I am always impressed by the writings of Peter Berkowitz (see here, here, here, and here for examples), and his OpEd piece today in the Wall Street Journal is no exception.
He urges both libertarian and social conservatives to embrace moderation, to recognize that they need each other, and argues that a “constitutional conservatism” provides a principled common ground. He provides a list of those principled, constitutionally conservative positions that, although occasionally vague (“Measures to combat illegal immigration that are emphatically pro-border security and pro-immigrant”), I find generally sound, with one glaring exception.
That exception — the dog that did not bark, producing a deafening silence — is a principle that does not appear on Berkowitz’s list: the principle that all Americans have a right to be treated by their federal and state governments without regard to their race, creed, or color.
If conservatives do not insist on this principle, how can we expect anyone else to honor it?
“Measures to combat illegal immigration that are emphatically pro-border security and pro-immigrant”
Berkowitz does not understand that many illegal (and legal) immigrants are themselves anti-immigrant and bigoted. That is, many Latino immigrants demand affirmative action and bilingual education policies that discriminate against non-Latino immigrants.