Immigration Nation

I'm not willing to get too excited about this sudden bi-partisan comity on immigration reform just yet. Think I'll wait until we see how many crackpot cons want to sabotage this before I get my hopes up too high. Still, it is rather astounding to see the issue embraced at all, much less being supported by actual Republicans.

Missed the delivery of President Obama's immigration speech live, but he made a strong case. I especially liked the point that this about people, not just policy. And the reminder that we're all immigrants here. I'm first generation myself. I wasn't born here. I arrived as a baby. Carried a green card until I was naturalized as a teenager.

Unfortunately, there also seems to be some serious distance between the Republican and Democratic approach and between the President and Capitol Hill. The major ones being first, Obama wants a crystal clear path to citizenship. Which already has the rabid rightwingers howling about amnesty. Second, and this is the even stickier one, Republicans want reform pinned to border security. Who determines how to define that metric is destined to be a major point of contention. Figure it will end up being the determining factor in whether this turns out to be a successful attempt at bi-partisan governance or just another act in the Beltway kabuki. [Photo via]