Hope this guy is not just preaching to the choir.  Will he get serious air time on MTP, FTN, other venues?
Heard a scrap of Carville and Begala on the CSPAN2 book thing--I do like their book, even though I think they are kind of taking a tour through memory lane if they are working for Hillary--but anyway, Carville said:
The Republican party has always taken on  people for power; the Democrats need to take
on power for people.  (Meaning "take on" as "combat.")  Nice quote.

First I want to comment on the immigration issue, then on the music comment.

I've been studying the immigration issue for months because I've been noticing some very peculiar things happening around this issue. One needs to first remember who is running the Republican party, then remember that they have long range plans for everyone. Each event can been seen as part of the plan.

The right wing "Christians" or Christian Reconstructionists believe in slavery. If you don't believe me read about them on the web. The guy (Ahmanson) who funded the orginal voting machine companies belongs to this group. Now that you feel better about that, there is more.

Last year the military instituted a new policy whereby they can build faciities on military bases for prisoners who will do the upkeep work on the bases which is currently being done be non-prisoner American citizens. I read the policy and couldn't believe what I was reading.

Next part of the puzzle. Last May president Bush opened the Arizona Border telling the Border Patrol to "stand down" and let everyone in.

Next piece. Halliburton has a multi-million contract with the government to build "detention camps" for illegal immigrants.

Next piece. A week after the camp contract was announced the Repubs in the House introduced the immigration bill which would criminalized millions of illegal immigrants and put them into camps as prisoners.

OK. I hope you are following me. Let's see now millions in prison and the military is looking for cheap prison labor. In addition, last week a Republican Congressman from California said "prisoners" should pick the grapes.

It seems to me that the plan is to make the illegal immigrants into a slave labor force. I'm no tin-foil hat wearing nutcase. I am just putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

Remember these right wing Republicans are the ideological decendants of the those who were really mad that the Civil freed the slaves.

on the music issue, being a former music teacher I can tell you that most American kids don't have a very good work ethic. Music, especially classical music, requires a lot of work and self discipline. Just what we need in this country.

At risk of being a nag on this, please look up The National Council for Policy on the web. Look at who belongs and realize that these people have been having secret strategy meetings for years. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what they are up to.

Loved the Phillips article. I prefer Republicans bashing other Republicans. Unfortunately he seems to believe if the GOP would only reject the Bush family they'd be in great shape. He definitely doesn't like the Bush family. He does however have a good summary of some of the glaring problems of today's GOP. I tried reading his previous book on the Bush Dynasty but got so depressed I had to stop reading after the first chapter. I'd advise saving your money before rushing out to buy this one. She read the opinion piece in Sunday's WSH Post. You'll get the whole picture of the book minus the depressing details.
My question: If the GOP was so great during the 60s under the Nixon Adm when Phillips was a loyal worker bee, what was he missing about the fact that it was not a grand ol party then. He acts like if only the GOP would go back to the days when it was "good" in the olden days everything would be peachy. Tell that to the civil rights movement, the women's movement etc. He claims the left was too powerful removing God from the public square in the 60s. I disagree.
Sorry but to find a "good" GOP you'd have to go back about a century earlier--to Lincoln.

I highly recommend the Wash Post article today about Cardinal Mahony in Los Angeles being pro-immigration:
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/01/AR2006040101206.html

Here's a quote: "On March 1, during Ash Wednesday Mass, the Hollywood-born clergyman attacked a House bill that would turn most people and institutions that aid illegal immigrants into felons. Calling it "blameful, vicious" legislation, Mahony vowed a campaign of civil disobedience in the archdiocese's 288 parishes if it becomes law."

Another good quote from Jon Stewart on immigration  It was along the lines of "Think about Elian Gonzalez and how easy that was.  Now times that by 11 million."

[Lowell’s comment: if the government has “neglected” its duty here, who does Allen blame for that, since HIS PARTY has controlled the government since 2001?!?]
  And every single Democrat on the Senate Judiciary committee voted last week to stab US workers in the back on the most recent immigration reform bill. This is not a partisan issue: BOTH PARTIES HAVE TURNED THEIR BACKS ON US WORKERS.

D. Flinchum:  Perhaps, but I still put a lot more blame on the party that controls the White House and Congress. And that, my friend, is the Republican Party, of which George Allen is a proud member.

This issue didn't come into being in 2001. What are the Democrats doing other than unanimously stabbing US workers in the back on the Senate Judiciary Committee vote? The 6 who voted no were all Republicans. I have voted in nearly every election at nearly every level since 1968 and have probably voted 97% Democratic but I'm ready to call it quits. If they can't do any better than this, I can stay home.

I would like to point out that from 60 to over 70% of Americans support Allens take on immigration. I think you better find a better subject and leave this one alone. Allen is taking on the President saying he will not support amnesty, and that my friends is what the polls show people want. Unless we get a positive message out about Webb...that is hard to do since he still is not on the ballot, we will end up looking like the Kilgore campaign. Hell...we already do.

