Boehner of the Week

His ancestors would have spelled it "Böhner". Unless I'm mistaken, the root of the name is my second language, German. Whether his ancestors were Hessian mercenaries in the Revolutionary War or part of a later wave, at least one of his paternal ancestors immigrated. For his attempt to reintroduce slavery into the United States through short-sighted immigration policy, the Boehner of the Week award goes to the award's namesake, Rep. John Boehner, House Majority Leader and typical Republican.

Motivated by cheap labor provided by an underground work force, President Bush favors an immigration solution incorporating a guest worker program and since we don't want to spend $215 billion to deport illegal immigrants, some path to citizenship for those already here must be a part of any meaningful immigration legislation. Boehner, playing to the Republican base, refuses to see the fundamental error in Conservative logic, namely, that shoring up the borders, unless you're willing to machine gun women and children crossing the frontier, merely means the Coyotes will find new ways in. Furthermore, Boehner's Republican-backed House bill would make those already here felons. The end result of that would be effective slavery for the illegal in the country already since all the employer would have to do is threaten to report the worker. The worker can't quit, they can't complain, they can't sue for damages. They're slaves, an unintended consequence of an ill-conceived, incompetent piece of Republican legislation.

Or perhaps that's what Republicans mean when they speak of compassionate conservatism.

It's official. Arlen Specter, Republican, called Bush's "declassification" of incorrect information supporting his predetermined outcome of war with Iraq a leak. Kerry really called it like he saw it, a declassification to mislead, not to inform, the American people. Bush may have had the authority to authorize the leak but then, Nixon had the authority to record White House conversations. Both failed as President.