Last April , I asked in VDARE.com why the New York Times was running endless stories about the Duke lacrosse team when A.) The rape charges were pretty obviously all a hoax; and B.) Lacrosse is tiny sport, while America’s biggest sport, football, sees well-known players arrested for violence all the time. As I pointed out, just that week the quarterback at Utah St. and the backup quarter at glamorous USC had been charged with rape, while star Chicago Bears cornerback Ricky Manning had attacked some poor nerd working on his laptop at Denny’s at 3am. Could it possibly have to do with the Duke lacrosse team being 98% white, while the three football players were minorities?

Now that Manning will be in the NFC championship game this weekend, the NYT today gets all warm and fuzzy over him:

After Wrong Turn, Bears� Manning Retools His Life

by Karen Crouse

That reversal of fortune mirrored what has happened in Manning�s life over the past 10 months. Last April, within days of receiving a contract offer from the Bears, Manning was arrested and charged with assault after an incident at a Denny�s restaurant in Los Angeles. Manning has acknowledged getting into an argument with a customer and pushing him in the head before leaving. After the news of his latest arrest became public, the
Carolina Panthers
declined to match the Bears� five-year, $21 million offer for Manning, who was a restricted free agent.

The 25-year-old Manning already was on probation from a previous assault in Los Angeles, and if his case had gone to trial he faced the possibility of a prison sentence. �I wasn�t willing to take that risk,� he said. Intent on putting his past behind him, Manning pleaded no contest to a felony assault in the fall and was sentenced to three years probation, one year of anger-management counseling and 100 hours of community service. He was suspended for one game by the N.F.L. for violation of its code of personal conduct, causing him to miss the Bears� 17-13 loss at New England on Nov. 26. …

What happened at the Denny�s in Los Angeles, not far from the U.C.L.A. campus where Manning attended college, was avoidable. He can see that clearly now.

For starters, he did not need to be out with a friend at 3 a.m. �Me being out at 3 o�clock at night and partying and being around people that can take advantage of me is just not a good situation,� he said. �Initially I reacted to getting disrespected when I thought I shouldn�t have been,� he added. �O.K., I shouldn�t have done that. But I thought I had done the right thing by walking away, by leaving.�

But he was arrested nonetheless and his public image took a brutal hit. �It was tough, knowing that what happened gives people a misconception of me,� Manning said. He added, �It took for that to happen for me to learn.�

Since April, Manning has joined the Bears� family and created a family of his own. He keeps his relatives closer, having come to the conclusion that they are the best company because they will not lead him astray. He flew in some cousins for the game Sunday, some of whom had never traveled by airplane before. Roughly 90 minutes after the game, Manning headed toward the exit, following the wedge created by his wife, Tosha, and his cousins. In his arms, he was cradling his sleeping son.

Awwwwww, isn’t that sweet? Funny, how the NYT left out NBC’s Report:

Early on a Sunday morning last April, at a Denny’s in Westwood, near the UCLA campus, a Swedish citizen of Persian descent named Soroush Sabzi was minding his own business when, according to court documents, he found himself the target of insults. Sabzi, a student with an avid interest in computers, now 26, was called a “faggot,” according to a Los Angeles County probation department report unsealed Tuesday. He was also called either a “f—— Jew” or an “ugly f—— Jew,” according to the report. He was told, “You look gay,” and called “geeky,” the report says.

Sabzi tried to signal for help. Instead, he was slapped. A few moments later, he was on the ground and, the probation report says, citing a Los Angeles police department account, he was hit some more and fell into a bathroom at the restaurant.

Chicago Bears cornerback who played college football at UCLA, pleaded no contest Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court to a single count of felony assault in connection with his role in the incident. …

Moreover, the probation report suggests that Manning has “reportedly aligned himself with gang values and gang ties” and has been “implicated as the shooter of a rival gang member.” Those allegations are unsubstantiated; the report contains no further details or explanation. The deputy probation officer who wrote the report did not return a call seeking comment.

Manning claims he only hit the victim in the head and didn’t call him anything:

“My agent is Jewish, my ex-fiancee is half-Jewish and black, my two lawyers are Jewish, and so it was kind of not funny to me,” Manning said. “But it was hurtful for him to say that, to make me seem like I would say some things like that which definitely wouldn’t happen.”

