Free Republic

Perhaps emboldened by the colorful, hometown atmosphere, a feisty Jeb Bush walked into a room full of supporters Monday, greeted by much more excitement than he's used to on the campaign trail, where he's struggling to break past the low single digits in the polls. A diverse crowd was chanting his name as the smell of croquetas, a Cuban breakfast staple, filled the room and supporters sipped on cafe con leche. The Republican presidential candidate held his first post-Christmas campaign event at a Cuban comfort food restaurant here called Chico's, where an amped-up crowd packed into the brick walls to...

Back in the early 1990s, when Los Angeles was stuck in the pits of a deep recession, somebody facetiously suggested that if Southern California were returned to Mexico _ maybe throw in south Texas and the San Joaquin Valley as well _ it could improve the economies of both countries. But given the current debate about immigration in all its economic and social complexity, that facetious idea left an increasingly compelling question: Where _ and what _ is the border? The obvious answer is that it's the line established by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848, which ended the...