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Today's Stories December 24, 2007 Andrea Peacock A Dark Ride on the Border December 22 / 23, 2007 Alexander Cockburn Mike Huckabee's Ascending Chariot Ralph Nader Politics and Profits: How the Oil Cartel Gets Its Way Andy Worthington Intelligence Failures, Battlefield Myths and Unaccountable Prisons in Afghanistan Ahmad Faruqui The Comedian of Pakistan Bill Moyers Society on Steroids Rev. William E. Alberts Blessed are the Peacemakers Timothy J. Freeman From Kant to Lennon: Can War Really be Over? Anthony DiMaggio Democrats Continue to Capitulate on Iraq Fred Gardner Molecule of the Year, Cannabiodiol Paul Krassner Enhanced Hazing Techniques Seth Sandronsky 17 Years of Meanness: Repealing California's Three Strikes Law William Loren Katz Christmas Eve Freedom Fighters: Recalling the Battle of Lake Okeechobee Michael Dickinson In the Dungeon of the Zabita Ron Jacobs Why Leon Russell Still Matters David Vest Doyle Bramhall's "Is It News?" Poets' Basement Orloski, Davies and Ford Website of the Weekend George W. Hates Santa   December 21, 2007 John Ross New Massacres Loom in Mexico Jacob Hornberger Nothing Can Morally Justify the Invasion of Iraq Dick J. Reavis A Way Out of the Newspaper Abyss Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon The 2007 P.U.-litzer Prizes Peter Morici Business as Usual as Recession Looms Jack McCarthy Let Us Now Praise Judith Regan (Even If She Did Sleep with Bernie Kerik) Raúl Zibechi Sex and Revolution Steve Early How the Presidential Candidates Made Me an Atheist David Macaray Union Aftermath Patrick Bond Zuma, the Center-Left and the Left-Left in S. Africa Lakota Freedom Delegation A Declaration of Independence from the USA Website of the Day Solomon v. Beck: Tale of the Tape   December 20, 2007 David Rosen Mitt Romney's Secret Life as a Pornographer Alan Farago The Huckster and the Wreckage: Jeb Bush and the Subprime Mortgage Crisis Laura Carlsen Standing Up to NAFTA Ashley Dawson The Return of the Bread Riot Wayne Smith and Jennifer Schuett Cuba Changes, US Policy Stagnates Website of the Day How to Talk to a FoxNews Reporter   December 19, 2007 Saul Landau Is the NIE Bush's Watergate? Paul W. Lovinger Hillary the Hawk Norman Solomon The Mad Corporate World of Glenn Beck Dave Zirin George Mitchell's Drugs of Choice Marjorie Cohn Bush Still Spinning Iranian Nukes Sen. Russell Feingold The Iraq War is Exhausting Our Nation Sonja Karkar A Christmas Reflection on Palestine Anthony Papa Open the Drug Gulags Christopher Ketcham Pave the Holy Lands with Good Intentions Davey D Britney's Little Sister is Pregnant: Should We Blame Hip Hop? Website of the Day When Republicans Use the F-Word on TV   December 18, 2007 R. F. Blader The Politics of Teen Pregnancy George Wuerthner Gunning for Wolves in Idaho Steven Higgs Can the NAFTA Superhighway be Stopped? Vijay Prashad Encounters with Ghadar David Macaray The Free Rider Problem Ralph Nader Nine Books That Make a Difference: a Reading List for the Holidays Eva Liddell Privatizing War Abroad, Invading Privacy at Home Martha Rosenberg While the Bodies are Still Warm: Drugs, Shrinks and Shooters Dave Lindorff When Impeachment is Out of Print Peter Morici The Consequences the Trade Deficit Website of the Day Ron Paul: How Fascism Will Come to America   December 17, 2007 Mike Whitney Staring Into the Abyss Tom Barry Planning the War on Immigrants Uri Avnery A Gaza Masada? Greg Moses Crossing the Line in Texas Allan Nairn Terrorism; Counter- Terrorism: Excuses for Murder Patrick Bond South Africa's Fight Between Hostile Brothers Stephen Lendman Police State America Charles Jonkel Grizzly Right of Way Laray Polk An Inside-Out Crisis in Gaza Stephen Fleischman Pawns in Their Game December 15 / 16, 2007 Peter Linebaugh A People's Penny for the Magna Carta Howard Zinn Bomb After Bomb Standard Schaefer The Greening of Big Tobacco Raymond J. Lawrence Let's Take Christ Out of Christmas Alan Farago Down on Desolation Row: the Vultures and the Growth Machine Saul Landau Lord Byron and the Bad Tourists Jenna Orkin Lying to "Reassure" the Public: Bush's EPA and the Post-9/11 