Barack Obama misleads, does sales job on illegal immigration (CNN Democratic "debate")

At tonight's CNN/Politico/Los Angeles Times Democratic "debate" (link), per lightweight illegal immigration supporter Marc Cooper (link):

The candidates also cautiously sparred on the potentially explosive issue of immigration with Obama rejecting a moderator's question that assumed that African-Americans were suffering because of illegal immigration. America's working poor were feeling economic uncertainty "before the latest round of immigrants showed up," Obama said. "We should not use immigration as a tactic to divide," he said.

Apparently Obama lives in a fantasy world where millions of low-wage, low-skill illegal aliens don't have an impact on our own low-wage workers. If the MSM weren't completely corrupt they'd ask him to explain the large percentage of those who are permanently unemployed, especially blacks. And, the last part is an attempt to end debate about this issue by calling those who question importing millions of low-wage workers "dividers".

CNN also asked about driver's licenses for illegal aliens, something that Obama strongly supports. However, CNN's tack was just to gin up controversy regarding possible flip-flops, it wasn't to have an actual adult conversation about whether giving foreign citizens who are here illegally driver's licenses is good public policy.

In an appearance earlier in the day, Obama corrupt nature on this issue was on full display (link):

"We have to stop letting those in power turn us against each other. No place do I see this more than in our immigration debate. I am tired of people of people using this as a political football... ...My father when he came here, he didn't look like you know - he didn't look like he stepped off the Mayflower. But we have to remember the history of immigration in this country. When the Irish first came, people were anti-Irish, when the Italians first came, people were anti-Italian and so we've got to remember our own past history... And let me remind everybody that not everybody who came in through Ellis Island had their papers in order."

There are a lot of things wrong with that statement, it's too bad there wasn't a real reporter around to call him on it (instead of CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic).

1. Once again, Obama is trying to excuse illegal activity because he's a corrupt and he wants to obtain political power.
2. He plays the race card.
3. He engages in a logical fallacy: today's immigration is not like yesterday's.
4. The bit about Ellis Island makes no sense at all, since EI was an official entry point, not an unofficial entry point such as our southern border. Everyone who made it through Ellis Island had their papers in order by definition; those who arrived at Ellis Island had no official papers to begin with (other than those related to the steamship passage).

The part she doesn't mention showed even more explicitly that he's a demagogue (link):

"What I don't like are people focusing on just south-of-the-border immigrants... I don't hear about immigrants from Ireland or Poland. It's very important that we have an intelligent debate about immigration not tinged with attitudes about what people should look like."

He's not just playing the race card, he's doing it in an extremely sleazy fashion. Most of our illegal aliens do come from Mexico, and many people have commented on Irish illegal aliens, for instance pointing out that one of their advocacy groups is partially funded by the Irish government. And, needless to say, anyone who pretends the issue is what illegal aliens "look like" is not interested in an "intelligent debate".

UPDATE: Here's another report from the last event:

[BHO] quoted a woman he'd met on the campaign trail who had despaired of getting her daughter's school to remedy a problem and who told him, "schools aren't designed for people like us. Health care isn't designed for people like us," Obama continued, "the economy isn't designed for people like us. This is our country," he said, his voice rising, "America should be designed for people like us!"

Harold Meyerson was foolish enough to think "people like us" referred to people like him.

Immigration2008a · Thu, 01/31/2008 - 19:10 · · Importance: 1