Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
Peter Robinson ·
November 27, 2012 at 4:21pm
If the GOP is going to have to have a debate on immigration, then so are we here at Ricochet. A friend send along this clip from an interview I did with Jeb Bush soon after he stepped down as governor. As you'll see, the former governor--and, very possibly, future presidential candidate--has very little patience with Republicans who wish to restrict immigration, not welcome it.
Listen to Gov. Bush--the tape lasts three minutes, and he's a wonderfully articulate and compelling man. Then let this rest of us know what you think.
Is he, fundamentally, right?
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Comments:
Mar '11
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
Peter: The link is unavailable.
Aug '12
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
Peter: Did you mean to write "very little impatience"? That would imply that his patience with such persons is quite high.
Jul '12
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
Did you mean very little patience?
Dec '10
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
Can't see what he's saying (as noted above), but I think VDH would disagree with him. I'll have to go with Victor on this one. If he and Paul Rahe are ever in disagreement I'll really have a conundrum on my hands, but between Bush (any) and Hanson I know which way to bet.
Apr '11
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
I have very little patience for any GOP would run another member of the Bush family for President of the United States. We might as well coronate them all if we're happy with a dynasty.
I don't care if he is right as rain about every issue on the table. Run another Bush and you will have confirmed the Left's perception that the GOP is a good ol' boys' club of old, rich, white elitists. Doesn't matter if he speaks perfect Spanish; doesn't matter if he's right down the alley of the Democratic Party's position on immigration policy. The Leftist media machine will still paint him as an eeeeville, rich, white, country club good ol' boy. And we will lose. Again.
Feb '11
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
I think this is the link.
Feb '11
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
I can't get the link to work either.
Nov '11
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
I'm hoping he'll run, and lock up the establishment, the party machinery and all the big donors, then he can suck all the oxygen and new ideas out of the primary so the campaign is about the same stale [expletive] that we've been squabbling about for a decade now.
No, wait. The opposite of that.
Sep '10
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
I am not interested in hearing anything a Bush has to say and I guess the internet gods aren't either. The country has concluded they were lucky to survive the last one and will not be interested for a century or so for another. I guess Robinson and the big government Republicans will keep pushing the idea for yet one more.
Oct '10
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
But lefties love dynasties: look at the Kennedys.
The Leftist media machine will do that to anyone the GOP runs, including Allen West and Condi Rice.
Not that I'm a big Jeb fan.
Jun '10
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
I'm all for a coherent path to citizenship. But for the better part of 20 years illegal immigration has cost border states tens perhaps hundreds of billions of dollars in lost revenue for repeatedly incarcerating criminals, and paying healthcare and education costs. In some cases, in California particularly, state and local jurisdictions confer more rights upon illegal immigrants than its own citizens in the interest of fairness.
Is this posting the first in a series to promote the candidacy of Jeb Bush? Far be it from me to question the motives of the editors and contributors in their choice of what to post or to elevate to the Main Feed but there was another posting about the potential candidacy of Mr. Bush on the Member Feed by yours truly that garnered 74 comments that apparently wasn't worthy to be elevated. I realize that Ricochet isn't a democracy but sometimes the wall between the Main and the Member Feeds is more impenetrable than America's southern border while at other times it's perplexing what sneaks across.
I do look forward to a spirited debate about whether yet another Bush should be the Republican standard bearer.
May '11
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
Peter, what Republican wants to restrict immigrants?
That's the lazy disparagement you expect from the Left or Jeb Bush or Lindsey Graham
Oct '10
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
Another Bush? NEVER!
As for his stance on immigration, that is common to the Bushes, and one of a list of reason to NEVER vote for one of them again.
Actually, they are one of the many reasons why I often doubt my own sanity about remaining a registered Republican. Nominate Jeb Bush, and all doubts are removed. And since Colorado does not have a GOP primary for federal offices, I really do wonder why I remain a Republican.
Sep '12
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
OK, I listened to it. First off, he falsely equates the Cuban American experience with the Mexican American experience, I must assume intentionally, since as a former governor of Florida and husband of a Mexican American, he should have enough experience to know that the two immigrant groups have little in common in their desire to come to the US.
Edited on November 27, 2012 at 5:22pmSecond, I think he misstates Republican opposition to immigration, which consists nearly entirely of opposition to illegal immigration. This isn't new; we saw the same thing in the stem cell debates, the Gay Marriage debate. The nuanced response is dumbed down to a straw man, in order for the arguer to gain some cheap grace attacking a position no one holds.
I expect such bad faith from our opposition, and even the media, who have proven either dishonest or ignorant on a whole host of issues, but for someone who would be a standard bearer for my Party, I expect that he at least respect us enough to answer our honest arguments.
Sep '12
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
Apologies for the wall of text; each time I entered the post, it removed my paragraph breaks.
May '10
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
It is not that the GOP is anti-immigrant. It is against a system where the King may grant special status to persons breaking the law. If the King wishes to use his pardon power then let the law breakers first turn themselves in to the authorities. Then the King may sign each pardon individually - not with an autopen - all 11.5 million times.
That should keep him busy for the next four years.
Apr '11
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
Ningrim: Peter, what Republican wants to restrict immigrants?
That's the lazy disparagement you expect from the Left or Jeb Bush or Lindsey Graham · 14 minutes ago
Rand Paul does. Last week he proposed an Amnesty+border security+immigration moratorium deal. It's a fantastic idea, too..
Sep '12
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
Further, he is wrong. Opposition to illegal immigration is a moral issue. No country can exist without a strong sense of its own internal integrity. The large number of Mexicans who enter our country illegally do not do so because they love our country and prefer it to their own; they do it for the same reason I moved from a small agricultural town to the big city: there were more opportunities in the big city. I had no love for the city, but it was a place to find a better job. If I could have found a good job at home, I'd have stayed there.
Mexico is not a third world country. It is not, unlike for instance, most of Africa, economically blighted. As countries go, it's moderately prosperous. Its citizens deserve no greater consideration due to their proximity than we allow the denizens of much worse places to live, simply because their country is closer.
Anyone who wishes to streamline our immigration process I am willing to listen to. But the GOP must defend our borders. No one else will.
Mar '11
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
If Jeb Bush pretends to be a conservative, I'll pretend to vote for him.
May '10
Re: Jeb Bush Starts the Debate
Can't get the link to work but I've already heard enough from Jeb Bush. Read my lips: no - more- Bushes!