Resident Idiot “Misspoke”, White House Says

The Presiding Idiot of The White House Insane Asylum showed he does not even know what amnesty means when he admitted yesterday that his Immigration Bill will provide amnesty for illegal immigrants. Putting his foot in his mouth once again, George W. Bush said, “You know, I’ve heard all the rhetoric — you’ve heard it, too — about how this is amnesty. Amnesty means that you’ve got to pay a price for having been here illegally, and this bill does that.” Press Secretary Tony Snow hastily issued a statement that “the president misspoke”. The Bush administration has vehemently denied that their plan to give amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants is, in fact, a plan to give amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. Snow translated Bush’s gaffe into acceptable White House jargon by saying, “This has been construed as an assertion that comprehensive immigration reform legislation before the Senate offers amnesty to immigrants who came here illegally. That is the exact opposite of the president’s long-held and often-stated position. President Bush has noted repeatedly that the comprehensive reform he supports is not an amnesty bill. Amnesty means forgiving wrongdoing without imposing punishment.” The true meaning of amnesty no doubt came as a surprise to the most ignorant president the United States has ever had. Rather, it would have come as a surprise if George W. Bush reflected for a moment on any of his off-the-cuff stupid and erroneous remarks, which he doesn’t. In any event, the Senate decided yesterday, by a vote of 64 to 35, to take a look at a revised version of the amnesty bill that was defeated nearly three weeks ago. As the New York Times reported this morning, “The vote did not guarantee passage of the bill, which calls for the biggest changes in immigration law in more than 20 years.” In fact, the bill is doomed and yesterday’s seeming reversal was a charade. First, the Senate wanted to show that they are doing something...anything. Second, the Republicans in the Senate wanted to appear to support the president in order to forestall any nasty acts of retribution that might come down from the Bush administration on defectors. The final Senate vote on the president’s amnesty bill could come later this week. At which time the Repubs can say they’ve read the bill and can’t go along with some of the amendments. Look for Repubs, once again to vote against amnesty. But whatever the Senate does, this amnesty bill has to get through the House. And this bill will not pass in the House of Representatives.