Reaction to Bush immigration speech

cnn ^ | 5/15/06 | cnn

[wotan]

(CNN) -- The following is a sampling of reaction to President Bush's speech on immigration Monday night in which he proposed deploying National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border:

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican:

Rohrabacher, a leading immigration critic in the House, said on CNN's "Larry King Live" that he was "very disappointed" by the speech.

"He's playing these word games about massive deportations again, which no one is advocating and does not do anything to further an honest debate," said Rohrabacher, who also took issue with Bush's distinction between a legalization process for illegal immigrants and amnesty.

[wotan]

Nothing significant will be done except amnesty.

Rohrabacher nails Bush.

Better learn Spanish. (!Aprende espanol para no se lo arrepentiras, gringo!).

[ovrtaxt]

Where was the suggestion to end the 'anchor baby' policy? (and please don't bring up the Amendment- that's clearly based on a misapplied interpretation by a liberal SC.)

Where was the threat of jailtime for employers who hire illegals?

Where is welfare reform- as in shutting off benefits to border violators?

Where is the proposal to remove illegals from public education?

What's with expanding the path to citizenship? We can't even properly implement the one we have now!

And we're going to SPEND MORE MONEY! yay! Go big government!

This whole speech was a huge disappointment. But, at least we'll get a 'virtual wall', and a national ID card. Such a deal.

[ovrtaxt]

Meanwhile, Mexico continues to be a cesspool of poverty and corruption- the REAL reason that all these folks want to come here.

Absolutely nothing about holding that band of racist crooks in Mexico City accountable.

[ovrtaxt]

And for all you GOP defenders who will no doubt come along and try to rip conservatives a new one, here's the shining example of the kind of friends you are making:

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat:

"We know where the House Republicans stand. They want to criminalize undocumented immigrants and the nurses, volunteers and people of faith who help them. The president told us tonight that he is for comprehensive reform: Now he must lead. The president has the power to call up the National Guard, but now he must summon the power to lead his own Republican forces in Congress to support a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform."

[KCRW]

Wow- Do you honestly believe what you are saying here? You honestly believe that George Bush has any control over the poverty and corruption in Mexico?

[wolfpat]

There's nothing we can do about Mexico. However, once we arrest the illegals, we can give them courses in civics and guerrilla warfare, and send them home with AR-15's. That'll solve the problem.

[hershey]

Last night someone on CNN, maybe Wolf Blitzer, came out and said twenty million illegal aliens were in the US. He didn't call them 'aliens', they were 'immigrants'.

[ovrtaxt]

Sure. Vicente is his boy! or so he says...

Seriously- we are the most powerful nation on the planet, and Mexico is a pissant dictatorship who regularly allows drug cartels and slave traders to violate our border. They provide safe haven for murderers fleeing American law enforcement, and have for years.

We have good reasons to put pressure on them, and we have ways of getting our point across.

[ovrtaxt]

:^)

That's not a bad idea!

[Coldwater Creek]

If I was you I would just stay at home and not vote or find a third party canadaite.

[Coldwater Creek]

Correction candidate.

[ovrtaxt]

Yeah, I'm feeling a little homeless today. Overall, I like George Bush a lot. But right now, right after last night's disaster, I'm having a hard time feeling the love.

[Coldwater Creek]

It is all in the eyes if the beholder. I thought that it was a great speech.

You can build walls that will reach the heavens, but you will not keep these people out if they want to come.

[azhenfud]

"You can build walls that will reach the heavens, but you will not keep these people out if they want to come."

The Israeli fence debunks that myth.

[spatso]

I think that the new language may be appropriate. The President seemed to come at the problem from two directions. First, seal the borders to stop the wholesale migration. Second, deal fairly and equitably with the millions of undocumented persons who remain. Subject to that policy being ratified policy by Congress it would seem to me that the illegal aliens can now be called undocumented immigrants.

[Coldwater Creek]

Apple and oranges!!!! Israel is bombed almost every day.

[LegendHasIt]

President Bush’s speech last night contained no surprises for me. It was pretty well delivered; The right tone; It SOUNDED sincere and reasonable… But in the final analysis it was the wrong words and the wrong ideas for the long term survival and soverignty of the United States.

I kind of feel sorry for the President even though I believe he is 99% wrong on this particular issue.

It is obviously wearing on him even more than the other significant issues of his Presidency…. Perhaps because he knows he is wrong and he realizes he is not only "stabbing his 'base' in the back" but also a high percentage of the ‘loyal opposition’ on the Illegal Alien Invasion problem.

President Bush IS supporting amnesty, (just like we expected), but without the courage to call it amnesty. A small cash payment and go ‘to the back of the line for citizenship'’….. But these people are expert at ‘taking cuts’ in the line, so I expect those that find some advantage to getting citizenship (Medicare, Social Security etc.) Therefore, we can expect to see them, in the near future, in the FRONT of the line, WITH 20 - 30 million of THEIR EXTENDED FAMILES, who are still currently residing in their countries of origin.

