Twenty Questions for Twenty Candidates
Reason magazine calls out the presidential hopefuls on their hypocrisies.
My favorites:
Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback
"You opposed President Clinton's 1999 action in Kosovo, and said at the time 'I continue to implore the Clinton administration to present a clearly thought-out exit strategy from the hostilities in Kosovo.' Why didn't you apply this standard to the Bush administration over the last six years?"
Delaware Sen. Joe Biden
"You were the author of the RAVE Act in the Senate. Can you explain why glow sticks should be considered drug paraphernalia, and as president what you might do to prohibit them?"
Some are bullshit, though:
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack
"Did making English the official language of Iowa cut back on the state's influx of illegal immigrants from Mexico?"
The goal of such measures isn't to stem immigration; it's to speed assimilation and integration.
I don't know that making English the official language aims either to stem illegal immigration or to speed assimilation. More than anything, it's a pandering move by politicians to seem tough on illegal immigrants by accomplishing nothing of substance.
Posted by: Justin on February 17, 2007 11:13 AM | permalinkWell, yeah. I meant it is ostensibly aimed at integration.
And I don't think it's entirely useless. Allowing someone to get a driver's license without knowing enough of the national language to read a traffic sign, or forcing every government document to have a Spanish-language version, are harmful and wasteful, respectively.
Posted by: Joe Grossberg on February 17, 2007 7:17 PM | permalinkNo more comments! Either someone has violated Godwin's Law, I'm tired of the discussion or, most likely, the ten-week window has closed. You can, however, contact me through email.