Democrats seem confused about what constitutes a 'border state

For most people, it's simple: A "border state" is a state which shares a border with another country. Texas is a border state with Mexico. Montana is a border state with Canada. Seems logical enough, right?

During a debate on the Senate floor Thursday, Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu called the idea of a border fence "dumb" and claimed South Dakota is a border state...

So I would be voting against Senator Thune’s amendment because I’m, not going to waste taxpayer money on a dumb fence and that ‘s what his amendment would be. We need to build a smart fence. And a fence is not just a physical structure which could be built out of a variety of different materials with or without barbed wire on the top. A smart fence which is what Senator McCain and I want to build – since he’s from Arizona, I think he knows more about this than the Senator from South Dakota, who only has a border with Canada that is quite different.

If geography whiz Sen. Landreiu wasn't bad enough, Sens. Harry Reid and Dean Heller -- both Democrats -- introduced a proposal to grant Nevada border state status:

Nevada’s senators have registered their first official complaint with the Senate’s immigration bill: it doesn’t give Nevada enough say about the southern border strategy.

Sen. Dean Heller filed an amendment to the immigration bill Wednesday morning to add a Nevadan to the Southern Border Security Commission, the group that will take over directing policy for the southern border if the Department of Homeland Security can’t achieve “effective control in all border sectors” within five years.

“Nevada’s unique location and position as a world-class travel destination leave it highly vulnerable to our nation’s flawed immigration system,” Heller said in a statement. “As a state that faces many of the same problems of other southern and southwestern border states like Arizona, Texas and California, Nevada deserves a seat at the table.”

Good news for Reid and Heller: Nevada is as much of a border state as South Dakota.