Border issue bait and switch
Border issue bait and switch
Delmar said:
So W says we are going to close the southern border. Anyyone holding their breath?
Not.
A crisis of confidence by Alan Keyes
During his speech Monday night, President G.W. Bush acknowledged in a breathtaking understatement that, "We do not have full control of the border." If this were the beginning of his first term, and he had expressed a determination to correct the failed policies of a predecessor, that statement might imply no dereliction of duty in his administration. As things stand, it represents an acknowledgement that under his administration the federal government has failed to fulfill one of its clearest and most vital responsibilities. Many Americans are wondering why.
The question raises serious doubts as to the credibility, not only of the present administration, but of the national political elite of both parties. The president and others suggest that we must urgently address the crisis of the millions of immigrants who are in this country illegally. But this crisis is the direct result of years of willful neglect by political leaders who have sought their own political advantage and profit for their financial backers, at the expense of America's vital interest. This they have done during a period of war against the insidious threat of terror, when the danger to our national security could hardly have been more explicit. We have the right to be more than a little doubtful about the credibility of politicians who tell us that we must urgently dash forward to resolve a problem greatly aggravated by their own willful incompetence.
Right now, their lack of credibility is the issue. Rushing National Guard troops to the border is just the kind of temporary palliative that would suit the purposes of politicians seeking to manipulate public perception. They think that a gullible public will buy this as a substitute for the serious institutional and legal changes that are necessary to secure the border. With security concerns momentarily placated, they move forward with their real goal, a guest-worker *** amnesty program that assures a supply of cheap labor for some corporate interests, while providing new opportunities for illegal entrants to mask their unlawful status. When public attention shifts elsewhere, the National Guard's role (designed to be ineffective to begin with) is phased out, and the border is left more wide open than before.
...By dismissing such comprehensive measures as "militarization," the president implies we can deal with a dramatically altered situation by incrementally expanding old approaches that he acknowledges to be a failure. This suggestion has no credibility, and it only serves to aggravate the suspicion that the real agenda is not to secure the border, but to secure certain political and financial advantages for some people at the expense of the people as a whole. If we are concerned with the common good, we cannot and will not be satisfied until comprehensive measures are in place to establish lasting and effective control of the border.
Finally, it was unfair and disingenuous of the president to suggest that people like me – who favor this essential priority – envisage indiscriminate and mass deportation as the proper way to address the situation of the illegal immigrants who have already been in the United States for some years. We are not averse to opening a proper path to citizenship for any who truly wish to be Americans (a wish signified, among other things, by eagerly learning the common language that allows our diverse population to communicate). But if we take steps in this direction without first securing the border and establishing a regime of vigorous enforcement for our immigration laws, any move to open this path will rightly be regarded around the world as a signal that we lack the political will to maintain and defend our border and our national identity. To insist, as the president has, on a "balanced and simultaneous approach," gives the appearance of moderation, but really continues the policies of extreme and willful neglect that have produced this crisis.
more...
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I smell a GOP defeat coming on...
