In Sweden, Opposition Leader Anna Kinberg Batra has brought some much-needed fresh air and common sense into the public debate about civic responsibilities of migrants and newcomers to assimilate into Swedish society. #Almadalen

Om man ska ta sig in i det svenska samhället måste man också anstränga sig för att lära sig språket. Har man bott i Sverige i tio år och inte kan språket, då är det någonting som är fel. Läs gärna mer om våra fyra förslag som presenterats i dag.

A photo posted by Anna Kinberg Batra (@kinbergbatra) on Jul 9, 2016 at 4:27am PDT

Anna Kinberg Batra (@kinbergbatra)
https://www.instagram.com/kinbergbatra/?hl=en

In Sweden, Opposition leader Anna Kinberg Batra has brought some much-needed fresh air and common sense into the public debate about civic responsibilities of migrants and newcomers to assimilate into Swedish society. #Almadalen

* Updated on July 20, 2016, see bottom!

Even as we've recently learned to our dismay that the Democratic Party in the U.S. is now prepared to abandon its longtime policy of emphasizing that newcomers to the U.S. must, of course, learn to be able to communicate in English, Anna Kinberg Batra, the leader of the Swedish Moderate Party, as well as the leader of the Swedish opposition, has publicly reiterated the need for all migrants and newcomers to Sweden to actually learn Swedish, or be prepared to suffer meaningful penalties as a result.

Which is to say, that perhaps the bad old days of countless government officials, patronizing academic elites and members of the news media consciously looking the other way when some migrants to Sweden just went thru the motions, and society was forced into pretending that all migrants were really doing the right thing, and that the problem of them isolating themselves wasn't real or have long-term negative consequences for Swedish society -besides causing great personal offense to millions of Swedish citizens paying the hefty freight for newcomers' housing and education- may finally be coming to an end.
That is, if Kinberg Batra becomes Prime Minister, and can institute some much-needed and long-overdue policy changes. 
IF.

Anna Kinberg Batra spoke for many frustrated and open-minded people I know and respect in Sweden when she spoke at length at a press conference today at Almadalen, Visby, about what sorts of changes she wanted to see.
Stating that there's nothing wrong in believing that there is, indeed, something known as "Swedish values," she made this point clear by emphasizing that besides the numerous personal rights and opportunities that come with being a legal resident or citizen in Sweden, there were also personal & social civic responsibilities attached to being able to live and work legally in Sweden as well.


”Man ska inte kunna skolka sig in i Sverige” -One should not be truant in Sweden- said @KinbergBatra, and who could plausibly argue with this bit of self-evident common sense? 

The job is the first important key to integration. Language is the other, she said.

She also said that it was naive to believe that the migrant situation in Sweden, with its attendant costs and chaos, were over for good. 
Again, directly at variance with what many powerful special interest groups and non-profits in Sweden want the people of Sweden to believe is the case, lest they ask for more accountability in an area that has seen so many financial/oversight scandals the past two years.

When it comes to government benefits, Kinberg Batra "repeated previous demands that a ceiling should be introduced so that newcomers can not get more in income support and establishment of compensation than what they can get by working."
Again, common sense, but then that is exactly what has been in such short supply in Sweden for many years in the view of many observers, including your faithful blogger.
You can love Sweden but acknowledge that its longstanding problems are not going to solve themselves.

My friends in Sweden are, it goes without saying, VERY pleased to hear Kinberg Batra say these things publicly and draw a meaningful distinction with other politicians and political parties on this issue, as their enthusiastic emails to me have made clear since she gave this talk.

Ännu en intervju, denna gång i @expressentv med @niklassvensson73. Klockan 19:00 talar jag i Almedalen. Titta gärna.

A photo posted by Anna Kinberg Batra (@kinbergbatra) on Jul 9, 2016 at 6:56am PDT

1/ Even as U.S. Democrats abandon longtime policy of emphasizing that newcomers must learn #English, leader of #Swedish opposition publicly

— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) July 9, 2016

2/ reiterates need 4 #immigrants to #Sweden to learn #Swedish or suffer meaningful penalties. .@KinbergBatra speaks up 4 "Swedish values" at

— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) July 9, 2016

3/ #Almadalen, makes clear to all that there are, indeed, personal & social responsibilities attached to being able to live/work in #Sweden.

— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) July 9, 2016

4/ ”Man ska inte kunna skolka sig in i Sverige” says @KinbergBatra, and who cld argue with this bit of #commonsense? My friends in #Sweden

— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) July 9, 2016

5/ are VERY pleased to hear @KinbergBatra say this publicly and draw a distinction w/others. (Me too!) @svtnyheter https://t.co/VlHK6xfqHi

— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) July 9, 2016

#Sweden - Opposition leader Kinberg Batra wants stricter requirements on new arrivals, @didigital_se https://t.co/xpA9HyWeA5 #immigration

— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) July 9, 2016

Sydis: Kinberg Batra vill straffa asylsökande som skolkar: Den som uteblir från sfi-lektioner ska få svårare ... https://t.co/2rYKL6XZM5

— Svenska kultursidor (@kultursidorna) July 9, 2016

https://t.co/7og7NhRtUX: Kinberg Batra: Man är naiv om man tror flyktingkrisen är över https://t.co/HqLdfsuHpC #migpol #svpol #almedalen

— Migrationsnytt (@migrationsnytt) July 8, 2016

Kinberg Batras (M) utspel i #almedalen – vill tvinga flyktingkvinnor att lära sig svenska https://t.co/8piWSoDhJk pic.twitter.com/xUWW14qJwv

— Sydsvenskan (@sydsvenskan) July 8, 2016

---
Update of July 20, 2016:
Since I first wrote and posted the blog post above, I have discovered a new tweet from Anna Kinberg Batra herself that has a helpful link to her comments, plus a video of the entire speech:

Anna KinbergBatrastaliAlmedalen: Plan förettstarkareSverige| NyaModeraternahttps://t.co/vhvzATihSE

&mdash">https://t.co/vhvzATihSE">https://t.co/vhvzATihSE

— Anna KinbergBatra(@KinbergBatra) July">https://twitter.com/KinbergBatra/status/752384238956216320">July 11, 2016
You can find those comments on the Moderaterna party website at
http://www.moderat.se/nyhetsartikel/anna-kinberg-batras-tal-i-almedalen-plan-ett-starkare-sverige


Anna Kinberg Batras Almedalstal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a9gybTvA_k

Immigration Hump Day: Wednesday morning's SkyNews Press Review and guests Rowenna Davis and Tom Newton Dunn made many of Mickey Kaus' go-to points re immigration, esp. about new immigrants lowering wages, etc. due to 2 front page immigration stories, in The Sun and The Daily Star; This common sense aspect of immigration & economic policy is one that was completely ignored by South Florida news media during #GangofEight bill this summer, esp. its negative effect on working poor Blacks in Miami

Immigration Hump Day: Wednesday morning's SkyNews Press Review and guests Rowenna Davis and Tom Newton Dunn made many of Mickey Kaus' go-to points re immigration, esp. about new immigrants lowering wages, etc. due to 2 front page immigration stories, in The Sun and The Daily Star; This common sense aspect of immigration & economic policy is one that was completely ignored by South Florida news media during #GangofEight bill this summer, esp. its negative effect on working poor Blacks in Miami

Lots of talk about Labour leader Ed Miliband and former Foreign Sec. and Home Sec.

Jack Straw

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/11/12/jack-straw-labour-migrants-europe-workers_n_4263548.html

going public with Labour's past mistakes in an attempt to catch up to public opinion and make laggard, hold-out Labourites realize that it's time to either get on the train or be left behind on the issue. But they say that Tony Blair says he has no regrets, and is esp. happy about the 300,000 Poles who have come to Great Britain at some point over the past few years.

The Press Review guests were Tom Newton Dunn, The Sun's Political Editor,

https://twitter.com/tnewtondunn

and Rowenna Davis, Labour Parliamentary candidate for Southampton Itchen, a chic little dynamo who can get in some real weighty zingers with a smile.

https://twitter.com/RowennaDavis 

Precisely the sort of English woman I always go for!

