As the nation gets ready to celebrate the 4th of July this week, Texans along the U.S.-Mexico border are defending their property rights in the face of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) scooping up land to construct the mandated border wall.

Dr. Juliet Garcia, president of UTB/TSC speaks to reporters after the judge's ruling at today's hearing.
(Source: UTB.edu)

One of the biggest and most controversial cases involves The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College and The University of Texas System.

Scholars, lawyers, teachers, students and other Valley residents remain perplexed at the insistence of the DHS to construct a portion of the border wall through the campus of The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College cutting 180 acres that the university needs to expand in the future.

Back in March, the federal court ruled that DHS had to sit down with school officials and reach a mutual solution.

Yet, DHS was prepared to ignore the ruling and seize the land through eminent domain. That blatant disregard for the previous ruling prompted school officials to file a motion with the federal government to compel DHS to comply with the previous ruling.

Well, the federal court in Brownsville ruled today and, though they don't like it, DHS is going to have to sit down with school officials and try to reach an agreement.

Since the school has never encountered a problem with undocumented residents trespassing on the school campus, one has to wonder and the media should be asking why is DHS so intent on bypassing federal laws to construct a barrier that the majority of people along the border do not want?

For now, this is a bittersweet victory that is important because, especially this week, it commemorates that when it comes to the government and its people — the people's rights prevail against unjust acts.

After all, it's the American way and not the first time in our history that the people had to remind a government that a government is for and by the people, and not to represent the wishes of an elite few.

Democratic Congresswoman Hilda L. Solis represents California's 32nd Congressional District. The Congresswoman has been instrumental in creating legislation that has addressed issues important to Latinos: H.R. 359 - Cesar Estrada Chavez Study Act of 2007, H.R. 468, Communities of Color Teen Pregnancy Prevention Act of 2007, H.R. 1103 – Environmental Justice Act of 2007 and the H.R. 542 – Culturally Competent Veteran Care Act, to name a few.

Congresswoman Hilda L. Solis

In an exclusive post for Latina Lista readers, Congresswoman Solis draws the line for accountability in the nation's oil woes and shares her hopes in how the country can turn around pro-oil policies and help all families in the process.

Eight years of pro-oil company policies such as those advocated by President Bush, Senator McCain and their colleagues have left hard-working families paying record prices at the pump while oil companies make record profits. Rather than protect consumers, Republicans continue to push for more drilling — a failed policy — and against efforts to protect consumers from price gouging.

Pro-oil company policies have left our families struggling. Latino families are among the hardest hit by the economic downturn. A recent nationwide survey commissioned by AARP clearly showed that Latino families are struggling to make ends meet as a result of the lack of economic security, the housing crisis, and the lack of health care.

Eighty percent of Latinos surveyed are struggling to pay for daily necessities such as food, gas and medicine. A November 2007 study by the Public Policy Institute of California notes that 83 percent of Latinos surveyed said gas prices have caused them financial hardship as opposed to 67 percent of Blacks, 62 percent of Asians and 54 percent of whites surveyed. Conditions have only worsened as the cost of oil has broken record prices in 2008.

Tax breaks and secret meetings are just the tip of the pro-oil company policies.

The fact is that oil companies currently possess more than 10,000 permits to drill in 68 million acres of land and sea open to drilling. Instead of producing the oil, they are withholding this product from the market at a time when families are suffering.

Disturbing news was reported out of Tijuana, Mexico recently.

In research conducted by Victor Clark-Alfaro, director of the Binational Center for Human Rights and a guest lecturer at San Diego State University, he and his students identify the fact that Mexico has its own "Minuteman" posse who are preying on the just-arrived migrants deported from the United States.

Mexican children detained by Border Patrol.
(Source: latinamericanstudies.org)

Clark-Alfaro identifies Mexico's version of the Minuteman as the local police. In a veiled attempt to shake these migrants down for the little cash they have on them and to fill a daily quota imposed as part of their duties, the local police put on a public show of arresting these migrants for "not having identification" — all in the name of showing the public that they're tough on crime.

