“I’m going to do my part to lead a constructive and civil debate on these issues.”
— Barack Obama, speech on immigration, El Paso, May 10
Then in the same speech he said this about Republicans:“Maybe they’ll need a moat,” he said sarcastically. “Maybe they want alligators in the moat.”
The El Paso speech is notable not for breaking any new ground on immigration but for perfectly illustrating Obama’s political style: the professorial, almost therapeutic, invitation to civil discourse, wrapped around the basest of rhetorical devices — charges of malice compounded with accusations of bad faith. “They’ll never be satisfied,” said Obama about border control. “And I understand that. That’s politics.........This impugning of motives is an Obama constant...... El Paso was simply an attempt to gin up the Hispanic vote as part of an openly political two-city, three-event campaign swing in preparation for 2012.
To read the rest of the Mr Krauthammer's column click on the title for a link)
