Speaking of Vice-Presidents, yecchh.
Our current VP was subjected to a CBS “town hall” over the weekend where a series of generally none-too-bright questioners peppered Vance with questions that he hesitated to answer with the clarity and forcefulness necessary. I thought Vance’s strength was supposed to be communication. Maybe Trump can get rid of him…
You can read the transcript here, but my main nausea came from Vance’s weenie responses to two questions regarding illegal immigration. CBS set him up to some extent with the first one, asked by a nun, Sister Nancy Sylvester. The Veep is Catholic, of course, and spoke as if he felt he owed some kind of deference to Sister Nancy despite the fact that her question bypassed law and policy and went straight to toxic empathy. She asked…
“Mr. Vice President, we are sisters who minister at the southern border in the United States, as well as here around Detroit, and they are constantly seeing families who are affected by our immigration policies. They see the trauma of children who are separated from their parents, sometimes on a moment’s notice. They go to school and they come back and they’re not there. And they have to sort of fend for themselves. And so they, the sisters see the kind of effect, the fear and violence of the ICE behavior. We know the complexity of this issue, but what really pains us is how it’s being implemented in such ways. And so I’m going to, sort of know that both of us share the same faith. We may not always agree, ’cause I understand you don’t always even agree with our pope sometimes. And so I want to, though, wonder what would you say, how would you justify to people of faith, especially those of us who try to follow the gospel, how the behavior of the ICE men and women can constantly be justified to, in terms of the kind of values we live, wanna live by, and also what policies would you advocate to try to promote more compassionate and respective behavior toward our immigrant sisters and brothers?”
Elected officials and responsible citizens can’t accept the false premises underlying such a question, but Vance did. He replied, after wasting time showing his concern for the Pope’s health and pandering to his fellow Catholics,
“So let me say, one, we’re trying to strike the right balance. And when you have a country where approximately 25 million illegal aliens have come in over the past 30 or so years, many of them completely unchecked and unvetted, we’re trying to strike a balance between how do we do law enforcement, but how do we also do it humanely, and how do we not do so little law enforcement that you actually empower some of the worst people in the world. And so—I think that it is constantly a work in progress. When you’re talking about millions and millions of people and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officers, you know, we’ve even just in the past year or so increased training protocols. Because I do think that men and women of ICE, by the way, it’s like the men and women of law enforcement. Most of them are amazing people who are patriots and they want to do a good job protecting their country. Sometimes you have some people who make mistakes. Sometimes you have some people who really screw up. And obviously we have a responsibility to prosecute, investigate when people do screw up.”
Clear as mud, and incompetent. His duty was to begin by saying, first, that the Sister was talking about illegal immigrants, and the “immigration policies” of enforcing the law. These aren’t “immigrant sisters and brothers,” but illegal immigrants who should not benefit from taking what isn’t theirs to take, It’s nice that she and her colleagues are trying to ease the burdens law-breaking illegals have inflicted on their own children, but that is not the fault of the United States or its primary concern, nor should it be. “Following the gospel” means, as the wonderful Pope has made clear, open borders, and the disastrous consequences of that are blazingly evident in Europe and increasingly in the U.S. You cannot govern competently and responsibly with faith and the the idealistic teachings from a culture 2,000 years ago. Law enforcement wouldn’t have incidents of overreach, bad decisions, accidents and mistakes if lawbreakers didn’t force the government to deal with their destruction.
I have a dear friend and occasional commenter on EA who thinks like Sister Nancy. This is the poison well of misplaced Christian charity that creates the “Good Illegal Immigrant” myth and the absurd parallels between Mary and Joseph and the millions of illegals the Biden administration encouraged to first break our immigration laws, and then to engage in further lawbreaking.
