1. Immigration isn't just a "social issue". It directly impacts unemployment, it played a key role in the mortgage issue, one part of the BHO admin is trying to help illegal aliens take cleanup jobs from legal workers, and on and on. It's a vital, fundamental issue and trying to dissuade it being discussed is something that only an idiot (or someone on the take) would do. 2. The connections aren't "tenuous" as John Frank says, assuming the press release is accurate. Those companies were trying to profit from money that was earned illegally, and Bill McCollum helped them (assuming again the release is accurate). I didn't look into the other candidate since I'm in CA and I'd never heard of either of them before. 3. For something close to an expose on a company that seeks to profit from illegally-earned money, see: http://24ahead.com/n/4820 Search for that company's name using the old search in the right sidebar for much, much more on them.

It's pretty funny to see Instapundit linking to this page considering that he probably doesn't want people to come away with the same impression I got: that the tea partiers and the birthers are largely the same people. That makes sense since no moderates or liberals are "partiers", and they probably aren't birthers either. And, the whole birthers issue is yet another example of the incompetence of r/w bloggers and pundits. If they were smarter and had integrity, they could have used this issue to discredit dozens of MSM hacks and - at the same time - helped deflect Dem attempts to use the issue against the GOP. And, they could have done all that without engaging in any wild theories or speculating. Details here: http://24ahead.com/n/9350 The reason those r/w bloggers and pundits aren't doing things like that but instead are helping the Dems smear their base is that they just aren't that bright. P.S. Andrew Malcolm makes a false statement above: HI never released anything besides two statements. The picture he shows above was supplied by the Obama campaign, not HI. That doesn't mean it's not a real cert, that just means that the supposed truth-tellers can't their facts straight.

I'm not a fan of Armey or the TeaParties, but it's more than a bit ironic that the driver was an illegal alien. Normally, the far-left would rush to call anyone who pointed that out a racist xenophobic mean-spirited racist, but I guess in some cases it's OK. In fact, Armey and most of the far-left are united at least by their support for illegal activity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaqd1qY1KsM Who knew that Dick Armey was on your side?

Without hearing it, I'm going to guess it's as dumb, demagogic, and Randroid as it looks. If anyone wants to actually do something rather than put on a show, ask these: http://24ahead.com/ask-better-questions-about-illegal-aliens-receiving-healthca

I think the chart would be improved if the DT variable were added in. (For those not familiar with the DT variable, that measures someone's ability to believe two contradictory ideas at the same time. For just one example, believing that HI's gov can't verify he was born there because it would be illegal at the same time as believing that she verified he was born there. Or, believing that HI has authenticated the picture on BHO's site at the same time as believing that they haven't. It's an art!)

Gary Farber: Oops! I completely forgot that the Hilzoy that runs this site is the identical twin cousin of the Hilzoy that used to contribute to the blog at the Washington Monthly. What a crazy pair they are! One pair of matching bookends, different as night and day. Anywhoo, referring to the person who deletes comments at WaMo as an "anonymous coward" isn't really uncivil since that's an apt description of the person; I asked them to reveal who they are and they refused. Perhaps if Hilzoy is willing to burn her bridges she can let me know the full name of that person or persons so I can write about them.

I have no idea what the backstory is, but regarding civility I haven't exactly received it from other commenters at sites like WaMo. I also haven't received it from the admins there; whether it was Hilzoy, Benen, Drum, or an anonymous coward isn't known but in any case I stopped visiting the site after every comment I left was quickly deleted. Read some of those comments here: http://24ahead.com/s/washington-monthly Even as they deleted my on-topic, non-abusive comments, their past entries were clogged with the worst kinds of spam imaginable. Regarding civility towards my usual opposing views at other "liberal" and "libertarian" sites, let me know if you find any.

I don't know whether referring to "the anti-immigration vigilante group known as the Minutemen" is a deliberate attempt to deceive, or whether Lindsay Beyerstein is just an idiot. Based on her past journal entries, I suspect a combination. One thing is clear: it's not just "splitting hairs" to properly identify a person or a group. In fact, it could result in a lawsuit: volokh.com/posts/1241661840.shtml In any case, it's indicative of someone who has very low journalistic integrity.

Few people expect a TV critic to know much of anything, but I'm sure more than a few people have noted that Glenn Garvin can't even get basic facts straight. For instance, saying that Dobbs is "against immigration" is a lie.

I guess you can't include a href links, so let's try this: http://24ahead.com/marco-rubio-illegal-immigration-amnesty-supporter-or-not

Now, here's a more informed discussion of Rubio and immigration. The paragraphs about that above raises several questions. The first sentence in the first paragraph sounds like smear. The second sentence raises the question what he would vote for. The following paragraph sounds like he supports something like Bush tried to do. The other part of that sounds like the hoax that McCain tried to pull and that now Obama is trying to pull. It's time for real reporters to press him on this issue rather than hacks or those who don't know the right questions to ask.