Arrggh. Bush is really upsetting me these days, on a number of issues. Here, as this article reports, Bush snubs Sens. Cornyn and Kyle from the “closed-door” meeting that he had with other senators regarding the immigration issue. McClellan explained thusly:
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the invitees were senators who are leading the fight for a comprehensive bill.
“These are people who have been very involved in this issue, and people that I think are committed to finding a way forward to get comprehensive reform done and moving beyond the procedural tactics that have held this agreement from going forward,” he said.
Cornyn’s response was exactly on:
Mr. Cornyn, the immigration subcommittee chairman who was not invited to the meeting, said through a spokesman he didn’t see a need to be there.
“Senator Cornyn has been consistent and transparent on where he stands, and on his call for comprehensive reform without amnesty,” said Mr. Cornyn’s spokesman, Don Stewart. “The president didn’t need to convince Senator Cornyn to stop playing politics and blocking votes — he can save that message for the minority leader.”
But still…Harry Reid was invited, but the chairman of the subcommittee on immigration was not? Kyl was also not “invited”.
So rehash this a little: we all talk about this ‘porous 2,000 mile border’ we have with Mexico, right? Guess which states have the most border territory? Texas has the most by far. Arizona comes in second. Between them, if you say the border is 2,000 miles, they represent all but about 300 miles of it. So, Bush snubbed senators representing the states that have, by a very wide margin, the greatest interest in securing the border, as well as the immigration subcommittee chairman.
Oh, I almost forgot. Senator Cornyn is from Bush’s home state.
Cornyn has been thrice snubbed. The message is perfectly obvious: Bush is hellbent on getting this “comprehensive reform” (read: amnesty).
Congressmen, take note: the best way to get conservative voters to stay home this year is to go along with Bush on this.