I just finished reading a CNN.COM piece regarding what Sen. Obama doesn’t know about the legal resident status of, or lack thereof, of his aunt Zeituni Onyango. Ironically, the candidate and his aunt are really bit players in a story that serves best to illustrate exactly how far off course we are as country.
The article cites an AP report that 4 years ago Ms. Onyango applied for asylum but it was denied and she was ordered to leave the country. She didn’t, and not only continues to live illegally in the US but does so in public housing, which I take to mean our dime.
Now this is where it gets really interesting, maybe even frightening. First we have Immigration and Customs Enforcement weighing in with
"in any case, we prioritize enforcement," said ICE spokeswoman Kelly Nantel. "We target those who pose a national security or public safety threat or who have a criminal background."
Okay, I’ll buy that, even seems logical. But four years is a quite a while and I’m guessing that non-citizens, legal or otherwise, aren’t entitled to public housing so what happened to that red flag? Not to worry, here come the big guns like Rep. Conyers.
“Rep. John Conyers, D-Michigan and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, asked Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in a Saturday letter to investigate the leak and its source.”
Say what? Mr. Conyers isn’t concerned that the system seems to be pretty broken, or even the appearance that undue influence may be in play. No, no, no, Mr. Conyers wants a full accounting as to who had the audacity to bring the truth to the light of day. This is what Mr. Conyers views as a risk worthy of mobilizing the forces of Homeland Security over.
I’m sure he means well and has no agenda other than fairness and justice. That’s why he was so disappointed that there is no evidence suggesting the “leak” was politically motivated.
‘“The AP reports that it 'could not establish whether anyone at a political level in the Bush administration or in the McCain campaign had been involved,' a very disturbing [suggestion] indeed," Conyers wrote.’
What I find ‘disturbing’ is a blatantly political rush to judgment by the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Are we serious? And what about the AP? Are they saying that they don’t know who their sources are? And since when are news agencies in such a hurry to divulge their sources?
It doesn’t matter, its all deflection anyway. I'm amazed at what passes for leadership, thought, and news for that matter. We seem to be in a real life Shakespearean tragedy where no day goes by without Washington or the media assaulting us with some new "tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"
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Postscript
So what the does this mean to Sen. Obama and his aunt. Pretty simple actually. I'd say grant her some form of legal status and give her enough money to get out of public housing. Redistributing some of her nephew’s wealth seems an appropriate way to accomplish the latter.
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