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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
Reflections on Christmases past, present
Oh boy! It’s
Christmas time. My
favorite time of the
year. I love Christmas. I love
giving presents. I love sing
ing Christmas carols. I love
the smell of cookies as they
come to life in the oven. I
love the hustle and bustle of
Christmas shopping. I love
the wide-eyed wonder of lit
tle children. I love watching
“It’s a Wonderful Life” and
“A Christmas Carol.” Heck,
I even love fruit cake just
not in large doses.
As a child, I remember
lying in bed on Christmas
Eve and wondering if Santa
Claus was really going to
come to my house. For one
thing, we didn’t have a chim
ney, which unnerved me a
bit. But more than that, I had
been taught that a visit from
Santa wasn’t a slam-dunk
The incredible disappearing border fence
Do you know the story
of the Incredible
Disappearing
Border Fence? It’s an object
lesson in gesture politics
and homeland insecurity.
It’s a tale of hollow rhetoric,
meaningless legislation and
bipartisan betrayal. And in
the run-up to the lowa cau
cuses, it’s a helpful learning
tool as you assess the prom
ises of immigration enforce
ment converts now running
for president.
Last fall, Democrats and
Republicans in Washington
responded to continued pub
lic outrage over border chaos
by passing the “Secure Fence
Act.” Did you question the
timing? You should have. It’s
no coincidence they finally
got off their duffs to respond
just before the 2006 midterm
elections.
Lawmakers vowed grandi
osely to keep America safe.
The law specifically called
for “at least 2 layers of rein
forced fencing, the installa
tion of additional physical
barriers, roads, lighting,
cameras and sensors” at five
specific stretches of border
Toni's stocking: A Christmas story
Our stockings are
hung by the chim
ney with care, in
hopes that Saint Nicholas -
or another paunchy guy with
toys - will soon be there.
On the far right of our
mantle is my stocking, knit
ted by a dear family friend
as a gift nearly 40 years ago.
The stocking has aged much
more gracefully than its ben
eficiary. It looks brand new -
red and green and white with
a tree etched on the bottom,
multi-colored sequins acting
as Christmas fights. Toward
the top is Rudolph, leading
the sleigh; his nose adorned
in red. In green lettering at
the top is my name.
The same family friend
knitted similar stockings for
my wife after we married,
and for two of our children.
They are hanging from the
mantle to the left of mine.
For each, their names are
knitted near the brim of the
stocking. Their stockings are
equally impressive, meticu
lously crafted and finely
made. Our third child’s
stocking is located at the end,
on the far left side of our
fireplace. His stocking has
a similar look to it, but the
markings are different than
the others. Etched toward
the top of the stocking is the
name, “Toni.”
Yes, Toni with an ‘l.’
No, our youngest son’s
RECEIVE
From page iA
laptop computers are called, is placed
in a moveable holder on the police vehicle
dashboard, and enables officers on patrol to
access information from the local level all
the way to the federal.
For example, if you’ve called 911 for help,
your address, directions to your home, and
all essential information will be immediately
accessible to the police officer responding.
On the other hand, if you’re fleeing the
law, have a criminal record, have a long
that he
rewarded
children
who had
been nice,
but not
those who
had been
naughty.
I knew I
was right
on the
«XL
■
Dick Yarbrough
Columnist
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net
cusp every year. Sure, I went
to Sunday school and church
and said, “Yes ma’am” and
“Yes sir” to adults, but I also
poured salt in the sugar jars
at the Red Bird Case when
nobody was looking, and
ran away from kindergarten
because I didn’t want to take
a nap, and deftly placed ink
spots on the necks of the
kids who sat in front of me
in class to see if they washed
their necks at night. (You’d
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700 miles.
GOP
leaders
patted
them
selves on
the back
for their
tough-
Michelle Malkin
Columnist
malkin@comcast.net
ness. President Bush made
a huge to-do in signing the
bill into law. Never mind
the lack of funding for the
fence and the failure to
address many other immedi
ate reforms that could have
been adopted immediately
to strengthen immigration
enforcement, close deporta
tion loopholes and provide
systemic relief at the border
without the need for a single
brick or bulldozer.
