Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
Posted on 06/27/2007 1:27:04 PM PDT by Gopher Broke
What is happening to my Party?
Posted by Bobby Eberle
June 27, 2007 at 6:14 am
If Tuesday’s vote to renew debate on the Senate’s immigration bill wasn’t a dagger through the heart of many Republicans, including myself, it was very close. Although it may not have been a fatal stab, the damage could very well be permanent. What our Republican “leaders” (and I use that term loosely) are failing to realize is that if they pander for political gain rather than doing what is right, we all lose. Add to that the open hostility being shown by some Republicans to their own base, and it is no wonder that the Party is in dire straits.
The vote on Tuesday was on whether to proceed with debate on the immigration “amnesty” bill. 60 votes were required for passage. If you recall, in a similar situation a few weeks ago, there were not enough votes to continue, and the bill was pulled from the floor. It was a victory for the grassroots and their lobbying efforts. However, the White House came in and started pressing Republicans to come over to the dark side. Some Republican senators started blasting their own conservative base. Here are some of the lowlights:
As noted in a CNSNews.com story, conservative talk radio recently came under fire for its opposition to the amnesty bill. Who was blasting talk radio? Left-wing radicals? Nope. Republicans like Sens. Trent Lott and Lindsey Graham were doing the talking.
Regarding the amnesty bill and the almost universal opposition to it by conservative radio hosts, Sen. Trent Lott said, “Talk radio is running America. … We have to deal with that problem.”
Problem? The fact that millions and millions of listeners tune into conservative talk radio each day clearly means that America likes what it hears on these airwaves. However, disagree with the White House and Trent Lott and you get criticized.
Then, here comes Sen. Lindsey Graham, who, in typical liberal Democrat fashion, played the race card regarding the immigration debate.
Graham suggested that critics of the immigration bill were motivated by racism, saying on ABC News, “We’ve been down this road before — ‘no Catholics,’ ‘no Jews,’ ‘Irish need not apply.’”
It is my sincere hope that the voters of South Carolina remember those remarks. It’s one thing to disagree with your own supporters, but it’s quite another to call those supporters racists, and that is exactly what Graham is doing! What is racist about wanting to protect our borders? What is racist about wanting to enforce existing employment laws? Absolutely nothing!
I am so sick and tired of the rhetoric coming out of Washington regarding this bill. The White House will tout how the number of arrests of illegals has gone up… but mention nothing about the number of prosecutions or deportations. They will mention poll information that says more Americans favor some kind of “comprehensive” immigration reform but then ignore the polls which say that Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of the Senate amnesty bill.
It’s all about cheap labor, and even that debate gets twisted, with the White House saying we need foreigners to “do the jobs Americans won’t do.” Hello! Has everyone in Washington lost their common sense? Maybe Americans aren’t willing to get paid artificially low wages for an honest day’s work. How about real wages for real work? Take away the illegal workers, let the market and wages adjust, then come back and tell me there are jobs that require people other than Americans to do them.
The Wall Street Journal has an editorial today in which they try to spin the political benefits for the GOP to vote for the amnesty bill. For one thing, the WSJ has never been afraid to play the race card regarding illegal immigration, and their position on open borders and cheap labor (regardless of national security issues) is well known. However, their latest effort is ridiculous. They can’t even get the politics right.
First, they say we should vote for the bill so that immigration is “off the table” for the next election. So, passing a bad bill is good politics? How about the politics of addressing the core immigration issues one at a time and building faith with the American people that Washington can get the job done? That sounds like a much better approach to me.
Second, the WSJ plays racial politics by saying “The longer term danger is that the GOP is sending a message to Latinos that it doesn’t want them in the party.” Give me a break. As someone who is half Hispanic, it is a statement like that which offends me. I don’t know any Hispanic Republicans who don’t want the border enforced and our laws respected. We are talking about illegal activity here! Yes, we do need to reach out to Hispanic voters, and there are many ways to do so — but we don’t do it by granting amnesty… we don’t do it by printing more and more signs, labels, and instructions in Spanish. We do it by showing that the American dream applies to all who will work, obey the law, and embrace American culture.
And so we have it. Yesterday, the following Republican senators sided with most Democrats to keep the amnesty bill alive:
Bennett (R-UT), Bond (R-MO), Brownback (R-KS), Burr (R-NC), Coleman (R-MN), Collins (R-ME), Craig (R-ID), Domenici (R-NM), Ensign (R-NV), Graham (R-SC), Gregg (R-NH), Hagel (R-NE), Kyl (R-AZ), Lott (R-MS), Lugar (R-IN), Martinez (R-FL), McCain (R-AZ), McConnell (R-KY), Murkowski (R-AK), Snowe (R-ME), Specter (R-PA), Stevens (R-AK), Voinovich (R-OH), Warner (R-VA).
We must still keep the pressure on the Senate. There are several key votes remaining. The grassroots can still win on this issue.
What the Republican Party needs to see is that there is more at stake than this one issue. It’s no coincidence that donations are down. It’s no coincidence that long-time activists are frustrated to the point of not voting. When Republican officials abandon the party, they shouldn’t be surprised when grassroots conservatives abandon them.
The GOP is morphing into the Dem Party.
Your party is being torn apart, and will be stitched back together in a way that makes more sense.
This is a good thing.
It ain’t our party anymore, it is the suits stuffing cash into the campaign coffers of the Beltway Sellouts.
Time to hit the reset button.
The writer is the new definition of “drama queen”.
We just need to find different Republicans, who will pick different party leaders.
Some of the answer is in the thread behind the following, for those who read thoroughly.
FRED OR DUNCAN
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1856668/posts
And it is clear by their own words that they do not care what the stupid American ‘people’ think.
reminds me a little of our good friend Chavez
It began with Mr read my lips no new taxes Bush the elder and went down from there.
Ron Paul 2008, A politician that
hasn’t been compromised.
Been a conservative independent for many years now.
“Graham suggested that critics of the immigration bill were motivated by racism, saying on ABC News, “We’ve been down this road before — ‘no Catholics,’ ‘no Jews,’ ‘Irish need not apply.’”
And I have a name for you Senator - Traitor.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
It's already happened.
Your party has gone to the freaking dogs!
There is no home for conservatives any longer.
The camel got his nose under the tent and took a crap!
We need another party because this one is a fraud, a liar and an adulterer. Our elected simpletons have crawled into bed with the opposition and are having what they consider good sex.
What else could it be?
They make us sick and we need to jump on another bandwagon before these morons kill us.
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.