You know I have been struck by the apparent necessity for humans to have some disaster looming before them or they just aren’t happy.

Our society is rapidly devolving into an amoral, sybaritic, Narcisstic, fear mongering, conspiracy addictted mess. 

We have somehow come to the bizarre conclusion that we are the most important thing in Creation and that we have the power to control the universe.  Not only that, but that we should take it as our sworn obligation to exercise that control.

We have left God behind us, intent on instituting our will on the universe rather than His.

The latest craze is this asteroid which may or may not be going to strike Earth in 2036.  Now we are being called to expend huge sums of money to intercept and deflect this asteroid [again which may or may not be going to strike the Earth] “while there is still time.” 

Sounds like another case of Global Warming to me. 

The real question for me is…if Algore is right and we only have 8 years, 342 days, and 10 or so hours until we are all destroyed by Global Warming, why should we worry about this Asteroid?

How is that logical?  I mean, we already know that as was pointed out by Greg Strange that Global Warming is so absolutely certain, that Ellen Goodman compairs GW deniers to Holicaust deniers.  So why should we worry about an Asteroid which is going to strike the Earth 20 years after we are all dead?

I mean, I’m cool with that…err..maybe “cool” isn’t the best choice of words…I’m okay with that.

See you in the next life…Oh wait, I got it maybe the Roswellian aliens will swoop in and take some of us off planet so that we will survive.  I better go check out some of those conspiracy websites.   WE might be saved afterall.

Hmm, maybe God’s doing a little target practice…ya think?
 
Got Tin-foil?

First, I have read the heavily redacted, investigation by the DHS investigators, top to bottom. There is real reason to believe that these two Border Patrol Agents deserve some sort of disciplinary action. Compean in his own words stated:

“I shot about 10 or 11 rounds. At this time Agent Ramos was already standing next to me. He took a shot and we saw the alien climbing out of the [Rio Grande] river. We holstered our weapons and walked back to the levee. When we were on the levee, I picked up the brass I had seen. Someone asked if we had hit him. I answered no, I don’t think so…I did not report the shooting because I didn’t think anything had happened to the guy. I was afraid I was going to get into trouble. The rounds I picked up, I threw them in the ditch where we were at on the same day right after I picked them up…My intent was to kill the alien because I thought he had a gun but I never really saw for certain that he had a gun.”

It is obvious that Compean knew that he had not followed procedures and chose to attempt to conceal the shooting.. While I don’t condone that kind of behavior, I don’t believe that it is all that unusual. Most people try to hide their screw ups from the boss. I also don’t know exactly what proper procedures are, because for some reason the report redacts all policies for: Pursuit, Non-deadly force, Deadly force, Firearms, and even Proper conduct with aliens policies.

Both men were found Not-guilty of Count 1 - Assault with Intent to Commit Murder, and Aiding and Abetting.

Ramos was found guilty of: 

1. Count 2 – Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, and Aiding and Abetting. 
2. Count 3- Assault with Serious Bodily Injury, and Aiding and Abetting. 
3. Count 4 – Discharge of a Firearm in Commission of a Crime of Violence. 
4. Count 8 – Tampering with an Official Proceeding. 
5. Count 9 – Tampering with an Official Proceeding. 
6. Count 12 – Deprivation of Right under Color of Law.

Compean was found guilty of:

1. Count 2 – Assault with a Deadly Weapon, and Aiding and Abetting. 
2. Count 3 – Assault with Serious Bodily Injury, and Aiding and Abetting. 
3. Count 5 – Tampering with an Official Proceeding. 
4. Count 7 – Tampering with an Official Proceeding. 
5. Count 8 – Tampering with an Official Proceeding. 
6. Count 10 – Tampering with an Official Proceeding. 
7. Count 11 – Deprivation of Rights under Color of Law.

The report also states:

“Relating to counts 11 and 12, the jury answered yes to two questions, which in effect enhanced these counts under the federal sentencing guidelines, allowing for the possibility of a life sentence. The questions were:

A. “Does the jury unanimously find that the acts of (Jose Alonso Compean, relating to count#11, and Ignacio Ramos, relating to Count # 12) resulted in the injury of A.A.-D (Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila) or the acts of (Jose Alonso Compean; Ignacio Ramos) included the use, attempted use or threatened use of a dangerous weapon?”

B. Does the jury unamimously find that the acts of (Jose Alonso Compean, relating to count # 11 and Ignacio Ramos, relating to Count # 12) constituted an attempt to kill O.A.-D.?”

Alright, we know from Compean’s own statement that his intent was to kill the suspect because he believed he had a gun, so “B” was a no brainer. We also know that firearms are “dangerous weapon[s], so that makes “A” a given also. But somebody please tell me how an illegal alien transporting 743 lbs. of marijuana derives any “Rights under Color of Law.”

How does any of this rate an 11 or 12 year sentence. I would be in agreement with some sort of disciplinary action for violating policy, up to and including termination, but what this report describes is a couple of Border Patrol Agents (BPA’s) attempting to stop a criminal from successfully committing a crime. In no way do I see anything in this report that would justify prison time for these two agents.

Of the three agents who testified against Ramos and Compean, two have been fired and the third quit just before being fired. They were fired because they changed their stories about what happened several times. Of particular concern is the fact that they changed their stories once they were given immunity from prosecution.

Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX) stated:

“When you give deals to witnesses like immunity, the government usually gets the testimony (it wants). This case is a perfect example.”

