Folks, there are a lot of "stuff" going on in our troubled world today, so this feature of the "site' will change from time to time.
This is some wisdom from Charles krauthammer from the 'Troy record'.
Published friday the 13th. title; "The President always vindicates himself".
Constructive and civil debate-like the one President Barack Obama initiated just four weeks ago on defict reduction? The speech in which he accused the republicans of abandoning families of autistic and down syndrome kids? The debate in which obama's secretary of health and human services said that the republican plan would make old folks "die sooner?"
In this same spirit of comity and mutual respect, obama's most recent invitation to civil discourse -on immigration-came just 11 minutes after he accoused opponents of moveing the goal posts on border enforcement. "Maybe they'll need a moat,"he said sarcastically. "Maybe they want alligaters in the moat."
Nice touch. look at the tucson truce-no demonization, no cross-hairs metaphors-is officially over. After all, the republicans want to kill off the elderly, throw the disabled in the snow and watch alligators lunch on illegal immigrants.
The El Paso is noatable not for breaking any new ground on immigration, but for perfectly illustraing Obama's political style: the professiorial, almost therapeutic, invitation to civil discourse, wrapped around the basest of reterical devices- charges of malice compounded with accusations of bad faith. "they'll never be satisfied," said Obama about border control. "and I understand that. Thats politics."
how understanding. The other side plays "politics", Obama acts in the public interest. Their eyes are on poll numbers, political power, the next election; Obama's rest fixedly on the little children.
This impugning of motives is an Obama constant. "They" play politics with deficit reduction, with Government shutdowns, with health care. And now immigration. It is ironic that such a charge should be made in a speech that is nothing but Politics. There is zero chance any immigration legislation passing Congress in the next two years.
El Paso was simply an attempt to gin up the Hispanic vote as part of an openly political two-city, three-event campaign swing in preparation for 2012.
Accordingly. the El Paso speech feaured two other staples: the breathtaking invention and the statistical slight of hand.
"The (border) fenceis now basically complete," asserted the president. complete? There are now 350 miles of pedestrian fencing along the mexican border. the border is 1,954 miles long. thats 18 percent. and only one-tenth of that 18 percent is the double and triple fencing that has prooved so remarkably effective in, for example, the Yuma sector. Another 299 miles-15 percent- are vehicle barriers that pedestrians can walk through.
Obama then boasted that on his watch 31 percent more drugs have been seized, 64 percent more weapons- proof of how he has secured the border. And for more proof: apprehension of illegal immigrants is down 40 percent. Down? Indeed, says Obama, this means that fewer people are trying to cross the border.
interesting logic. Seizures of drugs and guns go up--proof of effective border control. seizures of people go down--yet more proof of efective border border control. Up or down,it matters not. Whatever the numbers, Obama vindicates himself.
you can believe this flim flam or you can believe the nonpartisan Government Accountability office. The GAO reported in February that less then half the border is under "opperational control" of the Government. Which undermines the entire premise of Obama's charge that, because the border is effectively secure, "republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement" didn't realy mean it.
I count myself among those who realy do mean it. I have little doubt that most Americans would be quite willing to regularize and legalize the current millions of il illegal immigrants if they were convinced that this was the last such cohort, as evidenced by say, a GAO finding that the border is under full operational control and certification to the same effect by the Governers of the four sourthern border States.
Americans are a generous people. upon reciept of objective and reliable evidence that the border is secure--not Obama's infinitely manipulable inetrdiction statistics--the question would be settled and the immigrants legalized.
Why doesn't Obama put such a provision in comprehenisive immigration legislation? Because for Obama, imigration reform is not about legislation, it's about re-election. If I may quote the President: I understand that. That's politics.
Written so well by Charles Krauthammer for the Troy Record, Friday the 13th.
Folks as you read this, remember to pass it on and then read it again on the day before the 2012 elections!
Duncan
This is where our America is today!