MAIL FRONT PAGE "A spectacular mistake on immigration" #skypapers pic.twitter.com/4crCep0Jy2
— Sky News (@SkyNews) November 12, 2013

STAR FRONT PAGE "Roma migrant invasion will start UK riots" #skypapers pic.twitter.com/fn2uj5mNyw
— Sky News (@SkyNews) November 12, 2013

Mickey Kaus @kausmickey https://twitter.com/kausmickey
Kaus Files blog: http://dailycaller.com/author/mickeykaus/

Jennifer Rubin of The Washington Post combs thru the mountain of evidence -and self-inflicted wounds- that is Marco Rubio's disastrous 2013 and asks the logical question, "Who is Marco Rubio?" (¿Quién es Marco Rubio?) But maybe the real question is what is Rubio? Someone to be trusted and counted upon, or someone to be leery of because of his penchant for conflating his own role and ego?; Just as I predicted months ago, no?; #Rubio, #gangofeight, #RubiosFolly

Who is Marco Rubio? http://t.co/0LHdwpWXyO
— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) September 19, 2013

Jennifer Rubin of The Washington Post combs thru the mountain of evidence -and self-inflicted wounds- that is Marco Rubio's disastrous 2013 and asks the logical question, "Who is Marco Rubio?" (¿Quién es Marco Rubio?) But maybe the real question is what is Rubio? Someone to be trusted and counted upon, or someone to be leery of because of his penchant for conflating his own role and ego?; Just as I predicted months ago, no?; #Rubio, #gangofeight, #RubiosFolly

I need hardly remind you regular readers of this blog that I predicted all of this very intense scrutiny, personal criticism and second-guessing of Marco Rubio's character many months ago in this space, in a series of posts re immigration comparing what Rubio had said and promised at one point in time with what he actually did and said when it counted, and behind-the-scenes.
This, even while Florida's Mainstream Media -and especially the reporters at The Miami Herald- were predicting clear sailing ahead, even as they scrubbed their own newspapers and websites of anything or anyone critical of Rubio's pro-amnesty approach to immigration reform that put amnesty first and border security second, in keeping consistent with the Editorial Board policies set forth and the personal opinions of many reporters, columnists and editors or news room producers.

Now we'll all get to see how Rubio handles adversity and very strong personal criticism about his integrity and trust-worthiness, and whether he is destined to learn from the experience or simply going to become just the latest one-term Much-Ado-about-nothing Senator in Washington.
As a voter who supported him early on in 2009 and voted for him twice in 2010, this is far from being a settled question right now.
Without the support of voters like me, former Democrats, Rubio's political future is very much in doubt -and completely forget about 2016. 

The Washington Post
Who is Marco Rubio?
By Jennifer Rubin, 
Updated: September 19, 2013

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is young and eloquent. But he has baffled conservatives who have no idea who the real Rubio is.

Is he the Rubio who embraced immigration reform in the Senate or the Rubio who’s dropped the issue entirely?

Is he the Rubio who talks about a positive agenda including higher education reform or is he the know-nothing who follows Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) in the shutdown cul-de-sac? 

Read the rest of the piece at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2013/09/19/who-is-marco-rubio/

-----
See also my June 12, 2013 post titled,
When Rush Limbaugh admits he's disappointed in Marco Rubio's flip-flop on immigration, it's only going to get worse for Rubio. Only positive of S.744, the Schumer-Rubio “comprehensive” immigration amnesty bill, i.e the #setup4sellout, IF it passes, is that Rubio gets properly 'schooled' and roughed-up a bit to wear off his new car smell and conservatives see his true faults for what they are -he's still too gullible. Consider that Mission (already) Accomplished; Mickey Kaus is masterfully connecting-the-dots on why defeating this is more important to U.S. long-term than getting more info re Benghazi, IRS, NSA snooping scandals
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/mickey-kaus-is-masterfully-connecting.html

Video: Michelle Malkin hammers Marco Rubio over his duplicity, pandering and condescension this year in crafting the ill-advised Schumer-Rubio immigration bill that puts Amnesty first and Border Security and everything else second, in an effort to appease the GOP Establishment, agribusiness interests, Hispanic voters and the Mainstream Media. In doing so, she lambastes him in a way that no prominent person in Florida has been willing to do publicly, though Mickey Kaus has been doing what he can to inform & educate from The Left Coast; @michellemalkin, @kausmickey, @TwitchyTeam, #marcorubio, @powerlineUS

