BP Pledges to 'Make This Right' – As Soon As it Emerges From Bankruptcy Protection?

I had a hard time swallowing BP's full-page public relations ad yesterday. I saw it at WSJ, but it ran in NYT as well. See the full image at Advertising Age, "BP Print Ads Promise to 'Make This Right'." This line really sticks out: "We will honor all legitimate claims." Well, BP's aleady paying out millions in compensation to at least 25,000 people, and that number could go into the 100s of thousands. Even an industry behemoth like BP holds limited financial power. Serously. I suspect they'll go bankrupt before they'll be able to "honor all legitimate claims. See Fox News for more on that, "BP's Shaky Financial Condition Spurs Talk of U.S. Takeover," and Energy & Capital, "Exploring the Possibility of a BP Bankruptcy."

BP CEO Tony Hayward's at today's WSJ, "What BP Is Doing About the Gulf Gusher." And his PR clip:

RELATED: At NYT, "Cap Is Collecting Oil, but Result of Effort Is Still Unclear," and Bloomberg, "Obama Heads to Gulf as Spill ‘Furor’ Shifts Toward White House" (via Memeorandum).

'We Con the World'

From Caroline Glick and Latma TV:

In the Aftermath of the Holocaust Many in the West Said Never Again...

Andrew Klavan provides satirical relief ...

... but Melanie Phillips' hate mail is dead serious:

The whole world is disgusted with the terror state of Israel. It has again shown its true nature, kill anyone who opposes its murderous regime. What a disgrace to humanity the zionists have proven to be. I am of the firm opinion that Hitler was right in the assessment of the Jewish people. The protestors deaths have not been in vain as the support for Gaza & Palestine has reached all communities all over the world. It will only be a matter of time before they obtain their freedom.

Governor Brewer Meets President Obambanista

She's diplomatic at the clip below, but it's pretty clear that the president's not too thrilled about dealing with border security at this point. He's literally overwhelmed with the Gulf crisis, which, combined with his cluelessness, is hammering the administration. Anyway, the buzz says he left her hanging. See Fox News, "Arizona Governor Gets Few Results From Meeting With Obama," LAT, "Brewer and Obama have 'cordial' illegal immigrant talk, but her letter to Sen. Chuck Schumer is blunt," and WaPo, "Ariz. Gov. Brewer, Obama meet to discuss immigration enforcement." Also at CSM and Memeorandum.

UAW Strikers Picket Outside Boeing Commercial Plant in Long Beach

Here's the scene around 2:00pm in Long Beach this afternoon, at the intersection of Carson and Lakewood (formerly the production facility for the Boeing 717):

In the first shot here, not sure if that guy on the left was flipping me the bird:

There's a report at LAT, "Boeing, Striking C-17 Factory Workers Back in Talks." And previously at the Press-Telegram, "Boeing C-17 Workers Picket Outside Long Beach Plant."

RELATED: At the International Communist League's Workers Vanguard, "Victory to Long Beach Boeing Strike!"

Communists. Always communists.

An 'International Offensive of Hypocrisy'

An excellent analysis at WSJ, "Israel's Isolation Deepens." The key passage below is something you'll rarely understand unless you're reading Caroline Glick or Melanie Phillips.

From WSJ's report:

The international rebuke over this week's incident, from friend and foe alike, is stoking fears among officials here that increasing international moves to isolate Israel diplomatically—until recently confined to Israel's Arab enemies, a number of pariah states and the West's far-left political fringe—could gain broader traction.

Israel's bungled attempt to stop the aid flotilla from reaching Gaza also highlights how an increasingly forceful strategy by Palestinians and their supporters to turn to boycotts, international isolation, and relatively nonviolent protests is confronting Israel with a challenge it appears ill-prepared to counter.

Israel has faced rising international criticism since the 2006 Lebanon war, and last year's Gaza conflict fueled a new burst of condemnation. The 2009 election of Mr. Netanyahu and a less accommodative government fed doubts in the international community that Israel was committed to making compromises with the Palestinians that many outsiders thought necessary to the pursuit of peace.

