ARIZONA'S VOTER AGONY

That bastion of liberal justice, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, has struck again with its judicial ax. This time hacking out a critical part of Arizona's voter registration law, a law put on the books by the Arizona electorate voting on Proposition 200 in 2004, after a recalcitrant state legislature refused to tighten requirements to vote in state elections.
What got axed by the federal appeals judges was that part of the Arizona law which required a resident to show a birth certificate or a valid driver's licence to register to vote.
When I moved to Indiana nearly four years ago I had to show my Tennessee driver's license, a birth certificate and title to my home (or utility bills) as proof of residency in order to get an Indiana driver's license. No problem.
The assault on Arizona's voter registration law was brought by Jon Greenbaum, legal director for the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, who joined with the Arizona Advocacy Network. And Mr. Greenbaum said this after the ruling was handed down, "The ruling will enable the many poor people in Arizona who lack driver's licences and birth certificates to register to vote."
We understand someone not having a driver's license - but a birth certificate? Sorry! Such documents are usually available in most courthouses across the county or through local and state health departments. That is, of course, if you were born in this country. If you weren't born here, then all you need is your proof of naturalized citizenship.
Therein lies the problem for Arizona. It is no longer a crime to be an illegal alien to register to vote.
That was underscored by Linda Brown of the Arizona Advocacy Network who said, "The real crime is that this law disenfranchised tens of thousands of "citizens" who wanted to vote but lacked the documentation to register. After Prop 200's restrictions were implemented, groups that had long conducted registration drives experienced a significant drop in the number of people they were able to register, so they abandoned those efforts."
The operative word in her statement is citizens. A valid citizen of this country and the state of Arizona should have no problem producing a birth certificate. All residents of Arizona would be better served if such advocacy groups like Ms. Browns would set up funding to help the really poor pay the nominal cost of securing a copy of their birth certificate instead of so transparently trying to dilute the votes of valid Arizona citizens by stacking the Democrat voting rolls with illegal aliens, mostly Hispanic.
Voting is a right, not a privilege. Having a license to drive a car is a privilege. You don't have to be a citizen of United States to be allowed to drive a car on our roads. You are supposed to be a valid citizen of this country to vote, unless, of course, you an illegal alien living in Arizona.
Elections have consequences. Let's hope one of the consequences of a Republican revival November 2, is a firmly worded, common sense overhaul of our lax immigration laws which; limits new immigration to this country to a half-million people per year including those who seek political asylum; provides guest worker privileges for Hispanics and others who come to this country to earn a decent livelihood for their families; provides a quick and sensible path to citizenship for the millions of illegal aliens already within our borders and does not make them go to the back of the line, but rather encourages them to come forward, apply for legal status, learn English and within a reasonable period, say five years, take their oath of citizenship; deport any illegal alien who is found with forged identity records, who is arrested for a crime or who violates driving laws by driving without a valid driver's license or driving while under the influence; and lastly, enforce the spirit of the 14th amendment to the Constitution, which was adopted to ensure citizenship rights for the progeny of the slaves freed by the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln during the the Civil War and was never intended to cover children born to people who sneak across our borders illegally. No child of an illegal alien should be endowed at birth with American citizenship.
And build the damn fence! Model it like the high, secure fence that separates Israel from its antagonistic Palestinian neighbors and has kept such neighbors from strapping bombs around their chests and blowing up innocent Israelis and even tourist in that country.
We've waisted a half-billion dollars on a phantom electronic fence that doesn't work. How about building a good ole bricks and mortar fence like the Israeli's did. That fence cost less and best of all, it keeps unwanted neighbors out.