It’s anotherSunday morning breakfast at IHOP before I launch into another project. My sig other has finally decided to move out of his place and I am helping him get started today. He helped me move out of my apartment and saved me hundreds of dollars so it is the least I could do.
I have been real slack on blog posting lately so I’m going to use the time while I am waiting on a table to let you know about the latest high jinks by Senator McCan’t on Immigration Reform.
Over the last few months he has been frozen out of leadership on this issue because the Tea Party members of the House have hijacked the Congressional ship. They’d prefer to cause our economy to crash rather than actually govern. Anyway Senator McCan’t has sent a letter to Homeland Security posing some interesting questions about the effectiveness and methods of US Border control. Pundits think the letter serves two purposes. First it gets the Senator back in the news and we know how much he loves being on the Sunday talk shows.. Second, it is supposed to be a wrist slap for the Congressional Teahadists who are making noises about doing something but ultimately don’t want a real solution preferring to deport everyone instead.
Not that Senator McCain’s position all that different. Instead of offering comprehensive reform to deal with all aspects of this very complicated problem he has spent the last decade demanding that border security be dealt with before anything else can be discussed. This is a lovely Catch-22 because no matter how much money we pour into Border Security it will never be truly secure for many practical reasons and that lack of perfect security can be used as both a cudgel against Dems in Congess and the White House AND as an excuse to never really deal with the problem comprehensively. It doesn’t matter if the Teahadists propose absurd reforms or if McCain and his cabal propose increased security….the sum effect is the status quo will be maintained. And the conservative employers who are also McCain donors and who depend entirely on the slave labor of immigrants are simply thrilled.
As part of the cudgel, McCain’s latest press release/letter of inquiry shows concern for a couple of things. First he is worried about effectiveness. He says that the increased number of apprehensions means that what we are doing isn’t working. That sounds kind of counterintuitive since better security should mean increased apprehension rates, logically speaking. The truth is the experts don’t know if the increase is the failure of preventative efforts or if it is due to a simple increase in illegal immigration having nothing to do with border security or if the numbers were always higher than we knew or if the new security is over zealous. Like I said its a very complicated issue. of course McCain jumps the gun and assumes it is a lack of effectiveness because that is the politically expedient thing to assume.
The second concern is a monster of his own making, which cranks the irony factor to 11. He is worried about the militarization of the US Border Pattol. He has pressured for and received from this Administration and the previous one billions of dollars in manpower, weaponry, equipment, fortifications, walls, high tech unmanned gadgets like drones (here is just one example). He and other AZ politicians have been banging on the fear drum about beheadings in the desert, Mexican drug dealers crossing over to kidnap Americans, and Muslim terrorists using the supposedly wide open border as a highway to the heartland. But now, NOW, he wants to get his panties in a bunch about the militarization of border patrol? I gotta call BS on this one.
Oh what I wouldn’t give for an actual Senator doing actual work on behalf of his constituents in Congress. I think we will have to wait until he passes. Unfortunately he will probably live longer than Strom Thurmond and we will just get another old, white guy who cares more about his Q score than his state and his country.
Ms. D. Ranged In AZ 
Golly, it’s almost as if he knew something was going to happen that might devalue the John McCain Brand Name:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/mccain_censure
A cynic also might suggest he’s positioning himself for a 2016 reelection bid.
That’s a great find! However his letter to Homeland isn’t necessarily a true conservative position so he isn’t doing anything to make himself look more conservative to please the foaming Repubs back home. AZ cons want the border force militarized. The only appeal would be, I think, is that it is critical of the WH. UNLESS you are saying that McCain is moving toward the middle because he has lost the rabid base. That interp fits, I think.
He may think all he has to do is make noises about securing the border to bring the loons back on board. That sort of thing has worked before.
Besides, as a practical matter, it’d be hard to primary McCain, what with the whole Heroic Hero persona he’s created over the years. Unless the TPers are more numerous and more influential in Arizona than I know, McCain should be able to swat aside any challenge from his Right (boy, does it feel odd to type that!), which means six more years of polishing up the John McCain Legacy.
Plus, as you say, McCain just *loves* to be on the Sunday yak shows and this is a new excuse for the bookers to call his office.
You are probably right…AZ cons believe a lot of false crap, so low info doesn’t even begin to describe them. He just has to say “border security” and that will be good enough. 2016 should provide some good measures on just how influential the TPers are here. It will, at the least, be entertaining.