Framing The Narrative
Dan Balz of the Washington Post does his level best to frame the narrative of how the immigration "reform" bill collapsed. Sometimes you wonder who they are trying to convince, the public or themselves.
The collapse of comprehensive immigration revision in the Senate last night represents a political defeat for President Bush, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), the bill's most prominent sponsors. More significantly, it represents a scathing indictment of the political culture of Washington.
The defeat of the legislation can be laid at the doorstep of opponents on the right and left, on congressional leaders who couldn't move their troops and on an increasingly weakened president and his White House team. But together it added up to another example of a polarized political system in which the center could not hold.
The partisan blame game was already at fever pitch as the bill was going down yesterday. But to those far removed from the backrooms of Capitol Hill, what happened will fuel cynicism toward a political system that appears incapable of finding ways to resolve the nation's big challenges.
If Washington cannot produce a solution to the glaring problem of immigration, they will ask, what hope is there for progress on health care, energy independence, or the financial challenges facing Medicare and Social Security? Iraq is another matter entirely.
Voters wanted an immigration deal, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) acknowledged as he pulled the measure after 9 last night: "The problem was on the inside of this Senate chamber."
And right there, we have a glaring misstatement of fact. Every poll I have seen says that voters want the illegal immigration problems fixed - but by no means did they favor this "deal". More than 2/3 of the citizens of this country want the borders secured first. It is really that simple - and that complicated. Was there a collapse of leadership? Of course there was. Reid did a miserable job of keeping his troops in line - it was a Democrat who managed to insert an amendment that required a sunset on the guest worker program. And even Trent Lott acknowledged yesterday that Bush's attacks on conservatives last week were not helpful. But the voters did not want the deal that was being forged in the Senate. People were very, very angry at this bill and they let their Senators know it.
Again, and I will keep on repeating this, if the border is secured first, every, single other issue can be dealt with. We need that taken care of first.
Immigration Reform | Gaius June 8, 2007
By Giacomo, June 8, 2007 @ 4:10 pm
Absolutely. The MSM does this consistently with the illegal immigration topic. Whenever possible conflate immigrants and illegal immigrants so that the two are seen to be inseparable. And whenever possible act as if a desire for a solution to illegal immigration is clearly a desire for whatever Congress happens to throw up against the wall, rather than report that most people didn’t want this bill.
Secure the border - “achieve hemostasis” - and everything else is solvable, including, if necessary, guest workers and legalization for many of those already here. (The non-felon, been-here-for-years-and-worked group)
By Thomas Jackson, June 8, 2007 @ 6:52 pm
As Bush, Geraldo Riveria and the NY Times would say this country is filled with nativists who do not want what is best for America. Yeah, as written by La Raza.