His hairdresser charges an extra $200 for the casual effect, don't you know?
Posted on 09/23/2006 7:47:13 AM PDT by kellynla
When it comes to the border, we're all Neanderthals now.
When the amateur border guards, the Minutemen, first set up with their lawn chairs and binoculars at the U.S.-Mexico border and started talking about the need to build a fence, polite opinion scoffed. Now, the fence almost represents a consensus position, embraced by the left and right alike, from likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to the rabble-rousing pro-enforcement conservative Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado.
Sixty-four Democrats just voted with Republicans in the House to pass legislation authorizing 700 miles of double-layered fence along the border. The Senate recently voted 94-3 to spend nearly $2 billion on 370 miles' worth of fencing and will take up the House bill soon. As the panicked National Immigration Law Center says, ''In recent days, there has been a serious deterioration of the position of pro-immigrant forces in Congress.''
This political state of play is the exact reverse of what was widely predicted earlier in the year when illegal immigrants were marching in the streets; Hispanic and church groups were decrying the harsh treatment of illegals in a pro-enforcement House bill; and the Senate was passing an amnesty bill euphemistically dubbed ''comprehensive reform.'' Back then, it was assumed that the crazies in the House would bend to a Senate bill endorsed by all the great and the good. But a funny thing happened on the way to ''comprehensive reform'' - the political marketplace worked.
Instead of embracing the Senate approach, the House undertook field hearings around the country. The delay gave candidates a chance to sample public opinion that is markedly sympathetic to the crazies.
(Excerpt) Read more at sltrib.com ...
Well, you needed someone to tell you something, since you keep electing open borders fanatics like McCain.
His hairdresser charges an extra $200 for the casual effect, don't you know?
That does make a big difference. LOL
"The best they can muster is the ladder argument. Weak."
Incredibly weak. An analogous statement would be "why bother with locks on your door, since there's always someone who can pick your lock"
Looks like a shop teacher I had in high school.
I agree. I am very greatful to the Minutemen, they have brought attention to problems we have had for years and could get no one to listen to. If the Minutemen never accomplish anything other than getting attention to the problems, it will have been a great achievement.
I have no idea what WFB saw in rich lowry. Why on earth would Buckley make him editor.
A significant difference between America and Europe. Rarely does one find in Europe this sort of voluntary action which is capable of forcing government to action without overthrowing it. Tocquevillle took note of this. Europeans generally defer to authority, which is why their welfare states are so much more paternalistic than our own. Our craziness results in more criminals but also more direct democracy, more moderate and long lasting change. Our politcal system lends itself to this, because our congressmen defer to the wishes of their constituents, whereas in Europe, their MPs defer to the party leadership at all times.
No, he is kind of wimpy. In fact, I can see him in a dress.
If you had seen him with Ellis Hennican yesterday, you would know how come I am aggravated.
Hey, a post that delved into the geopolitical implications of the issue instead of obsessing about the writer's hairstyle. I salute you, sir.
You are absolutely correct. Nothing remotely like this would happen in Europe. For all of its frustrations and messiness, our American republic is unique. The elites in this country, of both parties, DO NOT want this wall. But average Americans have made it abundantly clear that they do. They have won this round, as they win every round they really put their minds to. The wall will be approved, and funded, and built, because too many people are awake to the issue, energized and ready to hold the government's feet to the fire.
That sort of grassroots energy is the quintessential expression of American democracy. Our political system is messy, ugly, frustrating and unwieldy. But 230-odd years on, it is still responsive to the will of the people, and the people, for all their dissatisfaction with everyday politics, know if enough people agree on an issue and make their will known, positive change is probable, if not certain.
Nativism is unjustly reviled. To be sure, it often reflects bigotry, but bigotry is sometimes the correct response. It was bigotry that laid the foundation of the Republican Party. It was not sweet reason but fear and hatred of the Slave Power that brought Abraham Lincoln out of private practice into the public arena. It was fear and hatred of Communism, albeit also of Jews and Catholics, that limited European immigration into the United States after the WWI. That the policy was unjust to many does not mean that it was unwise. Immagine a United States facing the Great Depression while harboring an addition 10 million unassimilated immigrants. Down the memory well has gone the rallies of the radicals in New York and Chicago. Hoover's fear of insurrection was not unfounded. Immigration policy gave the United States twenty years to absorb many cultures, and to cut millions off from the perniciuous influences of Europe. Hollywood movies famously filled combat squads with every European ethnic group under the sun, and the truth was that these Swedes, Poles, Italians et al. had grown up American in a way they could not if their enclaves had been constantly refilled by newcomers. I doubt that we have the ability to keep out the Latinos who was flooding our borders, but the missage has to be got out that when they cross that inviosible line on the map they are moving into a foreigh country to which they must adapt.
And if I wrote this article you would be complaining about a too macho masculine white man meany, so stow it.
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