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June 01, 2007

For Conservatives, Time To Break With Disastrous Bush Presidency
By Patrick J. Buchanan

"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good
thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms
in the physical."

So said Jefferson. It would appear to be time again for a little
rebellion in the Grand Old Party-this time against George II.

For President Bush has attacked his own loyalists for a lack of
patriotism. "If you don't want to do what's right for America," he
said of opponents of the Bush-Kennedy immigration bill, "if you want
to scare the American people, what you say is the bill's an amnesty
bill. That's empty political rhetoric, trying to frighten our citizens."

But if the 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens are instantly
legalized, what other term is there to describe that than amnesty?

Not only are opponents not doing "what's right for America," their
courage is in question: "People in Congress need the courage to go
back to their districts and explain exactly what this bill is all
about. The fundamental question is, will elected officials have the
courage necessary to put a comprehensive immigration plan in place."
[Bush Takes On Conservatives Over Immigration, By Jim Rutenberg,
New York Times, May 30, 2007]

Where, one wonders, was "Bush's Brain," Karl Rove?

For, worse than a crime, this attack on his base was a blunder. The
people Bush is savaging-columnists, commentators, talk-show hosts,
congressmen fighting his bill-have been the front-line troops in his
fight to sustain funding for the war.

And if there were any doubt whom Bush had in mind, his surrogate,
Linda Chavez, cleared it up:

"Some people just don't like Mexicans-or anyone else from
south of the border. They think Latinos are freeloaders and
welfare cheats who are too lazy to learn English. They think
Latinos have too many babies and that Latino kids will dumb
down our schools. They think Latinos are dirty, diseased,
indolent and more prone to criminal behavior. They think
Latinos are just too different from us ever to become real
Americans. ...

"Unfortunately, among this group is a fair number of
Republican members of Congress, almost all influential
conservative talk radio hosts, some cable news anchors-most
prominently, Lou Dobbs-and a handful of public policy
'experts' at organizations such as the Center for
Immigration Studies, the Federation for American Immigration
Reform, NumbersUSA, in addition to fringe groups like the
Minuteman Project."[Latino Fear and Loathing, May 25, 2007]

Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan cites other attacks by Bush
surrogates on the conservative base:

"Sen. Lindsey Graham has said, 'We're gonna tell the bigots
to shut up.' ... Homeland Security Secretary Michael
Chertoff suggested opponents would prefer illegal immigrants
be killed; Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said those
who oppose the bill want 'mass deportation.' Former Bush
speechwriter Michael Gerson said those who oppose the bill
are 'anti-immigrant' and suggested they suffer from 'rage'
and 'national chauvinism.'

"Why would they speak so insultingly, with such hostility,
of opponents who are concerned citizens? And often, though
not exclusively, concerned conservatives?" asks Noonan.

Because, Peggy, down deep where they live, they don't like the right,
never did and have always sought to be seen by the Big Media as the
progressive children of a dysfunctional and retarded family.

Bush's attack on the motives and character of conservatives tell us it
is Goldwater-Rockefeller time again-time to split the blanket.
Conservatives need to declare their independence of Bush and to
repudiate Bushism as the philosophy of their movement and party.

While Bush's court appointments, setting aside the Harriet Miers mess,
have been superb, while his tax cuts have been Reaganite, while his
stand on traditional values is courageous, beyond is a vast wasteland
as far as the eye can see.

His free-trade zealotry has led to five straight record trade
deficits. While America's economy is now growing at under 1 percent,
China's is booming at 10 percent. His refusal to defend and secure the
borders is well-nigh impeachable. His compromises with Teddy Kennedy
on No Child Left Behind have doubled the size of the Department of
Education without any appreciable gain in test scores. His "Big
Government Conservatism" marks him as his father's son, not Reagan's
heir. In Ward Connerly's courageous battle against reverse
discrimination, the Bushes have all been on the other side.

His bungled war of choice on Iraq has left us with 3,400 dead, 25,000
wounded, hundreds of billions deeper in debt and an Army on the point
of breaking. Relations with Europe, Russia, and the Arab and Muslim
world are worse than they were when he took office.

His clandestine drive to merge Mexico, America and Canada in a
"Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America"-a North
American Union modeled on the European Union-entails the loss of
sovereignty and end of the republic as we know it.

The damage Bush has done to his party is beginning to rival that of
Herbert Hoover. If the Clintons were doing this, would conservatives
be mute? Time to lock and load.

Patrick J. Buchanan needs no introduction to VDARE.COM readers; his
book State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of
America, can be ordered from Amazon.com.

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