Israeli officials point to a significant toughening by many allies on important Israeli strategic issues, including peace efforts with the Palestinians. The United Nations has intensified pressure for Israel to accept U.N. oversight of its nuclear program, and to agree to ban nuclear weapons from the region.

The fallout also has ricocheted beyond diplomacy, Israeli officials say. It is reflected in incidents including British grocery chains dropping products produced in Israeli settlements; Scandinavian pension funds divesting themselves from an Israeli defense company; and the spread of an annual "Israel Apartheid Week," backed by mostly left-leaning Western groups, to 50 cities world-wide.

The Swedish Football Association has appealed to UEFA, European soccer's governing body, to cancel a Friday match in Israel between the countries' under-21 squads, according to the Eurosport news channel and Swedish newspapers. The move couldn't be independently confirmed.

The Israeli foreign ministry recently issued a quiet warning to diplomats to scale back public appearances overseas, after a string of incidents in which protesters disrupted speeches by Israeli diplomats. In February, protesters in the state of Vermont interrupted a performance of the Israel Ballet.

"There is a sense, a fear here, that the more extreme anti-Israel ideologies are seeping into more accepted mainstream discourse," said a senior Israeli official responsible for tracking and combating efforts to delegitimize Israel. "It's no longer some abstract intellectual debate," he said. "It's people pushing the debate into mobilizing others into thinking this is a totemic issue of human rights and right-versus-wrong—and it's not."

A recent report by the Reut Institute, a Tel Aviv-based think tank that provides strategic-thinking support to the Israeli government, warned the deligitimization effort "has already gained strategic significance and may evolve into an existential threat." It said that Israel's freedom to act militarily against perceived threats has been limited as a result of the campaign.

The report criticized Israeli leaders for having "no coherent conceptual response" to push back against global critics. It panned an Israeli security doctrine that military might alone would ensure Israel's defense and has historically considered international opinion to be a peripheral security concern.

And don't miss Ambassador Michael Oren, "An Assault, Cloaked in Peace" (via Memeorandum).

Birds Dying at Louisiana's East Grand Terre Island

As I've said, we're all environmentalists.

At The Big Picture, "Caught in the Oil," (via Memeorandum):

"Truly horrifying," says The Agonist.

LAUSD Condemns Arizona's SB 1070: Students to Be Indoctrinated Against 'Unconstitutional Racial Profiling and Harassment'

From The New American, "Condemnation of Arizona Laws to be Taught to LA Students‎." Plus, at Fox News, "Los Angeles Students to Be Taught That Arizona Immigration Law Is Un-American." (Via Memeorandum and Left Coast Rebel.)

But what is anti-Americanism? Some call their ethnic chauvinism "cultural pluralism":

But isn't it really just hatred against Anglo-Europeans?

And racist indigenous supremacy?

It's clearly anti-American:

Shouldn't the schools focus on basic literacy?

More pictures from the May 29 illegal immigration protest in Phoenix. Pretty fascinating, eh? All these young idealistic kids? They suck up the anti-American hatred while enjoying all kinds of unmatched liberties available in the U.S.

Representative Linda Sanchez: White Supremacist Groups Behind Arizona Immigration Law

The audio's available at Whittier Daily News, "Linda Sanchez says white supremacist groups behind Arizona immigration law."

But see Fox News, "Congresswoman: White Supremacist Groups Behind Arizona Immigration Law":

A California congresswoman is pointing the finger at white supremacist groups, who she says have inspired Arizona's new law cracking down on illegal immigrants.

Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., told a Democratic Club on Tuesday that white supremacist groups are influencing lawmakers to adopt laws that will lead to discrimination.

"There's a concerted effort behind promoting these kinds of laws on a state-by-state basis by people who have ties to white supremacy groups," said the lawmaker, who is of Mexican descent. "It's been documented. It's not mainstream politics."

