Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Read My Lips: "NO NEW AMNESTY!"


Hello Thinkers!

Those of you outside of New England might not know this, but the northeast corner of the People's Republic of MA has been getting pounded for the past several days with hellacious rain. It has been non-stop. Massachusetts and New Hampshire have declared a state of emergency, as has the southernmost county in Maine. I was surprised to see my hometown listed among the carnage of rainfall reports around the state last night, receiving over 12 inches of rain with this last storm and now another 3+ inches is in the forecast thru this week. As I look at the regional NEXRAD out of Taunton, I can see two more nice orange bands lining up Cape Ann and the North Shore in their sites.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060515/D8HK5HI00.html

In addition to the tasks associated with our oldest child's proms, recital and high school graduation party later this month, our dog recently had an operation to remove a toe that had a nasty growth on it. Zak has been walking with a noticeable limp from tenderness in his right front paw, and I have been walking with a noticeable limp from tenderness in my ass where my wallet used to be. Adding salt to the financial wound, for the next several days, we have to wrap our dog's bandaged paw in a plastic bag, put him on a leash and walk him out to the back yard to answer his call of nature. This has added a certain Je ne c'est quoi to the usual drudgery of my AM ritual since instead of just letting him out in morning, I am getting up 20 minutes early to stand in the darkness of bone-chilling downpours, cursing my canine while he sniffs for just the right spot to take a dump. From time to time he stares at me, two big brown eyes centered inside a big wet plastic cone, probably laughing inside - if dogs can do that. What used to take just a few seconds now takes the better part of a painful half an hour.

So, why am I whining about this situation? There is a point, believe it or not. The pain of my new morning routine and the pain of the time wasted is a perfect analogy for Bush's primetime speech on immigration reform I had to suffer through last night. While he spoke of "protecting our border" and even made a token gesture of utilizing the National Guard, I know (and most of you probably know) that it is cheap, hollow rhetoric. How do I know this? Simple, George "Open Border" Bush is a creature of habit. If you recall this tidbit from my last rant, Federal agents, in a well covered dog and pony show, arrested almost 1,200 illegal aliens and several managers who hired them. Where are they now?

For even before [Homeland Security czar] Chertoff had spoken (but not before blogger Michelle Malkin had predicted it), four-fifths of the illegals arrested had been ... released. Two hundred and seventy-five of them were deported. The rest were sent away in return for a promise to return for a court hearing. Many, probably most, will disappear. And since the government's computers were "down," their brush with immigration enforcement may not even be officially recorded.

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/67461.htm


And last night, Bush made these statements:

We are a Nation of laws, and we must enforce our laws...

For many years, the government did not have enough space in our detention facilities to hold them while the legal process unfolded. So most were released back into our society and asked to return for a court date. When the date arrived, the vast majority did not show up. This practice, called "catch and release," is unacceptable -- and we will end it...

At the same time, we must ensure that every illegal immigrant we catch crossing our southern border is returned home....

As a result of these actions, we have ended "catch and release" for illegal immigrants from some countries....


And Bush expects us to believe him? And for what country have we stopped this "catch and release" policy? Liechtenstein?? Even his childish shell game with the National Guard is destined for uselessness:

Guard units will not be involved in direct law enforcement activities -- that duty will be done by the Border Patrol.


Will Bush ask the Guard get tea and crumpets ready for the overstretched Border Patrol when they come off of their shifts?

And we will give state and local authorities the specialized training they need to help federal officers apprehend and detain illegal immigrants.


...funny how he did not address the 'Sanctuary Cities', like Cambridge, Chicago and San Francisco. But the part that really frosted my walletless butt was his setup for the big amnesty program:

Fourth, we must face the reality that millions of illegal immigrants are already here. They should not be given an automatic path to citizenship. This is amnesty, and I oppose it. Amnesty would be unfair to those who are here lawfully -- and it would invite further waves of illegal immigration.

Some in this country argue that the solution is to deport every illegal immigrant -- and that any proposal short of this amounts to amnesty. I disagree. It is neither wise nor realistic to round up millions of people, many with deep roots in the United States, and send them across the border. There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant, and a program of mass deportation. That middle ground recognizes that there are differences between an illegal immigrant who crossed the border recently -- and someone who has worked here for many years, and has a home, a family, and an otherwise clean record. I believe that illegal immigrants who have roots in our country and want to stay should have to pay a meaningful penalty for breaking the law...to pay their taxes...to learn English...and to work in a job for a number of years. People who meet these conditions should be able to apply for citizenship -- but approval would not be automatic, and they will have to wait in line behind those who played by the rules and followed the law. What I have just described is not amnesty -- it is a way for those who have broken the law to pay their debt to society, and demonstrate the character that makes a good citizen.


So basically, if you have been adept at breaking our immigration laws, you will be "punished" by being put at the back of the line - but a line that STAYS IN THE US! That sounds alot like amnesty to me.

Tonight, I want to speak directly to Members of the House and the Senate: An immigration reform bill needs to be comprehensive, because all elements of this problem must be addressed together - or none of them will be solved at all.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/may2006/nf20060515_7922.htm


Who says George? Secure the border first. Make sure it is secure and THEN let's talk about what to do with the people who have ignored our immigration laws. In a post 9/11 America, our negligence of the porous border situation is nothing short of criminal. The steps needed to secure our country are the same ones you need to keep mice out of the house (something I've learned much about over the years). Step 1, remove the food supply. Step 2, arm the perimeter - heavily and permanently. The order is unimportant. In fact, neither step is time-bound. Both must be constant. Even if you are for letting Pedro into the country to pick your lettuce, then drugs, terrorists and criminals are going to use the same open border like a tick on a mouse's back.

The fact that this fundamental security issue is virtually ignored by every elected official, with the possible exception of Tom Tancredo and House Republicans, is what makes listening to Bush's 'tough talk' so agonizing. Apprehension of employers who hire illegals has completely disappeared under Bush, and there is nothing other than useless gesturing to mark the start of the election season the way the changing leaves mark the fall.

http://www.teamamericapac.org/

What Bush, Kennedy, and the rest of the open border crowd don't seem to realize is that when it comes to problems associated with amnesty and uncontrolled borders - when it rains, it pours.

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