Politics

Politics are getting interesting again, especially for a Monday morning. First we get this out of the Justice Department: An official there has said that if she is subpoenaed to testify in the Federal Attorney firing brouhaha she will take the fifth. That's an absolutely astounding and utterly interesting position since the White House swears on a stack of bibles that nothing illegal took place. I wonder what she knows that's so bad it could send her to jail if she were to openly tell the truth about it. I equally wonder how many other people know equally damaging stuff in this case.

What amazes me repeatedly about this whole thing is that there was supposedly nothing illegal about the president exercising his prerogative to fire federal attorneys. He didn't have to give any explanation to the public beyond the fact that it was his prerogative to do so and he was using it. That's been the case with every other president. Why then did this administration have to make up a pack of lies, and bad lies at that, which impugned the integrity of the attorneys being fired? Why couldn't they have just said the president wanted them replaced and let it go at that? What is it about this administration that has to make cloak and dagger out of something this simple?

The next thing to hit the political fan today is the outlines of the new Comprehensive Immigration policy that the congress is beginning to consider. It has some good stuff, and some really bad stuff in it in about equal portions. The good thing would be a legal immigrant database; the bad thing is that it would be administered by the Department of Homeland Security. I cannot imagine a more incompetent group to do something this important. A good thing would be more Immigration officials and Border Patrol, as well as a completed fence and observation devices; the bad thing is that they would be issuing six-year visas to illegals without requiring them to go home first. I understand that this part would also be without background, security, or criminal background checks.

The next good thing would be stricter harsher penalties for those hiring illegals; the bad is again it's under the Bush administration and Department of Homeland security. If Mr. Bush runs immigration policy the way he runs the war in Iraq, we might just as well turn over the keys to the country to Mexico now and abdicate our citizenship.

The nothing but bad thing is amnesty at the end of six years and a place at the head of the line for permanent resident or citizenship status. I don't know if there is a language requirement, but I know that there is a background and criminal check at this time, a few light fines, and the payment of back taxes. What they don't have to do is leave and apply from their home countries then wait for the paperwork to be processed which is what legal immigrants must do. These people would be required to leave, but that "leave" would mean as little as walking across the border at Juarez and then immediately turning around and walking back. They would then be allowed to live in this country while waiting for their paperwork to be processed which takes years under the most ideal circumstances. Meanwhile those who apply from outside the country must wait there all those years while those who snuck across the border and broke the law reap benefits from doing so.

The other questionable part of this plan is expansion of the legal, low-skilled labor program which currently allows about 5,000 of these people to come here legally if sponsored by a business with a job for them. This would expand to 400,000 a year. I don't have any details on how long they're allowed to stay here, etc.

As I said, it's been such a heavy news day that even Anna Nichole's autopsy is getting scant play on the news.