Thesharktank1 YouTube Channel video: Michelle Malkin Talks About Rubio's Immigration Position with blogger Javier Manjarres. Recorded at the Defending the American Dream Summit  in Orlando, Florida. Uploaded September 1, 2013. http://youtu.be/PDG-LAra9io

Video: Michelle Malkin hammers Marco Rubio over his duplicity, pandering and condescension this year in crafting the ill-advised Schumer-Rubio immigration bill that puts amnesty first and border security and everything else second, in an effort to appease the GOP Establishment, agribusiness interests, Hispanic voters and the Mainstream Media. In doing so, she lambastes him in a way that no prominent person in Florida has been willing to do publicly, though Mickey Kaus has been doing what he can to inform & educate from The Left Coast; @michellemalkin, @kausmickey, @TwitchyTeam, #marcorubio, @powerlineUS

And boom goes the dynamite! :) 
In my opinion, conservative writer, pundit and Twitchy head honcho Michelle Malkin's 100% right about everything she says in this video, which I saw early Sunday morning before going to sleep, when it then only had about 5 views.

It's funny -no, not really- that a relative outsider to Florida politics like her can so easily size-up this whole episode for what it really is and has been, but the supposedly better-informed (re Rubio) Florida press corps that has largely carried Rubio's luggage has avoided -even while finally starting to acknowledge some faults and mis-steps, NOT that they ever did during the policy debate, esp. in the pages of the Miami Herald, which censored any and all anti-amnesty points-of-view!

Something that regular readers of this blog have known from the very start as I've endeavored to point out one instance after another of the Florida press corps going out of their way to NOT see things that were contrary to their Editorial Board's pro-amnesty positions, or reporting on honest fact-based disagreements with Rubio.

By contrast to their soft, gentle and sycophantic touch, almost acting as a Rubio protective cordon, Michelle Malkin just walks up and pulls the Band-aid off without any warning!

It's almost like she's reading my mind -and has been reading my blog posts- and is applying just the right amount of honesty, anger and sarcasm to really make the point crystal clear. :)

TwitchyTeam  @TwitchyTeam, https://twitter.com/TwitchyTeam
http://twitchy.com/

-----
Mickey Kaus continues connecting-the-dots on Marco Rubio and the realities of Schumer-Rubio that the Mainstream Media and Beltway Dems like our own DWS are trying very hard not to reveal. 
Mickey wants everyone properly informed, MSM and Dems want everyone sleeping, sleeping, sleeping... like babies 

Conservative activists heckle Marco Rubio over immigration stance http://t.co/ksCRTBMXdx
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 31, 2013

.@marcorubio cratering in polls but raking it in on K Street #wagesofamnesty http://t.co/8rOW1af5s4
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) August 28, 2013

I sent that odd Thomas B. Edsall piece in the NY Times from a month ago on Rubio and his latest K Street contributions to Mickey in LA on Tuesday and was pleased to see that he ran a few tweets on both of them. 
I'll have more original thoughts on Rubio's fall-from-grace soon on the blog.

http://dailycaller.com/author/mickeykaus/

Rubio Doubles Down into Disaster 
6:26 PM 06/17/2013  
http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/17/rubio-doubles-down-into-disaster/#

Mickey Kaus @kausmickey https://twitter.com/kausmickey www.kausfiles.com

Michelle Malkin  @michellemalkin https://twitter.com/michellemalkin
www.michellemalkin.com

See also:
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2013/07/schumer-rubio-gives-pandering-a-bad-name.php
SCHUMER-RUBIO TAKES PANDERING TO A NEW LEVEL
PAUL MIRENGOFF
JULY 9, 2013 

Where's Marco Rubio? Like me -but unlike the sleepwalking South Florida news media- blogger extraordinaire Mickey Kaus has not only noticed that Team Rubio has gone silent on immigration and wants to talk about everything BUT that, he's focusing like a laser on it. That's not by accident. 67% of GOP voters who oppose a "path to legal status" say they could not vote 4 someone who disagreed on that issue!; @kausmickey, #RubiosFolly

This Gang of 8 bill is like Wimpy in Popeye. We cannot support border security Tuesday, for amnesty today. pic.twitter.com/REUd4dfKq1
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 20, 2013

As I told you all last month in my multiple blog posts about Marco Rubio's lack of tweets about immigration -but about the Miami Heat- and the Miami Herald's self-evident and heavy-handed censorship for well over two weeks of all references, in-print and in their blogs, re Ryan Lizza's excellent New Yorker piece on the Schumer-Rubio bill, the Gang of Eight and Marco Rubio and his staff re the pro-amnesty bill that emerged.
And censorship of any articulate, fact-filled negative comments about the bill. 
Nope, nothing about Florida's agribusiness industry hungering for more low-cost labor and how much they were spending to make it happen.

