Tonight's soundtrack provided by Neil Diamond: Far, we've been traveling far Without a home Not without a STAR Free, only want to be free We huddle close, hang on to a dream

I was born in 1970. While it is a distant memory, I do remember America's bicentennial and the patriotism it inspired. The halcyon days of Bruce Jenner, Mary Lou Retton, and Mohammed Ali. The days when Pete Rose was a hero, not a national disgrace, and when Roger Staubach and Terry Bradshaw were the subject of many schoolyard fights by children defending their respective honors.

In those days, we were taught that America was a melting pot, a land of opportunity. We were taught of the contributions of immigrants to our great nation, and taught that immigration is what made our country great.

On the boats and on the planes They're coming to America Never looking back again They're coming to America

In that day, an illegal alien was an illegal alien. (sidenote: in this day and age, messr's Rutherford, Banks, and Collins would have been in DEEP doo-doo for their 1983 vid "Illegal Alien"). An immigrant was something separate and distinct, someone who came across legally for opportunity, and to become an American. Anyone who waved the red white and blue rather than the red white and green was welcome here, and welcome to become a part of this country.

Home, don't it seem so far away We're traveling light today In the eyes of the storm In the eyes of the storm Home, TO a new and shinning place Make our bed and we'll say our grace Freedom's light burning warm Freedom's light burning warm

Something changed over that time. Somehow, we turned a blind eye to the hordes of illegals and insisted they needed to be made citizens. While it's easy to blame liberals, let us not forget it was Ronald Reagan who provided full amnesty for millions of illegals, providing both the impossibility of ever being able to deport said illegals and an almost guaranteed increase in illegal immigration by those who would come across in the hopes that said amnesty would be repeated.

We can and should be a nation of opportunity for those who want to work. If anything is the "American Way", that is. If we're not going to accept "the huddled masses", we need to tear down the statue in New York Harbor that provides that promise. Though Nuevo Laredo is a long way off, the shadow of that great statue falls across the entire land. We cannot and should not let fear detract us from our purpose, our sense of identity. We, as a nation, are greater than that.

Everywhere around the world They're coming to America Everytime that FLAG'S unfurled They're coming to America Got a dream to take them there They're coming to America Got a dream they come to share They're coming to America They're coming to America... Today, today, today... My country 'tis of thee, today Sweet land of liberty, today Of thee I sing, today Of thee I sing, today..

So let us get back to the plan. Let's start electing politicians that recognize that an open border is not necessarily an unsecure border, anymore than a closed border is a secure border. Let's figure out a way to allow those who want to work to cross our borders for the opportunity it provides while keeping the miscreants and the criminals out as much as possible. Let us learn from the past and stop a shameful and frightening trend of blaming an ethnic group on our financial woes, a trend that has eerie shades of 1930's Germany written all over it. And let's figure out a workable solution that provides the best for everyone.

There are legitimate arguments about the immigration problem from both sides of the aisle. It's time we cast aside partisanship and the buying and selling of political power and start doing what's right for America, to restore her to her former glory, and her former promise:

(lyrics provided by: www.metrolyrics.com).

In conclusion, I leave you (hopefully) with this little treat: