Jimmy Carter is really the last person who should be criticizing George W. Bush. But the rest of us certainly can. Particularly those who stood by and defended him against an onslaught of mostly undeserved scorn and irrational hatred.
Bush has failed. Not a complete failure mind you, but a failure just the same. Sure the economy is pretty good. We have very low joblessness, lower(ed) taxes and by most measures a dynamic society continues to hum along under this President. With all political leaders you can only hope the few good things they do outweigh the things you don't like. The bitter and the sweet. Lately it has been his supporters who have been puckering up...
This week witnessed the straw that broke the camel's back among his loyal supporters. He has offended and sickened the last of the the true believers with his brow beating of those in his own party who oppose the immigration amnesty bill. So now along with the Democrats we are counting the days until this presidency ends.
We, mind you, are not abandoning the things that make us center-right politicos like keeping taxes low(er) and supporting the free market system against the tide of socialism. We believe liberty and justice doesn't come in the form of another government program. We believe in judges that interpret the law not create it. We believe in taking the fight to the enemy and aggressively asserting our role in an unruly world. These are areas Bush has kept the faith.
We defended him time and time again against the juvenile liberals and his Democratic rivals on his foreign policy decisions and the baseless blame-letting for the Katrina aftermath and even 9/11. But we can't defend this turd of an immigration bill. We swallowed hard on his "No Child Left Behind" policy that dumped billions more into another federal bottomless pit. We cried for means testing for Medicare Part D but the administration caved in. We cringe whenever he panders to the Global Warming crowd and quietly cheer when he defends our progress towards a cleaner environment through a strong economy. But we won't accept this stinky immigration bill.
This bill IS amnesty and there's nothing good that will come of it. Nothing. Here is what will happen...
The people who "come out of the shadows" will not stay in the low wage jobs that keep them hidden from public view. They will move into government jobs where they can get "free" benefits. The jobs they leave will need to be filled and where do you think those people will come from. This bill is going to be a NEON sign inviting people from all over the world to break our laws. What would make anyone think that a new set of enforcement laws will be upheld any better than the old enforcement laws? We have government agencies and municipalities as well as many churches who openly defy the current illegal immigration laws - and these so-called tougher laws are suddenly going to make them all fall into compliance?
Most Americans including the center-right (former) Bush supporters believe in vigorous immigration for the continued vitality of this country. We are, however, a nation of laws with borders and a common language and culture. Our culture is not Mexican, it's not Christian, it's not Asian, it's not Muslim - it is all of these and more. It is the American melting pot and it's beautiful. No where on Earth has such diversity been such a success. It is a success not because any one dominates the other it works because its complimentary.
So, contact your congressmen and demand that before another visa or green card is issued we secure our borders FIRST and we can talk about the rest later.
CW
No comments:
Post a Comment