Then CBS host Tony Dokoupil introduced another questioner, a naturalized citizen named Niv Agarwal. Sister Nancy had just asked, “I’m interested in how, from your very core of your faith, how would you want to be, how do you want to treat immigrants? Because in many cases, we get, they all are called terrorists sometimes by people. They are—like, how does, what, what would you want? What would you want to do?” Great: Shut up, Sister, you ignorant slut. Tony segued to Niv, whose infuriating question was along the same lines. He said,
“Hey, my name is Niv. My family and I immigrated here about 20 years ago, and I became a citizen about five years ago. So you were the first person I voted for, actually….One reason, because of the reasons you just mentioned, I was concerned about border safety, as in the trafficking and the drugs, not because I think immigrants actually take away jobs from Americans, but after seeing ICE behave like military police, and you recently call H-1 visa workers foreign indentured servants. I think Americans are anything but safe. So I’m just curious, why, why are you scapegoating immigrants for the issues you’re supposed to be solving as a Vice President?”
Immediately, Vance should have said,
“Let’s get two things straight once and for all, Niv. First, the issue is illegal immigrants, not legal immigrants like you. Stop letting open borders advocates confuse the issue by adopting their dishonest rhetoric. Second, if an illegal immigrant has a job in this country, by definition he or she is taking that job away from an American, because if that illegal wasn’t here, an American would have that job. So if you don’t think immigrants actually take away jobs from Americans, you’re confused. Nobody is “scapegoating immigrants.” Again, we are talking about illegal immigrants. I would think, as an immigrant yourself, you would insist on that distinction. We are correctly pointing out the harm done to the nation, society, the economy and law-abiding citizens when foreign citizens come here illegally, and ICE acts exactly as law enforcement has to act when criminals are being protected by rogue state and local governments and misguided Americans who have accepted pro-open borders propaganda as you have.”
If the Republicans get clobbered in the mid-terms, a main reason will be their incompetence and rhetorical cowardice.
How disappointing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we need people in the Republican party who can speak clearly and boldly. Vance started out seemingly filling that void. It seems wishful thinking, at this point.
At this point in time, I really think that JD Vance and the MAGA label is on its way out the door and Rubio has proven himself and is marching his way in. That’s where I sit on October 20, 2026, let’s see if it can endure the test of time.
Rubio 2028!!!
I also think that Karoline Leavitt should run for Congress in 2028 and set herself up to run and win as the first female Republican President in 2032.
How about that for a look forward beyond MAGA?
I think I could get on-board with that.
Rubio has set himself up, in my humble opinion, as the best leader of the Republican Party of the future. Let’s hope he doesn’t disappoint as so many others have.
Too bad he’s so short. He’s listed at 5’9″, claims to be 5’10”, but is almost certainly 5’8″ or shorter. Only 12 Potuses have been 5’9″ or under, and only two since 1901. Big and tall means strength and power.
Based on growing up around Cuban refugees, I’m actually okay with Rubio and all the other young Cuban Americans in politics, mostly in south Florida. But I have to wonder why so many children of Indian and Chinese and Muslim academics, physicians and engineers are filling the upper echelons or the country’s media and policy and political ranks, and now even elected offices? Why is that? My theory is their parents come from kleptocracies and they assume government jobs are wildly remunerative because government is where they keep the money. Non-immigrant kids seem to avoid politics and go into other fields.
I see John Wayne was 6’4″.
I’m going to guess with elevator shoes Rubio could pass for 5’10”. Putin is 5’7″ and Xi Jinping is 5’11”. Trump called Ron DeSantis “liddle.” He’s 5’10”. Plus DeSantis has that squeaky voice. Whatever happened to Ron DeSantis, anyway?
Hey Sister, stay out of politics. Stick to saving souls. Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. Ever heard of that?
She should be reprimanded by her superior for even appearing on that show.
Regarding the nun’s question, “What policies would you advocate to try to promote more compassionate and respective behavior toward our immigrant sisters and brothers?” Vance should have had a canned and well-rehearsed response to ICE–Illegal Immigrant and/or ICE-Protester violence. While the question coming from a nun may have thrown him a bit, politicians need to think on their feet effectively. He should have stated that the church, illegal immigrants, politicians, and law enforcement have a role to play in the illegal immigrant problem in the US and abroad. The World Bank estimates that 826 million live below the $3.00/day extreme poverty level. That is twice the total US population of 349 million. Mathematically, we can’t help all the impoverished sisters and brothers. So how do we choose who to help? You establish laws to govern who to help.
