Hardly a Surprise

This morning, the Washington Times notes about the immigration legislation that "Divisive bill stokes GOP anger." Well, no kidding. It's hard to understand the people who, like Senator Mel Martinez, actually think that such a bill would "save" the Republican Party. Whether it's the cavalier treatment of border security, the unworkable "enforcement" provisions, or the fact that the bill, as noted here, makes it significantly more difficult for legal Latinos assimilate and to move up the economic ladder, there seems to be little in the bill that would benefit America in general and the GOP in particular.

What's most frustrating is the overtone of accusation that the bill's supporters employ to hint that anyone who opposes the legislation is, perhaps, just a little bigoted. Exhibit A is Martinez's remark that ""I think he's [the President's] got a great phrase, where he's saying that, 'without amnesty or animosity,'and it's very important that, as this debate unfolds, we keep that in mind, that we keep the animosity out of it and try to do something that's good for the country."

The President and legislators like Mel Martinez need to understand that "animosity" toward illegals of any ethnicity isn't the motivating factor behind opposition to the bill. In fact, if there's any "animosity" at all, it's directed, quite rightly, toward politicians who find it easier to believe that well-meaning Americans are bigoted than they do to believe that they might, actually, have it wrong with the immigration bill in its current form.