James P. Pinkerton

Reality will beat Bush on border issue

Jun 8, 2006

George W. Bush continues to campaign for his idea of a "comprehensive" immigration bill, even as geopolitical events conspire to undercut him. We can bet on reality, rather than Bush's ideology, to win.

If for nothing else, we can give the president credit for sticking with his core beliefs; he truly believes that businesslike harmony would be boosted by the free flow of people across national frontiers. Indeed, those pro-globalist beliefs are so strong that they undercut even his photo-op attempts to look tough on border security while Congress debates his legislation. Yesterday the Washington Post reported that Bush, in New Mexico and Texas for a tour of the borderlands, was happy-talking with the locals - in Spanish.

The message sent by such non-English chit-chatting, of course, is that all this enforcement is just a ruse to mollify the right. When things calm down again, Bush believes, amnesty will be granted, and America will continue its long march toward pro-business bilingualism.

That's the Bush vision. And yet, four recent incidents have undercut that vision. The first two incidents were the alleged terror plots uncovered last week in England and Canada. The details will be sorted out in the courts, but it would appear, at absolute minimum, that dozens of young Muslim men fantasized about violent attacks on their host countries - even, apparently, beheading the prime minister of Canada.

These radical Islamists next door don't appear to be connected to al-Qaida; they simply don't like the countries that they live in. Their list of grievances is long, long, long. And so we might conclude that angry Muslims just don't fit in very well here in the West. That makes sense, given that Westerners don't fit in very well in the Muslim world.

But if we are confronting a clash of civilizations, then it's foolish, even suicidal, for the United States to be lax on homeland security. In March, The Denver Post reported that hundreds of those apprehended at the U.S.-Mexican border have been nationals of such worrisome countries as Iran and Saudi Arabia. And, of course, the rule of thumb in the current border chaos is that for each person caught, two have slipped through.

Soon enough, the palpable danger of terrorism, imported into the United States, will force Washington to do the right thing on border control. And at the same time, we will have to answer basic questions about who should, and who should not, live in this country. No wonder, then, that the politics are heating up, as the Bush-controlled Senate Republicans try to bludgeon the independent House Republicans into accepting Bush's amnesty plan.

So it's fitting that the third and fourth events undercutting Bush have to do with the House. On Monday night, Rep. Tom Tancredo, who has made border control his signature issue, won a Republican presidential straw poll in Michigan. That's right, an obscure backbencher from Colorado beat out all the big names, including Sens. John McCain, Bill Frist and Sam Brownback, all of whom voted with Bush on the pro-amnesty bill. McCain and the rest have cash and consultants, but Tancredo has something much better: a hot issue, a cause.

Tancredo's hand was strengthened by the fourth event, the victory of Republican Brian Bilbray in a special House election in San Diego. The seat had been safe for the GOP. But, given Bush's unpopularity, Democrats thought they had a shot. Bilbray, who supported a wall across the entire southern border, defeated a conventional liberal Democrat. His victory will no doubt harden the House Republican resolve to stand firm against both the Democrats and against Bush - both have the same lenient position.

House Republicans have their problems, but on the all-important issue of immigration they have a political winner. Indeed, House GOPers are the rock defending America. And that's not a bad position to hold for the '06 elections, and beyond.
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