Obama dumped on the law this morning too, of course, in between lying about his Senate record on immigration and uttering greeting-card sentiments about how it’s not our borders but our bonds that define us. And yet, and yet, I guarantee that The One listened to this bit from Calderon through gritted teeth. Voters don’t like when a foreign leader criticizes Americans; they like it even less when that leader is here as a guest, using the White House as a soapbox for his criticism; and they like it less still when it comes from a hypocrite whose own country is not only causing the problem Arizona’s trying to deal with but whose immigration laws are even more draconian than America’s are. It’s pure farce. And Obama knows how it’ll play politically. In fact, here’s what Rasmussen was reporting this morning right around the time Calderon was scolding Jan Brewer and company:

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 13% of Adults think Mexico wants to stop illegal immigration. Sixty-seven percent (67%) say Mexico does not want to stop its citizens from entering the United States illegally…

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Americans think Mexico should be asked to compensate U.S. taxpayers to offset such costs [of illegal immigration]…

Most voters (55%) now favor passage of an immigration law like Arizona’s in their own state. When asked specifically about the chief provision of the Arizona law, support is even higher. Sixty-nine percent (69%) believe a police officer should be required to check the immigration status of anyone stopped for a traffic violation or violation of some other law if he suspects the person might be an illegal immigrant.

In other words, Calderon’s credibility on this issue is near zero, yet Obama has no choice but to grin and bear it. He organized this little photo op as a sop to Latino voters who won’t be pleased when Congress’s new amnesty bill ends up going nowhere this year so now he’s forced to take the bitter with the sweet. Hope it was worth it, champ:

For his part, Mr. Calderón conveyed to Mr. Obama the grievances of many Mexicans who, he said, “face discrimination” now in Arizona.

While “respectful of the internal policies of the United States,” Mr. Calderón said, “we will retain our firm rejection to criminalize migration so that people that work and provide things to this nation will be treated as criminals. And we oppose firmly the SB-1070 Arizona law, given unfair principles that are partial and discriminatory.”

I’m not sure which Mexicans Calderon’s presuming to speak for. If he means Mexican citizens who are in the country legally, fair enough. If he means illegals, i.e. if he’s actually complaining on behalf of people who aren’t even supposed to be here, his balls are even brassier than I thought. And if he means Americans of Mexican descent, he’s belittling Obama’s own authority. Last time I checked, if anyone’s going to do any diplomatic conveying on behalf of U.S. citizens, it’s the president of the United States.

Via Breitbart, here’s the vid of him whinging about Arizona’s horrible “discrimination” against lawbreakers. (The voice is his translator’s.) Exit question via Dan Foster at NRO: Why is Obama so worried about discriminatory potential in Arizona’s enforcement of the law but seemingly not so worried about the same potential in enforcement of federal law? If he’s serious about border security (he isn’t, I know, but humor me) then it’s going to mean lots more cops questioning lots more suspects, which means lots more potential for misidentification — no matter who’s doing the questioning.