I just returned from a walk with a Republican friend and neighbor and my head is still spinning from our (brief) conversation on illegal immigration.
A little background: Her spouse is a life-long Republican who doesn't believe in questioning authority. I would expect to hear that he had barbequed his mother, before I would expect him to vote for a Democrat. She is considerably more liberal, but still voted for Bush. However, their daughter met a Mexican citizen working here illegally, while working at a fast-food restaurant. They now have a baby.
I gave her a copy of this article from City Journal (a publication I disagree with about 99% of the time), called "Mexico's Undiplomatic Diplomats."
http://www.city-journal.org/html/15_4_mexico.htmlShe mentioned that her husband (the life-long repub) was outraged by the House immigration bill, since it would turn them into felons for having their grandchild's father (and HIS father, brother and cousin, who have now also moved here-illegally) over for Christmas dinner.
The real head-exploder: When he heard Hillary Clinton's position on illegal immigration, he said,
"Well, I guess I'm voting for Hillary Clinton." I said that I thought business should be nailed to the wall for hiring illegal workers. She blanched, being very pro-business.
I reminded her that my forebearers were Union workers and I'm concerned about the effect on American workers. She started the "Global Economy" Thomas Friedman argument and said, "Unions are never coming back."
Topsy-turvy.
:crazy: