This whole immigration bill debate has been a true beating hasn’t it. Having Republicans like columnist Linda Chavez, Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff, Senators Trent Lott and Lindsey Graham, and even President Bush bash Conservatives who opposed the bill was a blast. These folks characterized us as people who either “did not like Mexicans”, or “thought that anything short of the death penalty is amnesty”, or were just out of touch with reality. Senator Lott even opined that it was the fault of talk radio, which he seems to believe, is running America. It is not very nice to be on the receiving end of cheap shots by your supposed ideological allies is it?

We Conservatives did not let that get us down; instead, we were emboldened by these asinine attacks. We called, and wrote, and emailed or political leaders. And, thankfully, we killed the immigration/amnesty bill! Good for us! Of course, it is alive again and very soon, it will be front and center again. Oddly enough, many of our congressmen and senators do not understand why America is so outraged over them trying to fix our immigration policies.

As for me, I am all for them fixing it, I bet most of us are in favor of that. After all, who does not want this lingering crisis mended? The problem is not with fixing the problems with illegal immigrants and lax borders. The problem is one of trust. See, America largely has learned not too trust our government to address and remedy the border. Why you ask? Well, because our government has failed, repeatedly, to do the one thing it has to do if it really wants to get serious about fixing the border and illegal immigration. Frankly, it has failed to enforce immigration laws.

This failure, which has often equaled a failure to even try, has taught Americans a lesson. That lesson is not to trust politicians to keep their promises on border security. So, please excuse our reluctance to swoon over new immigration laws. Perhaps if our current laws were being enforced we would be more wiling to go along with new laws. Heck, if the government started enforcing the current laws, and actually proved their willingness to do so we would perk right up. See, we would have a reason to have some trust then.

See, it is like this, we have seen Washington not enforce current laws for decades. What Washington is loathe to see is that trust once lost is not easily regained. They lost us and we lost our faith in them. Now, if they want that trust back, let them earn it. Surely, our government can grasp this can’t it?

If, for some strange reason they cannot get it straight in their minds, allow me to set it up for them. Here then, are some very simple steps for our Senate, House, and yes, especially for you Mr. President to take on the road to regain our trust.

First and foremost, get that fence y’all approved on the border built! No, not a “virtual” fence, I mean a real fence, designed to make it as difficult as possible for those seeking to cross our border illegally to do so. Get that fence up, or at least start aggressively building it and America will take note.

Secondly, and this is a big one here, stop punishing border agents who do their job! If border agents shoot a drug smuggler in his arse, then do not prosecute them. No, give them medals! Allow them to do their jobs. In addition, while you are at it, hire more agents! Imagine this, more agents allowed to do their jobs+ a border fence= fewer illegal aliens and more faith in you by us.

Thirdly, crack down on these city councils and mayors who seem to think they can ignore federal immigration laws. Withhold federal money until they end these inane sanctuary city policies. In short, no American city should be able to order their police officers NOT to ask about the immigration status of suspected illegal aliens. Police must do their jobs, and that job involves arresting those who break laws. This issue needs to be dealt with now. Doing so will make a big impression on us, trust me on this.

Fourthly, take companies who knowingly hire illegal aliens to the proverbial woodshed. They have an obligation to follow the law. If they choose not to, then let the penalty they face force them to reevaluate their hiring policies. This capitalist nation affords these companies a path to prosperity, the least they can do is play by the rules.

Fifthly, Americans would jump for joy if y’all went after those here illegally who have outstanding warrants. These are not folks seeking better lives. They are criminals, drug dealers, gang members, etc. Go find them, and boot them out of this country. Again, an act like this will do wonders to better your image in our eyes!

Lastly, stop insulting our intelligence. We are a tad fed up with the whole “We cannot deport 12 million people” line frankly. Yes, we get that. Moreover, I do not know of anyone who has demanded 12 million illegal aliens be deported. I am pretty sure we are aware that this problem has been ignored for so long that mass deportations are not an option.

Another line we are tired of is the “these people are just doing jobs Americans just will not do”. If I hear that once more, my head will explode! It is not a good idea to insult Americans and their work ethic. So please, knock it off already!

