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.
Thank you. I noticed the same thing. Now Noonan is being flamed for words that she did not say.
This has been a Rooty Rooter stunt for a long time. Irritating.
“I’m deeply concerned about America losing its soul. Immigration has been the lifeblood of a lot of our country’s history........................”
I have supported this president through thick and thin, given him a pass many times, but this is the end. What does this man not understand about the difference between LEGAL and ILLEGAL! There has always been immigration, but not ILLEGAL immigration. This is as frustrating to me as when a liberal claims to support the troops, but not the war. I am a descendent of immigrants who came here before the United States was even a country. My ancestors fought in George Washington’s army, likely at Valley Forge. Their sacrifices were not made so this president can hand this great country over to a foreign nation such as Mexico
Call your reps. and tell them how you feel about giving this country over to a bunch of law breaking invaders.
You see the possibilities in the concept of conservatives freeing themselves from the Republican party - and of moderate and conservative Dems freeing themselves of the moonbats in their party. But if not Rudy who in your opinion of the 19 candidates running is the right person to create this new voting bloc and get enough people in both parties to vote for him as to create instant clout?
LOL! I had forgotten about that. Yup, we all see how well THAT turned out!
Unlike some conservatives, I just don’t think Rudy would be as disasterous to our country as Gore or Kerry. And I can also say he won’t be as disasterous as Bush has been. And if Hillary is the candidate on the Dem side, I would have no trouble pulling the lever for Rudy because I think he can send her packing back to Chappaqua.
“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.”
That is ridiculous, it is not as important. Not only do the numbers speak for themselves (1.5 million defenseless boys and girls killed every year in the U.S. vs a little over 3000 killed by terrorists in 6 years in the U.S.)
That’s what evil does, it tries to convince us it is good. Why would anyone in their right mind discount the repercussions of the evil of abortion. We kill more people in one single day than have been killed in 6 years by terrorism in the U.S. Where is the the implied conclusion that social conservatives will believe abortion pales in comparison to terrorism?
Absolutely. However, we cave to demands all the time EXCEPT to help our own citizens.
Not really. we lost the ability to assimilate when we became unsure of who we are. when you don't know where your home is --- one half of the country thinks it is the entire world; they are world citizens, you see --- you can't differentiate a family member from a stranger. You end up with many strangers. We lost control over the border because we lost control of American values and no longer teach them to the children.
One cannot protect what one does not know. Americans have not been protecting American ever since Vietnam War. That is why the war is coming closer, and great many strangers from Mexico sit at our dinner tables.
Wait till a cell of suicide bombers blow themselves up in the middle of Grand Central Station in NYC. The massive loss of life (including pregnant women), the exhorbitant cost to repair the infrastructure, the collapse of the financial markets, your 401K losing 80 percent of its value overnight.
He’s either psychotic or lying. I choose lying.
It is too soon to be sure, but Romney looks like he came straight out of central casting, to me. As the chairman of the R’s said in SC, he’s “perfect”, almost too good to be true. I really don’t care about the ankle biting the media does on his religion or issues. He has the best education America can offer, a stunning story of personal and professional sucess, and is a wonderful exemplar of family values.
Who would be your choice to free conservatives from the yoke of the Republican party and create a new bipartisan conservative coaltion? The idea is sound, I think, but Rudy doesn’t HAVE to be the one to rally behind (though I am leaning in his direction as of now). Who do you think is the right guy?
I don’t trust him, sorry. He’s exactly who I had in mind when I said I am tired of getting tricked out of my vote.
President Bush is a full-on bleeding heart liberal, he’s lost his brain.
President Bush
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1066122/posts
Ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=GiulianiTruthFile
I’m still in shock that this is even having to be discussed. I don’t know what has happened to President Bush but his legacy just went down the tubes.
Yes, I agree with you, and I don’t trust her because she contradicted herself by saying in one breathe that Bush turned his back on conservatives, while in the other breath telling people to vote for a pro-abortion RINO.
Gosh, I guess you’re right. Preserving the value of my 401K *is* more important than keeping infants from being slaughtered by the millions.
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