Jeb Bush (emphasis added):
“A great country ought to know where those folks are and politely ask them to leave,” he said, adding later that properly targeting people who overstay visas “would restore people’s confidence” in the nation’s immigration system.
“There are means by which we can control our border better than we have. And there should be penalties for breaking the law,” he added. “But the way I look at this — and I’m going to say this, and it’ll be on tape and so be it. The way I look at this is someone who comes to our country because they couldn’t come legally, they come to our country because their families — the dad who loved their children — was worried that their children didn’t have food on the table. And they wanted to make sure their family was intact, and they crossed the border because they had no other means to work to be able to provide for their family. Yes, they broke the law, but it’s not a felony. It’s an act of love. It’s an act of commitment to your family. I honestly think that that is a different kind of crime that there should be a price paid, but it shouldn’t rile people up that people are actually coming to this country to provide for their families.”
Mickey Kaus calls it a “cunning strategy“:
Jeb’s Jejune Swoon: Why did Jeb Bush say those provocative, seemingly jejune things about illegal border crossing being “not a felony” but ” an act of love? Obviously it’s what he actually thinks. But, again, why did he say it? Two theories:
1) He’s running in 2016 and thinks he can compensate for giving amnesty to all the illegal border crossers (mainly from Mexico) by cracking down and even deporting visa-overstayers (who aren’t so much from Latin America). It’s a weak attempt to appease immigration hawks–but it’s also a double-pander to many Latinos, who (rightly) resent politicians who talk about building a Southern fence while ignoring the visa-overstay problem. Clever! I don’t think the immigration hawks will be fooled, though, since Bush also endorsed the Gang of 8 bill, which legalizes instantly while postponing enforcement until later.
Or …
2) He’s not running, but he’s making space for Marco Rubio. Look at it this way: The GOP establishment is desperate to suppress Tea Party conservatives and also obtain the immigration amnesty they believe will win
Latinos and relieve them of the need to do too much rethinking in other areas. The problem for the establishment is lack of candidates. Rubio was a favorite, but he sabotaged himself among core Republican primary voters with his disingenuous, flip-floppy championing of the Gang of 8′s bill. That left Christie–but then Christie got caught in a traffic jam. That left Jeb, probably the establishment’s original choice–but it turns out that Jeb is still a Bush, and even the Bushes are sick of the Bushes. That leaves … well, Rubio again….
(Featured Image source: AP via KOIN)
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So… if citizens decide not to pay their taxes to protest an overbearing government, would he consider that to be an “act of love” as well?
You obviously don’t get it. Citizens don’t have a right to break laws. It’s only foreign nationals who sneak across the southern border who have a right to break laws and demand that our government change them.
Capisce?
Say goodbye Jeb to any thought you may have had about winning the GOP nomination. We’ve had enough of the Bush family just like we had enough of the Clinton tribe. If ever there was surefire way to NOT get the nomination you just found it.
I remember the same arguments (act of love) back in 86 too.
it never ends, why even have a damned border.
I understand what he means by “an act of love”, and I would also add “desperation” to it in many cases. I agree with him on that point because it was that which prompted my family to emigrate to the USA, but we all did so legally, obeying American law every step of the way.
Nevertheless, understanding and agreement or not, the country has laws, and aliens must have regard to them. They cannot just walk in, as they have been doing, dragging their whole family, and demanding things of us. That is selfishly envious lawlessness.
I don’t care how angered the Latinos are. Let them fix their own countries by making wiser electoral choices. They keep on voting for Socialist and Communists, and keep getting the same result. Then they migrate illegally and bring their noxious politics with them, which they retain. Accustomed to Socialists and Communists they recognize kindred spirits in the Democrat party.
So, Jeb Bush is pandering, and his pander signals what he would have the GOP do to get votes. It’s not about educating people into capitalism and conservatism.
More than pandering, this is a Leftist-like corruption of language and truth. It’s also a sign of the RINOs going “all-in” on the Leftist emotional game. The RINOs have always been a weak simulacrum of the Left, the Renfields to their Draculas. I think they truly envy the Left’s ruthlessness against conservatives. We can see this more vividly with each passing day (the RNSC’s recent racist smearing of Thad Cochran’s primary opponent; Romney’s “Medi-scare” strategy against Gingrich in Florida).
