Has Bush Given Up on Immigration?

The Unraveling

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Jonathan Weisman writes in The Washington Post that "even proponents of the delicate compromise proposal conceded that the furor over the deal was surpassing their expectations and endangering the plan. . . .

"With dozens of amendments planned, traps being laid by opponents could upset the fragile coalition that drafted the measure. . . .

"Supporters had expected opposition from both ends of the political spectrum. But they conceded they were taken aback by the furious response over the weekend, especially from conservatives, who declared that the legislation is nothing short of amnesty for lawbreakers."

Carolyn Lochhead writes in the San Francisco Chronicle: "The powerful interest groups whose backing is critical to an overhaul of U.S. immigration policy are fracturing over the new bipartisan 'grand bargain' in the Senate, setting up a brawl over changes that could tear the fragile deal apart...

"Add to that the withering fire from conservatives, a tepid welcome from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's faint praise of the bill as a 'starting point,' and what has been billed as a 'grand bargain' on immigration appears to be unraveling before the debate even begins."

Robert Pear and Michael Luo write in the New York Times: "From the moment debate started, the crosscurrents buffeting the bill were evident. The intense lobbying since the bill emerged last week from three months of bipartisan negotiations is likely to be just a sample of what lawmakers will hear as they return home to their districts for the Memorial Day recess."

The Gore Critique

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Of course, if you believe Al Gore, appealing to reason is not exactly Bush's strong point.

Michiko Kakutani writes in a New York Times review of Gore's new book: "In 'The Assault on Reason' Al Gore excoriates George W. Bush, asserting that the president is 'out of touch with reality,' that his administration is so incompetent that it 'can't manage its own way out of a horse show,' that it ignored 'clear warnings' about the terrorist threat before 9/11 and that it has made Americans less safe by 'stirring up a hornets' nest in Iraq,' while using 'the language and politics of fear' to try to 'drive the public agenda without regard to the evidence, the facts or the public interest.' . . .

"Mr. Gore's central argument is that 'reason, logic and truth seem to play a sharply diminished role in the way America now makes important decisions' and that the country's public discourse has become 'less focused and clear, less reasoned.' This 'assault on reason,' he suggests, is personified by the way the Bush White House operates. Echoing many reporters and former administration insiders, Mr. Gore says that the administration tends to ignore expert advice (be it on troop levels, global warming or the deficit), to circumvent the usual policy-making machinery of analysis and debate, and frequently to suppress or disdain the best evidence available on a given subject so it can promote predetermined, ideologically driven policies."

Joe Conason writes in a Los Angeles Times book review: "As [Gore] explains in his new book, the American political system has degenerated into a rigged game that suppresses honesty and rewards deception. . . .

"[A]lthough he clearly identifies other culprits, placing special emphasis on the baneful hypnotic power of television and the irresponsibility of the networks, he provides in this book one of the most comprehensive indictments of the Bush administration that has ever appeared in print. He goes so far as to hint that, in their abject service to power and their quest for dominance both at home and abroad, the president and his associates have imperiled their souls."

The Carter Critique

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At his joint appearance with the head of NATO yesterday, Bush was asked about former President Jimmy Carter's critiques of his administration. (See yesterday's column.)