Cry Foul

Okay, one more thing about the immigration issue.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, whose district is just south of me in Orange County, said this the other day, as reported by Bill Kristol of all people: he "decried the Senate's guest worker proposal as 'the foul odor that's coming out of the United States Senate.' After all, he explained, if illegal aliens who do many farm jobs were deported, 'the millions of young men who are prisoners around our country can pick the fruits and vegetables. I say, let the prisoners pick the fruits.'"

Yep, now there's a plan. And if we make being in the country without documentation a felony, as the House's bill proposes, why then we can catch those immigrants, toss them in prison, and then we get the benefit of their labor anyway! It's perfect!

Rep. Rohrabacher was on Real Time With Bill Maher tonight, bloviating that immigrants depress the wages of poor Americans by working for below the minimum wage. He might have a point if he wasn't simultaneously extolling this idiotic "let the prisoners pick the fruits" idea, which would simply replace the below-minimum-wage immigrants with below-minimum-wage prisoners (who I believe get something like twenty cents per hour). So, then, it's not really about protecting poor Americans, and if it's not that, then what do you think he's really concerned about?

Also on Bill Maher's show tonight: Univision anchor Jorge Ramos, who noted that demographically, in X number of years (sorry, a transcript isn't available yet) Hispanics will be the majority population in the United States. You don't suppose that may be what gives Rep. Rohrabacher the heebie-jeebies, do ya?