The name game

Amazingly, the congressional debate over immigration continues to reach new levels of absurdity. The latest is that House Republicans are trying to pretend that only Democrats support the Senate bill. Thus, what is normally referred to as the “McCain-Kennedy” bill has been transformed into the “Reid-Kennedy” bill, replacing John McCain, who has been a vocal advocate, with Harry Reid, the Democratic leader who in fact at one point tried to scuttle it.

Of course, this convenient amnesia also ignores the fact that President Bush favors the Senate version. I suppose the strategy revolves around the basic idea that if you say something enough, then people will start to believe it.

I had to chuckle at McCain’s response to the issue:

Asked at a recent news conference how he felt about the bill’s name and being purged from it, Mr. McCain said, “You can call it a banana if you want to,” as long as it eventually becomes law.