Senator John Kerry just finished his floor speech in which he called for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq…at least, I think that’s what he asked for.

Instead of a Quorum call, I think someone should ask for a check if anybody is still awake call.

In any event, it was an opportunity for him to talk about his experience in the Vietnam War.…immigration didn’t come up.

Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) has taken the floor…lordy, his binder is huge. This will probably take a while…

On Wednesday, while the Senate was debating about which way to destroy the country, another tragedy due to Washington irresponsibility was being played out in a New York state courtroom, as one more murder by an illegal alien was tried.

The crime was brutally clear. It took jurors only 2 1/2 hours to find illegal alien Douglas Herrera guilty on all 15 counts of raping and murdering suburban mom Mary Nagle in her home. (See earlier Vdare account with photo here and local obituary.) Herrera had been hired to power-wash the deck of the Nagle home, but instead took the opportunity to attack and kill his employer.

There were tears in the eyes of some jurors, too, when medical examiner Lone Thanning provided them with a clinical but grisly account of the victim’s injuries. Nagle _ the mother of a 9-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy _ fought with her killer for at least 15 minutes, Thanning testified, and perhaps for as long as 30 minutes.

The killer inflicted “among the most horrific injuries I’ve ever seen,” Thanning said. The jurors passed a tissue box, while some members of the panel simply turned away from the crime scene photos. [Accused killer: I don't remember anything about that day, Newsday, 4/4/06]

After the rape and murder, Herrera used Mary Nagle’s cell phone to call her friends and family, including her sister, making lewd comments as he bragged about the crime.

The killer overstayed a 2001 tourist visa from Guatemala and possessed a California driver’s license. He reportedly will be sentenced in May to life in prison without parole.

In another demonstration of disdain for the safety of American citizens, on Tuesday Senate Democrats blocked an amendment that would bar illegal aliens convicted of felonies from obtaining U.S. citizenship.

Don’t legislators have enough blood on their hands already?

The immigration bill produced by the Judiciary Committee was said to be a “compromise” bill with “bi-partisan” support.

One tiny flaw: It provided amnesty to nearly all 12 million illegal aliens living in the U.S. today.

I suppose the Judiciary Committee didn’t see it coming but a few people objected to the idea of rewarding lawbreakers with citizenship…clearly the xemophobes and racists, right?

For the better part of this past week, Senate Republicans have tried to amend the bill and Democrats have refused hearing them–a filibuster ensued and this morning, Democrats called for cloture on the bill.

The motion failed 39 to 60.

(Cloture would have ended debate and allowed the bill to be brought to the floor for vote.)

Senators Martinez (R-Florida) and Hagel (D-) are off the floor working on a compromise bill–Majority Leader Senator Frist (R-TN) held a press conference this morning in which he announced a compromise bill had been drafted last night.

I wish this was a good thing…I mean, the death of the Judiciary bill is fantastic but so far, the Frist compromise is not that much better.

Here’s a breakdown:

• Those who have lived in the country at least five years would be put on a path toward guaranteed citizenship, provided that they remained employed, paid fines and back taxes, and learned English. According to Senator Frist, 60 percent of the illegal aliens fall into this category.
• Those who have lived here for two to five years would have to leave the country before reporting to an American port of entry, where they would be classified as temporary workers. There are roughly three million in this category. They are allowed to apply for citizenship but if they are denied, they must leave after six years.
• The remaining one million (roughly), those who have lived in the country less than two years, would be required to leave although they are eligible to apply for a temporary work Visa.

I have a question: Where are the ones who will be leaving and where are the bill provisions they state how and when they will be deported??

Hmm…apparently, there are none.

AP reports that Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid, now leading the Amnesty charge in the Senate, yesterday made

an unusually personal speech…after GOP Sen. Jeff Sessions…of Alabama had referred to a position the Nevadan had once taken.

In near-confessional tones, Reid said he had once supported legislation to close the borders between Mexico and the United States, “in effect, stop people from coming across our borders into the United States.”

His wife, whose father was a Russian immigrant, confronted him, Reid recalled, and he later held a town hall meeting at which friends told him he had made a mistake.

Senate Set for Test Vote Over Immigration -By David Espo AP April 5 2005

Hmmm.

Reid, (whose Senate web site has a Spanish version) is a Mormon. From its earliest days in the 19th Century, Mormonism bolstered its numbers by recruiting overseas - the church has historical reasons for sentimentalism about immigration. Reid’s wife was named Landra Gould. There aren’t many Goulds in Russia - or Mormons. Could the couple be a prize case of the “Jerusalem Syndrome” discussed by Steve Sailer yesterday (examples 2 & 4) ?

Very expensive for more representative Americans.