E Pluribus Unum

Well, that was the headline in the Washington Times, at any rate. It seemed designed to stoke the resentment of many in the Republican Congress.

Here's the thing: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has gone on record saying that he would not consider any legislation adopting a "guest worker program" without a majority of the majority voting for it. Got that? A majority of Republicans in the Senate would have to be for the legislation.

Well, he's facing an uphill battle, for sure: the Senate Judiciary committee voted 12-6 in favor of the reform bill...meaning that 4 of the 10 Republicans joined all 8 Democrats...meaning that a majority of the majority was against the bill.

It's enough to make Sen. McCain's head explode -- apparently, the Senator and Charlie Gibson of ABC sparred over whether the bill really did amount to "amnesty." Talk about a wedge issue!

The Note:

While the guest worker program made it out of committee, many hurdles remain... Hurdle number one is making it onto the Senate floor. Hurdle number two is coming to an agreement with a House of Representatives diametrically opposed to a guest worker program. Hurdle number three will be the White House. It remains unclear if President Bush will support the comprehensive immigration act as passed out of committee today.

And how about them 40,000 students marching in protest on the highways? I understand that was organized by the kids via MySpace.com. Heh.

I'll ask the question again, because I haven't yet been able to get an answer from the frothing nativists among us:Other than crossing the border illegally, is there an epidemic of lawlessness by Hispanic aliens that I'm not aware of?

It seems to me that the majority of "illegals" would want to maintain, shall we say, a low profile. Or, as Bob Dylan once said, "To live outside the law you must be honest."

P.S. I'm an immigrant. IJS.