Jeb Bush Needs to Think Before He Speaks

Former Governor Jeb Bush was at a National League of Cities convention and according to the Denver Post had these fixes for the nation’s immigration problems:

1. “tightening the border”
2. “improving programs to more smoothly integrate immigrants into American society”
2a. “teaching English to immigrants is one way to improve integration and ensure success for new generations of immigrants”

Not exactly new or helpful insights.

Jeb Bush also made it clear that he thought the Arizona law was not the way to go.

“While [Bush] is sympathetic to the plight of Arizona officials forced to deal with all the problems linked to a porous frontier, he believes there are solutions other than a law criminalizing illegal immigrants, he said.”

Beyond raising the interesting question of how one criminalizes something that is already illegal, Bush stepped in the "not very astute" bucket by mentioning that his own children might be "suspicious" to police under the law.

“Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said if his children walked the streets of Phoenix they might look awfully suspicious to police. His wife, Columba, is from Mexico.”

It's not appropriate to criticize the children of politicians, but what do you do when the politician himself criticizes others by invoking his children? And then it turns out the children have already had problems in the very area being criticized?

With all the negative pressures of the high profile political life Jeb Bush has chosen, his children have not only been suspicious to police without the Arizona law, but have had police reports filed on them. (George P., Noelle, John Ellis)

Sometimes it’s better to think before one speaks--especially before invoking one's children to make a political point.