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As many of you probably know, I am starting to get quite active in social and political issues. Most of the time I am firmly behind President Bush and my Governor Schwarzenegger, but every now and then I find myself fighting not only the kook liberals but also the blind conservatives. And this is never so prevelant as one of my cottage pet peeves...illegal immigration. During the Presidential election, I was vocally upset that both Bush and Kerry waffled on the issue of illegal immigration. I decided to err on the side of Bush on this issue, because I believed he would help enforce the security of our borders. Some might even understand my anguish when I found out from some border guard friends of mine that the Border Patrol will only be getting an increase of about 200 agents. I support President Bush in most things, but I am sorely disappointed with his handling of the border issue.

Recently, California has been fighting a series of political battles over illegal immigration and its related issues. I know for a fact that the state Democratic Party will do nothing to protect the citizens of their state, but I am also starting to lose confidence in my Republican Party. I know they are a minority party, but they could at least fight a little better for the citizens of this state. Governor Schwarzenegger is doing his best to bring prosperity back to California, and for that I thank him, but he isn't Superman. I realized a few months ago that he really needed my help.

Not my help in particular, of course, but the help of civic-minded citizens who are tired of the political deadlock in the parties. And a recent incident has finally stoked the indignation of many Californians. A week ago, I recieved news from a friend about how the Hollywood elites had taken out an ad supporting giving drivers lisences (and thus other services reserved for citizens) to illegal immigration (link). The fact that much of southern California's citizenry would not accept this probably never crossed their minds. And the result is one of the sharpest spikes in activism since the 2003 recall election. And this is not activism from Republicans or Democrats, but from citizens of every stripe and political belief. And I am one of them...I have volunteered with such groups as Save Our Lisence and other party-spanning organizations. I even found I had the ability to get people to sign petitions.

In closing, you don't have to be a liberal to be an activist. All you need is the will to make your beliefs shine through, support from other concerned citizens, and (sometimes) the knowledge that not even your own party will support you.

Stuff like this was the biggest reason that when I was in California I saw the Democrats and the Republicans as pretty much the same thing. I like the GOP texas platform, but I suspect your Californian one is either ignored, or bass-ackwards.

My friend and I weren't there very long. We only really stayed long enough to sign the petitions. It had been about 7:45 in the evening at that time and neither of us had dinner yet so we stopped by, signed the petitions, and went on to The Block for dinner. We were also under the impression from the broadcast that we were listening to on the way there that it was only going to be going on until 8:00.

It was indeed crowded. Had I known that you were there too or seen you I'd have made sure to say hi. smile

So there were activities in another room as well then. I wish I had known or we had stuck around long enough to find it. I had been kind of wondering where John and Ken were broadcasting from since I hadn't seen them in the lobby.



I'm not terribly worried about the power base or the Republican party, or conservatives splitting during this administration I was reading an article in the most recent The National Interest, which is a foreign policy journal targeted towards conservatives. The article, titled No Enemies on the Right, discusses three main schools of thought among conservatives in terms of foreign policy outlook: Neoconservatives, Realists, and Nationalists/Isolationists and their difference of opinions on Bush's foreign policy. Dispite the differences and critiques that Realists and Nationalists/Isolationists among the conservative camp have with the Bush adminstration's policies, Bush managed to get re-elected. It also notes that the last two times in which there were schisms among conservatives in regards to foreign policy (1976 between the Nixon and Reagan wings of the party and 1992 between Realists and Neoconservatives) that liberals were able to exploit those differences to gain office.

This time that didn't happen. Dispite differences among conservatives, many realized that they share more in common then could be offered by sideing with liberals. Dispite the characture of conservatives that some people will paint as being anti-intellectual and simply repeating what they are told, there is a good deal of difference and vibrant intellectual dialoge that takes place on the conservative/right end of the political spectrum, even among people from similar ideological branches within the right (the ongoing debate between Charles Krauthammer and Francis Fukuyama, both Neoconservatives, in the most recent few issues of The National Interest is a good example.

And this I think is a good thing. Competition causes growth and development. If there were no exchange of ideas then there would be staganation. Furthermore the differences among the right on domestic issues contributes to a further debate on those issues and prevents actions which might be rash and poorly fought out, much like the systems of checks and balances upon which our government is designed. I suppose there is a danger in the party or the support base splitting, but I think the roughest part of the road has passed: we've realized where our interests lie and that we have more in common then we do differences when it counted.

I was actually more worried about a split or break before, which would have likely changed the outcome of the elections. Now that the critical point has passed I think the likelihood of a split that would negativly affect the power base is less likely even if Republicans in Congress are less likely to give the President blank checks on areas such as immigration where there are noticeable differences of opinion among the support base.

Myself, I'm looking to The Minuteman Project to force some sense into the heads of our lawmakers and improve the INS and border patrol.

I would volunteer but I can't afford it. As their site says, it's in no way funded...volunteers have to provide their own transportation, supplies (read: food) and such.

It's not a confrontation thing...more of a recon thing. Spot them, count them, report them. The point of the project is to make it apparent to the public and the government that it is an epidemic, and we are not happily standing by and letting it happen without letting our voice be heard.

Besides, I'm the kind who if I had the money for a handgun would conceal and carry. Unfortunately, open carry is illegal in Texas.

I met Mr. Gilchrist (The Minuteman Project's coordinator) at the KFI rally two weeks ago. I offered to donate $100 to the cause, but he declined. He said they were non-profit and that my emotional and moral support was enough, though he said I could donate desert survival gear if I wanted. I donated three canteens and a few other necessities. I wish those gentlemen luck.

Oh! Did anyone see what happened in the House of representatives today? They passed a bill that would ossibly deny driver's lisences to illegal immigrants and terrorists. I knew Sensenbrenner would come through for us ^_^ Now all I have to do is call my Senators and Bill Frist, get this pushed through.