Toxic Air Cover-Up Ahmad Samih Khalidi Why a Palestinian "State" is a Punitive Construct Robert Fantina Politics By Photo-Op Missy Comley Beattie Resistance Amid the Ruins Ramzy Baroud Of Mormons and Muslims James L. Secor A Vision for China's Future Elijah Wald Ike Turner's Music Won't be Forgotten Website of the Weekend The Alliance for the Wild Rockies Needs (and Deserves) Your Support   December 14, 2007 JoAnn Wypijewski The Dirty Cad: What Giuliani's Sex Life Tells Us About Him John Ross Iraqi Refugees Return: One Cruel Hoax Jacob Hornberger Terror Suspects Belong in Federal Court Andy Worthington Guantánamo and the Supreme Court: What Happened? Allan Nairn "Shoot Them on the Spot": Rewarding War Crimes Dave Zirin The Mitchell Report: Absolving the Owners Dave Lindorff The First Cut is the Deepest Misty MacDuffee Toxic Grizzlies Ben Terrall What Happened to Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine? Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi Prerequisites for Peace Website of the Day Sen. Kit Bond: "Waterboarding is Like Swimming"   December 13, 2007 Paul Craig Roberts Shrinking the Dollar from the Inside-Out Mike Whitney Dershowitz for the Defense--of Waterboarding Ron Jacobs Blank Check DemocratsL the Great War Funding Conspiracy Norman Solomon The USA's Human Rights Daze Peter Morici The Dragon and the Toothless Dog: China Doesn't Flinch Sandy Mayes Blocking the Strykers: 13 Days of War Resistance at Port Olympia Franklin Lamb The UN in Lebanon: Whose Mission Is It Fulfilling? Jacob Hornberger Don't Reform the CIA, Abolish It Nadim Rouhana An Interloper in My Own Land Dave Zirin On Pigskin and Petrol Website of the Day Rachel's Needs (and Deserves) Your Support! December 12, 2007 Allan Nairn US Intelligence is Tapping Indonesian Phones Alan Farago How Sprawl Eats Its Young Ray McGovern Torture, Lies and Videotape Winslow T. Wheeler The Phony Pentagon Budget Cuts Evan Jones The Raid on Great Western: Why an Australian Bank Might Spell Doom for the US Farm Belt James Petras An Open Letter to Sarkozy on the Exchange of Political Prisonsers Joel Hirschorn The Horserace Fiction: Clinton, Obama and the Democratic Machine Joshua Frank Why Ron Paul Deserves Our Attention Sherry Wolf Why the Left Should Reject Ron Paul Dan Bacher Survey of a Fish Graveyard Website of the Day Men Eating Bugs   December 11, 2007 Patrick Cockburn What's Really Happened During the Surge? Diana Johnstone The Next Kosovo War Paul Craig Roberts It's Waco All Over Again: Preventive Detention and the Constitution David Macaray Impasse in Hollywood Ralph Nader Gail Collins Versus the Underdogs Andy Worthington Guantánamo Britons to be Released: a Mixed Result Martha Rosenberg No Holiday for High Risk Sex Workers Steve Champion / Anthony Ross Words for Our Brother, Tookie Williams Kim Nicolini Tangled Up in Dylan Michael Dickinson Say Goodbye to Purgatory: Pope Rat Gets Indulgent Website of the Day A Charming (and Worthy) Pitch December 10, 2007 Uri Avnery How They Stole the Bomb From Us Debbie Nathan The Perils of Journalism and Child Porn JoAnn Wypijewski Is There a Left Here Left? If So, What Can It Do? Steve Kelly Cheap Chips, Counterfeit Wilderness Donna J. Volatile Welcome to the Revolution   December 8 / 9, 2007 Alexander Cockburn The Coup Against Bush and Cheney Brenda Norrell Seize the Land, Chain the Peace Activists Saul Landau The Ruins of Empire R. F. Blader A Rape in Every Drink? Ray McGovern Spinning Iran's Centrifuges Allan Nairn Imposed Hunger in Gaza, the Army in Indonesia Linn Washington, Jr Spotlight on Death Row Paul Craig Roberts When Will Bush Come Clean?   