May 17 2006
Right and Left Center Rallying To Bush’s Plan
*** Update: As expected, the immigration issue will go forward led by the serious (not moderate) center which has the real political power in this countr. When you see Senators Boxer and Sessions on the same side you know there is a political force at paly, as well as common sense. ***
While the 20% of the population on the left – who cannot stand President Bush and would be for death itself if Bush was against it – and 20% of the right – which apparently has lost all sense over the immigration issue – oppose Bush’s immigration plan it seems there is a core beginning to form. There is no point linking to all the editorials, just peruse the ones at RCP. I would wager this plan will get through Congress in the end and be huge step forward. But first the Democrats will have to perform their obligatory mistep and try and stall the legislation with some dumb, focus group driven idea to appease their base. Bush said he was going to spend is political capitol, and he is. Unfortunately a lot of people never fully understood what that meant. It meant doing the tough, unpopular, right things. It meant spending his popularity in polls to do something important and ever lasting. As Lincoln showed, you cannot be popular and be historic – that is an oxymoron. Entertainers can be historically popular when they are doing their thing. World leaders need the distance of time to expose their wisdom.
I am beginning to think that a lot of folks on the right and left don’t really care about long term rational immigration reform and border security…they just like to bully the rest of us.
And Bush does not like to be bullied. Neither do I.
While you are at it, you can read on RCP “Dodging Immigrations Truth”.
No one is trying to bully either you or the President, Terrye. We are trying to hold back the flood waters that if allowed to continue, will drown all of us.
To indicate that we on the right who believe in the rule of law, who feel that there should be a show of good faith on both sides, and who know the attitudes of those who really want to become American citizens are just knee-jerk radicals who suffer from Latio-phobia is not only wrong, it is an insult.
Tejano culture is part of my society as a Texan. It is rich and enjoyable. But what is wrong with a plan that natural born Americans of Hispanic heritage disagree with? And they do disagree with the President’s plan.
It is these very people, along with un/undereducated African-Americans that will suffer the most.
But if the President gets what he wants, you can feel good that at least Mexico gets another reprive from dealing with it’s own problems even though many Americans will no longer be able to find entry level jobs.
Looking around the net this morning, there do seem to be more and more signs of this; and there also seem to be more and more signs that a lot of people are sickened and shocked at the toxic outpourings from some on this issue. Wretchard over at Belmont Club had a fascinating post recently on why so many seem to have gone into a state of cognitive dissonance over the last few months. The Anchoress also has a good post on the effects that the current insanity is having on many of us.
Keeping a rational state of mind means staying focused on achieving the best possible outcome, given the circumstances. That will *never* be 100% of what one wants (unless you’re emporer of the world, in which case bon chance) Luckily, it looks as if a majority of the country is still able to realize that’s how we have to approach this problem, precisely BECAUSE it is so toxic.
Tony Blankley had a good op/ed this morning, well worth reading:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/tblankley.htm
Best part is that he understands the self-defeating futility of thinking that no bill at all is better than a bill that contains some compromises. This, after all, is a situation that gets worse every day and will continue to do so until we address it.
I do think his proposal contains an error in judgment; but it’s one I’d rather discuss with him (and those who think this way) rather than scream at him about it. It is his idea that a guest worker program could be beneficial if it did not contain any possible path to citizenship. I think that is one of most self destructive ways to approach the problem, especially in the long run. First, Blankley is correct in that we have a de-facto guest worker program now, and so it is better to have a registered and regulated program vs. an unregulated and unregistered one. But look at the consequences if we create this program with no hope of assimilation included! We will have created an official, permanent underclass with no incentive to assimilate and who will quickly come to embody the negative attributes that a non-citizen underclass has in any society. Point in case – the German’s experience with the Turkish gastarbeiten; after a few years of this we’ll have created a true monster, not only an underclass but one that seethes with rage against the hosts that use it to their own advantage. It’s not just a bad idea – the idea of a multi-tiered class structure enforcable by law is as un-American as it gets. For temporary purposes, as a means for those involved to better themselves and assimilate into our culture, fine. As a permanent way of life with no end in sight for those involved, it is a recipe for disaster.
The key to dealing with this situation (as many have said) is assimilation. That’s what’s always worked in the past when we’ve had waves of immigrants like this, that’s what will work in the future. (and yes, we have had waves like this in the past) Those that do not wish to assimilate of course should not stay; but we should *never* be in the position of forcing people who otherwise would want to assimilate into a separatist position, and that’s what a guest worker only plan with no light at the end of the tunnel would do.
Blankley has some good thoughts and an overall good article, but he’s forgotten the most important piece of the puzzle – assimilation. Without that, the entire effort is doomed to failure no matter what short term policies we undertake.
– WWS
And retire05, there are many of us who believe in the rule of law but do not worship it.
We want english as the national language. We want our borders secure but we do not want to become Nazi Germany or any other countries that militarize their borders permanently. Nor do we want multiple deportations ala Elian Gonzales happening either. I lived there. It was horrific.
All this highlights the complexities of this issue and how a “middle road” with reasoned, rational and respectful action is needed.
None can come to the table demanding “my way or the highway”.
Good boundaries in all the sense of the word is needed.
What, exactly, does “rule of law” mean?
