up...again. I paid $1.999 this week. Not too bad compared to other parts of the country. I figure the next fill will be over $2.00 per gallon.

It's time to get over this PC attitude about not drilling in ANWAR. According to Boortz, the area being talked about was set aside for exploration when ANWAR was established. A favorite myth of the Environmental PC crowd is that it will drive away the animals. First, animals have a way of adapting. Think about it...Central Park in NYC is about as urban as you can get, but there are squirrels, fox, and raccoons living among the homeless there. And probably animals I don't know about. Anytime a housing project goes up, the animals leave and then come back. When the Alaskan pipeline was built (how many years ago now?) animals fled, only to return for the warmth of the pipeline. That's where they have their babies. Next, as I understand it, the plan is to move equipment and trucks only during the winter over ice roads so that the softer summer ground is not damaged. Third, we're talking about an area the size of a quarter on an area rug 14' x 11' in size. It's not like the animal populace has nowhere else to go! And any animals still there looking for food in an Artic wasteland in winter probably wouldn't survive long anyway. They've moved on to greener pastures to look for food and winter quarters.

People, if we start drilling, and especially if we find oil, which is expected, the Arab oil cartel that is holding us hostage by our wallets will let up. The price of crude oil will drop faster than a toy from my dog's mouth when he sees me pick up another of his toys. And if we start building another refinery or two the supply will increase. The last refinery was built 20-25 years ago. It's time to build one with newer technology.

Maybe the car companies should start developing engines that are more fuel efficient or use alternate types of fuel. I'm not smart enough to understand the different types of engines, and honestly, I don't really care. But, if a car company advertised, and proved, that they had a more efficient vehicle, especially in a larger vehicle, they would corner the market.

Right now, the more fuel efficient cars are small. Americans think big. We like big and bigger is better. That's one reason we super size our meals at whatever burger palace you patronize. We like big and we like fast. That takes more fuel. But even more so, everyone I know who has an SUV has one because they feel safer in a bigger vehicle. So, car companies, build the bigger, faster, safer, more fuel economic mousetrap and we will come to buy.

It's time to start thinking with our heads instead of our hearts and leave this PC nonsense behind. It's a new day and a new century. SUV's, no matter what you think of them aren't going away. So they use more gas, so do the big pickups I see on the road every day.

Saturday Puppy Pic

I know everyone is waiting with baited breath (and just what was it baited with??) for the newest puppy pic so there it is.

I'll have some newer ones next week.

Help Needed

Does anyone remember a "cigarette" from the late '70's or early '80's called Free! ? It used dried and shredded cocoa bean husks to replace the tobacco in cigarettes. When you smoked, it tasted like chocolate. The menthol tasted like mint flavored chocolate.

Does anyone remember this? Anyone know of a similar product available now? My husband is trying to quit smoking and swears that when he tried this way back in the day, he could have quit. For some reason, he only smoked a pack or two then went back to tobacco. Apparently, there was a quarantee that if you smoked a carton, your taste buds would have sufficiently changed to make tobacco taste awful.

A gmail invitation (if wanted) will be awarded to anyone with information leading to the arrest...err....location of this or similar product.

Sunday Food For Thought:

LEFT-WING BUTT KISSERS: “Liberals underestimate what can be accomplished by courage and resolve because they do not possess these qualities. Liberalism is a can’t cant. Every task is too difficult. Every danger too great. Liberals don’t oppose dictators until they’re deposed by the likes of Reagan and Bush. While tyrants are in power, liberals lips are firmly glued to their backsides.” - Columnist Jack Kelly

DEMOCRACY DOMINOES KEEP FALLING: “Could it be, after all, that President Bush is going to succeed in doing what no other president, including Dick Nixon and Ronald Reagan, to say nothing (which is about all there is that’s worth saying) of Bill Clinton, which is to bring peace and some sort of democracy to the nations of the Middle East? . . . Of course, the Middle East being the Middle East everything could blow up overnight. But I doubt that it will. Sometimes there is no turning back the clock. One wonders if Osama bin Laden would have run those planes into the World Trade Center if he could have foreseen the long term and totally unintended consequences of the attack.” - Lyn Nofziger’s “Musings,” 3/3/05

