Called on the Presidential Carpet

Sometime today, President Barrack Obama will meet with the governor of Arizona. He will "discuss" the new immigration law with said state executive. No publicity will be allowed.

Interesting tactic. Arizona passes a law that is identical to federal law. Arizona is a state directly bordering Mexico. Along with California, Texas, and a smattering of New Mexico, four states have a southern and common border with Mexico. A second tier of states, Colorado, Utah, Oklahoma, and Nevada, have common borders with the first group. That's eight states that have an interest in Mexican border control which is the responsibility of the Federal government.

Successive administrations, both Republican and Democrat, have demurred from closing that border effectively. The idea of a fence is good, but can be torn down. A wall would be better, but with the federal budget hemorrhaging bi-partisan support is unlikely and the Democrats certainly aren't going to spend their time passing that bill. So, it falls to the states that want their borders controlled to handle the problem. That's all Arizona is doing.

Actually, the interpretation of "border" is what I have a problem with. Why just the southern border of Arizona and the first tier state southern borders? If the second tier states seek to protect their borders with the pirmary four states (Arizona, etc.), the journey for illegals becomes longer and less manageable. Fewer illegal aliens can make that journey.

Watch the future activties of all eight states. The remaining seven could go a long way towards solving the problem together. How many of the seven states besides Arizona have non Democrat governors?

Much ado about a hole

Tulsa city and county has reached a milestone. History's first sinkhole in the metro area. Oklahoma City doesn't have a sinkhole. Muskogee doesn't have a sinhole. OU and OSU can't claim sinkholes. THis is the first sinhole in either Conference USA or the Big 12. This could be bigger than the BOK Center interms of publicity. And the Oklahoma Department of Transportation is going to fill in and cover up our tourist attraction.

What about the term? It didn't sink, the highway did. Is it a hole? No, it wasn't dug by any man made piece of equipment. How do we label this thing? I think we ought to admit our cirmstances and just call it a "highway flop". That's more accurate. Something flopped in to a void beneath it. What fell in to the void was the highway. Of course, then I wouldn't have anything to grich about this morning.