Votes - And Lots Of Them

It's frankly a bit surprising that this op-ed by James Pinkerton was published in Newsday, that not exactly being known as a hotbed of conservative thought. It may be rather significant that it did get published there. Pinkerton points out the glaringly obvious here: the arrest of the six men plotting an attack on Fort Dix shows the real problem with illegal immigrants. You don't know who you have in the country or what their intentions are.

So three of the men arrested for plotting to massacre American soldiers in New Jersey were here illegally. Here's a dumb question: Why are there any people here in this country illegally?

It's possible to argue back and forth about the economic and social impact of illegal immigration into the United States. But surely there can be no argument about the undesirability of terrorism.

And, since we have just been reminded yet again that illegal aliens can be terrorists, we should ask a further question: Do we really have to wait for an A-bomb to go off in a U.S. city before we get curious as to who is in our midst?

Now, of course, some might say we should target only certain groups, such as Arabs and Muslims - the Fort Dix Six are all Muslim - for special surveillance. But that would be profiling, and we can't have that!

Moreover, as CBS News reported Tuesday, four of the six accused terrorists are from the former Yugoslavia, a European country. So here's a better idea: Let's simply recognize that the most dangerous elements in our society, by definition, are those who are illegal and unknown. Those unknown illegal immigrants might be honest and hard-working busboys. But they also could be mass murderers: The point is we don't know.

Pinkerton argues the same thing I have pointed out repeatedly since I started blogging. The first presidential candidate who promises better control of the borders has an opportunity to gather a lot of votes. Carrying through on those promises would be an almost certain lock on reelection. Despite the antics of the left and their pals, the pandering Congressional Democratic leadership, a solid majority of people in this country want the borders controlled. A lot of other things can be worked out later if that border is first secured. First party candidate to grasp that has a real chance at winning.