Here's a bit of good news: 53% of New Mexico voters support Arizona's SB 1070, 35% disapprove.

39% of Hispanics in New Mexico support the Arizona law. 48% are opposed. Whites support SB 1070 in greater numbers. Thus, a majority of New Mexico voters support Gov. Jan Brewer and Arizona, not the Obama administration.

This is surprising on two levels:

1.) Whites are a minority in New Mexico.

2.) Hispanics support Arizona's SB 1070 in greater numbers than one would expect given the hostility of groups like MALDEF and NCLR.

Of the Southwestern states, New Mexico is the weakest on immigration. If Arizona's SB 1070 can succeed here, it stands to reason that it is more popular in states like Texas, Colorado, Nevada and Utah. I wouldn't write off California either.

It is a powerful testament to the weakness of the case for "comprehensive immigration reform" that Arizona is supported by New Mexico where the drumbeat of "racism" and "bigotry" in the media has fallen on so many Hispanic deaf ears.

If we push hard enough, we can win this thing.

Just as the Treason Lobby was prematurely celebrating their victory over Arizona, a new front on the immigration war has broken out, this one on the doorstep of Washington itself.

Ken Cuccinelli, Attorney General of Virginia, has issued a legal decision which will allow Virginia police officers to "check the immigration status of anyone stopped or arrested." This was the "controversial" aspect of the law which was blocked by Judge Bolton in Arizona.

"It is my opinion that Virginia law enforcement officers, including conservation officers may, like Arizona police officers, inquire into the immigration status of persons stopped or arrested," he wrote.

Here in Northern Virginia, Prince William County has passed a law which requires police to check the immigration status of anyone they arrest. It was in response to inquiries from Prince William County that Cuccinelli issued this decision.

The ruling is widely expected to pave the road toward Arizona-style immigration reform in Virginia. If the Virginia precedent holds and Arizona is successful in fighting the Obama administration's legal assault, other states like Utah, Oklahoma, and South Carolina will be emboldened to pass further laws against illegal immigration.

It has been a good day for the cause.

A broad majority of Americans are convinced the United States is in decline. The first years of the early twenty first century provide a stunning contrast to the optimistic, can-do attitude of the postwar years in which the Baby Boomer generation was raised.

- 62% of Americans believe the United States is in decline.

- 76% of Republicans, 64% of Independents, and 43% of Democrats believe this despite the "hope and change" promised by the Obama administration. 

- 58% of the young and 57% of the old believe America is on a downward slide.

- 73% of Americans believe Washington has too much power.

These numbers reflect a total repudiation of the progressive worldview.

Americans don't have confidence in the federal government to improve their lives. They don't believe Washington technocrats and bureaucrats should be empowered to solve our national problems. They don't believe Congress is doing its job. They don't even believe Congress is willing to listen to them anymore.

Who can blame them?

Consider the following recent news items:

1.) The Obama administration is searching for a way to pass a stealth amnesty without the authorization of Congress. Having failed to pass "comprehensive immigration reform," the federal government has decided to impose its will on the public anyway.

Who cares about annoying federal statutes or antiquated notions like consent of the governed? The Obama administration picks and chooses which laws to enforce on the basis of the political advantage it accrues to the Democratic Party.

In the absence of a clear legal mandate, the Obama administration simply exercises its royal prerogative and dictates public policy on the basis of its own authority, flagrantly violating the separation of powers inherent in the Constitution.

2.) The twisted logic of Judge Bolton's decision has now been exposed to public view. The inconveniences imposed on "legal aliens" are laughable. The Obama administration doesn't want the law enforced and persuaded a Clinton appointed Democratic political hack to neuter it.

3.) 72% of Americans (with good reason) do not believe the federal government is willing to enforce our immigration laws.

4.) Eric Holder's Justice Department issued a recent statement that essentially said "sanctuary cities" are fine. A city can defy federal law if doing so works to the political advantage of the Obama administration. On the other hand, a state can be sued in federal court for enforcing federal law.

