After the disaster of the recent election, you'd think the Republican Establishment, including Bush, would have gotten the message: their base is mad at them.
Not so. Like the Bourbons, who had a broadly similar experience, they have learned nothing and they have forgotten nothing.
The Bush nomination of Mel Martinez to be Chairthing of the Republican National Committee has caused a lot of complaint—including here on VDARE.COM, where Patrick Cleburne characterized the decision as: "RNC To White Men: —- Off ! (Again). "
Even in the MSM world, there's evidence of rebellion. The Miami Herald has a story titled Some grumble over choice of Martinez to head GOP [By Lesley Clark, Nov. 15, 2006] which details various conservative objections to Martinez. The most obvious: he's an Open Borders fanatic.
Michelle Malkin writes that
"Meanwhile, RNC chair Mel Martinez is demonizing grass-roots conservatives who support enforcing immigration laws and borders."
There's more of what The Hotline's Blogometer calls " negative righty reax" in the blogosphere. According to The Hotline, a lot of people are calling Martinez "The Harriet Miers Of RNC Chairs". RedState.com suggested that a "lobotomized sea lion" could do a better job.
John Hawkins of RightWingNews asked in Human Events: Does the GOP Need Another Thumpin' in 2008 to Get the Message?
"After the drubbing the Republican Party just took, does it really make sense to replace an effective RNC chairman with a pro-amnesty, part-timer like Mel Martinez?"
One person who approves of Martinez ("This is good for us") is Markos Moulitsas, the leftwing blogger behind DailyKos. He hates Americans, hates Republicans, and hates Bush, and recognizes that this is bad for all of them—except that Bush is a lame duck, so perhaps he doesn't care.
One Republican who approves is Chuck Hagel. Ralph Hallow in the Washington Times quoted him as saying that he has "the highest regard for [Martinez'] ability and experience, and highly [supports] his candidacy". Hagel also said that Martinez would do "a first-rate job for the Republican Party." [ Florida's Martinez tapped for RNC chief, November 14, 2006]
If he'd said "a first-rate job on the Republican Party", I'd be more likely to agree. Martinez, with Chuck Hagel, was the author of the awful Hagel-Martinez S. 2611 bill, which Joe Guzzardi reported on here, and which would have legalized a very large number of illegals. (See the Center for Immigration Studies, Amnesty Under Hagel-Martinez: An Estimate of How Many Will Legalize if S. 2611 Becomes Law, June 2006).
Who, if anybody, is Martinez loyal to? The Republican Party? He's promised the press that he won't be an "attack dog" for the GOP, so, not the Republicans.
Well, loyal to President Bush? Not really. Here's a story from Time Magazine, in 2005:
"Because he is one of only two Hispanics in the U.S. Senate (the other is Democratic Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado) and because he represents Florida and its pivotal electoral power, Martinez is perhaps the U.S.'s most important Hispanic lawmaker. But when he was elected last fall, Martinez was widely regarded as little more than a lapdog for President George W. Bush. Martinez upset that image this spring, when he suggested that the U.S. close its controversial prison camp at Guantanamo Bay—and that the Administration has neglected Latin America.
"That display of independence was welcomed by many in the Hispanic community as a sign that Martinez will stump for a broader swath of Latino concerns than just those associated with Miami's long-dominant Cubans." [Mel Martinez The Maverick Senator By Tim Padgett, Time Magazine, Aug. 13, 2005]
Time's Padgett went on to point out that Miami not only has Cubans, but also Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and Central and South Americans. Which leaves you to wonder: does Senator Martinez have any American constituents?
A reader in Florida wrote us that she'd
"…written and called Sen. Martinez on this issue, and predictably received a lecture about freedom, patriotism, what it means to be an American (from someone who is doing his best to render the term irrelevant!)"
Anyhow, the main idea expressed in the word " Maverick" is "someone not loyal to the Republican Party." So what is Martinez loyal to? Hispanics, it seems. Not Cuban-Americans, not Floridians, not Americans in general…but Hispanics.
And why would the GOP want a chairman who's interested stumping "for a broader swath of Latino concerns?" Last time I looked, those Latinos who were citizens, and voted, were almost all Democrats and likely to stay that way, no matter what kind of pander George Bush and the RNC contrive.
Martinez came to America from Cuba at the age of fifteen as one of the escapees under Operation Pedro Pan. He's been mentioned as one of the potential alien Presidents, if that pesky old U.S. Constitution could be amended to allow people who aren't natural-born citizens to be President. (This is a bad idea endorsed by National Review, among others, even though it theoretically makes Peter Brimelow eligible.)
That would be a much worse disaster, although there would little chance of Martinez getting elected since he wouldn't get a majority of either the Hispanic or the white vote.
Remember that the RNC haven't actually made Martinez the chairman yet. They have to vote on it in January.
If you want to let the RNC know what you think, you can contact them here. There are listings there for RNC committeemen in the 50 states.
You can email the National Office here:
Ken Mehlman, Chairman [Still—they don't vote until January.]
Phone: 202-863-8700
Fax: 202-863-8820
Email: [email protected]
Office of the Co-Chairman
Jo Ann Davidson, Co-Chairman
Phone: 202-863-8545
Fax: 202-863-8631
Email: [email protected]
You might remind them that they just lost a major election because people like you were mad at them. And that they really don't want to make you any madder—if they want to have jobs in Washington at all.
Last time we posted RNC email addresses, so that readers could express their views on Randy Pullen's anti-immigration resolution, it caused a real stir.
Stir again.