Los Angeles-based blogger Mickey Kaus, long one of my favorites since I was living and working in the D.C. area and he was at Slate, and now writing at The Daily Caller website, is one of the many people I shared this bits of news with around the country.
Some didn't know about it, some had heard but hadn't seen any actual evidence.
Then I dropped some fact-filled evidence on them via email.

Over the past few weeks, as only Mickey Kaus can so consistently, with insightful reporting and good humor, well-timed sarcasm and a knack for saying today what others will be saying tomorrow, via his very popular Twitter feed and blog, he has reminded us all again that, surprise, "Team Rubio really has gone silent on immigration"

.@MarcoRubio's *already* non-trivially damaged Gangof8 bill's prospects by acting like he's scared of it, no?
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 18, 2013

@S1CT They had a meeting to push it. Rubio didn't show up. http://t.co/eHmcN6Jrfj
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 18, 2013

67% of GOP voters who oppose a "path to legal status" say they could not vote 4 someone who disagreed on that issue! http://t.co/L0WC4Cqavw
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 18, 2013

Rubio'll have 2 say something nice abt Gangof8 legalization now-just 2 avoid more stories like this http://t.co/dE3wB0iOJR #dnmeanhesnotawol
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 18, 2013

Rubio "has gone underground" on immigration http://t.co/asOGCwmDEv #theacelawillonlytakeyousofar
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 18, 2013

"Rubio appears to have miscalculated" ... http://t.co/weHnYbNE67
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 18, 2013

Search and replace "Marco Rubio" with "Paul Ryan" to get next month's CW http://t.co/NzEFzIiTBA
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 18, 2013

@SenRubioPress @MarcoRubio Anything but immigration!
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 17, 2013

Wow--Team Rubio really has gone silent on immigration. Look at @MarcoRubio, @SenRubioPress and @AlexConant feeds. Gangof8=toxic?
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 16, 2013

Rubio rapidly losing presidential appeal among Tea Party... http://t.co/Ms96jR4Lun
— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) July 11, 2013

@RyanLizza That said I agree press gives v-poor picture of those in middle. Also no way of knowing what's for show and what's real.
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 11, 2013

@RyanLizza Seems 2 me pro-legalizers (Ryan/Labrador/DiazBalart) get quoted most, w/ King/Bachmann as crazies on other side. #biasexplainsall
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) July 11, 2013

More bad MSM analysis of Marco Rubio 2016 and immigration reform that includes the usual convenient forgetting of facts/polls that disagree with the central thesis of both La Raza and the GOP Consulting Class. Wow, this is getting tiresome! Jill Lawrence in National Journal: The Myth of Marco Rubio’s Immigration Problem; what's NOT a myth is Miami Herald's recent censorship of criticism of Rubio over immigration reform, esp. Ryan Lizza essay

The myth of @marcorubio's immigration problem. His position is same as most of '16 field. My latest @nationaljournal http://t.co/fgxjAstZiG
— Jill Lawrence (@JillDLawrence) July 15, 2013

My comments are after the frustrating column in Beltway Conventional Wisdom at bottom.

I know I can't be the only former Democrat who voted for Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate
in the 2010 Florida primary and general election who will publicly admit that he's unqualified
to be President or Veep in 2016, and who also think he's wrong on immigration.
The one thing I know that GOP pollster Whit Ayres can't seem to accept is that Marco Rubio can't possibly do anything in the future politically without votes from voters like me.
If voters like me ever turn on him for good...

-----

The National Journal

The Myth of Marco Rubio’s Immigration Problem

He’s taking heat for supporting a path to citizenship. 

But almost every other GOP 2016 prospect does too.

By Jill Lawrence

July 15, 2013 | 6:00 a.m.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is losing altitude with some conservatives because he’s the Republican face of immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Yet he’ll have a lot of company in the 2016 field if he runs for the GOP presidential nomination.

