Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
This is how the "lamestream" media functions — anytime a Republican politician has something to whine about, he or she is given a platform by the "lamestream" media to say it or they stenographically report it uncritically as "news."
Case in point over the weekend: The GOP's newly annointed "savior," Tea Party freshman Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, threw a hissyfit like a Mean Girls biotch over the weekend after USA Today published a leaked draft of an immigration reform plan being developed by the White House just in case the bipartisan negotiations in Congress fail to produce a legisaltive plan. "I"m the 'savior,' here! Didn't you see my TIME cover? It's my plan or no plan!"
Well actually, the draft plan being developed by the White House is nearly identical to Marco Rubio's plan, as one would expect because the plan Marco Rubio wishes to claim as his own is nearly identical to President Obama's immigration reform plan introduced in a May 2011 speech. "Big Gulp" Rubio is not an original thinker, as his conservative Kool-Aid response to the State of The Union Address last week made clear.
James Bouie at The Plum Line speculates, Marco Rubio is against administration’s Rubio-esque immigration plan:
Despite [the] similarities, Rubio has come out against the
administration’s proposal. “If actually proposed,” the senator said in a press release,
“the President’s bill would be dead on arrival in Congress, leaving us
with unsecured borders and a broken legal immigration system for years
to come.” Rubio accuses the White House of “failing to secure our
borders,” creating a “special pathway” for those who broke the law, and
doing nothing to address the “future flow” of immigrants.
This isn’t true. The administration might have a more lenient
proposal than the one favored by Rubio, but it fits his criteria for
acceptability.
This raises an important question. Is Rubio interested in passing
immigration reform, or does he want credit for being the kind of GOP
senator who is interested in immigration reform. If its the former, then
this is just posturing — Rubio knows that he has to placate the
right-wing of his party, which is hostile to anything that comes from
the White House. But if it’s the latter, then Rubio might be positioning
himself for a break with the administration, and a mournful declaration
that — despite his hard work — he just couldn’t come to an agreement.
Congress has yet to issue its proposal for immigration reform. But when
it does, we’ll see where Rubio falls.
I have thought from the beginning that it is the latter. I believe Rubio was put on the committee as the GOP's designated Latino to torpedo the immigration reform talks and to produce no results. The Septegenarian Ninja Turtle, Mitch McConnell, and Arizona's angry old man, John McCain, will be able to say "It's not just us angry old white guys opposed to the plan. See, our designated GOP Latino, Marco Rubio, is against it too! Don't blame us, Latino voters." It's pretty transparent that they are seeking political cover for failure.
The GOP's designated Latino, Marco Rubio, does not speak for all Latinos. Cubans get special immigration status because Fidel Castro is a mean old communist. No other Latin American country enjoys this special immigration status (not even Venezuela). Many Latinos resent Cuban-Americans for this reason. "Why do Cubans get to come through the front door, and I am told I have to get back at the end of the line?"
Should Rubio torpedo immigration reform, Latino voters are going to turn their wrath on the GOP, as well they should. The only state Rubio has any influence in, if any, is his home state of Florida. Even there, the non-Cuban Latino vote is rapidly eclipsing Cuban-American voters, and younger Cuban-Americans are not as enamored with the Tea-Publican Party as is Marco Rubio. I would argue the GOP's "savior" is not as popular with Latino voters as he is with his Beltway media villager base.
UPDATE: The Miami Herald’s front page on Tuesday said the draft of President
Obama’s immigration reform bill is similar to Marco Rubio’s. Oh, snap! Read the story here.
