Free Republic

In Mexico, the world's second-biggest Catholic country, an unofficial cult of death is winning followers, from influential politicians and police officers to drug pushers and violent criminals. On a sidewalk in Mexico City's lawless Tepito district, gangsters and ordinary housewives rub shoulders as they pay homage before a shrine to Santa Muerte, or Saint Death, leaving offerings of colored candles, cigarettes and alcohol. A statue of the unorthodox saint cuts a ghoulish figure as a life-size skeleton in a glittering robe, a tiara atop her long-haired wig and bony fingers laden with gold rings and money offerings in many currencies....

It is interesting to note the wording about the issue of national security and immigration in the Republican Party platform for this election cycle. By adding a misbegotten phase to the end of some pseudo reassuring sentences, the Republicans have sent an alarm through a group of hold outs that they may have been hoping to win to their side. What did the Republican platform committee intend as the exact meaning of the fragment that was tucked at the end of one of a sentence; “except as provided by federal law”? The complete sentence appears to be strong and nationalist:...

Remember the hot immigration debate? The topic won't be headlining either presidential convention this year — and the border security issue barely drew a crowd Monday to a daylong anti-illegal immigration rally in Denver aimed at keeping immigration before politicians this fall. A rally by the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps featuring Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr drew just a few dozen people...

<p>MISSION, TX -- The Bush administration's recently proposed changes to rules involving endangered species could lead to projects like the fence being built along the U.S.-Mexico border that could threaten endangered wildlife, the Sierra Club warned Friday.</p> <p>"We're talking about animals already pushed to the brink of extinction," Liz Walsh, chairwoman of the group's endangered species committee, said at a news conference near a border fence construction site.</p>

MASSIVE Anti-Illegal Immigration Rally at the Democrat Convention! August 25th! We've got some BIG NEWS for you -- the all-star lineup of speakers at the Rally Against Illegal Immigration just got even BETTER! We've just confirmed that Ambassador Alan Keyes, Congressman Bob Barr, and Reverend Chuck Baldwin -- all of them running for U.S. President -- PLUS anti-amnesty hero Rep. Tom Tancredo, will ALL be speaking at the day-long rally, right near the Democratic National Convention! You DO NOT want to miss this event!!!

Speaking at a high school in New Mexico, Barack Obama was asked about immigration and, according to a liveblog of the event, said: "We are a nation of immigrants," Obama answers. "The only people can say that they aren't immigrants are the people sitting right here," the Presidential candidate says and points to the tribal leaders. "There are some families who have been here for 4 or 500 years. They didn't cross the border, the border crossed them." While he's correct to a point, those comments are also straight out of Reconquista 101. An analysis of his comments is at...

The designation this summer of $465 million in U.S. aid to combat drug trafficking in Mexico and Central America — along with the valuable cross-border dialogue that helped bring about this Merida Initiative — is a step in the right direction....But given the urgency of the problems we face, this step is disappointingly small...The Merida Initiative is stingy by any standard but especially by U.S. standardsFighting drug traffickers is not only a Latin American responsibility, it is also an American responsibility...Like all developed nations, the U.S. must confront the fact that no country can be safe while poverty, illiteracy, violence,...

For years, Juan Hernandez was a familiar sight at Joe T. Garcia’s — strolling among diners and singing as a local troubadour. His work there led to singing at weddings and recording albums in Spanish and English. He earned enough money to pay for graduate school and learned lessons that would help him through the years, said his father, Francisco Hernandez Sr. "His years as a troubadour gave him so much time working with people," he said. "He learned to win the appreciation of people." That may have helped, as Juan Hernandez — a lightning rod because of his passionate...

