A funny thing happened in yesterday’s WSJ promo for the McCain/Kennedy Amnesty/Immigration-Acceleration Bill [Immigration Emerges as Republican Divider - By John Harwood, The Wall Street Journal, May 17 2005--Subscriber link] : a key piece of statistical data got missed out. By coincidence, it happened to be devastatingly unfavorable to the line being promoted.

A prominent set of bar charts report that Republican “enterprisers” split 53%-38% in favor of immigration. Republican “social conservatives” are 68% -21% against. What was not reported was how big each group is.

The data was drawn from The Pew Research Center survey “Beyond Red vs. Blue” which reports that Social Conservatives and a third category, peculiarly named “Pro-Government Conservatives” (“Struggling social conservatives”), also said to be overwhelmingly against immigration, are 23% of registered voters, compared to 11% for “Enterprisers” – more than twice as large.

They are particularly dominant in the South, the key area, surely, for the Republicans.

Ask John Harwood how he came to omit this.

Or, better still read Pat Buchanan’s wiser words on the subject in the Washington Times [Buchanan sees ‘war within conservatism' – Ralph Z. Hollow, May 17 2005]

“…you’re going to have 100 million people of Hispanic, primarily Mexican, descent in the American Southwest by the middle of this century, and I think you are in danger of losing the American Southwest, de facto. I think this country is risking coming apart, like other countries in the world, over issues of language, culture and ethnicity”

“The president is in trouble,…He’s on the defensive, because he is not going to get his guest-workers program. He’s going to get a House that tries to impose upon him the obligation to do his duty and defend this country from the invasion from Mexico, which he has refused to do.”

This AP story just ran in the Washington Post:

Program Gives Kids Intense View of Slavery
By SAMIRA JAFARI The Associated Press May 16, 2005

A YMCA program called Camp Cosby hopes to enlighten today’s youth to the plight of yesterday’s slaves via a new re-enactment summer camp.

Situated just east of Birmingham, Alabama the camp commences with a good old-fashioned slave auction—except the “slaves” are 11 year-old children.

Throughout the program, the kids are expected to gain a better appreciation for the atrocities of slavery while following the path of the Underground Railroad.

The kids are bought, sold, berated and to a certain extent abused by camp directors so they can feel the experience rather than just read about it.

So I have a couple of questions…

1. Why stop with slavery?

Such a novel approach to history shoudn’t be limited—imagine applying this “feel education” concept to other periods.

How about the Witch Trials? We could tie our children to trees and set them on fire so they may gain an appreciation for the dangers of religious fanaticism.

What better way to teach our kids about Custer’s Last Stand than to scalp a few of them? Ooh, the Crusades should prove exciting…

2. What kind of parent would send their child to this YMCA torture camp?

Even the NAACP opposes the Cosby Camp program because it trivializes slavery.

So what’s wrong with books or the occasional film?

Oh that’s right—that would require teachers who actually teach!

The government schools don’t employ those people anymore.

It started with “outdoor urban dwellers” in place of “homeless” and now I can’t get enough political correctness into my daily discourse.

I mean, I love pc idioms the way Arianna Huffington loves community property statutes, ok?

Here’s a good one from a 5/16/05 article in the Austin Daily Herald by Sheila Donnelly, Spring Dance Brings Residents Together
In a news report about an upcoming Spring dance for the developmentally disabled, the director of the local Senior Center described the “correct” terminology one should use to describe the guests.

“The politically correct name of what to label the mentally disabled keeps changing. Now the correct name is Intelligent Cognitive and Developmental Disability,” said Helgeson.

Intelligent Cognitive…what does that even mean?

Settle down! I am not making fun mentally handicapped people…I am making fun of the people who are not.