Clark-Alfaro notes the irony that these same individuals are deported from one country for not having "their papers" and are arrested in their home country for not having "papers of identification." It's a lose-lose situation for these migrants.

When the migrants do produce deportation papers or papers issued by a local organization that helps newly returned migrants, they report that the local police tears them up and say they are not valid, making it much easier to arrest them.

By now, you're probably wondering why should we care. After all, these are Mexican nationals returning to their native country and their country should be the ones protecting them.

And that's true but it's also true that our stepped-up deportations are contributing to an insecure border, that can't help but spill back over onto the U.S. side and we have no one to blame but ourselves.

A popular caution that is always issued to people surfing the Internet is to consider the source before believing in the validity of the information.

It's a statement that is true for every facet of media that distributes information to the public. It's also a statement that lends itself very well to the immigration debate.

Long a sore spot among us all who seriously write about the topic, is the propensity of the mainstream media to use as counter sources that are funded, however indirectly, by organizations with an anti-immigrant agenda — not just anti undocumented but anti-immigrant. In other words, pro-white (read white supremacy) agendas.

Well, an interesting video has been produced that shows these exact links between these counter media sources and these anti-immigrant groups. Unfortunately, though the information is excellent and factual, the chances that it will be taken as seriously as it should lies in limbo.

Why?

Because it is being released by the National Council of La Raza's "We Can Stop the Hate" campaign in association with the The Southern Poverty Law Center.

Two organizations known for advocating compassion and fairness on behalf of undocumented migrants.

Some will easily dismiss this video as "propaganda" of the "other" side but this is where human intellect has to kick into high gear and people truly have to make their own decisions on the validity of the content.

It is the hope of Latina Lista that viewers will take the information presented in this video and determine through their own research that the facts presented in the video are factual and do expose the link that is never acknowledged in the media. Because these facts are, for the most part, easily traceable over the Internet, it will just require a little time and effort.

The argument will always be made that either side of the issue will present videos such as these to bolster their criticisms. However, there's a big difference between manufacturing facts to fit the argument and passing those facts along to create a more informed citizenry.

In the end, it's the people who have to decide.

(Update Correction (6/25/08): When originally posted, we failed to notice that the referenced article was an Associated Press article and not one originally reported on by El Nuevo Herald staff. Our apologies. Yet, the basic premise of the post is correct and today, the Associated Press, issued a correction of their own on the article.)

With the race between Obama and McCain barely begun, the issue of the Latino vote and who will get it is already on the minds of both parties.

On the one hand, we have Obama huddling with the Hispanic Congressional Caucus to persuade Clinton supporters to now support him.

On the other hand, we have McCain who is stealthly going after the Latino vote by way of private Town Hall meetings.

So far, according to poll after poll after poll on Latino presidential voting preferences, Obama is edging out McCain — in most cases by a lot.

So, it was interesting that an article in Miami's El Nuevo Herald sees the polls from a totally new lado (side).
The article is titled "Democrats continue courting Hispanic voters."

It was all about how for the first time the organizers of a national party convention, in this case the Democrats, were conducting a live transmission via the Internet for the Spanish-speaking press in Spanish about what to expect at the Denver Democratic Convention in August.

Other than that, nothing particularly newsworthy until we get to the end of the article where it's reported that "According to some surveys, the Hispanic vote appears to favor now the Republican candidate John McCain, who has a more favorable position than Obama to legalize millions of undocumented immigrants."

Unfortunately, something got lost in the translation for this reporter.

As much as some of us would like to think that this election is all about the issues, there's no denying that a major issue for a lot of voters boils down to black versus white.

In fact, the issue has become such a hot topic that there are reports that at the London and South African book fairs, a new e-book titled "America the Racist?" gained some unprecedented interest.

It seems the rest of the world wants to know as much as Americans if we can shed our prejudices and actually vote for a person of color.

