No mas!

The governor of Arizona has just signed the country's toughest law against illegal immigration, and the Good People are predictably upset. Hispanics of course are crying racism, and President Obama is following his recent and rather unpleasant habit of demonizing people he doesn't agree with:

... he called for a federal overhaul of immigration laws, which Congressional leaders signaled they were preparing to take up soon, to avoid “irresponsibility by others.”

The Arizona law, he added, threatened “to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe.”

Of course Mr. Obama knows that that chances of Congress passing a meaningful overhaul are Slim to None--and Slim is about to leave on a Congressional junket, at taxpayer expense and with the customary military escort.

Two years ago I would have been on the other side of this argument. My mother and father, after all, were born in the County Cork, and I naturally view immigration as a good thing. There are two things very different about the situation in Arizona: first, that Hispanics in the Southwest don't seem very interested in assimilating to the English-speaking culture; and second, that millions of them are here illegally. Plus, it annoys the heck out of me to be told to press One if I want to continue the conversation in English. For a more intelligent discussion of this subject, see Sam Huntington's brilliant book, Who Are We? Blue skies! -- Dan Ford