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This week, we finally learnt the identity of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's inside source for their Watergate story.  It was long speculated that "Deep Throat" would be an FBI insider, and you can't get more inside than the FBI's number 2 man at the time, W. Mark Felt.  So, why come out now?  The answer is really simple, greed, plain and simple greed.  First exhibited by W. Mark Felt himself, and now by his family.

Felt's daughter is quoted as saying -

"We could make at least enough money to pay some bills, like the debt I've run up for the kids' education. Let's do it for the family".

Just like "Deep Throat said in the movie, "ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN", "Follow the money."  That's exactly what the younger Felts want to do.  The senior Felt has gotten up there in years at 91.  He recently suffered a stroke.  The younger Felts see their meal ticket checking out soon.  Where would the younger Felts pick up such character?  They didn't have to look farther than the example of their father.

In the early 70's, Mark Felt was devastated when he was not chosen to succeed J. Edgar Hoover as Director of the FBI after Hoover's death.  When he didn't get it, well, he was going to do something about, and then came Watergate.  I make no excuses for the Nixon Administration and those convicted for breaking into the Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate.  All involved got what they deserved.  What Mark Felt did was equally as wrong. 

Felt Jr. says -

"We believe our father, William Mark Felt Sr., was an American hero. He went well above and beyond the call of duty, at risk to himself, to save his country from a horrible injustice."

What amazes me is how the left leaning liberal media only wants to make you believe Mark Felt is one of the greatest heroes of the 20th century.  On the May 31, 2005 edition of CNN's News Night with Aaron Brown, Brown says he wants to portray Felt as a hero. 

"I want to spin that in an absolutely heroic way, that what actually he saw happening was the political side of Washington trying to take control of an institution with enormous power that needs to operate outside of whoever is in government at any given time, not unaccountably, but independently."  (Aaron Brown, CNN's News Night with Aaron Brown)

If you have to "spin" anything, then you don't want anyone see the truth.  You want it to be seen as something other than what it really is.  Otherwise there's no reason to "spin" anything.  In a recent blog post on Dan Abrams' "The Blawg about justice" on msnbc.com, Abrams wonders how doing the right thing could make someone a villain. 

The problem is Mark Felt never did the right thing.  He wasn't trying to "save his country from a horrible injustice".  He was trying to get back at an administration he felt screwed him out of a job he wanted.  He may have even felt that his actions might embarrass and lead to the resignation or firing of the FBI director, with him waiting in the wings to assume the job he always wanted.

If Mark Felt wanted to "save his country from a horrible injustice", if he wanted to hold accountable a corrupt administration, the right thing to do was to take what he knew to a grand jury.  Duty and honor would've told him to go to a grand jury with his information, not to a journalist.  When I think of bringing anyone to justice, I think about contacting law enforcement, not how I can get in touch with Woodward and Bernstein.  Furthermore, leaking information to Woodward and Bernstein may have been illegal.  To give journalists information regarding a possible investigation that may or may not be with a grand jury?  That's not the actions of a hero.  That's the actions of a criminal.  Let's not forget this is the same man convicted in 1978 of approving break ins to the homes of friends and family of an anti-Vietnam War group.  Isn't this the pot calling the kettle black?

W. Mark Felt is not hero.  He, himself, admitted he never wanted to be, and was even shameful for what he did.  As well he should've been.  "Deep Throat" should've swallowed his identity, taken it with him to his grave and never spit it out.

Memorial Day weekend. Weekend? How is it that one day became a long weekend? Do American’s observe the entire weekend as Memorial Day is intended? Sadly no.  What Memorial Day has become has the unofficial beginning of summer. Most will enjoy a three-day weekend, some have taken Friday off to make it a four-day weekend. Car dealerships will have “Memorial Day Clearance Sales”. Swimming pools will open for the first time this summer.  I’ve noticed many businesses in the Tucson, Arizona area “proudly” fly a U.S. flag, but won’t bother to lower their flag to half-staff on Memorial Day. 

What is Memorial Day?  In May 1996, a group of school children were asked what Memorial Day meant.  “That’s the day the pools open,” was their response.  The day the pools open?  American’s, over the years, have lost touch with what the “Memorial” in Memorial Day is supposed to mean.  With the War on Terror being fought by brave military personnel around the globe, many Americans have learnt, some families the hard way, exactly what Memorial Day means.   

It is the day we remember all who have given “their last full measure of devotion” for our nation.  We remember those who have given their lives in combat from all wars, not just the ones we can remember, or would much rather forget.  We should not just remember the fallen, but also the families left behind.  Many are left without a brother or sister, son or daughter, husband or wife, and father or mother.   

So, how do we bring the true meaning of Memorial Day back into the hearts of Americans?  The first place to start is with you!  Some will fly their U.S. flag at half-staff until noon.  Across the country, there will be a number of Memorial Day events to attend.  Most last about an hour.  Is an hour out of your long weekend too much to ask for you to give to those who sacrificed for you? 

There’s also the National Moment of Remembrance.  Participation is easy.  At 3:00 PM, local time, on Memorial Day, May 30, 2005 simply take one minute to pause, and think about, may be say prayer, for all of have given their lives for our country, and their families. 

