Former President George W. Bush made some interesting remarks on immigration last week that largely fell under the radar. At a Southern Methodist University forum, Bush was asked if he believed that there would be any significant progress on immigration over the next decade. He responded that although he believes that “a rational immigration policy” will eventually be passed, “I think there’s going to have to be some time.” The reason for that, according to Bush, is the nativism that has percolated around the country:

What’s interesting about our country, if you study history, is that there are some “isms” that occasionally pop up. One is isolationism and its evil twin protectionism and its evil triplet nativism.

So if you study the [19]20′s for example, there was an America-first policy that said “who cares what happens in Europe.” Well, what happened in Europe mattered eventually because of World War II. There was Smoot–Hawley which was part of an economic policy which basically said we don’t want trade and there was an immigration policy that I think during this period argued that we had too many Jews, too many Italians, therefore we should have no immigrants. And my point to you is that we’ve went through this period of isolationism, protectionism, and nativism.

I’m a little concerned that we may be going through the same period. I hope that these “isms” pass which would then allow for a more orderly look at immigration policy.

Watch it:

Bush also claimed that “the reason immigration reform died wasn’t just because of one party.” However, while a majority of Democrats voted in favor of the Bush administration-backed immigration reform bill 0f 2007, most Republicans voted against it. Bush also failed to call out his party for being the primary driver of nativism in mainstream politics.

Meanwhile, Bush’s brother, former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL), has tepidly criticized his own party’s nativist strain. When asked by Univision’s Jorge Ramos if “Republicans behaved well towards Hispanics and immigrants,” Jeb Bush admitted, “Well, some Republicans have not behaved well in that aspect, some have.” He also advised Republicans to adopt a “civility and tone that draws people toward our cause rather than rejects them.”

However, the Bush brothers don’t appear ready to fully acknowledge the role their party has played in stoking nativism and killing the chances for sensible immigration reform in the near future. In 2009, the ultra conservative American Cause hosted an event aimed at convincing Republicans that “support for border security, national sovereignty, and immigration control rallies the GOP and brings Reagan Democrats back into the GOP.” Many Republicans heeded their advice in 2010 and the nasty immigration landscape we are facing in 2011 is largely a result of that strategy.

Last month, Jared Lee Loughner shot 19 people in Tuscon, AZ — including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), a federal judge, and a nine-year-old girl — with a semi-automatic pistol equipped with a previously illegal high-capacity magazine. Only days later, a Crossroads of the West gun show was held in Phoenix, and investigators from New York City were on hand to see if they could purchase guns and high-capacity magazines without background checks. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R/I) announced the findings at a news conference today: indeed, the investigators got their weapons easily.

Bloomberg played the disturbing videos at the press conference — first showing a gun purchase with no background check, and then showing a purchase of a gun even after the undercover investigator told the vendor “I probably couldn’t pass” a background check — and then blasted gun show sellers who “continue to flout the law” by selling weapons to people who “have no business buying them.” Bloomberg said the footage highlights the need for a “better system that respects the Second Amendment while upholding the laws designed to protect innocent Americans.” Watch it:

Federal laws require guns to be sold by licensed dealers that must record the sales and perform background checks. However, exemptions in the law intended to allow private citizens to sell or transfer a small amount of guns are frequently exploited by large gun shows, where “private sellers” have large amounts of guns for sale, with no background checks. (Bloomberg noted that in a similar sting in 2009, one “private seller” was found to have a 800-weapon inventory). Bloomberg called for Congress to close these loopholes and require background checks for each gun sale, and for gun shows to begin enforcing these standards anyway in the meantime. “Congress should act now, but gun show operators shouldn’t wait,” he said. “They can do the right thing today by making sure that every gun sale at their shows is subject to a background check.”

Bloomberg also wants “resources and leadership to enhance enforcement of existing gun laws.” Even under the current lax regulations, when the undercover investigator suggested he would not pass a background check, the vendor should have immediately terminated the sale. Federal law prohibits gun sales where the vendor “knows” or “has reason to believe” the buyer would not pass a background check, but Bloomberg’s investigators demonstrated this often does not happen. (In the 2009 investigation, 19 of 30 sellers made the sale after the buyer raised a red flag about himself). “We have demonstrated how easy it is for anyone to buy a semiautomatic handgun and a high-capacity magazine, no questions asked,” Bloomberg said.

