News Roundup 2/9/07

Whatever everyone thinks or says about Anna Nicole Smith, she certainly was a beautiful woman who, unfortunately, had a very tragic life. Drudge has several article links with details about her, her tragic life and untimely, young death.

We have seen this so many times. Hollywood stars and entertainers who get caught up in drugs, alcohol, illicit sex, greed over money and fights over custody of children. Now, it appears, there is a third man who is claiming that he might possibly be the father of Anna Nicole's baby daughter.

Sigh...

And we all thought that this media circus surrounding this unfortunate woman couldn't get more bizarre than it already is?

If anything good can come of this tragedy, it might serve as an object lesson for young teen girls not to go in the same direction with their lives as Anna took hers.

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As usual, LGF is on top of most breaking news items. (Notice that I have now posted a "headline" link to that blog in my Talkwisdom sidebar.) The entry called Questions That Never Get Asked is quite interesting.

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Ask Pres. Bush to Pardon Border Agent Heroes!

Border Agents Wrongly Convicted for Doing Their Jobs!

ALERT: Here's a pop quiz -- ready?

Question: What's the difference between a convicted drug dealer and a heroic Border Patrol Agent?

Answer: Convicted drug dealers are more likely to be granted favors from George W. Bush.

Did you get that one wrong?

Okay, here's another one:

Question: What's the difference between a convicted murderer and a heroic Border Patrol Agent?

Answer: The convicted murderer spends less time in prison.

Did you get them both wrong?

Then maybe you agree -- there is something SERIOUSLY WRONG with our "justice" system! Border Patrol agents have a difficult and often dangerous job in guarding our nation's borders. But the danger shouldn't come from our own government!

According to news reports, in 2005, agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean spotted Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, a Mexican national, in his van near the Rio Grande, near Fabens, Texas, about 30 miles southeast of El Paso. Ramos gave chase while Compean circled around to head off the suspect. When Mr. Aldrete-Davila jumped out of the van and ran south to the river, he was confronted by Compean, who was thrown to the ground as the two men fought. Ramos said that when he arrived, he saw Compean on the ground and chased Mr. Aldrete-Davila to the river, where the suspect suddenly turned toward him, pointing what looked like a gun. Ramos said he fired at the fleeing suspect but did not think he had been hit after watching him run through the bush, jump into an awaiting van in Mexico and speed off. Nearly 800 pounds of marijuana, worth $1 million, was found in the van that he abandoned at the river's edge.

A job well done, right? After all, that's what the Border Patrol is supposed to do -- try and stop illegal immigrants, especially the "baddies" running drugs. Right?

Wrong.

An investigator from the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General, which oversees the Border Patrol, tracked down Mr. Aldrete-Davila in Mexico, where he was offered IMMUNITY in exchange for testifying AGAINST the agents! As a result, a federal jury convicted agents Ramos and Compean of causing serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, and a civil rights violation. After a two-week trial last year, the two were convicted by a jury on 11 out of 12 counts; they began their sentences of 12 and 11 years' imprisonment, respectively, last month. (Three of the jurors said afterwards they were inclined to deliver a not guilty verdict but had been told by the jury foreman that the judge wanted them to "go along with majority.")

Ramos is serving his sentence at a federal prison in Yazoo City, Mississippi, while Compean is an inmate at a facility in Elkton, Ohio. To add insult to injury -- OUR injury -- Aldrete-Davila, the illegal alien drug-runner, also received care at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso -- and now he's suing the government for $5 million for violating his "civil rights"!

THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS.

As patriotic Americans, we MUST do something about this!

TAKE ACTION: The facts in this case do NOT add up or justify the length of the sentences for these agents, let alone their conviction on multiple counts. The arrest, trial and conviction of the two Border Patrol agents had resulted in a chilling effect on others. These men have been given the equivalent of a murder sentence -- in fact, they were given MORE time than the average convicted murderer. Even if you accept every fact exactly as stated by the prosecuting attorney, the verdict handed out was an extreme injustice. Thankfully, a growing number of Congressmen are asking President bush to issue a presidential pardon to the two U.S. Border Patrol agents who shot and wounded a fleeing drug suspect. But it won't happen without a HUGE public outcry -- and that's where YOU AND I come in.

Over Christmas President Bush pardoned 18 people, five of whom were drug dealers. Now he needs to do the right thing, and issue pardons for Agents Ramos and Compean. Click "Go!" NOW to send a FREE message directly to President Bush, asking him to grant an immediate presidential pardon for these two heroes.

NOTE: The President needs to move QUICKLY. Since almost 30% of federal prisoners are criminal illegal aliens, many of whom are drug dealers, the agents face substantial danger. Last weekend, "America's Most Wanted" aired a segment which profiled the Border Patrol Agents' case. Shortly afterwards, Agent Ramos was badly assaulted by fellow inmates in his Mississippi prison. Four inmates attacked him, kicking him in the head, the side and the shoulders with steel-toed boots. Injuries sustained by Ramos on Saturday included bleeding from the ear, a degree of paralysis that has developed in the agent's left arm, and migraine headaches. So, not only did the administration choose the side of an illegal immigrant drug dealer over the agents who stopped him from smuggling a load of drugs into the country; now they've failed to protect that agent while this case is on appeal.

THIS MUST BE CORRECTED!

This outrageous prosecution and sentencing does nothing but tie the hands of the Border Patrol and prevent the agency from securing America against a flood of illegal immigrants, drugs, counterfeit goods and, quite possibly, terrorists. It puts the rights of illegal smugglers ahead of our homeland security and undermines the critical mission of better enforcing immigration laws. These two agents should NOT be made scapegoats for our government's enforcement failures. Be sure to send this Alert to EVERYONE you know who wants to demand REAL JUSTICE for these two heroic border patrol agents.

Thank you!

Take Action Now!

Go to link below and click on "Go."

Hat Tip: RightMarch.com