In last night's Republican debate Newt Gingrich seemed to score well with many viewers. Even people that don't agree with his ideology confessed they thought he had a good showing. The pundits, immediately after the debate, all thought he performed very well. But the one headline that emerged from the debate was Gingrich's comments on illegal immigration.
Gingrich was very clear, on more than one occasion, when he explained his position with how to deal with the current 11 million (according to him and most people at the debate) illegal aliens in the United States. He didn't suggest amnesty. He stated that he would find it hard to believe that average Americans would be comfortable expelling their neighbors that have lived here, been productive, caused no harm, raised a family, held a job, and participated in a church for over twenty years. He said there were plenty of illegals with no ties here and no reason to be allowed to stay. He said millions would be sent back to their homeland if he were President. He said he would deal with our borders and thought that should be addressed first. But he stated it wasn't reasonable to believe we are going to send back all 11 million illegal aliens. He suggested we find a way to "create a legality" that wouldn't grant them citizenship but wouldn't separate them from their families. He even went as far as suggesting we act "humane".
Immediately he was attacked by the other candidates on the stage. Not one of them agreed with him. The last time Gingrich said something that seemed moderate back in July, suggesting that he didn't like "radical right-wing social engineering" (referring to Paul Ryan's budget plan) anymore than he liked "radical left-wing social engineering (anything Obama does), he immediately had to back pedal and within two days warned that any ad that quotes what he said in the future would be a falsehood. That's some funny shit. However, this time he says he will actually "take the heat" for his remarks.
Here's a guy I don't really care for, at least when comes to being my President, but I can recognize when he says something that makes sense and seems honest. He was doing what we all ask for, he was shooting us straight. He knows it is completely unfeasible to remove every one of our illegal aliens. In fact, it would probably be quite damaging and very costly. And he seems smart enough to understand that most people wouldn't really want to kick out people that have been established here and have become our friends and neighbors. But it is just this kind of thinking, moderate and reasonable, that draws "heat".
The National Journal and CBS News released a chart showing the moderate Senators in the Senate over the last 30 years. In 1982 sixty Senators were deemed "moderate" and were willing to work with the other side to get things accomplished and govern the country. By 1994 there were only thirty six moderates, nine in 2002, and currently ZERO. We are responsible for this. We can blame politicians for the way they act when they get there but it is us that is demanding the divide. They aren't acting all renegade and going against our wishes. They are doing exactly what we are asking for, digging in and never budging on any issue. We are so divided we can watch videos of 84 year old women get blasted by chemical agents and feel ok with it. Same is true of the UC Davis incident where police officers casually strolled back and forth dousing college students in the face at point blank range. This type of stuff should be sickening to everyone. People cheer at debates when we talk of the death penalty and people dying from lack of health insurance and boo at gay military servicemen. What is wrong with us?
Mitt Romney can't get more than one in four Republicans to back him and he's been running for President for five years. The base thinks he's "too moderate". At what point do regular people that have a brain in their head step forward and call out this nonsense? Our education system is lacking and we are falling in the world rankings why we do nothing and talk of shortening the amount of school days due to budget concerns. Our atmosphere faces serious problems with climate change and man's role in it and we dismiss overwhelming scientific consensus and say it's "just a belief". We discriminate against gays. We run up our debt at record levels. We don't invest in infrastructure. We demonize people if they have a differing opinion. We have no desire to be "humane" to one another. We are a strange creature.
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