Obama tells Jon Kyl: “If we secure the border, then you all won’t have any reason to support comprehensive immigration reform”

In considering whether or not to secure the AZ border, what do you suppose is  the deciding factor for this President? The safety of American citizens in the area, or political expediency? The answer comes at 3:40:

As Kyl said…he’s holding  border security, (and by extension, at risk American citizens) hostage.

One trip to SecureBorderIntel.org/ should be enough to convince anyone that there’s a crisis on our southern border. Here’s a video of armed drug smugglers, taken last December:

Last March, an Arizona rancher was shot multiple times by an illegal immigrant, who authorities believe was headed back to Mexico to work as a scout for drug smugglers.

A Pinal County Sheriff’s deputy was ambushed and wounded by suspected drug smugglers on April 30.

AZ Governor, Jan Brewer, has been begging the President to help her state secure its border:

“I said we need to have the fence completed, have more troops on the border and more resources” for aerial surveillance, she said.

How did the President respond?

Obama urged her to “be his partner” in working toward a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s fractured immigration system.

This is the same argument we had three years ago. The pro-comprehensive immigration reform forces lost, last time around, with the general consensus being, secure the borders first…then we’ll talk about reform.

The same is true, today: A Gallup poll in May, found that 9 out of 10 Americans want the border secured, this year….

Rasmussen reported June 18:

Most voters have consistently criticized the federal government for not doing enough to secure the border.

Among voters who are angry about immigration, 83% are angry at the federal government. Only 12% direct their anger at the immigrants themselves.

While Americans continue to strongly support efforts that will slow or stop illegal immigration, most also still favor a generally welcoming policy of legal immigration. However, a sizable majority continue to say as they have for years that it is more important to gain control of the border than it is to legalize the status of undocumented workers.

Sixty-seven percent (67%) of U.S. voters say military troops should be sent to the Mexican border to help prevent illegal immigration.

But, as we should all understand by now, a little thing like what most Americans want, won’t have any bearing whatsoever on what this administration does.

Hat tip: Weasel Zippers

An Artist Illustrates a Tea Party Masterpiece

I think Jon McNaughten captured the spirit of the tea party movement much better than Chrissy Matthews, with a whole staff of propagandists at MSNBC working with Media Matters hacks, could ever hope to.

Hat tip: Cathy

Your Sunday Hymn: O God Beyond All Praising

I love this gorgeous hymn, words and music, alike…it’s like buttah.

You love it so much, you want to sing along, don’t you? Well, here you go:

And this is special. This young girl sang the hymn a cappella at St. Ann’s Chapel in Jerusalem:

Did you notice that she flubbed the words at the end? Probably not. A good singer will improvise if she forgets the lyrics. She ended the song beautifully, with her own made up words.