The Aftermath of Shamnesty

The final result was 46-53, only a single vote better than the one a few weeks ago. My understanding is that this amnesty bill is now dead for at least a couple years since most presidential candidates don't want to have to deal with immigration during their campaigns. Whew!

Here is how your local Senators voted:
- Bond (Rep, MO): NO
- McCaskill (Dem, MO): NO
- Roberts (Rep, KS): NO
- Brownback (Rep, KS): YES/NO

Summary: Roberts and McCaskill held firm against amnesty from the start, and Bond came around at the last minute. Brownback, in a stunning show of political cowardice, initially voted YES on the cloture vote, then changed his vote to NO before the voting was over (like a rat deserting a sinking ship). He is clearly pro-amnesty -- and has been since the start -- but by changing his vote at the last minute, he proved he doesn't even have the guts to stick to his convictions. Kansas voters: send him home after his term is up; even if you wanted amnesty, I can't imagine anyone would want a spineless wish-wash like Brownback representing you. Regardless, it's a certainty that his presidential campaign has zero chance of success.

Major, major kudos go out to all of you who put democracy into action by contacting your Senators to make your opinions known. Your collective voice is truly the only reason this bill was killed. This is not activism, but rather active participation in your government, which is vital to how our system of government works. Good for you!

You can now expect to hear a bunch of whining and belly-aching about "fairness" and "ugliness", "racism" and "evil talk radio", and probably a lot of other shallow attempts to insult you -- the stupid American public who doesn't know what's good for yourselves -- but don't let it bother you. Given the overwhelming opposition to this bill despite the insults already leveled at you by the 'deal-makers', I doubt you will. The fact is that the only people in the entire country who wanted this shamnesty were a few of these soon-to-be-former Senators, the White House, millions of illegal aliens, and terrorists. Call me crazy, but I'm glad they didn't get what they wanted!

There's my two cents.