Big News in Italy- Press Yawns

Michael Ledeen over at the National Review's Corner reminded me today that the recent elections in Italy resulted in a historic first- for the first time since World War II, no Communist was elected to the Italian Parliament. And in an equally positive corollary, no member of the fellow-traveling Green party won either.

Mr. Ledeen also noticed something that the Big Media around the world managed to miss- the incoming government will be decidedly pro-American and pro-George W. Bush. Ledeen writes,

Tomorrow's papers will pretend that this didn't happen, and warn that Berlusconi's allies in the Northern League are mercurial and dangerous, and that his majority isn't as stable as it looks. But it is. And there's an even more annoying feature to these elections, as seen by the chattering classes: Berlusconi is an outspoken, even passionate admirer of George W. Bush and the United States of America. Reminds one of the elections that brought Sarkozy to the Elysee, doesn't it? Best to keep that quiet, or somebody might notice that hatred of America doesn't seem to affect the voters in Italy, France or Germany.

When many foreign governments were in office that enjoyed spiting Mr. Bush's initiatives, the media reported that Bush's America was 'unilateral', although the U.S. would have liked to work with those countries- it was their incumbent governments who preferred not to co-operate with the United States. Now that Germany, France and Italy are governed by those who are more admiring of Mr. Bush, will the Press report that in fact, the previous issues were mostly caused by the attitudes of the foreign governments, and not Mr. Bush's supposed arrogance and unilateralism? Will the Press admit that from the first, this Administration has worked well with many other countries, though those workings are not always in plain view?

Certainly the Bush Administration has made a great number of mistakes. However, the level of vitriol directed at this Administration by the Press is astonishing, especially considering that there appears to be no logical reason for it. The Press has distorted and downright twisted many of the actions the Administration has taken, and their dishonest presentation of the Coalition and its accomplishments has limited the ability of the American people to understand the magnitude of the task and how things have changed. If not for real journalists like Michael Yon, perhaps the media would have succeeded in twisting the tale of Iraq to match their dark victory in Vietnam.

Perhaps all that loud talk about Bush's 'going it alone' was simply blather. But I won't hold my breath waiting for the media to acknowledge how wrong they were- they never apologize, just move on to the next hit job. Cross-posted on NewsBusters.

San Francisco Sanctuary 2.0

San Francisco is one of the worst offenders regarding illegal immigration. Not content with refusing to obey laws with which they disagree, San Francisco actively encourages illegal aliens to come to their city and prohibits any city agency- including the police- from assisting the federal government in deporting these criminals.

Now comes the news that San Franscisco wants to take the next step- providing these illegals with formal idenitification cards so as to allow them access to services that they have no right to. According to the SFGate online magazine, one of San Francisco's supervisors is writing a law to create a city ID card especially for illegals. However, what is worse, he is pressuring financial institutions to accept it. As SFGate writes,

San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano is drafting legislation to create a city identification card for immigrants unable to get traditional ID cards, a move likely to anger advocates of tougher immigration enforcement.
The cards would be accepted by all city agencies and organizations that receive city funding. Ammiano plans to introduce the legislation within a couple of weeks. He also is trying to persuade financial institutions to allow residents to use the cards to open accounts.
"There is a large community who contribute, and there are not a lot of safeguards around their (immigration) status, their piece of mind and their ability to participate," Ammiano said, adding that the card would be available to all people living in San Francisco regardless of their immigration status.

This is a bad idea on so many fronts I hardly know where to start. Firstly, illegal aliens are, by definition, illegal. Why is the City of San Francisco so eager to assist foreign nationals brak United States law? Do these ignorant fools in the city council not understand that if one does not like a law, then one changes it. However, one does not have the right to selectively disobey laws simpply because one does not like them.

Secondly, this is a problem on legal grounds. Courts have thrown out laws by cities trying to help enforce the government's illegal alien enforcement. How can a court allow San Fracnisco's blantant attempt to create their own immigration policy? If a city cannot enforce immigration laws, how can a city be allowed to create a new form of ID that floutss immigration law?

This also creates a problem for the 'financial institutions' Supervisor Ammiano is pressuring. They are, or should be, under pressure from the federal government NOT to accept this kind of identification- the Mexican matricular card was bad enough. If San Francisco starts pressuring them to accept the new illegal ID card, then banks have to choose which laws to obey- federal or state.

