A Timely Warning

John Podhoretz posts a timely and necessary warning about the dangers of Republicans allowing their differences on illegal immigration to mushroom. He's right -- that would be a dreadful and unnecessary mistake.

Don't get me wrong: As a Californian, I understand the frustration and the sense of being marginalized and ignored by the Eastern "powers that be" when it comes to illegal immigration. It's disheartening to suspect that some who support less stringent border control measures are, perhaps, equating support for tight borders with an attenuated form of racism, or imputing to it the stigmata of rube-hood. It's irritating to watch the views of conservative stalwarts ignored, while people like Kennedy and Durbin express satisfaction with legislation moving forward under Republican steam!

But at last, enough is enough. Some of the criticism of his President and the plan has stopped sounding like friendly if frank advice from allies, and has started to become as shrill and denunciatory as the shrieking that emanates from the left. We are better than that. And if the tenor of the criticism on the right continues to escalate, the credibility of those engaging in it (and to some degree, those associated with them) will be diminished. In my time working in politics, I've seen erstwhile allies who consistently step over the line lose their ability to affect the debate, simply because of their seeming inability or apparent unwillingness to allow their concerns to be assauged or their anger abated in any way. Here, that would be a shame, because the critics have content of value to add, and a perspective that should be heard.

I've been fortunate to have readers contact me to insist that they're not intending to sit out this election -- and I'm grateful to hear from them. Likewise, even as I disagree with much of what's going forward in Washington, I remain a proud Republican: Just as this blog says, I believe in American political and religious liberty, free enterprise, limited government, military strength and traditional values.

And I remain a supporter of President Bush. Yes, it's become tiresome to have to defend him all the time -- but don't you see, that fatigue is what the loony left is counting on? That's the point of the endless litany of specious charges: To drive even his supporters to the point where it's easier to join the chorus of the President's detractors than attempt to withstand them.

President Bush is an imperfect man (as are we all). He spends too much, and his notions of border security may not be as strict as mine. But whatever your frustrations with the President, he's not the one who will appoint adherents of a "living Constitution" to the Court, dismantle the war on terror, and raise your taxes. He's not one who has backed down from protecting this country, even when it seems that a majority of its residents have little appreciation for his efforts.

He doesn't deserve our unquestioned loyalty, but he does deserve reasoned and respectful dissent when we must disagree. And almost all of us within the conservative/Republican movement know what it's like to be sneered at, denigrated and dismissed by our political adversaries on the left. We don't need to do it to each other -- and we shouldn't. America deserves better from all of us.