Phil Mushnick wrote in the NY Post on Oct. 1, 2006:

But imagine - and by now most of us can - the fallout if Manning and his pals, African-Americans, had been white, and their victim had been black. And imagine if the victim’s claim in the police report read that, instead of being cursed as a Jew and a homosexual, he’d been called a “f - - - ing n - - - - r.”

Then take it from there - the no contest felony plea, followed by a specious insistence of innocence, followed by the Bears’ “disappointment with Ricky,” followed by the NFL’s position that “it’s under review.”

Imagine the outrage from the news media, the sports media, politicians and, yes, Chicago’s own Rev. Jesse (”Hymietown”) Jackson.

Just imagine.

On my recent trip to Oklahoma
I visited the family farm (which, by the way, employs no illegal aliens). My dad gave me a recent issue of “Doane’s Agricultural Report“. [not online]In the Doane’s issue of December 15th, 2006, Washington editor Rich Pottorff discusses the recent raids on the Swift meatpacking plants which detained 1,300 illegal aliens. Here’s what Pottorf had the gall say about the matter:

“The raid on the meatpacking plants illustrates the importance of immigrant workers (both legal and illegal) to agriculture and reinforces the importance of immigration legislation.”

Let’s see. In 1980 the average salary for a meatpacker was $19 an hour. But now, the going rate has dropped to $9 an hour. So when will Rich Pottorf think we have enough meatpackers? When the wages have dropped even lower?

Drop Rich Pottorf a line at DAR@doane.com and tell him what you think.

After the defeat of the valiant Randy Pullen’s attempt to inject some sanity into the Republic National Committee’s deliberations on the immigration issue a year ago, we at VDARE.com formed a negative view on the moral fiber of the Committee members (a man and woman from every state). The idea of Senator Mel Martinez (R - Cuba)being Chairman fitted.

We may be wrong. Choice of Martinez sparks GOP rebellion By Ralph Z. Hallow THE WASHINGTON TIMES January 16, 2007 indicates

Rebellion is brewing among conservatives on the Republican National Committee…”I will be voting against Senator Martinez if he is nominated for any chairmanship of the RNC,” Tina Benkiser, Texas Republican Party chairman, told The Washington Times yesterday.
Bill Crocker, the elected national committeeman from Texas, says that when the RNC convenes here tomorrow, “Absolutely, I will vote against Martinez.”…

Naturally, issues of principle are avoided for procedural ruses

“I have also requested that the RNC employ the services of an independent certified parliamentarian to assure that breaches of the rules are avoided,” North Dakota RNC member Curly Haugland said

(Vdare.com likes Haugland)

but our old friend Randy Pullen did not pull punches:

Martinez’s support of [Arizona Sen. John] McCain’s immigration bill on amnesty for illegal aliens is causing a lot of concern among our base,” said Mr. Pullen. “I happen to know that people — our $25 and $35 donors — are writing on the back of our RNC solicitations for donations: ‘When you close the border to illegal aliens, we’ll open our checkbooks.’

Terry Graham’s reminder could not be more timely.

Keep calling !- the vote is now reported to be on Friday.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has moved the immigration debate by his acceptance of the principle of universal health care. I can understand that is awkward to check the immigration status of folks in need of medical care-particularly urgent medical care. However, when it comes to medical billing, there is a whole different story. About 50% of all medical care in the US is already government funded. The elderly and the poor in the US receive substantial subsidization of medical care–and virtually every major proposal for universal medical care in the US would increase the subsidization of those groups.

Rather than take the side of an unpopular position on the medical care issue and oppose universal medical care, I would suggest that immigration restrictionists specifically oppose the subsidization of medical care for non-citizens on the part of citizens. There is no reason why the employers of illegal aliens(or investors in those employers) cannot be held 100% accountable for the cost of medical care of non-citizens. If need be, we can specifically increase the minimum wage of non-citizens to pay these extra fees. Now, many employers of illegal aliens don’t properly file taxes-but when they are discovered, property of the employers of illegal aliens could be seized-as could the property of the landlords that rent to illegal aliens and those that invest in businesses that employ illegal aliens. After all, those that get caught need to pay for health care expenses of those that aren’t caught-so I’d expect these fines would have to be pretty high for the system to be self-supporting.

Now, it would be rather difficult for businesses hiring folks at $5.50 per hour to pay for $1500/month in medical and dental benefits for a family of 5. We’d see a lot fewer folks employed in those positions if such costs were imposed. Illegal immigration is inherently a highly-subsidized activity-without those subsidies, much of it would disappear.