Republican candidates begin snubbing Bush
| ||||
| | ||||
| | ||||
A president with dismal approval ratings and a bitter intraparty rupture over immigration are obvious problems for Republican politicians.
In recent days, however, the combination is emerging as something less obvious: an opportunity.
Recent polls have shown Bush's popularity -- which has long been in the tank with independents -- suffering significant erosion even among GOP base voters, largely due to a backlash over the president's stance on immigration.
The decline, according to some Republican strategists, has flashed a green light for lawmakers on Capitol Hill and presidential candidates to put distance between themselves and an unpopular president -- a politically essential maneuver for the 2008 general election that remained risky as long as Bush retained the sympathies of Republican stalwarts.
Now that those sympathies have somewhat cooled, the effects are visible: Republican House members upset about immigration policy have spoken of Bush in disparaging terms. And presidential contenders like Rudy Giuliani are striking change-the-course themes in their rhetoric, even while continuing to back Bush over the Iraq war.
The change, say GOP operatives, is the absence of fear about being perceived as something less than an ardent Bush backer. "What's the penalty now, Karl being mad at you?" Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio asked with a laugh, referring to Bush political adviser Karl Rove. "Who cares? Even his former chief strategist (Matthew Dowd) walked away from him and pissed all over him."
Continue reading our story » Page: 1 2 3
.......................................................................................................................................................................
SEN. KENNEDY IGNORING US LAWS
by Michael Cutler
June 17, 2007
NewsWithViews.com
An article "Senate OKs Amnesty for Deportees" appeared in Washington Times. It is an extremely important story because it makes it perfectly clear how Senator Kennedy feels about the laws of our nation and the need to abide by the laws. He has been one of the prime movers behind providing amnesty to the many millions of illegal aliens who are present in the United States today. He was a prime mover behind the Amnesty of 1986 that was an utter disaster. Back then he assured the American people as well as his colleagues in the Senate and, indeed, the United States Congress, that the "One time" measure of providing amnesty to illegal aliens would bring roughly 1.1 million illegal aliens out of the shadows to finally enable our country to create an effective immigration system.
It is obvious that he crafted the trash known as the Senate immigration bill (S. 1348) in a closed door session because the light of truth would have killed it! Democracy demands transparency and we are not dealing with a democratic process here! Kennedy will leave quite a legacy in our nation's history books. The brother of two highly regarded men, President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General and New York Senator Robert Kennedy, Ted Kennedy is utterly ignoring President Kennedy's clarion call to service for all Americans when he famously implored us to "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country!" Perhaps Ted Kennedy thought his brother said, "Ask what you can do to your country!"
My parents raised me to believe that a man (or woman) is only as good as his or her word. Obviously Kennedy's word is worthless. He is at it again, demanding that our nation not only provide the millions of illegal aliens who are present in our country in violation of law with a path to United States citizenship, but he wants to make it possible for all aliens to participate in this outrageous give away program so that even aliens who violated not only our nation's borders but also failed to appear for immigration hearings when ordered to do so. Kennedy would reward those who thumb their noses at our borders, our laws and our law enforcement efforts with the most valuable honor a nation may bestow upon an alien, citizenship in that country!
What is truly amazing is that Kennedy was able to find enough ethically challenged "leaders" in the Senate to get that insane measure passed!
This absolutely takes my breath away! As a former INS special agent I am quite familiar with how bail decisions are made by magistrates and judges. Essentially the factors are the severity of the crime being charged, the risk that the defendant poses to the community and the risk of flight demonstrated by the defendant. Here we have the legislators of the highest legislative body of the United States ignoring these basic, commonsense principles. Could an individual who has violated our laws possibly show greater contempt for our laws than by failing to show up for a court hearing? Yet Kennedy and his cohort puppets masquerading as "leaders" in the Senate, voted to allow absconders (fugitives) to still have the right to become citizens of the United States!
