BUT THE PEOPLE ARE FOR IT

Well of course the people are for it.

For far too long the federal government has refused or been unable to effectively control our borders. Even in the face of a determined enemy in the form of organized terrorists and some nine years after the events of September 11th. It is shameful. A national disgrace. A national failure.

This failure or refusal has happened no matter what party has controlled The White House or the Congress. When you think about it, it is a failure with broad bipartisan support and culpability.

The Arizona immigration law that imperils our national unity is actually a cry for help which should be heeded by our federal government. It is time for the government to do what it takes to effectively control our borders, every inch of them. It is a matter of national security and it must be done.

In these perilous times, it is imperative that we know who enters our country, where they are and how long they are to be permitted to stay.

If you are here illegally you need to leave. If you are arrested for a crime your immigration status should be checked as a matter of course.

If you are going to work in this country you need to be able to prove that you are either a US Citizen or that you are here legally. Employers who hire people who are here illegally need to face both civil and criminal penalties.

At the very least, every person wishing to enter the country who is not a citizen should be required to provide a DNA Sample and wear a GPS bracelet encoded with their DNA profile. You can take it off when you leave. You don't like it? Don't come!

To do the job right, it will take money and lots of it. It is a big undertaking. I wonder how many of the people who are in favor of the Arizona Law would be willing to pay an additional tax to pay the cost of secure borders?

Our borders need to be secured and the message needs to be sent if you are here illegally, its time to leave.

The only problem is that it is not the State of Arizona that should be sending that message. No, that job needs to be handled by our national government on behalf of all Americans.

ONE NATION UNDIVIDED?

Arizona's recently enacted law requiring all people, be they American citizens or not, to carry identity papers lest they be jailed, gives rise to the question, are we indeed the UNITED States of America or are we on the road to another civil war? State fighting state, region fighting region?

Our union was formed around a federalist model that entrusted its common defense, among other things, to a national or federal government. In so doing, the founders reasoned, a unified country would be stronger and better able to defend itself than were we thirteen separate entities. The overall idea of course was that in unity there is strength. It was true then and it remains true today. When we stray from that model we are weaker as a nation, The founders were indeed wise.

Comparing the recently enacted Arizona immigration law to those of Nazi Germany and the beginning of the Holocaust, as well as to the internment and deportation of Japanese Americans during World War II, the Los Angels City Council voted today to prohibit all official city travel to Arizona and to prohibit the city from entering into any contract with companies in the state. How many more cities, towns, and states will follow is anybody's guess. Indeed, some already have.

When Arizona enacted its law, it chipped away at the unity that is the historic strength of our nation. Imagine if every state enacted a patchwork of laws on issues that are the purview of the federal government. Now imagine that various local and state governments from around the country, who disagreed with those laws, passed Los Angeles style retaliatory laws to express their disagreement. You can quickly see the corrosive effect that this would have upon the nation. It would only be a matter of time until our country would fall under the weight of so many conflicting laws and the subsequent inevitable hostilities and retaliations.

The founders of this nation were indeed wise. They devised a system of governance that has produced the longest standing, strongest democracy in history. The Arizona law is a threat to that system and thus to our nation as a whole.

CAPTAIN COURAGEOUS NO MORE

Perhaps you have noticed that I am not a big fan of the right and it baffles me how anyone ever could be and sleep at night but when one of its members steps up, does the right thing and tells the truth it should be acknowledged.

Watch Joe Scarborough as he steps up right here on the issue of Arizona's new immigration law.



Now I know he is not running for anything but contrast Scarborough's principled position to that of John McCain's whose flip flop on the issue makes him look like a freshly caught fish on the deck of a weekend charter.

In a recent interview with Bill O’Reilly on Fox News, McCain said: “The state of Arizona is acting and doing what it feels it needs to do in light of the fact that the federal government is not fulfilling its fundamental responsibility — to secure our borders.....it is a good tool”

Compare that to his previous positions wherein he had taken pride in bucking conservatives in his party who turned up the heat on him for his support for changes to immigration laws that would have provided a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

In 2004 he opposed an Arizona ballot measure to deny some public services to illegal immigrant and require proof of citizenship to vote. He said at the time "Things are terrible, and we’ve got to fix it,’’ he said at a debate then in his campaign for re-election to his Senate seat. “But we’re not going to fix it until we have comprehensive immigration reform.”

“When there’s a demand, there’s going to be a supply,’’ he added, “There are jobs that Americans will not do, so we have to make it possible for someone to come to this country to do a job that an American won’t do and then go back to the country from where they came.”


In 2006 he said "They tell me my poll rate has plummeted over this, but I’m a big boy, I can take it".

In 2007, "I think some of the rhetoric that many Hispanics hear about illegal immigration makes some of them believe that we are not in favor, or seek the support of Hispanic citizens in this country"

What ever happened to his courage? Over the years it has been beaten out of him in the ideological prison that is the republican party. Alas, they have accomplished what the North Vietnamese at their most brutal, never could.