In fact almost every Republican weighing a 2016 race – from Jeb Bush and Chris Christie to Paul Ryan and Bobby Jindal – favors some path to citizenship like the one in the comprehensive reform bill passed by the Senate, or is open to a variation of it.

Read the rest of the column at:

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/the-myth-of-marco-rubio-s-immigration-problem-20130715

This is unintentionally funny, that is, if you think biased or uneven reporting is funny, given  that like a 1,001 of these media pieces on Marco Rubio the last few weeks,  The  National Journal's Jill Lawrence never actually talks to a serious and articulate person who is actually against Schumer-Rubio and who can make the case that there is a lot everyone can agree on and it's precisely THOSE policies of agreement that should be done FIRST on immigration 
reform, and the Gang of Eight prescription of a path to citizenship is NOT one of things that a majority of Americans agree.

But when confronted with that fact and numerous polls in all parts of the country showing this,

Rubio and the rest of the Gang, along with their various sycophants and proxies in the news media, Think Tanks and the Beltway GOP Consulting Establishment, esp. those with a tie to big-time corporate Agribusiness, want to grab their football and run home -and sulk.

And send email to supposedly-conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks about how unfair it all is that some voters in the country, especially the active GOP grassroots, are openly resistant to the demands of the GOP Beltway Crowd that this should be rammed thru or swallowed whole, despite the fact that its own supporters clearly haven't read it all and even now still can't explain all its ramifications to well-prepped reporters with a straight face.

Which, last time I checked, is what one of the public's principal criticisms of Obamacare were.

Correctly as we all know now.

Of course, like all those other pieces on Marco Rubio that have run the past few weeks that are almost always largely pro-Rubio -even if they do feel the occasional need for PR purposes to rap his knuckles or take him to task for some element of his amnesty position that doesn't please La Raza, Univision or the Democratic left- Jill Lawrence's 

conscious choice to NOT speak to someone smart and knowledgeable about what's going-on like Mickey Kaus, who can make that logical and persuasive counter-argument that includes Border protection, and do it in an interesting and informative way, Lawrence makes it much-easier for her to write her column.

And in the end, isn't that what's really most important to her?!

Rubio tries 2 amend bill 2 add things he said were already there RT @SenRubioPress Ensuring English Proficiency http://t.co/PkkREnK2uq
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) June 11, 2013

.@conncarroll @ThePlumLineGS @DavidMDrucker So under guise of getting tough, @JohnCornyn drops even Gangof8's fence requirement? Tough?
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) June 12, 2013

The one person she does quote a lot, GOP consultant Whit Ayres, seems to me to be laboring under one very large false illusion, and it's a sign of how disconnected so much of the GOP Consulting Class is that this can happen without someone who knows him grabbing him by the lapels and snapping him out of zombie-like trance chanting counter-intuitive nostrums about why it's correct for this bad piece of legislation to get passed the way he and the GOP Establishment want -expecting any new-ish group of voters in the future to be "thankful" to the GOP for passing it is preposterous and shows no understanding of either human or voting behavior in this country.

But then what are we to make of this?

It’s not a given that Republicans will lose if they stay the course. Those who are well funded, strong in their convictions, and persuasive on the stump might just prevail. Defiance might be worth a try, since the stakes are kind of big: constructive governance and the future of the Republican Party.

Funny, Jill Lawrence herself wrote that.
But she didn't write it within the context of the immigration story, even though it would be true, perhaps more so than any other issue.

Nope, she wrote this back in March, and the title that The National Journal came up for that tells you everything you need to know about the way she views the world, making her piece today seem all the more predictable:

Republicans Need to Think for Themselves, Even in Election Years
The GOP will never get fixed if its candidates keep running scared from primary challenges
By Jill Lawrence
Updated: May 30, 2013 | 12:31 a.m., March 4, 2013 | 11:22 a.m.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/republicans-need-to-think-for-themselves-even-in-election-years-20130304

Call me crazy but my intuition based on actually paying attention to what happens in this country is that those future new permanent residents-turned voters will walk into the voting booth in their town's city hall or rec center or Senior's Center and calmly vote against Ayres' GOP candidates and not think about it twice.

