But “[AZ] is a state that is a ways removed from the [MX] border”

This, my friends, is your quote of the day (via @IrishSpy and @EdMorrissey):

MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee County Board spent part of the day debating a measure that would call for the county to boycott doing business with companies in Arizona.

Communities around the nation have passed similar measures in response to a law in Arizona that makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally.

There was an odd moment during the debate when [Democrat] Supervisor Peggy West stood up and seemed to be confused about her geography. “If this was Texas, which is a state that is directly on the border with Mexico, and they were calling for a measure like this saying that they had a major issue with undocumented people flooding their borders, I would have to look twice at this. But this is a state that is a ways removed from the border,” West said during debate.
Her colleague, Joe Rice, quickly corrected her, “I just want to assure my colleague that Arizona does in fact share a border with the country of Mexico.”

Video below:

Comedy gold.

ST reader & Wisconsin resident @steveegg notes this useful tidbit of info as well:

Bonus item on the Peggy West story-she’s on the Executive Committee of the Milwaukee Democratic Party

Figures.

While her gaffe will give everyone a laugh, this story will have just the opposite effect (via Don Surber):

Two federal agencies have joined the “boycott Arizona” trend and nixed conferences there out of concern over the state’s immigration law, a Democratic Arizona congresswoman said, calling the development “very troubling.”

Any cancellations by the Department of Education and the U.S. Border Patrol may have been more out of a desire to steer clear of controversy than outright protest of the law. But Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who has written to dozens of cities and groups in a campaign to persuade them to end their boycotts, said it was disturbing to learn that the federal government would withdraw from the state over the issue.

“It is very troubling when the federal government becomes involved in a boycott against our state,” Giffords said in a written statement. “Although I personally disagree with the immigration law, it came about because of growing frustration over the federal government’s unwillingness to secure the border. The federal government’s participation in this boycott only adds to that frustration.”

The Department of Education issued a statement to Fox News confirming that a program administrator, though not the Education Department itself, canceled a 2010 convention “at the request of one of our trilateral partners.”

My question is: Considering the Arizona immigration law very much mirrors federal law, when will the federal government start boycotting … the federal government? Now that I’d break out the popcorn for. …

Comments are closed.