Amen, Raven! The hatchet job Romney did on Palin and Gingrich says it all. He never laid a glove on Obama. Never!
What Romney was to the GOP in 2012, Jeb Bush will be in 2016: the ‘electable’ one. I think/fear we are seeing Jeb Bush replace the damaged Christie as the Chosen RINO for 2016.
RIP, GOP.
But, Henry, you’ll have to vote for Jeb, you’ll just have to, or else!!!
When Hell freezes over.
If the GOPe cram Jeb Bush down our throats, we should all get used to saying “President Hillary”.
The GOP can’t “cram Jeb Bush down our throats” unless many millions of primary voters choose to put him on the general ballot–just as millions of primary voters chose to put Romney on the general ballot. The party leaders can promote Jeb as much as they want, but voters all over the country don’t have to go along with their program.
Low info voters are not relegated to just the Democrat Party. The GOP leadership can withhold campaign funds, support, and myriad other dirty tricks to make sure their guy gets ahead.
1. This is the same as George W. Bush’s Family values don’t stop at the Rio Grande. Old BS in a new package.
2. Iirc some time ago I posted that, next to the Kennedys, no post-WW2 family has damaged the country more than the Bushes have. spit
3. So what’s Jeb’s plan? It’s to alleviate the desperation of the illegals by making life harder for law-abiding ordinary Americans—and thereby enrich the moneyed caste to which, mirabile dictu, the Bushes belong. TR’s phrase malefactors of great wealth comes to mind.
4. Political orientation aside, I am sympathetic to the plight of many illegals who, in effect, were lured here by powerful Americans conspiring not to enforce the law. However, the interests of American citizens come first.
5. I’d love to find a way to throw those powerful Americans in jail. I acknowledge that will never happen short of revolution because they are shielded behind too many layers of deniability and tailor-made laws.
6. I’ve posted it before: a country that refuses to enforce its borders does not deserve to survive, and won’t. Sooner or later its luck, like the dodo’s, will run out.
7. (Afterthought.) It is despicable to use “love” and “family values”, i.e. the Judeo-Christian virtues, to persuade Americans to set aside their legitimate self-interest and vote to make the Bushes and their ilk richer.
No more Bush’s. Please.
Why do these numb-skulls who call themselves our “betters” not get that these so-called “electable” candidates they are choosing IN SPITE OF US, are all LOSING!!
They can’t win, which guarantees a Democrat win.
Is that the plan?! Enough with the retro-candidates!! Just say NO to Hillary and NO MORE BUSHES!
The two great delights coming our way are the spectacular crashing and burning of Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton.
And all the American citizens being killed, raped, and maimed by drunk ‘illegals’ … and all American jobs being lost or wages suppressed by ‘illegals’ …. is this an act of love, too?
I have the same response to the open border crowd as I do to the legalize-all-drug crowd ..
I am perfectly happy with both …AFTER the welfare state is abolished.
TANSTAAFL and I am tired of having my earnings claimed by people based on their “need”.
While I sincerely sympathize with the good people who come here seeking a better life … I am also privy to police reports at work … and there is a significant minority of the illegal immigrant population engaged in criminal behavior.
By “significant minority” you mean “all of them”, as they’ve broken laws to get here.
You’ll find few people who want a secure border more than I do. I see it as the obvious, first-priority “shovel-ready job.”
But if a border is porous, don’t be surprised that it acts as a magnet for people seeking a better life.
Yes, illegal immigration is illegal.
But there’s a huge difference between those just seeking work and a better life and those seeking opportunities to engage in crime.
We need to secure the border immediately. We need to do what we can to encourage economic growth/capitalism/free trade/democracy in Mexico, Central America, and South America.
The Chinese built a wonderful wall. But I’m not advocating we get them to do it for us. I’d prefer the Israelis.
Luke — I see the same reports. Not to mention all the California gangs with ties to Mexican cartels/organized crime.
