Posted on 06/04/2007 6:14:33 AM PDT by theothercheek
In an interview aboard Air Force One last week with Ron Hutcheson of McClatchy Newspapers, President Bush said:
"I'm deeply concerned about America losing its soul. Immigration has been the lifeblood of a lot of our country's history. And I am worried that a backlash to newcomers would cause our country to lose its great capacity to assimilate newcomers. And I believe that a newly arrived adds to the vigor and the entrepreneurial spirit, and enhances the American Dream."
These sentiments, coupled with Bush’s suggestion that opponents of his compromised immigration compromise "don't want to do what's right for America," are driving conservatives to apoplexy. The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan contends that Bush broke faith with conservatives, not the other way around:
Leading Democrats often think their base is slightly mad but at least their heart is in the right place. This White House thinks its base is stupid and that its heart is in the wrong place. …
You don't like endless gushing spending … Too bad! You don't like expanding governmental authority and power? Too bad. You think the war was wrong or is wrong? Too bad.
But on immigration it has changed from "Too bad" to "You're bad."
Noonan makes the case that it’s déjà vu all over again:
[T]he Bushes, father and son … are great wasters of political inheritance. They throw it away as if they'd earned it and could do with it what they liked. Bush senior inherited a vibrant country and a party at peace with itself. … Mr. Bush won in 1988 by saying he would govern as Reagan had. … [H]e raised taxes, sundered a hard-won coalition, and found himself shocked to lose his party the presidency, and for eight long and consequential years. ….
Bush the younger came forward, presented himself as a conservative, garnered all the frustrated hopes of his party, turned them into victory, and not nine months later was handed a historical trauma that left his country rallied around him, lifting him, and his party bonded to him. He was disciplined and often daring, but in time he sundered the party that rallied to him, and broke his coalition into pieces. …
There’s only one thing conservatives and Republicans can do now, says Noonan: “[W]in back their party.” She adds that “breaking from those who have already broken from [you]” and “letting go … will be painful, but it's time. It's more than time.”
The question is, how?
Deep down – maybe not so deep down – conservatives always knew Bush was a pretender, mouthing the right words and making the right gestures. But conservatives voted for him anyway, the first time to pre-empt a third Clinton term and the second time because the thought of Kerry as a post-9/11 Commander in Chief was nightmare-inducing.
This was a shot-gun wedding and after eight years of Bush, conservatives are understandably gun-shy. But holding out for an imaginary ideal of ideological purity is not the answer. And allowing Hillary Clinton to capture the White House by staying home on Election Day is not an option.
There may be a third way: A new conservative coalition that crosses party lines to include anyone who considers himself center-right. Such a coalition could as easily support a conservative Republican as a “Blue Dog” Democrat. Since neither party would be able to count on the bipartisan bloc’s vote, both will court these voters and neither will take them for granted. As an added benefit, the sheer size of this bipartisan bloc may be an equal and opposing force against the inexorable leftward pull the moonbats are exerting on the Dem party platform.
Of the 19 declared presidential candidates as of this writing, Rudy Giuliani is the most logical choice to forge this new coalition of conservatives. He is enough of a social liberal to attract Reagan Democrats, and tough enough on crime and terrorism – with the added bonus of being fiscally conservative – to attract conservatives who are putting social issue on the back burner this time around.
Over the next 18 months, several home-grown Muslim terror plots are likely to come to light - such as the thwarted plan to blow up aviation fuel tanks and feeder lines running underground from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport through surrounding residential neighborhoods in Queens. Each time, more social conservatives will conclude that preventing the aborting of the lives of those already born in acts of terrorism is at least as important as preventing the aborting of unborn babies.
The original article by Peggy Noonan was great. The writers of this piece have done what Rooty supporters have been up to for months.
They have quoted pieces of her article and added their own pieces to it to make it appear she is pushing Rooty.
This needs to be pointed out.
