I just left the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Waterbury, VT, so please understand if I seem a little annoyed… "Ben & Jerry’s is committed to working in support of social justice and equality, eliminating our negative impact on the environment…" … and contributing to the epidemics of obesity and diabetes through the manufacture and sale of frozen bovine mammary secretions… (I made up that last part). Guess who’s not in charge of this part of the vacation.
I started this entry this morning near Lebanon, N.H., heading west on Highway 4. Since Mr. Fleischman advised me to post shorter, more frequent blog entries whenever and wherever things occur to me, I’m taking his advice to the extreme by posting this from my BlackBerry while in a moving vehicle. Don’t worry, I’m not driving this time. Before I almost submitted to Ben & Jerry’s corporate/Marxist re-education (I wouldn’t give them three bucks for their ice cream, which I hear is good, much less a tour) — I felt like writing a thing or two about an issue that’s really important back home. But because puny northern states like Vermont get two senators, very few meaningful things will continue to be done about the issue.
So today’s cold dish of revenge for Ben & Jerry is — because I had to listen to them use "social justice" to sell ice cream — I’m going to use the occasion of the Ben & Jerry’s tour I never took to underscore how Republicans need to pay attention to what’s going on with illegal immigration. How’s that for a stretch? I didn’t realize they use the metric system on some (but not all) Vermont highway signs until just now, but I was already pretty sure they don’t care about illegals here. To them, aliens are from Massachusetts. By the way, it was a genuine pleasure the other night to sit in an empty New England pub watching the Angels clinch the Division Series while nary a Red Sox fan (already eliminated by Chicago) nor a Yankee fan (in the process of being eliminated by Anaheim) was in sight. Baseball tangent aside (only two more weeks, guys), the point is illegal immigration is little more than a Flavor of the Day at best for most of the country. And that’s why Congress won’t fix the problem.
So what happened to all of those Democrat politicians calling for "States of Emergency" in response to rampant illegal immigration throughout the Southwest? It’s been how long, two months? Are Arizona’s Janet Napolitano, New Mexico’s Bill Richardson and California’s Fabian Nunez done apologizing to their base supporters yet? Does anyone believe that the Dems gained any traction or scored any meaningful blows against President Bush — or the Republicans in general — or impacted any elections with that state-of-emergency business? Did any of those declarations accomplish anything? See, I’m thinking since Gov. Schwarzenegger (as well as conservative Inland counties that could have easily done so) didn’t go the "emergency" route, we should at least give props to those who spared us a certain, huge, collective eye-roll.
By contrast, Inland Republican leaders are actually making themselves useful on immigration — from Assemblyman Ray Haynes’ authorship of the Border Police Initiative to San Bernardino County Supervisor Paul Biane’s illegal alien identification and reimbursement initiatives for County justice and health care agencies. (Read this.) Then there’s Congressman David Dreier. Are at least some of us agreed that his recent efforts on illegal immigration mean he’s serious about the issue, that he’s going to get reelected, and that continuing to bash him isn’t going to solve the immigration problem or advance any other Republican cause?
Remember the fact that the John and Ken phenomenon is more dangerous to our party than any potential benefit. Consider the Congressional runoff in Orange County. The people who listen to John and Ken used to occasionally vote for Republicans, but now they’ve taken to voting against Republicans to advance Republican causes. I know — but stay with me. 
The bottom line is, these guys can only hurt Republicans. Ask Democrat Congressman Joe Baca, who took both barrels in the face from John and Ken and didn’t even wince. Their issue? Illegal immigration, what else? Everybody wants some of that. It’s about ratings, and believe you me, Clear Channel Communications knows the value of the free nationwide publicity John and Ken would garner if they succeeded in taking out the fourth ranking Member of the House of Representatives. It’s nothing personal. It’s business. But to us it’s serious business. Republicans would do well to remember that while illegal immigration as an issue can’t help OR hurt the Democrats, it CAN help or hurt Republicans. But it only hurts us if we don’t get about the business of tackling the issue head on.
Onboard the Essex Ferry on Lake Champlain, I’m getting ready to hit "send". That’s three states. So much for short postings… I do have one more thought on this subject, though (what subject was it again?). That is, I believe that on our side of the opinion trade we need to stamp out the revisionist history that says Prop. 187 hurt the Republican Party. That myth belongs on the ash heap of history, or in Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard, right next to Wavy Gravy.