ALIEN AMNESTY: At a union-sponsored rally October 6, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D.-Mo.) promised that if Democrats get control of Congress, they will give amnesty to millions of illegal aliens, to whom he repeatedly referred as "undocumented people." "We need a Democratic majority to get this up and get it done," he said. Gephardt called on the crowd to mail postcards to George Bush and GOP members of Congress to test "whether or not there are Republicans who really want to allow people to earn their legalization in this country." Following up on a promise Gephardt made earlier in the year, House Democrats unveiled the Earned Legalization and Family Unification Act of 2002 (HR 5600), though far too late in the session for it to be considered. Gephardt said October 10 that the bill "will allow undocumented immigrants to legalize their status if they have been in the U.S. for at least five years, worked for two years and if they can pass a background check. It will allow U.S. citizens to unify with their spouses, minor children and parents by removing immediate relatives from existing visa caps."
RACIAL INSULT: If a black Democratic political candidate went to a largely white Southern college and was subject to racial insults, the big media would jump all over it, wouldn’t they? They were less interested in the insults to the Maryland Republican lieutenant governor candidate Michael Steele, who with his gubernatorial running mate, Rep. Robert Ehrlich, attended a debate at historically black Morgan State University against Democrats Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Charles Larson. Reported the Baltimore Sun on October 1, "It was the Democratic supporters who made the deepest impression: They hooted at Ehrlich, delaying his opening statement. They cheered lustily after Townsend’s first remarks. . . . Ehrlich spokesman Paul Schurick said Democrats in the audience went over the top. They booed Ehrlich’s wife and parents, he said, and distributed Oreo cookies in the audience-a racial insult clearly aimed at GOP lieutenant governor nominee Steele, who is black. Schurick also said he thinks they vandalized the cars of several Ehrlich supporters, scratching the paint with keys." Debate moderator Neil Duke admitted that the crowd was rude. "With respect to the derisive behavior, that was an unfortunate circumstance, and nothing that we would hope to be duplicated in future events," he said.
READY TO GO: Whatever others may think about going to war against Iraq, career active-duty service members are ready to serve. In a poll of its subscribers conducted September 20 to 24 and published in the Military Times group of publications that includes the Army Times and the Marine Corps Times, 68% said they would support an invasion to remove Saddam Hussein. Only 16% opposed it. When asked, "Would you favor or oppose invading Iraq if Congress supported it?" 86% said they would favor it and 6% said they would oppose it. Congress has since passed a resolution authorizing force. The poll was not truly scientific since it included subscribers only. Truly scientific polls of military members are difficult to conduct since no comprehensive list of phone numbers exists for them and many are considered unreachable.
FASHIONABLE MUMBLINGS: As the "divest from Israel" movement gains steam, at least among trendy activists and fashionable academics, 400 pro-Palestinian activists held a conference at the University of Michigan the weekend of October 12-13. Those who, like Harvard President Larry Summers, detect anti-Semitism in this movement (where is the call to divest from countries with undeniable, long-standing records of human rights abuses that are not democratic allies of the United States?) were at least gratified to note that more than one conference official denounced suicide bombings.
FREEDOM-FOR NOW: The Thomas More Law Center succeeded in preserving the religious freedom of Pioneers for Christ at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Mich. The club refused to endorse the school’s "non-discrimination" policy about homosexuals, prompting a move to ban it. Threat of a lawsuit from the More Law Center forced the Ann Arbor school board to change its policy and allow the club to adhere to its Christian view opposed to homosexuality. The center is continuing to pursue its separate suit against the school district for "Diversity Week" at Pioneer, in which anti-homosexual voices were excluded from a panel on religion and homosexuality.