The current plans to send the National Guard to the border are a double insult; They are an insult to the conservatives demanding action (but getting only a pretense of action). And they are an insult to the National Guard members and their families… President Bush is planning on deploying them to run errands and do maintainence tasks for Border Patrol EXECUTIVES and do construction work that is more in the venue of the Army Corps Of Engineers or private contractors….

(Speaking of that, I wonder if they are going to have to do environmental impact statements, archaeological surveys and all the other crud that are normally required by the government and the lawyers to build their little bits of actual, physical fence and the larger, pretend bits of ‘virtual, high tech fence’.)

{As a guy who spent a good part of his early career getting into places that he wasn’t supposed to go [in the service of Uncle Sam] and later got paid big bucks by government and private industry for PREVENTING other people from getting into places out in the middle of nowhere that they weren’t supposed to go; I can tell you with some degree of experience and authority that a ‘virtual fence’ is a ludicrous idea unless you have real people with real powers of enforcement within five minutes response time}.

I was kind of hoping that President Bush had ’seen the light’ because I still support him on 60% of his endeavors… But on this subject, he lived up to my expectations again… This time as an expected disappointment.

[ovrtaxt]

That's an asinine statement.

Do you have locks on your doors? Doesn't matter, I feel like coming over. Hope you have lots of food in the fridge! I think I like your car too. I'm sure you got the 'no door locks' option...

[ovrtaxt]

Apple and oranges!!!! Israel is bombed almost every day.

No, the argument is whether fences and walls work- not the intentions of the violator.

[Dane]

Didn't you know? To azhenfud, Christian hispanics are the same as suicide bombing muslims.

One of the most tronic threads on FR was when two cops in Norehtern Virginia were shot and killed. Speculation was running rampant that it was part of hispanic gang hit, when it was found out the perp was a messed up white bread goth wannabe, the thread basically turned silent.

[Coldwater Creek]

If someone is determined to get into my house locks will not keep them out.

I know from where I speak. I live int the Memphis, Tenn. area.

[Dane]

No, the argument is whether fences and walls work- not the intentions of the violator.

Walls sure did work to keep the people in the old soviet union in subjagation.

Seems that you admire the old soviets in their wall building expertise.

[Coldwater Creek]

It is not about intentions, but determination!

[ovrtaxt]

So you just leave them unlocked, right? I mean, why try?

Okay, I'm getting a ticket to Memphis. See you later! And remember to take a trip to the grocery store!

[KCRW]

Yep- you are right. Bush is responsible for fixing all of the crime and corruption in Mexico. That would solve all of America's immigration problems.

Good one. What next? What else should Bush use his magic fairy dust to fix?

[Glenn]

but you will not keep these people out if they want to come

Aw. Can't we at least make it a little difficult for them? Challenge them? Create a fence that will mimic natural selection so we might only get the strongest and smartest?

[ovrtaxt]

Oh, it's you!!! lol glad you could play along, Mr. Dane!

no, seriously, I have to go to work today and keep my American citizen workers employed. So I may not have much time to dink around with your ludicrous descent into goofiness.

Soooooo, what are the talking points? Go ahead, here's your big chance!

[azhenfud]

Israel's fence has almost ended those bombings. You and others have bought the lie a fence won't keep illegals out so I point out Israel's successful effort stopping those bombings proves you wrong. We trust fences at ALL our criminal detention facilities. Again, their successful employ proves you and other opponents to a physical barrier wrong.

[luvbach1]

Vicente Foz can rest easy.

[LegendHasIt]

"If someone is determined to get into my house locks will not keep them out."

Nope...

But a shotgun will.

Look, I'm not advocating shooting people merely because they are illegally crossing a border, Really, I'm not. I'd rather have them here illegally than slaughtered.

But border control, like burglar control, is not a matter 'you can't keep them out'... it is a matter of to what lengths you are WILLING to go to protect what is yours.

[Coldwater Creek]

I never said that I oppose a fence. It will not keep them out, just slow them down!!!!

[ovrtaxt]

Oh, for crying out--

we can manage to pull off regime change in a hostile middle east, but not put pressure on a supposedly friendly neighbor, while they stab us in the back and oppress their own people? Please.

[azhenfud]

Dane, truly no comparison intended for our Hispanic fellows to islamite terrorists. Never had I insinuated such.

Merely I was pointing out the success of the barrier's employ.

You can understand that, can't you?

[ovrtaxt]

Dude, she's an expert. Who do you think you are? ;^)

[cricket]

". . .and Mexico is a pissant dictatorship who regularly allows drug cartels and slave traders to violate our border. . ."

Well, elections are coming up soon in Mexico. . .and we have only to look at Venezuela (and Bolivia) to know that all this could be worse; much worse. We have to be careful as to how we stir this pot; lest we facilitate a Castro 'wannabe' emerging or exploding. . .into power, just south of California. . .(though, it would make it easier, of course, for all the 'Castro lovers' in Hollywood to enjoy the real 'fruits' of communism. . .so to speak)

Meantime, this situation has taken years of neglect and mismanagement. . .we cannot do an instant fix by decree. . .but this is a start. (would like to end the 'perks' for sure. . .and hopefully that will be next. . .and soon.)

[ncountylee]

If someone is determined to get into my house locks will not keep them out.

