Friday, March 31, 2006
Lurching Rightward
Posted by Bruce Barry on Fri, Mar 31, 2006 at 9:19 AM
Bill Frist's recent rightward lurch on immigration seems calculated to appease what we casually refer to as "the base," but in doing so he's managed to tilt himself past even The Wall Street Journal. Writing on the editorial page today, WSJ deputy editor Daniel Henninger savages the current state of immigration law and takes a dim view of those, like Frist, who think more enforcement is the critical piece:
"Darkest impulses" ... that'll look good on a Frist '08 bumper sticker.
I think Mr. Frist's reading of the public mind is wrong, and Mr. McCain has it about right....Most Americans understand their heritage and do not want now to be "anti-immigrant." They don't want to be party to an 11-million-person round-up and deportation. What they want is a politics that takes seriously their anxieties, anxieties that involve not just immigrants but general unease about the direction of a turbulent, constantly changing U.S. culture, as in that 2004 presidential vote....It may be too much to hope, but the purpose of political leadership in such times is to find a path toward our best lights rather than our darkest impulses. At the moment, Senator Frist of Tennessee isn't measuring up.
"Darkest impulses" ... that'll look good on a Frist '08 bumper sticker.
Comments (34)
Showing 1-34 of 34
