IMMIGRATION QUERY….Since my commenters frequently delight in reminding me that I’m practically a Republican compared to their pure and unsullied leftiness, I have a question for them. First, here is Jonah Goldberg writing about the conservative position on immigration:
There are, I believe, some minimal principles all conservatives agree on and I think those who disagree really aren’t conservatives. Conservatives agree that there should be borders and that these borders have significance. Conservatives agree that citizenship has a definition and that there are rules, rights and responsibilities which come with it. Conservatives believe that it would be, at minimum, preferable if immigrants didn’t come here illegally. Conservatives agree that there is something called American culture (though we debate its adaptability and power to assimilate).
And here’s my question: is there anything here than even lefties would disagree with? I could quibble with the “American culture” thing, which is frequently a codeword for “keeping the brown people out,” but it seems fairly unobjectionable here given the minimally mushy interpretation Goldberg puts on it. So what exactly makes this a set of conservative principles?
