12/31/2013
As 2014 begins, President Barack Obama is on the ropes — and the only thing that can save him is the Republican Party. Luckily for him, Rep. Paul Ryan seems determined to oblige, by handing him an epochal political victory in the shape of some form of the Schumer-Rubio Amnesty/ Immigration Surge (which the Treason Lobby and the Main Stream Media call “Immigration Reform” in a telling tacit admission of its unpopularity).
This is all the more unforgivable because it is unnecessary. Obama has had what Queen Elizabeth II might call an annus horribilis. Though Republican bumbling led to political defeat in Virginia and New Jersey, the larger political momentum has turned decisively against the President. In foreign affairs, he was outmaneuvered by Kremlin chessmaster Vladimir Putin, and America seems increasingly irrelevant even as tensions increase in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Northeast Asia. [Barack Obama — our irrelevant President, by Michael Goodwin, New York Post, August 26, 2013]
In domestic politics, the Sandy Hook shooting in late 2012 was supposed to allow President Obama and the Democrats to pass transformative gun control laws. But after a year of speeches, social media campaigns, and biased hysteria from the Fourth Estate, the result was still crushing defeat. The assault weapons ban and the gun background check both failed in the Senate in April. [Gun background check compromise, assault weapon ban fail in Senate, by Ed O’Keefe, Washington Post, April 17, 2013]
And in the states, the majority of laws based actually loosened restrictions on guns. [State Gun Laws Enacted in the Year Since Newton, New York Times, December 10, 2013]
Obama even seemed strangely detached from the year’s fierce budget battles. Instead of negotiating with leading Congressional Republicans, he took every opportunity to make impotent threats from the bully pulpit, to the indifference of the country. This made him look even more unnecessary to the governing process. [Obama the Irrelevant, by Larry Kudlow, Daily Caller, September 20, 2013]
Finally, and most importantly, that apogee of racial socialism known as Obamacare has become a national joke, mocked on everything from Saturday Night Live to the Country Music Awards. The inability of the Minority Occupation Government to build a website is a priceless political gift to the Republican Party.
Only 35 percent of Americans approve of Obamacare and the numbers are still falling. [Obamacare Approval Ratings Hit Record Low, by Charlotte Alter, Time, December 23, 2013] And Barack Obama’s own personal approval ratings have fallen below 40 percent in some polls, a level that marked the beginning of George W. Bush’s second-term death spiral. [Obama’s Approval Rating Dipped Into Dangerously Low Territory Yesterday, by Brett Logiurato, BusinessInsider, December 4, 2013]
So the GOP Establishment may be about to win the only way they know how — by default. Generic Republicans now have an edge going into the midterm elections, part of a 13 point swing away from the Democratic Party. [CNN Poll: GOP has edge in early midterm indicator, by Paul Steinhauser, CNN, December 26, 2013]
Obama needs a massive legislative triumph to reestablish his relevance and to animate his nonwhite base. Thus the Amnesty/ Immigration Surge is not just Barack Obama’s top legislative priority — it is his last hope of avoiding lame duck status.
In contrast, all the GOP has to do is nothing. And the strongest force in politics is usually inertia. But with the Beltway Right, inertia is often overwhelmed by stupidity.
Enter Paul Ryan, who with his dogmatic, even religious, rationalizations for cheap labor, his political talent for describing surrender as victory, and his sociopathic contempt for his own constituents is almost a caricature of the soul of the Beltway Right.
