Confusing security with Immigration
Wednesday, December 22, 2004 at 09:31PM
TheSpook
WHAT DOES immigration reform have to do with fixing the nation's system for gathering intelligence? Absolutely nothing. But don't try telling that to 67 renegade House Republicans who were so intent on scoring points with the anti-immigration crowd that they nearly hijacked an intelligence reform bill intended to respond to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The rebels included Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter and House Judiciary Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. Joining in was Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach, a longtime foe of illegal immigration who now wants to amend the Constitution to let legal immigrants (like, say, California's Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger) run for president. The Republican lawmakers insisted that the version of the intelligence bill that cleared the Senate didn't do enough to secure our country's borders. And they were incensed that the bill didn't prohibit states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants -- a controversial issue that might be better left to the states to sort out. It's possible he has forgotten that most of the Sept. 11 hijackers entered the United States legally. Americans equate illegal with dangerous. They need to stop that. When something is illegal, it's wrong, but that doesn't make it dangerous. In the case of most of the Sept. 11 hijackers, it was the fact that they entered the country legally -- and thus did not arouse suspicion -- that made them dangerous. And while we're at it, can we stop lumping terrorists with illegal immigrants? Terrorists want to do us harm. Most illegal immigrants just want to do our lawns, our cooking and our laundry.  [more]

"Well, I had just been told by (White House Chief of Staff) Andrew Card that America was under attack. And I was collecting my thoughts," Bush said. "I think what's important is how I reacted when I realized America was under attack. It didn't take me long to figure out we were at war."
Bush on Larry King (CNN) defending his lengthy pause in a Florida classroom when he was first told of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. 
[more ]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
See website for complete article licensing information.