San Francisco and other 'sanctuary cities' need to be firmly reined in. No matter if they are elected or not, Supervisor Ammiano and his fellows on the SF City Council are conspiriing to break federal law. They can and should be arrested and tried on those charges. In addition, all federal funding should be yanked from the city until the council comes to its senses. Unfortunately, we will probably have to wait for a new President in order for any of this to occur. The Bush Administration, stalwart though it has been in conducting the war against imperialist Islam, has been less than active regarding the invasion of illegals coming across the sourthern border.

Media Ignore Poland Anniversary In Diana Deluge

The world's media are busy mourning the death of the Princess Diana ten years ago. While they are mourning the fact that they lost a ready-made newsmaker who shared many of their goals, they have forgotten to remember the anniversary of a far more important event than the death of a minor celebrity, famed only for her beauty.

As I was reminded by Lead and Gold, today is the twenty-seventh anniversary of the Polish communist government agreeing to the demands of striking shipyard workers. This surrender by the Communists of Poland presaged the breaking loose of the satellite nations of the SOviet Union's Iron Curtain and led directly to the fall of the U.S.S.R. As Lead and Gold writes,

The strike marked the beginning of the end of communist rule in Eastern Europe. Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher are, rightly, given the greatest share of credit for winning the Cold War. But Lech Walesa and John Paul II played indispensable roles.

...

In the long twilight struggle against Stalinism, the workers of Poland were the first light of sunrise.

Yes, they were. But you won't see a murmur of this immensely important anniversary in the mainstream media. So far, there has been not a single mention of this anniversary on the sites of CNN, ABC News, MSNBC, CBS News, Yahoo News or the New York Times. For journalists, it is an major inconvenience that those darn Poles had to begin the march toward freedom from the chattering classes preferred political system. So they continue to blather about Diana's death and try to ignore remembering things far more important. Crosss-posted on NewsBusters.

Hat tip to Instapundit.

Deported Illegal Asks to Return- As Ambassador

Apparently flagrantly breaking the laws of the United States is not enough for some illegal aliens- they need to flaunt their breaking in the faces of law-abiding Amerticans and legal immigrants. According to the International Herald-Tribune, the Mexican illegal deported last week, Eliana Arellano, has asked Meixcan President Felipe Calderon for a diplomatic visa so she can return to the United States as a 'peace and goodwill ambassador'.

As reported by the International Herald-Tribune,

"What I'm asking for is a diplomatic visa so that I can be an ambassador for peace and justice because I'm not a terrorist and the United States can't continue treating undocumented migrants as terrorists," Arellano told reporters after meeting with President Felipe Calderon at the presidential residence, Los Pinos.

A peace and goodwill ambassador? What kind of peace and goodwill would a self-confessed illegal alien who has openly showed she has no concern for the laws passsed by American citizens bring to this country? What she wants, of course, is to be allowed to legally come back to this country and be reunited with her sson, who is a citizen due to the disastrously thought-out 'baby-anchor' provision for citizenship. Since Ms. Arellano does not want to take her son back to his real country (that would be Mexico), she is trying once again to game the system. As for her comments about "treating undocumneted migrants as terrorissts", this is easily dismissed. Arellano is not being treated as a terroris- she is being treated as what she is- an illegal alien. Terrorists end up in Guantanamo Bay or dead. No one has mistreated or abused Arellanos in any way. Remember, Ms. Arellano, you knowlingly and willingly broke the law of the United States. If all you wanted was to be with your son, you can legally take him back to Mexico with you. he could be on the next plane and no one will stop you. It is your desire to get unearned privileges that brought you to this pass.

I have some suggestions for Arellano and all her enablers in the illegal-alien business. The United States is a sovereign country and as such has the right to determine who can and shouldd be granted entry. Mexicans and other illegals mostly cannot justly claim political persecctuion. if conditions in their home countries are bad, then it is their responsibility to work to make those conditions better. it is not the United States' responsibility to provide a free living and an equally free stress-relief valve to the corrupt governments of the nations from which these illegals come. And I find the hypocrisy of all of the countries involved staggering. None of these countries- not Mexico, not China and not any other South American country- provides any asssistance to illegals found within their own borders. In fact, anyone caught illegally in Mexico, to use merely one example, is summarily deported after a term in jail. Why then do these countries seem to think that we should not be allowed to police our own borders?

As for the United States Congress- think about your law-abiding, legal constitutents before getting caught up in the illegal-alien hype. There are many deserving LEGAL aliens waiting for the DHS to process their applications. Let's work on making the process better for those who actually desire to follow our rules and who have demonstrated that they respect the culture into which they desire to come. The ccurrent process for legally becoming a green-card holder is hopelessly broken, and many of the srtaff at the former Immigration and Naturalization Service are both rude and incompetent. Before we start letting illegals gain privileges that citizens and leegal alienss cannot access, let's help those who would be worthwilfe additions to our country- not those who have already demonstrated that they have no respect for our culture or our laws.

