Recent Activity

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  Rudy Giuliani: Illegal Immigration Isnt A Crime

  Rudy Giuliani: Illegal Immigration Isnt A Crime

   

  "I was U.S. attorney in the Southern district of New York, Giuliani said. So believe me, I know this. In fact, when you throw an immigrant out of the country, its not a criminal proceeding. Its a civil proceeding. Illegal immigration shouldnt be a crime, either. No, it shouldnt be because the government wouldnt be able to prosecute it. We couldnt prosecute 12 million people. We have only 2 million people in jail right now for all the crimes that are committed in the country, 2.5 million.

  Is Rudi correct? Let us consult the law and the definitions of misdemeanor and felony from Wikipedia.

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  Title 8 Section 1325

  Improper entry by alien

  (a) Improper time or place; avoidance of examination or inspection; misrepresentation and concealment of facts

  Any alien who

    (1) enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers, or

    (2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers, or<br>

    (3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.

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  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felony.

  The term felony is used in common law systems for very serious crimes, whereas misdemeanors are considered to be less serious offenses. This distinction is principally used in criminal law in the United States legal system, where the federal government generally considers a crime punishable by more than five days up to a year in prison to be a misdemeanor, while considering crimes punishable by greater than a year in prison to be felonies; crimes of five days or less in prison, or no prison at all, are considered infractions.

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  It would appear that illegal entry can be prosecuted either as a civil matter or as a crime--a misdemeanor for the first offense and a felony for the second offense.

  Conclusion. Rudi appears to be incorrect.

  Posted 25 Sep 07

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  Conservatism Defined

  Conservatism Defined

  Since everybody calls himself a conservative nowadays, I felt I must define the term as I use it.

  Conservatism: A strong belief in small, efficient government, fiscal responsibility, and the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Barry Goldwater was the last real conservative of note in Washington.

  How did "conservative" come to be such a amorphous, meaningless term in common usage, sort of like "democracy?" Liberalism fell out of favor some time ago. Bill Clinton famously remarked that the era of big government was dead. So then by default we had a large group of people who weren't liberals anymore, and so were receptive to calling themselves moderate or conservative.

  After the defeat of Barry Goldwater, the National Review carried the banner, and William F. Buckley and that bunch were Irish Catholic. Thus popery became a symbiotic addition to conservatism and anti-abortionists felt they could call themselves "conservatives." If Catholics were to appear to be trying to force the Pope's dogma on abortion on everybody through political bullying, it might be interpreted as a violation of the first amendment. The Republican party later brought in the Christian fundamentalists, as "social conservatives." Then came the Reagan and the Reagan revolution.

  Are single issue anti-abortion Catholics and Evangelicals conservatives? Not in my book; they remain Catholics and Evangelicals.

  What about Reagan, his worshippers, Reagan Democrats and supply siders? Reagan was a sort of half-assed conservative, but not really a small government, fiscally responsible conservative with traditional conservative values. His supply side (Voodoo) economic policies let to massive deficits, so in effect Reagan was a borrow-and-spend liberal, though he may have meant well.  One has to give him the benefit of the doubt, though I understand in his youth Reagan was a support of Franklin Roosevelt. Reagan lured the taxpayer with candy. Bush has followed in his tradition of tax breaks for the rich, and is it really possible to refer to Bush, the King of Spenders who never saw a spending bill he didn't like and is the only president who almost never vetoed a spending bill, as a "conservative?" I don't really think so. The appeal of Reagan/Bush is not really to philosophical conservatives with the beliefs I described above, but to cheapskates who hate taxes and throw the dice with respect to the future fiscal condition of the U.S.

  Posted 19 Sep 07

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  Free Speech versus PC Speech

  We seem to be at a crossroads where we can't have both.

  Posted 20 Aug 07

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  Crow Housing Indicator Vindicated

  Crows circling a condo presaged housing disaster.

  Posted 06 Aug 07

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  New Law Gives Government New Spy Power

  http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/08/analysis-new-la.html

  Analysis: New Law Gives Government Six Months to Turn Internet and Phone Systems into Permanent Spying Architecture - UPDATED

  By Ryan Singel August 06, 2007 | 2:11:02 AM

  possibly permanent back doors in the nation's communication networks.  The legislation was passed hurriedly by Congress over the weekend and signed into law Sunday by President Bush.

  The bill, known as the Protect America Act,..." LOL

  Posted 06 Aug 07

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  Aliens, Not Immigrants

  But traditionally, and in federal law, there is no such thing as an “illegal immigrant.”
  
  A person who is in this county legally is either here as a legal immigrant or has a “non-immigrant visa,” meaning a tourist, student, or temporary worker visa.
  
  If someone enters our country by unlawful means, he is by law an illegal alien, not an illegal immigrant.
  

  I believe this confusion in language is deliberate. It is an effort to confuse the public and allow politicians to talk glibly about “the rights of immigrants.” The rights of immigrants are already protected in law, so it is the status of illegal aliens we are debating.--Tom Tancredo

  Posted 06 Aug 07