Mickey Kaus comes out in favor of Hillary Clinton, arguing convincingly that if you want to stop sensible, humane immigration reform a Clinton victory is your best shot. This seems right to me. The best scenario for immigration reform would be for Democrats to gain congressional seats and John McCain to be elected president. Kevin Drum, meanwhile, decides to back Obama.
« The Pundit's Lament | Main | The National Picture »
Blog Endorsements
04 Feb 2008 05:27 pm
Comments (31)
I find Kaus deeply unconvincing on this one. If it's one thing the Clintons understand about contemporary politics, it's the importance of currying favor with the Latino vote. They also understand the desirability of pushing for legislation likely to cause political problems for your opponents. The politics for Democrats simply argue in favor of comprehensive immigration reform, in that the bulk of opposition to such a plan of action is to be found among conservative, white, frequently Republican voters in Red and purple states. Voters you're not getting anyway, in other words. Sure, there's some risk of alienating moderates and independents in battleground areas, but this risk isn't huge, if the legislation is crafted and pitched skillfully (more money for homeland security? security fences? job training? official status for English?).
Kaus probably is correct it's not terribly likely that C.I.R. will get passed at the same time or immediately after universal healthcare. But I doubt it would be any different for Obama.
Who do we have to elect to get Kaus tossed out of the country?
I'm disappointed in Kaus, and somewhat surprised. I mean, it's clear that he's under the impression that Los Agneles was first settled by the Pilgrims, but surely he could come up with some counterintuitive for its own sake explanation as to how Obama's secretly a nativist?
Now now SavageView, I don't think we'd want to live in a country that tossed people out of the country for the crime of being repellant slugs who allegedly engage in relations with goats.
The real question is 'Whom do we have to elect to inspire Kaus to decide he should leave the country?'
Coulter and Kaus back Hillary. I really can't think of a more convincing argument for Obama than that.
Now we just have to wait and see who Andrew Sullivan endorses. Anybody think he'll come out in support of someone before tomorrow?
The minute Obama said that illegal immigrants are human I knew Kaus would fall out of love. He passionately hates this group. He is vile in his hatred. He can find nuance in some many situations but not for this group. On the other hand, he's very sexy.
Jasper has it exactly right: the difference in expected outcomes between the three remaining contenders on illegal immigration is impossible to detect without a microscope. Kaus' "endorsement" is nothing but his hissy fit at the fact that none of the finalists is an immigration hawk.
This post is probably the first time the words "humane", "immigrant", and "Mickey Kaus" have all been used in the same sentence.
Jasper's plan sounds, well, great!
However, he's forgotten one thing: CIR isn't good for the country. I realize that's a minor consideration compared to whether it's a good thing for the Democratic Party and those who've been profiting from illegal activity, but do try to give it some thought. CIR would lead to more illegal immigration, and it would also lead to even more PoliticalPower inside the U.S. for the MexicanGovernment. They'd use that to push their agenda inside the U.S. just as they've been using the power they have currently. (Visit my archives to learn more about this topic.)
MattY might want to (somehow or other) get this back to "home base":
youtube.com/watch?v=9KSzu_lgaX8
Now, imagine some real stumpers being asked of those who would push CIR, and imagine hundreds of thousands of views on Youtube. It wouldn't be pretty.
Although to be fair, it has never been definitively established that Kaus blows goats.
From the article:
Suppose you were a single issue voter, and your single issue was immigration.
Suppose you were a journalist who had a hobby, and your particular hobby was rumored to be blowing goats...
Mickey Kaus did not have 'sexual relations' with that goat, Ms. Coulter.
Actually, that's "Republican blogger Mickey Kaus" on first reference.
Although to be fair, it has never been definitively established that Kaus blows goats.
Is it irresponsible to speculate? I say it's irresponsible not to.
I'm disappointed in Kevin. He's usually so sensible.
Sully just wrote a scathing attack on Hill as feminist antithesis. So no, I don't think he'll be endorsing her.
I could have told you not to waste your time with Sullivan, Jay, since it's been evident for years that he's a mad frothing dog whenever discussing most things having to do with Hillary Clinton.
I have deliberately stayed away from his post since....maybe 4 months before Iowa because I simply could not/ cannot take anything he says about Obama (sound the harps) and Clinton (roll a loop of Tucker Carlson saying, "ew"). He is not a reliable narrator, shall we say.
The interesting thing is Obama has a lot of End of Equality era Mickey Kaus in him. The current, old crazy Kaus is rejecting the past, younger not crazy Kaus because he hates Mexicans.
