The latest republican noise on this front came today on Sunday morning TV from House minority leader John Boehner -- fresh out the tanning salon (he's the George Hamilton clone in the center of the above pic) -- who said that a repeal of the Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause is "worth considering." That Clause provides that anyone born in the United States is a United States citizen, regardless of whether the person's parents are also citizens. Boehner isn't the first, as plenty of GOP talking heads (including John McCain) have been making similar suggestions in recent weeks.I call it both ways, folks. Over the past 19 months, I have frequently pointed out just how radical far leftist the DC dem powerbrokers are. And I view the apparent "repeal the Citizenship Clause" movement from the GOP to be similarly radical far right. I look at the Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause as being every bit as "Ma and Apple Pie," and at the core of what makes us a great nation, as even my beloved First Amendment, and most certainly the Second Amendment, as well as the other fundamental substantive rights extended to us throughout the Bill of Rights.
The Fourteenth Amendment and its Citizenship Clause date back to 1868 and the Reconstruction Era. The Clause effectively overruled the notorious Dred Scott decision of 1857, which had found that African Americans could not be citizens of the United States. And now the GOP is talking of repealing such an importantly historical piece of law? Whom do the republicans think they are? When the radical leftists of the democrat party spew their constant drumbeat rhetoric of GOP standing for such things as Grumpy Old white Persons, methinks even they do at times have a very valid point.
Now, all the GOP talk about repealing the Citizenship Clause appears grounded in the argument that it could help discourage illegal immigration from Mexico. Which is Right-Wing BS! The way we stem the flow of illegal immigration over the porous southern border (which I have little doubt has allowed dozens if not more Al Qaeda operatives into our country over the last several years) is very simple: Secure the damn border! But the GOP has little interest in doing that since it is bankrolled by powerful interest groups supportive of the cheap labor force that an open border brings.
So what do we get from the GOP? A bunch of lip service about securing the border (just like we get from the democrat party), couple with a real and bona fide focus on the largely anti-American measure of repealing the Citizenship Clause. Yes, I just accused the GOP of acting anti-American, but you'll find that's just sort of the way I roll.
As usual, the real losers in this whole equation are my fellow Independents -- that 40% of the country which is not very comfortable with either of these two extremist parties but yet incessantly much try, come election time, to choose between the lesser of two absolute evils. I started this post with a two-word phrase, and I shall end it the same way: Sad Days.
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/08/john_boehner_repeal_of_14th_am.html
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