Total Dem: The main point here was simply to ridicule Allen, since he obviously doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.  As far as Webb's concerned, he's stated that we need to get control of our borders.

Here is the last immigration poll up on www.pollingreport.com done for Time at the end of March.  The rest of the results are at the site under "immigration."  I can't preview my comments so I can't tell whether the data will format properly, but when you ask Americans about specific options for curing what they see as a big problem, they don't follow Allen very much at all (except they do seem to want to build a fence).  The results are actually internally inconsistent (no surprise--many poll rsults are). 

In fact, by a huge majority, 78% to 21%, Americans would allow illegals to remain if they learned English, paid taxes, etc.  Other results in the same poll seem to contradict this.

Herewith the poll's prefatory question:

"Here are some policies that have been suggested to deal with illegal immigrants. For each one, please tell me whether you would favor or oppose it. . . ."

  .

  Favor Oppose Unsure 
  % % % 
  .

"Allowing illegal immigrants already working in the United States to register as guest workers for a fixed period of time, so the government could keep track of them"

  .

  3/29-30/06 79 18 2 
  1/24-26/06 73 23 3 
  .

"Allowing illegal immigrants now in this country to earn U.S. citizenship if they learn to speak English, have a job and pay taxes"

  .

  3/29-30/06 78 21 1 
  1/24-26/06 76 22 2 
  .

"Granting temporary visas to immigrants not currently in the United States so that they can do seasonal or temporary work here and then return to their own countries"

  .

  3/29-30/06 72 26 2 
  1/24-26/06 64 33 3 
  .

"Providing major penalties for employers convicted of hiring illegal immigrants and strongly enforcing it"

  .

  3/29-30/06 71 26 3 
  1/24-26/06 74 22 3 
  .

"Stopping illegal immigrants from entering the United States by taking whatever steps are necessary to guard the border with Mexico, including using U.S. military forces"

  .

  3/29-30/06 62 35 3 
  1/24-26/06 57 39 4 
  .

"Buidling a security fence along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexican border to stop the flow of illegals across that border"

  .

  3/29-30/06 56 40 3 
  .

"Deporting all illegal immigrants back to their home countries"

  .

  3/29-30/06 47 49 4 
  1/24-26/06 50 45 4 
  .

"If there is a guest worker program, should the illegal immigrants now in the United States be eligible to register for the program while in the United States without having to return to their own countries to apply, or should they have to go back to their own countries to apply?"

  .

  Register
In the U.S.

Apply in Own
Countries

Unsure 
  % % % 
  3/29-30/06 51 45 4 
  1/24-26/06 50 46 4 
  11/29 - 12/1/05 50 45 5 

Lowell, I think this is an issue you should stay on top of because of its moral implications.

I think people say they support so-called 'enforcement first' immigration policies because politicians are constantly telling them how BAD illegal immigration is for them, but always fail to mention the positive and necessary economic benefit they contribute.

It gets made into such a soundbite issue: "it's illegal, and my taxes pay for it, so they should go home" and so few Americans really know WHO they're talking about or WHAT jobs they do here.

Forget Pete's point (although it's a good one) that we're all a nation of immigrants and that's what makes - and has always made - America strong.  People today think it's somehow 'different' than when their ancestors came through Ellis Island.  Laura Ingraham today on Chris Matthews even said, "well then why don't Irish-Americans in Ohio support [path to citizenship programs]?"

Good question, Laura.  How quickly we forget.

It's amazing to me how George Allen thinks that announcing that illegal immigrants currently living and working here will just have to "go home" to start any path to citizenship will have any better results than actually trying to deport them.  How does "enforcing the law" work in this scenario?  Because these immigrants are not just going to go home.
So when do you start knocking on the door of these large employers of illegals with warrants and stiff penalties?
What do you do with the 12 million workers you then find behind their doors?
Lock them up?
Is that any easier or cheaper than deporting them?

Start the path to citizenship.  Try hard to do it in such a way that the barriers to starting the path are not so high that they keep people away (Medicare Part D, anyone?)
Kick down doors and bust heads of employers who aren't mandating illegal worker compliance with the plan.
Get tougher on Mexico.  Use oil if you have to.
Start applying the incredible investments we've made into military remote sensing and monitoring at home.
Don't ignore Canada, either - this IS a security issue.
Bring my soldiers home from securing a country whose government I don't pay taxes to, and start thinking about restructuring our National Guard and Reserve forces so they can start truly securing the one I do.

Start reminding people that the 12 million souls we're discussing here are doing exactly what your great-great-grandparents did when they were in the same shoes 100 years ago, and aren't you grateful.

I think I should make a sticker for the back windshield of my car of George Allen taking a wizz on the Statue of Liberty.