Meanwhile, Ayres will still be trying to talk his failed candidates off a ledge by rationalizing the bad decision he made, as if that will do any good to his defeated candidates, after-the-fact, like they were sacrifices to appease the PC media gods.

And the candidates will remind him that he never said anything BEFORE th election about them being sacrifices, since they were paying him full-price.

It's all so very predictable, even without benefit of my handy Time Machine, but as usual, instead of someone with moxie like Kaus, who isn't afraid to fire back, it's pro-amnesty Establishment GOP Ayres whom Lawrence decides to make the conscience of her piece, which is why he'll still keep getting quoted in the future, no matter how wrong he is and illogical his analysis proves to be for years in retrospect.

This situation with Ayres is the precisely the sort of thing that, whatever else is wrong with American sports and the sports media punditocracy these days, and there's a lot, it shows that it is much more self-correcting than the world of political consulting and broadcast/print punditry.

Sometime, like a MLB pitcher with an un-hittable fastball who never learned to adapt and develop any other consistent pitches in crucial situations that could get strikes and not be hit in the air, a pundit just loses their honed intuition.

That's it -the end. 

An Ayres could not last for very long on Fox Sports game day coverage of the NFL or even ESPN/ABC's stranglehold of college football game day coverage, by consistently being wrong about what happened and what will happen next.

But because Ayres has been inoculated by a member in good standing of the MSM, he'll continue to be able to sound-off on politics with reporters from outlets all over the country with no idea of his poor judgment and analysis.
It's our New Normal.

And if you still haven't read the great Ryan Lizza essay on Rubio and the Gang of Eight's bill that the Miami Herald consciously prevented from ever being publicly mentioned in print by their reporters or in their blogs, as I wrote about last month a few times, see:

The New Yorker
GETTING TO MAYBE
Inside the Gang of Eight’s immigration deal.
BY RYAN LIZZA
JUNE 24, 2013

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/06/24/130624fa_fact_lizza

How do you solve a problem like Marco Rubio? With lots of fact-filled Kaus-centricity! Mickey Kaus continues to write honestly about Rubio while Florida news media remains too cowed to report truth about him; After 19 days of Marco Rubio censoring his own Twitter feed, @MarcoRubio, just like the Miami Herald's two week #newsblackout of anti-amnesty, anti-Rubio news in-print and online, Rubio tweeted, well, more piety; @kausmickey, #RubiosFolly

Rush Limbaugh on reluctance of Republicans to openly criticize Marco Rubio for his pro-amnesty first position. Uploaded June 28, 2013. http://youtu.be/gaFXjKb7UYE.


Caller to Rush Limbaugh Show from El Paso, Texas area relates conversation he had with illegal aliens from Mexico about what they saw as the downside to Schumer-Rubio bill from their perspective: more competition for menial jobs from coming surge of people across border, people who don't want to become citizens. Uploaded June 28, 2013. http://youtu.be/HetlXjLrhqY

How do you solve a problem like Marco Rubio? With lots of fact-filled Kaus-centricity! Mickey Kaus continues to write honestly about Rubio while Florida news media remains too cowed to report truth about him; After 19 days of Marco Rubio censoring his own Twitter feed, @MarcoRubio, just like the Miami Herald's two week #newsblackout of anti-amnesty, anti-Rubio news in-print and online, Rubio tweeted, well, more piety; @kausmickey, #RubiosFolly

Unlocked! 
Now you can finally see for yourself what the Miami Herald has desperately trying to keep quiet about in Ryan Lizza's New Yorker column for the past two weeks, where never was heard a discouraging word -about Rubio (and the Herald's) pro-amnesty first policy.

