...And the Orwellian Doublethink Award of the Year Goes to..."law-abiding illegal"!

Greg Pollowitz, of the National Review Media Blog, highlights the doublethink in a reporter's question during yesterday's White House press conference on the immigration bill (emphasis added):

Q If you're a law-abiding illegal worker in this country, you pay $1,000 and work here for eight more years —

SECRETARY CHERTOFF: Correct. And you actually could work further than that. You don't have to get a green card.

SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Did you say law-abiding legal?

Q Illegal.

Q Because we're not —

Q Law-abiding illegal — law-abiding —

SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: They will be legal.

"They will be legal"...because they will be given amnesty.

The following prediction was a bit premature: Prediction: "What part of 'Illegal' don't you understand?" will be the "It's the economy stupid!" of the 2006 midterm elections.