Friday, November 21, 2014

Republicans Blow a Golden Opportunity...

I don't particularly like President Obama and personally feel he is the worst president in the history of our nation. I used to say that about W, and that he was the worst president since Jimmy Carter — who I worked my ass off for, only to be SO sorely disappointed — until Obama came along. For those who are ready to call me a racist for saying so, let me say this... To paraphrase the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King — it isn't about the color of his skin, it's about the content of his character.

Now that I have your attention...

The Republican response to the president's immigration initiative is EXACTLY why the Republicans can never maintain a sustainable leadership position in Congress or the White House — and more importantly, with the voters. They are SO focused on making this president look bad that they are willing to cede millions of votes to the Democrats to do it. That is not only stupid, but highly irresponsible.

Does Obama exceed his constitutional authority in taking this action? Probably. However, Congress and the Republicans blew a golden opportunity to take the lead on this issue — which would have been the right thing to do — and they made a conscious decision not to capitalize on what could have been a long term sustainable voter bonanza for the party. What they fail to "get" is that it's their loss, and the sheer numbers of immigrants is going to bite them in the ass in the voting booth in the end. What the president has proposed is reasonable and responsible, and they should have been leading the charge for it — taking the issue away from the Democrats — not fighting it. Doing so, would have added millions of immigrants — and their children as they grew up into voting age — to the Republican Party.

I openly admit to getting caught up in the hysteria of what could happen if Obama gave blanket amnesty to all illegals in this country. The simple fact is he didn't do that. I'm OK with what he proposed. It's much more reasonable and responsible than I had anticipated. 

Persecuting this president will only have the negative effect of driving more people to the Democratic Party — just as their stand on abortion and other social issues has done. It seems like there isn't a way for the Republicans to shoot themselves in the foot they haven't thought of, but I have great confidence in their ability to find new and ingenious ways to do it.