If President Calderon is foolish enough to give Arellano a diplomatic visa, I hope the United States uses its prerogative to deny her entry to this country. She is a convicted criminal, and we are under no obligation to allow self-confessed criminals back into our country- no matter how much they and their home government may desire to embarrass us.

Honesty About Chavez

The left-leaning political circles in the United States (and around the world as well) have a long-standing love affair with authoritarian, anti-American dictators such as Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez and Saddam Hussein. However as we have long thought, despite the fever swamps, there are some honest, objective liberals who are courageous enough to admit when they are wrong. One such is Jeb Koogler, who writes for the The Moderate Voice. I regret to say that I have no previous experience reading Mr. Koogler, but I shall be making him a regular stop from now on.

In today's Moderate Voice, Koogler writes of his disenchantment with Presidente-for-Life Chavez, saying,

For a long time, I’ve defended Hugo Chavez. I thought that he was fighting a worthy battle against greed and corruption, against years of foreign domination and cronyism. I thought he was trying to improve the lives of poor people, while establishing a strong economy, an independent and self-respecting nation, and a vibrant democracy.

But now, after watching events unfold in the past few months, I’m ready to admit that I was mistaken.

Koogler is one of a very few members of the liberal and Leftist political persuasion who is both honest and principled enough to write something like this, and he should be applauded. Chavez' reign of terror in Venezuela should have been obvious from the very beginning, but his strident anti-Bush rhetoric and his claims to act "for the people" have understandably blinded many. However, it is time to cast off the blinders and see Chavez for what he is- a tinpot dictator who entertains visions of regional hegemony and cares not a whit for the actual people who voted him into power.

As Captain Ed writes,

Koogler's reconsideration is well worth reading. It's not easy to admit error as Koogler does in this piece, and he explains his change of heart very clearly and rationally. The sooner that the American Left follows Koogler's advice, the sooner we can start working to help the Venezuelan people free themselves from Chavez' megalomaniacal grip on power. Be sure to read it all.

I cannot agree more- both with Mr. Koogler's eloquent disavowal of Chavez' ambition and Captain Ed's excellent analysis. If only the socialist sycophants within academia, the so-called "mainstream" media and the Democratic Party on Capitol Hill could display similar moral fortitude.

Hat tip to Ed Morrissey.

Who Hates Whom?

We here in the United States often seem to hear, especially from the Press elites at the NY Times, CNN, etc how "the rest of the world hates America." Well, as in so many other areas, it appears that the Press is not exactly accurate with this statement. A more truthful statement might be "We in the Press hate the United States because most Americans don't believe in our far-leftist causes and don't elect enough Democrats." But that would require actual honesty- not something the American media (aptly re-christened the 'Drive-By Media' by the always-educational Rush Limbaugh) are known for.

However, in the area of international regard, a new survey by the Pew Research Center which was first published in The Economist magazine finds that maybe we Americans are not as despised as the Mainstream Media would like us all to think. You might also be surprised at which countries have the most positive opinions of this great country of ours. And Professor Victor Davis Hanson weighs in by pointing out that Sometimes the caliber of a nation is found not in why it is liked, but rather in why it is not. Dr. Hanson also says in his excellent article:

All that being said, the disdain that European utopians, Arab dictatorships, the United Nations, and Mexico exhibit toward the United States is not (as the Kerry campaign alleged in the last election) cause for tears, but often reason to be proud, since much of the invective arises from the growing American insistence on principles abroad.

As I mentioned above, the survey might surprise you, but the most interesting facet for me was finding that approximately 17 percent of Americans have a negative image of their own country. As The Futurist correctly states in his excellent article on this phenomenon, "8-10% of the US population comprises of active or semi-active fifth-columnists." In this, I believe he is correct. The anti-Americans are a small percentage, but because I believe that most of the US Press Corps fall into this category, they receive a much larger voice than they deserve. The Futurist has an excellent article on this fifth column, in which he expands on these thoughts.

In conclusion, on this July 5, 2006, I am even prouder that I live in a country whose current leadership is not afraid to push for freedom, whose citizenry is still largely patriotic (if one excludes Hollywood, most of the US Press and other sundry blue-state elites). And above all I am proud that I am an American.

Happy Birthday, to the United States of America. Happy Birthday, Old Glory. Your stars and stripes have lost none of their luster, and the principles that this great nation was founded upon still persevere in most American hearts- despite the best efforts of the US Media to destroy them.

Hat tip to The Futurist.