A former agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms spoke at the press conference, and said that ATF “doesn’t have the resources or the leadership it needs to cut down on this crime for good.” Broken U.S. Senate rules and relentless lobbying from the National Rifle Association have kept the ATF without a director since 2006. This morning, ATF officials told the Washington Post that budget cuts proposed by the White House “would effectively eliminate a major initiative in the fight against firearms trafficking on the Mexican border.”

Former Arkansas governor, Fox News personality and likely Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee joined Israeli officials at a ceremony yesterday laying the cornerstone for a new Israeli settlement in occupied East Jerusalem. As he has in the past, Huckabee used the opportunity to slam U.S. policy against settlements, saying:

It is inconceivable in many ways that we would have to even argue and debate whether or not Israelis could live in Israel, not just in parts of Israel but anywhere in Israel they wished to live.

Settlements on land conquered and occupied by Israel in the 1967 war are considered illegal under international law, and U.S. administrations have consistently held that continued settlement construction negatively impacts the prospects for a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians.

But, as Huckabee has made clear in the past, he doesn’t believe that the Palestinians have any claim to a state in their homeland, because, according to Huckabee, “there’s no such thing as a Palestinian.” In language that comes dangerously close to advocating ethnic cleansing, Huckabee has also suggested that Palestinians should be forced to find a homeland “elsewhere.”

Last Monday, Deaborn, MI police arrested Vietnam War veteran Roger Stockham, 63, for plotting to blow up the Islamic Center of America, the largest mosque in North America. Stockham drove from his home in Imperial Beach, CA in a car packed with illegal fireworks and explosives, including M-80s, and parked outside the mosque. More than 500 members were attending a funeral at the time. Police found Stockham after receiving a tip that Stockham had threatened to harm the mosque while drinking in a Detroit bar earlier that day:

Dawud Walid, executive director of CAIR’s Michigan chapter, said he learned from police that the suspect had been drinking in a Detroit bar on Monday when he threatened to do harm to a mosque in Dearborn. A bar employee followed the man outside and wrote down his license plate and called Detroit police who in turned contacted authorities in Dearborn, Walid said.

Dearborn police began searching areas around mosques in the city and allegedly found Stockham inside his vehicle outside the Islamic Center of America, Walid said, with a load of M-80s in his trunk and other explosives. Inside more than 500 members had gathered for a funeral service, Walid said. It was not known whether the suspect knew a funeral was underway.

Members of the Islamic Center of America were alerted to the threat during Friday’s prayer service, Walid said.

“We thank law enforcement authorities for their quick and professional actions in this troubling incident,” Walid said. “The increased number of bias incidents targeting American Muslim institutions must be addressed by local, state and national officials and law enforcement authorities.”

Stockham has been charged with “one count of a threat of terrorism” and one count of explosives. Possessing a long history of anti-government activities, Stockham has “served time in federal prison for threatening to kill President George W. Bush and bomb a Vermont veterans’ clinic in 2002.” In the Vermont incident, Stockham called a local paper twice to say he was going to explode bombs in the neighborhood and identified himself as “Hem Ahadin,” a “local Muslim terrorist on a roll.” According to the affadavit filed at the time, he threatened to carry out “jihad” against the VA office. Two weeks ago, he posted a “rambling statement” on Facebook where he again “refers to himself as ‘Hem Ahadin,’ calling it his Muslim name.”

While it appears Stockham was acting alone, police did not immediately release details because, while they believed “there was no ongoing threat,” they “were also worried that the alleged plot could inspire copycats.” After all, this mosque has been targeted before. In 2004, two New York men sent threatening emails to the mosque and was vandalized in 2007 when someone scrawled “9/11 Terrorists Go Home” on the side of the building. And this is only the latest incident in the growing number of hate-filled attacks on Muslim places of worship, let alone Muslims themselves. As the Islamic Center’s Imam Sayid Hassan Al-Qazwini puts it, “When America only talks about Muslims being terrorists, they will turn a blind eye on their own terrorists.”

And while there’s no indication that Stockham was influenced by any political figure or faction, his actions are by no means isolated. As more and more pundits and politicians encourage paranoia and vilify Muslim Americans rather than responsibly speaking out against it, they cultivate an Islamophobic atmosphere of hate that make incidents like this more likely. After all, with the House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-NY) preaching that “80 percent of mosques in this country are controlled by radical Imams,” it seems only a matter of time before someone like Stockham offers a “radical” solution.