Does this infuriate you? It does me: The US Government is deporting Veterans.

I've made my position clear on the issue of illegal aliens: As a Nation, if we're truly concerned about ending this violation of the law, then we need to stop becoming the destination resort for the world's illegal aliens.

Giving them in-state tuition, education, medical and all the rest of the benefits they do not deserve while we're told by various governments and groups within our own borders that they will do NOTHING to enforce the laws they're sworn to uphold because they don't happen to like them.

HOWEVER, I welcome the LEGAL immigration of those who view the United States as what it is. And taking it a step further, I would guarantee American citizenship for anyone either completing an enlistment or a combat tour; anyone awarded a Purple Heart or anyone given a medical discharge for a service-connected disability.

As it turns out, it appears that SOME recruiters (certainly not all) are promising close to instant citizenship to enlistees (They have to be enlistees, since non-citizens cannot be commissioned) for signing on the dotted line.

In writing this, this isn't a "Bush" thing or an "Obama" thing. How we could POSSIBLY deport ANYONE who's put their ass on the line for this country is simply beyond my understanding. Yet, apparently, that is what we're doing:

Former National Guard soldier fights deportation

Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry's father told him to serve the country he loves.

By PHIL FEROLITO

Yakima Herald-Republic

YAKIMA, Wash. —

Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry's father told him to serve the country he loves.

Heeding those words, the 36-year-old Pakistani immigrant living in Yakima joined the Army National Guard and was sent to active duty at Fort Lewis and Fort Irwin in Southern California.

Now, the country he served is kicking him out.

Immigration authorities are denying him U.S. citizenship because he failed to disclose old misdemeanor convictions in Australia when he applied for a visa a decade ago.

Chaudhry - who claims he was coerced into pleading guilty to the crimes, for which he paid fines - says he didn't realize they were classified as convictions at the time. He alerted U.S. immigration authorities after learning otherwise years later.

He says his honesty is costing him his dream of living in this country with his wife Ann, a U.S. citizen.

But immigration authorities say he misrepresented himself just to further his stay in the United States. In April, he faces an immigration judge in a deportation hearing.

"There's not a word to describe the overwhelming depression," Ann Chaudhry said as her eyes moistened. "It gets you down. You just want to go crawl in a hole sometimes. It's constant and people who haven't gone through this type of problem can't comprehend what it's like."

On a recent morning, Chaudhry sits quietly in his wheelchair in his west Yakima home. His wife hands him a napkin filled with pills he takes to tolerate the pain that shoots from his broken back.

He rarely leaves his home.

He arrived in the U.S. on a tourist visa in 1998 and planned a life in the U.S. military when he joined in March 2001. A month later his application for permanent residency was approved. But a series of back injuries he sustained during training exercises that required him to repeatedly sprint and drop to the ground while toting a rifle and pack at Fort Lewis eventually confined his life to a wheelchair. He was honorably discharged in May 2006.

Despite his infirmities, Chaudhry is not leaving the country without a fight.

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This is wrong on so many fricking levels I can't even begin to address them all.

Sen. Patty Murray portrays herself as some sort of Veteran's Goddess. I will be discussing this with her local office tomorrow, which can be reached at 360.696.7797 or go on down there like I am to the Marshall House in beautiful downtown Ft. Vancouver.

Do NOT let this go. If Murray is all she claims, she should be able to fix this with a letter, a note, a phone call.

These men and women have bled for us and in some case, died for us. The least we can do is recognize their sacrifice and let them die as Americans... for any one of them deserves it much more than anyone else here in violation of our laws.
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The Seattle Times and Sam Reed blow it: The worst Secretary of State in the country?

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I've made no secret of my utter contempt for our waste-of-skin Secretary of State, and his most recent efforts have, if anything, deepened those feelings of disdain for him as arguably the worst Secretary of State in the country, if not the worst elected official currently serving.

His tenure has been an abysmal failure, where he has ignored the frantic efforts to get his attention focused on the most important aspect of his job: election security.

The legendary election debacle of 2004, which should have resulted in major revamping of our election system concerning requiring proof of both citizenship and identification, has resulted in neither. Further, our moron Secretary has been a staunch supporter of the bizarre concept that convicted felons, who automatically lose their right to vote with their convictions, should automatically regain that right the moment they're released from confinement, even before or without fulfilling all of the requirements of their sentences, most importantly, paying back their victims for the damage they caused.

In this most recent election, 24,000 felons received ballots who were not eligible to vote.

Beyond the costs involved in that fiasco (Far north of $100,000 wasted taxpayer dollars for which he was not held accountable) is the fact that Reed has had 8 fricking years to fix this nonsense... and the outcome is obvious.

Reed has done nothing to fix that issue; has done nothing to address either the citizenship or identification issues... and now he is screwing us up even more because of yet another misguided effort to screw with the voters by demanding that all ballots be turned in by close-of-business, election day.

The article below describes it far better than I could, but the crux of the matter is that this moron will keep thousands of citizens from voting in this state because he seems to believe that the post office is incapable of making a mistake... and God help our military voters or other citizens overseas.

I voted democrat for this position in the last election and I will vote democrat in that position no matter who runs against Reed, an embarrassment of an elected official.

That kind of incompetence and failure to adhere to the law he is sworn to uphold simply cannot be an acceptable way for any elected official to comport themselves. It is my earnest hope that Reed resigns. And the sooner, the better.

Make Washington ballots due by Election Day

Washington state's embrace of mail voting has created a problem of not knowing election results, especially in tight elections, for days. Secretary of State Sam Reed has a worthy proposal to require ballots to be received in local election offices by Election Day — the same as Oregon's law. Now, ballots are required only to be postmarked by Election Day.

WASHINGTON voters are no strangers to suspenseful elections — but our state has a habit of dragging the suspense out for way too long.

Secretary of State Sam Reed wants to bring elections to more decisive ends sooner. His proposal would require ballots be received in election offices by Election Day. Now, the ballots need only be postmarked by Election Day. That means ballots straggle in throughout election week, often putting off the decisive conclusion for days — given Washington's propensity for razor-thin margins.

On Election Night in November, Democratic challenger Darcy Burner was leading in her bid to unseat incumbent Republican Dave Reichert for the 8th Congressional District seat. But Reichert pulled comfortably ahead over several King County and Pierce County ballot counts by Friday to win re-election.

With 38 of 39 counties now conducting mail elections, the problem of interminable elections has grown only worse. Reed's proposal follows the lead of Oregon, a veteran vote-by-mail state that requires ballots in by Election Day. The change would not disenfranchise voters who, Reed argues, would quickly adapt.

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