Do these things, starting now, and you will be surprised how eager America is to listen to ideas about how to deal with the 12 million folks here illegally. Again, we recognize this is a huge problem, and we recognize that there are no easy solutions, we really do. Frankly, we understand there is no magic cure all. We do, however, need to know that the solutions y’all come up with will at least be enforced.

There is that word enforced yet again. Why does that keep popping up? Well, because no law will ever succeed unless it is enforced. Therefore, there is your key to regaining our trust. Enforce the laws we have, prove you are capable of that. THEN, and only then, will America trust you to deal with those here illegally. Because all we hear now are the same folks who have yet to enforce immigration laws telling us how they will enforce these new laws. Sorry, America is not buying!

The first conclusion I reached is that MSNBC should never, ever, under any circumstances, be allowed to host any debate ever again. Certainly, MSNBC must never be in any way involved in any debate as important as a presidential debate. In addition, they should be deemed unfit to host any high school debates, debates over who makes the best BBQ, debates as to the best mouthwash, or debates on any subject, anytime or anywhere!

Secondly, I have concluded that Chris Matthews is actually an alien or a cyborg; he cannot be human. No human, outside of Arianna Huffington, can be that abrasive, that annoying, that obnoxious, or that grating too listen to. In fact, Matthews is so obnoxious his voice should be broadcast to terrorists across the globe, which would surely force them to martyr themselves just to escape the din. Moreover, if there were truly justice the martyred Jihadists would be rewarded with not 70 virgins, but 70 Arianna Huffingtons in the after life. Nevertheless, back to my conclusions gleaned from the GOP debate.

The third conclusion is that the candidates should answer real questions, not inane questions that sounded like they were regurgitated from Leftist blogs. Allow real, average Americans to pose their questions to those who are seeking the office of president. No scripts, no pre-authorized questions, just straight questions. I want to see and hear these candidates respond on the fly. If they cannot handle that, then they cannot handle being president.

In addition, I have concluded that the current crop of GOP candidates is made up of two groups. The first group, consisting of men like Duncan Hunter, Ron Paul, and Tom Tancredo, are good solid Conservatives. Sadly, they also stand as much chance of being elected president as I stand of dating Salma Hayek, Alyssa Milano, or Halle Berry.

The second group consists of Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Mitt Romney. These are the front-runners, the favorites to win the nomination. Sadly, this “electable” group is not exactly comparable to Ronald Reagan. Rudy, the “tough” candidate, cannot freaking decided what the Hell he thinks about abortion or gun control. He currently has more positions on these issues, than positions on a porn movie set.

John McCain has been campaigning as a Conservative, too bad his recent record as a Senator leads me to think he is not going to walk the talk he is currently talking if elected. After years of moving leftwards, are we to believe McCain has suddenly remembered he used to be a real Conservative.

Then there is Mitt Romney. I like him the best of the three, but he has had some definitive issue changes himself in recent times. If he truly is as Conservative as he sounds, then great. However, I have serious doubts whether or not he can get the Conservative base juiced enough to defeat Hillary Care or Obamamania.

This leads me to the final and most important conclusion. We, Conservative Republicans need one Fred Dalton Thompson to get in this race ASAP! He stands alone as the only real Conservative with a realistic chance to win the nomination, as well as the general election next fall.

He has no issue-related holes in his resume. His record as a Conservative U.S. Senator is rock-solid. He is eloquent, straightforward, tough, and full of the one thing most needed in Washington, common sense. He is, as Reagan was, positive about America, and Americans. When Thompson speaks, you can hear the sincerity of his pride in this nation, and the sincerity in the belief that America can meet any challenges that faces it today, as it has met its past challenges.

He can be a president, like Reagan, who will take his message right to the American people. If a Democratic Congress or Senate refuses to work with him, he can communicate his desires and aims directly to the people. Moreover, I believe, the American people would embrace Thompson’s common sense, and straight talk. The man is a sincere pleasure to listen to when he speaks and his smooth, Southern accent delivers his message of hope, and love of country in a manner seldom seen.

When Thompson speaks, he sounds like a statesman, not a politician. He sounds like a man who possesses the ability to be a leader. In short he sounds like a president should sound, cool, concise, confident, and sincere. The more I hear from Senator Thompson, the more I like him, and the more I am desirous of his announcement to seek the presidency.

