Are the Bushes in Danger?
Published in Le Figaro
(France) on 6 May 2010
by Jean Sebastien Stehli (link to original)
(France) on 6 May 2010
by Jean Sebastien Stehli (link to original)
Translated from
by Daniel Pick.
Edited by Laura Berlinsky-Schine.
Who kidnapped the party of Lincoln? Would Ronald Reagan even recognize this party? Will the Bush family end up joining the Democrats? There is no question that none of these renowned Republicans would recognize themselves in the present GOP.
Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell chose to bring up a new "Confederate History Month" to celebrate the South, but never once mentioning the word "slavery" to explain the War of Secession between the northern and southern States.
The Republican Party has been taken hostage by a paranoid fringe of American society that has no intention of losing its grip. The party of the elite has become the populist party of the worst kind. When the Bushes and their allies, such as former Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, made known their disagreement with the new anti-immigration law in Arizona, they were ignored. The New York Times even found recently that for Tea Party devotees, George W. Bush is considered a copy of Barack Obama.
George H.W. Bush, the father, lost the White House to Bill Clinton in 1992 because he had refused to make pledges to the religious fundamentalists. Today, there is no one in the GOP who has the moral sense to oppose bigots. Everyone merely falls in step behind them. John McCain, who in 2007 approved of the immigration bill proposed by George W. Bush (and drafted by members of both parties) — though this decision compromised his presidential campaign — joined the extremists this time. "This law is a good tool," said McCain, who at one time was seen as the conscience of the Republicans. McCain justified his support of the Arizona law, which, in contradiction to the Constitution, allows the police to arrest anyone considered suspect, by saying on Fox News that illegal immigrants "are intentionally causing accidents on the freeways." Should we laugh or cry at that?
Moreover, McCain humiliated himself by asking for the support of ex-running mate Sarah Palin, who did not spare him in her book, Going Rogue, and whom he openly scorns. This time, despite his desperate attempt to latch on to the Tea Party movement, McCain may well lose his seat. Arizona's new senator could be J.D. Hayworth, a man who believes President Obama was not born in the U.S.
It is the entire Republican Party that has much to lose — to be exact, everything to lose — in its attempt at reclamation of Tea Party-ers and birthers. John Boehner, leader of the Republicans in the House of Representatives, did not utter a word against the Arizona law. No more than Mitch McConnell, Republican minority leader in the Senate, Mitt Romney, or any other Republican official.
The Tea Party is a machine destined to lose. The Democrats had the highest margin of victory in American history when Barry Goldwater (a moderate, compared to the crazies of today) faced Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. The way things are going, the re-election of Obama could be triumphal.
Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell chose to bring up a new "Confederate History Month" to celebrate the South, but never once mentioning the word "slavery" to explain the War of Secession between the northern and southern States.
The Republican Party has been taken hostage by a paranoid fringe of American society that has no intention of losing its grip. The party of the elite has become the populist party of the worst kind. When the Bushes and their allies, such as former Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, made known their disagreement with the new anti-immigration law in Arizona, they were ignored. The New York Times even found recently that for Tea Party devotees, George W. Bush is considered a copy of Barack Obama.
George H.W. Bush, the father, lost the White House to Bill Clinton in 1992 because he had refused to make pledges to the religious fundamentalists. Today, there is no one in the GOP who has the moral sense to oppose bigots. Everyone merely falls in step behind them. John McCain, who in 2007 approved of the immigration bill proposed by George W. Bush (and drafted by members of both parties) — though this decision compromised his presidential campaign — joined the extremists this time. "This law is a good tool," said McCain, who at one time was seen as the conscience of the Republicans. McCain justified his support of the Arizona law, which, in contradiction to the Constitution, allows the police to arrest anyone considered suspect, by saying on Fox News that illegal immigrants "are intentionally causing accidents on the freeways." Should we laugh or cry at that?
Moreover, McCain humiliated himself by asking for the support of ex-running mate Sarah Palin, who did not spare him in her book, Going Rogue, and whom he openly scorns. This time, despite his desperate attempt to latch on to the Tea Party movement, McCain may well lose his seat. Arizona's new senator could be J.D. Hayworth, a man who believes President Obama was not born in the U.S.
It is the entire Republican Party that has much to lose — to be exact, everything to lose — in its attempt at reclamation of Tea Party-ers and birthers. John Boehner, leader of the Republicans in the House of Representatives, did not utter a word against the Arizona law. No more than Mitch McConnell, Republican minority leader in the Senate, Mitt Romney, or any other Republican official.
The Tea Party is a machine destined to lose. The Democrats had the highest margin of victory in American history when Barry Goldwater (a moderate, compared to the crazies of today) faced Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. The way things are going, the re-election of Obama could be triumphal.