December 7, 2007 Sean Penn Piano Wire Puppeteers Arthur Versluis Mining Water in the Desert M. G. Piety Racism and the American Psyche: Some Thoughts on Race and Intelligence Pam Martens Banksters Gone Wild Alan Farago Will the Free Market Kill Suburbia? Sprawl and the Credit Crisis Allan Nairn It Takes (Out) a Village Col. Dan Smith Bush, Iran and the Politics of Doomsday Alice Slater The Iran Opening Robert Weissman The Story of Stuff Website of the Day Something About Mitt   December 5, 2007 Mike Whitney Why the CFR Hates Putin Sharon Smith The Anti-War Enablers: Tom Hayden and the Dead End Democrats James Petras Venezuela in the Aftermath Ron Jacobs The Iran Charade Dave Zirin Kicking a Dead Man: the Sliming of Sean Taylor John V. Whitbeck Two States or One? Time to Choose Peter Zinn Covered in New Orleans Niranjan Ramakrishnan Impeach Pelosi Instead Alan Farago The Credit Bomb Detonates in Florida Heather Gray US Meddling in Australian Politics Website of the Day A Donner Summit Night Before Xmas   December 4, 2007 Alexander Cockburn Jackboot State Stubs Its Toe in Ann Arbor Andy Worthington Guantánamo and the Supreme Court Paul Craig Roberts The Lies at the End of the American Dream Ray McGovern No-Nuke Iran Winslow T. Wheeler Admiral Mullen and the Defense Budget: When White Elephants are Too Small Allan Nairn The Regime Still Stands in Burma, Where "the People Just Want Food" Russell Mokhiber The USA v. Al Arian Nikolas Kozloff As Chávez Falters: Raising the Stakes for the South American Left John V. Walsh Peace Movement Paralyzed Ghada Ageel Will Peace Cost Me My Home? Stephen Soldz The Facts be Damned!: Psychologists' President Defends Psychologist Involvement in Interrogations Website of the Day Hands Off the People of Iran     December 3, 2007 Tariq Ali Venezuela After the Referendum Bill Quigley New Orleans: Bulldozers for the Poor, Tax Credits for Developers Eric Walberg The Bible and Middle East History Uri Avnery After Annapolis Marjorie Cohn Operation Iraqi Freedom Exposed Dave Lindorff Vengeance Isn't Sweet Stephen Fleischman Homeless in Paradise Martha Rosenberg Perp Walks for the Mink Clad on Chicago's Mag Mile Website of the Day So Just Lead!   December 1 / 2, 2007 Alexander Cockburn Emblems of the Bush Age: Adrift in a Sea of Booze Jeffrey St. Clair The Bear Minimum: the Grizzly and the Future of the Rocky Mountain West Mike Whitney "Iraq Doesn't Exist Anymore": an Interview with Nir Rosen Shemon Salam A Visit From the FBI Roger Burbach The Battle in Bolivia Benjamin Dangl New Politics in Old Bolivia Brian M. Downing The Quiet on the Middle Eastern Front: How Much Credit Goes to the Surge? Greg Moses Night of the Living Redneck: a Texas Horror Story Sonja Karkar The "Never-Never" Peace Conference Saul Landau Ethics and Evil in South Boston Margaret Kimberley Black America Left Behind John Ross What are the Prospects for a New Mexican Revolution? Reza Fiyouzat Exit on the Left: When Che's Children Visited Iran Judith Scherr Berkeley Turns Right for the Holidays Lance Olsen Of Forests and Finance: Logging for the Wealthy Christopher Brauchli Mr. Bush and the Despots Robert Fantina Iraq as U.S. Colony Dan Bacher Fish Triage on Prospect Island Michael Donnelly Remembering How to be Human: John Trudell and the Music of Urgency Website of the Weekend Appalachian Voices   November 30, 2007 Peter Stone Brown The Re-Packaging of Bob Dylan Wajahat Ali The Volatile Mistress: an Interview with Javed Jabbar, Pakistan's Former Minister of Information Allan Nairn Cold-Blooded Celebrity: Thomas L. Friedman and the Bali Bombers Alan Farago The Sorrows of Suburbia: Politics, Sprawl and the Housing Crash John Ross The Death of Latin America's First Revolution Corporate Crime Reporter America's Corporate Crime Capitals Lucia Alvarez Diego Gonzalez Argentina's Political Future James Rothenberg The Iraqi Miracle Website of the Day Bio-Bling?   November 29, 2007 R. F. Blader The Most Dangerous Kind of Bribe Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Distorting Fascism to Demonize Iran Stephen Soldz War on the Couch: Fear, Aggression and Empire Sheldon Richman Iraq 3.0 George Wuerthner Forest Fires, Lies and Chainsaws Felice Pace Did All Things Considered Self-Censor on Annapolis? Col. Dan Smith The Meaning of Annapolis Harvey Wasserman Terror Target Nukes Nikolas Kozloff Primetime Hate Debate: Lou Dobbs, Immigration and Campaign '08 Paul Krassner Huffington Post Bloggers Go On Strike! Dave Lindorff News Not Fit to Print: US Coup Planned for Venezuela? CP News Service The One State Declaration Website of the Day A Native View of Yellowstone Bison Slaughter November 28, 2007 James Petras CIA