Just make up your mind

Dallas Morning News | Letters:

“Two of yesterday's editorials – ‘Not Above the Law,’ followed by ‘This May Have Promise’ – are confusing, to say the least. You advocate strict adherence to current law by the Bush administration in its effort to protect our nation but then you approve of the Dallas school district changing current law so it can employ illegal immigrants to teach. You can't have it both ways.
-- Billy Keller, Richardson”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Mr Keller might be confused, but it's not because the editorials were confusing. The position of the DMN was consistent in both editorials. Obey the law. Advocate for changes in the law, if you must, but in the meantime, obey the law.

Trustee Joe May of the DISD sees an unmet need for more bilingual teachers in the DISD and an untapped source for such teachers. To tap that source, DISD will need a change in the law against knowingly hiring illegal aliens. DMN does not advocate disobeying the law, only that Congress should consider changing it.

Critics of President Bush, on the other hand, charge him with disobeying the law against warrantless wiretapping. DMN urges the President to obey the law, but if the law is insufficient to protect our freedoms, the President should ask Congress to change the law. The criticism of the President is because he is neither obeying the law nor asking Congress to change it. This position is obvious from the editorial's title, of which Mr Keller left off the second half: "Not Above the Law: If surveillance act doesn't work, fix it".