Mike Coffman Rises (For the right?)

"I will do everything I can to make sure that our country never goes down this path again. Nation-building operations, where we invade, pacify and administer whole countries, is the wrong direction for America and must never be repeated again." - Representative Mike Coffman, R-Col.

Rep. Mike Coffman

For most maybe all of his political life Mike Coffman was somewhat to the right of the Grand Wizard of Douglas County on "Immigration". Less than two years ago the 3-term (?) congressman was calling the DREAM ACT a nightmare and even proposed a bill that called for all ballots to be printed in English-solamente-  and, according to Politico, he signed an amicus brief in support of Arizona's "papers please" immigration bill. But, lately, it seems Marine Mike has been changing his tune. He has proposed legislation along with Democrat Rep. Luis Gutierrez that would allow non-citizens (Republicans in the main prefer "aliens") such as foreign students on visas to serve in the military. Now this is a nice liberal stance - at least on paper- but I don't know if the bill is a prelude of sorts for the brave foreign volunteer who does serve to become a citizen after his or her tour is over. I mean if you're willing to put your life on the line for a country that still has reservations about allowing you to be an official citizen then go right ahead - its more than Bush and Cheney and Wolfowitz and Rice and all the other warmongering liars and cowards have done for their country - but this can be misconstrued by some cynics as adding more expendable fodder for our military-corporate endeavors.

("One of the many paradoxes of American history is how a nation of immigrants could be at the same time a nation that could so often be roused to fear and even hysteria over ideas, movements, and people labeled "foreign", or how often other ideas, movements, and people could be defended and even enthusiastically supported if they could be thought of as "native" - or accepted if they could be proven to have been effectively "Americanized".- Warren Susman

 Rep. Mike's sudden support for immigration reform could not mean that he has had a change of heart - or...? This guy after all once tried to purge registered voters from voting when he was Colorado's Secretary of State - something the Republicans have been fine-tuning all over the country  ever since they realized that white folk aren't the only ones voting anymore. During the 2012 election season he sided with the so-called "birthers" in stating that he thought Obama wasn't even an American. Yet he still managed to defeat his Democrat opponent by just under 7000 votes. Coffman is also a signer of that idiotic pledge of allegiance to Grover Norquist. Perhaps if his congressional district hadn't been redrawn after the 2012 election to include more than three times the number of Hispanic voters than before he may not have been bothered by his record on immigration. And yet he has come out in support of protecting his state's Marijuana legalization laws against any federal infringement because it was "what the voters wished". For someone who resides with his family in Aurora you would hope he takes a correct stand on assault weapon ban if that ever comes to the floor of the House. And Right-Wing (with an asterisk) Marine Vet Mike Coffman rose in the House of Representatives on Wednesday last and spoke these words on the 10th anniversary of our Iraqi War :

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE March 20, 2013  

THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE START OF THE WAR IN IRAQ 

(Mr. COFFMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) 

Mr. COFFMAN. "Mr. Speaker, today is the 10th anniversary for the war in Iraq that began with the United States-led invasion on March 20, 2003.

In 2005, I resigned from public office in the State of Colorado to return to Active Duty in the United States Marine Corps for assignment in Iraq. I did this, not because I believed that the invasion of Iraq was the right decision for our country, but because I strongly believed that, once the decision had been made to go into Iraq, that we had a responsibility to bring this war to a just conclusion. I can’t say enough about the young men and women of our military whom I met in Iraq when I served there and observed their courage, their determination to succeed under very challenging conditions, and their extraordinary sacrifices. However, now that I’m a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I will do everything I can to make sure that our country never goes down this path again. Nation-building operations, where we invade, pacify and administer whole countries, is the wrong direction for America and must never be repeated again."

Every once in a great while I still can feel that tugging at my own tattered heart that we're all in this together.