Hi Gang:
Earlier today one of my sons excitedly told me to turn on the news on the television because he had heard that former Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean were going to be released. I hurriedly turned on my television and watched with great relief and joy that indeed, those two valiant federal agents who had been, in my judgment, improperly prosecuted and imprisoned were going to be released nearly ten years earlier than their original sentences would have required.
I have written many commentaries about this case and had the opportunity to address this miscarriage of justice on a number of radio and television programs and when I have spoken at various events that focused on the issue of immigration.
The fact that these valiant law enforcement officers were arrested and prosecuted as they were, in my judgment, may well have contributed to the reduction in the arrest of illegal aliens by the Border Patrol. I am of the belief that many agents were intimidated by the actions of the prosecutor in this case, Johnny Sutton and feared that by attempting to carry out their sworn duties, these agents not only ran the risk of being seriously injured by the ever more violent alien and drug smugglers operating in the lawless border regions of the United States, but that they also ran a serious risk of getting hammered by their own government!
The administration was quick to use the reduction in arrest statistics as supposed “proof” that the borders had been coming under the control of our agents. One could take the cynical perspective that perhaps this is why Ramos and Compean were, in fact, prosecuted; to artificially lower arrest statistics to support the claim that human tidal wave of illegal aliens had been effectively addressed.
If, indeed, this was the reason that those agents were arrested and prosecuted as they were, then there are other government officials who were far more deserving of getting “free room and board” in a federal prison than were those men!
Nevertheless, the fact remains that in just a few weeks Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean will be going home to their families who had to endure an atrocious situation. President Bush, in his remaining hours as the Commander-in-Chief of not only the military, but our federal law enforcement agencies, acted properly, if belatedly, in commuting their sentences.
I believe that many people can justifiably take credit for President Bush’s decision. Journalists such as Jerry Seper of the Washington Times along with many of his colleagues in the print media who wrote numerous articles about this miscarriage of justice helped to apply pressure to the administration and alerted the citizens of our nation about this case. A number of broadcast journalists including the late George Putnam and many others along with radio talk show host Chuck Wilder who succeeded George on his show when George passed away last year, talked often and passionately about this in addition to a long list of other talk show radio hosts. Among the television journalists who openly discussed this case was, obviously, Lou Dobbs and Glenn Beck.
Obviously there are many other journalists who helped to get the “word” out but I do not want to attempt to list them all because no matter how many I name, I will undoubtedly leave others out.
All of the journalists and talk show hosts who devote themselves to raising the critical issues live up to the requirements of the First Amendment, to help to create an informed and educated electorate. At the end of the day, had many thousands of our fellow citizens had not made the phone calls and sent the telegrams to their elected representatives and to the White House, I believe that President Bush would not have commuted the sentences of former Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean.
The willingness of members of Congress, from both parties, should be commended for laying down their partisan agendas and speaking out on behalf of those agents.
This matter should serve as an inspiration to We the People that we can make a difference because in this instance, we did make a difference!
There are those politicians who hate talk radio! They would rather treat the citizens of our nation like mushrooms (keep us in the dark and feed us a lot of manure!)
Talk radio is vital to the concepts in the First Amendment! You may not like what a particular host has to say. You have the right and the freedom to turn the channel. We should never permit our government to turn the channel for us! As I am sure you know, the First Amendment deals with freedom of speech, freedom of the press and the right to assemble peaceably. Talk shows and the Internet provide us, in this era, with a meeting place for all Americans and this is absolutely essential for the survival of our democracy!
It is absolutely vital that We the People see in the case of Ramos and Compean proof that We the People can make a huge difference if we are willing to make the effort!
Earlier today justice prevailed!
We the People played a major role. But the work has only just begun!
There are members of Congress who are, even as you read this commentary, preparing to attempt, once again, to jam “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” (CIR) down the throat of the American people. They know that the great majority of the citizens of our nation are adamantly opposed to this betrayal of the will of the people, but they are once again gearing up.
We the People must also be gearing up. Just as We the People made the difference today, we must make the difference in the weeks and months ahead!
We the People must muster our forces and our efforts to get our voices heard!
The incoming administration is promising us “Change!”
We the People must also promise a different sort of “Change:” we must make it abundantly clear that we will never again seek the easy way out and passively allow the government that is supposed to be representative of the citizens of our nation, to run roughshod over us!
Our nation must have secure borders. Our nation must create an immigration system that has meaningful integrity. The rampant fraud that has plagued our immigration system represents a significant threat to national security and makes an absolute mockery of those honest and decent immigrants who followed not only the letter of the law but the spirit of the law, as well.
That fraud must be dealt with effectively to protect our nation’s security and to send a clear message that our nation is still a nation of laws. The immigration laws are the first laws most aliens encounter when they enter or seek to enter our country. It has been said that you only get one opportunity to make a first impression- those laws and the ways in which they are enforced and administered often serve to provide that first impression.
We the People can make it clear to those who claim to represent us; that we will accept no compromise on these critical issues that are neither Democrat issues nor Republican issues but are simply AMERICAN issues!
You are either part of the solution or you are a part of the problem!
Democracy is not a spectator sport!
Lead, follow or get out of the way!
-michael cutler-