Via Cubachi, a little fuel for the fire set by Kyl a few days ago from a man who now insists “I never supported amnesty.” Skip ahead to 12:24 for the key bit. This isn’t as credible as Kyl’s revelation, partly because Maverick relies on weasel words (“basically”), partly because it seems less likely that Obama would say this to a group than to one senator in the confidence of the Oval Office, and partly because McCain obviously has a strong electoral incentive to set himself up as a border warrior vis-a-vis The One. But that doesn’t mean it’s not true: In fact, courtesy of Naked Emperor News, check out the second clip below of Obama circa 2004 talking explicitly about border security and amnesty as a political “trade off,” which is precisely what they are. In no sense are the two joined at the hip as a matter of policy; in fact, as I’ve argued before, the feds would be more likely to bring conservatives around on some sort of amnesty if they showed good faith by taking care of the border first. But since Latinos won’t stand for that, neither will a Democratic or Republican president. Hence the obvious “trade off,” and hence The One’s candor in chattering about this with Republicans. We all know the score. Why pretend otherwise?