I agree with the basic premise of this column by Craig Shirley which is that there is a rift between business Republicans who like having the cheap labor that immigrants represent and rank and file Republicans who don’t really like having them here. But these two paragraphs made me a bit nauseous:
Major Republicans have taken to attacking others within their own party as unsophisticated nativists. In a recent Wall Street Journal column, former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie warned populists to cease and desist from promoting “border enforcement first” legislation. “Anti-immigration rhetoric is a political siren song, and Republicans must resist its lure,” he said. And in a recent editorial, the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol attacked populist Republicans for not recognizing the danger of “turning the GOP into an anti-immigration, Know-Nothing party.”
Conservatives see this kind of rhetoric as inflammatory, anti-intellectual and offensive. Far from being driven by xenophobia and intolerance, conservative populists are motivated by a profound respect for the rule of law and by a patriotic regard for America’s sovereignty and national security. Upholding the rule of law and protecting our country’s borders is important to conservative populists and to most Americans.
“Profound respect for the rule of law,” my eye. I don’t see a hue and cry from rank and file conservatives to investigate President Bush for his apparently illegal warrantless wiretaps of U.S. citizens.
I suspect a lot of them simply don’t like having in their towns a bunch of brown people who talk funny and who are willing to work harder for less money. (Hey, if Mr. Shirley can make sweeping generalizations about what conservatives think, so can I.)
It would help if the Democratic party would define themselves better.My political mentors have been politicians such as Senators Kennedy and Durbin. Im now also disgusted by their disregard for the rule of law when it becomes a matter of political expediency. Without law and respect for our border,we are heading toward chaos. As best as I can summarize their position, ‘let everyone in and we’ll make them citizens faster than repubs will’.Man, it’s going to have to be a very fast process to make illegals into citizens faster than they come across the border! No other country on Earth would tolerate this,let alone encourage it!
Border security FIRST, then let’s talk about about immigrant issues!