Darleen,
I meant to talk about that.
The stuff I see in police reports and the stuff I deal with with Border Control and other agencies on a daily basis(mostly warrants and extradition) just drives me nuts.
I can’t divulge any details, but suffice it to say, it’s just a mess. Until we secure the border, it will continue to be a mess. And let me tell you that communication systems between law enforcement agencies is so antiquated.
There’s much too much room for human error. I could tell you stories that would knock your sock off.
But the good people coming here … I love them. I’ve taught adult ESL night classes to people working thankless jobs by day and struggling to stay awake and learn English by night. Salt-of-the-earth people. If their countries weren’t such basket cases, they wouldn’t be here.
For the criminals who ruin lives and dash back and forth across the border … I have no sympathy. We must secure the border.
How many people have died out of “love” of the Collective…the purity of the volk?
Chairman Mao was once the most loved and venerated man on this planet.
How many NORKS would wound themselves to show “love” for their Dear Leader?
Like all worthy…even beautiful…human concepts, “love” can be perverted.
I hate the word jejune. HATE. IT.
The only person I’ve ever heard use that word is Woody Allen. Enough said.
It’s a good word. It describes LINFO’s perfectly.
This is why we have to fight to make sure Jeb Bush does not get the GOP nomination – it will be a hard fight.
“An act of love”? Well, they sure seem to f*ck us over while they’re here…
He identified the issue, which illegal aliens, and their advocates refuse to discuss. The causes which motivate around one million people to emigrate each year, every year, are in their nations of origin. We are doing no favors for these illegal aliens, their countrymen, or Americans, by ignoring the causes of mass emigration.
“I have the same response to the open border crowd as I do to the legalize-all-drug crowd. I am perfectly happy with both …AFTER the welfare state is abolished.”
Why would you be happy with open borders if there were no welfare state? These people are invaders and colonists, who honor neither your values nor your laws. Let them in without restraint and you will not bequeath your children the country you were born in.
“We are doing no favors for these illegal aliens, their countrymen, or Americans, by ignoring the causes of mass emigration.”
Correct. By allowing them to come here, they will not stay where they are and change it. We enable their home country’s dysfunction by opening our borders, and they repay us by dishonoring our culture and our law.
The point is that if we had pursued a strong effort to reform the economies and political systems of Mexico and Central America beginning in the 1990s, we would have a less pressing problem today.
Mexico is a large country with significant natural resources and an industrious population. They have thousands of miles of coastline to access both major oceans and a thousand mile border with the world’s leading marketplace, the USA. With a halfway open economy, they would be experiencing near double digit economic growth.
It’s not a question of dictating their policies, but we have had leverage and influence for decades, and failed to use them to benefit our neighbors and their people.
Apparently it hasn’t occurred to many of the commenters here that Jeb can be for strong border protection:
“There are means by which we can control our border better than we have. And there should be penalties for breaking the law,”
while still having some compassion for the offenders. (Remember ‘compassionate conservatism’? I believed in it then and still do today.)
I think Jeb is a man of candor, integrity, and conviction, and as a life-long Republican, I hope he runs in ’16.
Compassionate Conservatism? Nonsense. You mean RINOism with the State providing the compassion.
Much as I liked Dubya, before he began showing his true colors, I found this phrase repulsive. Americans are the most compassionate people on earth. Nobody else on earth extends a hand to those in need like Americans.
All we ask is that people obey our laws, remain in their countries until they have our legal permission to come. It is not compassionate to let people enter illegally because thousands die making the journey. It is not compassionate because they never learn how to right the wrongs in their own country. Then they come here and wind up on welfare. We give them fish. How is that compassionate? We make leeches of them, and they demand more, even as they rape and kill our citizens. Where is their compassion for us?
“Compassionate conservatism” is weak-minded BS intended to guilt Conservatives into RINOism. This very very conservative Conservative will not fall for that. Next you will tell me that to be compassionate Conservatives must insist the Church marry homosexuals!
