The Anti-Neoconservative Moment

In an article claiming that the GOP will doom itself to defeat if it becomes an “anti-immigration” party, William Kristol lets loose this exquisite piece of false logic:

In California, Republican governor Pete Wilson exploited the immigration issue to help get reelected in 1994, and the voters passed a Republican-backed anti-immigration measure, proposition 187. No Republican candidate except the idiosyncratic Arnold Schwarzenegger has won statewide since.

Excuse me, Mr. Kristol, but every GOP statewide candidate in California since 1994, with the exception of Schwarzenegger, has run away from Proposition 187, and has lost. Arnold said that he had supported 187, and he won.

And another thing. Wilson’s opponents in 1994 did not claim that Wilson was “exploiting the immigration issue to get re-elected.” To the contrary, they were sure he had embraced a lost cause and was going down to defeat. Wilson and Prop. 187 won against the concerted opposition of the entire California political and media establishment, including the GOP establishment. To portray a brave stand on principle as “exploiting the issue” is outrageously unfair.

And another thing. Prop. 187 was not about immigration, but illegal immigration. Calling illegal immigration “immigration” and describing those who oppose the mass legalizing of illegal aliens as being “anti-immigration” is wrong and dishonest.

However, I find comfort in your dishonesty, your misuse of language, and your smug, unthinking contempt for your opponents. Anyone who dismisses Tom Tancredo as an “anti-immigration yahoo,” as you do in this article, anyone who says that opposing the outrageous amnesty bill would turn the GOP into an “anti-immigration, Know Nothing party,” as you also do in this article, has shown by his name-calling that he’s on the ropes. The Anti-Neoconservative Moment has come.

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A reader writes:

Yes, it shows that they really had nothing except the name-calling and clichés, and even now that they are being challenged, they still name-call and repeat clichés, like a mechanical toy.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at April 17, 2006 11:32 AM | Send