Immigration reform kills conservative movement
Immigration reform has been pronounced dead:
It's a Pyrrhic victory for the talk radio haters and the fringe elements in the GOP. The immigration issue was ginned up out of desperation in the first place, as Republicans saw their electoral chances fading over the occupation of Iraq, Katrina and the assorted corruption and disasters that are so emblematic of this administration. Now they have defeated a president of their own party on the one issue where some common sense reforms were proposed.
When people don't have anything positive to offer, they resort to destructive actions. Congratulations, conservatives, you just defeated yourselves. If "the status quo is not acceptable," as many claim, then what does it say about the conservative movement that it could not reign in its worst xenophobic impulses in order to achieve a positive result?
It also bodes ill for Republican presidential candidates, who will be forced out of any tendency toward mainstream positions in order to curry favor with the extremists in Republican primaries. I'm just speculating, but I'd imagine that there might be some rather serious discussions going on in corporate boardrooms over the failure of reform. Does anyone really believe corporate America is going to abide continued, large-scale immigration raids and not act politically?
You'd think conservatives would figure out after 30 years how badly they have been used, but I guess they are kind of slow on the uptake.
Rest in pieces, conservative movement. The mongrel dog may still have fangs, but it's going to be left at the side of the road to fend for itself.
The Senate today drove a stake through President Bush's plan to legalize millions of unlawful immigrants, likely postponing major action on immigration until after the 2008 elections.Why, you may ask, does this represent the death of the conservative movement?
The bill's supporters fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed to limit debate and clear the way for final passage of the legislation, which critics assailed as offering amnesty to illegal immigrants. The vote was 46 to 53 in favor of limiting the debate.
Senators in both parties said the issue is so volatile that Congress is highly unlikely to revisit it this fall or next year, when the presidential election will increasingly dominate American politics.
It's a Pyrrhic victory for the talk radio haters and the fringe elements in the GOP. The immigration issue was ginned up out of desperation in the first place, as Republicans saw their electoral chances fading over the occupation of Iraq, Katrina and the assorted corruption and disasters that are so emblematic of this administration. Now they have defeated a president of their own party on the one issue where some common sense reforms were proposed.
When people don't have anything positive to offer, they resort to destructive actions. Congratulations, conservatives, you just defeated yourselves. If "the status quo is not acceptable," as many claim, then what does it say about the conservative movement that it could not reign in its worst xenophobic impulses in order to achieve a positive result?
It also bodes ill for Republican presidential candidates, who will be forced out of any tendency toward mainstream positions in order to curry favor with the extremists in Republican primaries. I'm just speculating, but I'd imagine that there might be some rather serious discussions going on in corporate boardrooms over the failure of reform. Does anyone really believe corporate America is going to abide continued, large-scale immigration raids and not act politically?
You'd think conservatives would figure out after 30 years how badly they have been used, but I guess they are kind of slow on the uptake.
Rest in pieces, conservative movement. The mongrel dog may still have fangs, but it's going to be left at the side of the road to fend for itself.
