Posted on 06/08/2007 12:18:29 PM PDT by jebeier
Perhaps this whole Amnesty business is a sublime and supremely cunning strategery.
Now, I know you all may want to dismiss the possibility out of hand, but bear with me for a moment...
By promoting this bill, in one fell swoop President Bush has managed to:
a) Get almost the entire Democrat caucus in the Senate to come out in favor of Amnesty, which is very unpopular,
b) Forever link his old arch-nemesis, John McCain, to this very unpopular bill,
c) Get somewhere close to 80% of Americans to oppose Ted Kennedy, and
d) Kill the possibility of comprehensive immigration reform for the forseeable future.
And all it has cost him is a few points in the public opinion polls, which is irrelevant because he will never run for office again.
Now the Republican field (except John McCain) can run against the President of their own party in 2008 by opposing him on this issue. The 800 pound Iraqi gorrilla has been replaced by a 1600 pound illegal immigration gorilla. And the vast majority of Republicans (besides John McCain) are in a much better position to debate on this issue.
Sarkozy just won in France by running against Chirac, who was the head of his own party. Perhaps the White House has taken that lesson to heart.
If it is strategery, it is exceptionally subtle and devious, and would be a masterpiece. But they really couldn't possibly be that clever, could they?
Or could they? One thing we know about President Bush is that he has a long memory and likes to get even with his enemies. Look at the seven Republican Senators who are going to come out on the down side of this deal:
Graham (R-SC)- Led efforts to extend habeus corpus rights to Guantanamo detainees. Member of Gang of 14
Hagel (R-NE) - Led charges against Iraq, Patriot Act, Rumsfeld, the Surge and Karl Rove
Lugar (R-IN) - Led efforts against intelligence operations against foreign agents in the US
Martinez (R-FL) - Leaked the Schiavo memo, but otherwise does not fit the pattern
McCain (R-AZ) - Back stabbings too numerous to count
Specter (R-PA) - Ditto. From “Scottish Law” onward
Voinovich (R-OH) - Led charge against John Bolton and the Surge
All of these Senators are going to be hurt by taking a position on the wrong side of this issue, and all of them, except Mel Martinez, have been thorns in President Bush’s side for a long, long time.
One has to ask oneself, cui bono? Who benefits? I submit to you that the biggest beneficiary of this debacle is none other than President George W. Bush himself.
Sometimes things are what they seem to be. And in this case I think it's nothing more than the latest in a collection of bone-headed moves on the part of the administration.
He looks far down the road and sees what actions his opponents are likely to do and plans for it. He doesn’t dissuade his opponents action but lets them dig their own grave until they can no longer back track, they are in too deep.
Iraq and the WOT is one and immigration another and the Harriet Myers nomination was true genius.
IMO.
I don’t know, pissant. I think mostly it just exposed the dark side of the GOP. Americans of all creeds and political affiliations came out to protest this mess of a bill.
I think the words “strategery” and “magnificent bastard” have been rendered redundant as of November 2006.
Not a bad theory except for the reports that Bush plans to revive the bill next month. If your theory were true and the damage to the Democrats and McCain were already done there would be no need to do so. Nope, Bush believes he’s right and he’s willing to sink the Republican party to get his way.
GWB is going to do a lot of damage before he is out of office. Nothing that we should have not already known...NAU is the goal, IMO.
I thought this same thing last year during the first round in the senate. Now, I do not believe it for a minute.
His push for Mel Martinez as head of the G.O.P. asys you are nuts.
I would guess you are a Bush man and trying to find a saving grace for this immigration crap but, sorry, there is no excuse. He didn’t have a grand plan except to legalize millions of unlawful aliens who should be headed home, where ever home may be, it certainly isn’t here. Bush has touted this amnesty since he was elected in 2000 but no one paid much attention to it until he decided to make it his legacy.
Now maybe Duncan Hunter can continue to raise a stink over the fact that a previous bill to build 850 miles of border fence that got 85 votes in the Senate and the President signed has not been honored and tell the President to honor that and then we will talk. We built the Hoover Dam we can do this.
Conservative are the only Strategists left in the GOP. The rest are fat, dumb, happy, and bought and paid for by special interests.
Is that you, Karl?
Not funny, but ROTFL.
Wonder if the Secret Service checked his stool with a geiger counter?!
But I don't think that's where Bush is going. He's lost so many of us now, and with a year or so left to go, I think he is doing someone else's bidding.
This may kill the GOP, but it may also create a new Reagan Conservative party.
Good job of finding the pony in that pile of horse manure Ronald Reagan used to joke about. The chances of your pony being real are about as great as the hopeful little boy’s who felt there had to be a pony in there somewhere. Sorry, it ain’t so.
Yes, one's a word commonly used in the English Language, the other is gutter gibberish. Blackbird.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.