LIE OF THE WEEK: 06-29-2007

Senator Edward Kennedy on the defeat of the immigration bill:

“We know what they don’t like. What are they for? What are they going to do with the 12 million who are undocumented here? Send them back to countries around the world? Develop a type of Gestapo here to seek out these people that are in the shadows? What’s their alternative? Without a new immigration law," Mr. Kennedy said, “The situation is going to get worse and worse and worse.”

THE TRUTH: First, let's call the illegal immigrants the right name: they are not "undocumented" because they are not just missing documentation. They are illegal because they broke many laws and crossed the border illegally and are living here illegally and working here illegally. The alternative is clear: elect a president who will take action on current laws without kowtowing to business interests by tying enforcement to a guest worker program designed to maintain a pool of cheap labor. The situation is only getting worse and worse and worse due to lack of enforcement of existing laws, not due to the lack of a new law.

COLUMN: 06-27-2007

If the Bancroft family is truly concerned about maintaining the Wall Street Journal's journalistic credentials, they should not sell to Newscorp - period. Any of the deals being made on an independent editorial board are absolutely meaningless once the new leadership structure is in place. It's clear that the Bancroft family is interested in increasing their financial stature and Rupert Murdoch is interested in gaining editorial control over a respectable newspaper (unlike his current holdings, which are all essentially tabloid-style newspapers, magazines, radio, and television stations with no journalistic integrity whatsoever). Trying to whitewash the deal with these negotiations will result in absolutely nothing in the end and the Wall Street Journal will take it's place as a mouthpiece for Newscorp. The best recent historical example of this situation was the DaimlerChrysler merger a decade ago. Everyone in the world was sold on the "merger of equals" and the so-called benefits of the deal, which all turned out to be false once the actual deal went through and the ultimate end result will be the death of Chrysler as an American automaker in the near future as it is chopped up and sold off in pieces by the investment firm who recently took it off DaimlerBenz's hands.

LIE OF THE WEEK: 06-22-2007

Senator Trent Lott on the defeat of the immigration bill he supports:

“Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem."

THE TRUTH: Talk radio is simply reflecting the frustration of the American people, who see their corporate-run government focused on the corporate lobby's priority of a guest worker program instead of focusing on the American people's priority of enforcing the laws of our country and punishing both those crossing the border illegally and the corporate employers who continue to attract them as a source of cheap labor. Blaming the messenger just proves that Trent Lott has absolutely no political courage to do the right thing.

COLUMN: 06-20-2007

What is happening in Gaza is reprehensible, but the fact of the matter is that the Bush Administration's position is only fanning the flames. To call the Fatah party "moderate" and extend aid after their recent behavior is absolutely unacceptable. During the time Fatah was in power, corruption ruled and all of the Fatah leaders were pocketing a significant portion of the money intended for the Palestinian people. As a result, Hamas overwhelmingly won national elections a year ago and came to power and Fatah has been fighting a civil war to retake power ever since. Both groups have clearly shown their worst as their thugs have been killing each other and civilians as they fought it out. Supporting Fatah now is absolutely the wrong thing to do.

Looking back over the past 40 years, it was Fatah's bad behavior that caused it to be expelled from Jordan and then Lebanon before being exiled to Tunisia in the 1970's. It was only brought back into influence during the Oslo accords as the western powers and Israel attempted to co-opt the legitimate Palestinian uprising of the 1980's by bringing in these exiled Palestinian "leaders" whom they thought they could control. Fatah needs to be repudiated and re-exiled, which would leave the Palestinian people to form true grass-roots parties to run their government, instead of the current policy of supporting a corrupt regime, which only leads a direct reaction of moving to extremism by opposition groups.

LIE OF THE WEEK: 06-15-2007

President Bush on the current Senate immigration bill:

"Most Americans agree that the 1986 immigration law failed; it didn't work. It failed because it did not secure our border... People are being exploited as a result of a broken system, and this isn't right. We can do better... To answer these concerns I support an amendment that will provide $4.4 billion in immediate additional funding for securing our borders and enforcing our laws at the work site. This funding will come from the fines and penalties that we collect from those who have come to our country illegally."

