Why we have illegal immigration, part 9,396

Dude, if Cuauhtemoc (one of my favorite-ever names to say, though I can't stand the guy's politics) is against you, then . . . give it up! (He won't of course.)

Lopez Obrador's Election Fraud

Prayer for the Pope's trip to Turkey

The Knights of Columbus have an excellent prayer to pray during the Holy Father's trip to Turkey. I hope that all those, Catholic and non-, who are of goodwill and desire a successful trip with positive talks, will join in praying for the safety of the Pope and his retinue, as well as all Christians and others in Turkey favorably disposed to the Pope. (I guess we can count Polly Toynbee out.) (h/t American Papist, who'll have all the coverage)

Spiritual Pilgrimage With Pope Benedict XVI

Why Britain's Conservatives are parody-proof

Yes, you'll read it right: Polly Toynbee.

And, no, it's not a satire. Too bad. (Via SteynOnline.)

Cameron told: it's time to ditch Churchill

One of David Cameron's key policy advisers will urge the party today to abandon its Churchillian and "out of date" ideas about the welfare state, the Guardian has learned. Greg Clark, who is overhauling the party's approach to poverty at the Tory leader's request, will urge Conservatives to look to the Guardian commentator Polly Toynbee rather than the wartime leader.

Seriously: Not a satire.

(Y'know, Bob Tyrrell of the American Spectator used to -- still does, actually -- call the former president "Boy Clinton". I think "Boy Cameron" is even more appropriate.)

Cardinal Arinze schools liturgists in Latin translation

Pro multis means "for many," Vatican rules

About bloody time, too.

In the election fallout . . .

David Frum wonders, "Will Mark Steyn have to retitle his new book, Canada and Australia Alone?"

Yes

Well, it's just been a bit depressing (though not as depressing as many would have liked it to be), and I have to have stitches taken out tomorrow (from a surgery last week, one of the reasons I haven't been around). Leave you with this, from NRO's Sixers blog:

White House to do list
[Greg Pollowitz 11/08 12:34 AM]

1. FIND veto stamp

2. BUY ink for veto stamp

3. ASK Alberto how Executive Privilege works again

Who else "ran to the center"?

Not just Bob Casey:

Sandinista Head Daniel Ortega Wins Nicaragua Presidential Election

MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega, a former Marxist revolutionary who fought a U.S.-backed insurgency in the 1980s, has won Nicaragua's presidential election, according to results released Tuesday.

. . . Ortega, who served as president from 1985-90, toned down his once-fiery rhetoric during the campaign, promising to support a regional free trade agreement with the U.S. and maintain good relations with Washington.

He says he has changed profoundly since he befriended Soviet leaders, expropriated land and fought Contra rebels in a war that left 30,000 dead and the economy in shambles.

He ran as "the New Ortega"? Wow, hadn't heard that angle, wonder why?

Greg Gutfield at NRO

Greg Gutfield has a totally hilarious "interview" with himself up at NRO. Some LOL samples:

Q: If you were Joe Lieberman — totally trashed by your party in the primary — what’s the first thing you would say upon winning reelection? What’s the first thing you would do when you got back to work?
A: Switch parties. But if I’m Joe, I just want to be loved, so I wouldn’t become a Republican. I might join the Birthday Party. Everyone would eventually join that party, especially Democrats.

Europeans will still hate us — which will confound liberals, who crave their acceptance so badly it hurts. But if the Democrats truly want Europeans to love them, they should look into some of those relationship ads on Craigslist.

Q: What will London be saying about us the morning after our elections?
A: They will say things like: “The writing is on the wall. Iraq policy is a monumental failure that destroyed the hopes of any Republican victory. It looks like the end for neo-cons.” They will say this even if the Republicans actually win. They’ll also say, “Maybe America is finally waking up,” because they’re, like, five hours ahead of us. But they will say it in a really funny accent — which will make it entertaining to small children they meet in the park.

Latest AP results

Well, now, the Republican govs are starting to r-r-r-roll in.

I can't stand Rick Perry -- but he sure beats all the others. A perfect example of my thought that this election has been between terrible (R) and terriblest (D and most I's).

The REAL shocker of the day

Britney Spears files for divorce in LA

Wow, didn't see that one coming.

(Cheeky video blogger @ AP says, "Britney Spears Is K-Fed Up!" Boy, aren't we all.)

Results rolling in

OMG. Gov. Eliot Spitzer. Truly, is this not a sign of the end times? OTOH, who the heck was he running against? (Or, as K-Lo put it in Hillary Clinton's case - paraphrasing - "Sen. Clinton will claim victory. This will come as a shock to many New Yorkers, who did not even realize she was running opposed.") Thankfully, the sensible, Weicker-loving voters of Conn. have spared us Sen. Lamont - sweet Jesus, hurts just thinking about that.

Here's some of the great, incisive commentary we can expect in the next few days. It's the first time I've seen this meme tonight -- but not the last, I'm sure.

Nov 7, 9:02 PM EST

Analysis: War Weary Voters Seek Change

By TERENCE HUNT
AP White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Weary of war and angry at the president who started it, Americans vented their frustration in the voting booth Tuesday. It was a clear call for change aimed at President Bush and a Republican Congress that has marched in step behind the commander in chief.

I'm sure it's news to the President (and to the Congress) that Congress "has marched in step behind the commander in chief". And this guy is supposedly a WH correspondent?

(Another "instant classic" just seen: "Democrats Score Upsets in Key Races". You go, AP. What on earth will you write if Steele wins in Maryland - "Black Republican ekes out freakish win"?)

Watching and waiting

The returns are starting to come in. I'm for a hold in the Senate and 1- or 2-seat Dem majority in the House, but I'm ready to be proven wrong on that last (i.e., fewer Dems), and this election could still go any way. But that's what I think we'll see at the end of the evening. NRO has its usual symposium of predictions, including "how would you write tomorrow's NYT headline?" (which most participants read as, "how will tomorrow's NYT headline read?", a slightly different question). This produced, naturally, some amusing answers, including Kathryn Lopez' "GOP Retakes Congress. Minorities, Women, and Children Hurt Most." and Kate O'Beirne's "Democrats Defeat Black Candidates in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland." Of all the statements, Mark Steyn's comment on this overall pathetic election, with its choices of bad and worse, resonated most:

[If the Democrats take the House or entire Congress], of course, it will be a sobering moment: The American people will have chosen to reward a September 10th party mired in sour oppositionism and cobwebbed boomer pieties. Don’t get me wrong. Both wings of the political class have underperformed since 9/11, and this unlovely election is the consequence. But even a narrow Dem victory will embolden the media: Unlike 2004, they’ll have succeeded in dragging the dead horse of the Democratic party across the finish line, and they’ll be even more audacious in two years’ time.

However, even if the Dems take both houses, I predict they'll have a harder time of it in charge than they think they will -- and I agree with the NRO commenter who doesn't forsee a Speaker Pelosi, even with a Dem House.

The plea from our servicemen on Election Day

At Hugh Hewitt:

Thank goodness

To any whiners: I suppose you would have preferred the American forces to have shot him when they found him? What would you people have been like at Nuremburg? In fact, I can just see Ramsay Clark at Nuremburg . . .

Iraqi Tribunal Sentences Saddam to Hang