Class warfare

One issue that hasn't gone away for George Bush's wavering base is his policy on immigration. While Bush is motivated by a need for a "reserve army of the [non-voting] unemployed", assorted wingers and/or Mickey Kaus are not happy with the consequences. Hence an interesting post from Mark Krikorian at The Corner, who, as you read this, probably has Karl Rove screaming down the phone at him --

Not Our Kind of People [Mark Krikorian]

[A]ccording to a congressman's wife who attended a Republican women's luncheon yesterday, Karl Rove explained the rationale behind the president's amnesty/open-borders proposal this way: "I don't want my 17-year-old son to have to pick tomatoes or make beds in Las Vegas."

Now this is actually Rove's 2nd or 3rd trip down this line of thought --

"I don’t know where you’re from," said Rove, "but in Austin, Texas in August if you see some guy on top of a roof slinging tar odds are he is not a U.S. citizen."

Anyway, Krikorian goes on above to note that there was a time when a little physical labour was seen as a virtue, so perhaps he is beginning to grasp the extent to which the Republican party really is the party of the corporate executive suite, tax cuts and all. Unless that is, Rove needs the immigrants to free up his son to serve in Iraq.