For those of you who are unfamiliar with him, Ted Poe was one of the most feared judges in Houston. He was known as a no-nonsense, tough as nails, judge who often came up with inventive methods of punishing offenders that provided a strong deterrent for returning to his courtroom. Instead of fines and jail time which often don’t deter criminal behavior, Judge Poe required people convicted of DUI/DWI to wear sandwich boards saying “I drove while under the influence,” for a week at a time. He could aptly be described as “hardcore,” or a “tough nut.” Certainly he is not one of those “bleeding heart” Liberal judges that one so often hears about. Houstonians used to refer to Judge Poe as “the Hangin’ Judge.” So when he criticizes a conviction, Americans would do well to listen and President Bush should know this. Judge Poe is quoted as saying:

“I’ve known and liked George W. Bush for a long time and I agree with him on everything-except government spending.”

The more information that comes to light, the more this case smells. The conviction came about as the result of testimony from a known drug smuggler with reputed connections to a Mexican drug cartel and that of the three BPA’s who admitted altering their accounts of events.

Exculpatory information was excluded from the defenses presentation directly linking Aldrete-Davila to the drugs (his cell phone was found in the cab of the truck). This information directly contradicts U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton who repeatedly claimed that he had no evidence that would allow them to track Adrete-Davila down and prosecute him.

Even more suspicious is the fact that Osvaldo Adrete-Davila (O.A-D) was given a DHS border pass which would allow him to freely cross the border unaccosted by customs agents. How many trips O.A-D made is unknown, but he was indicted for another 1000 lb. load of dope in October of 2005.

The DHS officer (Special Agent Christopher Sanchez) who was charged with “handling” O.A-D, reportedly took him home with him and also took the bullet fragment which was allegedly removed from the suspects buttocks. My understanding of standard policy in handling evidence is that this evidence becomes tainted. Why did Mr. Sanchez feel the need to take the recovered bullet fragment home with him?

Another piece of the story which needs to be told is that US Attorney Sutton apparently lied to the jury as to how the Feds identified Osvaldo Adrete-Davila. Sutton apparently concocted the whole story of how a Mexican lawyer contacted him when O.A-D turned up injured. It turns out that Agent Sanchez found out about O.A-D. from another BPA, Rene Sanchez who grew up with Adrete-Davila in San Ysidro, Mexico. They have remained life-long friends and their mothers are close friends. It was Rene Sanchez who called the DHS Office of Inspector General and talked to Christopher Sanchez.

I’m telling you this whole thing stinks. If former Judge Ted Poe doesn’t like the way this thing has gone, that’s good enough for me to begin to really seriously question the entire process.

References used to write this series are:

1. Human Events, Poe vs. Lampson, June 21, 2004 
2. DailyBulletin, Border agents who testified against convicted co-workers will be fired, 2/10/07. 
3. WorldNetDaily, Drug smuggler left cell phone in van, February 10, 2007 
4. WorldNetDaily, Author of DHS border-agent report lied to Congress, February 07, 2007 
5. WorldNetDaily, Congressman: Feds stonewalling on border agents, February 11, 2007 
6. NationalReviewOnline, In the Border Patrol Case, the Best Defense Is a Good Offense, February 9, 2007. 
7. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General Report of Investigation on Ignacio Ramos & Jose Compean, et al., issued in November 2006, released to public February 07, 2007. 
8. WorldNetDaily, Border-agent investigator had tie to smuggler, February 9, 2007. 
9. WorldNetDaily, Feds ‘knew smuggler’ in Border Patrol case, January 30, 2007

Both Ramos and Compean have been accused and convicted based on five major claims by U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton of El Paso and the DHS investigators.

1. Ramos and Compean admitted in questioning that they knew that drug smuggler Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila was unarmed at the time they shot him. Both men deny they ever made that admission or that they knew he was unarmed.
2. The men confessed that they did not believe the suspect was a threat to them at the time of the shooting. 
3. Ramos and Compean stated that day that they wanted to shoot a Mexican. 
4. The agents were belligerent to investigators. Boy, now that’s a crime worthy of a 20 year sentence by itself. 
5. The two agents destroyed evidence and lied about the incident.

The report released yesterday calls all of these claims into serious question. It appears that there was an agenda behind this investigation. One has to wonder if perhaps money isn’t involved in this whole sordid affair. Have DHS officials been paid off or are they just incompetent? Was the U.S. Attorney from El Paso seeking to send a message to other Border Control Agents with this prosecution/persecution, or was money involved in his efforts as well? It appears that these and alot of other questions will be answered in the near future.

Dianne Feinstein is calling for and Chairman Patrick Leahy has agreed to conduct an investigation into this case. It appears the at least one investigation will be conducted in the House as well.

Dana Rohrbacher issued a warning to the President following the assault on Ramos by inmates Saturday stating,

“I tell you, Mr. President, if these men – especially after this assault – are murdered in prison, if one of them lose their lives, there’s going to be some sort of impeachment talk in Capitol Hill.”

This President’s obsession and that of his administration with kowtowing to the backers of illegal immigration is the biggest disgrace of his term. He is willfully ignoring a potentially deadly threat from terrorists and the real damage these illegal aliens are doing to our society and our economy.

He has willfully and knowingly refused to make any substantive move to curb illegal immigration without attaching some sort of amnesty provision, virtually rendering any such enforcement effort pointless. I am a supporter of President Bush on many fronts, but he has been absolutely negligent in his response to this continuing and growing problem and the actions of his DHS have been excessive, abusive, and only partially successful.

This President had better listen to his constituents on this issue or he may find himself facing worse than a Democrat led impeachment movement. Back in March of 2005 when I began this blog, I almost stated that I would call for the impeachment of President Bush if a single terrorist attack occurred due to his negligent attitude concerning illegal immigration. I backed off because I still hoped that he would come to his senses on this vital issue. He has not, so I now make that statement.

Like Rohrbacher, I too will call for impeachment if either of these two eventualities occurs.

Mr. President, get off you behind and do something about the border and release these two wrongly convicted heroes!