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Hysteria: America, the gated community

Just build the fence high enough and it will solve everything

The “Fortress America” crowd got bad news and good news from the Senate today. The upper chamber voted to allow those pesky undocumented immigrants a shot at citizenship - I mean really, what place is there in our society for uninvited guests whose grandchildren just might, and I do mean might, grow up to be, oh, Attorney General of the United States? - but at least it also voted to install three hundred and seventy miles of Mexican-proof fence. Triple-layered to keep out the most-determined of Al Qaeda members…except, of course, that it’s never been proven that an Al Qaeda member has ever entered America via the border with Mexico. Unless you’ve been listening to Sue Myrick, that is.

Not that it matters. This measure is largely unreconcilable with the more-rabid sentiment to be found amongst the GOPers in the lower chamber. House Republicans - an all-stick, no-carrot crowd if there ever was one - will never swallow the bitter pill of the guest worker program. Here’s a sample of the surly mood to be found in the House just now:

Across the Capitol in the House, the story was different. Republicans pushed through a border security bill last year, and several members of the rank-and-file have criticized Bush for his proposals. To calm their concerns, the White House dispatched Karl Rove to their weekly closed-door meeting.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, an outspoken opponent of the Senate bill, derided the effort. “I didn’t see it was a persuasive event. If it was about Karl Rove seeking to convince members of Congress after debate that he’s right and we’re wrong it would have been better not to have the meeting,” he said.

Sounds like a cooperative spirit to me.

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