Mindless devotion to following the letter of the law, no questions asked? Or is it something else?
Ivehadit;
I do not worship anything/one but my God. But I do honor the rule of law on which this great nation was build. I keep asking the question; if we ignore our immigration laws to appease a special interest group now, where does it end? What other laws will be ignored because they are inconvenient to some other special interest group? No one wants to answer that question.
I find it really humorous that when ever some one has to try to make a point they drag out “Nazi Germany”. I haven’t seen anyone who is against the President’s plan for amnesty demanding ovens be built along with the wall. When someone does that (usually they are left leaning) I have to laugh at the weakness of their argument that requires them to pull that out.
Elian Gonzales: you can thank the Culture of Corruption-Clinton-Reno-administration for violating Elian’s rights. The Wet food-Dry food law allowed for him to stay. Show me where illegals have the same rights. The Wet food-Dry foot law only applies to Cubans and does not include the Rio Grande.
Middle of the road legislation? Enforce the existing laws regarding hiring of illegals; suspend all welfare services for illegals; end the in-state tuition system for illegals; and demand that Mexico quit interferring with our system so they can continue their corrupt system.
Retire05, you are absolutely right, & all the recent primary results show that the republicans going to the polls in the primaries agree with us. The threw all the open borders/ amnesty now republicans out, [ check the results from Herndon, Va. , N.C. Utah, Nebraska, & most especially PA. Where long term republican incumbents were thrown out in favor of tough immigration enforcement challengers. These are the voters who turn out in higher numbers than the amnesty now types. Even more will turn out now that the Mexican Govt. is threatening to sue us in our own court system to keep the national guard from helping to enforce our immigration laws. Any republican who votes for this amnesty bill, in the face of this , the fact that our own border officials have invited the mexican consul into the border patrol offices to aid the illegals we have caught, & giving the Mexican Govt. the locations of the minutemen, so that they can help their illegals find ways to sneak in the country anway,well all I can say is that republican will lose if his opponent is tougher on illegal immigration than he is. And don’t let them tell you that if the dems. take control of the Senate it will damage the country. The fact is we already have a democratically controlled Senate now. The House is where we need to contribute to keep our guys in the majority. All legislation must originate in the house, not the senate. A republican house & a republican president have done great in the War on Terror in spite of the defacto Democratic Senate that we now have, & will continue to do so if the senate does go truly democratic.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00121
Think your Senator put security before amnesty? Find out here.
Your tax bill to support illegals just went up.
Being from Herndon I think I am better able to know what happened here. I was against the immigrant worker site as were most. We have a large Latino population here. But being outside DC we are accustomed t0 (and relish) very diverse neighborhoods with people from all over the planet. Latinos are no better or worse than our Asian neighbors, African neighbors, Indian neighbors.
What would be helpful is for the losing side to lose gracefully. That means ending the childish comments like ‘pro-amnesty’. There is no amnesty here, anymore than there is amnesty from not having your vehicle registered to drive. You get it registered. Sometimes you get a citation and sometimes you don’t. You don’t get your right to drive taken away. Same thing with building permits, etc. Sometimes the paper work is missing or incomplete. But none of these violations of the law warrant a punishment like being ripped from home and job (which is what we do when we send someone to jail) and dumped homeless and jobless over the border.
Folks, people who are working and raising a family and being good neighbors are not criminals. People break laws every day. They jay walk they go 56 MPH in a 55 zone (usually when they are slowing down from 79 MPH), they drive their cars without paying attention, they don’t have the proper forms on file at the school. It is the THE RULE OF LAW! It is respect for our laws. We decide to respect and honor laws and that allows us to live in harmony. No one dictates who is a criminal – our court system decides using a jury of objective peers.
So get off all the labeling and ranting. It is unproductive and just makes me skip over your comments to read something more reasoned.
Right now it seems many are sort of walking themselves out to the end of the limb without concern for the tree surgeon back there next to the trunk. Yes important issues invoke strong reactions..but thats where like any pendulum it tends to swing back to the middle. I look for barometers and indicators that may portend trends. For instance when Ted Kennedy is starting to sound like Howard Dean I view that as a positive sign. I hate gutter balls, but just because I have a bad week compared to friends we play with, it doen’t mean I’m gonna come home and put my bowling ball into my fish tank to make a really wierd reef.
retire:
I am just saying give the plan a chance. No one is saying the country should be flooded by illegals, but it would be helpful if the hardliners stopped screaming long enough to listen to what other people are actually saying and stop putting words in our mouths and creating doomsday paranoid scenarios.
WWS:
I could see something like that guest worker program with the migrant workers. They are seasonal workers and many of them would just as soon leave in the off season as stay here.
True migrant workers, probably. However I believe they are now a small proportion of the mexican workers coming over, as many of them have far more skills than just farmwork. A problem with the pure guest worker program is that the large seasonal movements of people back and forth across the border is a recipe for abuse and an enforcement nightmare. I think I would rather see a temporary work visa that would last for a definite time period but could be extended if an employer vouched for the applicant and they met a number of other regulations, such as no criminal violations and proof of all taxes paid. And I would allow a path to citizenship if this was maintained for a number of years – and that is a far cry from an “amnesty” even though some seem to delight in calling it that.