Take your literacy test and shove it ...

In a new low for immigrant-bashing, a group of reactionary Republicans stalled the vote to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act, which otherwise had broad bipartisan support and was predicted to easily pass both the House and Senate. The reactionaries were led by their Texas and Georgia delegations. Both states are subject to the Voting Rights Act, and the rebels (mostly young archconservatives with no seniority, no power, and too much time on their hands) think they should not be. John Carter (R, TX-31) set the record straight: "I don't think we have racial bias in Texas anymore." Tell that to James Byrd and his family.

Not content with merely appearing ignorant, Carter also showed off his mean-spirited viciousness: " I simply believe you should be able to read, write and speak English to be a voter in the United States. " Oh, yeah -- as if HE'D be in Congress if there'd been an entrance exam.

Of course, the only way to enforce Carter's prescription for democracy is to bring back the long-discredited "literacy tests" that were a prominent feature of the Jim Crow South. I'd like to see Carter pass one without extensive coaching from his handlers and aides.

Immigrant-bashing never goes out of style

Today's Houston Chronicle has an article the nationwide sweep of undocumented immigrants that netted over 2,100 arrests. Julie Myers, the assistant secretary for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), preened in Houston as part of a nationwide P.R. stunt, er, public education campaign to inform the American public that, yes, the Administration does have balls when it comes to running busboy and sheetrock installers out of the country. Given the estimates of between 11 and 12 million undocumented immigrants in the USA, this "sweep" can only be viewed modestly, but that's not stopping Myers, who was brought into the Bush Administration after a stint as the director of social activities for a Carnival cruiseliner.

Said Myers: "We're also sending a clear message that we will no longer allow the interior of the United States to be a safe haven for illegal aliens." Apparently. we're not sending a clear message about the multiple violations of U.S. law committed by employers hiring these immigrants. The article does not mention any employers getting arrested, or the terrifying legal fate that awaits them.

Given the Texas Republican Party's endorsement of everything short of genocide to get rid of the undocumenteds, and Rick Perry's harebrained scheme to turn hunting for border-crossers into a video game, you can see why Myers is under a lot of pressure to pander in Texas. In the meantime, nothing is done about any of the real problems that contribute to, or are caused by, the passage of undocumented immigrants through our borders.