Michael Reagan: Right Would Challenge My Dad

by JASmius

Yup:

"The reality of it is, if Ronald Reagan were to run today in the United States of America or even for governor of California, there's a good chance that there would be an argument about him becoming governor or president and that would come from the right, it would not come from the left," Reagan told Newsmax TV's John Bachman, J.D. Hayworth and Ed Berliner on "America's Forum" Thursday....

He maintains that the media machine is working against Republicans because GOP politicians are too worried about what conservative talk show hosts such as Mark Levin, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh will say about them to act.

Yu....wait a minute....

"They're frozen in time on what to do. Everybody on the planet knows you need an immigration policy, but everybody's afraid to put one forward because they do not know what the big three are going to say about it in talk radio the next day. The Republican Party needs to find its own message and take the message away from talk radio and others," he said.

What kind of immigration policy, Mike?  A full, fortified fence?  Deportation?  Only legal immigrants allowed?  A restoration of national sovereignty and meaning to the word "citizenship"?

Asked what steps he would take to get the conservative media more friendly to Republicans, Reagan replied, "Quit looking for the perfect candidate and do the Ronald Reagan Rule. Do the 80-20 rule. Well you're not going to agree with somebody 100% of the time, but my God, don’t throw them under the bus.

Okay, I'm with you so far....

We…took Jeb Bush, we also took Marco Rubio when they tried to come up with immigration policy and threw them under the bus."

Well, yeah - because the "immigration policy" was amnesty, Mike.  Your dad was the greatest president of the twentieth century; he restored the American economy, rebuilt the American military, won the Cold War without firing a shot, ran rings around the Democrats effortlessly and with a smile on his face.  He didn't make many mistakes, but the 1986 amnesty was his biggest.  It cost the Republican Party California, which is much of why the country languishes under foreign-thinking occupation today.  You let Jeb and Rubio "Gang of whatever" their way to another amnesty, which would be - what?  Four times the 1986 version?  Five?  Six?  And wave buh-bye to the entire southwest, including Texas, and therefore the country.  And bear in mind that I already believe the country is lost.  This would be like burying the corpse under a mile of cement, running around the tomb seven times, and jerking off on the headstone.

Senator Rubio was buried a year ago after his "Gang of Eight" foolishness because amnesty is, probably more than anything else, something the GOP base simply will not accept.  Ever.  From anyone.  Period.  They'd tar & feather Ted Cruz if he started making friendly noises towards "comprehensive immigration reform," Mike.  That's not the fault of Limbaugh, Hannity, or Levin; they're just reflecting and channeling the sentiments of their audiences.  If Republicans fear running afoul of the fearsome talk radio beast, here's a suggestion: Stop bleeping dicking around with importing the entire Mexican population, and start backing an immigration policy that enforces the border and has zero tolerance for foreign trespassers.  Then we can move on to mauling each other over legal immigration policy.  Deal?

Besides, I don't even know exactly what you're talking about by your "throw them under the bus" metaphor.  Are you suggesting that if a GOP pol screws up, s/he should be immune from criticism from "within the family"?  I don't think your dad's "Eleventh Commandment" goes quite that far, and regardless, lotsa luck getting the Tea Party to abide by that stipulation.  Or are you speaking in a 2016 presidential nominating context?  In which case, Jeb and Rubio are as free to give it a try as are Chris Christie, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Michelle Bachmann, Herman Cain, Gumby, Joe Scarborough, Zippy, Ultron, and Randee of the Redwoods - even Mitt Romney again, if he decides to make Ann Coulter's dream come true.  But they should also understand that they're gonna get ripped from rectum to belly button by the center-right voters who hate amnesty for any amnesty dalliances.

Where I'm with you, Mike, is in the unsavory event that an amnestizer like Jeb or Rubio or Double-C captures the nomination.  At that point, yes, ranks have to be closed and the focus turned on the real enemy (if we even get the chance).  But you've gotta understand that a lot of Tea Partiers won't let go of their fratricidal enmities and will stay home at best, try to drum up an election-blowing third party candidacy at worst.  The more Pachyderms of your pro-amnesty bent try to push that bent, the more the base will shove back.  That's just the way it is, and it ain't going to change.

Rather than insistently engaging in this Bonfire of the Inanities, how about following your dad's example and appealing to all Americans (not just Hispanics) with the shining-city-on-a-hill message of constitutional conservatism?  Free market capitalism, strong national defense, traditional moral values - Americanism - can still be an election-winning message.  And if Mexican nationals want to come here, tell them that that means earning their citizenship, immigrating legally, because that's the only way to become a part of something the most unique and special "in the long history of man's relations to man".

Your dad was one of a kind, Mike.  But Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is his "grandson in the faith," wouldn't you say?  If you truly are interested in the GOP winning again.