If you are curious as to whom the Republican leadership truly respects and listens to about the proper policies for the party to follow, the answer might surprise you. Certainly one would expect that theyd listen to their strategists and pollsters. And its well known that they grant their donors the kind of fidelity one would normally only expect of 12th century knights of the realm. But if one is to judge by their approach to immigration, they are following the advice of the great oracle of wingnuttia, Ann Coulter.
Yesterday Democrats lamented the fact that the Senate immigration bill, passed over a year ago, still languishes in the House. The president made a mild comment suggesting that the American people are ahead of the House Republicans in this matter and would like to move ahead. He later called House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and they had a discussion of the issue after which Cantor released apouty press releasewhining that the president is a big meanie:
It looks likesomebodydidnt get his nap.
This is standard operating procedure for Cantors operation. Recall hisself-serving tantrumover the first bank bailout when he tried to blame Nancy Pelosis being rude for the GOPs inability to deliver the promised votes:
Deputy Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) held up a copy of Pelosis speech, saying, Right here is the reason, I believe, why this vote failed, and this is Speaker Pelosis speech that, frankly, struck the tone of partisanship that, frankly, was inappropriate in this discussion.
Poor Cantor. He bruises so easily. Its an enduring puzzle why someone with such delicate sensibilities chose a rough-and-tumble field like politics.
Of course his patented lugubrious tone is usually a cover for a very serious problem in his own caucus. And this one is huge. He is facing a group of strategists and donors who look at the trends and believe that if the Republican Party continues to insult racial and ethnic minorities with its patented degrading rhetoric, they are facingdemographic armageddon:
Seeing as the white population includes quite a few liberals and moderates and the vast majority of non-whites logically arent inclined to vote for a party full of racial demagogues, youd think that the leading strategists of the party would be working overtime to pass immigration reform and make some attempts to reach out beyond their conservative white base. And frankly, that is the advice thats coming from many of them. But thats not who the congressional leadership is listening to. It would appear that they are listening to Ann Coulter, who has developeda bizarre theory about illegal immigrationthat comes at it from a direction thats very convenient for those who would rather not allow certain people to become citizens of this country:
Conservatives who ignore amnesty while carping about the debt ceiling, TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program), the Internet tax bill or Benghazi are too stupid to help their country.
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Eric Cantor is a delicate little flower (whose intellectual guide is Ann Coulter)