Monday, June 25, 2007

Hey Mississippi, what were you thinking when you elected this clown?

From The Washington Times:

With his buffoonish complaints about talk radio and its role in educating the American public about the flaws in the Senate immigration bill, Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Mexico) has done much to energize the conservative Republican base and jeopardize the chances of its passage. Earlier this month, open-borders advocates came up 15 votes short when they attempted to shut off debate on the immigration bill, and nothing that has taken place since that time leads us to believe that the Bipartisan Alien Amnesty Caucus will fare much better on tomorrow's cloture vote — the most critical one on illegal immigration during the current Congress. If open-borders advocates fail again tomorrow, don't be surprised if President Bush and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, their poll ratings already abysmal, conclude that this isn't the way to build their respective political legacies.

Poll after poll shows the American people are, to put it charitably, very skeptical about the bill. In the past few days, we've seen Republican senators like John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, who were thought to be in the undecided column, announce they would vote against cloture. Georgia Republican Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, original supporters of the "compromise," are expected to oppose cloture tomorrow. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has made statements generally supportive of the bill and helped work out a "compromise" agreement with Mr. Reid to bring it back to the floor, now says he is not sure how he will vote. While many factors have helped drive down support, it's increasingly clear that Mr. Lott's over-the-top efforts to silence amnesty critics have backfired and become a rallying point for conservative critics of the legislation.

On June 7, Mr. Lott delivered a Senate floor speech in which he lavished praise on Sen. Edward Kennedy, the most fervent liberal advocate of the bill (and whose staff is most likely responsible for writing the parts of the bill that make it easier for illegal-alien gang members and alien absconders to remain in the United States). Mr. Lott attacked critics of the immigration bill as "mice" and accused them of trying to "slither away from this issue." The Massachusetts Democrat responded by giving Mr. Lott a verbal pat on the head, thanking him for his "constructive and positive attitude."

Unfortunately, Mr. Lott was just warming up. The following week, he spoke to the New York Times about the Senate's difficulty passing an immigration bill: "Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem." After talk-radio hosts from around the country reacted furiously (and properly so) to Mr. Lott's menacing tone, the Mississippi Republican complained to The Washington Post over the fact that angry callers protesting the amnesty bill had jammed his phone lines for three weeks. He appeared to suggest that the telephone calls were an effort by ignorant non-Mississippians to "intimidate" him.

It would be quite funny if the amnesty bill fails in part because of the incredibly stupid, ham-fisted, incompetent thug tactics of its RINO shills like Lott and Lindsay Graham (R-John McCain).

Of course I'll take defeat of this abortion on any grounds.