Like the HMS Titanic The GOP is Headed for Disaster Yet Her Officers Refuse to Heed the Warnings An Open Letter to All True Patriots

By late in the evening of April 14, 1912, the crew of the HMS Titanic had received eight iceberg warnings from six different ships. Most unfortunately, they were not heeded. Some of the iceberg warnings were not even reported to the bridge. An attitude of complacent confidence in ship and crew prevailed. Near midnight going at close to full speed her lookouts spotted a huge iceberg dead ahead. Unable to alter her course and speed in time she struck and scraped against the iceberg on her starboard side. Within three hours that magnificent ship, thought by many to be unsinkable, sank into a watery grave, carrying 1503 of her passengers and crew with her.

In the last few weeks President Bush has proposed amnesty for illegal immigrants, especially Mexicans, now living in the United States. Yet Bush only received 35 percent of the "Hispanic" vote in November 2000 despite a deliberate "Hispanic" campaign strategy. Very probably he received no better than 25 percent of the votes of relatively recent Mexican immigrants. Even using Bush's target of obtaining 38 to 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in the next election, for every two Republicans recruited in this very questionable scheme, three new Democrat voters will be created. These simple statistics should alone be sufficient to discredit amnesty as an incredibly stupid idea for Republicans. Furthermore such a general amnesty would set an evil precedent for the rule of law. In addition, every sensible person knows that amnesty for illegal immigrants can only work to increase the already enormous numbers of illegal aliens coming across our borders.

A study just released by the Center for Immigration Studies by two University of Maryland professors, James G. Gimpel and Karen Kaufmann, addresses the Bush "Hispanic" Strategy. It should be sobering reading for anyone with high confidence in Bush's strategy. Every Republican and variety of conservative should read it. Some key findings pertinent to this discourse are summarized here:

Current immigration policy is slowly but steadily shifting the nation's electorate toward the Democratic Party.

Democrats lead Republicans by comfortable margins of 20 percent or better in every

Hispanic ethnic Group except Cubans, where the once large GOP lead has dropped to only six percent.

Hispanics do not align themselves with the Democratic Party because of the party's position on immigration, nor is there likely to be any significant realignment with the Republican Party because of immigration policies or amnesty.

Amnesty will NOT yield political benefits to the Republican Party. It will strengthen instead the Democratic Party substantially.

Hispanics align themselves to the Democratic Party because of their preferences on education, health care, and social services. These generally liberal preferences are unlikely to be embraced by conservative Republicans.

Those Republicans that believe education and assimilation will improve their share of the Hispanic vote will find disillusion rather than encouragement in this report. Only increasing levels of income seem to make a difference, and that surprisingly paltry.

These conclusions should not come as a shock to anyone. They have been obvious and self evident to anyone willing to take off their blinders and rose-colored glasses. But we now have a Republican Party leadership that has not only deceived itself; they have been very busy creating and disseminating sentimental myths about the politics of our new waves of immigrants. It is time to put sentimental myth in its place. It is time to base our policies on truth and on the long-term good of the nation. In so doing we must weigh heavily the survival of constitutional government, a just and moral society, and all the other noble legacies of government and society which have become a sacred heritage paid for in blood and sacrifice. Most of all it is time to put away the base notion that the Republican Party must imitate the pandering and demagoguery of the Democrats to maintain itself in office. Whatever our policies on education, health care, and social services they should be shaped by an enlightened view of the public good, not on what will get the most Hispanic votes or the votes any other group.

Unless Republican leaders wake up and very soon, their extraordinarily misguided policies on immigration will sink the GOP and with it every noble principle of government once held dear by the friends and defenders of liberty. The damage will be permanent and progressive. This unwelcome demise will effect the outcome of every issue: taxes, abortion, gun control, government spending and regulation, Supreme Court appointments, education, the protections of constitutional government, racial preferences and quotas, labor, the moral foundations of our society, national defense, everything.

President Bush and his advisors in proposing this new amnesty for three million illegal aliens would add to the already burgeoning millions of recent immigrants that vote for Democrats by a ratio of two to one or better. This massive immigration began with the 1965 Immigration Act, authored by that far-seeing friend of liberty, Ted Kennedy. Because of its lax provisions the U. S. electorate shifts toward the Democrats steadily and significantly each year. This immigration is overwhelmingly from third world countries, but particularly Mexico. Bush, his advisors, and key Republican leaders have thus far not had the political courage to stem this tide, which if unchecked will eventually doom them. Should anyone doubt the political impact of recent immigration let them look to California. The state that gave us Ronald Reagan is now solidly and incontestably Democrat and liberal. What states will be next?

Bush's amnesty proposal is a mistake of colossal proportions. How will enfranchising millions of illegal immigrants whose earlier legal counterparts vote from 60 to 75 percent Democrat help Republicans? It will not. Does anyone on the President's staff have a calculator? Has the failing of our public education systems already had such an adverse effect that our President and his chief advisors cannot understand simple math? Are percentages beyond their knowledge and reasoning ability? Amnesty and the failure to reform the 1965 Immigration Law will shift the now narrow balance of power to the liberal Democrats. I shutter to think of the social, moral, economic, and national security damage that would be the inevitable result of long term control of the U. S. government by liberal Democrats.

