KING OF BUMS: Rodney King, perhaps the most famous politically correct victim of recent years who wasn't a victim at all, has been arrested again. "He was speeding at 100 miles an hour, high on PCP, when he ran a red light in Rialto, Calif. on August 27...," wrote David Horowitz on frontpagemagazine.com on September 9. "This was his fifth arrest since a kangaroo court awarded him $3.8 million some years ago because the LAPD had 'violated his civil rights.'" King is now broke, said Horowitz. "Poverty, as a friend mine has said, is different from being broke. . . . Being poor is a dispiriting and disabling state of mind. Giving money to dysfunctional people is not a way to make them rich or even comfortable. It's a way of enabling them to pursue their self-destructive behaviors at an even higher velocity." Horowitz noted that liberals do not care about "the 58 people who are dead because of Rodney King and the criminals he and his supporters inspired. . . . Nobody cares about the innocent victims of the protesters for social justice: the 2,000 Koreans who lost their businesses to "black rage," the four cops who lost their careers because they beat a reckless criminal who was resisting arrest and refused to go prone."
NO SECURITY: Calif. Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, now in a desperate battle for his political life, on September 5 signed a bill granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants after twice vetoing similar measures. Rep. Jeff Flake (R.-Ariz.), a libertarian-leaning proponent of relaxing immigration laws, opposes the idea for his state. "Clearly, most of the illegal immigrants in Arizona are here to work, not to commit acts of terrorism," said Flake on September 10. "However, by issuing driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants, we would be creating an enormous opportunity for terrorists to live in Arizona under the radar." House Republican Conference Secretary Rep. John Doolittle (R.-Calif.) said the same day, "While the rest of the country is cracking down on security loopholes, Gov. Gray Davis is moving California in the opposite direction by doling out driver's licenses in exchange for votes."
CLEARLY TIME: On September 10, Rep. Tom Tancredo (R.-Colo.), chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, held a press conference with 9/11 Families for a Secure America which highlighted the lack of enforcement of immigration laws. Said Rep. Charlie Norwood (R.-Ga.), sponsor of the CLEAR Act-which would facilitate local law enforcement agencies' enforcement of immigration laws-on the same day, "We in Congress have an obligation to every man, woman and child living in our nation legally and peacefully to offer real solutions in closing loopholes in our immigration system. For all we have done and are doing, at home and abroad to secure our homeland, we have yet to meet the challenge in dealing with the criminal alien crisis."
POSITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS: Despite the trouble caused by America's excessive flood of immigrants-particularly illegal ones-the National Immigration Forum reminds us of some of the positive national security contributions of many newcomers to the United States. "The Phoenix Project, which rebuilt the damaged Pentagon in record time, had a workforce in which immigrants from 30 countries were represented," said the group this month. "In Afghanistan, Iraq, Liberia, and around the world, immigrants, some not yet citizens, are serving in the military with distinction. More than 60,000 immigrants serve on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces and make up nearly 5% of all enlisted personnel on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces. . . . There are approximately 3,500 Arab-Americans serving in the armed forces."
STERN AS NEWS: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has reclassified Howard Stern's famously obscene radio program as "news," which means it will no longer be required to grant "equal time" to other political candidates running for the same office when one is featured on the show. "This FCC has taken its weak record on enforcing indecency violations to a whole new low by giving Howard Stern's program the label 'news,'" said new Family Research Council President Tony Perkins in response on September 10. He added, "The FCC should be finding a way to take Howard Stern off the air." (Read an edited transcript of HUMAN EVENTS' recent interview with Perkins on other topics, here.)