The federal government doesn't want Arizona to enforce this particular federal law, which it dislikes, but requires Arizona on other states to enforce all the other federal laws. This makes a mockery out the rule of law.

5.) The Obama administration recently signed the Trial Law and Order act. This laws allows tribal police officers to enforce federal law on Indian reservations. Indian tribes are given the power to enforce federal law, but not state officers.

Indian reservations even have the power to enforce federal law "whether or not the offender is an Indian." In this case, the Obama administration has completely dropped its faux opposition to racial profiling.

6.) You're probably thinking it couldn't possibly get worse. 

The sympathies of the Obama administration are wholly with illegal aliens over native citizens, with tax consumers over taxpayers, with the "protected classes" of citizens over the unprotected, and with lawbreakers over the law abiding.

Now the Obama administration is pushing to neuter the drug laws and appoint leftwing activists to the Supreme Court for it can stuff the voting rolls with as many felons and criminals as possible. This also works to the advantage of the Democratic Party.

A common thread runs through all these stories: the American people are no longer governed by the Constitution or laws, but by an entrenched political class that will flaunt, ignore, pick and chose, and make up laws that suit its political and material interests.

Nancy Pelosi promised to create "the most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history," a Congress which turned out to be riddled with corruption, which doesn't even bother to pretend to represent the American people anymore.

Americans are unlikely to put up with being arrogantly treated like subjects for long. George W. Bush received a "thumping" in 2006, but Democrats are inviting a reckoning in 2010.

Next time you hear Barack Hussein Obama sing the praises of American democracy to foreigners, consider the following facts about our great society:

- 68% of Americans want to complete the Mexican border fence. 21% of Americans oppose its construction. In March, the Obama administration halted construction of the fence.

- 76% of mainstream voters think the border fence should be completed. 67% of the political class are opposed to it.

Like Louis XVI at Versailles, Barack Obama and the political class thumb their noses at the will of the people, and sue a state for protecting itself from invasion.

- 11% of Americans have a "great deal" or "a lot" of confidence in Congress. 76% of Americans have a "great deal" or "a lot" of confidence in the military.

American democracy has declined to the point where a dictator - an American Pinochet - would be more popular than the House of Representatives under Nancy Pelosi.

- 56% of Americans oppose the Justice Department lawsuit against Arizona. 61% of Americans want Arizona's law in their own state. 54% of Americans think the federal government should crack down on "sanctuary cities."

The Obama administration supports the "sanctuary cities" and sues Arizona for enforcing federal law.

- 56% of Americans believe it is possible to stop illegal immigration. 58% of the political class think it is impossible.

- 68% of Americans believe the political class doesn't care what Americans think anyway.

What's the use of the political class? Many Americans are beginning to ask that question.

The Obama administration got its way this afternoon: a federal judge in Phoenix blocked key portions of Arizona's SB 1070. The law has been gutted. 

The federal government has sent a message to the American people. Washington refuses to secure the Mexican border and will fight all attempts on the state level to do so.

Americans no longer have the right to make their own laws. Laws will now be made by federal judges and progressive bureaucrats. Illegal aliens will be coddled. Taxpayers will be demonized as "racists" and "bigots" and fleeced to promote diversity and subsidize criminals.

Arizona is sued for enforcing federal law. "Sanctuary cities" can ignore federal law without having to deal with lawsuits.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that 11% of Americans have "a great deal" or "a lot" of trust in Congress. 50% have no trust in Congress at all. 76% of Americans trust the military.

The legal fight over SB 1070 won't end today. Instead, there will be a protracted, bloody legal struggle that will eventually work its way up to the Supreme Court where the conservative majority will reverse the decision.

This is the best of all possible scenarios. 

The Obama administration will now get a "conversation about race" and illegal immigration - one that it will lose, one that will alienate even more independent voters - that will last into the midterm elections and far beyond.