The United States is a nation of laws; it is not ruled by a King, Queen, Despot, or Pope. For an idea to become law requires a consensus of Congress and the President. Congress has not changed the law since 1990. The Executive branch is constitutionally required to enforce all Federal Laws. If anyone has a problem with the current law, they can lobby Congress to change the law.
The tragic deaths and injuries that have occurred when protesters or illegal immigrants forcefully impede an ICE Agent’s lawful actions could have easily been avoided. If the Illegal immigrant never crossed the border, there would be no interaction with ICE. If the Illegal immigrant or protester complied with a lawful ICE order, none would be dead or injured. If the Illegal immigrant or protester did not first act aggressively toward the ICE agents, all would be well today. If the Catholic Church repeatedly preached to “would-be illegals “ not to break U.S. laws, all would be well today. Ignoring or not enforcing the law is analogous to choosing which of the Ten Commandments don’t apply to you.
I’m waiting for the Holy See (the Pope himself) converse with the rioting, anarchic migrants he wants the world to accept with open borders, open arms, open pockets.
He may not have seen the devastion around Il duomo in Milan, but he should be aware that they will soon be on the piazza of St. Peter’s or storm the Vatican city itself.
Oh, no, DD. Unlike the duomo in Milan, the Vatican is well protected behind very substantial walls and iron gates. It’s basically a fortress.
As we have seen gates, walls, fences, and security personnel mean nothing to these anarchists. I am convinved they will tear down the gates of hell, just because. Leo talks to Zelinsky, but does not talk to rioting migrants. All I a have heard form the many Vatican sites I read are crickets!!
The incoherence at the top is apparently trickling down…
Damned if you do …..
He’s probably trying to distance himself from Trump’s worst attributes by seeming more ‘nice’ and reasonable. He does much better with direct and plainspoken.
The problem with trying to seem nice is the first step is to throw law enforcement under the bus. At which point, you’re doomed.
I dunno. Lambasting a nun is probably a worse PR move than issuing a song and dance response intending to get him to seek absolution for his sins, nor would I expect him to reprimand or chastise the nun asking the question. Was it manipulative? Absolutely. Did danced as best he could.
See, friends of ours had a death in their family. We requested a perpetual Mass enrollment with a cloistered monastery here in the Houston area. My friend gave me the wrong birthdate so I called the monastery to see if they could issue a corrected enrollment. When the sister answered, she asked, “John is that you? We are so happy to hear from you. We received your Mass enrollment. How can we help you?”
To say the least, I was pleasantly taken off guard – and perhaps a bit freaked out – that a sister whom I have never spoken to addressed me with such charming familiarity (kind of a “Welcome home! We’ve missed you. Thank you for all you have done for us.” sort of thing [she knows my wife and my mother-in-law because they visit the monastery much more than I do so we are a not strangers to them]). In fact, I had conflicting thoughts of “uh-oh, the nuns know who I am so I’d better straignten out” and “well, that’s a wonderful ‘first’ impression of the monastery.”
After describing the problem, she immediately connected me with the nun in that department, who said she would correct the Mass enrollment and mail it out today. Truly remarkable.
jvb
Telling the truth and refusing to embrace nonsense isn’t lambasting. You can’t accept a false premise like the “illegal immigrants are just immigrants” lie. Correct her and give her a chance to challenge the obvious.
And sound like an idiot….
I suspect it was a PR move more than anything on his part.
I agree that the muddling of “immigrant” with “illegal immigrant” should be shown in the cold light of day and Vance should have made that distinction. He also could have made the argument that the illegal aliens brought this crisis on themselves by entering illegally or overstaying visas, etc. He also could have said that actions have consequences and separation from one’s family is a direct result of breaking US immigration laws. Holman did that to Ocasio Cortez in Trump 1.0, to his credit. He also could have said that the pro-illegal immigrant advocates are making the problem so much worse by comparing ICE to Nazis or disrupting/interfering with legitimate ICE actions.
jvb
As a devout and practicing Christian, I don’t see ANY evidence that Jesus Christ said anything relevant to statecraft. His message was about how to preserve your soul, and community, while under repressive occupation.