My thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the Arizona shooting

Today's despicable shooting against Arizona's U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, a federal judge, congressional staffers and many bystanders is a crime against society and our democratic principles. 

A gunman opened fire on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords this Saturday morning while she held a public meeting with her constituents.

Giffords was listed as being in critical condition after being shot in the head. U.S. District Judge John Roll, a 9-year-old girl, a staffer of the lawmaker and three other people were killed in the incident.

The gunman was arrested by police and authorities are now trying to piece together the motive for the crime.

How can this happen? Did the gunman target the lawmaker because of her political views?

No word yet on whether the 22 year old shooter associated himself with any political party, movement or idiology. However, media outlets have been reporting that Giffords' state offices had been vandalized after the lawmaker voted in support of the healthcare reform bill.

Sarah Palin and the Tea Party mafia also targeted Giffords' re-election campaign this past election cycle.   

In a Denver Post article, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik eluded to the fact that Arizona is becoming a crazy place where people are becoming more and more afraid to live, work and play in this state. Here is his actual quote: 

And unfortunately, Arizona I think has become the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry. 

My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. It's a sad moment for all Americans.

Requiring all drivers to know the rules of the road and buy car insurance should be considered good public safety

So, I don't get it.

As a conservative driver, I would want to make sure every driver in Colorado knows the rules of the road and also has proper car insurance. But apparently Colorado Democrats and Republicans do not think this is an important issue.

Republicans don’t want to “encourage immigration” by forcing or requiring every driver to pass a test and get insurance.

On the other hand, Colorado Democrats are all about keeping their majority, and that implies doing nothing new or progressive. (Apparently, this has worked in the past.)

Thousands of unlicensed and uninsured drivers hit the road every morning to go to work or take kids to school.

OMG! Why would "they" do such a thing?

It’s simple. Colorado state law currently prevents people without a valid social security number from getting a valid driver's license, passing a test and buying car insurance.

However, society still wants fast and inexpensive products so Colorado’s restaurant cooks, housekeepers, landscapers, graphic designers, snow removal personnel and farm workers will still drive every day without a valid driver’s license and insurance to get to work.

Does it not make sense to simply force and require ALL drivers to take an exam and have to buy car insurance before driving on our roads? I think so.

Regardless of your opinion on “illegal immigration,” the point I am making is that it’s better to have insured, safe drivers on our roads.

The pundits will still claim that giving undocumented immigrants a driver’s license would only encourage more illegal immigration.

The problem with this argument is that it is not based on fact, but rather on political sound bites.

Regardless of your position on how to fix future flows of illegal and legal immigration, the reality is that we have thousands of undocumented immigrants already in living and working in Colorado and they will drive to work every day.

And this trend will not change anytime soon.

So, do we rather have safe and insured drivers....or not?

We need Colorado lawmakers to grant people the right and decency to apply for a license, learn the rules of the road and be able to buy car insurance. This makes sense to me.

The question still remains: How will Democrats and Republicans respond to this issue in the next legislative session?

I wonder if the three Latina state senators will challenge their Party and advocate for 21st century solutions.

I also wonder if my senator, Pat Steadman, and my house representative, Crisanta Duran, will both step up to the plate and propose 21st century public safety and social justice legislation in this year’s session.

Not sure. We will see.

I am ready to be shocked and surprised. But I won't hold my breath for too long.

Obama, Napolitano and Ritter drive families and victims of crimes further underground

Gov. Ritter (D) today signed a flawed agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to make it easier to identify and deport undocumented immigrants.

Of course, Ritter makes this decision on the eleventh hour of his term in public office. Why?

Proponents of the policy, including Ritter, argue that Secure Communities only goes after "serious" criminals.

For the record, I do agree with deporting non-citizen, non-resident violent criminals like convicted murderers. And while Secure Communities will try to identify and deport the worst of criminals, the policy comes with some pretty harmful side-effects. 

Here are some of the unwanted outcomes of Secure Communities:

• Thousands of hardworking, otherwise law-abiding parents, who drive to work every day without a Colorado driver’s license or insurance due to immigration status, if stopped by police for a minor traffic violation, could face charges, and if booked in jail, the new policy could deported them, leaving children vulnerable and alone at home.
• Victims or witnesses of domestic violence and child abuse and neglect may not feel comfortable reporting these crimes to police for fear of being deported themselves (or a family member). 

But here is the funny part. I actually think the Obama administration and Governor Ritter are simply playing politics - trying to appear tough on immigration.

I have a big problem with reactionary, politically-driven policies that do not fix actual problems.

Illegal immigration is a real problem and we need to fix it by reforming outdated federal laws, not by playing games with the most disenfranchised members of our society.

This so-called "Secure Communities" program, championed by the Obama administration, will not solve the immigration problem. It will simply drive families and victims of abuse and neglect further underground and in the shadows of society.

Clearly, this new fad in enforcement-only policies by the Obama administration is the wrong approach to the immigration issue. President Obama will have some explaining to do before November 2012.

As for Ritter, the historians will undoubtedly write about today’s story. I wonder on which side of history will Ritter end up on?

I never quote biblical figures. However, there is one specific reference that comes to mind.

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23-34)