Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Clueless Cronyism

I've never understood how President Bush could persist in favoring an open-borders immigration policy in the post-9/11 world. The latest reflection of this appallingly obstinate policy blindness is Julie Myers, his nominee to head the the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security.

Michelle Malkin calls this appointment a "bad joke." I am hard-pressed to disagree.

The 9/11 attacks were the product of Bill Clinton's national security derelictions and his distracting personal self-indulgences. If we're hit again on that scale (or worse), it's George Bush's stubborn refusal to defend our borders which will come, deservedly, into the crosshairs.

UPDATE: The Texas congressional delegation has sent a collective letter to the President asking for a declaration of a state of emergency along the Texas-Mexico border on the grounds that "hundreds of illegal immigrants, many of which are not of Mexican descent, are crossing our borders on a daily basis":

Today, I joined 22 members of the Texas Delegation in sending a letter to President Bush urging him to take immediate action on the illegal immigration problem along the US-Mexico border. I signed this letter, because it is critical that the federal government secure its borders for the safety of all Americans. We cannot differentiate between border security and homeland security. They are one and the same. This letter underscores the point that we need meaningful immigration reform that strengthens our borders, provides adequate resources and includes an equally imperative guest worker program. We must enable the federal government to separate illegal immigrants that enter our country for economic reasons from those who enter to do us harm."

The press and the DisLoyal Opposition have tried to pronounce the death of the Bush presidency for the past four and a half years, and have failed each time. But immigration is the one issue that has the potential to make that departure from this mortal political coil a reality.

I hope Dubya will finally listen. Something tells me that, one way or the other, he isn't going to get very many more warnings before the proverbial hammer falls.

[HT: B4B]