In drinking from the divisive cup of racial politics, Barack Obama discredited his own message of a "post-racial" and "post-partisan" America. Having sold Americans on a bill of goods, the Democrats can now sit back and wait for the electoral avalanche in November.

Yesterday, the French lower house became the latest European body to strike out against the Islamization of the West by voting 336-1 to ban all burqa-like veils. According to the legislation, women who violate the law could face a €150 fine and perhaps even be forced to take a citizenship course and, even better, a man caught forcing a woman to wear a veil will be fined €30,000 and sentenced to one year in jail.

Interestingly enough, most members of the Socialist Party (the largest party in the lower house) refused to take part in the vote. However, this was not due in any way to an opposition to a ban on the burqa, but rather because they disagreed with some of the language in the legislation. In order to be implemented, the bill must still be passed by the Senate (an outcome which is likely).

The main sticking point for the legislation, though, is that it could be deemed unconstitutional by the courts. We’ll have to what and see on that count. For the time, however, it is a significant victory for the West. France has the largest number of Muslims in Europe, approximately 5 million.

This comes just three weeks after the Spanish senate passed legislation which also bans the burqa. Although the vote was much narrower than in France (131 to 129), it was still a win, as the legislature revolted against the socialist Prime Minister Zapatero, who thinks that the Islamization question can be fixed through education. Though perhaps not as reactionary as Belgium or France, the Spanish legislation uses the strongest language stating they will: "use all options available under our legal system and proceed with rules to prohibit use of the burqa and niqab to ensure equality, freedom and security."

The movement to ban the burqa is picking up popularity at lightening pace. Already this year Belgium moved to ban the burqa, and now the Netherlands, Italy and Austria are considering following suite and in the United Kingdom, Conservative MP Philip Hollobone is standing up in parliament calling for a ban on the burqa. Hollobone was investigated by police a month after he said in parliament that wearing a burkha was like “going round with a paper bag over your head.”

As the momentum picks up for the patriots of Europe, we can begin to expect great resistance from the European Union’s human rights courts, who have already issued warnings against European states who take the actions similar to Belgium, France and Spain.

The momentum is shifting away from the jihadists and back to the nationalists in Europe. America must follow the example of Europe and begin taking strides to prevent the Islamization of these United States. Though burqa bans are only a baby step toward healing our cultural malaise, they are a step in the right direction – a direction which will hopefully continue to be pursued.

The Obama administration's inept attempt to crush Arizona in the federal courts is stirring resistance across the Union.

Mike Cox, the Michigan Attorney General, plans to file a legal brief supporting Arizona's SB 1070. He has requested other state attorneys general follow suit. J.B. Van Hollen, the Wisconsin Attorney General, requested permission from Governor Jim Doyle to support Arizona but his attempt was blocked.

South Dakota has joined the Michigan led effort. Other states are likely to follow before the deadline tomorrow. Twenty other states are planning to ratify Arizona-style immigration reform. South Carolina and Minnesota have already introduced legislation.

Meanwhile, CBS News is reporting that President Obama is facing a "summer of discontent." 57% of Americans believe Arizona "has it about right" in dealing with illegal immigration. The CBS poll is consistent with the Gallup, Rasmussen, New York Times and Washington Post numbers.

Insurgent candidates are running against the Obama administration on immigration across America. In the Georgia Governor's race, candidate Nathan Deal has said that the Obama administration "can sue us too." In the Florida Governor's race, Rick Scott (the Republican frontrunner) is campaigning on a promise to bring Arizona's SB 1070 to Florida.

Democratic Governors are running scared that a nasty immigration debate will cost them reelection. In Tennessee, Democratic candidates are "disavowing" the federal lawsuit. In Arizona, several Democrats have already repudiated the Obama administration.