Unfortunately, that will be a question that will continue to haunt the world until the polls close in November.

In the meantime, we will have to suffer through poll after poll that will attempt to gauge our feelings to predict our actions in the booths.

The latest poll, a Washington Post-ABC News survey, claims that 3 in 10 Americans admit to racial bias.

That's not surprising, nor new. In fact, most analysts on the topic of race would probably believe the number is higher than that because not too many Americans like to admit they have hang-ups about race.

Yet, what was a more interesting revelation of the poll were two questions that show there is an inherent racial lens that the media looks through and probably needs to wipe clean before a clear picture gauging the public's racial barometer can be measured.

Today is World Refugee Day.

When we think of refugees these days, it's usually the images in Africa of the different tribes that have been displaced because of war and famine, but we know that refugees exist all over the world — even in the United States.

The dictionary defines refugee as : one that flees; especially : a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution

Danger has come to mean not just physical danger but danger from severe economic downturns, famine or family or community abuse or a number of different reasons that puts the quality of life at an inherent risk for these people.

In 2002, when Congress passed the Homeland Security Act, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) was appointed the new custodians of what the Department of Homeland Security labels "unaccompanied children." Some analysts feel the more correct term is "separated children." Each label refers to children who are under 18 and at the time of their apprehension, by either the Border Patrol or DHS officials, are not with a parent or legal guardian.

13-year-old Jose must return to his native El Salvador without his mother.
(Source: Loudoun Times)

That was the case of Jose Andrade. Jose was left behind in El Salvador by his mother who came to the US looking for work. When she arrived, she was granted a visa to work legally in the country but five years passed and Jose missed his mom.

He was staying with an aunt but that family took the money Jose's mother sent him from her job in the U.S. and pulled him out of school to do errands for the family. When Jose's mother found out, she knew she had to bring him to the US but there was no way to do it legally.

So, at 11-years-old, Jose and two cousins set out from El Salvador through Guatemala and Mexico for the U.S. At the Texas-Mexico border, Jose was caught by border officials and housed in a youth detention center for 9 days until his mother traveled from Virginia to pick him up.

From the moment she picked him up, Jose was classified as a refugee.

In the three years since he's arrived, in between attending immigration hearings to clarify his status, Jose has thrived in school, is popular with his teachers and became a Boy Scout. Now 13-years-old, Jose knows English and wants to be a policeman, but it's a dream that is highly unlikely.

Jose's privileged refugee status has come to an end and DHS says it's time to treat him like any other undocumented immigrant — deport him back to where he came from — all by himself.

There has been (g)rumbling throughout the Latino blogosphere as to what is taking the Obama campaign so long to reach out to the rest of the Latino electorate that aren't yet completely sold on his candidacy — and to those who are.

(Source: boston.com)

With news that McCain held a Town Hall meeting with some Latinos who were bussed into Chicago last night — though the meeting was held behind closed doors and with carefully screened participants — it seems even McCain is getting a headstart in reaching out to Latinos.

So, where is Obama?

It's never been a secret that the United States has a love affair with criminalizing people. Maybe it goes back to the days of the wild, wild West when it took brave men to stand up to train and bank robbers and cattle thieves.

All the early days of television that ran western shows idolized the guys wearing the badge and toting the gun.

Yet when this nation became industrialized, a.k.a. more civilized, the arrests of purported criminals just got worse. True, some deserved to be there — the killers, the robbers, the rapists, etc. But it's always been a curiosity as to why U.S. society is so much more lawless compared to other countries.

According to the International Centre for Prison Studies, the United States ranks first among all countries with the biggest prison populations. As of Dec. 31, 2006, the U.S. prison population stood at 2,258,983.

Curious that the other two countries in the top three, #2 China and #3 Russian Federation, are known for oppression and arbitrary imprisonment. I realize that it's natural that these other two countries are included in the top three because these three have the world's largest populations but one would think that either Russia or China would take top spot.

