On Aug. 13, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson declared a state of emergency for counties along the Mexico border. Governor Janet Napolitano did the same for Arizona on Aug. 15. The states of emergency allow the two governors to spend nearly $1.5 million each to hire more police, buy vehicles and otherwise shore up law enforcement in the counties most affected by the illegal entry of migrants. Both governors had complained for months about federal inattention to the border situation; in an Aug. 11 letter Napolitano told DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff that federal officials had been responding with "bewildering resistance" to her state's offers to help with joint efforts confronting human trafficking.

It will certainly be an edifying sight. Instead of Israeli military bulldozers destroying modest Palestinian homes to make way for garish and profligate suburban-style Jewish settlements, it'll be the other way 'round. In the Gaza Strip, the world will witness a small counter-vortex to the general downward spiral of the planet into what some have called Global Apartheid.

You can add your very own John Hancock to this following bit of levity at PetitionOnline. So far they have 726, which seems pretty insufficient for something so self-evident, so we thought we'd help spread the word:

To: President of the United States of America

A PETITION DECLARING PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH TO BE A HORSE'S ASS

WHEREAS, George W. Bush's ill-conceived war on Iraq is an irresponsible, destructive and unnecessary means of enforcing the spirit and letter of United Nations Resolution 1441, and;

"Robertson Apologizes for Chavez Remark" reads the Fox News headline Aug. 24. Actually, what he did was lie about what he said. From Blog for America, Aug. 25:

Pat Robertson announced yesterday that his comments on last weekend's "700 Club" were misinterpreted and that his use of the phrase "take him out" did not mean killing:

The metronomically predictable Ann Coulter is the latest to jump all over Cindy Sheehan for something she didn't say. Writes Ann for FrontPageMag Aug. 18:

On the bright side, Sheehan shows us what Democrats would say if they thought they were immunized from disagreement. Sheehan has called President Bush "that filth-spewer and warmonger." She says "America has been killing people on this continent since it was started" and "the killing has gone on unabated for over 200 years." She calls the U.S. government a "morally repugnant system" and says, "This country is not worth dying for." I have a feeling every time this gal opens her trap, Michael Moore gets a residuals check.

The standoff between President Bush and Cindy Sheehan is escalating again, with emotional appeals from both sides, each invoking sacrifices made by Americans after 9-11, the Washington Post reports Aug. 26. In a briefing for reporters after her return to Crawford, TX, Sheehan said she is planning an antiwar bus tour of the country next month, ending Sept. 24 in Washington, where she plans to set up a permanent vigil until Bush agrees to meet with her, as she has sought in Texas.

From New York Newsday:

Driver unknowingly crushes elderly woman in tragic case

BY JEROME BURDI and ROCCO PARASCANDOLA
STAFF WRITERS

August 27, 2005

An elderly woman who survived Auschwitz was killed Friday morning after she was run over by a truck turning a corner in Manhattan.

Leah Zimmerman, who was 86 and lived in Greenwich Village, died instantly, her head crushed by the 10-wheeleras it turned east onto West 14th Street, from Sixth Avenue.Edmund McMullen, 45, the truck driver, apparently did not see the woman, police said.

From ArtVoice of Buffalo, NY, online at MediaStudy:

I Raq and Roll Right into Fascism:
Donald Rumsfeld’s 9/11 Folly

by Michael I. Niman

Earlier this month, when Internet news reports quoted Donald Rumsfeld announcing that the Defense Department would use public funds to organize a pro-war rally on the fourth anniversary of the September 11 th attacks, many people assumed this to be an urban myth. It couldn’t be true. Rumsfeld’s supposed quest to defile the memory of 9/11 victims by pimping their tragic deaths to support an unrelated war represents a new low – even for the unabashed arrogance of the Bush administration. “Bad taste" is an understatement. This is like bringing home a hooker on your wedding anniversary. But lo and behold, this story is for real.