Blog post

February 10, 2007 [LINK / comment]

Rove's gaffe on immigration

Sometimes I wonder how a president who is so keenly focused on national security could have such a nonchalant attitude about the massive, flagrant border crossings from Mexico. Most likely, he figures there is a tradeoff between security and prosperity, based on the assumption that our economy needs an endless supply of cheap labor. But perhaps he is also influenced by his inner circle of advisers and their social attitudes. On Tuesday, Karl Rove was speaking at a Republican women's luncheon and used a personal example to justify President Bush's misguided push for a "guest worker" program:

I don't want my 17-year-old son to have to pick tomatoes or make beds in Las Vegas.

Oh, ho! Once again, a simple offhand remark reveals the true attitudes of a public figure. See abcnews.com, via thinkprogress.org, via Andrew Sullivan, who reacted initially by saying, "It's a very big story if true - because it higlights the deep faultline in the GOP on immigration." Yep. Sadly, many Americans are too obtuse to even realize there is something wrong with Rove's statement. It's probably the same folks who see no reason to have to make sacrifices for the war effort. I bet Rove doesn't want his son to serve in Iraq, either.

I should state that one of my basic beliefs about society is that "People who in any way deprecate the value of an honest day's work, however humble the job may be, whether in or out of the home, are reprehensible scum bags." (See my Introduction page.) As for Bush's proposed guest worker program, anyone who thinks there aren't enough illegal aliens in this country to do agricultural and menial jobs already are just plain nuts.

By the way, Sullivan's blog has just been transfered from Time magazine to The Atlantic Monthly, which has long been my favorite literary opinion magazine. James Fallows rocks!