Well, from the news today, the #1 spot is probably going to be our's for a lot longer.

(Source: trac.syr.edu)

What the immigration debate has lacked thus far is a "poster child" that brings home the issue and exposes how it impacts the most vulnerable.

Well, the wait is finally over.

Martin was found alone at an Indiana Wal-Mart store.
(Source: indystar.com)

Two-year-old Martin, a young Guatemalan, was found abandoned in an Frankfort, Indiana Wal-Mart store on Friday, June 13.

In the note found with Martin, his mother states that the young family arrived a year ago from Guatemala. It wasn't long afterwards that her husband left her. According to the letter written in Spanish, the mother doesn't have the means to buy her son food or provide a roof over his head.

So, she did what has been done by millions of women around the world since the beginning of time, or at least as far back as Moses, she left him at a place she knew to be relatively safe. Where there were people, fellow mothers, who would find him, protect him and help him.

She was right because that's exactly what happened — plus more.

The question of who will eventually be Barack Obama's running mate is much more of a nail-biter than John McCain's choice.

Why?

Because of an issue that has reared its ugly head and has shown us that even though we live in the 21st Century, we are still not without prejudice when it comes to choosing a Dream Ticket.

On the CNN political news site, there is a page devoted to possible Democratic vice presidential candidates. The list was culled, according to the site's editors, from names mentioned in various published articles.

The group is comprised of governors, senators, mayors, former military officers and cabinet post holders. In total, the site considers 29 possibilities. Of those 29, there is one Hispanic (New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson) and 5 women.

It's curious to note that there is not one African American or Asian considered a serious nominee. The reasoning must be that an African American at the top of the ticket is enough representation of diversity for Americans not accustomed to voting for people of color.

It's a scenario that is played out in companies across the country. Some of us refer to the few people of color that businesses hire as the "tokens of diversity." A company can be top-heavy Caucasian but people of color tend not to be overrepresented in most organizations.

The official reasoning provided is always the same — there's not enough qualified applicants of color.

At one time that was probably true but with more and more young people of color achieving higher education and specialized training, it's increasingly not making sense to repeat this statement.

All of which provides a window into the thinking process of who will be Obama's running mate.

On this Father's Day, as we honor Dad for all that he does, it's interesting to note that across the border in Mexico, today is also Father's Day.

Young father welcomes his newborn with a kiss.
(Source: almamia.com)

The country's National Population Council or Conapo released some interesting facts about their country's fathers which was reported in the Mexico City daily El Universal.

The most striking element is that there are 1.3 million Mexican fathers who are between the ages of 15 and 24. They are part of the larger number of 20.8 million who live with their children.

Of the 18.9 million who work, 656,000 don't receive a salary, 10.8 million work two jobs earning minimum wage, 5.3 million work more than 2 up to 5 jobs and 2.1 million work more than 5 jobs.

Which all goes to show, for the 1.3 million who are young and have family responsibilities and there is the prospect of working only one or two jobs and earning decent money to support their families, wall or no wall, immigration enforcement or not, it's no wonder that the risks of crossing the border illegally doesn't weigh as much on their minds as the idea of not being able to feed their families.

Wouldn't it be better for Mexico and the US to create a program where they can come, work and earn money legally without having to sacrifice going months and years without seeing their families?

When that day arrives, it will truly be a happy Father's Day for all fathers.

As Latina Lista posted yesterday, a bill for the medical care and humane treatment of detained undocumented immigrants while in detention was presented to the Senate this week.

One of the sponsors of the bill, New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez said, “We cannot forget that everyone who immigrates to this country, whether they are documented or not, is a human being. A detention should never amount to a death sentence. We should neither expect nor tolerate this type of neglectful treatment of our fellow human beings in the United States of America. At some point, this becomes more than a legal issue – it becomes a human rights issue. We have to ensure that the type of human rights we champion around the world is being observed here at home.”

