As I've said before, yes you are a criminal if you're in the country illegally. See how those two words go together, illegal and criminal?
Here's a hint: if you'd be afraid to walk into an INS office, perhaps you're not playing by the rules. (Not like today's INS would do anything to you even if you were undocumented, but that's another story.)
The opponents of immigration reform (I hate that; since when is it reform to want to enforce existing laws?) say it's racist, but why should Chinese, Indians, Koreans, etc. get shafted while waiting to come to the US and/or bring over family members just because they don't share a porous border with the U.S.?
Finally, why, oh why don't Republicans get it? McCain of course is calling all those who care de facto racists, but since he may as well have had a (D) behind his name for the past several years that's not at all surprising. For the rest, is the allure of 13 million potential new voters that strong, and worth losing the support of the very Republican voters that got them elected in the first place?
It's incredibly stupid to take the attitude of "I'm just going to sit home and not vote next election" considering the irreparable harm a Democratic sweep of the House and Senate would cause, yet more and more Republicans realize they just won't be able to hold their nose and vote for the same idiots who claim that requiring the payment of a fine (good luck collecting that) and a "requirement" to learn English somehow doesn't make the Senate's legislation amnesty. Frankly I think the GOP Congressional delegation has become so deeply infected with the "we want to be liked by the Washington media" virus that there may be no way to cure them of it. They act as if they're 16 and trying to sit at the "cool kids'" table in the high school cafeteria and don't realize the head cheerleader is only being friendly to them so they'll do her Chemistry homework for her.
No, it's become readily apparent that we need to refresh the GOP ledger in Washington with a slate of candidates that actually have some core beliefs, and more importantly, we need a leader who isn't afraid to show his Conservatism and who realizes that helping people pull themselves up by their own bootstraps is the true meaning of compassion. The old "give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime" mantra would apply here, except our current representatives are too busy listening to PETA tell them that fishing is cruel.
What's the solution? I don't know, except perhaps to opine that if the country may really end up with a female president in 2008, rather than Hillary it desperately needs to be Ann Coulter.
(Of course, to use Rush Limbaugh's line on the subject, I doubt Ann would be willing to take the pay cut…)