President Bush's "Hispanic" strategy in campaign year 2000 was a signal and portentous failure. This failure should be an icy clarion of warning. Yet his advisors want to put the whole Republican Party on that strategy in 2002 and 2004. They believe they can raise that vote to 40 percent by such flagrant pandering as amnesty for illegal aliens. It will instead be a disaster of titanic significance.

The preponderant majority of recent immigrants both legal and illegal are coming from Mexico. They are also predominantly unskilled and uneducated. The unskilled and uneducated are not good bets to vote Republican. It does not matter whether the unskilled and uneducated are from Mexico or from the most advanced European democracies. The unskilled and uneducated are not as a group, no matter what nation or ethnic group they come from, interested in tax cuts, constitutional law, and limited government. Low wage earners of all ethnic groups new or old in our country enjoy a very light federal tax burden. An unfortunate side effect of this otherwise great social blessing is that they are little interested in tax cuts or tax equity. Fallen human nature being what it is, they have substantially more interest in big government and social welfare programs. Republicans are not going to get a majority of their votes except by appealing to them (or pandering to them) on issues such as increased government roles and spending on welfare and healthcare. Let us not forget that the Democrats are unequaled in their ability to pander and demagogue on almost any social or economic issue. The modern Democrat Party is not notable for a high regard for truth, or for genuine and selfless patriotism. God forbid that we should try to imitate them.

Still another factor should inform our deliberations on the political impact of such a numerous invasion from South of the Mexican border. Mexico is not and has never been the ideological home of Jeffersonian limits on government power. All three major Mexican political parties are essentially different factions competing for the power of big government to distribute the national wealth and income. That mentality is pouring over our borders in unprecedented numbers. What realistic person believes that Bush or any Republican can convert even 40 percent of this group to the historical values of the Republican Party? Even that still leaves a formidable Democrat dominance. Many of these new Democrats bring a more Leftist and Radical ideology than mere welfarism.

Encouraging increased immigration is an incredibly risky, insane, and suicidal policy for Republicans. But perhaps Bush, Rove, and Gilmore believe Republicans can sweep the Hispanic vote with a timely election endorsement by Mexican President Vincente Fox.

Bush and his advisors need to remember that there is a difference between Mexicans and Cubans and also between the new Mexican immigrants and the older Mexican families that have been in Texas and New Mexico for generations. His advisors should note that the conservative element of these ethnic groups, which are most in tune with other Republican policies, and their most likely allies, do not favor increased levels of immigration. Such pandering as Bush is proposing by amnesty insults the very people most likely to respond to legitimate appeals to common economic and social conservatism.

Many Republicans and religious conservatives are under the false impression that this army of new immigrants is composed principally of socially conservative, faithful Catholics naturally sympathetic to pro-life appeals. That characterization is about two full generations out of date. In the last 50 years Mexico has undergone the same unfortunate deterioration of faith and morals as the United States only much more so. The Catholic Church is much less influential in Mexico than was once the case. Most recent immigrants from Mexico and Central America are at most nominal Catholics and are essentially unchurched. That the moral influence of the Church has been weakened is evidenced by higher rates of illegitimacy, AIDS, abortions and crime compared to non-Hispanic whites in the United States. Thus the notion that recent Mexican immigrants are socially conservative, promising converts to the Republican Party could scarcely be further from the truth.

Religious conservatives of all denominations and stripes should not dismiss the political consequences of unfettered, domination by liberal Democrats ushered in by increased millions of new immigrant voters. They should not dismiss the implications of such a revolution on their liberties, the faith and virtue of their children, their churches, and society. Modern liberalism is no friend of faith and virtue. As always, impiety bears a grudge against righteousness. Modern liberalism given unchecked political power would not long tolerate any God but humanistic government. Religious conservatives should not dismiss the mathematical and temporal proximity of such a revolution born of our own folly in immigration policy. If ever a nation and its leaders in every walk of society needed moral and spiritual backbone, it is now. Religious conservatives should not allow themselves to be intimidated by mere name-calling and unwarranted accusations. Every parent has the right to guard the faith and virtue of their children. Those who will not guard the faith and virtue of their children are worse than infidels. Every nation has the right to guard its borders and its culture. Every nation has the right to resist foreign invasion. Every nation has the right to guard the integrity of its political systems and processes. Every nation has the right to guard its heritage with all its political, social, and economic traditions.

The contest over immigration policy is not about race. It is about the potential of enormous and unprecedented demographic changes to upend a great republic. It is about political philosophies and political power. We need make no apology for being on the side of liberty as we have known it for 225 years. Thereby it has strong implications on faith, virtue, freedom, and every aspect of culture, society and economy. It is about retaining our identity as a nation and the preservation of cherished institutions. The greater contest is between those that believe government and society should follow the prescriptions of Divinely Revealed Truth and those that would dethrone the God of Truth and worship at the alter of their own twisted and depraved musings.