It's that way in my small Georgia city, too. I don't have to vaction in Mexico anymore- just open my window.
And no, they are not assimilating.
Of the 19 declared presidential candidates as of this writing, Rudy Giuliani is the most logical choice to forge this new coalition of conservatives.
The trouble is that our immigration laws are being written for the convenience of the aliens, not the citizens. Instead of matching the number of people and skills needed to the number of employers who have available jobs for them, we are concerned with bringing extended families over. If you want to come here for whatever reason, you must give up something. That something may be living with part or all of your family or having to learn English or having to take off the burka.
Agreed. This is just a payoff to the agribusinesses that contributed to his last election campaign. It lets them off the hook for all past wrongdoing in knowingly hiring illegals. It's really a Trojan Horse amnesty for them.
I cannot wait for Bush's job approval ratings to come out. Even among those who support the way the war in Iraq is going, there must be some serious disapproval of this amnesty, and his rating will plumment to a level not seen in any previous Presidency.
Maybe then, Jorge will get the message...
THe North American Trade Zone is Bush’s baby. And no president can change the constitution without Congress, nor can he interfere with states rights. Rest assured, Rudy cannot take away your guns as president. Locally elected legislators can - and do - pass laws that restrict gun ownership so save your energies for dealing with them and don’t fight a phantom.
Some “good Christians” feel that it is their duty as Christians to harbor illegals.
Believe that at your own peril.
That thought could lead to a very unhappy shock one Wednesday morning in Nov. 2008.
What a false dichotomy! Not gonna happen.
Noonan said the break up will be painful. Think of Rudy as our rebound candidate. He can get moderate and conservative Dems to join the coalition, which means that conservatives are now divorced from any one party. If Rudy governs as a conservative and appoints strict construcitonist judges, he gets re-elected. But if we can show our non-party affiliated clout in 2008, in 2012 and subsequent elections the both Dem and Republican candidates who are vying for our votes will be increasingly more and more hewing to our ideals. It will be a long process, yes, but it beats staying home on election day and getting 8 years of Hillary.
Agreed. It sounded good when he said it. I didn’t understand the implications.
Fraudulent article?
How do you know that the “conservative” you want to vote for is telling you the truth. How do you know he’s not really another Bush in disguise. I am sick and tired of people tricking me out of my vote. I know that I disagree with Giuliani on abortion, guns and a whole bunch of other issues but I also agree with him on terrorism and other issues. If he tells me where he stands at least I know what I am gettinggo in to the voting booth with eyes wide open. Instead of being lied to until election day and then feeling used, abused and abandoned the way I do with Bush.
He'd be better classed as a 'Law & Order Liberal.'
Indeed, he is not.
Yes, I think that’s pretty accurate.
He’s reasonably fiscally conservative, too, from what I can tell.
I have read many articles about how Rudy governed in New York. He is actually more conservative than Bush. Hard to believe, but true. Don’t just judge him on social conservative issues. Plus, we’re in the middle of a war and terrorists living among us are plotting to kill us by the score. I am willing to let go of labels and vote for the man I think will save our nation from Islamofascism. Once we are again in an era of peace and prosperity I will worry about the other issues I care about. I am not the only conservative - or FR conservative - who feels this way.
He's still in the Whitehouse, isn't he? He's the president, "Decider" - what's he got to lose?
Let’s be realistic about this. Our choices were between Bush/Gore and Bush/Kerry. Either Gore or Kerry would have been disastrous for this country. Has Bush been disastrous? Debatable and a moot point anyway - but it’s clear that we MUST make ourselves heard in the Republican primaries. Staying home is NOT an option.
See I don’t think I am getting fooled. The Bushes lied to me to get my vote. With Giuliani I know EXACTLY what I am getting. I am choosing to put national security over abortion this election cycle, as are other conservatives. Does a terrorist group REALLY have to blow up an airport for everyone to wake up and smell the coffee?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.