There was a time when aliens needed to demonstrate that they possess GMC (Good Moral Character) in order to qualify for naturalization. Kennedy and his gang apparently think that this is too much to ask for! In a way I understand this. Kennedy is not a man of his word; consider his promise when he pushed the first amnesty in 1986. Apparently he could care less if aliens who enter our country illegally refuse to play by the rules even after they are caught. The message that this sends to the world is quite obvious. Kennedy and those senators who voted for this provision are telling people all around the world that if they come to the United States by violating our laws we are happy to have them here. If they fail to appear for a hearing, this is just fine with these senators as well! Apparently Kennedy does not believe that immigration laws should be enforced at all. Consider his rationale and the rationale expressed by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island Democrat, in this quote taken from the article:
But Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, said they were only guilty of "common, garden-variety immigration offenses" that should not disqualify them. "Our employers beg them to come back and our broken borders make that possible," he said. Other Democrats, including Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island Democrat, said Mr. Cornyn's amendment would remove due process rights for illegal aliens.
Apparently Kennedy believes that immigration laws are merely an impediment to the movement of aliens across our borders including those who are involved in criminal activities. Kennedy apparently has little use for our nation's immigration laws. He claims that the illegals enter our country because our borders are broken, but then he would do nothing to repair those same borders across which illegal aliens including drug traffickers, violent gang members and terrorists enter our country with great facility. Senator Whitehouse talks about due process but due process does not mean that individuals can violate laws at will. Due process is defined by the on-line Merriam-Webster Dictionary as:
Main Entry:
due process Function: noun
1: a course of formal proceedings (as legal proceedings) carried out regularly and in accordance with established rules and principles -- called also procedural due process
2: a judicial requirement that enacted laws may not contain provisions that result in the unfair, arbitrary, or unreasonable treatment of an individual -- called also substantive due process
When an individual takes it upon himself to ignore a lawful order to appear for a court hearing that individual is violating the due process of the immigration courts. Yet these members of the United States Senate seem to be unconcerned about the nature of the legislation that they are passing and the damage that this would do to our nation and our citizens especially at a time when our nation is confronting the threat of international terrorists, criminals and drug dealers. By rewarding those who not only violate our borders but contumaciously ignore a lawful order to appear for a hearing before an immigration judge, our nation's hobbled efforts of border security will simply collapse under the pressure of the stampede of aliens who will have been given a clear message should the substantive measures contained in the Senate immigration bill S. 1348 that I have come to refer to as the "Terrorist Assistance and Facilitation Act of 2007," become the law of the land.
Consider another quote I have taken from the article:
During the action some senators cast votes that may come back to haunt them.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, the Missouri Democrat who ran in last year's election on getting tough on illegal immigration, voted to preserve citizenship rights for alien absconders. So did Sen. Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican, who during last year's debate co-sponsored the same amendment with Mr. Cornyn.
Mr. Kyl is the key senator in the "grand bargain" underlying the immigration bill, and he could be overheard by spectators in the gallery marveling to other senators at the sacrifices he's made to keep his compromise alive: "I voted against my best friend -- an amendment we wrote together." It is clear that there are senators whose word is meaningless. Obviously Senators Kyl and McCaskill are among those who achieve elected office by blatantly lying to their constituents. What is the point to taking a position in a debate if you turn around and vote against the position you take when you participate in a debate to purportedly provide voters with an understanding of your position?
I do commend Senator Cornyn for defeating a confidentiality provision that would have made it impossible for law enforcement to have access to the applications that are filed for amnesty and then denied. This is a small but significant issue. Under the similar confidentiality provisions of the Amnesty of 1986 I was not allowed to share information contained in Amnesty applications even if the alien in question was wanted for mass murder, drug trafficking or other serious crimes that I suspect Kennedy would call "Garden variety felonies!"
I suspect that the senators who voted to allow illegal alien absconders to be put on the path to citizenship did so because they identified with those who have disdain for our laws and our nation.
"We the People" need to pay attention to how those who allege to represent us truly represent us. We must become involved in the political process and make the politicians accountable.
Democracy is not a spectator sport!
© 2007 - Michael Cutler - All Rights Reserved