Finally some justice, now our two border agents need to be released. Smuggler shot by agents gets 9½ years in prison Mexican national sentenced for part in later incidents By ALICIA A. CALDWELL Associated Press Aug. 6, 2008, 11:55PM Complete coverage of immigration issues EL PASO — An admitted drug smuggler shot by a pair of former U.S. Border Patrol agents was sentenced to nearly a decade in federal prison Wednesday.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez joined local and state Republican political leaders in Ontario on Friday as part of an effort to build support among Latinos for Sen. John McCain's presidential bid. In his speech to about 100 people at Ontario's Doubletree Hotel, Gutierrez focused on broad economic issues and McCain's experiences as a prisoner of war and in Congress to make the case for why McCain is a better choice for president than Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. Gutierrez did not stick to Latino-specific themes but talked instead about McCain's proposals on taxes, trade and energy. He said McCain, R-Ariz.,...

<p>SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Immigrant-advocacy group Casa de Maryland on Monday received a $1.5 million donation from Citgo Petroleum Corp., a subsidiary of Venezuela's national oil company that is controlled by President Hugo Chavez.</p> <p>The funds will be used to strengthen Casa's $4.4 million social-service, small-business and vocational-training programs... Kim Propeack, advocacy director for the Montgomery County-based organization, said it's the largest corporate gift Casa has received. "Like many nonprofits, Casa has been trying to grow its corporate investment," she said. "Citgo is very committed to ensuring that the profits they earn through their business are shared by low-income people...." A Monday news conference to announce the donation was postponed because of a personal emergency of Citgo President Alejandro Granado, who was to attend with the Venezuelan ambassador. Ms. Propeack said the contribution would still be finalized Monday.</p>

Tucson open-borders official gloats about effigy-beating By Michelle Malkin • July 16, 2008 12:45 PM [See Picture at link--Oyarsa] Tucscon residents remain up in arms over the unhinged open-borders mob, led by reconquistadora Pima County (AZ) public defender Isabel Garcia, who beat and tore apart an effigy of tough, anti-illegal immigration Sheriff Joe Arpaio at his recent book tour event. See the videos here in case you missed it yesterday. Garcia is now gloating about the incident–calling it “funny.” She has posted a bigotry card-playing response at her militant website, Derechos Humanos. Laugh line: “We stand for the principles of...

I'm a lifelong Republican - a supply-side conservative. I worked in the Reagan White House. I was the chief economist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for five years. In 1994, I helped write the Republican Contract with America. I served on Bob Dole's presidential campaign team and was chief economist for Jack Kemp's Empower America. This November, I'm voting for Barack Obama. When I first made this decision, many colleagues were shocked. How could I support a candidate with a domestic policy platform that's antithetical to almost everything I believe in? The answer is simple: Unjustified war and unconstitutional...

Unhinged in Arizona: Open-borders mob, led by public official, ravages Joe Arpaio effigy By Michelle Malkin • July 15, 2008 03:34 PM Scroll down for updates…Jon Justice has more… Reader Tim C. in Tucscon sent me an e-mail about some completely unhinged open-borders activists who mobbed a book event for Sheriff Joe Arpaio. A group of young pro-illegal alien protesters repeatedly beats an effigy of Arpaio as Isabel Garcia–local reconquistadora and an official from the Pima County legal defender’s office–eggs them on. She then parades around with the effigy’s head as onlookers cheer and hoist up the rest of the...

Barack Obama takes the podium at the National Council of La Raza/The Race tonight. John McCain will Hispander, as Mickey Kaus puts it so well, tomorrow. It’ll be an open-borders lovefest for Obama, who was championed yesterday at The Race conference by L.A.’s zealous pro-illegal immigration mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa. You’ll recall that Obama is very, very proud to have marched “shoulder to shoulder� with shamnesty activists in the 2006 illegal alien May Day parade. ABI gives him a career grade of D- for his immigration voting record. As I predicted in my column this week, the open-borders radicalism of The...

People don’t have much faith in government, especially the federal government…and who can blame them? The public looks to Washington and sees neither competence nor integrity in the people and institutions who are determining their fate. Into the vacuum have stepped the evangelists for a new god: the free market. In his new book, Let Them In:The Case for Open Borders, Wall Street Journal editorial board member, Jason Riley, argues that immigration policy ought to be set not by legislators and bureaucrats in Washington, but by the demands of the free market. Americans have been raised to believe that free...

