Katie to the rescue!

Well, single-issue demagoguery just isn’t getting it done for the Republicans. Apparently, opposition to gay marriage or civil unions wasn’t polling well enough as a wedge issue – perhaps in part because it is championed by the Wicked Witch of Stillwater. What to do? Find another hot button issue to add to the mix. Immigration is perfect. And it’s perfectly clear that is what the governor is doing.

Katie is doing her part, has the bit in her teeth, and is off and running with her column this morning. Spot has written about governor TWedge’s immigration gambit before, here. Essentially, the TWedge wants to make policemen into immigration enforcement officers, and to start a squad of Men in Black at the state level to cruise the state in black Suburbans, looking for illegal aliens.

Spotty should stop here to mention parenthetically that being an undocumented or out-of-status alien in the US does not make you a criminal; it just makes you subject to deportation. The thick-headed Jim Fisher from Spot’s hometown apparently did not know this when he wrote in this letter published in the Strib today:

By definition

I had to laugh when I read in your Jan. 5 editorial that "It's not clear that immigrants legal or illegal commit serious crimes more often than anyone else in Minnesota." On the contrary, 100 percent of illegals have commited a crime here. Because, well, they're here illegally.

JIM FISHER, EDINA

Well, Spotty had to laugh, too. At you Jim, you ignorant boob.

TWedge’s plan has come in for more than a little criticism. It’s xenophobic, it diverts law enforcement resources from the things that cops should be paying attention to, it diminishes the returns in community policing efforts to gain the trust of minority communities, and the state really has no business getting directly involved in a matter of federal jurisdiction.

Perhaps Minnesota should have its own refugee policy for Scandinavian political refugees from liberal governments, or Minnesota could have its own foreign policy. Mobilize the Minnesota Guard, invade southern Manitoba and Western Ontario to lop off a chunck of Canada to make room for the new Scandinavian immigrants! Oh, Spot forgot; most of the Guard has already been mobilized and is headed for Iraq.

If TWedge is so concerned about immigration, why doesn’t he go talk to the administration or to the Congress? The Republicans hold it all. Well, because it wouldn’t be nearly as politically useful as trying to cram the issue up everyone’s arse in an election year, that’s why.

Back to Katie. Finally. In this morning’s column, she tells TWedge’s critics to “turn down the volume.” And she writes it without a trace of irony.

It is important when selecting your scape goats to be sure not to pick ones that are too big. Undocumented aliens, like minors who can no longer use cell phones in cars are perfect; they can’t vote.

Tags: Katie tries to help TWedge