Destabilization Memo Surfaces on Venezuela Jeff Halper Annapolis: When the Roadmap is a One Way Street Pam Martens Crashing Citigroup Peter Morici Economy in Crisis: Avoiding a Recession Mohammed Khatib Separate and Unequal in Palestine Helen Redmond The Horror and the Hope: Health Care in America William S. Lind In the Fox's Lair: Quiet Before a New Iraq Storm? Ben Tripp We, the People: a Trope for All Seasons Liaquat Ali Khan Pakistan: First, Restore the Constitution and Reinstate the Judges Jeff Berg Holbrooke Says Bush Won't Attack Iran Website of the Day The Lies of Joe Klein   November 27, 2007 Joe DeRaymond On the Road to the Torture School Paul Craig Roberts Meet the Only Two Candidates Worse Than Bush and Cheney: Hillary and Rudy Marjorie Cohn Remembering Victor Rabinowitz Mike Whitney A Dollar the Size of a Postage Stamp Ron Jacobs The Myths of Military Progress Col. Dan Smith The Pentagon's "People System" Still Doesn't Work Ralph Nader Family Learning Karim Makdisi Annapolis and the Unholy Alliance: the View from Beirut Christopher Ketcham Memo to Hollywood Writers: Strike Until You Drop Ronan Bennett Martin Amis Does a Coulter Website of the Day Celebrating the Uncensored Media   November 26, 2007 Kathleen and Bill Christison Heading for Annapolis Paul Craig Roberts The End of All That David Macaray Enter Mediator Sameer Dossani Pakistan's Wounded Dictator Roger Burbach The Final Battle in Bolivia Mark Scaramella Guns and Greed in the Emerald Empire Brian McKinlay Howard's End Rick Kuhn The Fall of a Racist Union Buster Binoy Kampmark Ruddslide and Dull Alec Monica Benderman What Do You Know of War? Brenda Norrell Return to Alcatraz Website of the Day Ghostworld by DJ Spooky   November 24 / 25, 2007 Alexander Cockburn The Ordeal of Catherine Wilkerson, MD Robert Fisk Darkness Falls on the Middle East Saul Landau Norman Mailer will Not R.I.P. Jeffrey St. Clair Justice Stephen Breyer, Cancer Bonds and the Origins of Neoliberal Environmentalism Rannie Amiri Beirut's Black Friday Christopher Brauchli Iraq Embassy as Gilded Palace Daniel Gross The Gap and Black Friday Mike Whitney "A Generalized Meltdown of Financial Institutions" Marjorie Cohn Iran and the 2008 Elections David Rosen Senior Sex: the Real Sexual Life of Aging Americans David Michael Green If Conservatism is the Ideology of Freedom .... Kenneth Rexroth When Euripides Played the Hindu Kush: Greeks and Buddhists in Afghanistan Muhammad Iqbal Trans. Shahid Alam Ghazal Website of the Day Aerial Footage of Delta Fish Kill November 23, 2007 Gary Leupp Killing the Buddha in Pakistan's Swat Valley Laura Carlsen Coming to Terms with Diversity in Bolivia: an Interview with Alvaro Garcia, Bolivia's VP David Macaray Keeping Labor Unions Out Andy Worthington Former Guantánamo Detainee Seeks Asylum in Sweden Clifton Ross Trashing Chavez: Keith Olberman's Toxic Rant Seth Sandronsky Battling Sodexho Dan Bacher Death in the Delta: Thousands of Fish Stranded by Bureau of Reclamation William A. Cook The Myth of Middle East Peace Website of the Day Waiting for the Guards: Stress Techniques as Torture, a Short Film   November 22, 2007 Alan Farago Who Lost America's Everglades? Greg Moses A Thanksgiving Basting Dave Lindorff Impeachment is Back on the Table Mike Ely Native Blood: the Myth pf Thanksgiving Omar Azfar Gore for President of Pakistan?   November 21, 2007 Vijay Prashad Our Dictator, Their Democracy Martha Rosenberg Undercover at a Turkey Slaughtering Plant Manuel Garcia, Jr. Epiphany on the Glacier John Ross The Last Days of Mexican Corn Brian McKenna Cancer Terrorists Unmasked Stephen Soldz Isolation Torture Routine at Guatánamo Monica Benderman Needing Peace Ben Terrall Slavery in the Fields: The Real Price of Sugar Website of the Day Mercy for Animals               Subscribe Online

