C-SPAN broadcast the second (and last) Arizona Republican primary debate, where Senator John McCain, JD Hayworth and businessman John Deakin tore into the issues of the day.
Interestingly, John McCain used the forum to clarify his nuanced definition of “amnesty” for illegal aliens. The Senator had recently declared, “No amnesty. Many of them need to be sent back.”
In this debate McCain stated at around 8 minutes in, “Amnesty means no punishment.” Presumably he believes that lawbreaking illegal aliens should be required to pay a small fine to pretend that they are being penalized for national trespassing.
Of course, “amnesty” in an immigration context means a general pardon plus a path to citizenship for invasive foreigners. McCain is playing word games so he can present himself as a tough border enforcer, when he is still the same old amnesty huckster he always was. Yes, he wants improved border enforcement, but only as a precursor to eventual amnesty for many millions. He told Spanish media during his 2008 Presidential campaign that he would work for alien amnesty starting his “first day” in the White House.
Plus McCain sounded more concerned with the suffering of Mexicans both south of the border and moving illegally into this country than with the violent lawlessness his citizen constituents face daily on southern ranches. He made a special point that he would not deport the illegal mother of the wife of a soldier he met in Iraq. That’s our Johnny — always generously thinking about the misery of Mexicans. American citizens are on their own however.
You can watch the embedded video below or click here to see the video from Arizona Public Media or if that doesn’t work, try the C-SPAN link at the beginning:
