Illegal Immigration, Amnesty, Duke & Poop

Republican Implosion: Lyndsey Graham writes Ace a love letter.

Creative Employment: A relative of mine calculated how much his supremely-loathed company paid him to "take a dump". This is much better.

Duke dreck: Nifong rationalizes. Broadhead gets awards--why does he still have a job? And I don't want to say "I told you so" but, I told you so. The press and faculty will hold, 'til their dying day the notion that the "Duke boys" were the criminals, because it is axiomatic that professors and journalists never get it wrong. Ever.

My point was to demonstrate that the Ms. Potters of the world will continue to malign three guys who are wholly innocent of crimes. Even exoneration won't stop them. The real criminals turn out to be the accuser and Mike Nifong, but the soundbite will be "Duke Rape", "Duke Lacrosse".

Immigration frustration: What an unholy mess this legislation is--Captain Ed investigates and Michelle Malkin has more. Ed Morrisey says:

POINT 6: Page 67, lines 7-11: 80% of all penalties paid by the applicants will come through installment plans. I understand the need for this, but it puts the federal government on the hook for managing a payment system for 12 million new people, along with all of the other mandates in this bill.

POINT 7: Page 69, line 20: The DREAM Act, providing scholarships for the children of illegal immigrants, still exists in the bill.

POINT 8: Page 89-90, lines 22-04: The 24-hour limit on background checks still holds within the Ag Workers section (the temporary guest worker program). If it takes longer than 24 hours, they get their credentials. (h/t: commenter Redherkey)

POINT 9: Page 92, lines 14-15: Do I read this correctly? The new limit on guest-worker visas is now 1,500,000 -- not counting dependent Z-A visas? Wasn't this originally 400,000 and reduced by half later?

Mickey Kaus covers the whole sordid spectacle in detail. I'm trying not to throw up in my mouth. If you desire to torture yourself and read it all, enjoy it here.

I have never seen the government so willfully not just misrepresent the people, but do precisely opposite what the people want. Hillary talks about a vast, Right-Wing conspiracy, but I feel that the American public is the victim of some sort of political-class conspiracy. It's surreal.

Or, is this bill just ego, when we get right down to it? These smarter-than-thou saviors so willing to cross the isle to work with each other have too much time and self invested in this legislation to let it go. And the President has his legacy and what not.

Is that all this bill is? A vanity vote?

Jeff Goldstein is excited:

64-35. Tom Tancredo — watching the proceedings from behind razor-wire twisted around his TV on the off chance a Jennifer Lopez movie slips through his hate filter — just threw up a little bit in his mouth.

Ironically, it tasted a teensy bit like refried beans.

Stanley Kurtz believes, as I do, that something worse than bad legislation is happening with this bill:

Senators who believe that by passing this bill they will at least be getting a divisive issue out of the way are making a serious mistake. This is not 1986. The immigration issue is far more prominent now, and it will only grow in importance. Demographics, and the problems of assimilation in a globalized world of satellite dishes and easy travel will see to that. Look at how votes on the war have come back to haunt Democratic politicians. Votes by legislators of both parties on this bill will be haunting them–and all of us–for years to come.

Supporters of this bill sell it as a compromise that will heal America’s divisions. I fear it’s quite the reverse. This bill is infuriating the public and undermining faith in government itself. You can see it in the polling on confidence in Congress and the President. If this bill passes, it’s going to aggravate and embitter politics for years to come. Passing a measure over such overwhelming opposition is like slapping the public in the face.

You can’t solve an argument by imposing a "compromise" on parties who don’t actually view it as a compromise. You can’t heal social divisions by forcing your version of a "solution" down the public’s throats. Real healing comes only when two sides reach what they themselves consider a valid compromise, or when one side wins the argument by persuading a clear majority of the validity of its case. Democracy does work, but first the Senate has got to give it a try.

On Saturday, I worried about the same thing:

I'm still trying to digest what it means when our elected officials trust the people to elect them but that trust evaporates when those same people don't support a bill they desire. What will the Congress and President lose for America by winning at this bill?

Last week Thursday, my concern was this:

Letting this bill go and enforcing current law and building a fence means having faith in the American people. If that's too big a pill to swallow, maybe elected officials can have faith in this: the American people remember at election time.

Finally, and on a completely different note, scientists are finding a way to turn plastic back into the oil it started out as. That could be good news for developing oil independence.