Sanchez said front organizations for white supremacist groups are approaching lawmakers to propose the language to the bills and urging them to push them through state legislatures in an effort to legalize discrimination.

"It creates a Jim Crow system where based on the color of your skin you could be treated as a second-class citizen or harassed based on how you look," she said.

The Arizona law, which makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally, requires police enforcing any other law to question people about their immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" that they are in the country illegally.

Supporters of the law say it will save taxpayer money and reduce crime by pressuring illegal immigrants to self-deport. But critics say the law is unconstitutional and promotes racial profiling.

Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif., told the Whittier Daily News, which first reported the story, that Sanchez's comments are "an outrageous accusation."

"It's trying to find somebody somewhere you can accuse of something," Miller told the newspaper. "It's red herring. (She's) trying to change the debate from what the law says."

A spokesman for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who will meet with President Obama Thursday to discuss immigration and border security, also criticized Sanchez's comments.

UPDATE: There's now a thread at Memeorandum. See Gateway Pundit, "Racist Lib Linda Sanchez: White Supremists Behind Arizona Immigration Law (Audio)," and Weasel Zippers, "Unreal: Dem Rep Linda Sanchez Says White Supremacist Groups Behind Arizona Immigration Law…"

RELATED: "LAUSD Condemns Arizona's SB 1070: Students to Be Indoctrinated Against 'Unconstitutional Racial Profiling and Harassment'."

Carly Fiorina's National Security Creds?

I'm sure conservatives saw Maeve Reston's piece on Monday, "DeVore, Fiorina actively court 'tea party' vote." She's not so much the tea partier, so the main point, really, is that Fiorina's well-financed for her television ad campaign with one week to go. Pumped up by her own fortune, the cash surge'll only pad the huge lead in public opinion she's now enjoying. Bummer though. While I admired watching her debate in Costa Mesa a couple of weeks back, she's hopelessly RINO. Especially disgraceful are her indiscriminate ties to awful radicals and anti-Americans. Too bad this stuff's not been getting enough traction. DeVore's hoping for a great "silent plurality" of California conservatives to sweep him to victory next Tuesday, and boy let's hope on his hope. Tea partiers have been pounding the pavement for well over a year in California. They deserve more than someone who's main claim to national security experience is chairing some unheard of presidential commission. CA's June 8 primary could just plain suck for the grassroots right:

Border Security and the Logic of Self-Help

Lord only knows the editorial decision-making processes at the Los Angeles Times. See the title of today's lead article at the screencap? "On a California Ranch, Signs of a Slowdown in Illegal Immigration." Okay. But checking the picture we see the rancher, Robert Maupin, 70, walking along the heavily-fortified California-Mexican border. He's accompanied by two dogs and carries a rifle and a sidearm. Many news readers will just skim the headlines and perhaps a few paragraphs, so the Times in essence buries the most important elements of the story: That heavy border fortifications implemented in the early-1990s have staunched the flow of illegal aliens from Mexico and have returned sovereign control to the United States:

Fencing now lines about two-thirds of California's boundary, with all but remote or mountainous areas blocked. Cameras mounted on mobile and permanent towers alert authorities to incursions in deserts and mountain valleys. Newly cut roads allow access to once-remote areas within minutes.

In the last two years, the number of agents in California has been boosted 12%, from 3,200 to 3,594. They staff 11 checkpoints on freeways and highways leading to San Diego and Los Angeles. Plainclothes agents have locked up many of the load-car drivers who used to speed in their immigrant-laden cars the wrong way down freeways.

After several years of incremental gains — starting with Operation Gatekeeper in the mid-1990s, which sealed off much of the San Diego-Tijuana border — authorities say they have taken back miles of rural terrain once controlled by Mexican smugglers.

"We took away 30 miles that they used to operate in with impunity," said Rodney Scott, acting deputy chief patrol agent in charge of the Border Patrol's San Diego sector. "The days where they could hop the fence and blend in the local population within seconds … those days are pretty much gone."