On the very day the bill
was signed, open-borders
politicians were already mov
ing to water it down. Texas
Republican Sens. Kay Bailey
Hutchison and John Cornyn
pushed for “flexibility to
choose other options instead
of fencing, if needed.” Six
name is
not Toni
with an I,
or even a
Y.
The
young
est child
in a fam
ily always
seems to
get hand-
Len Robbins
Columnist
airpub@planttel.net
me-downs - even when it
comes to family heirlooms.
In this case, his stocking isn’t
exactly a hand-me-down.
More like a leftover.
Allow me to explain.
Years ago, while in college,
my wife moved into an apart
ment and the previous ten
ant - an acquaintance - left a
box full of items. In this box
was the “Toni” stocking. My
wife tried to get in touch with
Toni to return this keepsake,
but could never find her.
Knowing it was an irre
placeable memento, she
couldn’t bear to throw the
stocking away. So as she
moved from place to place
over the years, Toni’s stock
ing went with her.
Two years ago, when our
youngest son neared his first
Christmas, we never even
thought about providing him
with a stocking of his own.
We were too busy with potty
training and getting gum
out of hair and other such
child-rearing issues. Then,
record of traffic violations, are driving a
stolen car or have an abducted child or other
missing person with you, the officer has
access to vital information.
The MDTs keep radio communications
from being tied up, and give officers ready
access to the information they need, Potter
said.
Some of the vehicles already have them
installed. The funding will be used to have
still more officers on the highway with the
entire information highway right in front of
their eyes.
Training is provided for each officer using
the MDTs, Potter said.
be surprised how many
didn’t.) As you can imagine,
a Christmas visit from Santa
was always touch-and-go.
I am happy to report that a
magnanimous and forgiving
Santa Claus managed to over
look my deficiencies every
year with train sets, baseball
gloves, bicycles and other
neat stuff. Every Christmas
morning, I heaved a sigh of
relief and swore I would keep
the “naughty” list down to
an absolute minimum before
the next Christmas rolled
around. It was pretty much
a losing battle.
A lot of Christmases have
come and gone since those
days of my dissolute youth.
I have watched two little
moppets who never had to
worry about Santa coming
to see them, because they
were always more nice
months after passage of
the Secure Fence Act - now
interpreted by Washington
as the Flexible Non-Fence
Act or, as I call it, the Fence
in Name Only Act - 700 miles
shrunk to “somewhere in
the ballpark” of 370 miles. A
14-mile fence-building proj
ect in San Diego was stalled
for years by environmental
legal challenges and budget
shortfalls.
The first deadline - a May
30 requirement for instal
lation of an “interlocking
surveillance camera system”
along the border in California
and Arizona - passed unmet.
GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter,
one of the few Republican
presidential candidates to
walk the talk on border
security, blasted the Bush
administration for suffering
from “a case of ‘the slows’
on border enforcement.”
More than a year after the
law’s passage, the citizen
watchdog group Grassfire
reports that just five miles
of double-layer fencing has
been built in the first 12
months of implementation
of the act.
when we were hanging up
our stockings, we realized we
didn’t have one for him.
“Hey, let’s just hang up this
one,” I offered, pulling the
Toni stocking from one of the
dozens of Christmas boxes
extracted from the attic. “He
can’t read. He won’t know
the difference.”
Two years later, he still
can’t read, and has no clue
he’s being cheated in terms
of personalized holiday dec
orations. But others have
noticed.
“I recognize all these other
names as members of your
family, but who’s Toni?,”
asked a visitor to our home
last year while perusing our
mantle. My wife and I looked
at each other, then each came
up with a different answer,
spoken at the exact same
time. “She’s our dog,” my
wife gushed. I said, “he’s our
Italian foreign exchange stu
dent.”
To avoid such moments,
my wife turned the stock
ing’s name - Toni - toward
the wall. Once a day, I turn-it
back outward, just for kicks.
When we will get our son
his own stocking and not use
someone’s leftover? I don’t
know. I figure we have a few
more years before he starts
reading. And we could always
hold up him back to buy
more time. No rush. Besides,
Santa knows who he is.
OPINION
than naughty, grow up and
become responsible parents
with children of their own.
