While lawmakers debate the constitutionality of Arizona's promotion of police crackdowns on immigrants, Senator John McCain is bringing up the rear with his shiny new 10-point Border Security Plan--a right-wing wish list of vaguely fascistic measures to militarize the sliver of land dividing the U.S. and Mexico. Just so all Arizona voters know he's serious on border issues, he's rolled out a YouTube ad that presents him as just the kind of stalwart border vigilante who could win over angry constituents come Election Day.
The ad features the Senator in the rugged terrain of Nogales, alongside his clean-shaven brother in arms Sheriff Paul Babeu of Pinal County (who is apparently running a little PR campaign of his own, complete with an eponymous golf tournament).
Transcript from CBS:
"Drug and human smuggling, home invasions, murder," McCain says as the spot opens. He is seen walking with Babeu, seemingly next to a border fence.
"We're outmanned," Babeu responds. "Of all the illegals in America, more than half come through Arizona."
After rehashing failed plans for a combined state-federal immigration crackdown, McCain touts a new top priority in the GOP immigration reform agenda: "complete the danged fence." The "danged" is the new part. Playing the fence card is a tried-and-true GOP one-off when trying to prove one's right-wing bona fides.
We could go over the numerous reasons why human rights activists have opposed the border wall plans, from the unlawful incursion on local poor and indigenous communities, to environmental destruction, to an utter waste of public funds. But of course, Sen. McCain has probably been hearing such criticisms for years--particularly back when he poo-pooed the notion of a fence as a tool for immigration control. But now he lays out his position point by point on CompleteTheDangedFence.com
McCain's wishy-washy fence politics are not lost on his rivals. Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, preparing to challenge McCain in the upcoming Republican primary, has launched TheCompleteDangedTruth.com, where he joins the media chorus deriding the ad and emphasizes that unlike McCain, he's no fence-sitter on border security, and is in fact the true anti-immigrant candidate.
Imagine if McCain, on his leisurely stroll in Nogales, had run into Ruben Antonio Baltazar, who reflected on his glimpse of America in an interview with RT after his deportation:
“I just wanted to go because people would tell me beautiful things about the United States. But, that’s not what I saw. It’s not good.”
But McCain, angling for the anti-immigrant vote, doesn't have to answer to people like Baltazar. After all, the ad ends with Sheriff Babeu telling the Senator, "you're one of us now." And if you're one of them, you can do whatever you dang well please.
A version of this post appears on Racewire.org
I suspect "Complete the danged fence" has more to do with finding a place to sit, then it does with immigration policy.
“The enemies you make by taking a decided stand generally have more respect for you than the friends you make by being on the fence” (author unknown)
"The American people still want to see a solution in which we are tightening up our borders, (and) we're cracking down on employers who are using illegal workers in order to drive down wages," he said. "And we need an effective way to recognize and legalize the status of undocumented workers who are here."
Barack Obama, June 2009
So...what part of a serious attempt to tighten the border do you NOT agree with? And how can you argue that an effective fence would NOT be a critical part of border enforcement?
and sugar's sweet and so is maple syrple.
Well I'm seventh out of seven sons.
My pappy's a pistol, I'm a son of a gun.
Dang me, dang me,
they oughta take rope and hang me
High from the highest tree...
woman would you weep for me?
"Dang Me", Roger Miller
BTW, Phoenix is experiencing a kidnapping every 33 hours (that we know of). Once again, I refer you to Victoria.
It is even funnier when the anti-fence folks say it doesn't work, and then complain that the fence DOES work since it forces illegals out into the desert where they die. All that tells me is that the fence needs to be longer and complete. It CAN be done rather quickly and cheaply since during WWII the US Army constructed the ALCAN HIGHWAY, not a fence, but a ROAD through MUCH worse territory and conditions than anything seen on the border. They did that in less than one year and it was about the SAME length as our southern border. I guess the greatest generation were far smarter and tougher than we are?
NO barrier is inpenetrable, but that is NOT the purpose of such a thing. It is simply to have a barrier that will slow down and impede access so that other forces can be brought to bear on those who try and enter illegally.
Simply passing CIR will stimulate MORE illegals, since they figure that they too will get amnesty because it is impossible to check 12 million people and do a background check on all of them. Thus it is an open invitation for all the crooks in Mexico, and LA to get a free pass to a new future without their past catching up with them.
(a) Every law enforcement agency in California shall fully cooperate with the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service regarding any person who is arrested if he or she is suspected of being present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws. (b) With respect to any such person who is arrested, and suspected of being present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws, every law enforcement agency shall do the following: (1) Attempt to verify the legal status of such person as a citizen of the United States, an alien lawfully admitted as a permanent resident, an alien lawfully admitted for a temporary period of time or as an alien who is present in the United States in violation of immigration laws. The verification process may include, but shall not be limited to, questioning the person regarding his or her date and place of birth, and entry into the United States, and demanding documentation to indicate his or her legal status. (2) Notify the person of his or her apparent status as an alien who is present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws and inform him or her that, apart from any criminal justice proceedings, he or she must either obtain legal status or leave the United States. (3) Notify the Attorney General of California ...