Jens 'n' Frens
Idle thoughts of a relatively libertarian Republican in Cambridge, MA, and whomever he invites. Mostly political.

"A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures."
  -- Daniel Webster



Wednesday, April 28, 2010 :::
 

In case you've been on Mars for the last week, in a cave, with your eyes closed and your fingers in your ears, Arizona has recently passed a law requiring police (in some circumstances) to check out someone's immigration status and report to the feds if this results in flashing lights and loud sirens. Based solely on that description, I can't tell you whether it's a good law or a bad law; if anyone walking down the street can be pulled aside and, if he doesn't have an American passport, be confined to jail until he can get one, this is a bad law. If anyone arrested gets his fingerprints checked against an ICE list of expired visas and previous deportations, that's a good law; law enforcement agencies that reasonably suspect that laws out of their jurisdictions are being broken should be reporting their suspicions anyway.

Anyway, Byron York has done some research and defends the bill. Cesar Conda responds. Jim Geraghty muses, "I suppose cops could ask someone for proof that they have health insurance first, and then ask if they're in the country legally."

Finally, Glenn Reynolds rounds up links and stories here and here. At the first of those links, he writes:
A reader says he’s suprised to see me support the Arizona bill. Well, I really don’t — that is, I don’t know if I’d have voted for it if I were in Arizona. I’m mostly reacting to the fact that — as demonstrated by Linda Greenhouse — the opposition displays that special combination of self-righteous outrage and bone-deep ignorance that really sets me off.

Lack of border security is a real problem, and pretending otherwise is dumb or dishonest. The feds are doing a lousy job of it. Arizona is trying to prod them. All this over-the-top Nazi talk — particularly from people like Greenhouse, who don’t mind the federal government deciding if I get a kidney transplant — is disgraceful, as are the bogus charges of racism, etc., that are the standard response regardless of what the issue is. That does get my dander up.
Put me in his camp.

Labels:



::: posted by Steven at 5:12 PM


Comments: Post a Comment







Comment Policy
_______________

Dollars and Jens
Dean's Antipopulist.com
Steven's web-site


Kitchen Cabinet
Colby Cosh
Instapundit
The Volokh Conspiracy
The Corner
The Bleat from James Lileks
Beldar
Tim Blair
Daily Ablution
RealClearPolitics
Mickey Kaus
Dave Barry
How Appealing
Virginia Postrel
Becker-Posner
Reason's "Hit and Run"
Discriminations
Captain's Quarters
Roger L. Simon
Hewitt
Power Line
IWF's InkWell
Blogs for Bush
Chetly Zarko
Signifying Nothing
 
Massachusetts
Cosmo Macero
Hub Blog
Ex Parte from Harvard Law's Federalists
Harvard CR blog
Priorities & Frivolities
Daley News
Emil Levitin
Politica Obscura
Wave Maker
Town Watch
Worcester County Repubs

 
Election '08
Don't Vote
Dave Barry
John McCain

 
Other Sites of Note
Townhall columnists Cambridge Republican City Committee
Cambridge Chronicle
Robert Winters
Boston Herald
Boston Globe
Boston Metro
Channel 5
Commonwealth Mag
Fox News
Massachusetts Republican Assembly
Robert Benchley Society

Reference
U.S. Constitution
9/11 commission report [7 Meg PDF]
Iraq Survey Group report
Fahrenheight 9/11 deceits


_______________

Idle thoughts of a relatively libertarian Republican in Cambridge, MA, and whomever he invites. Mostly political.


Powered by Blogger