Not everyone is convinced things will stay this way. Many residents say that the troubled economy, not increased enforcement, is the biggest factor deterring immigrants. And the killing last summer of Agent Robert Rosas by Mexican bandits was a chilling reminder of the ruthlessness of smuggling groups.

Maupin and many other backcountry residents still lock their gates and keep their cameras on every night, anticipating the worst. In 2003, an illegal immigrant murdered a local woman. Earlier this year, an Arizona rancher was killed.

On his daily patrols around his property, Maupin totes a rifle slung over his shoulder and a Glock handgun strapped in his thigh holster. "That Arizona rancher got killed because he dropped his guard," Maupin said.

Here's a snapshot of today's paper delivered to my drive this morning, with the headline, "An Uneasy Peace at the Border: A California Rancher Keeps His Gaurd and His Fences in Good Repair."

That title's more accurate. It conveys the sense that even with the increased border security ranchers can't take any chances.

This reminds me of international relations theory. According to "neorealism," the contemporary theoretical paradigm explaining power dynamics in world politics, nation-states must always prepare for the worst, since no supranational government is constituted that can guarantee the survival of state-actors within the international realm. International politics is a "self-help" system. Those states that can't guarantee their own security fall by the wayside:

Neorealism holds that the international structure is defined by its ordering principle, which is anarchy, and by the distribution of capabilities, measured by the number of great powers within the international system. The anarchic ordering principle of the international structure is decentralized, having no formal central authority, and is composed of formally equal sovereign states. These states act according to the logic of self-help--states seek their own interest and will not subordinate their interest to another's.

States are assumed at a minimum to want to ensure their own survival as this is a prerequisite to pursue other goals. This driving force of survival is the primary factor influencing their behavior and in turn ensures states develop offensive military capabilities, for foreign interventionism and as a means to increase their relative power. Because states can never be certain of other states' future intentions, there is a lack of trust between states which requires them to be on guard against relative losses of power which could enable other states to threaten their survival. This lack of trust, based on uncertainty, is called the security dilemma.

See that notion of "anarchy"? That's a Hobbesian concept. Applied to domestic life on the borders in the American Southwest, California's border is less anarchic than Arizona's. And thus Governor Jan Brewer and the Arizona legislature have acted on the principle of "self-help" in taking affirmative steps to increase enforcement of legal status in the state. (And technically, they shouldn't have to. This is a domestic realm, and the U.S. government is constitutued with responsibility to provide for the security of its members states. Washington's falling down on the job. I'm sure that's something Governor Brewer will bring up when she meets with President Obambanista).

Governor Jan Brewer: 'We Need Our Borders Secured'

Like Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Governor Jan Brewer's a straight shooter. Listen to her interview with CNN's John King:

Also, at WSJ, "Obama, Ariz. Gov. Brewer to Meet Thursday."

The International Politics of Israel's Strategic Defense

I put on my political scientist's hat the other night when writing about Israel's commando raid on the Gaza "humanitarian peace" flotilla. The most shocking thing to me is not that Israel troops were attacked by the Palestinian thugs on board, but that military commanders sent Israeli troops into harm's way with paintball guns. Yo, paintball guns? Considering the graphic and extremely violent clips of the besieged commandos as they rappelled down, the mind boggles in trying to comprehend the mission's decision-making thought processes.

That said, it's of course simply no question that the "humanitarian relief" mission was in fact a terrorist jihad flotilla designed for no other purpose than to destroy Israel, both in public opinion in the short run and existentially over the long run. The best essay I've read on that is Melanie Phillips' at Spectator UK, "'Peace convoy'? This was an Islamist terror ambush":

As the international community rushes to condemn Israel for the violence on board one of the ships in the Gaza flotilla, which left a reported 10 people dead and dozens injured, it is now obvious that the real purpose of this ‘armada of hate’ was not merely the further delegitimisation of Israel but something far worse.

