CALIFORNIA YANKEE

Mexican Court Backs Calderon Victory

In a preliminary decision, Mexico's electoral court says Felipe Calderon won Mexico's July 2 presidential election. The court's seven judges still must to vote on the draft decision, but it is widely expected to confirm Calderon's victory over leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador:

The draft, drawn up by two of the seven magistrates, said Calderon had a winning margin of almost 234,000 votes.

That is around 10,000 votes less than the original margin of victory and follows recounts at around 9 percent of polling stations and the annulment of some ballot boxes.

Obrador has no intention of accepting the election result. His supporters have blockaded central Mexico City for the past month. Obrador says he will never recognize Calderon as president and has vowed to set up a parallel government.

This leftist sore loser stuff is evolving into a governmental Mexican standoff.

Leftist Destabilization Of Mexico

Mexico's electoral court unanimously rejected most of the 240 complaints leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador filed challenging last month's presidential election in Mexico.

That wasn't good enough for Obrador. Reuters reports Obrador refuses to accept defeat and said the top electoral court had shamed Mexico by upholding the July 2 election result.

The initial results showed the National Action Party's conservative candidate, Felipe Calderon, won the election by 0.58 of a percent or 244,000 votes out of 41 million ballots. The Court's action did not change that initial outcome.

The Associated Press reports a partial recount won't erase Calderon's lead, but the judges held off declaring a winner.
The court also put off until next week a decision on the request by Obrador to annul the election entirely, but the New York Times reported that the court's action virtually assured Calderón of being named president:

The judges said in open court today that the tribunal had ordered the votes from scores of polling places annulled for irregularities found during a partial recount, but that the final result would not change. They also made it clear they found no evidence of fraud.

“Based on all the annulments that were deemed necessary, all the parties lost a considerable number of votes, but that did not affect the result,” Magistrate José Alejandro Luna Ramos said.

[. . .]

All told, the court annulled 81,010 votes for Mr. Calderón and 76,897 for Mr. López Obrador after recounting ballots in about 9 percent of the precincts to satisfy legal challenges. Crossing out those votes gave the leftist candidate a slight boost of 4,183 votes, far fewer than he needed to catch up, electoral officials said.

According to the Times, Obrador's accusations have become more and more outlandish over the last month, going so far as to claim the court itself had been bribed:

On Sunday, Mr. López Obrador told a large crowd of supporters that any ruling that put Mr. Calderón in office without recounting all ballots “would be an abuse of the people’s rights, a rupture of the constitutional order and a coup d’état.”

[. . .]

Mr. López Obrador has called for a national assembly to be held in the city’s main square, the Plaza de la Constitución, on Sept. 16 to decide the future of his campaign of civil disobedience to “save democracy” and “purify public life.” He has suggested the assembly could name him president of an alternative government.

In an earlier article the Associated Press covered the leftist sore-loser plans to form a parallel government if he is not declared the winner. Obrador told supporters that they should decide whether to name a president or leader of a peaceful, civil resistance movement:

"What is chosen during the convention will have representation and that representation can be a legitimate president of the republic or, if the convention chooses, a head of a resistance government or the coordinator of peaceful civil resistance," he said.

The former mayor says his supporters will continue to block streets and cripple traffic in Mexico City for years if the Federal Electoral Tribunal doesn't grant his demand for a full recount.

Why can't leftist losers just accept it when they loose, instead of doing their best to throw the country they want to lead into chaos? And when civil unrest in Mexico slows that nation's economy, what is the United States to do as more illegal aliens cross the border looking for better opportunity and stability?

Excerpts From The Prsident Bush's ImmigratioThe following excerpts from President Bush's Immigration Address

The following excerpts from President Bush's address to the nation (as prepared for delivery) have been released.

On the President’s vision for comprehensive immigration reform:

We are a Nation of laws, and we must enforce our laws. We are also a Nation of immigrants, and we must uphold that tradition, which has strengthened our country in so many ways. These are not contradictory goals – America can be a lawful society and a welcoming society at the same time. We will fix the problems created by illegal immigration, and we will deliver a system that is secure, orderly, and fair.