You can find more information about Memorial Day at http://www.remember.gov and at http://www.usmemorialday.org/.

I know I don't post very often.  So you must be wondering what has gotten me to the computer and into the blog.  My fellow Hispanics.  Ah yes, they're at it again.  From the "this just isn't a good idea" department, today we have the Hispanic Economic Boycott.  I do this from time to time in posts, and I think I need to do it now to remind you I am Hispanic.  Before anyone starts to think I'm being racist, remember I am Hispanic.  Having said that, this Hispanic Economic Boycott is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard.  The goal is to encourage Hispanics to stay home today, not go to work, and not spend any money.  It's supposed to show how much of an impact we, Hispanics, have on the economy.

In an Associated Press article I read on the online edition of the Tucson Citizen, one organizer, Elias Bermudez said, "We're trying to prove we are a vital part of the community, that our workers and our consumers deserve to be treated with dignity and respect."

What Bermudez, other boycott organizers, and any Hispanic who participates in this boycott don't realize the very people they claim to be standing up for are the people they are going to hurt the most.  This is one of the most disrespectful things Hispanics could do to Hispanics.

Many Hispanics are in the service industry.  They're wait staff and dishwashers; they clean hotel rooms and work in landscaping.  If they lose one day's pay that's a lot of money they won't get back.  A waiter or waitress depends on customer gratuity, tips.  There's no gratuity for a server who doesn't show up for work.  I guarantee if one doesn't show up for work, there will be others willing to take that job and work today.  When boycott organizers, like Elias Bermudez encourage Hispanics to skip a day of work, to not spend any money, he is encouraging Hispanics to hurt fellow Hispanics.  That's shameful!

Some boycott organizers say the boycott is to protest laws that are against illegal immigrants.  Let me get this straight.  A boycott to protest laws against people who have already broken laws?  It reminds me of a question I've seen and heard asked more and more recently.  "What part of ILLEGAL don't you understand?"

The Minuteman Project has brought a lot of attention, not just to Arizona, but to the county I grew up in and may have patrols in my hometown of Douglas, Arizona.  It's predicted that over 1,000 volunteers have signed up to patrol the U.S./Mexican border from April 1 through April 30.  Various media reports seemed to make it an issue that 1,000 volunteers did not show up on April 1.  Well, that probably is true.  However, since this is a 30 day operation, I'm sure most choose to volunteer on certain days, not the entire 30 days.  Here's another example of the liberal media trying to put a left spin on things.

I was born and raised in the border town of Douglas, Arizona.  I experienced the change that occurred in Douglas as I grew up.  From a sleepy little Phelps Dodge town to a hub of illegal immigrants.  Douglas literally turned into a different town at night.  During the day you could feel safe walking on the small streets.  At night, the "coyotes" (people paid to bring illegals across the border) and drug runners took over.  You couldn't feel safe.  When I started my family, I remember we lived on one of the routes illegals took through town, and we lived in the middle of town.  Illegals would come through and hide in our yard, hide behind our cars, in cars if left unlocked.  I caught one sitting on my porch like he owned the place.  Some had no problem knocking doors asking, sometime demanding, food and water.  The mess and damage they leave behind, many times on private property is extraordinary.  I couldn't feel safe raising my family there, so I left my hometown so I could feel safe raising my family.  I would've loved for my son to grow up in the same town I did.

I am Hispanic, but I wouldn't believe a word from people like Isabel Garcia, the director of Derechos Humanos, a Tucson-based human rights group.  In the April 2, 2005 on line edition of The Douglas Dispatch, Garcia says,

"It's about race and not about the border. It's about poor, brown people moving across the border and white people not liking that." (Isabel Garcia, Tucson Derechos Humanos Director, The Douglas Dispatch online edition, April 2, 2005)

Nothing could be farther from the truth.  It's remarks like this that bother me about my race.  Anytime, anyone wants to stop something illegal, to people like Isabel Garcia, it's racism.  I can tell Garcia this isn't racism.  This is about securing our borders, not just from illegal immigrants, but from terrorism as well.  Unfortunately, what I have always noticed from Hispanics, at least Hispanics where I live and where I grew up, they'll brag about how they got away with something illegal.  How they fooled the government.  But as soon as something is done to stop them.  When something is put in place to prevent them from doing something illegal, they cry racism.  As I understand things, it's not a Hispanic's right to do an illegal act, it's not a Hispanic's right to cheat the government.  There's nothing racist about it.  As a Hispanic I see that clearly.

What the Minuteman Project is saying is, "enough is enough".  We have to secure our borders.  President Bush has gone as far as to call the volunteers of the Minuteman Project "vigilantes".  With all due respect to the President, this is not group of vigilantes.  This is a group of concerned citizens worried about the lack of security on our southern border.  Their mission is not filled with racism, hatred or intent on violence.  Their intent is to show the rest of the nation that our country is at risk as long as the southern border is not secured.  There is fear that the Minuteman Project will bring violence.  I sincerely believe that is not there intent.  If violence occurs, I think it will be because violence was brought against them.