www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/dianawest/2005/10/17/171492.html
Contact Us Townhall Spotlight Jason Apuzzo Jason Apuzzo Jason Apuzzo is a writer/director living in Los Angeles and a founder of the Liberty Film Festival, Hollywoods first conservative film festival.
A There are two things every American should know about Virginia's governor 's race: 1) It's the first sizable political contest to turn, largely, o n the issue of illegal immigration. Just to be clear, there's nothing pathetic about the position of Republic an nominee Jerry W Kilgore. I like him simply beca use he says he wants to enforce the law -- for example, the law prohibit ing illegal aliens and other non-citizens from voting. He would even lik e to see the law tightened to become more easily enforceable. I also lik e him because he says he doesn't want to break the law -- such as laws p rohibiting welfare and other benefits from being distributed to illegal aliens. But this is precisely where the debate becomes pathetic: In the United St ates, in the year 2005, just trying to help carry out immigration laws a lready on the books, and just trying not to break them, marks one as a v eritable subversive with a program, as The Washington Post hysterically put it, "tinged with nativism and opportunism." In such a climate, Kilgo re's support for new legislation to make existing laws more enforceable -- for example, legislation that would enable police to detain illegal i mmigrants arrested for violent offenses and turn them over to federal im migration officials -- is regarded as rock-the-boat radical. This is not only pathetic, but also depressing: A commitment to keep the government functioning according to the laws that make it sovereign should not be political TNT. "Don't ask, don't tell" is as good as it gets when it comes to government strategy -- federal, state and local -- on policing illegal immigrants. By contrast, the prospect of enforcing the law sounds downri ght revolutionary. That's because the long political silence on immigrat ion -- aside from the legislative efforts of the indomitable Rep. P oll after poll indicates a profound uneasiness in the gut of the America n public with the culturally transforming pace of immigration, both lega l and illegal. But our politicians, particularly our president, have tur ned their backs on the issue, hoping the taboo topic goes away, sucked d eep into the maw of the cheap labor market. Far from going away, however, the issue has come closer to home. Take wha t are known as "day laborers" -- those bands of job-seeking men, often i llegal, who, in pursuit of work, have made a stereotype for themselves a s small-time sexual harassers and big-time public urinators. This phenom enon has reached a breakpoint in towns, neighborhoods and Home Depot par king lots across the country. With the failure of the federal government to enforce the nation's immigration laws, some communities are seeking relief by proposing to administer, courtesy of Mr and Mrs Taxpayer, da y-labor recruitment centers where the men and their day-employers can mi x and match. But not only do such sites enable illegals to participate i n American life, they encourage American citizens to break the law. After the northern Virginia town of Herndon decided to open such a site, Kilgore voiced his opposition. Kilgore had succumbed to "the temptation to fan the f lames with a naked appeal for votes," according to The Washington Post, itself succumbing to the temptation to mix metaphors. The newspaper also dubbed the Kilgore plan to follow the law "populist nonsense" and "a we dge issue." Really vital concerns are always "wedge" issues in that they divide the electorate into clear-cut camps from which leaders emerge to govern. Whoever would have imagined that a campaign to enforce the nation's law s would be considered "mean-spirited" "demagoguery" and "populist nonsen se"?
Cut the pork" The victims of Katrina sacrificed much to the storm. You, their fellow ci tizens, sacrificed time and money to help them recover. It is not too mu ch to ask Congress to sacrifice its pork for one year.
jpg Divided they fall by Jennifer Roback Morse (Oct 17, 2005) Small children going between two households have to devote energy and ingenuity trying to figure out what to do.
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