True, but I would make every attempt to kill an uninvited visitor trying to harm my family.

[hershey]

Turned on CNN or maybe MSNBC last night...Tony Blankley was trying to shore up support for Bush's speech. He said it was a good 'first step', implying there'd be more to come. Let's hope so. Also, 6000 National Guard troops seems to be a top number, not a number to start with and upped if necessary. God forbid we militarize the border. It seems at this point that Mexico is gone as a nation. To cite figures from a Mexican poll of months ago, (so surely many more are in the US by now): a quarter of Mexico's population, the poorest, are already here. Half of those remaining were packing to head north,(the middle class). Whole villages are vacant. Fox admits remittances from the US are the biggest item in his budget, more than oil, drugs, everything else. The billions sent home from more than 20 million Mexicans in the US are keeping Mexico afloat. We're feeding corruption and worse. (Why is this a good thing? Especially when they bring that culture here?)Mexico complains that poverty and disease are spreading. Fewer doctors to treat the sick, fewer people to work and somehow it's not their fault.

Mexico's a sink with the drain pulled. Glug, glug. Everyone's gone like water down the drain. So we go in and straighten them out, (set them up again a la Palestine, a chore that awaits...ad infinitum), or we throw up our hands and say the border's gone. We've integrated with Mexico on their terms. It's bad, and what's worse, we were denied an honest discussion about this for years. Lied to over and over. If the democrats get in, however, it will be far worse.

[Coldwater Creek]

I am not saying that you shouldn't!, but you cannot watch your house every minute! If someone wants in your house bad enough at some point they will make it.

People are willing to pay hundreds of dollars to climb in 100 plus degree truck and take a chance of making it across the boarder.

[luvbach1]

Bush did not convince anyone that legalization of existing law breakers in any way contributes to controlling the border even though he spent half his speech trying to do so. As if that's not enough, he advocates increasing legal immigration as a means to reducing the influx of illegals. Net result of the amnesty by another name: up to 200 million immigrants from Mexico in the next 20 years! Such insanity! This is salved by temporary deployment to the border of a limited number of National Guard troops but without enforcement authority. Who is being fooled?

[hershey]

You made a really good point. Mexican crime and corruption isn't our business. But it became our business when we allowed and encouraged Mexico's ethnically cleansing. It's a cultural thing, and now it's in the US by the millions. We enabled Fox to not only get rid of poor illiterates, we turned them into a money-making machine.

[ovrtaxt]

So there you go. I'm coming over, and I'm going to eat your food. You can sleep on the couch, by the way. Oh, and after a while, I'll need the title to the property. Don't worry, you can still go to work- I don't want the job if you're still willing to do it. Just keep the food coming in.

After all, you are a compassionate person, right? I love my family, and I practice my faith...

And speaking of family, they'll be along shortly too...

[luvbach1]

Fox is clever like a you know what.

[DustyMoment]

Bush's speech was nothing more than the same old, same old. 6,000 NG troops on the border is a bone he is tossing to his critics (us) in order to pave the wqay for his guest worker/amnesty plan. IMO, either of those are deal breakers.

I won't be bought off with 6,000 NG troops who (it was revealed this morning) will have absolutely NOTHING to do with stopping the illegal invasion.

As I suspected, it's all smoke and mirrors.

[ovrtaxt]

That's otherwise known as 'slave labor'.

[Joe Boucher]

Viva Vincente Fox.
Worthless turd has done zero for his country since taking office amid so much optimisim.
Still as corrupt as a place can be.

[azhenfud]

If it slows them down until their apprehension, it's done its job. If a lock on the door slows a thief until they are caught, it's done its job. If a lock keeps someone out until they are observed and convinced to go elsewhere, it's done its job.

If a fence proves too difficult to cross without significant risks, its crossing will not be attempted. It WILL work.

[hershey]

Fox played Bush. One of his ministers announced to the press six months ago that Mexico was 'integrating' with the US, implying there was nothing we could or would do about it.

[ovrtaxt]

Is Harris going to beat this border drum againt Nelson? Maybe that's why she was stabbed in the back.

[spatso]

I believe the President did okay in an impossible situation that was not of his making. So, tighten the borders to reduce the flow and process the undocumented immigrants that remain. I tend to look at these matters primarily in economic terms. If they pay, they can stay. Indeed, if an undocumented immigrant can demonstrate that they are paying their fair share of federal, state and especially school taxes they should be deemed appropriate. I think the debate is over. They are staying if appropriate. The remaining discussion is how do you determine appropriate and how do you process a massive citizenship initiative based on some condition of naturalization.

[backtothestreets]

Invoke the Carter Doctrine: All talk - No action!

Last week when the White House announced President Bush would hold an evening press conference addressing illegal immigration to further discussions, it could just as well have used that time to announce President Bush had issued some Executive Orders to immediately address illegal immigration. Needless to say, he did not.

I am thoroughly convinced President Bush is not capable of handling this problem. Tonight he confirmed the problem will exist at least through the remainder of his administration, and his oft repeated vow to secure our borders carried all the validity of his fathers' promise to not raise taxes during that administration.