'But if they mean to have war...
0 comment Thursday, May 15, 2014 |
...let it begin here.'
The words, which you see on the Minuteman monument, are those of Captain John Parker at Lexington, before the battle there.
For some reason, those words came to mind today as I was reading some of the day's news regarding the amnesty bill.
It seems that some of our Senators have declared war on us, as witness these words of Pennsylvania's Sen. Arlen Specter.
We are in trench warfare and it's going to be rough,'' said Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter, a chief sponsor of the legislation. ``But we are going to see the will of the Senate work one way or another.''
The quote is here, in this article.
I mean, how much more clear can it be, from Specter's words?
The first part of the statement, where Specter says they are in 'trench warfare' is bad enough; who are the enemies they are fighting? Us, seemingly. Who else? But please read the second part of the quote, wherein Specter says 'we are going to see the will of the Senate work one way or another.'
What's wrong with this picture? They, our Senators and Congressmen are supposed to represent us and to serve us, in accordance with the Constitution. They are not there to work their own will, or the President's will, or Wall Street's will, or the World Council of Churches' will, or La Raza's will, or anybody's will but ours. We, the people, (remember us, Senator Specter?) are the repositories of any legitimate power you have, and you hold it only at our pleasure. We lend you any power that you have, we, the people, as the rightful possessors of it. To the extent that you represent something other than the majority will of your constituents, you have no legitimacy. You are a rogue politician, you and all of your treasonous colleagues in the Senate.
And if my readers aren't properly incensed over the arrogance and ignorance expressed by Specter and his ilk, I offer this brazen piece from (where else?) that other seat of arrogant elitism, the Wall Street Journal editorial page. Our moral betters at the WSJ are lecturing us that we had better get with the program in order to save the future of the Grand Old Party. And the future is Hispanic, whether we like it or not, according to the WSJ.
Immigration and the GOP
Immigration reform stayed alive in the Senate yesterday, albeit not without continuing rancor among Republicans. Restrictionists seem to believe the issue will harm the GOP if it succeeds, but we think the political reality is closer to the opposite: The greater danger for Republicans is if it fails.
We've written often about the merits of immigration reform, and we have our own problems with parts of the Senate bill. But it's worth spending some time on the larger politics of the issue, especially for Republicans. They're caught between a passionate minority of their party--who oppose any reform that allows illegals a path to citizenship--and the larger electorate, which is more moderate and wants to solve the problem. Like Democrats on national security, this is a classic case in which pandering to the base will harm the GOP overall.
That's true most immediately for Presidential hopefuls like Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson, who continue to assail the bill as "amnesty." No doubt this gets applause in some Republican precincts. But in the near term, meaning through 2008, Republicans would be far better off helping President Bush and John McCain pass something that takes immigration off the table. If the issue remains central to the 2008 debate, it will divide the GOP and the media will play up the split. Given the passions that immigration evokes on the right in particular, the issue could easily drown out other domestic policy messages the candidates would prefer to run on.
The longer term danger is that the GOP is sending a message to Latinos that it doesn't want them in the party. And if that message sticks, Republicans could put themselves back in minority party status for a generation or more. Hispanics are the largest ethnic minority in the country, and their voting numbers continue to grow. Hispanics were estimated to be 8% of the electorate in 2006, compared with 6% in 2004 and 5.5% in 2000. Census data show that the number of Latino voters could rise to 10% or more by 2008. The demographic reality is that the GOP can't be a majority party with Anglo-Saxon votes alone.
[...]
By the way, the growth in the Hispanic population will continue regardless of what happens with immigration from now on. The number of Hispanics who already hold green cards guarantees that their share of the electorate will increase over time even if Congress could seal the Southern border tomorrow. The GOP should be competing for these voters rather than driving them away with a barely concealed message of "Mexicans, go home."
Notwithstanding the small but loud segment of the GOP base preoccupied with the issue, hostility to immigration has never been a political winner. Like trade protection, people protectionism always polls better in telephone surveys than on Election Day. For a Presidential candidate especially, it sends a negative message rather than one of optimistic leadership. If GOP candidates can't support Mr. Bush and Senator Jon Kyl on immigration, they should at least avoid the kind of demagoguery that will hurt their party for years to come.''
Just how out-of-touch are those guys at the WSJ? Do they suppose that we out here in the hinterlands really care most about a political party or somebody's profit margins, or do we care more about the Republic? I hope the answer is the latter, but we will shortly find out. We will find out, as our backs are to the wall, how many real friends this Republic has. But we can be sure our political classes and the media, especially the WSJ, are not among them.
First, the WSJ op-ed writers disingenuously state that restrictionists are merely a loud minority, much as Linda Chavez, Hispanic loyalist extraordinaire, says, and further, they say that the majority of American citizens are in favor of a 'path to citizenship'.
This is false, and any polls which indicate such preferences are deceptively and manipulatively crafted to show a desired result. The majority does not favor amnesty, no matter which smarmy euphemism the elites attach to it.
And secondly, ask me, WSJ, if I care whether the GOP becomes a 'minority party.' The sun neither rises nor sets on the Republican Party. If the party no longer represents the citizenry of this country, it deserves to die the death. If the party is willing to sell us out and to purposely transform this country with a new citizenry, they are no party of mine. This Republic will not stand or fall based on any political party.
For too long, many sincerely patriotic people have linked the fate of this country to the fate of the GOP, thinking that the GOP must be the savior of traditional America. However, it is only the sheer awfulness of the Democrat party that has given the Republicans an unearned reputation as the 'patriotic' party. It is only the extreme leftist tilt of the Democrat Party that has made the Republicans appear 'right-wing.' It's all an optical illusion.
What more evidence do we need, after reading the words of Senator Specter, and after seeing the machinations of Senators of both parties, that the GOP is not acting in our interests, that too many of the party, with a few individual exceptions, are interested only in their own self-aggrandizement and power, and that they no longer honor the principles on which our Republic was founded?
Enough is enough. Time to repudiate those who have repudiated us.
And as for the WSJ's arrogant assertion that
the growth in the Hispanic population will continue regardless of what happens with immigration from now on. The number of Hispanics who already hold green cards guarantees that their share of the electorate will increase over time even if Congress could seal the Southern border tomorrow. ''
I am afraid that they may be right. I am not sure where that leaves those of us who do not want to live in a Spanish-speaking banana republic, but I see little to inspire loyalty in the country the WSJ and the Senate elitists are preparing for us.
And it looks like they have declared war on us, by their own words and actions.

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