On Border Security:

Since I became President, we have increased funding for border security by 66 percent, and expanded the Border Patrol from about 9,000 to 12,000 agents. . . .we have apprehended and sent home about six million people entering America illegally.

Despite this progress, we do not yet have full control of the border, and I am determined to change that. Tonight I am calling on Congress to provide funding for dramatic improvements in manpower and technology at the border."

On the Importance of a Temporary Worker Program to relieve pressure on the border:

The reality is that there are many people on the other side of our border who will do anything to come to America to work and build a better life. They walk across miles of desert in the summer heat, or hide in the back of 18-wheelers to reach our country. This creates enormous pressure on our border that walls and patrols alone will not stop. To secure the border effectively we must reduce the numbers of people trying to sneak across.

On enforcing our laws:

. . . we need to hold employers to account for the workers they hire. It is against the law to hire someone who is in this country illegally. Yet businesses often cannot verify the legal status of their employees, because of the widespread problem of document fraud. Therefore, comprehensive immigration reform must include a better system for verifying documents and work eligibility . . .

A tamper-proof card would help us enforce the law – and leave employers with no excuse for violating it. And by making it harder for illegal immigrants to find work in our country, we would discourage people from crossing the border illegally in the first place.

On the President’s opposition to amnesty:

. . . we must face the reality that millions of illegal immigrants are already here. They should not be given an automatic path to citizenship. This is amnesty, and I oppose it. Amnesty would be unfair to those who are here lawfully – and it would invite further waves of illegal immigration.

On assimilation:

. . . we must honor the great American tradition of the melting pot, which has made us one Nation out of many peoples. The success of our country depends upon helping newcomers assimilate into our society, and embrace our common identity as Americans. Americans are bound together by our shared ideals, an appreciation of our history, respect for the flag we fly, and an ability to speak and write the English language.

On the tone of the debate:

We must always remember that real lives will be affected by our debates and decisions, and that every human being has dignity and value no matter what their citizenship papers say.

It is interesting that the excerpts don't include anything about the National Guard being used to beef up the border.

Nothing Gringo - Mexico To Boycott U.S. Firms

It's bad enough that Mexico interferes in the internal affairs of the U.S. by encouraging illegal immigration and even supporting demonstrations in the U.S. supporting rights for illegal aliens, but to boycott American businesses is going too far.

CNN:

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) -- "The Great American Boycott" is spreading south of the border, as activists call for Mexicans to boycott U.S. businesses on May 1.

The protest is timed to coincide with a May 1 boycott of work and shopping in the United States that also has been dubbed "A Day Without Immigrants." The boycott, which grew out of huge pro-migrant marches across the United States, is designed to pressure Congress to legalize millions of undocumented people.

Mexican unions, political and community groups, newspaper columnists and even some Mexican government offices have joined the call in recent days.

"Remember, nothing gringo on May 1," advises one of the many e-mails being circulated among Internet users in Mexico.

"On May 1, people shouldn't buy anything from the interminable list of American businesses in Mexico," reads another. "That means no Dunkin' Donuts, no McDonald's, Burger King, Starbucks, Sears, Krispy Kreme or Wal-Mart."

Mexicans are biting the hand that feeds them a little too hard. As I have posted before, Mexicans think they have an inalienable right to migrate to the U.S.:

Mexico's economy, society and political system are built around the assumption that migration and amnesties for undocumented migrants will continue — and that the $20 billion they send home every year will keep coming, and almost certainly grow.

In fact, the government is counting on continued cash from a Mexican-born U.S. population it predicts will rise from 11 million to between 17.9 million and 20.4 million by 2030.

[. . .]

President Vicente Fox is one of many Mexican who considers the migrants "heroes," because they send money to their impoverished home villages, and in some cases risk death walking into America in pitiless desert sun.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico has warned that by tying the Mexican "Nothing Gringo" campaign to the May 1 "Day Without Immigrants" boycott in the United States Mexicans and the orginizers of the demonstration supporting rights for illegal aliens are risking a backlash.

The Chamber of Commerce is right. Many will see the Nothing Gringo boycott of America businesses for what it is - blatant anti-Americanism. I certainly do.

UPDATE: It has been suggested that an appropriate response would be a Cinco de Mayo boycott.