Rubio's Dismal Hannity Performance Disgusts Respectable Right

By Patrick Cleburne on May 26, 2013 at 1:43am

Dumb-as-a-rock amnesty shill Sean Hannity (to borrow Brenda Walker’s pleasant phrase) showcased Marco Rubio for an hour on Friday. The result was a disaster for the Amnesty/Immigration Acceleration bill’s public face.

Rubio Can’t Defend His Own Immigration Bill groaned Stanley Kurtz at National Review Online May 25 2013

His case for the bill was unpersuasive and, at times, incoherent…Rubio distanced himself from his own bill, refusing to defend its security provisions...Yet Rubio has been defending the bill far and wide, even appearing in an ad on its behalf–an ad that touts the bill’s security provisions. If he’s filmed this ad for the bill, he ought to be able to defend its security provisions. If he can’t defend the security provisions as they now stand, why did he consent to be included in the ad?

…As it stands, Rubio’s Hannity performance is puzzling and incoherent…If this is the best case supporters of Schumer-Rubio can make to conservatives, then there is no serious conservative case for this bill.

At Powerline, Paul Mirengoff was sufficiently disgusted to post twice in the subject. MARCO RUBIO’S EMBARRASSING APPEARANCE ON FOX, PART ONE May 24, 2013 justifiably denounces the program’s structure

First, as I feared, the format was heavily skewed in favor of Rubio and his position. Second, even with this skewing, Rubio’s main arguments were pathetic…Why didn’t Fox have Jeff Sessions, for example, appear with Rubio to ensure the effective presentation of both sides? Probably because, as I understand it, Rubio refuses to appear with Sessions.

So can we expect an hour-long program in which Sessions or a comparably knowledgeable opponent of the anti-amnesty position appears with Hannity? Don’t hold your breath. The powers-that-be at Fox appear to be in the tank for the Schumer-Rubio bill.

MARCO RUBIO’S EMBARRASSING APPEARANCE ON FOX, PART TWO May 24 2013 deals with the flaws in Rubio’s performance

Rubio is advancing a bill he can’t say will be effective… an admission that he has abdicated his responsibility as a legislator.
…how can Rubio write and sponsor legislation on such an important issue when he (1) cannot say that the legislation will be effective (indeed, he basically said it won’t be effective under a liberal Democratic administration such as the one we have now) and (2) concedes if it isn’t effective it shouldn’t pass?

The immediate answer to this question is that Rubio simply is not too bright. But beyond that, he has already proven willingness to flatly lie in support of this bill. Why should his alleged reservations be given any credence?

The Daily Caller has thoughtfully contributed a dossier on Rubio’s bad immigration record in Florida Rubio has long history of blocking immigration enforcement by Charles C Johnson 05/24/2013 This is not news to VDARE.com readers of course

What all this means is that Rubio has lost the Respectable Right. I think commenter “Arlie Ray Blackshear Jr.” on the second Mirengoff blog may be correct:

Rube-e-o has gone Crist. He'll shed his current party and become an independent. Then if he gets reelected he'll 'evolve' and, to much ballyhooed fanfare, become a democrat. Adios senor Rube-e-o.

http://www.vdare.com/posts/rubios-di...pectable-right