Thread: Has President Bush Humiliated the Republican Party?

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For almost three years, arguably longer, conservative Bush supporters have felt like sufferers of battered wife syndrome. You don't like endless gushing spending, the kind that assumes a high and unstoppable affluence will always exist, and the tax receipts will always flow in? Too bad! You don't like expanding governmental authority and power? Too bad. You think the war was wrong or is wrong? Too bad.


But on immigration it has changed from "Too bad" to "You're bad."
The president has taken to suggesting that opponents of his immigration bill are unpatriotic--they "don't want to do what's right for America." His ally Sen. Lindsey Graham has said, "We're gonna tell the bigots to shut up." On Fox last weekend he vowed to "push back." Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff suggested opponents would prefer illegal immigrants be killed; Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said those who oppose the bill want "mass deportation." Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson said those who oppose the bill are "anti-immigrant" and suggested they suffer from "rage" and "national chauvinism."

When President Bush ran for office in 2000, he promiced to support fundamental Republican values: No nation building, tough stance on illegal immigration, small government, lower spending, tax cuts, higher standards for education, and rejection of special interests. He promised to be a uniter. He appealed to the Newt Gingrich Republicans who swept control of the government by acting for the people, balancing the budget, cutting the deficit, weening welfare recipients from the government teat.



What has Bush actually done? He's gotten involved in long term nation building, he created a monstrously expensive and utterly ineffective education plan (no child left behind). He used the Prescription Drug plan to silence the AARP in 2004, helping him win Florida. He has nearly doubled the size of the federal bureaucracy. He is offering illegals amnesty. He has refused to work with Democrats, marginalizing half the country and causing deep, now nearly irreconcilable, differences between conservative and liberal.



Now, he has the gall to condemn the Republican base for not supporting his illegal immigration policies? President Bush has succeeded in taking the Republican Party at its most powerful time in history and divided it, shredded it, undermined it... he has united Democrats.



Let's ignore the Iraq War for a minute, what has President Bush done for Americans? What has the President done that has produced positive domestic policy?

If I was a conservative, I'd see Bush as a "disgrace" to the Republican Party for not being conservative.

I am a conservative but not a Republican. Bush has shamed America with his amnesty bill. I just heard that all 65 phone bank operators were fired at the RNC, there was some lame excuse about the system being old & etc (yawn) but the truth is, they are not generating donations, Republicans aren't giving. So, did Bush humiliate the Rs? Don't know, but he sure has pissed them off, including me!!!

He has made a lot of money for his friends.
Bush has turned the eye of the NSA inward.
Drug company’s profits are up.

well bush has not only humiliated the republican party but has humiliated the entire american nation.
like blair,bush too will be remembered for a long time for the iraq war as jimmy carter has rightly pointed out that he is the worst president america ever had.

Originally Posted by Migi e!

I am a conservative but not a Republican. Bush has shamed America with his amnesty bill. I just heard that all 65 phone bank operators were fired at the RNC, there was some lame excuse about the system being old & etc (yawn) but the truth is, they are not generating donations, Republicans aren't giving. So, did Bush humiliate the Rs? Don't know, but he sure has pissed them off, including me!!!

I think this Amnesty bill is Bush's way of trying to find a legacy. Iraq wasn't as easy as he though and he'll never be the "war president" he imagined himself to be. So, he'll free 12-15 million Americans from their status as illegal. This will be the final nail in the coffin of the Republican Party, in my opinion. While there are some Republicans running in 2008 that I like, Ron Paul and Rudy Giuliani, and I do like Bill Richardson on the Dem's side, it is going to be quite easy to vote Libertarian in the general election. Hopefully Republicans and Democrats who are appalled at what our government has become will begin to make a difference, vote Libertarian, and give our government the message that we aren't going to take this crap anymore.

Originally Posted by Burning Giraffe

I think this Amnesty bill is Bush's way of trying to find a legacy. Iraq wasn't as easy as he though and he'll never be the "war president" he imagined himself to be. So, he'll free 12-15 million Americans from their status as illegal. This will be the final nail in the coffin of the Republican Party, in my opinion. While there are some Republicans running in 2008 that I like, Ron Paul and Rudy Giuliani, and I do like Bill Richardson on the Dem's side, it is going to be quite easy to vote Libertarian in the general election. Hopefully Republicans and Democrats who are appalled at what our government has become will begin to make a difference, vote Libertarian, and give our government the message that we aren't going to take this crap anymore.

You asked if he humiliated the Rs, I answered with what I thought made them mad. I have not heard the angst over the war like I have about the amnesty. The thing that's sick, is dems are in on that bill too & as usual are letting somebody else do their dirty work. A pox on all of 'em.

Originally Posted by Migi e!

You asked if he humiliated the Rs, I answered with what I thought made them mad. I have not heard the angst over the war like I have about the amnesty. The thing that's sick, is dems are in on that bill too & as usual are letting somebody else do their dirty work. A pox on all of 'em.

I know, I understand. All I was pointing out is that there are other alternatives available.

I've enjoyed economic prosperity as a small business owner under GW. So I can't complain.

Originally Posted by Anti-Imperialistic

well bush has not only humiliated the republican party but has humiliated the entire american nation.
like blair,bush too will be remembered for a long time for the iraq war as jimmy carter has rightly pointed out that he is the worst president america ever had.

Gotta second this.

The only silver lining is the chaos he has wreaked on his own party and the fact that he has gone a very long way to discredit Republicans, even to people that once called themself a Republican. But, that is not much of a silver lining for the size of the huge freaking cloud he has created.

BTW - Carter never should have back peddeled on that. I'm sick of seeing folks on the left point out how bad these guys have been then run from the attacks that come their way for telling the truth. Freaking weak.