The death of a single rancher in Arizona at the hands of illegal aliens has sown this national political whirlwind. The more Americans are reminded of illegal immigration; the angrier they tend to get about it.

A long drawn out public debate over illegal immigration (one that we will likely win) will prove a boon to the immigration reform movement.

Congressman Nathan Deal, a candidate running for Governor of Georgia, has released an incendiary new campaign ad about illegal immigration. He has promised to bring Arizona's SB 1070 to Georgia.

Is this another come-from-behind election ploy or a sincere campaign promise?

Deal claims to have the credentials to prove he is serious about fighting illegal immigration. He goes even further:

"We're outraged that the Obama administration's answer is to sue a state that's trying to enforce the law," Deal said. "Well, I have a message for the president when I'm governor: You can sue us too, because in Georgia we believe in the rule of law and we believe in protecting taxpayers."

Here, Here ... bangs fist on desk!

We knew this was coming.

The Obama administration is suing Arizona to block implementation of its popular new anti-illegal immigration law. The Justice Department has deemed that the "human rights" of drug traffickers and human smugglers should take precedence over the safety and security of American citizens.

The federal government refuses to do its own job. It doesn't enforce its own laws. It refuses to protect the states from invasion. Now it gets even worse: the federal government actively assists the invaders, denounces natives in solidarity with the President of Mexico, and uses the court system to deny a sovereign state the right of self government.

If I was an Arizonan, I would be wondering why I should respect a federal court order. If federal statutes can be violated by foreigners who invade our country, why should citizens respect a federal court order? The law can't be a dead letter in one case and still have authority in the other.

Why shouldn't Arizonans form an "undocumented border patrol" and secure the border that way? If "undocumented immigrants" don't have to obey the law, why can't an "undocumented border patrol" pretend to be law enforcement officials?

Let's follow the logic of lawlessness to its ultimate conclusion: if the federal government isn't willing to protect Arizona from invasion, and actively facilitates the invasion by blocking SB 1070, what is the use of the federal government? Why should Arizonans pay taxes to the federal government? Why should Arizonans fight for the federal government?

What do Arizonans get in return from Emperor Obama and his courtiers in DC in exchange for their blood, loyalty, and taxes? Economic boycotts? Lawsuits? The hatred and contempt of their rulers? Sounds like a rotten deal to me.

That's how subjects are treated, not citizens.

Ohio's pulse on immigration:

A new Quinnipiac University Poll released yesterday found that 48% of Ohio voters approve of Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigration. Only 28% of voters are opposed. By 72% to 22%, Ohioans favor stricter enforcement of immigration law over integrating illegal aliens into American society. 

79% of Ohioans oppose the Left's economic boycott of Arizona. 10% of Ohioans support the boycott. In Ohio, opposition to the Arizona boycott unites Republicans and Independents with the majority of Democrats.

Immigration looks to me like a winning issue in a key swing state.

The supporters of "comprehensive immigration reform" have failed to sell Ohioans and Americans on the merits of amnesty for illegal aliens. In fact, the federal government's neglect of the border has generated a public backlash that is rapidly moving in the direction of stricter enforcement and deportation.

According to Rasmussen, 28% of American voters "strongly approve" of President Obama's job performance while 43% "strongly disapprove." This gives Obama a -15 Presidential Approval Index. 

In spite of his growing unpopularity, Obama is spitting in the wind of public opinion. On Monday, Obama summoned "Latino leaders and immigrant advocates" to a White House meeting to discuss "comprehensive immigration reform." Yesterday, he addressed the "Congressional Hispanic Caucus." Tomorrow, Obama will deliver a major speech at American University in which he will make a renewed push for amnesty.

Arizona, Tennessee, Nebraska, Ohio and other states are mobilizing to confront the federal government over immigration policy. The latest Quinnipiac Poll in Ohio is further evidence that we are winning the fight for public opinion.

If this trend continues, President Obama and his allies will be forced to resort to some type of fraud on the American public to get what they want.