Sleazy Bush proxy Michael Gerson attacks "nativists" in GOP base over immigration

The Bush administration's charm offensive continues with Michael Gerson - a Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow and Bush's former head speechwriter ("Axis of Evil") - offering up "Letting Fear Rule/Nativism Is a Recipe for Long-Term GOP Losses". As you might expect, it's one smear after another.

Like Lindsey Graham reading documents from 1911, he leads with the Chinese Exclusion Act, then starts the lies and name calling: "anti-immigrant sentiments", "a nativist party will cease to be a national party", "Tancredo is the lowbrow expression of this fear", "any attempt to grant a legal status to illegal immigrants is as welcome as salsa on their apple pie", "rage and national chauvinism".

His overall thesis is false in at least three ways. First, there's absolutely no guarantee that importing millions more Latin Americans will cause at least 40% of them to vote GOP. Even if the corrupt forces in the GOP prevail and it becomes a party of loose and race-based immigration, the Democrats will always be able to offer a looser deal and one even more explicitly based on race. Anyone who's familiar with this issue realizes that many groups (LULAC, National Council of La Raza/"The Race") are very successful at making racial appeals, as are racial demagogues like Antonio Villaraigosa. Gerson and the rest are actually giving those groups more power, as David Frum stated earlier. He even approvingly quotes someone promoting the "Latinoization of America". There's clearly an extremely strong possibility that he's wrong, yet he doesn't acknowledge that fact.

Second, if his argument has any validity it's one for immigration in general, not massive illegal immigration or massive immigration of any kind from one country or region.

Third, it certainly is possible to both be non-discriminatory to Hispanics and oppose illegal and massive legal immigration at the same time. Yet, he undercuts that by assuming that those are incompatible and smearing those who show it is as "nativists".

He should just be considered a smearing CFR hack and a Bush proxy.

UPDATE: ThinkProgress - the political answer to the National Enquirer - uses his remarks to further spread the "GOP = nativistic racists" meme, something that Gerson and his presumed handlers should spend more time attacking and less time aiding and abetting:

michael gerson bush speechwriter

Comments

A fine title from a Bushbot:"Letting Fear Rule". There are some who say that the Bush Administration has excelled in peddling fear ever since 9/11. Fear of Iraq, Iran and one alleged terrorist threat after another.That is not to say that we don't have enemies, but Bush-Rove turned fearmongering into an art form. It worked quite well until the last election.

_"Conceding Latinos to the Democrats in perpetuity is a stunning failure of political confidence. If the Republican Party cannot find ways to appeal to natural entrepreneurs, with strong family values, who are focused on education and social mobility, then the GOP is already dead._ I don't know what the evidence is that Hispanics are somehow natural entrepeneurs, but the claim for "strong family values" is dissected here: http://www.vdare.com/rubenstein/family_values.htm "focused on education and social mobility"?? See this: http://www.parapundit.com/archives/002109.html AND http://www.parapundit.com/archives/002272.html AND http://www.parapundit.com/archives/001959.html

Oh... I dunno....I think I really do have something to fear...unfortunately it's George Bush and his attempt to take over the country with his North American Union.