At a meeting in Arizona, Bill O'Reilly of Fox Cable News was talking to Senator John McCain. O'Reilly made the statement that "American immigration policy should be made for the benefit of AMERICANS."

What O'Reilly said seems fairly obvious to my old-fashioned mind.

After all, the purpose of the United States Constitution is declared in the Constitution's Preamble:

"WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty TO OURSELVES AND OUR POSTERITY, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

America was set up by the AMERICAN people for the AMERICAN people.

So who could disagree with O'Reilly's statement that American immigration policy should be made in the interests of Americans?

The Senator from Arizona, John McCain, could disagree.

And McCain DID disagree, in no uncertain terms. McCain explained that Americans with a Mexican heritage owe their loyalty to "their Hispanic culture." He indicated that even if they were born in the United States, they should side with potential Hispanic immigrants.

The Arizona audience booed McCain and cheered O'Reilly.

If I had said the same words McCain said a generation ago, I would have been accused of being an enemy of all Mexican-Americans.

Back then what McCain said was an argument AGAINST immigration.

Anti-immigrants used to argue that foreigners who take American citizenship are still foreigners. They said exactly what McCain said, that immigrants are not loyal to the American people.

So if I had said what McCain said a generation ago, I would have been labeled an anti-immigration BIGOT.

In what Republicans consider the greatest statement of Americanism ever made, Abraham Lincoln made only one point:

That the Preamble to the United States Constitution was no longer valid.

The ONLY thing Lincoln said in the Gettysburg Address was that the Preamble to the United States Constitution, which dedicated our government to "Ourselves and Our Posterity," was no longer valid.

The ONLY thing the Gettysburg Address said was that the old Preamble to the Constitution had been superseded by the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln said that America is dedicated to the principle that all men are created equal, not to "secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity."

The whole point of the Civil War, said Lincoln, was to repudiate the old Preamble and to dedicate America to "...all men are created equal," which is the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence.

Go over the Holy Gettysburg Address in your mind -- we all memorized it -- and see if it says one word about anything else. To Lincoln, the term "people" had no specific reference to anything but a general principle.

"Government for and by the people shall not perish from the earth" refers to a principle of government for all men, not a specific people. For Lincoln, "the people" is a universal term. It is identical with "all humanity," not "We the people of the United States of America."

When the Gettysburg Address was delivered, America had unrestricted immigration.

When Lincoln ran for the presidency in 1860, the American Party wanted to impose immigration restrictions. Lincoln declared them to be un-American. He specifically said that they were violating the basic principle of America, as stated in the Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal, not just Americans.

That is what Lincoln said America was all about. This is what Lincoln said that the Union was all about. Nothing else.

When the Gettysburg Address is mentioned, conservatives always say, "That is True Americanism. I love it."

If you agree with Lincoln, how can American immigration policy be based on the interests of Americans?