One week ago, evil visited itself upon the campus of Virginia Tech. An evil man, and YES, the killer, whose name I will not soil your eyes with, was definitively evil. Yes, he was most assuredly mentally deranged. Yes, he should have been institutionalized years ago. Still, all things weighed and considered, he was evil, and he committed evil acts upon innocent human beings, in this case college students and teachers. We do no one any service by calling his deeds anything but evil.

After this horrible event, I chose not to write about it for a while. I knew, of course, that the tragedy pimping gun grabbers on the left would jump al over this, trying to use it to further their agenda of disarmament. They view this issue very differently than gun right’s folks do, and I suppose that is their right. The people who buy the lies of the gun control ideology have one mindset that seems, to me anyway, to cloud their ability to view events like the murders at Virginia Tech with any objectivity at all.

They view guns as the problem, not people who do evil things, Leftists are not big on recognizing evil to begin with, or criminals who have no interest in being governed by laws. To the gun-grabbing left, guns ARE the problem. Guns, you see, are tools, and millions of Americans use these tools every year to defend themselves, their loved ones, and their property against robbers, rapists, murderers, etc. In fact, armed citizens stopped four of America’s school shootings, including one in Virginia in 2002. Those who want more gun control also claim to desire less crime. Obviously, if their desired aims of more gun restrictions were to be placed upon America violent crime would rise. So why do they not embrace, rather than fight against, law-abiding Americans owning guns?

Ah, here lays the ugly truth about the left my friends, they hate self-defense, and guns, more than any other tool, are used by Americans to defend themselves. Why, though, do those on the left despise self-defense? They are collectivists, and Socialists. They believe that people should think, and act, collectively, not individually. They also deeply believe in collective self-defense. The government should be responsible for your protection, not you. Listen to all the left’s talking points concerning guns and self-defense. They never talk about Americans who use guns in self-defense. Rather, they paint armed Americans as morons, or trigger happy rednecks. Honestly, how many times have they laid out the tired old line about shootouts in the streets if states allow concealed carry permits? Never mind that such events have not happened in the 30-plus states that allow concealed carry.

If you really want a great example of how the left views gun owners and particularly self-defense, look at a recent news story out of Oakland. There, restaurant owner Catarino Piedra recently shot and killed an armed man who tried to rob him. Piedra’s wife and three children were in the restaurant and he feared for the armed robber would hurt them. So, acting in defense of his family, he pulled his 9mm and shot his attacker, killing him. Now stop right there my friends. This is clearly a case of a man, seeing his life and that of his family in peril acting reasonably in defending himself and his family.

Those on the left, though, see it quite differently. Consider how Oakland Police Department spokesperson Roland Holmgrem described the actions of Piedra. "This thing had potential -- who knows where the suspects were going to take the situation? But by no stretch of the imagination are we agreeing with or justifying what the owner did."

Excuse me? How can anyone DISagree with a man defending his family? How can anyone question the justification of this restaurant owner? He is the victim, a victim who chose, honorably, to fight back, to defend himself. Yet, he has his actions questioned? He has his self-defense ridiculed. He has become the bad guy now.

Holmgrem continued his anti-self-defense rant. "We're not saying that we want citizens to go out there and arm themselves and take the law into their own hands. We want citizens to be good witnesses, to be good report-takers and to identify suspects. The shooting has left two families traumatized, there are no winners in this whole case," Holmgren said.

Good witnesses? Good report-takers? No winners? What in the Hell is this guy smoking? Is he really saying we should just cower, while our lives are threatened, while our loved ones are murdered, and cede our right to self-defense? Moreover, I suppose if we are lucky enough to survive THEN, we are allowed to call the police and be good witnesses! Talk about a load of BS!

The insanity of the anti-self-defense does not stop there in this story though. A near-by store manager of a store, which has been robbed numerous times, had mixed feelings about the shooting. "Of course they have a right to protect themselves, but from what? If we have law enforcement, should businesses have guns? I do not think so. They're inviting trouble."

Hmmm, did he actually ask what Piedra protected himself from? Maybe he protected himself from the thug who stuck a gun in his face and threatened him. Maybe that was what Piedra was acting on? Moreover, please note that the manager questioning Piedra’s actions believes if police are armed, no storeowner should try to defend himself or herself. Typical leftist thinking on display there my friends! We are not to defend ourselves. That is the government’s job according to left-leaning ideology.

