"I thought we'd put this behind us for the sake of party unity"

is a sentence conservative Republicans always hear after moderate Republicans win. On immigration, the shoe is on the other foot. Yet Mel Martinez is busy pouring gasoline onto an immigration debate [update: full text of his speech here].

Via the Orlando Sun-Sentinel (article no longer online as of 8/17/07):

The Chairman of the Republican Party on Friday lambasted Democrats and Republicans who helped kill an immigration bill in the Senate and challenged them to come up with a solution beyond ``just build a fence along the border.''

"The voices of negativity now have a responsibility to come up with an answer," RNC Chairman and U.S. Senator Mel Martinez, R-Fla. said.

"How will you fix the situation to make peoples' lives better? How will you continue to grow the economy? How will we bring people out of the shadows for our national security and for the sake of being a country that is just?" he demanded.