Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Sen. Corker can't catch a break
This morning's Nashville City Paper features an article about Sen. Bob Corker entitled "Corker flexes new political muscle during first domestic policy test." The article examines Corker's amendment to immigration legislation requiring illegal aliens to return to their countries of origin before re-entering the United States.
Conservative radio host Steve Gill, who's heard locally on WLAC 1510 AM, is quoted in the article thusly:
“The voters don’t care if they pass a bill or this or that amendment. They want them to enforce the laws and enforce them clearly, not just hear them say, ‘Well, I passed an amendment,’
“That’s what happens to these guys when they go Washington. I hope Bob Corker has not gone Washington, D.C. in six months."
Over at VolunteerVoters.com, A.C. Kleinheider said this 'bout Gill:
"What exactly would Gill have Senator Corker do?
"This is what legislators are tasked with after all: voting on legislation, offering amendments and whatnot. Whether Corker’s position is wise or unwise is another matter. Corker is, authenticly or not, striking a restrictionist pose in this immigration debate. It seems like he would be praised by conservatives rather than pilloried for standing up for them."
In response, I posted this on VolunteerVoters.com:
"Short of proposing that big buses should be used to round up all illegals and ship them to the Mexican border, I don’t know what else Corker can do to be more hard-line on the immigration issue.
"If’n he did come out in favor of using big buses to round up illegals, reckon he’d catch a break - and get some praise - from conservatives like Steve Gill?"
Steve Gill obviously didn't like what I had to say, and he said as much in a follow-up response. You can read it here. To Gill I'll simply say this:
My comments were not about immigration politics. Indeed, I was talking about TN politics in general. I'll explain:
A great many conservatives - Gill included - were never convinced that Bob Corker was an "authentic" conservative prior to his being elected. I can only reason that this suspicion continues because, as A.C. Kleinheider points out, Corker has staked out a position on immigration reform firmly more restrictionist than his president, his party's leaders, and his senior colleague in the U.S. Senate, i.e. Sen. Lamar Alexander. You would think that Corker's firm illegals-must-go-home stand would garner at least a tiny bit of praise from conservatives, but nooooooooooo.
So, again, what's it gonna take for Coker to catch a break from conservatives? Short of advocating the immediate deportation of illegal immigrants, I don't know what more he can do to please 'em!
Conservative radio host Steve Gill, who's heard locally on WLAC 1510 AM, is quoted in the article thusly:
“The voters don’t care if they pass a bill or this or that amendment. They want them to enforce the laws and enforce them clearly, not just hear them say, ‘Well, I passed an amendment,’
“That’s what happens to these guys when they go Washington. I hope Bob Corker has not gone Washington, D.C. in six months."
Over at VolunteerVoters.com, A.C. Kleinheider said this 'bout Gill:
"What exactly would Gill have Senator Corker do?
"This is what legislators are tasked with after all: voting on legislation, offering amendments and whatnot. Whether Corker’s position is wise or unwise is another matter. Corker is, authenticly or not, striking a restrictionist pose in this immigration debate. It seems like he would be praised by conservatives rather than pilloried for standing up for them."
In response, I posted this on VolunteerVoters.com:
"Short of proposing that big buses should be used to round up all illegals and ship them to the Mexican border, I don’t know what else Corker can do to be more hard-line on the immigration issue.
"If’n he did come out in favor of using big buses to round up illegals, reckon he’d catch a break - and get some praise - from conservatives like Steve Gill?"
Steve Gill obviously didn't like what I had to say, and he said as much in a follow-up response. You can read it here. To Gill I'll simply say this:
My comments were not about immigration politics. Indeed, I was talking about TN politics in general. I'll explain:
A great many conservatives - Gill included - were never convinced that Bob Corker was an "authentic" conservative prior to his being elected. I can only reason that this suspicion continues because, as A.C. Kleinheider points out, Corker has staked out a position on immigration reform firmly more restrictionist than his president, his party's leaders, and his senior colleague in the U.S. Senate, i.e. Sen. Lamar Alexander. You would think that Corker's firm illegals-must-go-home stand would garner at least a tiny bit of praise from conservatives, but nooooooooooo.
So, again, what's it gonna take for Coker to catch a break from conservatives? Short of advocating the immediate deportation of illegal immigrants, I don't know what more he can do to please 'em!
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Tuesday, May 29, 2007 
