Charles Krauthammer takes President Obama to the woodshed today over his immigration demagoguery. The president comes back in little pieces:
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Obama then boasted that on his watch 31 percent more drugs have been seized, 64 percent more weapons — proof of how he has secured the border. And for more proof: Apprehension of illegal immigrants is down 40 percent. Down? Indeed, says Obama, this means that fewer people are trying to cross the border.
Interesting logic. Seizures of drugs and guns go up — proof of effective border control. Seizures of people go down — yet more proof of effective border control. Up or down, it matters not. Whatever the numbers, Obama vindicates himself.
Krauthammer also hints at something important that people tend to forget. Obama spent much of 2010 promising members of the Hispanic caucus and various Latino activists that he was going to reform immigration. During the health care debate, Obama used this chip to sway reluctant members of the Hispanic caucus. He held a series of meetings with Hispanic activists in which he promised to “do everything in [his] power” to move an immigration bill in 2010.
Here is what the Washington Post wrote about one of these meetings, in July of last year:
So, you got that? Callate, cabron!!! Obama delivered this “shut up” order because he had lost a lot of Hispanic suppport in polling between January 2010 (69 percent) and May 2010 (57 percent), and he probably thought it had something to do with leaders who went off the reservation.
To whatever extent that the Hispanic caucus complied (total obeisance), and the Latino activists complied (depends on which ones you’re talking about) , they have proven to be a cheap date. Obama had two years in which he could have passed an immigration reform bill through Congress and did nothing, save for backing an obviously futile lame-duck vote on the DREAM Act in late 2010.
Now that Republicans have taken over the House of Representatives, and there is exactly zero chance of immigration reform passing, Obama is suddenly talking up the issue again. Don’t you find that interesting? You wouldn’t think Obama is playing politics or anything, would you?
People who have studied this issue more than I will tell you that Hispanic voters are not monolithic on the issue of immigration, and that many or even most of them do not consider it their most important issue. But whatever average Hispanic voters think on this issue, Obama seems to have a rather low opinion of their intelligence.