The editorial page of the Wall Street Journal has long been an indispensable voice of conservatism. As President Bush said in 2003 in awarding the Medal of Freedom to editorial page editor Robert L. Bartley shortly before his death, he—and by extension his editorial page—has been "a champion of free markets, individual liberty and the values necessary for a free society." But there is one area in which the editorial page's policy diverges strikingly from conservative orthodoxy, and that is on the matter of immigration. To varying degrees, the paper's editorialists have inveighed in favor of a more flexible attitude...

McALLEN -- Elected officials and business leaders along Texas' border with Mexico sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Friday, claiming DHS failed to follow federal land acquisition rules in preparing to build the border fence. "This was the last resort - we could not get the necessary consultation," said Eagle Pass Mayor Chad Foster.... Foster is chairman of the Texas Border Coalition, a group of border mayors, county judges and local economic development officials that advocates on behalf of communities along the Texas-Mexico border on issues that affect the quality of life in the region. The coalition filed...

So, whatever happened to immigration as a presidential campaign issue? In the early caucus and primary states – Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina – the media assured us that immigration was foremost on the minds of voters. You couldn't watch a Republican debate without the issue dominating a good chunk of the discussion. And when Hillary Clinton appeared to endorse a proposal in New York state to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, it was considered a major stumble, and the senator spent weeks trying to clarify her remarks. The public, we were told, was fed up with illegal immigrants,...

In 2007, "remittances," money sent back by Mexican workers to families in Mexico, beat out tourism as the second largest source of foreign money into the country. Only oil exports accounted for more. That is $24 billion that was taken out of the American economy. It was not spent in American stores. Best Buy sold fewer televisions. Ford sold fewer cars and trucks. Winn Dixie and Safeway sold fewer groceries. U.S. Steel sold less steel. And yes, even Exxon/Mobil sold less gasoline than it could have. Those fewer sales curtailed the growth of jobs for Americans in those companies. It...

Mike Huckabee, still one of many names being floated as John McCain’s vice presidential nominee, has started up his own political action committee, Huck PAC. In his kick-off blog on his Web site, the former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate writes that he’s launching the PAC to promote candidates who “hold firm” to the principles of “tax reform, a strong national defense, real border security, life, the family, less government and individual liberty.” Aside from that, Huckabee has high goals for upending the power balance in Washington. “Huck PAC is committed to helping Republicans regain control of the House...

Is it wise for a global beverage company to pander to radical politics while alienating a much wider consumer base? Absolut, the Swedish-owned vodka maker, apparently drinks to that. Last week, my e-mailbox lit up with messages from readers and fellow bloggers about a new Absolut ad catering to Mexican drinkers who believe the American Southwest belongs to them. (That extreme ethno-supremacist idea, of course, is not news to anyone who has paid attention to the massive illegal alien marches of the past two years — where “This is our continent, not yours” has been a rallying mainstay.) As part...

By T.J. Pignataro - News Staff Reporter 03/26/08 A public alert was issued early this evening by Buffalo Police, warning that a gang could be staging rear-end collisions tonight on area roadways and then attacking drivers as part of an initiation ritual. Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson called an emergency news conference at police headquarters just before 6:30 p.m. to make the announcement. He said police received "credible information" late this afternoon suggesting that the initiation ritual could involve gang member recruits intentionally causing rear-end collisions and then robbing or assaulting the other driver. Gipson suggested motorists be aware of their...

(The Politico) "The hot-button issue of immigration doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon – at least not in Republican circles. On NPR’s “Morning Edition” today, John McCain suggested that strong anti-immigrant rhetoric contributed to two recent, high-profile GOP Congressional losses – of former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, who badly lost to Sen. Bob Casey in 2006, and Jim Oberweis, who lost the heavily Republican seat of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert this month in a special election.

