&uotI just got home from taking the kids to see Evan Almighty. It was amusing, even actually funny at times. Don't worry, I'm not going to spoil any of the jokes. I do want to talk a bit about the villain, played by John Goodman. He is the deeply corrupt Congressman Long. I am not quite sure who the character was modeled after, but these days you could probably throw a dart at a photo of Congress, while drunk and blindfolded, and hit someone who would fit the bill.

I have read and heard a great deal of news and commentary today about the Senate action on the Illegal Alien Amnesty Act that Senate leader Harry Reid pushed through the Senate. I am not going to recount the slimy parliamentary tricks that Reid used to foist this travesty on the American people. You will find that well covered, with links to still more at Captain's Quarters, and Powerline. I want to talk about the almost physical disgust I feel when contemplating the malign entity that is the United States Senate.

I guess we should give them some credit for their uncommon display of honest and open government. Typically, they make a lot of noise about listening to the people who elected them, before they do whatever best serves the interest of their careers in Washington. With their actions on the immigration bill, a majority of them have openly displayed their utter contempt for the American people.

The American people, by a wide margin and across party lines, do not want this immigration bill to become law. The American people, by a wide margin and across party lines, do not believe the government will actually do anything to secure the border and stop illegal immigration. The American people, by a wide margin and across party lines, are willing to accept some process of normalization for the illegal immigrants already in the country after the borders have been secured.

What we are offered in the Reid, Kennedy, Bush, McCain bill are the same empty promises to deal with the problem of illegal immigration that we heard in the Simpson/Mazzoli Act. The people have made it clear that this is not what they want and the Senate has made it clear that they don't give a damn.

All afternoon as this story progressed, I kept hearing the echos of some very old words.

"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,"

"and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 02:44 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment