It’s hard to argue with Rep. West on either count.
Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) said Monday he was “dejected” by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s performance during an interview Friday in which he was asked repeatedly about President Obama’s recently announced policy shift on illegal immigration.
Romney dodged questions about whether he would repeal an administration policy that halts deportation proceedings on some young illegal immigrants. He said instead he would advocate for a long-term, legislative solution to the issue.
But West objected to what he perceived as equivocating, pleading with Romney to take a stand on the issue.
“I guess I feel a little bit dejected because I think that it goes back to what my mother taught me, ‘a man must stand for something, or else he’ll fall for anything,’ ” West said on the Laura Ingraham radio show.
The Tea Party favorite went on to attack Obama for having made the move, arguing he unjustly circumvented Congress.
“You know the last time we had this was with King George the III, and we didn’t like it too much. And I think what you’re seeing is the resurrection of an imperial presidency,” West said.
Here is Romney’s initial reaction to the president’s announcement on Friday. It is what West is reacting to.
On the good side if a bit obvious, Romney calls for a legislative solution rather than fiat, but on the bad side, the first regret he expresses is that Obama’s action makes it more difficult to reach a “long term solution” to the issue of young illegal aliens. That is not the number one problem with Obama’s announcement. The top issue with all of this is the rule of law, and a stronger statement would have started by noting that the president said twice last year that he could not do what he had just done. Then pivot to the impact on the economy, which will be negative. Expose the politics up front, deal with the policy only if you have to. That would have put the president on the defensive rather than conceding what looks like a policy agreement first.
If Romney wins in November, “comprehensive” immigration reform had better not be high on the agenda. There are influential forces in the GOP who strongly support what amounts to amnesty and open borders, but they are wrong and surrendering to them is dangerous.
“There are influential forces in the GOP who strongly support what amounts to amnesty and open borders”
Which is why I believe it is probably better to just go ahead and cut the cord now if there was any feasible way to do so. Those forces mentioned are currently more organized, but their ability to actually move the people is fairly limited. They are hunter-gatheres, living off what already exists on the land, rather than farmers, planting and reaping.
They will never make peace with the Tea Party, as they are the type that once in power have grown accustomed to it. They simply intend to rope the GOP to their will, and I see no reason why they can be trusted or why they will yield of their own.
Naturally, nothing will happen and we will go through this do-loop for the next decade until it is obvious that under those forces, we will only continue to politically drift in governance inan overall leftward direction, even though the population isn’t itself doing so to the same extent.
Basiclly, the vibe I get is that they are waiting for the Tea Party-type thing to die off, and are somewhat suprised it hasn’t already. They have not quite realized that the Tea Party, and the broader liberty movement that is going to follow it, are like the Vikings–they are never going to entirely disappear, and there will be a Dane-law. At best/worst (depending on POV).
Things just aren’t going to go back to the 1994-2006 years, no matter how patient they try to be.
Along those lines–Mitt Romney may or may not be a “conservative”, but you would have trouble making me believe he is a true “Liberty man”. Instead, I think he’s a pol and a “Mitt Romney” man. Which means you have to watch him.
I’m with West on this completely. It’s presidential overreach to bypass Congress. I’d tie it to all of his other executive orders and contempt of Congress. Repeal of DADT, rejection of DOMA, ignoring the courts on the drilling ban.
I agree, Bryan. Romney doesn’t have to address the substance of the issue and get on the defensive. He has to point out that we have an OUTLAW PRESIDENT who does what ever he damn well pleases. The examples are numerous.
I suspect we will wake up one morning to find a huge muslim population
living amongst us. The issue of Romney’s manhood is moot. He’s our man
like Dole and McCain the stork is responsible. Why our Masters choose to devastate the
middle class with 20 or 30 million illegals is a question. Maybe they were trying to
avoid wage driven inflation.
Romney is a fool and I don’t trust him at all. Having said that, the alternative is the most corrupt and vile leader in American history. I will physically drag my two college age sons to the poll to vote for Romney if I have to. Luckily, they already agree with me that Obamee has failed them.
Mr. Simon had an interesting post last week about who Obama most resembled and I wrote King George III, so apparently Congressman West and I agree. Interestingly George III was crazy – so the comparison is apt. Romney should have called Obama out on PROCESS. Even if he agreed with what the Won did, he must surely agree that we have a system of checks and balances, and the President has to abide by the law. His job is not to make the law. That said, Romney has a slim lead, is tied, or is narrowly behind in several states, so he’s probably keen on the middle of the road at this point, since independents will decide which side he lands on – winner or loser.
Romney had a political reaction and not a smart one. Very disappointing, and it won’t be the last, even if he wins, thus the need to surround him with a Conservative Legislature. The down ticket races are just as crucial if not more.
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