Grover Norquist is always a sure bet for an inflammatory quote to shake up a political discussion. So, too, are Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Kim Jong-un, and like the leaders of Iran and North Korea, Norquist has grand delusions about his ability to bring America to its knees. Mark Krikorian has highlighted Norquist’s nefarious past, and exposed his ridiculous claim to be a principled conservative. Clearly, a lack of scruples has not been an impediment to Norquist’s career in D.C., and neither, apparently, is the fact that nothing he says on immigration is even remotely connected to reality.
Listening to Norquist pontificate on the benefits of “comprehensive immigration reform” reminds me of a grade school kid describing the perfect diorama of his imagination. Norquist’s shoebox is full of spaceships and dinosaurs. Perpetual motion machines supply all of the energy needed in his little kingdom, and no one ever, ever has to pay employees a living wage.
The Gang of Eight is poised to unleash a bill on the American people that will have catastrophic economic and environmental consequences. Adding tens of millions of immigrants may grow the GDP in the short term, as Norquist keeps telling anyone who will listen, but there are some of us who understand the difference between economic expansion and economic prosperity.
Norquist may have a fanciful imagination, but public policy cannot be based on the imaginings of a child, nor should they come from the child-like mind of a political pundit who believes that borders are only lines drawn on a map and that natural resources are inexhaustible. Normally one may ignore or mock the Gorver Norquists of the world because they are silly and generally harmless. What makes Norquist dangerous is that, according to him, he is Rubio’s “comrade-in-arms” on the immigration front and he is speaking for the “new” Republican Party. The terrifying thing is, maybe he is.