The McCain Mutiny

Malkin writes today about the pitifully unfinished border fence with Mexico. Read about the sad, sorry job that’s being done to secure the southern border.

In connection with this, how much do we believe McCain, who sided with the Senate’s most liberal members to push through amnesty for millions of illegal aliens - when he says, “I get it now - secure the border first”? Frankly, I don’t trust him.

When asked about some conflicts between the fence and private property rights, McCain just doesn’t sound committed to the fence:

Speaking at a town hall meeting with employees at a financial services company that caters to military personnel and retirees, McCain was asked how he would balance the need for border security with individual property rights. Along the Texas border, landowners fear their riverfront land will be divided or taken from them.

McCain’s first responded by joking, “This meeting is adjourned.”

The Arizona senator then promised he would look into the issue. Texas’s border with Mexico is far more populated than the border areas in Arizona.

McCain’s position on immigration has often had him in conflict with the conservative members of his party. He has argued for a guest worker program that angers many conservative Republicans.

What would have been wrong with saying, “Those issues will have to be worked out. Private owners will have to be compensated. But this much is non-negotiable, the fence must be built and must be built quickly. If we can exercise government’s right of imminent domain for shopping centers, we most certainly can exercise it for a matter of national security.”

McCain presumably is a smart guy. I’m not a politician. If I can craft a determined response in 30 seconds, surely this master politician can do better. Bottom-line, I don’t think McCain will actually build the fence.

Elsewhere, McCain is seen to be walking a tightrope on the illegal alien issue:

It’s a difference of emphasis, not a change in stance, Republican strategists say.

“He’s in an excellent place with conservatives who are concerned about immigration, because his position — that he’ll secure the border first and have that security certified by the border-state governors, and then we’ll go back and deal with the 12 million — seems to have satisfied most people,” said Charlie Black, a McCain adviser.

“He says, ‘Look, we got the message — the American people do not trust us when we say we’ll secure the border,’” Black added.

McCain told congressional Republicans in a closed-door meeting recently that he had been badly bruised by his push for immigration reform and had learned the hard way that sealing the border should be his priority.

Republicans who support McCain say he has no choice but to abandon his past approach on immigration in favor of one that causes less consternation among conservatives virulently opposed to providing undocumented people with legal status.

Notice the analysis - McCain’s position hasn’t changed - just the stance. Translation: after the border is “secured” (and I suspect this will be so loosely defined that any real restrictions to Mexicans crossing the border illegally will be vapor) - then McCain will move on to amnesty. No where have you heard McCain take amnesty off the table. Rather, he’s saying to himself, “I’ve got to pacify the conservatives and secure the border, then we’ll do amnesty.”

Case in point from the same article:

“McCain is promising conservatives to do what conservatives most want done, which is to secure the border. Does that mean he will never go further than that to rationalize the system? No, but he doesn’t have to say that,” said Jacoby, the president of ImmigrationWorks USA, a coalition pushing for a broad overhaul.

Do you wonder what this group, Immigration Works USA stands for? Well, find their website here and read their guiding principles. Their agenda is clear, some sort of legal status for 12 million illegal aliens. Read from their principles:

That any overhaul must include a practical answer for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already in the country. Amnesty is unacceptable, but so is mass deportation. National interest - national security and the rule of law - requires that the nation find a way to deal realistically with this vast underground population.

Why must we accept this line of thinking. Why is it unacceptable to deport those who are here illegally? Actually, we don’t to deport them. Simply deny them the right to work and they’ll go home on their own accord. So Mr. Jacoby, the president of this group, likes John McCain because he hopes McCain will “rationalize” the system. That’s a noble sounding word, but what it means is (a) claim the border is secured and (b) legalize the 12 million that are here illegally.

Speaking in Tyler, TX recently - McCain had this to say regarding immigration:

McCain said he understands the issue as a border-state senator. He pledged to curtail the problem if elected president.

“As president, I will have the border-state governors certify the borders are secure. Then, for temporary workers, we have to have tamper-proof, biometric documents,” McCain said. “Anyone who hires someone who doesn’t have those … is going to have to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

But, McCain — who supported a defeated bill in Congress last summer that would have given millions of illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship — continued to advocate dealing with the issue in what he called “a humane fashion.”

“There is a young [soldier] who is missing in Iraq; his wife was in this country illegally,” McCain said. “We’re not going to deport that young man’s wife; that’s just not the nation that we are.”

McCain did, however, say that any illegal immigrant who commits a crime while in the U.S. should be deported

A little analysis is in order:

• We’ll have the border state Governors certify that the border is secure. Problem: either the border state governors don’t care or they’ll be under political pressure to make the certification. Will liberal Republican Schwarzenegger really hold his California border up to a high standard? Arizona might do so. But not New Mexico with liberal Bill Richardson at the helm? What about the all important Texas border with Mexico. As long as Rick Perry is in office, he’s not likely to make life hard on the new President McCain. He’s too anxious to curry political favor.
• Notice that McCain says we’ll deal with it in a “humane fashion.” Translation: asking people who came here illegally to go home, get at the back of the line behind those who play by the rules (laws of this nation) is not humane. Baloney. McCain reminds me more of  socialist every day.
• Notice that to support his point that we’re not going to send illegal aliens home, he uses an extreme example - 1 out of 12 million - an illegal alien wife of a member of the US Military. Fine.  Special, 1 out of 1 million cases can be handled uniquely. But don’t use extreme cases to justify the whole rotten mess.
• Notice that McCain says that any illegal alien that committed a crime in this country should be deported. First of all, how will we truly know? Second, why does it not matter that they committed a crime getting into this country. Their mere act of working in this country is a crime!

Bottom line to all of this - don’t trust McCain when he says “I got it - we’ll secure the border first.” Expect that securing of the border to be shallow and loosely defined so as to meet political goals - not national security goals. Then, expect amnesty for 12 million plus illegal aliens.

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