Either Defend the Issue or Get the Hell Out of the Way!

Update: Congressman Conyers calls on Chertoff to Investigate Suspicious Leak

I have to agree with my colleague in the cause, Kyle at Citizen Orange. The Chron has a story, and cable channels are all over it, about Barack Obama's aunt being in the country "illegally." It seems the progressive blogosphere has bungled the entire thing. Instead of defending on the issue, they have simply called it a non-story. BULL!

If we take the Dick Murray approach (ignore it and it will go away), it could affect a final push from Latinos and undecideds. There's a bigger story to it, if these "progressives" would simply get the hell out of the way and let those of us who fight every day explain it.

As much as these "progressives" argue against disclosure based on the Patriot Act, there has been an even bigger violation of personal rights in this matter. According to Kyle,

Josh Marshall is on the right track when he titles his post, "Breaking The Law For McCain," but he doesn't describe what law was broken, and why it's important. We just get a general sense that this leak was meant to influence the election, and that it's was wrong to disclose Obama's Aunt's immigration status at this time.

The fact of the matter is that a very specific and important law might have been broken when, according to the Associated Press, the "deportation case was disclosed...[by a] federal law enforcement official." Obama's Kenyan Aunt, Zeituni Onyango, had applied for asylum years ago. There are very specific confidentiality laws around asylum cases. Why? Because it could be dangerous to disclose information about potential asylee. It could result in their further persecution. This is true, of course, even after an asylum case is closed because then there would be a huge disincentive not to apply for asylum.

The law in question can be read in the post, as well as here.

Kyle continues...

In other word's, while nativists are screaming "ILLEGAL" at the top of their lungs and "progressives" are refusing to defend unauthorized migrants, it appears that everyone's lost sight of who the real "ILLEGAL" is. That "federal law enforcement agent" broke U.S. immigration law. Perhaps the anonymous source should be deported?

I agree. And I agree that these "widely read" progressive blogs dropped the ball. Just ask any asylee how they would feel if their case went public. What if the petition is denied and they are faced with a plane ride home to possible death, torture, and maiming? What? It only happens at Guantanamo?