Ryan, who shares with National Review Editor Rich Lowry the characteristic of looking like a pubescent boy despite being well over 40, has already been working to save Barack Obama by crafting a “bipartisan” budget plan with Senator Patty Murray (D.-Washington State). Obama, vacationing as usual, signed the plan but took the opportunity to bash Republicans, saying, “It’s a good first step away from the shortsighted, crisis-driven decision-making that has only served to act as a drag on our economy.” [Obama signs budget agreement, by Amanda Grace Johnson, NBC, December 26, 2013]
The budget deal cuts veterans’ pensions while ensuring that illegal immigrants continue to receive tax credits. [Sen. Jeff Sessions: Leave military retiree pay alone, close tax loophole for illegal immigrants, by Leada George, AL.com, December 17, 2013] A veteran’s letter to Paul Ryan after being hit up for donations, calling him, Senator John McCain, RNC chairman Reince Priebus, and others “traitorous,” has already “gone viral” [Fed-Up Veteran Tells Paul Ryan What He Thinks of ‘Bipartisan’ Budget Deal in Viral Open Letter, by Jason Howerton, The Blaze, December 26, 2013]
But what does Paul Ryan care? He is triangulating against his base, and toward the Main Stream Media and the Donor Class, in preparation for a Presidential run. [For Paul Ryan, budget deal may be a career turning point, by Susan Davis, USA Today, December 12, 2013]
Although Rep. Tom Cole’s claim, reported by USA Today’s Davis, that Ryan is “the smartest guy we have” may be akin to being an admiral in the Swiss Navy, the Republican grassroots still tend to believe what their leaders tell them. Currently, Paul Ryan leads all other contenders in an early presidential poll of Republicans in Iowa. [Who tops Cruz in early Iowa 2016 poll?, by Alexis Levinson, Daily Caller, December 16, 2013]
Ryan’s rise is ominous. Treason Lobby operatives like Tamar Jacoby recognize that partisan division was a key factor in blocking the Amnesty/ Immigration Surge in 2013 and hope Ryan will bridge it:
Speaker Boehner and Rep. Ryan defied the "Hell no" holdout wing of their party and delivered a compromise budget, even at a time of peak Republican mistrust and antipathy for the president…. Can Speaker Boehner and Rep. Ryan pull off a similar deal next year on immigration?
[Big Surprise Ahead in 2013, by Tamar Jacoby, CNN, December 26, 2013]
Ryan clearly agrees. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who doesn’t even pretend to be loyal to the country he ostensibly represents, giggles that Paul Ryan is his ally on immigration reform. According to CBS News’ Major Garrett: “GOP leaders may no longer be “fearful of the internal or external politics of immigration reform. Quite the contrary. Ryan held fast on the budget and he and Boehner are both still standing, arguably stronger than at any time since 2010.” [The Morning Plum: Immigration Reform Coming in 2014?, by Greg Sargent, Washington Post, December 20, 2013]
The main beneficiary of such an action: Barack Obama. Thus Obama’s support has dropped by 23 percentage points among Hispanics over the past year. [Gallup: Obama Losing Support of Hispanic Voters, by Cathy Burke, Newsmax, December 5, 2013]. Hispanics have cooled on Obama because he is not liberal enough and has not delivered on his progressive promises. [Why Today’s GOP Will Never Win Over Minority Voters, by Ruy Teixeira, Think Progress, April 15, 2013] What support he retains remains because he is a symbol of a nonwhite America.
But as even Rush Limbaugh has noted, Republicans will not receive credit for Amnesty any more than Ronald Reagan did in 1986. [Republican Caller: We Must Sacrifice Principles and Support Amnesty So Marco Rubio Can Appeal to Low-Information Voters, Rushlimbaugh.com, July 2 2013] If an Amnesty/ Immigration Surge passes, Obama and the Democrats will reap both the short-term credit and the long-term benefits of millions more Hispanic voters pour in to consolidate a permanent Leftist majority.
This will not matter in Paul Ryan’s 90% white district. But the descendants of his constituents will be rendered politically powerless in the country their forefathers built. For their sake, Ryan must be stopped.
Why does Paul Ryan want to save Barack Obama from the consequences of his own incompetence? Partly it’s Jack Kemp-style blind economistic boosterism — and partly a selfish focus on winning the pre-primaries primary among the GOP Donor Class. Increasing immigration means pleased plutocrats. Resistance threatens a Donor Riot.
Ironically, immigration patriots are forced into a similar position. Stopping the Amnesty/ Immigration Surge means saving Conservatism Inc., at least for a while. Americans can be forgiven for wishing they didn’t have to save these people along with themselves.
Still, stopping the Amnesty/ Immigration Surge also means finishing the Obama Regime — and opening the door for what comes next.
James Kirkpatrick is a Beltway veteran and a refugee from Conservatism Inc.
This is a content archive of VDARE.com, which Letitia James forced off of the Internet using lawfare.