Immigration
A limited form of sanity is spreading across Congress, in the sense that many have grasped that 12 million people is, like, a whole crazy lot of people – but it seems they’re some ways away from understanding just how long 2000 miles is.
The “no amnesty” freaks can only pretend there’s another solution. As if any liberal democracy – subject to a modicum of civil rights, the rule of law and due process – has the ability to find, arrest, hold and deport 3 or 4% of its population. As if anyone in their right mind would want to live in a society alongside a police power that could -. To convey the wacky giant-sizedness of 12 million, some hold up states of similar size – Illinois or Pa., eg. I’d go one further – imagine if, by some rt-wing nutfarm fantasy, every illegal was already rounded up in a Pa.-size ghetto – that all we had to do was ship ’em out. I’d suggest that even that (gross) undertaking is beyond the means of any modern state.
Consider also that Obama’s doubled Bush’s deportation efforts (to the non-dissuasion of latin voters) – 400k/yr over 200k – mind boggling as that is to me (1000+ deportations/day – wow) the job wd take a cool quarter-century or so – assuming no more get in.
Which brings us to the next item to be grasped by the slow-to-grasp: the length of the southern border. While I have great respect for drones and satellites, you still need a police force that can deploy in an instant across (cough) 2000 miles. The Israaelis have had great fun (and less success) trying to close a border 1/20th that size, and they get to do awesome IDF stuff, like using deadly force.
So amnesty it must be, according to any serious, rational analysis. So who the f knows what Congress will do….