Boondoggle: “a government project of little practical value to gain political favor”



If the President thinks that sending 6,000 National Guard troops to “secure” our southern borders will pacify his right wing conservative base, he is sadly mistaken. They remain adamant that “those illegals”, as they refer to them, deserve to be rounded up and sent back to where they came from. And if the Senate passes an immigration reform bill that doesn’t call for severe penalties, as opposed to a “pathway to citizenship” for at least the undocumented who have been here a certain length of time, look out. You’ll have zealots like Sensenbrenner and Tancredo, and idiots like Lou Dobbs working overtime to try and convince us all that the world as we know it is coming to an end.

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It is a common perception that people of color usually relate to each other’s social struggles, right. Well, in this case, at least one person, and I’m sure there are others are questioning where their loyalty should lie. Case in point, the following quote appeared in a New York Times story:

"We will have no power, no clout," warned Linda Carter-Lewis, 62, a human resources manager and the branch president of the N.A.A.C.P. in Des Moines. "That's where I see this immigrant movement going. Even though so many thousands and thousands of them have no legal status and no right to vote right now, that day is coming."

Which reminds me; where the black community voices during the May 1 march?

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And speaking of racial solidarity, I found it extremely telling that Lubbock’s black community mostly stayed out of sight during the local city and school board races. It would have been nice if they would have been more vocal in a “get out the vote” effort and more visible during the election. Guess they’re waiting for the District 2 election two years from now?

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Congratulations to Councilwoman Linda DeLeon on her reelection efforts; she asked District 1 voters to give her a full 4 year term to get some things accomplished and voters apparently listened. I wish her well; I’ll bet she’s relieved that we have a new mayor.

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Congratulations are in order to Christy Martinez for running a strong campaign for one of the LISD’s at large seats. Although she came up short she showed the potential of a Hispanic being elected in a city

wide race is not unrealistic. With a better financed campaign; more money, that great equalizer, we would have seen a different outcome. Remember, when all votes were counted, the top 2 vote getters did not receive an overwhelming mandate from LISD voters.

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Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was asked recently, on some CNN news program, if his grandparents had crossed into this country illegally and if so, had they ever sought citizenship status. His response, he said “it wasn’t clear’ whether that was true or not.

What a wimp!

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How is it that the “do nothing right” Congress can’t find money to fund the 2,000 Border Patrol agents that were authorized last year, but can afford to give $70 billion in tax cuts to this country’s wealthiest citizens? "There is little in this bill to be proud of," said Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana. "Working people have been left behind."

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And speaking of securing our borders; who’s taking care of our northern border? Do Bush and his ilk really think that potential terrorists will only try to cross into this country by way of Mexico? If so, they are even more transparent than they demonstrate.

Who are they trying to fool; our northern border deserves an equal amount of attention as our southern one. This is just another example of why some people, yours truly included, believe that it is not solely a border security issue; but rather one with deeper implications.

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Note to new and current, Lubbock City Council members: There are serious issues that this newspaper tried to bring to your attention during the campaign. Issues like over 18% of Lubbock residents living in poverty, elderly people who live in sub standard housing unable to afford home improvements to bring their property up to code, deterioration of some Lubbock neighborhoods, among others. I hope that all can find a middle ground, can compromise when needed, and above all agree that this city’s demographics have changed as dramatically as its population over the past few years. These issues need to be addressed if this city is to be able to really be considered an all inclusive one.

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And speaking of corporate greed, it was reported this past week that 16 people had been arrested at a corporate meeting of Halliburton Corporation, you know, the company that has shared in the spoils of the Iraq war and the tragedy

of Katrina. Don’t worry it didn’t phase them though; they were too busy enjoying their 2005, 2.4 billion dollar profits to be bothered.

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And finally, this was sent to me by a friend from Albuquerque who happens to work for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. I don’t know if this is true or not, but it sounds like something that just might be:

An aide for a cabinet member once called the airline the cabinet member would be flying on and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas. When the agent pulled up the reservation, she noticed he had only a 1-hour layover in Dallas. When she asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said, "I heard Dallas was a big airport, and we will need a car to drive between gates to save time."



I tell you, you can’t make this stuff up…



Email: acruztsc@aol.com