DISCLAIMER: Now before some partisan crybaby gets all worked up and starts screaming liberal this and liberal that, I'll have you know, I'm too tough to be a liberal and too smart to be a conservative. I'm just a free thinker who hates to see his fellow citizens taken advantage of by politicians in both parties. So if you're easily offended by critical thought, exit this article right now, because this might hurt. Now, on to our story.

I can imagine this is how it all started...

GOV. BREWER'S STRATEGY ROOM

AIDE: Governor Brewer, if we don't do something quick, you won't get re-elected.

GOV. BREWER: Okay, what issue can we use to get people on our side?

AIDE: Hmmm....let's get out the old trusty re-election playbook that's been in use forever. Let's see, taxes, racial issues, gays, wars, health care, jobs...hmm our party has already used all of those against President Obama...I got it! We haven't used immigration yet! Everyone here is mad about all the Mexican's taking jobs we don't want...how about immigration?

GOV. BREWER: Won't people see through this as a re-election ploy?

AIDE: Come on, this is America! They don't think! They just mad over whatever we tell them to get mad about!

POLITICAL LESSON #1: STUPID LAWS UNIFY STUPID PEOPLE

So here's the real deal for immigration reformists who are upset over the recent court decision. Folks, Janice Brewer knew this was going to fail!

The wording of the Arizona Immigration bill was intentionally vague to keep it from standing up in court because the GOP would've lost tremendous support from companies the rely on cheap immigrant labor. This law was passed to get publicity for Janice Brewer's re-election...it's that simple. It was never about border enforcement. Safety from drug dealers or kidnappers. Or even just plain old immigration enforcement. None of that. Brewer and the Arizona legislature have been in politics long enough to know immigration enforcement is a federal issue, but she needed a hot-button issue to get voter support for the upcoming primaries. Hell, even Senator “tell-me-what-say-and-I’ll-go-along-with-it”…a.k.a., John McCain, rode this issue to better poll numbers.

Now I'm all for border security and immigration enforcement. The law is the law and it should be enforced! But you don't fix the law by breaking the law which is what the Arizona bill would have done. But I'm going make this real simple for anyone who thought this bill was a good idea.

Not only would it have affected Mexican's illegally entering Arizona, but also, the wording of the law would have allowed it to impact every nationality. If I was Latino cop pissed off about this bill, I could pull over non-latinos and force them to prove to me they're not from Europe, or China, or Africa. And since most people wouldn't have documentation to disprove that (a driver's license wouldn't have been sufficient), that pissed off cop could throw YOU in jail just to mess with you. But this is what happens when people ride along on an issue out of emotion instead of logic. Even the training video issued to police to define to what constituted a "reasonable suspicion" of possible illegal immigrants was a ridiculous mumble-jumble of words that left the police official reading it look confused. But this is how I know this was all a ploy. Anyone arrested and turned over to the feds because of this law would've been released because the initial arrest was already unconstitutional. Therefore, Brewer knew it wouldn't stand up in court but her stunt got her the publicity her campaign needed.

But in a nation where education and researching what people tell us is as low of a priority as ours, it's no wonder most American's didn't see it.

Let's look at the facts. Brewer's approval ratings in her state was at a dismal 22 percent before she came up with her re-election scheme to galvanize conservative votes behind an issue any first year college student could tell would fail a constitutional challenge. After she proposed it, her polls numbers spiked to put her in the lead over her opponent in this falls primary elections--which is exactly what this was all about in the first place. The law was set to go in place in July...LESS THAN ONE MONTH BEFORE THE ARIZONA PRIMARIES. Coincidence...um...no!

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/10/immigration-law-breathes-life-brewers-election-campaign/

So now that Arizona Gov. Janice Brewer's thinly veiled attempt to force an immigration issue at the federal level has failed in court, the citizens and the state of Arizona are left as the real losers from one governor's attempt to score cheap political points. Not only will the issue of immigration be put on hold for longer because of legal challenges, but the state of Arizona has suffered from a loss of business because of investors concerned over the impact of the proposed legislation. The state has suffered from reduced tourism revenues which only adds to the state's economic and employment problems and now, a new layer of community tensions exist on top of Arizona's race relation problems that date back to the MLK holiday fallout from the 90's.

The truth is, both parties have no intentions to do anything about immigration in any meaningful way unless American’s force this issue on a federal level. The Republicans have had countless opportunities to act on it over the last 20 years and haven't because they don't want to lose the financial support of businesses and corporations that thrived off cheap immigrant labor. The Democrats have had their shot as well and won't do anything for fear of losing minority votes, yet American's continue to get suckered into this game every time.