McCain, you're not off the hook yet

By Donald Hank

According an article in the Washington Post, John McCain has now said that we need border barriers. You may say that is not too bad for a Ted Kennedy bosom pal who worked his tail off last summer to keep the borders wide open and reward 12-20 million lawbreakers with amnesty.

But you may recall my earlier article suggesting that conservatives write to the McCain campaign and demand that he persuade the president and Senate to close the borders, deport illegal immigrants, release the jailed border guards and fire federal prosecutor Johnny Sutton, who wrongfully jailed these agents, before we will vote for John McCain.

For those who may have missed that, I had urged readers to contact the McCain Campaign with this message:

Sen. McCain, I am respectfully asking you to persuade your friends in the Senate and your friend the President to actually close the border by November, actually building a physical fence spanning all parts of the southern US border generally deemed to be vulnerable, turning back all illegal immigrants detained at the southern border and elsewhere in the United States, releasing border agents Compean and Ramos from prison and firing US Prosecutor Johnny Sutton for abuse of authority. If you succeed in persuading them, and if you do not move substantially further to the Left on any other issue, then I will understand that you are not only sincere in your campaign promises but are strong enough politically to lead America. Under these circumstances and only these, I pledge that I will vote for you in November. If you do not, I will vote for a third party candidate.

I would like to remind readers that McCain's latest concession does not get him off the hook. He has a long way to go. This article had a lot of hits, mostly because WorldNetDaily graciously linked to it from their news site. Obviously, this action in which many of you participated, along with strong statements by Ann Coulter and, recently, talk show host Bill Cunningham, that they would vote for Hillary to help keep McCain out of the White House, were partly if not wholly responsible for McCain's backtracking on his previous pro-amnesty and pro-open border stand on immigration. But note that McCain has a long way to go before he is compliant enough with your message to the McCain Campaign to earn your vote. He hasn't even mentioned border agents Compean and Ramos. I for one will not vote for McCain if he does not make a really strong statement denouncing the jailing of these fine men and promising to release them immediately if he is elected. I absolutely could not vote in conscience for a man who would support by his inaction the betrayal of these loyal government servants. Did he, or anyone in the press, even notice that they are Hispanics themselves? My wife and I watch the news on Univisión and the opinion among viewers there is almost unanimous, namely, that Compean and Ramos are victims of a wrongful sentence. It is one thing to want open borders and amnesty, but another to want your fellow Hispanics punished for doing their jobs.

I strongly urge you to send McCain another message reminding him of the original promise we made as conservatives as articulated above, and that he is not anywhere near the benchmark we expect of him to earn our vote.

In the interest of making of John McCain a more palatable candidate for conservatives, and thus helping him get elected, please consider sending the following text to the McCain Campaign in an email or regular mailing to

John McCain 2008
P.O. Box 16118
Arlington, VA 22215

or by phone:

703-418-2008

Sen. McCain, a while back, conservatives contacted your campaign HQ and respectfully asked you to persuade your friends in the Senate and your friend the President to actually close the border by November, building a physical fence, turning back all illegal immigrants detained at the southern border and elsewhere, releasing border agents Compean and Ramos from prison and firing US Prosecutor Johnny Sutton for abuse of authority. These conservatives promised if you succeed in persuading the Senate and President to do these things, and if you do not move substantially further to the Left, then we would understand that you are not only sincere in your campaign promises but are strong enough politically to lead America. Under these circumstances, they pledged to vote for you in November. Recently, you stated that we need a barrier at the border. That suggests to us you are listening. It is the least of what is expected of you, since the Constitution says you would be the chief executive, in charge of enforcing laws. Please look carefully at the requirements for us to vote for you. There are a few more to go. We have set the bar high. After all, you have set your sights on the highest office in our country. We decide whether you have likewise set high standards worthy of that office.

Thank you

The ball is still in McCain's court.

Our chief executive refuses to do his job and uphold the Constitution. Americans aren't about to help another such politician lay siege to our White House and our country. At least not without a fight.

© Donald Hank