No Profile In Courage



What is it about these conservatives?

That could mean a thousand things, but in this case it's an obsession with proving one's manhood.  Karen G. Handel, who went on to become an executive at Susan G. Komen for the Cure (and later resigned amid scandal), told her gubernatorial primary opponent in Georgia in 2010 it was "time to put the big boy pants on."  S.E. Cupp, who holds the conservative seat on MSNBC's hideous "The Cycle," criticized Ron Paul's hints of secession, stating "We put on our big boy pants and get down to business."

And now it's a man.  Britt Hume is exorcised because Barack Obama recognizes a con when he sees it. Hume complains about the President not wishing to take full authority for the sequester cuts and according to a cut played by Rush Limbaugh's producer, remarked

This has been pretty clear. The administration doesn't want this. The president seems prepared to let the public suffer almost as much as possible as long as he can blame somebody else. This is not what we expect of presidents. Presidents, in the end, are supposed to be the people who put on their big-boy pants and are prepared to shoulder responsibility -- and if they're criticized for using that responsibility or authority, so be it. 

There is no "if" about it.  We read

The Homeland Security Department released from its jails more than 2,000 illegal immigrants facing deportation in recent weeks due to looming budget cuts and planned to release 3,000 more during March, the Associated Press has learned.

The newly disclosed figures, cited in internal budget documents reviewed by the AP, are significantly higher than the “few hundred” illegal immigrants the Obama administration acknowledged this week had been released under the budget-savings process.

The government documents show that Immigration and Customs Enforcement released roughly 1,000 illegal immigrants from its jails around the U.S. each week since at least Feb. 15. The agency’s field offices have reported more than 2,000 immigrants released before intense criticism this week led to a temporary shutdown of the plan, according to the documents.

The states where immigrants were released include Arizona, California, Georgia and Texas.

Once the Administration "put on its big boy pants," the Repub reaction was swift.  Virginia's Chuck Grassley, ranking minority member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Bob Goodlatte, chairperson of the House Judiciary Committee, charged "Simply blaming budget reductions as a means to turn a blind eye toward the national security of the American people is a dangerous plan, and one that calls into question the department’s preparations for sequestration.”

The White House and Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano, blessed with plausible deniability, denied being aware of the release. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the individuals were "low-risk, noncriminal detainees" whose release was ordered by career officials at I.C.E.

Carney could have noted that when the budget of the federal government is cut, the damage is widespread and extends to law enforcement.  When one Party tries to bleed the government dry, to deny it of funds, this is what happens, he might have reminded them. Then Carney might have told them that releasing non-violent illegal immigrants has nothing to do with national security.

Republicans can put on their "big boy pants" anyway they want to and even trying to have it both ways, telling their base they're cutting spending, then complaining when it happens.  Still, there is little that is more cowardly than stripping government of its ability to function, then denying all responsibility for the consequences.




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