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No problem, glad you joined in. Yes you're right on those points, it was Generals Zachory Taylor and Scott who led the Mexican expedition. But I do remember reading (my history is a little fuzzy at this point) that Lee was pushing the senior officers to take all of Mexico. But he was resisted fortunately. Lee, as he proved in the Civil War was a fighter. Not always right but a good general nonetheless.

I have nothing but admiration for Lee; an excellent general but an even better war leader, capable of instilling nearly worshipful devotion in his troops. And also a fine and honorable man the likes of which we have rarely seen since.

My memory of the Mexican War histories is a little fuzzy too; Lee may very well have made certain suggestions, but he was a junior officer, and his superior officers were constrainted by orders from Washington. Moreover, anything they did would have had to have been ratified by Congress, and there was no way Congress was ever going to agree to annexing all of Mexico, for two reasons: 1) it would make Mexicans into US citizens (bad idea for many reasons), and 2) It would have vastly increased the number of potential slave states, thus upsetting the national balance of power between the North and South. Indeed, many historians see our victory in the Mexican War as a prime cause of the Civil War 12-13 years later.

Castaneda's whole enchilada (by G Putnam):

"What is it that is included in Castaneda's list of demands? Basically, he wants a complete surrender of U.S. sovereignty over immigration policy.

America must legalize all Mexican illegal aliens, loosen its already lax border enforcement, establish a guest worker program in the midst of an economic downturn, and exempt Mexican immigrants from U.S. visa quotas.

Not only that, but also the demand that Mexicans living in the U.S. receive health care provided by the American taxpayer and in-state college tuition.

Speaking in Tijuana, Castaneda became even more bold; he aptly described such demands with this statement: "We must obtain the greatest number of rights for the greatest number of Mexicans in the shortest time possible."

Mind you, Castaneda is referring to rights for Mexicans in the U.S. – NOT in Mexico!

Fox wants every Mexican to have the same status as US citizens here in this country. He want's no limits on immigration and he believes he has some kind of authority in the US to decide our laws. Recently Fox and Castaneda were demanding something be done about US citizens in Arizona and the treatment of illegals by them. More and more we are seeing Mexican leaders and Consulates who believe they have some authority in the US.