I am standing at the edge of the Red State pond, and I am fascinated as I watch the water boil, churning into a white froth as angry, frustrated Republicans and non-Democrats of various flavors twist and roll, bite and chew. It is almost frightening to behold. I have dipped my toe in a couple of times, wary of the stump I might pull back.
Never does it fail to amaze me, how under the auspices of the great conservative pumpkin, the ideological deity for whom any act of heresy by a President or a Governor cannot be tolerated, will launch a frenzy of dissent, and cries for political crucifixion. The outrage is so impassioned, that no regard is given to the fact that an unholy, if unintended allegiance is forming with the evil empire, the Democrats.
I fully understand that the President has quite a number of moderate tendencies, and a propensity to "reach out" to a fault. I understand that the illegal immigration debate has festered for many years and that any idea which does not demand swift justice for the law breakers is repugnant and seems fraught with invitation for more.
But I also understand the idea that the poisonous snake has already crawled out of the bag, and is now lurking, God knows where. Our desire is to be completely rid of the menace, and we believe it is our right to have it that way. Unfortunately, to accomplish that task we would be forced to demolish great portions of our house. In a time when deficit spending is running wild because of the War(s) on Terror, natural disasters, and of course, reckless irresponsible spending by lawmakers, it makes no sense to outlay the additional resources necessary to apprehend and physically transport millions of people.
The President said that every aspect of the solutions he outlined must be carried out from border security, to identification reform, to offering legitimate attainable programs that foreign workers can pursue. If all of the elements are not carefully executed then the effort will be wasted and the problem will persist.
As fraught with peril as that seems, the alternatives are simply not realistic, and in and of themselves would violate many other conservative principles; namely larger government and an endless pipeline of tax money to support it.
I am not complaining that people are complaining, but what I see happening is that the discourse has become so vile, that the conservative base is making the 2006 election argument for the liberal left. It is not inconsequential to lose control to liberal Democrats. No matter how much you are displeased with the fact that this President is not the conservative messiah, he is still not a stands-for-nothing liberal. No matter how much we are disgusted by the wimpy control that Republicans have exercised with their congressional majority, they will never be as Not-Conservative as would a Congress run by liberal Democrats.
I am simply saying that we should stop campaigning for the Democrats, especially as the November elections are visible on the horizon. Seek out the sensible conservatives who are running and support the heck out of them, and get them elected. I am saying that we have opportunity to shape our offering every two years, and that is where our focus should be. Stop pounding on the fragile foundation wall that we have, because as smelly as our egg is, if it falls, we will have great difficulty putting it back together again.
I have said a lot of things, but I hope that you do not get stuck on irrelevant excuses. I am not a Bush apologist, but rather a realist. I find it suicidal to jump up and down on the swinging foot bridge as we try to cross over to the promised land of common sense, especially when so many of the boards are cracked and the ropes are precariously frayed.
Lets try to remember that... United we Stand, Divided we Fall thing. It is a concept that is well demonstrated in history. I only need to look back at 1992, to see one pungent example. It cost us eight nauseating years, and still there remains a putrid taste on my tongue.
Copyright ©2006, Phil Harris
(Also posted at RedState.com)
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