Weekend Edition December 24, 2007 Cat-and-Mouse with La Migra A Dark Ride on the Border By ANDREA PEACOCK The sirens woke me up. The dogs broke into a howl, abruptly as though it woke them as well. Gee, that sounded close, I thought. Then the howls turned into barks, and Donna was outside calling them in. A few moments later, shouts. Doug was out of bed, struggling with the inside-out sleeves of his robe, and I followed, tossing on a t-shirt and pair of shorts. We joined Donna on the back patio, where I peered around the corner of her orchid room and caught sight of a uniformed man standing on alert, next to a gray pickup truck. "He's trying to keep them all corralled," she said. "I'm just hoping the carport is still there." I went back inside to make coffee, then started out the front door for the paper. That's when the Border Patrol van pulled up, and I noticed the cruiser sitting in our driveway. "I thought that sounded close," I said to no one in particular. As we watched, the agent from the backyard marched four short, stocky men wearing layers of dark green and brown clothing, each with their hands on the shoulder of the man in front of him, into the van. Another agent appeared from around the garage, and escorted four more out of the back of the cruiser. Four, Donna said, had gotten away. I saw our neighbors across the street watching from their windows as well. The second agent, tall and blond, walked over to us and told Donna to call the Border Patrol office if she noticed any damage. He was sorry about all the fuss, he said. It was the second time in as many weeks a truckload of illegal immigrants, chased by BP agents, had turned off into these neighborhood streets, cutting through yards in hopes of reaching the dry Santa Cruz riverbed. "No problem," she said. "Is my carport still standing?" Doug and I took our coffee and headed back to bed, luxuriating in a few moments in which we had no other tasks. We had a good half-hour before Donna knocked: "How's your Spanish?" she asked. I threw a bathrobe on and followed her out the front door. Standing at the side of the house were two girls, dressed in the same bulky camouflaged layers as the men we had seen marched away. Donna handed one a phone. I asked in my pig Spanish: ¿Necessita ayuda? One of the women gestured at the phone. I pointed to the nearly empty water bottle held by the second. ¿Agua? They passed me their bottles, and I took them inside, filled them, grabbed a grocery sack and tossed some bananas and brownies in it. Back outside, the phone was not working. I handed over the food, and Donna coaxed the girls in. They had a phone number for somewhere in Mexico, but we couldn't seem to get a call through. Our neighbors across the street were outside, talking loudly. "They were just here!" I heard the woman call, a shrill note of excitement to her voice. I expected they would call the Border Patrol, the cute blonde would be back. But the minutes ticked away, and no one pulled up. The girls gradually began to relax, removing their hoods, then their jackets. They were a little older than I thought-not teenagers. ¿Habla Español? the more assertive one asked me. Poquito, I replied. Very damn little-my restaurant Spanish was not going to be much help. Donna called a friend of hers, a woman here legally but not a citizen. This put her in an awkward, vulnerable position, but she agreed to speak to our guests. When Donna got back on the phone, Carmen told her she would try calling the phone numbers the young women gave her, in the hope of finding someone who could give us a hint of our next move. Donna urged them to sit at the dining room table. One was a little older than the other, and seemed to understand a few words of English. They'd been walking (she motioned with her fingers) en el desierto para cinco días, she told me. Sin comida, sin agua. Let me make you a little comida, I replied. We'd just had a big birthday party for Doug and the fridge was full of leftovers. I got some eggs, cheese and onions cooking. Where did you cross? I asked. Misunderstanding, she told me she was from Michoican, Acapulco. Her friend from Guerrero. Pero, from donde did they walk? Cabeza Prieta? No, she said, understanding now. Sasabe. ¿Donde es aqui? After they finished eating, I pulled out a map. I pointed out Sasabe down on the border, Tucson, and just to the south, the mission at San Xavier. "La Misión," I told her. "Aqui." They were on their way to Phoenix when La Migra caught them, she