SMELLS LIKE...VICTORY: “The Democratic dominoes clearly are beginning to fall when Jon Stewart, the host of ‘The Daily Show,’ says, ‘I haven't seen results like this ever in [the Middle East].’ As anyone who watches the Comedy Central ‘news’ show knows, Mr. Stewart isn't a serious political pundit, but he is unabashedly liberal both on and off air. And since he commands a fairly large audience of mostly younger adults, he is perhaps as much an indicator of the liberal mindset as the New York Times.

“...Mr. Stewart is indeed ‘smelling something.’ He's smelling the birth of democracy in the Middle East. Regrettably, too many Democrats refuse to stop and smell the sweet scent of freedom.” - Washington Times editorial, 3/3/05

UNDER SIEGE: “The southern border is literally under siege, and there is a real possibility that terrorists -- particularly al Qaeda forces -- could exploit this series of holes in our law-enforcement system along the southern border." - Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz, Texas Democrat

SLEEPER ISSUE OF THE YEAR: “Runaway illegal immigration is the sleeper issue of this year, and years to come, but the Bush administration seems oddly out to a late lunch. . . . (President Bush’s) proposed amnesty for illegals already here -- carefully and stubbornly not called an amnesty -- was dead on arrival when he presented it nearly a year ago. But, like Count Dracula, amnesty won't stay dead.”- Wes Pruden, Pruden On Politics, 3/4/05

SOUND ADVICE...BUT IS GOP LISTENING?: “The U.S. economy is growing at a ‘reasonably good pace,’ Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Wednesday, but he warned dangerous budget deficits must be fixed, preferably through spending cuts.” - Reuters, 3/2/05

TRAIN WRECK: “Right after the November 1994 election, I wrote that ‘the way to tell how serious Republicans are about cutting federal spending is to watch...the Big Four programs: farm subsidies, Amtrak, public television, and arts funding.’ The four are big, not in dollars, but in symbolic value: ‘It's impossible for a party that professes to believe in limited government to justify the use of taxpayer dollars for any of the Big Four, yet each has a powerful constituency.’ A decade later, the record is not encouraging.

“...I'm as sentimental about trains as the next guy, but Amtrak is tiny and creaky. While management crows about a ridership record, Amtrak carried just 24 million people nationwide--fewer than boarded planes at the Seattle airport alone. California is the No. 1 Amtrak state, with 4 million riders--compared with 87 million air passengers. The irony is that, while the United States preaches free-market economics, it runs a retrograde socialist-style rail system while the rest of the world--Argentina, Poland, South Korea, Germany are just a few of the nations--is privatizing.

“...It’s time for “Amtrak’s subsidies to end.” - James Glassman of the American Enterprise Institute

HUG A GANG MEMBER: “First Lady Laura Bush is leading a new initiative ‘to help America's youth overcome the danger of gang influence and involvement.’ With all due respect, this is a job best left to law enforcement professionals willing to get tough, get dirty and crack heads. From the suburbs to our national forests, savage criminal alien gangs infiltrate America and lure young recruits. Compassionate conservatism ain't gonna stop them.” - Columnist Michelle Malkin

PROMOTING RELIGION WITH TAX DOLLARS: “(President) Bush's justification for Faith-Based Initiatives reveals their actual purpose: ‘Welfare policy,’ he explains, ‘will not solve the deepest problems of the spirit. … No government policy can put hope in people's hearts or a sense of purpose in people's lives. That is done when someone, some good soul, puts an arm around a neighbor and says, 'God loves you, and I love you, and you can count on us both.' ’

“In other words, the government is bankrolling religious organizations because they ‘help the needy’ not only materially but also spiritually--by exposing them to religion. Thus, we can expect that Bush's taxpayer-funded ‘armies of compassion’ will not only supervise Midnight Basketball games for ‘at risk youth,’ but also exhort the youngsters to save their souls by adopting the teachings of Jesus, Yahweh, Allah, or (depending on the government's commitment to ‘inclusiveness’) David Koresh.” - Alex Epstein of the Ayn Rand Institute