Rebecca:  Wow, that actually is frightening if true.  I sure hope you're wrong...

Rebecca, that IS amazing.  Wow.  And you're right about the work ethic needed for music.  Rebecca, I think you've put some important pieces together.  You are correct that a certain sector of our society would only be too glad to see slavery reenacted. 

Brand new AP-IPSOS Poll -- some of these responses are heartening:

"Which comes closest to your view? Illegal immigrants take jobs that Americans don't want. Illegal immigrants take away jobs that are wanted by Americans."

  .

  Take Jobs
Americans
Don't Want 65%

  Take Jobs
Wanted by
Americans  29%

  .

"Do you think it should be a serious criminal offense to enter and remain in the United States without proper documentation or should it be considered a minor offense?"

  .

Serious 47%

Minor 51%

  Aha!  A good fence question!

"If a fence were built along the border between the United States and Mexico, how confident are you that such a fence would reduce the number of illegal immigrants? . . . "

  .

Very 6%
  Somewhat 26
  Not Too  29
  Not at All 38

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hate to break it to you Webb supporters (I am one myself) but when asked a question in a friendly audience about what he would do about the immigration situation, Webb's only answer was, "We must protect our borders." I must say I was expecting a little more from the candidate who believes we must have justice. While I would not expect a detailed response I think a little more is involved than just protecting our borders from Mexican "terrorists."

Oh, I forgot this wonderful anecdote.  On Friday night we were with our kids at Herndon Middle School for the string orchestra competition for sector 12, i.e., schools feeding into Chantilly HS.  The contestants were, I believe, solely elementary and middle school.  A few hundred kids walking around playing bits of Bach, Beethoven, and the usual beginner stuff (American folk songs).  My wife agreed with my assessment -- more than half the kids in the gym waiting to compete had brown skin -- mostly Latinos and Asians, some Indian.  I don't know how many were technically legal or illegal.  But think of it -- all these immigrant kids carrying on the great Western European/American tradition of classical music.  I did a count of the competitors in the room my daughter was in and the "more than half" estimate held.

What a wonderful sight.  That IS America.  That is how this country built its greatness, and how it will maintain it.

I just think Total Dim is so wrong.

James:  I presume you haven't read the Energy Information Administration study on ANWR production?  If you HAD read it, you'd know that even if we drilled in ANWR, peak production wouldn't be more than about 1.0-1.35 million barrels per day in about a decade, compared to US consumption at that point of nearly 25 million barrels per day.  In other words, even if you don't give a crap about the caribou, ANWR simply doesn't make a difference worth talking about.  Repeat after me:  we can't drill our way out of this problem; we can't drill our way out of this problem; we can't...

Anyone who wants to promote their candidates for Senate, or ask George "Dumb as a Post" Allen why he wanted to be born in Iowa, come to JMU Saturday, May 6: he's the commencement speaker.

So much for higher education.

That's it?  Only 3 or 4 people (and I only recognize Ben, Alice, and Melissa).  Wow...

Anyway, the Redskins comment?  Nuh-uh.  Stay away from football, Harris.  I just wrote an article about not being able to beat Allen and other conservatives at their own game.  You're not going to win by trying to be like Allen.  If it comes down to "who's more Allen-like", guess who's going to win?  George Allen.  He's very Allen-like.

I don't know too much about this thing with the poll except that it's a misdemeanor.  If Pew denies participating in the poll on Monday, then Harris may have some explaining to do.

Tom Davis had a poll in the field this week. He was specifically asking about Jim Webb.

Give Me a Break:  Evidence?  If true, this would be very interesting.

Yeah, that would be fascinating info.  If it's true, Give Me a Break, then Tom Davis could be the one in trouble (for claiming to be DPVA).  Remember though, this poll mentioned both Miller and Webb, not just Webb.  It was aimed at the Democratic Primary candidates. 

http://djhlights.blogspot.com/2006/03/if-this-isnt-push-poll-i-dont-know.html

Here's a pretty good example of the questions asked.

Here's the comment I posted at "Ditzy Democrats":

"I loved your write-up: fantastic.

The reason why many Democratic bloggers stayed away isn't because we weren't invited--we were.

To the credit of Miller's people, they invited many, many bloggers to participate. But I've long since made up my mind and have gotten heavily involved with the Webb campaign. In fairness to Miller I could not participate in that call--anymore than Mudcat Saunders could. I think a lot of bloggers feel the same way I do.

In addition, it was a sunny day and between my day job and volunteering for Webb today was my first day off in three weeks. While you were interviewing (ie. listening to) Harris Miller, I was eating barbecued ribs with my family in Powhatan, Virginia.

I don't know where you two go to school, but consider road-tripping to Richmond next Satuday to see Jim Webb speak at Shockoe Espresso & Roastery. He'll be there from 3:00 PM to 4:15-ish. Then you can ask your questions!"

--J.C.