THE TRUTH: The earlier attempts to reform the immigration process failed because of a lack of political will by Congress and especially by the US Presidents over the past 20 years (Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush). If any president truly wanted to take action, no legislation would be required. He could order the national guard or border portal or army to defend the border better with additional existing resources and order the US Justice Department to crack down harshly on the illegal immigrants and their employers. Talking about human exploitation and adding new funding for border protection as methods to win over support for the comprehensive immigration package (that includes the guest worker programs demanded by the political patrons of the two major parties) is just another example of the corruption in Washington, which puts campaign contributor priorities above all else.

COLUMN: 06-13-2007

Am I the only one sick of the news media reporting on the end of the Sopranos? Even if 12 million people did watch the final episode of the show (which is probably a record for a premium cable channel), that's only 4% of the American population. Is it really necessary to dedicate a significant portion of every major news outlet (television, radio, magazine, and newspaper) to writing about a show that only had 10 episodes per year for 8 years? There was nothing really remarkable about the show and we need our media to spend more time focusing on the real news affecting our country and world rather than wasting an obscenely large amount of time on cultural news. Of course, there should be coverage of our television culture, but this has gone far beyond any acceptable level.

LIE OF THE WEEK: 06-08-2007

Louisiana Representative William Jefferson on his indictment for bribery and other crimes:

"My family and I have determined that I will not sacrifice my honor or cave to political pressure and that we will sell every stick of furniture in our home and anything else we may own to pursue justice and clear our name. Did I make mistakes in judgment along the way that I now deeply regret? Yes, but did I sell my office or trade official acts for money? Absolutely not. This case involved private business activities and not official acts by me."

THE TRUTH: Based on the evidence made public, the Congressman has clearly been walking around and stashing far too much cash for any kind of legitimate transactions and it has been his lack of honor that prevented him from resigning last year, let alone running for reelection and now fighting the charges. However, to discuss the issue of trading official acts for money, isn't that just par for the course in Washington today? In looking at the immigration bill, the fight isn't over the right thing to do for the American people. Instead, the fight is about the Democrats representing their financial backers (the unions) and the Republicans doing the same for their financial backers (the largest corporations employing the lowest paid workers in America). Could it be any clearer that the influence of campaign contributions overrules all other influence in Congress and that the American people aren't represented in the least? Just like Congressman Duke Cunningham last year, it's clear that Congressman Jefferson has taken the next logical step and started directly pocketing the money for which he should be severely punished, but it's also the best indicator that we should reform the whole system and finally remove all undue financial influence from the legislative process.

COLUMN: 06-06-2007

The word "amnesty" has been a political hot button during the recent political discussions on immigration in Washington and across the country. Those on the conservative side of the issue call anything other than the immediate mass deportation of all illegal immigrants amnesty and those on the liberal side refuse to use the word and instead talk about a "path to citizenship". The truth can be found in the major Spanish-language American media, who clearly use the word amnesty to describe all of the current proposals in Washington. Amnesty means not receiving the required punishment for breaking the law so any "path to citizenship" is a form of amnesty, regardless of the hurdles (fines, waiting periods, having to leave and return, etc) put in. Either amnesty is acceptable or it's not, so there's no point in trying to whitewash the issue by avoiding the use of the word.

LIE OF THE WEEK: 06-01-2007

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the new arms race with Russia:

"We want a 21st Century partnership with Russia, but at times, Russia seems to think and act in the zero-sum terms of another era," Rice said, referring to the suspicions and territorial ambitions of the Cold War.

THE TRUTH: It's ironic to specifically hear this from her, considering she came into the Bush Administration as a Soviet expert and her first act as National Security Adviser was to do away with the ABM treaty, which is what sparked this entire issue with Russia in the first place. It was also her focus on Russia that distracted the National Security Council from addressing any of the real terrorist threats until it was too late in the aftermath of 9/11. Perhaps if she made amends for her earlier actions and truly worked to partner with Russia as long as they move back towards democracy and freedom, we could resolve these issues. But that would require taking responsibility for your actions and being accountable, something unheard of in the current administration.