Pete The Elder

Here is what SAEN columnist Robert Seltzer had to say about the MM project:

You remember the Minuteman Project. About 1,000 U.S. residents, their ambition loftier than their IQs, planned to begin patrolling a 20-mile stretch of the Arizona-Mexico border this weekend. A kind of neighborhood watch program gone berserk.

Volunteers want to combat the lawlessness on the border, lawlessness they feel is caused by undocumented immigrants. But you cannot combat mayhem with mayhem. They said the patrol would be peaceful, but Arizona law allows individuals with handgun permits to carry arms, and some of the volunteers intended to do just that.

The members are too elegant to call themselves "vigilantes." No matter. There is a civil servant out there, the highest in the land, who will do it for them.

When it comes to other issues, President Bush might favor a judicious euphemism, using his verbal dexterity ? or that of his speechwriters ? to tap-dance through a minefield of tough policy questions. But not on the Minuteman Project. On the Minuteman Project, daintiness flies out the window of the Oval Office.
I guess Mr. Seltzer isn't going to like this news!