Freedom Folks

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Mike Pence: Rising Superstar or jackass?

Source: nytimes
Conjure what might be called the perfect conservative, and chances are he would look a lot like Representative Mike Pence, the Indiana Republican who in just three terms has turned 100 House allies into a vanguard and himself into one of his party’s rising stars.

Or that was the case until this spring when he sought compromise in the rancorous immigration debate. His complicated plan would strengthen border security and send illegal immigrants home, but let most of them quickly return. Since then, Mr. Pence — named last year’s Man of the Year by the conservative weekly Human Events — has looked to some conservatives like this year’s Benedict Arnold. They say he has lent his conservative prestige to a form of liberal amnesty.

Phyllis Schlafly of the Eagle Forum called his plan “a sick joke.” Richard A. Viguerie, the direct-mail pioneer, threatened to punish politicians who supported it. Pat Buchanan, editor of The American Conservative, likened the betrayal to a scene from “The Godfather.”

Perpetually genial, prematurely gray, Mr. Pence, 47, said, “I was taken aback by the level of invective.”
Why? Why in god's name would Mr. Chucakles be "taken aback by the 'invective?'" Is disagreement now invective? According to my trusty Mirriam-Webster invective means insult of abuse, is that what really happened here? Or did Mr. Chuckles not like being slapped down as he tried so desperately to sell out his fellow countrymen?

Now, here is the sort of thing that truly makes my ass itch...
“It’s a test of the character of the conservative movement in the 21st century,” he said. “We are either going to prove that we believe in the ideas enshrined on the Statue of Liberty or the American people will go looking elsewhere.”
This is at best a non sequitor. We will "prove that we believe in the ideas enshrined on the Statue of Liberty?" Huh? "or the American people will go looking elsewhere." At the risk of repeating myself, huh?

And providing efficient, potentially wildly corrupt amnesty is now..."a test of the character of the conservative movement?" Really? When did that happen?

Now, though I currently live in the occupied heart of mid-western Aztlan, I had the opportunity to visit the Statue of Liberty for the first time about a year ago. I gotta tell you, I may have nodded off at some point, but I don't recall anything about illegal immigration being "enshrined" on the grand old gal.

And, "the American people will go elsewhere?" Seriously, what does this mean? That if we don't support his retarded amnesty plan Americans will have to move to Paraguay? Which, by the way, I hear is lovely this time of year.

I do actually know what he's getting at, I think he's retarded, I'm not. What he's trying to say, in a bass-ackwards kinda way, is that even the worst bill in the world is better than no bill. Sorry Mike, gonna have to call BS on that one good buddy. I think no bill is a far superior option to the nation killing piece of tripe you're peddling sir.

Here's my favorite bit from this steaming pile of happy...
And when asked why an Indiana congressman was focused on the border, he responded with a ready phrase: “April 11, 1923.”

That is when his Irish grandfather, Richard Michael Cawley, a Chicago bus driver, arrived on Ellis Island. “We were especially close,” said Mr. Pence, who added that he sees his grandfather’s thrift and hard work in today’s immigrant generation.
Imagine this to the tune of My Fair Lady...

Every day is Ellis Island
And full of kittens and sunshine
Me grandpappy were marvelous
And illegal immegrants are too!

I tend to refer to this as "Ellis Island Syndrome." Those who suffer from this debilitating malady often conflate legal and illegal immigration, are unable to hear anything negative about immigrants, and smell faintly of Glenfiddich and old ductwork.

The Pence Ploy, as Bryanna Bevens of Vdare calls it is a dirty piece of legislation. Read her take downs here, here, here and here.

And let's not forget who the evil she-hag crone is behind this debacle here.

It's a shame really, this guy sounds like he was alright, as scumbag, waste of skin politicians go, but this issue is the crucible of our time, and he just managed to step on the old crank with golf shoes on. He's not the first, and he won't be the last.

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