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) -- Iran will build a hydroelectric dam in northern Nicaragua, despite U.S. reservations, the energy minister said Thursday. A state-owned Iranian company will build the $230 million Bodoke project on the Tuma River in the Jinotega province with financing by Iran's export bank, Energy Minister Emilio Rappaccioli told Nicaragua's Channel 2 on Thursday

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, flanked by Chuck Norris, Minutemen founder Jim Gilchrist and U.S. Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, stood beneath Laredo's railroad bridge near the riverbank Saturday morning advocating stronger border security, including constructing a border fence, having more law enforcement and eliminating carrizo."I come away from this with a better understanding of this," Huckabee said after touring Border Patrol facilities and later hiking to the edge of the Rio Grande to get a personal view of the terrain. "But also a sense of urgency that as a country we need to put our resources on border...

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee vowed Tuesday to continue his campaign for the White House despite another loss to presumptive nominee Arizona Sen. John McCain in the Wisconsin GOP primary. "It's not about ego," Huckabee told reporters at the Peabody Hotel after he telephoned McCain to congratulate him on winning the Wisconsin primary. "Let me assure you that my ego doesn't enjoy these kind of evenings where we don't win the primary election," he said, adding there are several issues, such as pro-life and taxes, he wants to continue to speak out on and hopes to do so at the...

An explosion has rocked the centre of Mexico City, killing at least one man and injuring two other people. The device was set off near the city's police headquarters, Mexico City police chief Joel Ortega said. No group has so far said it carried out the attack. Investigators believe the bomb was activated remotely by a mobile phone. The dead man's hand was blown off, the police chief said. It is unclear whether he was responsible for the bomb or if he simply picked up the package. The blast occurred at about 1430 (2030 GMT) near the tourist area known...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Monday decried anti-immigrant perceptions in the United States and argued that Mexican immigrants complement American workers. On his first trip to the U.S. as Mexico's president, Calderon said he is working to combat anti-Americanism in Mexico and to improve job prospects there to reduce migration. He said he hopes that Americans resist anti-Mexican sentiments. "The worst thing that happened in this country is this anti-Mexican or anti-immigrant perception of people. We need to contain this," Calderon said after a speech at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. "I need to change...

Digger’s Realm did a terrific job compiling this clip reel of open borders zealot/McCain Hispanic outreach director Juan Hernandez’s greatest hits. He considers Canada, the U.S., and Mexico “a bloc, not one nation.” He puts “Mexico first.” He doesn’t believe there are any criminals among the 12-20 million illegal aliens he thinks should be legalized. He’s been saying all of this for a long time. The McCain campaign knew what it was getting. So should Republican voters: VIDEO at michellemalkin.com

...Juan Hernandez is one endorsement that Mr. McCain won't be trumpeting in front of the cameras. Hernandez, who now serves as one of McCain's Hispanic Outreach Directors, is no amateur in the debate over illegal immigration into the United States. Though largely unknown to the public, he's been at the center of the policy maelstrom for years, a critical frontline player for the proponents of open borders and an unflinching advocate for strident Mexican nationalism. Though born in the United States to a father from Mexico and a mother from Texas, Hernandez has left no doubt as to where his...

Tell Senator McCain WE want Secured Borders.Alert: Word of the appointment, made in November, spread across the Internet last night, sparking reaction from secure-border activists who charge Juan Hernandez's position in the campaign belies the Republican candidate's attempt to position himself as an advocate of border security.McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers emphasized that Hernandez is "a non-paid volunteer to the campaign, and he does not play a policy role.""Juan works with us to reach out to the Hispanic community to meet with the folks in the various states," Rogers said.Asked if the McCain campaign has repudiated Hernandez's "Mexico first" declarations,...

A broad coalition of black conservatives from across the country are holding a press conference to urge former Governor Mike Huckabee to stay in the presidential race for the Republican nomination until the convention. "Governor Huckabee should not be intimidated to stop his bid for the Republican nomination," states Don Scoggins, veteran GOP activist and ... president of Republicans for Black Empowerment, a DC-based national grassroots organization. The concern of the group is the pressure that is mounting by Republican talking heads to push Governor Huckabee out of the race. The consensus is that Huckabee's campaign was deliberately sabotaged by...