Sen. Bob Menendez

However, Sen. Menendez isn't only speaking up for the undocumented. Due to the Department of Homeland Security's aggressive approach to apprehending undocumented immigrants in raids and placing them in detentions, US citizens and legal residents are also being caught up in these sweeps.

As a result, Sen. Menendez will be introducing legislation to prevent the unlawful detention of American citizens and permanent residents.

To explain the necessity of such legislation to his colleagues, Sen. Menendez delivered an important speech on the Senate floor on what is happening in Hispanic communities across the country because of this aggressive enforcement.

(The following transcript was provided to Latina Lista by the office of Sen. Menendez)

Our deepest obligation as United States Senators and as representatives of the American people is to make sure our nation’s founding promises are being kept.

With a few strokes of Thomas Jefferson’s pen, we were told that life and liberty would be unalienable rights, that a chance to seek happiness would be something to which we were all entitled.

Our rights grew over time—and over time we grew out of restrictions on who was entitled to those rights. African Americans threw down the chains of slavery. Women marched to the polls. People came from all over the world to become full members of our society, because of the promise that our country held and the guarantees that our government made.

But when agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement –also known as ICE –conducted raids in Texas not long ago, one 19-year-old U.S. citizen who was dragged from her home while she was still in her pajamas wasn’t thinking about that history.

In a report released this week, and cited in an earlier Latina Lista post, the researchers noted that family reunification was driving illegal immigration, along with, search for work.

Douglas Ramirez of Guatemala is shown being escorted into family court in Edinburg, Texas, Monday, Dec. 4, 2006. The boy and his two older sisters, ages 10 and 13, were picked up by border agents last week along a highway just north of the Rio Grande where they were abandoned by the smuggler who had brought them across the Mexican border to reunite them with their father in the U.S. for the holidays. Immigration officials in Texas say the annual holiday surge in children crossing the border illegally is on. (Source: AP Photo/KRGV TV)

What wasn't highlighted at the time is how this family reunification is changing the profile of undocumented immigrants.

According to Prof. Wayne Cornelius, lead researcher on the report, when asked what the new profile of the undocumented immigrant is, he said, "Very diverse, with some 'lone males' of working age but many more whole families, women, and children."

Professor Cornelius and his team credit the border enforcement for accelerating the "bottling" up of undocumented immigrants on this side of the border and the reason why women and children are deciding to come over.

This revelation brings to light how in the coming months when ICE gets even more aggressive in its tactics to root out the undocumented, women and children will also be increasingly caught up in the net of apprehensions.

If they are not from Mexico, they will find themselves "detained" in one of several detention facilities under the responsibility of the federal government's Homeland Security department.

That's why a bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate yesterday, titled The Secure and Safe Detention and Asylum Act (S. 3114) is so imperative that it be passed.

Some of the major media news organizations have already done reports on the deaths, suicides and medical neglect at these facilities and their impact on immigrant detainees. As they fill up more with women and children in the coming months, this piece of legislation is needed to ensure that these detention centers don't become a sanitary version of a gulag.

At a time when public school districts with large Latino student populations are wondering how to stem the flow of drop-outs and encourage them to seriously think of higher education, the Tucson Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne (Correction: Horne is Superintendent of Public Instruction for the whole state of Arizona) will announce tomorrow in a press conference the reasons why he wants to do away with a program that has achieved in elevating Latino students' chances for academic success.

According to a tip from Mann Eegee at Latino Politico, Horne will announce why he thinks the Tucson School District's Ethnic Studies program, which include African American studies, Native American studies, Mexican American/Raza studies and Pan Asian studies, should be abolished.

Tucson School Superintendent Tom Horne
(Source: www.ade.az.us)

Given the wave of anti-immigrant fervor in the state, Horne's announcement is not surprising. Back in November, the Superintendent began an inquiry into how the program was funded. At the time, he said his inquiry was "not based on a question of academics or education, but 'values.'"