The New Yorker
GETTING TO MAYBE
Inside the Gang of Eight’s immigration deal
By Ryan Lizza
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/06/24/130624fa_fact_lizza



Here's what Rubio wrote after 19 days of nothing on Twitter:

I spoke today on #Senate floor about opposition to #ImmigrationReform. Here is video link: http://t.co/0T8XSBu59g

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) June 26, 2013

Ouch #marcorubio pic.twitter.com/wojgQO4jLy
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) June 24, 2013

Wow--Rubio even advocated "attrition" of the illegal immigrant population through enforcement-aka "self-deportation" http://t.co/3vdH4bqeXC
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) June 28, 2013

.@conncarroll True, Rubio didn't impugn opponents' motivations - he sent his minions to do that: http://t.co/aWKiSVkDQH #NoStatesman
— Mark Krikorian (@MarkSKrikorian) June 28, 2013

.@conncarroll If he'll sell you out on immigration he'll sell you out on Obamacare, taxes, regulations--whatever, when time comes.
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) June 28, 2013

.@conncarroll If Rubio were going to bring world peace, might be worth excusing all this BS. But he's Florida pretty boy who doesn't vet.
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) June 28, 2013

.@conncarroll If Rubio were going to bring world peace, might be worth excusing all this BS. But he's Florida pretty boy who doesn't vet.
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) June 28, 2013

.@conncarroll Main defense 4 Rubio in all these deceptions is he doesn't really understand what's in his own bill. Is he that dumb? Doubt
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) June 28, 2013

.@conncarroll Rubio was still lying on Senate floor on Wed., saying his bill would "add 700 miles" of border fence http://t.co/Aa88oiz54Y
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) June 28, 2013

@conncarroll Here is Rubio conning Fla voters in 2009--saying Reagan erred with 86 amnesty! http://t.co/gudWkI97wQ
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) June 28, 2013

.@conncarroll Here's Rubio lying to Mark Levin http://t.co/tf4HY3L18D
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) June 28, 2013

.@conncarroll You crazy man! Wherein lies greatness of Marco Rubio? Dude did nothing but dissemble, straddle, posture. What's the plus side?
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) June 28, 2013

Rubio bought Gang of 8 bill time to gather momentum before conservatives began to realize what was actually in it: http://t.co/yK9ePkxKnF
— Mark Krikorian (@MarkSKrikorian) June 28, 2013

NOW UNLOCKED: "Getting To Maybe: Inside the Gang of Eight’s immigration deal." http://t.co/nY4YNjCiG0
— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) June 27, 2013

.@derekahunter @freddoso Think @MarkSKrikorian is right-Ryan is on amnesty side, like Rubio. Don't entertain *any* hope that he's not.
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) June 28, 2013

People need to understand NOW that Paul Ryan is a Judas Goat on immigration & not defer to him for months before figuring it out, a la Rubio
— Mark Krikorian (@MarkSKrikorian) June 28, 2013

In WSJ, Karl Rove writes: If Romney 'received 35% of Latino vote instead of the 27% he did, Obama would still have won by 4,083,340 votes.'
— Byron York (@ByronYork) June 27, 2013

It's about time MSM went to bat for "immigration reform"! //MT @ThisWeekABC: Sen. Marco Rubio Speaks From the Heart http://t.co/kolM5lnWEy
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) June 27, 2013

I don't think conservative activists would be as worked up over Rubio if he had just been honest about amnesty during the 2010 campaign.
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) June 25, 2013

Nobody buys this theory, but maybe Rubio isn't running for President--because he knows he doesn't, um, vet. http://t.co/G8pEtdNBNn
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) June 25, 2013

The unexploded grenade in Rubio aide's comments http://t.co/V2i1jl44Ey
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) June 24, 2013

I'm so old, I remember when Marco Rubio promised not to spring a secret immigration bill on us at the last minute http://t.co/At2Noaai2C
— Conn Carroll (@conncarroll) June 24, 2013

Byron York: Marco Rubio's immigration flip-flop could spell political trouble http://t.co/b0erCtIxIv
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) June 24, 2013

Sen. Marco Rubio misled police, ICE union says: http://t.co/vE225cRCn3 @washtimes
— Mark Krikorian (@MarkSKrikorian) June 24, 2013

this is exactly why Rubio wants a quick vote: @hughhewitt was for the bill unti he read it http://t.co/GGIBDEvnF3
— Conn Carroll (@conncarroll) June 24, 2013

MT @conncarroll: doubling low skill immigration will totally solve this http://t.co/ZFi8gag1oa
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) June 23, 2013

McArdle: Why we should worry about unemployment at the bottom of the economy http://t.co/MzdCz0yAgw Something the Gangof8 didn't do
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) June 23, 2013

MT @conncarroll: doubling low skill immigration will totally solve this http://t.co/ZFi8gag1oa
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) June 23, 2013