As he noted in his State of the Union address, the President will be hosting the North American Leaders' Summit on April 21-22 in New Orleans. This fourth meeting of North American leaders since 2005 will continue our work on Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) initiatives. It will also serve as an opportunity for the three leaders to discuss hemispheric and global issues of importance to North America.

McCain's love of amnesty will be a key issue. He supported amnesty in 2003 by name, proposed it in 2006 and 2007 without calling it amnesty, and says that anyone who says that he ever supported amnesty is a liar. He has insulted Americans who advocate border security and has cursed at the thought of building a border fence. The presence of Juan Hernandez in the background of the McCain campaign tells us that John McCain is as weak on border security now as he ever was. Dr. Juan Hernandez, a dual citizen of the US and Mexico, and past...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Mike Huckabee brushed off predictions Thursday that he would drop out of the Republican presidential nominating contest, but dropped new hints that he'd prefer John McCain to Mitt Romney as the party's eventual pick. Huckabee, who hasn't won a caucus or primary since Iowa, emphatically dismissed the suggestion that the GOP race was a two-man contest, with Rudy Giuliani out of it and questions about whether he was sticking it out to angle for a running mate spot. "I'm staying in the race because I still think I can win," he told an enthusiastic audience of about...

The United States of America's next president won't be its first president of Italian ancestry (as Rudy Giuliani hopes), because the Republicans won't nominate a person who does not share the Republicans' traditional pro-life, pro-personal morality values; or the first former prisoner-of-war (as John McCain still yearns), because now he's too old for the grueling job and previously he was too inclined to break with most Republicans and join with Democrats (McCain-Feingold, Kennedy-McCain, Gang of Fourteen); or the first Baptist minister (as Mike Huckabee prays), because he's not up to the job, he's not the best choice and one president...

"Dr. Juan Hernandez who has been named the national director of Hispanic outreach for the McCain 2008 campaign...." Read Beck & Michelle Malkin on Juan Hernandez & McCain!! http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/5261/

I am disappointed in the tactics and statements of almost all the presidential candidates, both Democrats and Republicans. My grandmother used to say that you can tell just as big a lie with a half-truth and sometimes a bigger one. Take the half-truths said about Mike Huckabee and taxes. I lived in Arkansas when he was the governor. He did away with the marriage tax penalty and the capital gains tax on the sale homes. He doubled Arkansas' standard deduction and the child care tax credit. He slashed the capital gains tax for both individuals and businesses. In 2001, Mike...

It is often said that the best way to find out how a candidate would act in office if elected, is to see who he/she surrounds himself with. Money is another factor, what people and industries are backing the candidate. These answers should be an indicator of what to expect. Who is behind the man should gauge what kind of man he is. The great Richard Viguerie tells the story of how he and other conservatives had a “seat at the table” of the presidential campaigns of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan for. His thinking was if Conservatives aren’t at...

Dear Amigos, Saludos!! As you may have heard, we are organizing "Viva McCain Fiestas" all over the nation on Dec. 9th at 7:00-9:00p.m. ET to watch the Univision Republican Debate and support John McCain. (See flyer below.) To "Host" a Fiesta simply: 1. Register (by sending me an email to jhernandez@mccain08hq.com letting me know names of those watching, email addresses and cities); 2. Watch the Univision TV Debate; 3. Have a computer on to Watch/Hear Senator McCain LIVE through our web site; and 4. Donate $25 through web page (not required but needed!!) Over Thanksgiving I singlehandedly signed up 75...

