Moe Lane

Their best? Many would argue.

Over The Hills And Far Away, Over The Hills And Far Away

As you’ve no doubt read by now, several people have been arrested, likely in connection with the Faisal Shahzad case. There’s something about this case that I don’t particularly want to highlight – in the sense that I don’t want it to be an issue – but that I sort of have to:

One of the men arrested near Boston on Thursday has been charged with overstaying his visa, and the other, identified as Pir Khan, was already the subject of proceedings to remove him from the country, according to one source.

The third man was arrested in Maine, also allegedly for overstaying his visa, a source said.

Folks, that right there is an example of why the Arizona legislature decided to explicitly implement federal immigration law on the state level; it’s not being enforced on the federal one.  Do as many boycotts, protests, and/or primal screams as you like, but immigration control is a national-security issue.  Yes, I’m being a big meanie by bringing up what appears to be an illegal-immigrant shadow economy that’s independent of the one that Mexican illegals use; the point is that these networks exist, and even if these three guys were merely part of a system to avoid showing up on the radar they were still apparently used by a terrorist to launder money.  Sort of like how drug smugglers are doing the same thing, yes?

Sorry, but that’s what’s happening.

Moe Lane

Because I was having one: long story, but it involved wondering what I’ve been doing lately. Then I see this:

(See also: Hot Air, AoSHQ)

…and I realize that one thing I’ve been doing lately is helping people like Chris Christie get elected.

You’re welcome.

Moe Lane

PS: No. Get your own.

Crossposted to RedState.

Rotten mood. Here. Have some of the Ludwig van.

This is good news…

Gov. Charlie Crist told MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough on April 30 that he would “probably” give refunds to donors who don’t approve of him leaving the GOP. Some donors to his U.S. Senate campaign were told before the switch that they would get their money back or pro-rated refunds.

No more. A couple of hours before Crist officially becomes an NPA voter, campaign spokeswoman Michelle Todd said there will be no refunds. Asked whether that amounts to a flip-flop, she said, “We have never made an official statement before. It is now the official statement. They donated to the Charlie Crist for U.S. Senate Campaign, and it’s still the Charlie Crist for U.S. Senate Campaign.”

…for three reasons: (more…)

The House Rules Committee. People usually call this one of the most important House committees out there, which is in my opinion untrue: it simply is the most important House committee. The reason that I say that is because the Rules committee has ultimate control over how and in what way a bill is presented and debated; add that to its ability to dictate appropriate amendments leads to an effective result of Rules being the gatekeeper for House legislation. The membership is deliberately skewed heavily in favor of the majority party (currently over two-to-one), and majority party membership on that Committee is at the discretion of the Speaker of the House.  In other words, if a Member of Congress disapproves of the way that the Rules Committee operates, the only way to show disapproval is to vote for somebody else for Speaker of the House.

The Democratic vote to re-elect Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House for the 111th Congress was 255 For, 1 Not Voting.  Every action – and every flawed piece of legislation – that made it past the Rules Committee since then is thus the responsibility of those 255 Members of Congress who authorized giving control of the American legislative agenda to Speaker Pelosi.

And that is why there is no such thing as a “conservative” Democratic politician.  That first vote defines all the rest.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Said dilemma being, as Jim Geraghty put it, that the organization will have to make some hard choices this election on whether to endorse Republicans or Democrats: fortunately, it’s actually easy to solve.  All you have to do is remember this:

Democratic politicians lie.

Democratic politicians lie.

Democratic politicians lie.

Glad to help!

I Wanna Be Sedated, Ramones

Well… not really.

I will not apologize for liking Small Soldiers:

This was a movie made for every eleven year old who looked at his parents’ garage, looked at his action figures, and sighed at the tyranny of adults. Plus, Dennis Leary, in the part of Deus Ex Machina.

So, farewell to It Happened Here, with a sigh of relief that, in point of fact, it did not.

Todd is the Secretary of State for Indiana who won the primary for IN-04 last week; the seat is considered safe for Republicans, so I took the opportunity to ask him some slightly different questions.

Todd’s campaign site is here.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Len is the presumptive Republican candidate against Patrick Leahy, who is currently seeking a seventh term. Which is another way of saying that Leahy has spent over half his life as a Senator, while Len Britton is a small business owner and first-time office seeker.

Len’s site is here.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

…the President will not be campaigning for him.

And while the White House has backed Mr. Specter in the primary, making good on a pledge made when he switched parties just over a year ago, Mr. Obama seems unlikely to make a campaign visit for Mr. Specter before the primary, Democrats said. They said the White House is not eager to be embarrassed by having the president make a last-minute visit on behalf of a candidate who goes on to lose, as happened in the Massachusetts Senate and New Jersey governor’s races.

Aww, they left out Virginia.  They’re also acting as if those losses were despite the President’s presence, rather than because of them; which is a contentious thing to say, but then, the man has a really, really bad track record with these tough races…

Via Jim Geraghty.

Moe Lane

PS: TOOMEY.  By the way?  Joe Sestak’s pro-TARP, pro-’stimulus,’ pro-Obamacare, pro-cap-and-trade, 100% NARAL, and a gun-grabber.  Yeah, that’s going to fly well in 2010′s Pennsylvania.