Gaza’s markets are full of produce, thousands of tons of supplies are travelling into Gaza every week through the Israeli-controlled border crossings, and there is no starvation or humanitarian crisis. It was always obvious that the flotilla was not the humanitarian exercise it was said to be. Here is footage of the IDF offering to dock the Marmara -- the main flotilla ship -- at Ashdod and transfer its supplies and being told ‘Negative, negative, our destination is Gaza’.

And now we can see that the real purpose of this invasion -- backed by the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), a radical Islamic organization outlawed by Israel in 2008 for allegedly serving as a major component in Hamas’s global fund-raising machine -- was to incite a violent uprising in the Middle East and across the Islamic world. As I write, reports are coming in of Arab rioting in Jerusalem.

The notion – uncritically swallowed by the lazy, ignorant and bigoted BBC and other western media – that the flotilla organisers are ‘peace activists’ is simply ludicrous. This research by the Danish Institute for International Studies details the part played by the IHH in Islamist terror in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya. According to the French magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguiere testifying at the Seattle trial of would-be al Qaeda Millenium bomber Ahmed Ressamin, the IHH had played ‘[a]n important role’ in the al Qaeda Millenium bomb plot targeting Los Angeles airport. It was also involved in weapons trafficking, and played in addition a key role in galvanizing anti-Western sentiment among Turkish Muslims in the lead-up to the 2003 war in Iraq. ‘Peace activists’ these people most certainly are not.

And this flotilla was but the latest jihadi attack, deploying the Islamists’ signature strategy of violence and media manipulation. Here from MEMRI (via Just Journalism) is a clip showing the hysteria against Israel being whipped up on board before the ships set sail, with the chanting of intifada songs about ‘Khaybar’ – the iconic slaughter of Jews by Muslims in the 7^th century which is used as a rallying cry to kill the Jews today -- and threats of ‘martyrdom’. This was not merely a propaganda stunt, but a terrorist attack.

Lots more at the link.

And see also David Swindle, "Confession: Flotilla Nazis PLANNED To Attack Israel, Die as Martyrs":

Forget the "balanced" analyses of the left's useful idiots in the press. Top neocons are warning that Israel's failure to comprehend the breadth and magnitude of global jihad's infowar has compromised the very existence of the Jewish state. For example, as Max Boot writes:

Israeli officials are right to say the operation was justified and that the blood was on the hands of the pro-Hamas activists. Right, but irrelevant.

As it does too often, Israel took a narrow military operational approach to what is a broader strategic problem. Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist groups are conducting a skillful "information war" that is making Israel a pariah state in the international community. Israel, like the United States and other democratic nations, is at a severe disadvantage trying to combat a ruthless foe willing to sacrifice its own people to score propaganda points.

But read Carolyn Glick:

The reality is simple and stark. Israel is the target of a massive information war, unprecedented in scale and scope. This war is being waged primarily by a massive consortium of the international Left and the Arab and Islamic worlds. The staggering scale of the forces aligned against us is demonstrated by two things.

The Hamas abetting Free Gaza Web site published a list of some 222 organizations that endorsed the terror-supporting flotilla. The listed organizations from the four corners of the earth include Jewish anti-Israel groups as well as Christian, Islamic and nonreligious anti-Israel groups. It is hard to think of any cause other than Israel-bashing that could unite such disparate forces.

The second indicator of the scope of the war is far more devastating than the list of groups that endorsed the pro-Hamas flotilla. That indicator is the fact that at the UN on Friday, 189 governments came together as one to savage Israel. There is no other issue that commands such unanimity. The NPT review conference demonstrated that the only way the international community will agree on anything is if its members are agreeing that Israel has no right to defend itself. The conference’s campaign against Israel shows that the 222 organizations supporting Hamas are a reflection of the will of the majority of the nations of the world.

This war is nothing new. It has been going on since the dawn of modern Zionism 150 years ago. In many ways, it is just the current iteration of the eternal war against the Jewish people.

The red-green alliance’s aims are twofold. It seeks to delegitimize Israel’s right to exist and it seeks to make it impossible for Israel to defend itself. If these aims are met, Israel’s destruction will become an inevitability.

