As I was watching last night’s little hissy fit called a “Republican Debate”, I noted just how out of touch these two men are when it comes to the issues that affect millions of Americans on a daily basis.

One has collected a government payroll check almost his entire adult life, while the other is a business/political elitist who is fairly well insulated from the policies he imposes on others. And after all that, they would have us believe they understand what we mere citizens deal with on a daily basis.

I beg to differ….

While listening to last night’s Outside The Wire program, something in this presidential campaign became quite evident: while some of the candidates see “issues” as things they can exploit for votes, those issues have become “lifestyles” for many Americans.

A caller, from my adopted Southern California hometown of Canoga Park, was incensed that the topic of illegal immigration is still not being taken seriously beyond that of a bumper sticker slogan. While John McCain, as a senator from Arizona, has attempted to grant amnesty to the millions of people here without permission, and Mitt Romney, former governor of a northern state that has no idea as to the extent of the problem is, both men are attempting to make it known to us that they feel our pain on the issue.

For many in the Border States, illegal immigration is not an issue. It is a lifestyle.

I remember back to the visions of the illegal “day laborers” that loiter in front of Home Depot, waiting for that van or pickup truck that would take them to work. I remember going to that Burger King on the corner of Canoga and Sherman Way, where the odds were 50-50 that my drive-through order would be correct because few of the workers there understood Basic English.

On a larger scale, I remember the pending explosion in the Black community, which has become “The Brown Community”, as the illegals are pushing the former residents out by sheer numbers and attitude. I remember the stories of Medi-Cal fraud that cost the state billions of dollars a year, as well as the bungalows-turned-classrooms in what used to be school playgrounds to accommodate the overcrowding of students, many of whom, are children of illegal aliens.

I remember the stories on the local news of hit-and-run accidents, and asking myself if it involved yet another drunk illegal alien driver. You’d be surprised just how often that does occur in Los Angeles almost every other day.

There are talk radio programs, almost solely devoted to this Southern California lifestyle, lamenting the fact that no matter how loudly the citizens of our nation scream about this, our national politicians turn a deaf ear, and in the case of one presidential candidate, offered to forgive-and-forget all of those whose first act in America was violating a federal law upon entry, and are now existing here thanks to fraudulent ID’s bought cheap on Alvarado Street.

Out-of-touch northern elitists like Mitt Romney have no business talking about illegal immigration, as it’s barely kissed Massachusetts, compared to how it plagues California. John McCain could be considered a traitor to his country, working to instantly naturalize millions of people who broke the law and have no intention of assimilating with us.

Mike Huckabee wants to complete “The Wall”. How about someone with some cojones issuing an ultimatum to the Mexican government, telling them to control their people and their northern border as vigorously as they control and terrorize those who encroach upon their southern flank?

Ron Paul has said little publicly about the topic, as it’s not mentioned much in the Constitution. How about a television ad or two with those millions of contribution dollars, Congressman?

Illegal immigration may be a campaign issue for “frontrunners” Mitt and John, but it is a painful lifestyle for millions of Americans on a daily basis. It would be more honest if they would just give us the middle finger instead of their campaign pledges to fix the problem.

Hopefully, at some point in this election process, they will give us a reason to believe them.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 8:01 am and is filed under Bob Parks, Politics, Vox Populi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.