Apparently it hasn’t occurred to many of the commenters here that Jeb can be for strong border protection:
He “could” be, but there is no reason to trust that he is. And we have been lied to EVERY TIME by not only Democrats, but also “compassionate” Republicans who always manage to kill any security measures while encouraging the further invasion of our country.
He has never been in favor of border security. He did not even mention it here. And there is no indication that any time in the future he will be in favor of it. His emphasis is always on kindness to the invaders at the expense of Americans.
If he is the Institutional Republican candidate, I’m voting third party and buying more ammunition.
Subotai Bahadur
I’m all Bush’d out. If the GOP establishment thinks this guy is a winner, then they are delusional. I’ll stay home, or vote for Ross Perot or Ron Paul or Kinky Friedman or anybody but this guy.
hymn, hymn, F hymn….
kiss my ass you RINO POS!
not just no, but HELL no.
It’s true that we need visa tracking – especially because now we have none at all. That, along with other measures including universal e-Verify and border improvements, is an important part of the enforcement reform which is a necessary first step to overall immigration reform.
But we can’t speak of “amnesty” in any forum until and UNLESS these enforcement measures are implemented and shown to be working. Been there twice, done that twice, turn the page.
AND while some form of legal status will undoubtedly be part of the overall package, guest workers or some such, any “path to citizenship” that allows anyone who came illegally to be in a position ahead of those obeying our laws and patiently waiting their turns is a non-starter.
We do need “comprehensive” reforms, but not at one time.
Jeb is well qualified, but as a candidate he has more problems than immigration. He’s a big backer of Common Core, which is the next Designated Reform to allow the Public Ed Establishment to Survive While Pretending to Improve. I think he was also a proponent of NCLB, the last Designated Reform to allow the Public Ed Establishment to Survive While Pretending to Improve.
Bottom line: he should have run in 2000. We have a strong bench of Governors now, with equal or better records of conservative reforms and successful tenures. And without the baggage.
No amnesty under any conditions. At all. None!
Fix our borders, track and deport illegals and those who commit crimes in our country. Keep our gates tightly shut and open only to those whom we permit to come.
Amnesty rewards law breaking, and encourages others to come rather than staying home to fix their countries.
Very jejune.
Cunning: ORIGIN Middle English: perhaps from Old Norse kunnandi ‘knowledge,’ from kunna ‘know’ (related to can1), or perhaps from Middle English cunne, an obsolete variant of can1. The original sense was ‘(possessing) erudition or skill’ and had no implication of deceit; the sense ‘deceitfulness’ dates from late Middle English.
We need to pay more attention to the second part of Bush’s utterance: ‘illegal immigration is an act of love, not a felony’.
Not a felony.
Think that attitude through to a Jeb Bush presidency and what it would mean to illegal immigration and other inconvenient laws his administration might not like. It sounds a bit Obaman, doesn’t it?
As for the George W/Jeb political critter called ‘compassionate conservatism’, it is an insult to plain old conservatism, deemed by the Bush’s as unfeeling, uncaring, without compassion.
The whole Bush family are cretinous phonies. I almost hate them as much as the Left does – but for different reasons.
I don’t literally hate anyone, but W lost me when he twice said I couldn’t be a Real American, once for not sharing his religious beliefs, and once for not supporting some government program expansion or another, can’t recall now. My thought was, ‘who the f**k are you to tell me I’m not a real American?’
This is savvy electoral optics, and a red meat distraction for the hard right. When my ancestors got here in the late 1800s, there were no quotas and there wasn’t welfare. I don’t know why we can’t give immigrants a renewable work permit provided they pass a background check and they are refused access to government handouts. We are a country of immigrants and will always have immigration tensions. Yet at a time when we have a crippled military, a crippled foreign policy, an unstable dollar and broad daylight fascism silencing dissent, the Right prefers to indulge itself in zenophobia and reinforce in the minds of independent voters that conservatives are cold-hearted.
“I robbed the bank as an act of love for my poor family” . . . I can see defense lawyers all over the USA citing the Bush Defense . . .
MITT ROMNEY, PLEASE RUN AGAIN!
Just saw the Capt America movie. All i can think of when I see the pic above is…
*hail hydra!*