June 13, 2007
Candid...
An excerpt from the Press conference after the President's speech in Prague.
...Q. Can I go back to your democracy speech?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Did you like it?
Q I loved it.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Say that in your stories.
Q I'll say it anywhere. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: What did he say?
Q I'll say it anywhere.
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, good. How about in print? (Laughter.)
Q Oh, well --
THE PRESIDENT: That may be taking it too far. (Laughter.)...
And of course that was taking it too far, since the major media of course do not report anything that makes the President look good. Unless maybe when he's cooperating with Teddy Kennedy. And they didn't in this case; the speech got little attention. (And the self-styled conservatives aren't interested either—They cover their ears and say immigrationimmigrationimmigration.)
Me, I think that those conservatives (including myself) who find the immigration bill toxic should still be supporting the President on many other issues. But that's not binary enough for most people. a lot of conservatives right now seem to me to resemble poor Andrew Sullivan, who couldn't just disagree on his one big issue, but yet stay constant on the other ones. Once he linked up with Dems on the gay marriage issue, he had to cobble-up reasons why everything Republicans were doing was wrong. even though he contradicted all his previous views and just made himself look like an idiot.
Posted by John Weidner at June 13, 2007 06:54 AMYou missed a particular point...the timing to stand up and fight on the current immigration bill is NOW, before it becomes law ans amnesty is essentially granted for all illegals presently in the states...I said Amnesty, not citizenship. I do still support the war on terrorists and the recovery of Iraq, but the immigration issue was (and still is) at a key turning point and would either go forward to disaster or be stopped. If it took a conservative eruption to make the Senate see that it was going to cost them if they continued, so be it.
I'm all for a conservative eruption over the immigration bill. But maybe I'm wierd, but I can't understand the common human tendency to feel, "I'm against Bush on Immigration, therefore I'm against him."
Me, I'm against this bill, but at the same time still strongly in favor of many other Bush policies. And it doesn't upset my mental balance at all. And I can admire him in many respects, and in other realms be amazed that he's such a klutz.
[some of my thoughts on the subject of immigration are here.]
Posted by: John Weidner at June 13, 2007 04:46 PM
