THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VI, Issue # 140, June 29, 2004
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
CONSERVATISM, IMMIGRATION POLICY, & THE GOP:
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY WAGES WAR AGAINST ITS CONSERVATIVES
By Christopher G. Adamo
FULL STORY:
Colorado Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo is in big trouble with the GOP leadership. And just what, you may be wondering,
is his great sin? “Team America,” a political action committee originally founded by Tancredo, is working to unseat U.S.
Representative Chris Cannon, a Liberal Leftist Republican from Utah, by supporting Matthew Throckmorton, his challenger in the
Republican primary.
Chief among those organizations caterwauling about the actions of Tancredo is the Liberal “Tuesday Group,” a coalition of
approximately thirty Liberal Republican U.S. House members whose goal is to steer the party to the Left. Hiding under the cloak of a
grossly distorted rendition of Ronald Reagan’s “Eleventh Commandment” (“Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican”), the
Tuesday Group is now expressing concern that Republican Party Conservatives are finally making efforts to strike back.
Apparently, undermining the Conservative agenda by abandoning the Republican Party at key junctures during the legislative
process is perfectly fine with these Republican “centrists.” But any discussion of such matters by Conservatives, who have tired of
seeing their Party abandoning its principles, is strictly taboo. By such hypocritical assertions, these Liberal “Trojan Horses” hope
to continue dominating Republican Party politics and policy from within.
Of course Ronald Reagan never intended for his “Eleventh Commandment” to be arbitrarily invoked as a means of allowing Leftwing
Liberalism to spread, unchecked, within the ranks of the GOP. Rather, it was supposed to prevent the sort of backbiting and mud
slinging within Republican Party ranks which can ultimately undermine the credibility of the entire Party.
U.S. House Majority Leader (Republican Party Floor Leader) Tom Delay, a longtime champion of Conservatism, has found himself in
the middle of this row. Seeking to maintain a cohesive Republican majority in the House of Representatives, he is promoting themes
of “team spirit” and “comity” among Party members. Delay even referenced Reagan’s “Eleventh Commandment” in a meeting with
Tancredo in which the Colorado Congressman was apparently warned to change his ways and endorse a unified party, or face
retribution within Republican circles.
Unfortunately, such rhetoric fails to deal with the fact that it is the Republican Liberals who regularly undermine Party unity by
voting with Democrats at critical junctures. With such people constantly placing the philosophy, ideology and policy positions of
Leftwing Liberalism ahead of traditional Conservative Republican principles, the only manner in which even a facade of “unity” can
be maintained is for the entire Party to shift to the Left. This, of course, is precisely the strategy of the Liberal Republicans.
Tancredo’s major issue of concern is unchecked illegal immigration and the resulting compromise of America’s borders. Hardly a
miniscule “pet issue” of a fringe constituency, the immigration problem goes to the very core of maintaining America’s national
integrity and heritage. Little else of GOP principles or goals can be regarded as significant in any way, as long the Party remains
indifferent to the invasion across the nation’s borders by a flood of illegal immigrants who, as soon as they are able to do so, will
vote /against such things as tighter control of America's borders, reduced immigration into the U.S.A., apprehension and
deportation of illegal aliens and efforts to maintain America's national integrity and heritage, as well as the traditional Republican
Party positions on the entire range of public policy issues. Yet, major forces within the GOP are once again actively working to
insure that, at best, the Republican counterpart to Democratic politicians' plans of opening the borders and allowing the influx of
illegal aliens to continue and intensify will only amount to a watered-down version of the very same thing.
By supporting truly Conservative Republican challengers, Tancredo’s PAC hopes to specifically target key players of the open
borders advocacy for defeat during their respective state primaries. While it is not entirely clear whether or not Tancredo is still
officially participating with the work of his PAC, his political ideology remains consistent with that of the PAC's members.
Tancredo realizes that threats to the future of the nation are no less virulent when advanced by socalled “Republicans” than
when spawned by Democrats, the traditional advocates of open borders policy and massive, uncontrolled immigration into the
country.
Tom Delay has, in the past, shown himself to be extremely principled, with the one notable exception being his support, under
severe White House pressure, for an education bill that was essentially crafted by Ted Kennedy. He knows that, if his Party
persists in its claims to uphold both high and low standards, only the low standards will prevail. Though presently striving to
remain within the boundaries of Party loyalty, he is surely aware that, as a principled Conservative, his own future is no less
threatened by the underhanded actions of the socalled “moderates” than is the future Tom Tancredo.
For Delay and Tancredo, whose differences are far outweighed by their political common ground, the most pressing matter is to
maintain the Republican Party according to Conservative principles rather than allowing the socalled “centrists” to reinvent the
Party in the image of the Leftwing Liberal Democrats.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Politics & Political Competition
More on Liberalism Versus Conservatism
in American Politics
Immigration & Illegal Aliens
More on Immigration & Illegal Aliens
LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES DEALING WITH
IMMIGRATION & ILLEGAL ALIENS:
Center for Immigration Studies
VDARE
Federation for American Immigration Reform
Congressional Immigration Caucus
Americans for Immigration Control
American Immigration Control Foundation
California Coalition for Immigration Reform
Christopher G. Adamo is a freelance writer who lives in southeastern Wyoming and works in the field of industrial instrumentation.
He is actively involved in Wyoming's political process, serving as a delegate to successive Wyoming State Republican Conventions
and as a member of the Wyoming State Republican Central Committee. He has assisted Republican candidates for local and state
legislatures and for the United States Congress. His articles, which appear regularly in The Progressive Conservative, U.S.A.,
and on a number of other websites, reflect a major concern with the damage being done to Conservatism and Conservative causes by
the Liberal Leftist faction in the Republican Party as well as by the much larger and more powerful Liberal Leftist faction in the
Democratic Party. During the early and middle 1990s, Adamo was Editor of the Wyoming Christian Coalition's official news organ,
The Wyoming Christian. Adamo maintains his own Internet website, which is located at
www.chrisadamo.com.
Return to Top of Page
Go to the WEBSITE INDEX
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume VI, 2004
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights, Page Two
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights, Page One
Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage
CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION
This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics,
civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy, and political
philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs,
International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests,
Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy