Rachel Maddow On Immigration Reform: "There Is A Reason Why This New Pope Has Been Able To Get So Many People To Take A Second Look At The Catholic Church"

Last night, in her brilliant essay on the political dilemma facing the Republican Party over immigration reform (above), Rachel Maddow never mentioned California GOP congressman Jeff Denham, who represents the 10th congressional district, part for the Central Valley, including Modesto, Manteca and Tracy. The backward-looking Cook Report still claims the district has a PVI of R+1, even though President Obama's 50-48% win over McCain in 2008 grew to a 51-47% win over Romney in 2012. Denham faces a growing Hispanic voting base (34.9%, with61% of newly eligible voters being Asian and Latino) and a district where support for comprehensive immigration reform in a staggering 72%, one the highest of any district anywhere in the country with a Republican incumbent. And in the other Central Valley seat held by a Republican, David Valadao's in CA-21, Democratic-leaning Kings County, the support for comprehensive immigration reform is 77%. Both are a tad higher south of there in CA-25, Santa Clarita, Antelope Valley and Simi Valley-- 73% of the district supports comprehensive immigration reform in a district that also has a rapidly growing Latino voter base (and where 31.5% for voters are Hispanic). But the anti-immigration Republican there, reactionary bigot Buck McKeon, has decided to retire rather than face the voters again.

Neither Valadao nor Denham wants to follow McKeon into retirement, so both have been making ostentatious noises that sound like they will support Democratic moves to pass immigration reform-- although, so far, the noises are essentially empty pandering to the voters back home. Neither signed onto the discharge petition which would have forced a vote on a bill they both claim to support. Yesterday, Jonathan Weisman and Ashley Parker reported the internal Republican dilemma for the NY Times, Immigration Bill Splitting House GOP. In theory, at least, the bill they were talking about should have been easy-peazy for the Republicans to support. It simply helps immigrants who grew up in the U.S. and who joined the U.S. armed forces to find a reasonable pathway to legal residency, not even citizenship. Bigots, racists and hate mongers within the dominant Southern wing of the Republican Party, would not allow even that to come up for a vote, a terrible blow to Republicans like Denham and Valadao.

“It is very frustrating to hear controversy from members who have never served their country and don’t understand the impact that immigrants have had on our freedoms,” said Representative Jeff Denham, Republican of California, an Air Force veteran and a sponsor of the amendment.

“That’s bunk; next question,” snapped Representative Mo Brooks, Republican of Alabama and one of those opponents.

Speaker John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, shelved immigration legislation in February, in large part to keep the contentious issue from publicly dividing his party in an election year and inflaming Latino and immigrant voters, who tend to vote in lower numbers in midterm elections.

But the issue roared back this week when opponents of the overhaul went public with their efforts to thwart the Encourage New Legalized Immigrants to Start Training Act, or Enlist Act. The bill is a more modest version of the Dream Act, which would offer citizenship to young illegal immigrants through a variety of pathways, including military service and college education.

“It ensures that illegal aliens will be put on the same footing as American citizens who are competing for enlistment privileges in our national defense,” said Mr. Brooks, who threatened to bring down the entire defense policy bill if the immigration measure is attached.

Representative Steve King, Republican of Iowa and a longtime opponent of any easing of immigration restrictions, went to the conservative website Breitbart.com to declare, “As soon as they raise their hand and say, ‘I’m unlawfully present in the United States,’ we’re not going to take your oath into the military, but we’re going to take your deposition and we have a bus for you to Tijuana.”

The House Armed Services Committee is expected to draft the defense bill in early May for floor action the week of May 19. Representative Howard P. McKeon, Republican of California, said Friday that he will not offer the Enlist Act as an amendment in the committee. But Mr. Denham said he expects the measure to be deemed in order to be offered as an amendment on the House floor.

That would set off precisely the kind of public fight Mr. Boehner had hoped to avoid. The politics of the push are clear. Both Mr. Denham and Representative Mike Coffman, a Republican of Colorado who is pushing a similar measure of his own, represent swing districts with sizable Latino populations. And, as Mr. Denham’s shot at his opponents implied, both men have long records of military service, Mr. Denham in the Air Force during the Persian Gulf war and in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia, Mr. Coffman in the Army and Marine Corps, including combat in the gulf war.

So, yes, although he's retiring, long-time, vicious racist Buck McKeon is going out with a definitive "F You" to the Hispanics in his district, in the military and across America. The two Republicans vying to succeed McKeon, Tony Strickland and Steve Knight are also well-known for their racist and anti-immigrant extremist. The Democrat in the race, Lee Rogers, nearly beat McKeon in 2012 and did beat him in the heavily Hispanic Antelope Valley, a first for any Democratic congressional candidate. A few months ago Rogers explained his very practical-minded stance on immigration, which is very much in sync with residents of CA-25-- and very different from the racist, xenophobic records of Strickland and Knight.

"We are a country of immigrants. My family came from England, Germany, and Italy. Some immigrated through Ellis Island in New York. They came to America because it was the land of opportunity. And, it still is! The best part of America is that we take the best parts of every other culture and melt it into our own. Let’s face it. Our immigration system is broken. And that broken immigration system is a drag on our economy. The business community, through the US Chambers of Commerce, wants immigration reform. The Chamber emphasizes on its website that immigration reform would slash the federal debt by $2.7 trillion in 10 years, the economy would grow $50 billion in 2025, and there would be an additional $2 billion in revenue for state and local governments. I stand with the business community and support a fresh start. Let’s give who are here and undocumented a realistic path to legal status, allow them to pay income tax, and welcome them into our economy and watch it grow."

Surgeons are like that… they need to solve problems, not make them worse. In fact, if you'd like to help Dr. Rogers beat the twin terrors of Strickland and Knight… well, no contribution is too small or unappreciated.