said. From there, she was to join her husband in Atlanta. Her friend was destined for Chicago. More calls followed to Carmen. Doug left a message for a friend with some experience in these matters, choosing his words carefully. We waited. It was Donna's house, and ultimately her choice. "I guess you have to have the courage of your convictions," she said, then suggested showers, the washing machine and fresh clothes. Using mostly nouns and gestures, I got the idea across, dug out a couple pairs of jeans, t-shirts, sweaters and socks and handed the pile over. Fortunately, they seemed to be my size-in fact, the jeans might well fit them better. While they bathed, we considered our options. We could put them on a shuttle to Phoenix, I suggested. But they don't know where in Phoenix they are going, Donna replied. In the back of our minds, though, we all knew they couldn't stay long. The Border Patrol, the neighbors, all knew they'd been here. One neighbor's children worked for the BP: chances were good someone would call. The younger woman finished showering first, and we spoke while her friend took a turn in the bathroom. She knew no English at all. ¿Tienes familia en Chicago, o amigos? I couldn't figure out whether to use the familiar or formal tense, and kept switching back and forth between the two. She didn't seem offended; I figured it didn't matter. Sí, una hermana. ¿Como se llama? I asked. Anna. Andrea, I replied, then pointed and said, Donna. Did I have any brothers or sisters? Sí, one of each. And Donna? A brother, y nada mas familia. Solo hermano. Then the dogs: ¿perro o perra? Perro, I said pointing to Kendall, then to Zelda: y perra. I laughed to myself: it was the one word that always gave me trouble in high school Spanish class. I never got the hang of rolling my r's with any ease. Another hour passed with our guests sneaking brownies to the dogs, who now adored them. Another call from Carmen yielded a phone number: the older woman, (whose name we learned was something unpronounceable, but we could call her Jessie) had an aunt in Los Angeles. She called, but got no answer. Her tia, she said, was working. She wouldn't be home til after six. It was the start of an option. Maybe we could put them on a Greyhound and deliver them directly into Auntie's care. Donna had just been told by a neighbor (the one with the BP children) that a person could lose his or her car for transporting illegal immigrants. It's not like she had one to spare. Maybe we could give them a map, let them hitch. The early hours of the afternoon rolled by, the possibilities a sequence of waves we rode. Calling la migra, I reasoned to myself, was an option that would serve only our convenience. I could imagine parts of their journey: probably a long bus ride all the way from southern Mexico, then the hot desert walk. They'd had to use tweezers to get the cactus spines out of their hands. I had hiked that desert-prepared with a full pack, on cooler days. You couldn't help but brush up against cholla, and gopher burrows turn the ground into a maze of instability. You break through the crust constantly. What a monumental waste of energy to end up back where they had started. If nothing else panned out, we could give them a good map, bag of food and turn them out at dusk. But I'd heard too many horror stories of those who take advantage of women immigrants. This was no good choice. I called Greyhound. Yes, there was a bus to Los Angeles tonight. No, my friends would not need to show ID. It would arrive in LA at 8:45 the next morning. I passed this all along to Donna. Should I tell them? I asked her. Sure, she said. They were sitting in the dining room, looking at the maps spread all over the table. They had no idea of US geography: where they were, how far it was to LA, Atlanta, South Dakota, San Antonio. These all were far, we told them. LA the closest. I presented my idea: Greyhound, Tia, what did they think? Jessie was guardedly excited, explaining my plan to her friend. Pero, she said, they only had Mexican money. We would buy the tickets, I replied, waving off her protests. I had no otro ideas-this was the mas