Immigrants and Wild Horses: This Weeks Newsweek.

I just got this in at the office and while I have not had time to pursue the two large articles on the Iraqi Insurgents and The Intelligent Design theory, I did read the smaller articles over lunch.

Crossing Over: Bush's Other Battle

This is in regards to Bush's Undocumented Immigrant Amnesty Program that would allow illegal immigrants to work in the country for up to three years without approval from the State.

Bush’ reasoning? “Bush told the group he opposed blanket amnesty, but said they needed to "look at the reality" of the situation. "You have a number of people coming here from Mexico and South America looking to feed their family,"

What about the people that are struggling to feed their families here Mr. President? What about the American citizens that are looking for work? If you send jobs over seas and allow illegal immigrants to come in a work for less than minimum wage, how is the lower class supposed to support itself? Welfare? Walmart?

This isn’t about compassionate conservatism, this is about allowing his big business buddies to hire workers for a pittance and no benefits.

And wasn’t this the President that was supposed to “make us safe from terrorism”? Can someone tell me how opening our borders to illegal immigrants makes us safe from terrorism?

Giving these people a free ride does nothing for us. When Proposition 187 was going around here in California I too was appalled at denying free hospital care and education to those in need, until an co-worker of mine from Trinidad said, in her stunningly beautiful accent, "Look, I am going to take the test to gain my American citizenship in a month. I worked for 13 years to get this. If they can just walk in and get all these benefits, what did I bust my ass for?” I had to admit she had a point. It’s not impossible for someone to gain a green card and work towards their citizenship if they just follow the same rules everyone else is.

But the first article that caught my eye was this on one the plight of Wild Horses, Mustangs and Burros on Federally owned land.

Approximately 37,000 wild mustangs do roam free over federal public lands that are also shared by several million heads of domestic cattle. Apparently the over-grazing and drought are the 37,000 mustangs fault; a patently ridiculous argument from a set of people that have always been notoriously proprietary about where their herds graze, whether it belongs to them or not. Sadly, they seem to have Senator Conrad “Rat Bastard” Burns of Montana (Republican of course, his reasoning is as transparently nonsensical as the rest of the Bush administration) who assisted them by quietly slipping a rider onto the Federal Budget that allows for the Bureau of Land Management to sell “without limitation” every captured horse that is 10 years or older or has proved “unadoptable” to be butchered rather than use humane population control methods mentioned in the article. This applies to the 8,400 in currently in captivity and thousands more on the range.

Sadly this law is already law and the only thing left for people to do is to scramble to save what animals they can.

The Bureau of Land Management has a highly controversial adoption program that puts wild horses in private, and sometimes inexperienced or cruel, hands that has necessitated the sudden surge in wild horse rescue programs such as Lifesavers, Inc. and The Lucky Horse Rehabilitation Project.

Private sanctuaries like IRAM (Institute of Range and the American Mustang) and Wild Horse Sanctuary will attempt to save as many as they can, but resources are limited. Find a local wild horse reserve and support them in their quest to save this majestic and inspirational animal in their natural state.

By the way folks, I apologize if my prose is lacking. One of my dogs is terminal with cancer and that is taking up much of my focus.