Of F-Bombs and Bigots

When engaged in a debate the best tactic to employ is to point to the facts and show how your opponent is simply out of touch on an issue. Right? Not if the debate is in the political arena where name-calling and personal attacks are the weapons of choice. This is certainly true in the illegal immigration debate where recent comments from Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham show that professionalism is in short supply.

First we can start with John McCain the media darling of presidential candidates. As noted in the Washington Post blog during a meeting last week when the immigration “deal” was about to be announced McCain dropped the F-bomb on Texas Sen. John Cornyn.

McCain complained that Cornyn was raising petty objections to a compromise plan being worked out between Senate Republicans and Democrats and the White House. He used a curse word associated with chickens and accused Cornyn of raising the issue just to torpedo a deal.

Things got really heated when Cornyn accused McCain of being too busy campaigning for president to take part in the negotiations which have gone on for months behind closed doors. “Wait a second here” Cornyn said to McCain. “I’ve been sitting in here for all of these negotiations and you just parachute in here on the last day. You’re out of line.”

“Expletive you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room” shouted McCain at Cornyn.

Perhaps Sen. Cornyn touched a nerve. The fact is that Sen. McCain has not cast a Senate vote in weeks and several points should be noted. First McCain’s comments show not only a lack of professionalism on an important issue such as illegal immigration but they also call into question whether the senator has the temperament to be president. Second when Vice President Dick Cheney offered similar words to Democrat Sen. Pat Leahy it was all over the news. But when McCain says it you have to dig deep to find reports.

In another incident South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham speaking at an awards banquet sponsored by “La Raza” said “We’re gonna tell the bigots to shut up…”

In my opinion this was a much worse comment because Graham rather than debating the facts would rather simply label his opponents as racists. This tactic has often been used in the illegal immigration debate not just by individuals but by media organizations such as the Wall Street Journal. The Journal has been quick to label those concerned about border security and employer enforcement as “anti-immigrant” which is their code word for racist.

Caring about border security and respect for the law does not make one a racist. It is just this type of rhetoric from Sen. Graham and others that make the illegal immigration debate so hard. This is about respect for America’s laws and not the color of one’s skin.

In order for the debate to move forward in a civilized manner it would be helpful for people like Sens. McCain and Graham to act like adults rather than spoiled teenagers. Americans are not going to accept a bad illegal immigration proposal simply because they tell us to accept it. Let’s have a real debate and save the “F-bombs” for someone else.