facile way. Okay, she relented. But they must get a hold of her aunt and let Tia know they were coming. That gave us all afternoon to kill. Take a siesta, I suggested. Make yourself at home. Blank looks. Si necessita agua, I pointed to the sink, agua. Comida, I pointed to the fridge, comida. Bano, bano. Todo. This time they understood. With gracias and de nada, I retreated to the patio with a book. An hour later, when I walked into the kitchen to get some water, Jessie said something to me. I caught some conjugation of comer. Sure, sí. ¿Menudo? I asked. Pizza? It did not matter, so I heated up both, and they ate it all. We talked more: was Donna my sister? No, ella es mi amiga. Vivo en Montana. We were just here visiting. ¿Vacaciones? Jessie asked. Sí. It seemed the easiest explanation. Jessie explained that she planned to spend the summer in South Dakota. Doing what, I could not figure out. I told her la paisaje, la tierra es muy bonita, and resisted the urge to suggest she drop by if in the neighborhood. More hours passed and they slept, curled together on the couch. Come evening, Doug took the car on several test runs, certain that the BP could be lurking in the neighborhood still. If they wanted us, I told him, they'd knock at the door and tell us so. But it made him feel better about The Plan. At 6:30, Tia was home. First Jessie spoke to her, then handed the phone to me. The woman, Beatrice, thanked me profusely, said her daughter was sick and her husband not home. Could we wait til he returned at nine so she could talk to him about it? I explained nine would be too late; that we had no other options. Could we please put her niece on a bus bound for LA? With more thanks, she offered to wire money, but we refused. They can do someone else a good turn, I said, feeling and sounding trite. Will they be stopped on the way? Will there be checkpoints? I thought not and told her so, but that was just going to be out of our control. The 30-minute drive to Tucson felt unreal, like a dream or a movie. The whole day has passed this way, as though the hours were lifted out of ordinary time. Immigrants walk through the Santa Cruz every night: we see their tracks in the pecan groves, find their belongings discarded (backpacks, children's shoes) and reason that they must have had to run; we avoid dense brush while walking the dogs, preferring not to disturb anyone hiding out the daylight hours. But other than these signs, their lives never cross with ours. The entire day, I realize, has been a gift. It was a dark ride, and the city lights seemed to be floating, moving. Donna at first drove like normal, then checked her speed. We did not need to get pulled over tonight. At the bus station, I went in first and bought the tickets. The agent wanted names: I was too tired to think on my feet and gave her my own, Donna's too. I scanned the waiting room: no police, no border patrol. It was, oddly enough, clean and comfortable. We could all wait in here. Back out in the parking lot we gathered their gear. Wearing my clothes, Donna's makeup and carrying some old travel bags and purses we pressed upon them, they looked like Americanas. I gave Jessie last minute instructions: I had gotten them on an earlier bus-they would arrive sooner than we planned. The bus would make some stops, altos, para mas gente, mas personas. They should stay on. I had to look up this last word: quedarse. She understood. Donna bought a bunch of candy and stuffed it-along with a change purse full of cash-in their bags. We hugged, and Jessie held me in a long, strong grip. Their bus was called; they headed for the door: puerto tres. We stood back, held our breaths as they passed the ticket taker, then waved one last time as they passed the window on their way to board. Note: Some of the names and places have been changed in this piece. Andrea Peacock is the author of Libby, Montana: Asbestos and the Deadly Silence of an American Corporation and co-author, with Doug Peacock, of The Essential Grizzly. She lives in Montana. She can be reached at: apeacock@wispwest.net   Your Ad Here

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