Why don’t I trust the Bush Administration on illegal immigration? Well, besides the Administration’s history of saying one thing and doing another on illegal immigration, and besides every administration person I’ve met to date rolling their eyes at me when the topic comes up, we have today’s press conference wherein new Press Secretary Tony Snow compares being caught for breaking and entering into our nation to getting a speeding ticket.
“If you had a traffic ticket and you paid it, you’re not forever a speeder, are you” said Mr. Snow. To quote the Examiner: “The ‘traffic ticket’ analogy raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill, where many House Republicans regard illegal immigration as a grave crime.”
Uh, yeah. And one would note to Bill Sammon, reporter, that it isn’t just House Republicans who regard illegal immigration as a ‘grave crime’ – its many if not most Americans. And hopefully more than a few of our elected Democrats in the House and Senate and Republicans in the Senate.
To continue from the Examiner:
“I don’t know if Tony (Snow) meant to trivialize it or not,” said Will Adams, spokesman for Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-CO. “But it’s certainly misleading.”
“The penalty for a speeding ticket is a fine,” he added. “The penalty for being here illegally is being removed from this country. But the President doesn’t want illegal aliens to go home.”
Snow emphasized that illegals would have to pay fines, learn English, and wait years for a chance at full citizenship. But Adams called that “a slap on the hand” compared to deportation.
“Here’s a more apt analogy,” he said. “You get stopped for speeding, and you say to the cop: ‘Hey listen, you’re about to give me a $300 ticket. How about we make it 20 bucks and call it even?”
To be blunt, I live here. Stop offering me a turd in a sugar cone and calling it chocolate ice-cream. I can smell the difference.