It's a long way 'til November, and by August we may see riots in LA along the lines of Watts or torched cars a la France. One hopes not, but it could be a long, hot summer, and people are frustrated and angry. I'm speaking of illegals, who've bought their leaders' arguments that they're entitled to instant citizenship as a human right. If the worst happens, a wall would go up rather quickly. This would reverse Bush's low poll numbers overnight.
"If the worst happens, a wall would go up rather quickly. This would reverse Bush's low poll numbers overnight."
Well, sure.
But it's the wall going up that would be the key.
So why don't we knock off the nonsense gamesmanship and put the Republican coalition back together by agreeing to the least painful and least expensive thing NOW, while we can still recapture the goodwill of most BorderBots?
We are being stubborn simply to be stubborn (and, of course, in service of certain other political interests which, in the end, are not as important as the BorderBots' votes). We can't afford the luxury of a pissing contest.
The President has made a grave error, the Senate is following along, and the House is standing there like a stone wall. We need to rally around the Republican House here and let the reconciliation committee bill include a comprehensive sea-to-sea FENCE. THAT will give the BorderBots their key issue, and although it will hand the President a direct political defeat, he won't veto it, and it's Republican Congressmen who need to be re-elected in November, not Bush.
There's a way out here, and waiting all summer hoping something BAD will happen so that the President and the Senate will come to their senses is an unfortunate strategy. Because if nothing bad DOES happen, we get a Democratic Congress...and then a GOP minority next year pledging a fence. Give in on that NOW, and the whole cavalcade of nasties is avoided.