Even at that early date, it isn't hard to surmise that the Superintendent had already made up his mind about the "value" of the program. Nor is it surprising that he should wait until summer vacation when the kids are out of school to make such an announcement.

Otherwise, walkouts would have been an inevitable reaction.

But summer or not, this Superintendent may find that it doesn't matter which part of the year you declare as valueless classes geared to bolstering student confidence and academic achievement, reaction will be strong.

A new report, "Controlling Unauthorized Immigration from Mexico: The Failure of 'Prevention through Deterrence' and the Need for Comprehensive Reform," was released today by academic researchers at the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies (CCIS) at the University of California—San Diego.

University of California student researcher conducts survey with Mexican citizen.
(Source: CCIS)

Researchers targeted four specific states in Mexico who lead the country as sources of origin for US migrants. One area, Oaxaca, was the field site of the most recent and extensive research where the report's authors found that the desire of coming to the United States was not diminished by stricter enforcement at the border.

In fact, the study reinforced independent observations about the effectiveness of current border enforcement — it's not entirely working.

However, the study did reveal some interesting insights that are so often overlooked in any report done on the issue of illegal immigration — the immigrants' feelings.

Their feelings are the key to what motivates them to risk their lives in coming to the US illegally, of making the hard decision to stay amid worksite raids and ICE apprehensions and claiming a foreign country as their new home that has made it clear it doesn't want them.

The Latino swing vote has arrived early and if the city officials of Dallas, Texas are any indication, it will be an unsettling experience for the nation.

Dallas is not unlike hundreds of other metropolitan cities across the country — creating new urban developments to take their city into the 21st Century. It never seems to matter that to get there whole sections of the city that housed original settlements of the first ethnic citizens have to be demolished in the process. It's called progress.

Dallas skyline as seen across the Trinity River.

In Dallas' case, it was the misfortune of the area known as "Little Mexico" that it occupied the most prime real estate in Big D. Today, little is left of what was once a bustling, self-contained community.

To people outside of these communities, little sympathy is offered for old and dated buildings when sleek, glass skyscrapers or mega, multipurpose arenas can take their places. Yet for the people who can trace their family line to these communities, the demolition is painful because it essentially wipes away any testament to the fact that "they were there."

And in Dallas' case, the city has always had an uneasy relationship with its Latino community. The point has never been more clearly seen than what is currently happening regarding the city's Latino population, some city officials and a guy by the name of Cesar Chavez.

Today, all eyes are fixed on Washington DC and ears glued for the latest hint at what was discussed at a late-night meeting between Obama and Clinton but the real action is happening outside the Beltway — at the US/Mexico border.

Things are heating up and it promises to be a long, hot summer showdown between border residents and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

By now, the story is old.

Opponents of a border barrier gather on the Mexican side of the fence in San Diego as part of a binational protest to the construction of a border fence.
(Source: Proyecto Fronterizo)

DHS is determined to construct as much fencing as they can accomplish along the US/Mexico border while the Bush Administration is in office. They've been stymied because they underestimated the sophistication of our nation's border residents when it came to organizing themselves against being railroaded to comply with an order that would rob them of familial and public lands for a project that is bound to be known throughout history as Bush's Blunder.

Yet, like cactus flowers growing in a waterless desert, there are little signs that resistance is growing.

A new Gallup report reveals that when it comes to a showdown between Obama and McCain, McCain is the one with the "Latino problem."

(Source: Gallup)

While Clinton is considered the candidate who was able to attract more Latino voters, than even Latino New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Obama has always had his share of Latino voters. They just didn't match the numbers of Clinton's Hispanic supporters.

And now that Clinton is ending her campaign, it is obvious that she is leveraging those Latino supporters, who are among the now infamous "18 million" who voted for her, in securing her future role in an Obama Administration.

It would seem from the Gallup poll that Clinton can't count on leveraging too much from her Hispanic supporters because some are already switching their allegiance to Obama, but it won't be enough.