Political scientists love the increasingly-popular concept of "smart power." And while it's tempting to equate smart power with the academic left's "neoliberal institutional" paradigm of U.N.-led multilateral cooperation, in fact the most ruthless Machiavellians in world history have understood the crucial importance of intangibles in the deployment of state capabilities. For Israel and the U.S., clearly, a mastery of information combat that weds the moral, cultural, and (info) technological elements of power will be the sine qua non of state survival in the current age.

John McCain Dumps 'Stand With Arizona' for 'Los Suns' Basketball Final

I stood with Arizona, but my fellow patriots missed their home-state senator. See, "Stand with Arizona – Where was John McCain?":

You can't make this up:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio Headlines 'Stand With Arizona' Rally in Tempe

Last Saturday, conservatives countered the day's big reconquista march with an evening rally in support of SB 1070 at Tempe's Diablo Stadium: "Stand With Arizona."

I got back to my hotel around 3:00pm, showered, and uploaded my photos from the morning's shoot. Naturally, I had Mexican food for dinner (from Chipotle, which was overpriced) and then headed over to Diablo. It's a beautiful stadium. The Los Angeles Angels hold spring training there. Here's the scene right at 6:00pm, with crowd estimates at over 5,000 for the whole night:

Griff Jenkins of Fox News was covering the event. A fun guy (and no, I wasn't interviewed, LOL!):

Arizona State Representative Debbie Lesko, a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 1070, was thrilled to meet Griff Jenkins:

Patriots were out in full force:

A policeman spoke to this fellow (obscured) with the sign on the left. Not sure why. The guy's wife, in the white t-shirt at the man's right, was unhappy and animated --- and the guy didn't raise the sign again. Can't see the whole thing but perhaps someone complained about political incorrectness? Hard to believe though. Looks like "Send Illegal Immigrants Back to ..." Mexico? Of course, no one complained about the extremist signs of the anarchists, indigenous supremacists, and socialists in downtown Phoenix earlier (indeed, the media was eating that stuff up):

No Mexican flags at the Tempe rally, thank goodness:

Frankly, I was tired from my morning coverage downtown. I decided to just kick back in the stands and enjoy the show, taking in the calm, patriotic atmosphere. Some families took off early, perhaps too tired to stick around for the headliner, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Sometime after 9:00pm, Sheriff Arpaio arrives with his entourage. Down at the third-base dugout, the press swarmed for interviews and photos:

I moved down onto the playing field. Arpaio's a local rock star. He lingered along the fenced enclosure for a half-hour or so, greeting supporters and signing autographs before taking the stage:

I said hello, shook his hand, and thanked him myself. Here at Arpaio's right is L.A. activist Ted Hayes:

Just behind Arpaio here is retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Albert Rodríguez, the founder of "You Don't Speak for Me!", an anti-amnesty Hispanic-American interest group.

Here's Gina Loudon, founder of the St. Louis Tea Party and creator of the BUYcott campaign. She gave a rousing address, firing up the crowd in support of Arizona and SB 1070:

When the New York Times ran its story on both events on Saturday night, reporter Randal Archibold, filing from Phoenix, misidentified Gina Loudon as "Tina Loudon." To top it off, Archibold implies that SB 1070 backers are racist:

At the rally in favor of the law, which began with the pledge of allegiance and the national anthem, any mention of Mexico or supporters of the law brought lusty boos — a video clip of President Felipe Calderón of Mexico especially fired up the crowd, which was mostly white and middle-aged or older. Placards like “Illegals out of the U.S.A.” were typical, though speaker after speaker ridiculed the idea that the crowd was racist ...

The later rally, at sundown, was organized by Tea Party groups from St. Louis and Dallas who said they decided to take the lead and support the state against a wave of boycotts protesting the law, some by cities like San Francisco and Seattle.

“We are doing this to crush any boycott against the free market,” said Tina Loudon, a Tea Party member from St. Louis who helped organize the rally. “Arizona has a sovereign right to enforce immigration laws on the books.”

