Dunkin' Donuts, Cattle Deterrents and Sham Hearings

Gotta luv the state of political discourse in the United States...

President Bush stopped by a Dunkin' Donuts shop Wednesday to promote a program to help verify that workers are in the country legally. Behind the scenes, he explored a proposal for breaking a congressional gridlock over immigration legislation.

Flanked by the immigrant owners and employees of the suburban Washington shop, Bush said he wants a rational plan that would treat immigrants with dignity. He said he wants to enforce the borders so fewer people sneak across but also provide a way for those already in the United States for some time to become citizens. - linkage

Yes, yes. I know he's the Photo-Op pResident, but Dunkin' Donuts? Never thought Junior would use that as a backdrop before he succeeds in completely destroying our government. I wonder if he was picking up a delivery for the Minutemen who already have to repair their "wall" here in Southern Arizona after it was destroyed?

An 800-foot section of the five-strand barbed wire fencing constructed on the ranch owned by Jack Ladd and his son, John, had to be restrung after vandals cut the wire strand-by-strand within about 4 inches of each support post, Hair said.

After construction began on Memorial Day weekend and continued for a few weeks, organizers decided to switch to a contractor to complete the job to maintain quality control and because of a shortage of volunteers. - linkage

Aside from that bit of irony, I was interested to learn that the rancher who ok'ed the construction on his land was probably used as a propaganda ploy in the vigilantes' press releases.

The Ladds made it clear before the project started that they wanted a barbed wire fence built to keep Mexican livestock off their pastures, not a stronger, more impregnable fence to keep people off the land, even though they oppose illegal immigration.

I bet Chris Simcox would rather the general public not be clued into that piece of information. Then again, the Minutemen are thugs who probably denote equality to the terms "Mexican livestock" and "Mexicans".

My snarky rants are meaningless though, as long as the Republican-controlled Congress continues its window-dressing of immigration reform negotiations.

House GOP leaders called the hearings last month after the Senate in May passed an immigration reform bill, backed by Specter, that includes a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for millions in the country illegally. A separate House-approved bill focuses only on enforcement.

Democrats initially considered boycotting the hearings but decided to treat them as a platform to assail an enforcement-only approach to immigration reform, according to Sherman.

The panel that met in San Diego was set to meet again Friday in Laredo, Texas, another border city. Republicans on the panel include Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, a leading voice for a crackdown on illegal immigration, and Rep. Peter King of New York, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, who broke with the White House on immigration.

Republican-led House committees will hold hearings outside Washington in mid-July on making English the nation's official language, and how enforcement of immigration laws affects American workers.

A hearing the week of Aug. 14 in Arizona will focus on costs to local and state governments "caused by an unsecured border." - linkage

So much for a comprehensive approach... looks like a doughy load of mierda to me.

[UPDATE]

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