Amnesty Anathema
By Geoff Metcalf (06/11/07)
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." --Sir Winston Churchill
Despite President Bush’s whining, and Ted Kennedy’s saber rattling over the latest bipartisan Immigration Bill, it was, is, and will remain a bad bill. The Senate recently fell 15 votes short of their abortive attempt to invoke cloture, end debate, and proceed to a final vote on the immigration ‘compromise’ bill. Good!
A bunch of commentators are heralding the failure as the collapse of this effort to reform/amend/fix the immigration laws at least for this session of Congress. It is passing strange that the same pundits who bray “bipartisan immigration bill” quickly jump to calling events a major defeat for President Bush. It is…but it is also a major defeat for the ‘bipartisan’ conspiracy to ignore the wants and needs of a very loud non partisan constituency.
Fox News reported, "The latest Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll shows 58% support enforcement of existing laws. Only 34% back an overhaul of immigration laws along the lines of the Senate compromise." Gee…support existing laws? What a concept!
Notwithstanding Baryshnikov-ish spinning, it was, is and always will mean Amnesty for illegals. It is an abhorrent abomination and no matter how pols struggle to spin it, it is amnesty for illegals. Illegals, by definition have broken the law, and the President and Congress want to reward them with a do over…and more. Meanwhile, law abiding would-be immigrants who are compelled to endure a many year ordeal to legally immigrate and rightfully incensed.
This was a bad idea when Reagan did it, and it is a worst idea now that Bush and Congress are trying it. The failure of the power elite to jam this epically flawed piece of drek down the throats of America is a testament to the new media symbiosis of grassroots and the Internet.
The creation of ‘some’ kind of guest worker program, complete with a documented paper trail and benchmarks for ‘earning’ citizenship is not a bad idea. THIS bill is an effort to pander and reward lawbreakers and is flat out wrong.
Maybe those supporting it in congress are hoping for short term memory loss on the part of the electorate. It has worked for them before. However, THIS is critical. We (perhaps naively) expect our elected officials to learn from past mistakes…why? There are certainly no facts in evidence supporting such a myopic thought.
Reagan’s amnesty was a disaster, THIS amnesty would be far worse.
This reprehensible back room finesse is outrageous. The Heritage Foundation says the immigration boondoggle could cost over 2-TRILLION dollars? As John Stossel might say, “Give me a (add your own expletive) break?”
Every reasonable U.S. citizen should join and/or support the grassroots movement to punish ANY Senator supporting this bill…in ANY race, including primaries.
This is not a partisan issue. THIS bill should become a litmus test for ANYone seeking to serve or get reelected to the U.S. Senate.
If the Bush administration is so desperate for a legacy, they have a long list of options that do not jeopardize national security, undermine the rule of law or weaken out nation. Serve up the head of Osama bin Laden, divide Iraq into three independent and sovereign nations, and/or prove to the world global warming is a manufactured fiction…ANYthing except rewarding criminals and bending to special interest pressure.
Numerous grassroots groups have maintained a constant din asking anyone and everyone to call, write, fax, email congress to kill the immigration bill.
As of this writing it seems to have worked…despite a gaggle of reports complaining about various congress critters sandbagging and refusing to accept anti-bill calls and accepting those supporting it. Talk about gagging maggots.
Defenders of the indefensible seem to be personifying the Metcalf bromide that “some people just don’t want to be confused with facts that contradict their preconceived opinions or prejudice.” Now assorted congress types are not only ignoring what they don’t want to hear, they are conspiring to prevent the nay saying constituents even the chance to leave a voice mail…
It has become increasingly difficult to defend this administration…Lord knows I have tried. But enough is enough. The scales have tipped. Every administration makes mistakes. Bush has been wrong on immigration from the jump. He is waffling on global warming. He squandered early success with bullheadedness. Even the travesty of the Harriet Meiers brain burp failed to produce a reality check. I have liked early decisiveness, leadership and courage. However, those credits have been spent.
Ultimately we measure the success or failure by comparing things done right against things done wrong. For me, the administration’s complicity in this Immigration Bill in the wake of their willingness to buck pass constitutional authority to a subordinate ‘War Czar’ are two straws that have broken this camels back.
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