I have seen four excited
little grandboys, who could
rip into presents faster than
piranhas can strip a big fish,
morph into strapping young
adults who are the epitome
of “cool.”
I have witnessed the
politically correct crowd
try to stomp out the spir
it of Christmas at every
turn. They are modern-day
Grinches whose shoes are
too tight and whose hearts
are two sizes too small. But
they serve to remind us that
we should focus more on the
real meaning of Christmas
and it is not Santa Claus
and presents and parties
and decorations and Black
Fridays.
Christmas is the time we
Five lousy miles. The
Government Accountability
Office claims 70 miles were
erected - but most of that
fencing failed to meet the
specifications of the law.
Is Congress up in arms?
Will there be accountabil
ity? Don’t make me snort.
Instead of demanding that
the law be enforced, the pols
are sabotaging the law.
As part of the omnibus
spending package passed
this week, House Democrats
incorporated Senate
Republicans’ provisions to
remove the two-layer fenc
ing requirements and the
specific target list of fencing
locations.
GOP Rep. Peter T.
King, who sponsored the
Secure Fence Act, told the
Washington Times: “This is
either a blatant oversight or
a deliberate attempt to dis
regard the border security of
our country. As it’s currently
written, the omnibus lan
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Christians celebrate the birth
of Christ to a virgin mother in
a manger in Bethlehem. His
birth, death and resurrec
tion form the foundation of
our faith, and the PC police
can never take that away
from us if we believe. Let me
suggest we lower the decibel
level and reflect on the real
miracle of Christmas. Be still
and know.
As has been our custom
for many years, we gather
at church with friends on
Christmas Eve and soak up
a Christmas message from
Dr. Gil Watson, the World’s
Greatest Preacher, guar
anteed to be so riveting it
would slack-jaw ol’ St. Peter.
(I swear, if I could ever get
that ACLU crowd to church,
Dr. Gil would have them
gnashing their teeth and
asking for forgiveness of sins
guage guts the Secure Fence
Act almost entirely. Quite
simply, it is unacceptable.”
But so totally, totally pre
dictable.
Republican Leader John
Boehner tried to blame the
House Democrat majority:
“The fact that this was bur
ied in a bloated, 3,500-page
omnibus speaks volumes
about the Democrats’ unseri
ous approach on border
security and illegal immigra
tion,” he said. “Gutting the
Secure Fence Act will make
our borders less secure, but
it’s consistent with the pat
tern of behavior we’ve seen
all year from this major
ity.” But it’s border state
Republicans who’ve been
gunning to undermine the
law while the ink was still
fresh.
To add insult to injury
and homeland insecurity
upon homeland insecurity.
Congress failed to adopt a
ban on federal aid to sanc
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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2007 ♦
before we ever got around to
taking up the collection. The
man can preach.) After cel
ebrating Holy Communion,
we fight candles, the sanc
tuary fights dim, and we
sing “Silent Night.” At that
precise moment I feel closer
to God than at any other
time of the year. And like
that little boy of long ago, I
always swear I will keep my
“naughty” fist to an abso
lute minimum before the
next Christmas rolls around.
Alas, after all these years it
is still pretty much a losing
battle.
Merry Christmas to you
and yours.
You can reach
Dick Yarbrough at
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net, P.O.
Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia
31139, or website: www.dick
yarbrough.com.
tuary cities that prevent
government employees and
law enforcement officers
from asking about immigra
tion status; voted to stall
implementation of strict
er ID standards at border
crossings; and miraculously
found enough money to pro
vide $lO million in “emer
gency” funding for attorneys
of illegal aliens.
Next time you hear a
leading presidential candi
date try to woo you with
his nine-point immigration
enforcement plan or his
secure ID plan or his Secure
Borders platform, point to
the Incredible Disappearing
Border Fence. Poof! That is
what happens to election
season homeland security
promises. Why would theirs
be any different?
Michelle Malkin is
author of Unhinged:
Exposing Liberals Gone
Wild. Her e-mail address is
malkinblog@gmail.com.
Message by
Rev. Jenny
Jackson-Adams
gh.
@ Child Care
H Provided
7A
57229