One of the worst kept secrets in Washington is now confirmed and out in the open - the Obama White House has filed suit in federal court against Arizona over it's new immigration law.

Of course it's ridiculous.  Of course it's amazing.  Of course it's awful.  But when it comes right down to it, it's about politics - which doesn't make it any better, or easier to take, but there it is.

The fact of the matter is that we're now about four months out from Election Day, and Obama and the Democrats are tanking big time in the polls.  He/they desperately need to rally the base, and Hispanics are a big part of that base.  And many of them have been none too happy with how he's put other issues ahead of what "comprehensive immigration reform", (AKA, amnesty).

In the middle of all of that, along comes Arizona looking to do what it can to enforce it's southern border and reduce the flow of illegals into that state.  Granted, it's popular in Arizona.  It's even popular nationally, especially since most people understand the federal government isn't even close to doing it's job when it comes to protecting the border.  But it's also really unpopular with major segments of the Democrat base, which makes Obama see it as a political necessity.

He knows he can't deliver an amnesty bill (read: Democrat voter registration bill) this year.  So he's going to do the next best thing.  Use the courts to grandstand.  read more »

This is exactly the type of thing I've said all along about how the open borders crowd have approached our immigration problem and how (if at all) they are willing to try to solve it.

The political pressure to do something doesn't come from all of the illegals who want to get an express pass to citizenship, it comes from the US citizens crying out to their elected leaders to stop the flood of illegals.  And as the pressure builds on those officials to secure the border in order to stop the flood, some of them try to take action, but then the other crowd that wants to grant amnesty says "only if you agree to make it a 'comprehensive' bill"...meaning we'll agree to secure the border if you agree a wave a wand and make everyone legal.

Same deal that they made with Reagan in 1986 with over a million illegals - only they never got around to the border security.

Now Arizona Senator John Kyl says Obama's told him point blank that he's playing for the same deal.  (here's the video)

THIS is the type of thing that should be a scandal with the American people.  A sitting President who says he doesn't want to do anything else to help enforce the law until he gets those who want it enforced to agree to give him what he wants.

So much for "preserve, protect and defend" the Constitution.  read more »

Imagecolumn: 

In the wake of Arizona’s passage of its new immigration enforcement law, the inflamed, uninformed and irresponsible rhetoric coming from the open-borders crowd and supposedly respectable politicians who should know better seems to have grown by the day.

From the NY Times to the Washington Post to Barack Obama himself, there has been an avalanche of gross mischaracterizations of the law, inferring that it would allow police to simply stop anyone who “looks different” on the street and demand to “see their papers”.

The use of this phrase is no accident, but an intentional reference to authoritarian (and usually socialist) countries where the police have the right to stop anyone and demand, “Let me see your papers”.  It is at least somewhat comical, given that most of the people who are complaining the loudest about Arizona’s new law have recognizable tendencies towards socialism, the most high profile example being Obama himself.  read more »

We've set up a new "Stop Amnesty!" page on Facebook and encourage you to join...and invite a friend.

In case you haven't noticed, Harry Reid and the Democrat leadership have introduced the "blueprint" for their upcoming "comprehensive immigration reform" bill...and, of course, it involves amnesty for illegal aliens.

Join our campaign to speak out and tell Congress NO to amnesty by using the viral power of Facebook to help spread the word.

Then be sure to join our online petition and send a message to your members of Congress!

The fact that the state legislature in Arizona (backed by 70% of that state's population) have taken it upon themselves to pass legislation to deal with the overwhelming problem of illegal aliens in that state has gotten quite a bit of attention lately, to say the least.  Here's a roundup of some of today's headlines...

Pressure Mounting to Legalize Immigrants (WashTimes)

When this year started, immigration was an afterthought issue, as Congress was facing high national unemployment, a huge deficit, an unfinished health care bill, and energy and financial regulation bills next in line.

But immigrant rights groups refused to accept that calculus and have cajoled and pushed their way into the discussion. Along the way, they've been helped by politics, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's re-election bid in Nevada depending on tremendous Hispanic support....

Arizona takes the cuffs off the police (Washington Examiner)

... The only people who approve, it seems, are the American citizens who have to live with the consequences of the federal government's long-standing failure to enforce its own immigration laws and protect the country's border with Mexico. Seventy percent of Arizonans -- and 60 percent of people surveyed nationwide -- favor the law signed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer last week. The bill's chief sponsor, state Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, summed up local sentiment when he said that it will "take the handcuffs off the police and put them on violent criminals."  read more »

As you surely heard by now, Arizona passed a law last week which emphasizes enforcement of immigration law in that state and, as one could easily predict, Obama and the illegal alien apologists have come out and criticized it.  But they might want to think twice...

Via Rasmussen:

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer last week signed a new law into effect that authorizes local police to stop and verify the immigration status of anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that 60% of voters nationwide favor such a law, while 31% are opposed.

Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Republicans support the law along with 62% of voters not affiliated with either major party. Democratic voters are evenly divided on the measure. ...

I think it's worth pointing out here that, (despite all the liberal hyperventilating), essentially, the law just makes it a violation of STATE law to be in the state illegally...which is just a state version of existing federal law, (which people in Arizona are rightfully upset that the feds don't do such a good job of enforcing).

Yet, within days of this bill's passage, the Democrat leadership has announced that they will begin their push for a "comprehensive" immigration bill this year...  (as per the usual, whenever you see the term "comprehensive" in how Washington politicians describe any piece of legislation, it usually means that it's packed with things that people would never support if they had to stand on their own merits as opposed to being hid in a large piece of legislation).  read more »

First of all tonight, I would like everyone who reads this column to read Erick Erickson’s article for Friday, March 26, 2010 on RedState.com. I have long been an admirer of Erick’s work and this time he has taken the bit in his teeth. Erick has articulated exactly what a lot of us have been thinking.

Erick Erickson

We have a rogue government which shows every indication of continuing to abrogate the principles of freedom and liberty upon which this land was founded, and the head of that government is behaving like this country is his fiefdom and we serfs to his monarchical tyranny. There is a tipping point here. Whether we have reached that point yet or not is a difficult thing to gauge.

The founders took a lot of abuse before they rebelled. They, like we, saw it as an action to be taken only in extremis. Yet driven to what they saw as a position of intolerability, take it they did. These were not wide-eyed radicals, but mature, reasoned and educated men. Most stood to lose everything and understood that once begun there could be no turning back.

No one, least of all people like Erick or myself, would want to see open strife in this country as long as there was any recourse to redress by election or through the courts. Along with the rising anger in this country as more and more ‘details’ of the monstrous 3,000 page bill are revealed (Nancy Pelosi: “You have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it”), is the increasingly voiced fear that Barack Hussein Obama and the Demarxist Congress would somehow manufacture a ‘national’ emergency and there would be no elections come November.  read more »