Obamateurism of the Day

Barack Obama warned last week about the dire consequences of Arizona’s new immigration enforcement law, signed by Governor Jan Brewer shortly afterward:

Indeed, our failure to act responsibly at the federal level will only open the door to irresponsibility by others. And that includes, for example, the recent efforts in Arizona, which threatened to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and their communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe.

In fact, I’ve instructed members of my administration to closely monitor the situation and examine the civil rights and other implications of this legislation. But if we continue to fail to act at a federal level, we will continue to see misguided efforts opening up around the country.

The big concern here, of course, is that police will stop people on the street and demand to see evidence of their citizenship, without any probable cause to question them in the first place. That threat may or may not be overblown (see Allahpundit’s analysis of the bill itself), but as OOTD reader Katsuey points out, it would hardly be the first such precedent. Obama himself just signed a bill last month that would force Americans to carry papers — health insurance papers — whenever the IRS demands them, whether there be any probable cause of a crime or not. Indeed, the only probable cause would be claiming to be American in the first place.

So which of these represents the biggest threat to the “fairness we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and their communities”?

Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at [email protected] with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.

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