http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20050603 ... -6769r.htm

OP/ED
Nobles and knaves
The Washington Times
June 4, 2005


Nobles: Texas Gov. Rick Perry, for rejecting an open-borders proposal.
The new line from the anti-Minuteman Project crowd in Texas is that the Minutemen could "impede the traffic and negatively affect both tourism and trade along the border." So said state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, who along with 10 other Texas lawmakers signed a resolution asking Mr. Perry to block the upcoming Texas Minuteman vigil in October, which Jerry Seper reported Thursday in The Washington Times. The vigil is expected to take place along the Rio Grande River, which forms a border between Texas and Mexico.
The state lawmakers' argument, of course, implies that the law-abiding folk contributing to Texas' tourist and trade economies are forgoing the usual avenues of entry into the United States, like roads, in favor of wading across the Rio Grande and hopping barbed-wire fences. As convincing as this argument supposedly is, U.S. Rep Sheila Jackson-Lee asked Mr. Perry to "disinvite" the Minutemen because of her concerns that the Arizona vigil had "incensed" the people, which could lead to "deadly violence."
The governor wasn't buying it. He told Mrs. Jackson-Lee to do her job as a member of the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, border security and claims. "The federal government can and must do more to close the border to illegal immigration," Mr. Perry said. "Until that happens, these kinds of citizen-initiated efforts likely will be the result. If you want to send the Minutemen home, I urge you to make sure we have enough federal agents on the border to secure it."
The open-borders partisans who oppose the Minutemen need to start coming up with better reasons for their opposition, preferably ones that address the issue of illegal aliens. Otherwise, all their talk about violence, trade and tourism isn't going to convince a nation fed up with the federal government's inability to perform one of its primary tasks: defending the borders.
For allowing American citizens to do what the government won't, Mr. Perry is the Noble of the week.
Knaves: Anette Pharris, for hiring a stripper for her son's 16th birthday party.
It's not exactly the Brady Bunch, but at least the Pharris family does things together. Like last September, when Mom Pharris threw a birthday party for her minor son, Landon. Landon's 14-year-old brother, Brandon, was there and about 30 of Landon's closest friends had been invited -- as well as one, rather unfortunate guest. "We even had grandpa there," Mrs. Pharris told The Tennessean, which reported that about 10 of the guests were under 18. Mrs. Pharris also told her story on "Good Morning America," where she appeared in a strapless top.
The entertainment for the night was one Cassandra "Sassy" Joyce Park. As Sassy, who at one point was fully nude, performed for the party, Mrs. Pharris took some pictures for the family album. Bad idea. When she went to get those pictures developed, an employee at the drug store contacted the police, who then charged Mom and Dad Pharris, as well as Sassy, her escort and employer. A grand jury has indicted the group of adults with misdemeanors and felonies, including contributing to the delinquency of a minor and involving a minor in obscene acts.
"It's a bunch of bull," Mrs. Pharris said after the indictment was handed down this week. "My son is very mature." Maybe. But it's all relative.
For mistaking her son's birthday party for a bachelor party, Mrs. Pharris is the Knave of the week.