The Coup Against America, May 17, 2007 - June 12, 2007. R.I.P.
At least in its current incarnation, and at least for this year, the Bush-Kennedy-McCain coup against America may really be over. Here are snatches I picked up from ABC World News Tonight’s coverage of President Busheron’s visit with Republican senators on Capitol Hill today.
Sen. Cornyn, asked by a reporter if Busheron had persuaded any senators to make a deal with the Democrats to revive the bill, said: “I don’t think so.”
Sen. Sessions said (this is a paraphrase but substantially correct):
The president came down here and spoke about his feelings. His feelings aren’t he issue, but what’s in this bill. I don’t think the president and his advisors have any idea what’s wrong with this bill.
Right—just as the president and his advisors had no idea of what’s wrong with the idea of a Western country taking over a Muslim country and trying to build a liberal democracy there while fighting undefeated jihadist enemies.
Sen. Reid says he will not revive the bill unless 25 Republican senators commit to voting for it; but without major change in the bill that’s not in the cards.
ABC’s Jake Tapper summed it up: “It seems as though this bill may just be dead.”
A further index of how things are going is that ABC got its angle on the presidential meeting from two of the Senate’s strongest opponents of the bill, Cornyn and Sessions, suggesting that their view represents the Senate’s currently dominant view.
- end of initial entry -
Joseph C. wrote a bit earlier in the day:
CNN has a report on Jorge Busheron’s visit to Capitol Hill today. The article has two quotes that tell you all one needs to know about the dereliction of duty in the Executive Branch and the dishonest reporting being done by CNN et al.
1) “I believe without the bill, it’s going to be harder to enforce the border,” Bush said. “The status quo is unacceptable.”
This is nonsense on stilts. It is not at all hard to enforce the border, and there is ample existing legislation that not only “makes it possible” but mandates it. What Bush means is that he won’t enforce the border unless he gets his way on the rest of the bill. This is tantamount to a sheriff saying “I think our status quo is unacceptable, but it is impossible for us to arrest criminals without the City Council passing legislation to handle released prisoners once they have served their sentence.” Of course, why should the Senate care what Bush thinks about border enforcement, since he has made it clear that he won’t protect the border even if (especially if) he gets his comprehensive reform? [LA adds: And it’s even worse than that: he’s made it clear that the border cannot be protected from aliens illegally crossing it until aliens cease attempting illegally to cross it, which will happen when we legally admit everyone who wants to come. He’s guard that border, after it’s gone.]
2) “The bill, which suffered a crushing defeat in a floor vote last week, aims to tighten U.S. borders and provide a path for some 12 million illegal immigrants to gain legal status.”
Bull. The bill offers the promise of tightening the border (sometime in the future, maybe, if the sun shines on Wednesday, if Mexico allows it, if everyone who wants to come here can come here), while offering the certainty of legal status (or de facto legal status) to illegal aliens immediately. It is like selling someone a house on credit, without making them sign a note or even checking their credit record. [LA adds: Yes, the bill creates a new legal category; de facto de juris legal status.]
The bottom line is that both Bush and the Democrats (whether for similar of different reasons is immaterial) do not believe in borders. They believe that global migration is a fundamental right, and are not willing to do anything to keep people out of the country. Their refusal to tighten the border is proof. Or, to put it more bluntly, I do not believe this Congress and President would build a wall and secure the border even if they got amnesty and legalization for all 20 million illegal aliens tomorrow.
Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 12, 2007 07:00 PM | Send