Here's a much better broadcast at FOX-10 Phoenix:

Loudon's own report is here: "Arizona BUYcott!"

Sheriff Arpaio took the stage sometime close to 10:00pm. He was introduced by former "Incredible Hulk" star Lou Ferrigno and his wife Carla:

Arpaio gave a wonderful speech. He's totally no-nonsense:

I got a kick when he waved to the crowd as if to say goodbye, and then continued on for a few minutes:

You can see what I mean at about 8:00 minutes at the clip:

The rest of the evening's videos are available on YouTube. One of the most memorable speeches was from Ted Hayes, pictured above with Sheriff Arpaio. Plus, more pictures at BulletPeople Blog, as well as Barbara Espinosa and Robert Stacy McCain.

And worth another look is the Stand With Arizona promotional video:

RELATED: From the Quinnipiac University National Poll, " More U.S. Voters Want Arizona-Like Immigration Law." (Via Memeorandum.)

James O'Keefe's Undercover Census Fraud Investigation: 'Real Journalism Has Been Dead for a Long Time Now...'

I love this story. From James O'Keefe, "Undercover Census Fraud Investigation – New Jersey":

On April 27, 2010, I got a job with the United States Census Bureau in New Jersey. With a hidden camera, I caught four Census supervisors encouraging enumerators to falsify information on their time sheets. Over the course of two days of training, I was paid for four hours of work I never did. I was told to take a 70 minute lunch break, was given an hour of travel time to drive 10 minutes, and was told to leave work at 3:30pm. I resigned prior to doing any data collection but confronted Census supervisors who assured me, “no one is going to be auditing that that level,” and “nobody is going to be questioning it except for you.” Another Census supervisor only said he’d adjust my pay after I gave him a letter recanting my hours.

As to whether this is an “isolated incident” or if there are more Census videos showing more waste, fraud, and corruption, we’ll let you take a wild guess.

America, real journalism has been dead for a long time now. With $1500 Hannah Giles and I were able to break a story that the New York Times couldn’t have broken no matter how many times they mortgaged their building. The government took our camera, so I bought another. The government put us in jail and deleted our tapes, but we got out and we’ll just make more. My travel was restricted to the state of New Jersey, so that’s where I got back to work. The media establishment is busy doing character assassinations on my friends and me but time and truth is on our side. [NYT front-page mugshots ... that's just perfect.]

Congress answered to our ACORN videos, now it will be up to the Department of Justice to explain why it edited out of a press release their admission we had no intent to tamper with Senator Landrieu’s phones. More importantly, it will be up to the Census Bureau to explain why their supervisors are systematically falsifying time sheets.

Exposing corruption requires standing up to power, because power hates sunlight. We should have known they would try and ruin the reputations of those who try and expose them. But in response, we are going to build an army of citizen investigators. There’s hundreds more where I came from. You have awakened a sleeping giant. And you can’t ruin us all. In fact, in the coming months you will see this army expanding into every state, every statehouse, every city council, every school board, and everywhere people are conspiring to keep themselves in power, practice favoritism, or line their pockets with tax dollars.

More at the link (via Memeorandum).

After this weekend's reporting in Arizona, I feel in good company with James O'Keefe. I would just add the press itself to the list of corrupt institutions. I'll credit fair reporting when I see it, but it's to the point where the odds are at least 2-1 that people aren't getting the full story. Citizen journalism is going to save the Republic in the long run.

See also ABC News, "Exclusive: Conservative Filmmaker James O'Keefe Goes Undercover to Target Census Bureau; Infamous for ACORN Sting, O'Keefe Goes After Alleged Census Waste."

Al and Tipper Gore to Separate After 40-Years of Marriage

At CNN, "BREAKING: Al and Tipper Gore decide to separate." The announcement's at Politico as well, "Al and Tipper Gore to separate."

Yep, that was a fake kiss at the Democratic National Convention in 2000:

Expect updates (any John Edwards moments for the Gores?) ...