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I’m delighted to report that Washington State Republicans are working assiduously to ensure their continuing irrelevance to the citizens of this great state. Coming oh so close to taking the last governor’s race must’ve scared them into realizing how close they came to relevance. This most recent move came during the State Republican convention at which delegates voted for a resolution declaring that children of immigrants born in this country should not be entitled to citizenship. It’s quite a remarkable statement by our open-hearted Republicans. First, it violates the 14th amendment to the U.S. constitution. Second, it has nothing whatsoever to do with the state of Washington since the state has no say in determining who becomes a U.S. citizen. Let’s hear it for gratuitousness.
And this quotation from the State party chair confirms that party leaders have taken leave of their senses:
…State Republican Party Chairwoman Diane Tebelius said she believes the party’s position reflects how Washington voters feel.
If you read the fine print here you’ll notice she didn’t say HOW MANY Washington voters feel this way. Aside from the delegates who voted for this dumb resolution, if there are more than 10,000 in the rest of the state who agree I’d be surprised. So OK, maybe I’m being generous in thinking that there are only 10,000 Know Nothing nativists in our state. Maybe there are 100,000. If even 10% or 20% of the state feels this way I’d be shocked.
In fact, a recent poll shows Washington State voters favor by a large majority allowing long-term immigrants to become citizens:
A recent poll by Seattle pollster Stuart Elway found that most Washington voters felt that illegal immigrants should be allowed to become citizens.
About 67 percent of Washington voters said immigrants who have lived here a number of years should be allowed to apply for legal status and eventually become citizens if they meet conditions such as paying a fine and back taxes.
If they favor this position they certainly would favor allowing children of said immigrants to become citizens. So much for Tebelius’ ability to ‘take the pulse’ of the Washington voter.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not the person to tell State Republicans how stupid they’re being. Let ‘em figure it out for themselves. But if they continue along this path they may eventually win a governor’s race somewhere along about the year 2100 or so.
And here’s some more sterling reasoning from a State party delegate supporting the proposal:
Delegates arguing in favor of the move complained about the cost to hospitals where illegal immigrants have their children. “Once they have babies, they can get on welfare and all sorts of stuff,” said one delegate supporting the proposal.
As a Democrat, when I read stories like this one in the papers I get all warm and fuzzy inside. While they’re at it, I’d suggest that the Republicans also try bringing the Minutemen to Washington. It’ll go over really big too.
Hebrew slaves building the pyramids (source: Chandlerschool.org)
Uncle Sam/Moses “parting the waters for Europe’s refugees”
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