Hmmm, I stopped reading Kaus more than a year ago because I couldn't take his anti Hillary hysterics. He is truely unhinged about Mrs. Clinton.
I find it strangely more disgusting to hear his thoughts third person.
It seems I'm the last one to think the Clinton lady is the most electable Democrat and for that reason I will be voting for her tomorrow.
(That's right Linus. You should vote for the Obiesama fellow. Everybody's doing it.)
He'll have lots of chances to be president.
(That's not good enough Linus. You should vote for him now. He'll have you over for pizza and coke.)
I doubt that. But if he falls off the wagon I look forward to being the one who writes the cigarette taste test piece (to include the brand he smokes as well as several others).
I now hope that Obama walks away with California -- delegates or votes -- just because Kaus Hackula's Wrongness needs to be underlined twice in bold.
(In other news, Whack O'Mole buys up Kaus's goats at a bargain price after they've been cast on the goat-heap.)
That's likes a parody of Kaus -- so contrarian, "think of what she won't get done!" Good Lord.
Thanks though for linking to this because Richard Cohen's and David Brooks' Hillary bashing pieces today had me thinking I would vote for Hillary. Reading a scumbag like Kaus write in favor of Hillary pushes me back towards Obama.
Speaking of Kaus, has anyone else noticed the uncanny resemblance between him and Marlo Stanfield's lawyer Maury Levy in the Wire? It can't be a coincidence that Kaus trained as a lawyer.
I remain shocked and disappointed that so many otherwise bright bloggers and commenters seem to have no problem with the dynastic elements of Hillary Clinton's campaign. Haven't we just seen the result of nepotism in the bush presidency?
Worse, voting for Hillary is giving Bill 8 more years via a loophole in the Constitution. Yes, the loophole is there, but it's still wrong. Yet hardly anyone cares.
It's sad. This is a democracy, and one of our core values is not to crown kings and certainly not have poltical power be a birthright or a marriage right. This isn't a monarchy.
Sad no one cares....
Why does Kaus think that "unlike a health care plan, an immigration legalization bill is likely to have large, irreversible consequences."? It seems that Medicare has had the large, irreversible consequence of becoming fiscally unsustainable, and in spite of that, Bush and Congress expanded it with the addition of Part D. The idea of importing tens of millions more 4th grade dropouts from Mexico and adding a huge new universal health care entitlement at the same time sounds like a conspiracy some predatory international financier like George Soros would devise to cause American sovereign debt to lose its AAA-rating.
If current trends continue, conceivably, in a generation Brazil's treasury bonds could be triple-A and ours could be junk. Ordem e Progresso versus the politics of Santa Claus?
TheCarpetMuncher--are you serious with this dynastic crap, as "discovered" by blowhard supreme Nick Kristoff las week? This false argument was never mentioned by any Village elder in 2000 and will never be uttered when Jeb runs. But it will remain ready to be rolled out by Very Serious people when Woodrow Wilson's 139th cousin by marriage runs as a Democrat.
I never felt W. Bush was qualified and so didn't vote for him, and continue to believe that he got elected not on his own merits but on the coattails of his likeable dad's rep.
But I also have to admit believing there is a big difference between a son getting elected in Bush's case (although I thought it was a terrible decision by the voters...er...supreme court) and a wife/spouse getting elected...
Because when you elect a spouse you are putting the former President right back into the White House.
It really is 2 for one.
And as we have rules against Presidents serving more than 2 terms, I think that a spouse should not be a allowed to continue it for another term.
Someone smarter than me could explain this better, but personally, I think the Clintons are jumping through a loop hole in the consititution and that the media is just too enamoured with them to point it out. What they are doing is wrong, and we should amend the consitution to disallow it in the future.
I'd amend the Constitution, all right. But I'd amend it by taking out the two-term limit. If people really want four more years of someone, that should be their right.
"Mickey Kaus comes out in favor of Hillary Clinton..."
No he does not.
He uses a suggested campaign slogan as a gimmick for his blog post: "Vote for Clinton -- she won't get it done!" That's supposed to be ironic. But based on reading Yglesias's post, you'd think that Kaus had seriously endorsed Clinton.
Comments closed February 18, 2008.
| 
Heads in the Sand
Given Kaus's general inclinations, it had to be HRC. And anyway, didn't the Coulter endorsement suggest this was coming?
Posted by SomeCallMeTim | February 4, 2008 5:36 PM