Also, take note that this manager says storeowners who arm themselves are inviting trouble. Yes, of course, how DARE Piedra assume he has a right to defend his family! I am just so happy those students at Virginia Tech were not inviting trouble by arming themselves! They were, instead in a “gun-free” zone. That certainly stopped any harm befalling them now didn’t it?

If you answered yes to any or maybe all of these questions then do I have great news for you! There IS a presidential candidate true Conservatives can support. Moreover, I mean support while smiling proudly rather than holding their noses. Who is the candidate that you, yes you, Mr. or Ms. Conservative can gleefully vote for in November 2008?

Well, it is certainly not John McCain, with his increasingly Liberal voting record on social issues. And no, it is not Mr. Infidelity Rudy Guliani either. I mean let us face it, Rudy, is about as Conservative as your average Democrat is. And no kids, it is not even Mitt “Look at my Hair” Romney.

No my friends, the man who you should start supporting now, as in today, is a man of character, a man of true Conservative values. He IS pro-life! He IS anti gun control! He WILL be strong in the war on terror. He WILL be pro tax-cuts and WILL fight big spending. He WILL get tougher on the border, and by golly when asked a question he will answer it, as a leader should!

Therefore, by now, you are surely jumping up and down, eager for me to reveal the identity of the man who should be our next president. That man, my fellow Conservatives, is Tennessee’s Fred Thompson!

A couple of weeks ago, I was like you. Despondent and increasingly depressed over the crop of “Conservative” candidates the GOP was pushing on us. Frankly, I was ready to concede the 2008 elections to Hillary “Seize the Oil Fields” Clinton, and nothing could be more distressing or painful than that my friends.

Then I checked out Chris Wallace on Fox News. He was interviewing Fred Thompson, who I have always admired. Thompson announced he was seriously considering a run for the White House. As he answered Wallace’s questions on various topics and issues, it struck me. This man IS what Conservatives have been begging for since Ronald Reagan left office in 1989.

Wallace asked Thompson if he were pro-life, and Thompson, without stammering or looking for a fence to straddle, spoke very clearly. He is pro-life, and he thinks Roe V Wade is bad law, and bad science. Wallace posed the question of gun control and again Thompson made his position extremely clear. Reflecting on the recent federal court ruling striking down the DC gun ban, Thompson said he agreed with the court. The right to own guns IS an individual right, that is what the Constitution says and Thompson agrees with the Constitution!

Now I understand that some Conservatives are under the impression that we have won the fight on guns in America. Trust me, Liberals still would seek to restrict our Constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Their rhetoric may have changed, but their aims have surely not. No right is more crucial than the right to self-defense. Moreover, nothing is more crucial to that right than the right to own guns.

Thompson also made it clear in his interview with Wallace that he understood how very important it was to continue to fight terrorism in other countries. He gets it! Thompson, I firmly believe understands we are engaged in a war, a long war that can be fought here, or elsewhere. We must not allow that war to come here.

As to the borders, Thompson made his position clear again. He would take steps to discourage more illegal immigrants from coming or staying here. A simple but straightforward strategy isn’t it. It is an impossible dream to think we can deport the millions of illegals here. However, if we take steps to take eliminate the reasons they are coming here and staying here, we will begin to alleviate much of the problem. Thompson was clear. Border enforcement first, discourage more illegals from coming here THEN work of reforming immigration laws so that they make sense.

Throughout his interview, Thompson also spoke directly about the importance of judges not making law in America. He also made it apparent he believes the States should decide issues like civil unions for Gay couples, and I certainly agree. Yes, Thompson does indeed believe in States making decisions largely free of federal intrusions.

Thompson also was clear that as president he would make tough decisions and inspire the American people to support the right course. He sees China as a totalitarian regime, with 200 missiles pointed at Taiwan. That is a serious issue America will have to tackle Fred Thompson understands that. Thompson also made known he will face the issue of reducing America’s dependence on Middle Eastern oil.

I urge y’all to check out his interview and his Senate voting record. This next election is so important to America, we must elect the right leader, and I believe Fred Thompson to be that leader.

Related reading

Fred Thompson’s Fox News interview

Frank facts about Fred Thompson