Misreading the tea leaves

The left’s march to paint the new Arizona immigration law as the deathknell of the Republican party and as evidence for racism within conservative ranks is well documented.  Take this missive posted a few weeks ago by Robert, a go to favorite of mine when I need to find progressive preposterousness:

Isn’t it nice there is a Republican party so we can easily tell who the dumb people are?

Hispanics are among the fastest growing voter blocs in the United States so if you’re a political person, it probably makes sense to consider measures that, over the long-term, will appeal to them.  

Far be it from me to suggest anyone in politics would actually pander to gain a large group of voters’ acceptance but it seems rather obvious to me that proposing laws that will drive massive tranches of people into your opponents’ camp may not be a wise long-term strategy for any party.

This, of course, means nothing to today’s Republican party, the Bizarro world of politics, where up is down, no, no, no, is yes and black is oh um, well, black. (Somehow, the whack-jobs never seem to have a problem keeping that straight; nope, no confusion on the ol’ black ‘n white.)

Anyway, with that in mind and the Tea Party firmly driving the bus, guess what the governor of Arizona did?

…

Isn’t it great this horrible law will take effect a few weeks before the fall elections?

…

In the coming years, really soon in fact, older white male voters, the folks that loved Reagan so much, will represent a tiny part of the electorate and that the GOP appears intent of positioning itself to appeal exclusively to that group is becoming delightfully apparent. God, guns & gays was the cynical & divisive approach undertaken by Bush’s brain, Karl Rove and that shrinking part of the electorate that responds to those triggers remains the GOP’s target audience. Perfect.

The world is digging itself out of the whole Republicans dug from 2000 to 2008 and it appears they are going to give us all more time to heal because the long-term prospects for the GOP is DOA.

The GOP will suffer seriously if they deem to ignore the voices that are being raised in support of Arizona’s law… and those voices are being heard across the country:

Nearly six in 10 Americans support Arizona’s new law aimed at cracking down on illegal immigrants, according to a Pew Research Center poll conducted May 6-9.

Eighty-two percent of Republicans support the law as do 64 percent of independents. By contrast, 45 percent of Democrats approve of it.

Asked about specific elements of the law, 73 percent support requiring people to produce documents verifying their legal status, 67 percent say police should be able to detain anyone unable to verify their legal status and 62 percent say police should be allowed to question anyone they think may be in the country illegally.

Given the imbecility of Robert’s words above, we should all now conclude that 60% of Americans, 82% of Republicans, 64% of Independents and 45% of Democrats are all not only dumb but whacked Karl Rove-ian racists. 

And we should also conclude that Robert, and those who think like him, are erudite, cultured and part of a growing movement looking to, as Robert declares in his blog’s by-line, leave the place better then they’ve found it.

What might you readers have to say in response?  And wouldn’t it be fun to have that say at Robert’s place?

Crossposted at Brutally Honest.