Ross Douthat: Scott Walker vs. the World

New York Times ^ | April 23, 2015 | Ross Douthat

[Cincinatus' Wife]

"...Scott Walker...delivered some definitely not-Koch-approved remarks on immigration. Given the reaction,they’re worth quoting in full:

“In terms of legal immigration,how we need to approach that going forward is saying,we will make adjustments,”Walker said. “The next president and the next Congress need to make decisions about a legal immigration system that’s based on, first and foremost,on protecting American workers and American wages.

“Because the more I’ve talked to folks—I’ve talked to Senator Sessions and others out there,but it is a fundamentally lost issue by many in elected positions today—is what is this doing for American workers looking for jobs,what is this doing to wages, and we need to have that be at the forefront of our discussion going forward.”

These comments were not precisely welcomed by an array of voices on the center-right. Not only Republican senators in the pro-comprehensive reform camp but also an array of conservative writers accused Walker of “economic ignorance”and“being brow-beaten into submission”by anti-immigration activists..., of an “inexplicable”and “pandering” lurch toward policies that represent a “perversion of American ideals and a recipe for decline”...,of an embrace of “a know-nothing aversion to immigration that defies reality”....

These are all pretty strong reactions to remarks that promised,not an end to legal immigration,not a cut to legal immigration,but just “adjustments” made with working class wages and native unemployment rates in mind. It’s true that Walker seems to be executing a deliberate(and self-acknowledged)flip-flop on immigration policy and trying to leave the full amnesty-comprehensivist position behind,so criticizing him for being possibly insincere or flagrantly pandering is perfectly fine. And the policy course he’s(ambiguously)gesturing at can,like most policy courses,be reasonably criticized at well. However,treating it as insane,mystifying,beyond the pale,something a politician could only embrace out of ignorance or under pressure from the ignorant...well,let’s just say this treatment leaves me mystified in turn. Here are four reasons why.....

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Worth a FULL read!

This "issue" is worrying the Left and the GOP-e.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Americans who want to succeed, and who want our country to succeed, need to consider Hillary's and Bill's devotion to the U.N. and to their multi-billion dollar slush fund, called the Clinton Global Initiative.

The Clintons and their backers look to the UN, and to George Soros, and to anti-American countries (who have a vested interest in a weak U.S. national defense [what Hillary and her administration in waiting call "SMART" national/international defense/diplomacy] and a weak U.S. economy).

When Americans (of all stripes) understand that this is where the Clinton's money and muscle comes from, they will understand why her election is so bad for them.

It couldn't be clearer and that is why the MSM is going along with Hillary's "Un-running" campaign.

[Zhang Fei]

Blogs are really personal, no traffic online diaries. A NYT “blog” qualifies as an editorial page essay.

[Mike Darancette]

51 million new immigrants. That’s a lot.