I woke up this morning and read “Truman’s Take” on immigration issues and the mayor’s race (It was easy to find since it linked to Freddie’s Blogosphere for Briley post). In it, Truman childishly labels (literally) Briley’s most recent stance on immigration reform as “An obviously insincere effort.” Sure he’s entitled to his opinion, but does he have to write it in a large, bright red font? I half expected to see the “i” in “Dozier” dotted with a tiny little heart.

Call it a hunch (or it could be that pesky bright red font), but I think he really really really believes that the only reason Briley is addressing the issue is that the voters are “demanding their lawmakers to wise-up and SHERIFF their town as the statues [sic] require.”

And he’s right. But he is missing the why behind voter concern. After the 2004 election, Republicans realized that the two wedge issues they had successfully used to manipulate the electorate - gay marriage and abortion - would have to be supplemented. And so, they trotted out the then majority leader of the Senate, Bill Frist, who promptly began talking about the need to do something about illegal immigrants. Voila! Three years later and several orchestrated moves by Senate Republicans to stifle any real immigration policy reform on the federal level later, our local officials are left to pick up the slack. They have no choice.

That said, David Briley’s Immigration Policy Paper is thoughtful, comprehensive, forward-thinking, and community oriented. I challenge you to read the entire thing and guess which provision is the one provision I do not agree with.

This post was written by Mary Mancini