PUSHIN’ THE ENVELOPE: “Chuck: The post office has been forcing both new and old housing developments to switch to Neighborhood Box Units (NBUs) for years. Meanwhile, UPS, FedEx, and DHL trucks make their way down the streets, the rural driveways, and get out to come to our door and leave the packages, with a smile and courtesy. The USPS is nothing more than a bloated, inefficient, and outdated monopoly that makes money for a few government contractors, a lot of union employees, and lords it over the rest. It is time to put it in the history books…” - News & Views reader Nathan

GOIN’ POSTAL: “If USPS were a competitive company -- as opposed to a bloated federal bureaucracy -- stamp prices would be falling, not rising. It's time to privatize this $69 billion government behemoth. Breaking up the USPS monopoly and selling the organization to investors would go a long way toward lowering costs and improving service.” - Sam Ryan of the Lexington Institute [EDITOR’S NOTE: Ryan’s entire column has now been posted on our postal reform website. Catch it at: www.postalreform.com]

The above from Chuck Muth's News and Views an email I subscribe to. Find more at Citizen Outreach.

"It happened on George W. Bush's watch"

by Jason Smith

Found at GOPBloggers. Too good to pass up.

It was a popular line of the Left for the last couple of years. So let's just see what else has happened on Bush's watch:

1. Afghanistan held its first-ever modern democratic election.
2. Iraq held a true democratic election for the first time in 30 years.
3. The Palestinians freely elected a leader.
4. Saudi Arabia will hold its first ever national election in November.
5. Lebanon's pro-Syrian government resigned, paving the way for free elections.
6. Libya scrapped its WMD programs.
7. Egypt is now allowing challengers on the ballot, paving the way for the first-ever multiparty presidential elections.

...to be continued

Sunday Ramblings:

From the Who Cares? Department: Michael Jackson, Robert Blake, Martha Stewart, and Dan Rather's retirement. Not much, if anything will be said on these cases in this Corner.

Gas Prices: I heard they are expected to rise something like $.24 over the next couple of weeks? I paid $1.89 earlier this week. That will put it at $2.14 a gallon. And Florida is somewhere in the middle on gas prices. Can we say "How soon can we start drilling in ANWAR?" We also need to start building more refineries. Here's what Neal Boortz has to say about ANWAR.

Internet Blogging: Thanks to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, (or McCain-Feingold as it's commonly known), free speech is in jeopardy. Here's just one link. And one from Blogs for Bush.This can be taken to the extreme that any opinion I present here is a political statement. If I link to a campaign website, I am contributing to that candidate. I can't be included under the shield law because I am not a professional journalist. I don't claim to be. I am expressing my opinions. Any sources I have are linked and readily available to any and all on the Internet. Why am I concerned? Because anyone who doesn't like what I say can call the Feds on me. And, don't forget, anyplace I used the present tense (I, my etc) can apply to you.

Social Security: PoliPundit has an excellent post on Social Security and how much a difference private accounts could make. Find it here. And from the Opinion Page of the Wall Street Journal.

Iraq: Looks like the Iraqi government will be meeting on March 16. And they said we couldn't turn over control of Iraq on June 30 (done a couple of days early), that elections couldn't be held on time (over 8 million people voted), that a government couldn't be seated without months of delay. Huh.

Fair Tax: Looks like Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has gotten on the bus. He seems to think that a combination of Income tax and consumption tax might work (it won't!), but I think that was just something thrown out. Find it here and here. Of course, Harry Reid thinks Greenspan is a "political hack." Read it here.

Equal Taxation Unfair

According to Congressman Charles Rangle said "When you have a tax, where you pay the same tax whether you're wealthy or you're poor," Rangel said, "that's not fair."

Huh? Would someone explain this to me?

Here's the link.