Latina Lista finally got a hold of the group spearheading the initiative to have Sen. Clinton run as an Independent. According to Robin Carlson, no one from the Clinton campaign has contacted the group nor has Sen. Clinton. Carlson says that this is all their idea which they are going forth with.

Latina Lista caught Carlson as she was waiting to be interviewed for a talk radio show — Carlson said it was her fourth one so far today.

Regardless of Clinton's involvement, it looks like this initiative is proceeding full steam ahead but if the following declaration released today by the leaders of the Democratic Party is any indication, it may be shortlived.

WASHINGTON, June 4 -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DGA Chairman Joe Manchin and DNC Chairman Howard Dean today issued the following statement:

"We have come to the end of an exciting primary and caucus process -- the voters have spoken. As the Democratic leaders of the Senate, House of Representatives, the Governors and the Democratic National Committee we commend all of the participants of the 2008 primary process, especially Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, for making this such a transformational election. Because of the enthusiasm our candidates have inspired, our party has brought record numbers of voters to the polls, gained
millions of newly registered Democrats and now has advantages in states many thought were difficult to win. We are grateful to the millions of Independents and Republicans who have crossed over to vote for a Democratic candidate for President.
"Democrats must now turn our full attention to the general election. To that end, we are urging all remaining uncommitted super delegates to make their decisions known by Friday of this week so that our party can stand united and begin our march toward reversing the eight years of failed Bush/McCain policies that have weakened our country.
"We once again congratulate all of the candidates for their leadership and dedication to providing this country with a New Direction. We look forward to working with them and with all Democrats to win the White House, congressional seats and state capitals so we can deliver the change the American people
deserve and demand."

As expected, the buzz everywhere today is about Hillary's speech last night. Early reports from her campaign had said not to expect a concession speech — and she didn't disappoint.

Sen. Clinton thanks everyone for their support on June 3, 2008.
(Source: CNN)

In our last post, we felt last night should have been her night to relish the last time where she would be the sole recipient of affection from her adoring supporters. She had every right to relive the last 16 months and not to concede defeat formally.

Yet, what was surprising wasn't the fact that she said, "I will be making no decisions tonight" but that she said, "I want to hear from you. I hope you'll go to my Web site at HillaryClinton.com and share your thoughts with me and help in any way that you can."

At first impression, the invitation seemed like one further tactic to prolong the attention but the last part — "help in any way you can" left us wondering what the heck is this about.

It wasn't long before we had an answer.

It looks like it's finally the end of the road for Hillary Clinton's bid for the presidency. Though conflicting reports
have been posted all day — will she concede or won't she — it looks like she doesn't personally have to concede because it's being done for her.

Sen. Hillary Clinton

There was probably no stronger indication of that than the statement released this week from Sen. Ted Kennedy, recuperating from brain surgery, who said, "After completing treatment, I look forward to returning to the United States Senate and to doing everything I can to help elect Barack Obama as our next president."

And now, it's being reported that Clinton is ready to accept a VP position with Obama.

For the time being, it's the end of a dream for a woman who most probably entertained the idea of being the nation's first woman president since she was a kid, and while she didn't reach that goal, she set admirable milestones that should be acknowledged.

It's official — the Bush Administration can't leave the kind of Mideast legacy that they envisioned entailing where this President would be honored and thanked by people of the Mideast for bringing democracy and relieving oppression in their lands, while securing oil interests for the US.

No, this Administration is in danger of being heralded as the worst Administration in modern times on the global front. So, they must work to leave a legacy behind on home turf that will endear them to their own Party and to the vocal hardliners who dominate the media.

What better legacy to leave than to be known as the President who "got a handle on illegal immigration" by deporting thousands of people, regardless of their family circumstances. It also helps McCain seem like the Party is finally getting tough on illegal immigration too.

Undocumented immigrants in ICE custody.

However, it's also the perfect set-up and it's the Democrats who will pay the ultimate price.