WEST COLUMBIA — When private property gets in the way of a road project, its owners will be moving out of the way, one way or another, in almost every case. With a widening of Highway 36 on the horizon and state and federal officials ready to drive the Trans-Texas Corridor through the Lone Star State, many land-owning Texans are preparing to defend their property from their own government. Brazoria County residents troubled by the looming eminent domain fights came to the Gulf Coast Christian Center on Saturday morning to voice their views to Tom Lizardo, chief of staff for...

Shamnesty peddler John McCain; top entry in the McCain-spearheaded Reform Institute’s “Design Your Portion of the Border Fence” art contest; McCain’s open-borders Hispanic outreach director Juan Hernandez Reader Joan e-mailed me today. She’s in Valrico, Florida, and confronted John McCain this afternoon about his open-borders outreach director, Juan Hernandez. She didn’t get straight talk: Dear Michelle, I attended the townhall meeting earlier today in Polk City and asked John McCain: Your Hispanic Outreach Campaign Advisor, Juan Hernandez, has written a book referring to illegal immigrants as “New American Pioneers.” Hernandez has also stated that illegal immigrants who use social security...

Dear Michelle, I attended the townhall meeting earlier today in Polk City and asked John McCain: Your Hispanic Outreach Campaign Advisor, Juan Hernandez, has written a book referring to illegal immigrants as “New American Pioneers.� Hernandez has also stated that illegal immigrants who use social security numbers of American citizens really don’t steal, they have no choice but to make up a number. Are you aware of his statements? Do you agree with him? If not would you consider removing him from your staff? John McCain answered that he supported Juan Hernandez because he holds the same views as he...

Less then a week after saying he has heard the American people regarding illegal immigration and their opposition to the McCain-Kennedy Pro-Amnesty bill, John McCain would still SIGN THE BILL into law if he was President and it came across his desk: (VIDEO) This explains his receiving the endorsement of fellow Pro-Amnestians, Senator Mel Martinez, (who almost single-handedly bankrupted the RNC with his support of the bill), the NY Times, Florida Governor Charlie Crist and of the Mexico-first pro-amnesty open borders advocate Dr. Juan Hernandez. “My friends", let me give you some “straight talk", a vote for John McCain is...

A brand new WarrenPiece1 video -- Go Mike! http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Blogs.View&Blog_id=1276

Follow the bouncing ball with me: Shamnesty peddler John McCain taps former Mexican government official/shamnesty advocate Juan Hernandez as his presidential campaign Hispanic Outreach Director. Hernandez is a fellow at McCain’s “Reform Institute.” What has he been working on there for the past year? “Dr. Juan Hernandez serves as a Senior Fellow of the Institute’s Comprehensive Immigration Reform Initiative.” That is: Shamnesty. Among the immigration projects at McCain’s Reform Institute: An art contest in which students depicted their protests against a southern border fence. The winner on the American side of the border?

John McCain says that he has heard the American people and now understands that we need to secure the border before enacting any “comprehensive” immigration reform. But John McCain has also said that he hasn’t changed his position. He supported amnesty in 2003 by name, proposed it in 2006 and 2007 without calling it amnesty, and says that anyone who says that he ever supported amnesty is a liar. He has insulted Americans who advocate border security and has cursed at the thought of building a border fence. Which of all of these is the real John McCain? The presence...

Mike Huckabee tried his best to expand beyond his evangelical base in South Carolina and appeal to what his campaign called "Joe Six Pack" voters. Mr. Huckabee was the only candidate to pander to devotees of the Confederate flag, telling crowds that outsiders should leave the banner flag, now displayed in a corner of the grounds of the state capitol, alone: "If somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we'd tell 'em what to do with the pole, that's what we'd do." Contrast that with the comments of Mr. Huckabee's fellow Southerner Fred Thompson:...

Because McCain is a “maverick" - the media encomium reserved for Republicans who reject important Republican principles - he would be a conciliatory president. He has indeed worked with Ted Kennedy on immigration reform, with Russ Feingold on restricting political speech (McCain-Feingold) and with Kennedy and John Edwards - a trial lawyer drawn to an enlargement of opportunities for litigation - on the “patients' bill of rights."