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In January, Jeb Bush urged the GOP that they should reach out to the Latino community if they want to stay relevant.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is calling on conservatives to step up their outreach to Hispanic voters if they want to remain politically relevant.
Former President George Bush in a speech said that the Tea Party suffers from nativism which drew the ire of Laura Ingraham. And other mainstream Republicans also began to make the same argument including Newt Gingrich: 'Moderate' Republicans try to do outreach with Latinos. Lots of luck with that.
Newt Gingrich, a potential presidential candidate and a thought leader inside the party, talks about creating a zone between amnesty and mass deportation.
It appears that that message has fallen on deaf ears. KTRH: Tea Party Leader Makes "Racist" Remarks, Says Texas Has Too Many Hispanic Lawmakers
Rebecca Forrester the co-founder of "Women on the Wall" said that "part of the problem" behind the inability of the Texas legislature to pass a crack down on illegal immigrants is "because Texas has... 36 Hispanics in the legislature." Too many, she suggests, to pass a meaningful reform bill as the matter is "too close to them."
It's a remark that Luis Vera, the National General Counsel for LULAC says crosses the line."There was no reason for that comment, we can disagree on being Democrat or Republican but she's drawing it straight down racial lines and nothing else," says Vera.
The comments are also sparking condemnation from Hispanics in the legislature like State Representative Armando Walle. "We are proud Americans and many of us were born in this country and have generations and generations in this country and that type of mentality doesn’t deserve a response," says Walle.Meanwhile Felicia Cravens with the Houston Tea Party says the comments made don’t reflect the Tea Party movement as a whole, as "Women on the Wall" is a fringe group.
"When people start slapping a Tea Party label on things it causes confusion and it makes the message less clear," she said.
You can always count on Republicans to claim that the racists in their midst are fringers. If the Tea Party or the GOP was trying to engage on an honest level with the Hispanic community they would have willing partners in the Democratic Party to get a deal done, but FOX News and AM hate talk radio will never allow that to happen. Limbaugh and his pals torpedoed Bush's push for immigration reform in 2007. And Rebecca Forrester clearly is the wrong woman to help bridge the gap.The base of the GOP will never allow a meaningful dialogue on immigration reform and it's too bad because America would benefit greatly along with millions of Latinos.
George Bush has infuriated the Tea Party faction of the GOP when he spoke out January 24 at Southern Methodist University in Dallas against what he perceives is a historic shift back to the olden days of isolationism, protectionism and its demon-seed hellspawn, Nativism. Laura Ingraham filled in for O'Reilly and was furious at the president she once held so dear to her heart.
Ingraham: Last November President Bush remarked that the Tea Party is good for the country. But why did he attack a key priority for many Tea Partiers, namely, getting our borders under control and preventing mass amnesty for illegal immigrants?
Bush: What's interesting about our country, if you study history, is that there are some 'isms' that occasionally pop up -- pop up. One is isolationism and its evil twin protectionism and its evil triplet nativism. So if you study the '20s, for example, there was -- there was an American first policy that said who cares what happens in Europe?...And there was an immigration policy that I think during this period argued we had too many Jews and too many Italians; therefore we should have no immigrants. And my point is that we've been through this kind of period of isolationism, protectionism and Nativism. I'm a little concerned that we may be going through the same period."
Ingraham: Now as someone who was at the forefront in opposing the 2006 Bush immigration reform effort, I was saddened, but not all that surprised by the President's insulting characterization.... To say that it's all about hostility to foreigners is ludicrous.
To back up her position she uses a Dallas Tea Party poll which showed over 95% in favor of Arizona's hateful SB1070 law. I guess that's irrefutable proof that Conservative opposition towards immigration reform is anything but Nativism, right? Ingraham uses the phony Conservative claim that this is all about "the rule of law" as a crutch to back up her Nativist position on immigration. Jeb Bush also got under her skin when he spoke out against Republicans and called their opposition "wrong and stupid." Laura wasn't happy being tag teamed by the Bush Brothers.
Ingraham: Now that's an interesting way to court future GOP voters given their overwhelming opposition to amnesty, Gov. Bush. maybe President Bush was right. We are suffering from an outbreak of ism's. Elitism comes to mind.
Calling George and Jeb Bush 'elitists' are fightin' words, young lady, since that's the exact opposite of how she viewed them when they were in office. Oh, how times have changed -- because here I am, writing about something that I agree with George Bush on, and here Laura Ingraham is, attacking the president she once defended to the hilt. That's how far right the GOP has moved.
Click here to read more on the Limbaugh/Bush immigration fight.