Day One -  Everything changes

Day 275 -   But who imagined this?

This report is intended to keep you up to date with the unfolding drama about Governor Spitzer's most recent remarks and their origins, as well as Senator Clinton's comment at a Washington hearing on Iraq.

Last Friday we reported a Post article covering the governor's sharp attack on Mayor Bloomberg and, presumably, others unsympathetic to state driver's licenses for illegal alliens. Spitzer called them "wrong at every level -- dead wrong, factually wrong, legally wrong, morally wrong and ethically wrong,"    Although the two men disagree on the issue of licenses for aliens, observers were surprised at the apparent vehemence of the attack on the mayor's morals and ethics, which are generally highly regarded.

From the depths of childhood memory, we have discovered the probable source of Governor Spitzer's remarks. His words come from the song, “Ding Dong, The Witch is Dead”, which you should link to for its entertainment value alone.  It was sung by the Munchkins (little people) after the Wicked Witch of the East perished when Dorothy’s house, which had just blown in from Kansas, landed on the unfortunate sorceress. This event took place in the classic movie, "The Wizard of Oz."(1938)   The lyrics are by the brilliant and insufficiently recognized E. Y. (Yip) Harburg, a member of the City College class of 1918.  The composer is the very talented Harold Arlen.  

 Here are some of the lines from that memorable song, which appear to have found a home in the retentive memory of the chief executive of the Empire State. Since he was not born until 1959, we assume he learned about it through recordings, TV showings or his family.

Original Lyrics, as Recorded in Munchkinland

Mayor: As Mayor of the Munchkin City, in the County of the Land of Oz, I welcome you most regally.

Barrister:  But we've got to verify it legally, to see

Mayor: To see?

Barrister: If she?

Mayor: If she?

Barrister:  Is MORALLY, ETHIC'LLY (emphasis added)

Father No. 1: SPIRITUALLY, PHYSICALLY

Father No. 2: POSITIVELY, ABSOLUTELY

Munchkins: UNDENIABLY AND RELIABLY DEAD

Coroner: As Coroner I must aver, I thoroughly examined her.
And she's not only merely dead, she's really most sincerely dead.

Mayor: Then this is a day of Independence For all the Munchkins and their descendants

Barrister: If any.

Mayor: Yes, let the joyous news be spread.  The wicked Old Witch at last is dead.

Is granting drivers licenses to illegal immigrants an ethical or moral issue?

Now that we have sourced the Governor’s remarks, we go to the issue, briefly, is this an ethical or moral question? Can only one side be virtuous or principled?   

Licensing of illegal aliens presents a difficult problem to many states. It is not a yes-no issue, there are shades of positions, some dealing with what other qualifications and means of identification are required for drivers' licenses, and what other rights they provide. Seven to eleven states currently allow illegal aliens to be licensed, different sources give different numbers..

California, under Gov. Gray Davis, passed a law in 2003 allowing illegal aliens to obtain drivers' licenses.   Davis was recalled by the voters in October 2003,  and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was elected to replace him, opposed the new law. After he became governor, the law was repealed by the legislature.  Schwarzenegger said he would agree to the licensing bill if the license contained some indication that the license-holder was not a citizen, but Latino groups rejected the compromise.

In 2004 Senator John Kerry, in an interview with La Raza, announced his opposition to driver's licenses for undocumented aliens.  A few hours later, through a campaign aide, Kerry said that he would not object to states making their own decisions on this subject. That was similar to his variable positions on issues of sexual preference, when he said he supported gay rights, but would also vote in favor of state ballot propositions, some of which would limit them. That was the last presidential campaign.

Todd Hartley, an anti-immigration essayist, wrote that: "The 9/11 Commission found that the 19 hijackers held 16 drivers licenses and 14 State-issued ID cards, which enabled these terrorists to rent cars and apartments, open bank accounts, take flying lessons and otherwise blend into American society while they planned their attacks.  At least two of them, including the pilot of the plane that flew into the Pentagon, were illegally in the United States (by overstaying their visas) at the time they obtained their drivers' licenses.

We believe that to depict one side or another in this controversy in the strong language used to describe the demise of the unlamented Wicked Witch of the East is overblown, in fact somewhat melodramatic, although effective as an attention-getting rhetorical device.    For a reasonable person to give credence to the aggressive, almost abusive remarks on the ethics and morals of other public officials with whom one is in honest dispute, (We now quote Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's phrase on September 10, 2007. which the Senator in turn borrowed from the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834),) would require a "willing suspension of disbelief". To make sense of this, you must jump the long parenthesis, going straight from 'honest dispute' to 'would require'. Sorry.

We hope that all who discuss this issue take the characterization of their legal, intellecual, ethical and moral standards lightly. No one should become unduly upsest or impassioned over the words that were used.   Remember our Rule 17-C-3: "Consider the source."

#417  10.02.07  1029wds