Sunday, March 26, 2006

I have just returned from the largest, most energized demonstration I have ever witnessed in my life. Over 500,000 people filled the streets of downtown Los Angeles to march against HR 4437, a bill authored by Republican Rep. James Sensenbrenner (heir to the Kotex fortune) which would turn 11 million undocumented immigrants into felons, punish anyone guilty of providing them assistance, and construct an iron wall between the US and Mexico.

The rally reached a crescendo as thousands of demonstrators lined the walls and bridges above the 101 freeway waving flags and cheering while an endless parade of cars and trucks blasted their horns in support. It was the sound of a sleeping giant awakening.

In passing HR 4437 and whatever draconian and utterly counter-productive bill emerges from the Senate, the congressional Republicans have become their party's worst enemy. They have cast their white, Southern base in conflict with the Latino constituency the RNC and the Bush White House realize they must win over if they are ever to achieve a so-called "Republican majority."

The huge protests over the past few days by illegal aliens and others demanding amnesty are indeed likely to doom an amnesty bill, as Kathryn's post about Instapundit suggested; see also Mickey Kaus on "Gran Marcha--Gran Backlash!"

The reason is that, even with the staged display of some American flags, the first question an ordinary American watching this on the news is going to ask himself is, "So, if we toughen up enforcement, will they start burning cars?" Of course, the shape of immigrant protest in Europe is a sign of how much more intracable their immigration problem is than ours, and for that we should be grateful. But the phenomenon is the same -- unwanted guests in each place are demanding they get their way. Amnesty would thus represent our parallel to Europe's dhimmification.