Thread: REJECTING LAWLESSNESS : WASHINGTON TIMES EDITORIAL

Rejecting lawlessness

Diana West

October 12, 2007

True confession: I've never followed local politics closely enough. I've always been drawn more to the interplay of nations than of neighbors. But now, with illegal immigration out of control and our border a shambles — the very baseline of the interplay of nations — it is our neighbors, our local representatives, who are increasingly taking charge of this crucial chunk of national policy. City Hall, the local planning commission, and the county clerk's office are where the action is.

And, not coincidentally, where the grown-ups are.

Take Frank Merola, county clerk of Rensselaer County, New York. When New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer recently ordered up driver's licenses for illegal aliens, County Clerk Merola said no. Mr. Merola refused to issue licenses to illegal aliens. He has since been joined by 12 other New York county clerks. They've all refused to issue such licenses because doing so compromises the security of the document — and, therefore, the security of the country. (You'd think a governor could figure this out.) Their other reason is that issuing such licenses breaks several New York state and federal laws. (Again, not rocket science.) These laws include The Real I.D. Act of 2005, passed by Congress and signed by President Bush, which requires anyone seeking a driver's license to have a valid (i.e., not phony) Social Security number.

Are these good citizens contemplating acts of civil disobedience? Quite the contrary. By refusing to license illegal aliens, they are in fact upholding the laws that the governor himself is prepared to flout. Far from subverting the state's integrity, the county clerks are actually trying to protect it against the governor's irresponsible efforts to throw it away. In a post-grown-up world, they are trying to restore what you might call an adult sense of order.

Meanwhile, Mr. Spitzer — a governor, who, in the words of CNN's Lou Dobbs, "requires training wheels" — hasn't a clue. "We are not talking about letting more people into this country," Mr. Spitzer told the New York Times. "We are talking about being practical about those who are already here." When "practical" is a euphemism for "lawless," chaos is sure to follow.

But not if these clerks can help it. And not if their fellow grown-ups across the country can help it — the town officials, county supervisors, city mayors, and the like, who, in the absence of federal border protection and illegal immigration control, are passing ordinances and resolutions to safeguard their towns and localities against the strains and costs and crowding and dislocations of rampant illegal immigration, childishly tolerated, or nefariously abetted by the powers that still be.

How do they protect their turf? Some of these local measures cut off public funds and services to people whom the Bush administration — even after September 11 — has allowed to enter or remain in this country illegally. Others require businesses and landlords to determine the immigration status of employees and tenants. From the Board of Supervisors in Loudoun County, Va., to the state legislature in Oklahoma, to city hall in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, such immigration measures are certainly not the traditional bailiwick of local and state governments. But, as Lou Barletta, the Hazleton mayor who sparked this grass-roots revolt against national lawlessness, put it, "If the federal government won't [do its job], would you sit back and watch your city being destroyed? I'm one that can't."

There have been setbacks. Hazleton's ordinances were struck down by a federal judge over the summer; Mr. Barletta vows to appeal. The municipality of Riverside, N.J., population 8,000, which last year enacted legislation prohibiting anyone from employing or renting to illegal aliens, recently rescinded the law after being slapped with two costly lawsuits, forcing the town to put off paving roads, buying dump trucks and repairing the town hall. In protracted court battles, the town could crumble.

Across the board, however, these measures have worked. Illegal aliens are leaving these localities in droves — "hundreds, if not thousands" leaving Riverside alone, according to the New York Times. USA Today reported last month that "Illegal immigrants living in states and cities that have adopted strict immigration policies are packing up and moving back to their home countries or to neighboring states."

"Neighboring states" without similar legislation, that is — a split that could ultimately divide us as a nation between Border States and Open Border States. But maybe the grown-ups will rise up and restore the nation's sovereignty before that happens. What we need is a lot more New York county clerks.

http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... e=nextpage

I'm dumbstruck! The Washington Times actually published an editorial that WASN'T pro-illegal alien? There IS a God!

Duplicate post

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... highlight=

Originally Posted by castingdirector

I'm dumbstruck! The Washington Times actually published an editorial that WASN'T pro-illegal alien? There IS a God!

You are thinking of the Washington POST, they are the ones who pray to the open border gods. The Washington TIMES are generally on our side. Maybe because they are much smaller than the Post they tell the truth in order to increase their market share.

To add to Bowman's post above... and...
Diana West is a regular guest panelist on Lou Dobbs quite frequently too.

We need to get to the point really quick that Mayors or any elected offical who stands in the way of our laws gets charged with treason and sent to prison. We also have Mayors on the border states fighting the wall. How can these idiots take our national security this lightly? We have a government run amuck. This is because Bush is running amuck. No one in political office feels that they can get into any trouble. Surely Bush would have already if that was the case. We are a country of no laws anymore. That causes mayhem which I guess is why we are living in mayhem.

Originally Posted by PhredE

To add to Bowman's post above... and...
Diana West is a regular guest panelist on Lou Dobbs quite frequently too.

Ah your both right I didn't pick up on the name of the paper, thank you both for setting us straight, although if you notice I didn't have alot to say!