Those who naively believe amnesty and neglect of badly needed Immigration Reform will be the end of Republican compromise of its current principles had best brace themselves. Compromise on immigration policy will inevitably lead to compromise in other areas as well. It is already upon us. Just in the last few days President Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft have decided to defend racial preferences in a Supreme Court case. Recent expensive Republican National committee publications contain a disproportionate amount of public relations fluff, especially multi-cultural fluff. This is not reassuring to conservatives within the Republican Party. It is rather a sign that the RNC is on a slippery ideological slope and moving the party and America toward the precipice. The neglected Republican base is moved by principle, not fluff. The campaign style of Bill Clinton and his ilk is unlikely to be successful for Republicans.

The RNC for the last several national campaigns has abandoned most social issues out of an inordinate fear of the liberal media and soccer moms. Unless the Republican Party can muster the courage to address social as well as economic issues it will see its base decline in both numbers and in the motivation that compels voters to polls. Immigration Reform should have been high on their list of campaign and legislative issues. Its neglect has moved the GOP and the nation toward the precipice of political domination by liberal Democrats. A Roper Poll in 1996 revealed 83 percent of Americans favored lower immigration and 70 percent favored reducing immigration back to the pre-1965 level of 300,000 per year. Immigration Reform was badly needed and would have provided Republicans with a powerful issue. Yet sadly, in 1996 the Republican Party drew back from the issue, no doubt because their inordinate fear of being portrayed as racist by the liberal media and appearing mean-spirited to soccer moms.

Since that time the RNC has been nearly as relentless as the liberal media in their efforts to anesthetize voters on the dangers of massive, uncontrolled third world immigration.

A recent Gallup Poll indicates their efforts have been at least partially successful, only 41 percent of Americans favoring decreased immigration, 42 percent happy with present unprecedented levels, and 14 percent favoring increased immigration. This poll indicated that only 33 percent of Hispanics favor increased immigration. Although this poll represents a startling apathy on the immigration issue, it is an apathy based on delieberate suppression of the gravity and visibility of the immigration issue by the RNC as well as the liberal media. Should Republicans awaken from their RNC induced suicidal malaise, Immigration Reform could become a powerful and effective campaign issue favoring Republicans.

In fact, if the Republicans fail to make Immigration Reform a key issue, their party will very soon be relegated to a permanent and shrinking minority. In that case we can kiss our recent tax-cuts good-bye. The new liberal Democrat hegemony will need those to dollars to distribute to its clients and maintain itself in power. So it will be with every issue dear to both economic and social conservatives.

The balance of power is currently very narrow. Republicans and conservatives have every reason to be extremely concerned about Bush and RNC campaign strategies. One concern ought to be just why the President only received 54 percent of the white vote, which still accounts for 80 percent of actual voters, whereas successful Republican Presidential campaigns in the recent past have garnered 58 to 59 percent. This relatively poor showing of 54 percent for Bush was following a Democratic administration among the most corrupt in U. S. history.

Having served in the Republican ranks as a County Chairman, Precinct Captain, fund raiser, door-to-door campaigner, and veteran of many years and many responsibilities in state and local elections, I hear the reason for Bush's rather poor showing almost every day. Bush and the RNC are taking conservatives for granted. Amnesty and double-talk on racial preferences are just the latest example of lip service and flagrant disregard of conservative concerns. Moderates and Big Business PACs may give money to the party, but conservatives both give money and man the trenches to get out the vote on election day. Many conservatives believe the President is reaching out to everybody but them. Hence they are not as highly motivated to vote as usual. They are even less motivated to get their families, friends, neighbors, and churches to the polls on election day.

Amnesty and failure to address Immigration Reform will mean the end of the Republican Party as a potential governing majority as early as 2004. The disillusioning effects of amnesty, uncontrolled immigration, and unopposed racial preferences on the party's base make immigration a double-edged sword. This combination of millions of new voters with a Democrat proclivity of two or three to one over Republicans and disillusion of the party's conservative base could hand the liberal Democrats and unexpectedly decisive victory in 2004. From there the slide into permanent liberal hegemony is very steep.

It is growing late, but still not too late. Republicans can recover by abandoning any flirtation with amnesty and embracing Immigration Reform. There must be no more capitulation to sentimental anecdotes and trite phrases about being a nation of immigrants. We are a nation of immigrants, but that does not mean we are obliged to abandon the Constitutional Republic we love to waves of new immigrants whose dominant political philosophies are foreign and threatening to our own. Intelligent compassion does not require our own destruction. Our freedom and liberties were bought at too dear a price to put them in thoughtless jeopardy. Strong conviction must replace excessive fear of the liberal media. Common sense patriotism and love of our own country and culture require no apologies. Alexander the Great once remarked that the people of Asia are slaves because they did not learn to pronounce the word, "No." The survival of our Republic now depends on a resolute, "No," to amnesty for illegal aliens and to Ted Kennedy's 1965 Immigration Act. Ring the bridge before it is too late; ice field dead ahead! Let the President and the leaders of the Republican Party hear and take heed.

    August 22, 2001