Popularity for President Bush is at its lowest recorded point; so “say” all the polls.
It is his second term; second term presidents always encounter rough riding.
We know about some of his tendencies:
He will stay the course in Iraq;
He is a fighter against terrorism and, to a degree, would rather terrorism not find its way again to our domestic shores;
His NSA tap policy is publicly-supported by a 2-to-1 margin;
He spends money like water;
He is loyal — almost to a fault;
He is no Great Communicator and leaves many things un- or poorly-explained;
-and-
He apparently is disinclined to secure our borders.
. . . causing many Conservatives (and some Republicans) to wonder just where in the hell he is going and what in the hell he is doing.
Throughout all of this the economy is still pumping along nicely (though the DEM are doing their damnedest to keep this factoid from you) despite gas prices, Bush has made two excellent (and one zany nomination) selections for the Supreme Court, and a questionable replacement for Porter Goss (I do not object to the “military” aspect; I object to the “status quo” aspect — Porter Goss actually attempted some change).
— (Sorry, Blogger has this moment decided to not allow me to delineate paragraphs.) —
And now this — in advance of his Monday speech on immigration.
Bush May Widen National Guard Patrols at Border
By Jonathan Weisman and Michael A. FletcherWashington Post Staff Writers
By Jonathan Weisman and Michael A. FletcherWashington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, May 13, 2006; A01
President Bush will push next week for a broad overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws and plans to tighten security on the borders, possibly with a wider deployment of the National Guard, White House officials said yesterday.
The officials said Bush will use a prime-time television address Monday to outline his plans and then visit the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday to highlight the problem of illegal immigration.
Officials say he is considering substantially increasing the presence of National Guard troops, some of whom are already deployed under state of emergency declarations in New Mexico and Arizona. Administration officials are exploring ways to allow governors to deploy troops across state lines to help seal the porous border with Mexico.
Despite this, President Bush has still not visited with or consulted border-state governors on their needs and issues with regard to illegal immigration.
And, in my opinion, President Bush is doing this only because he perceives he must make the move for self-preservation — a motivational factor I find most disturbing.
Is this the initial “laying of hands” on the wheel of the RMS Titanic prior to its collision with the iceberg?
I wish I could say I were supremely confident. I am not.
Only time will tell.
BZ
Your border issue is a real mess … I sincerely hope you guys stand your ground. I really prefer obtaining passports to visit the US and not Mexico. If their border moves north, it means I have to take up arms and stand on the 49th… 😉
Thanks for stopping in at my house … you gotta great thing going on here, so now I’ll have to harass ya regular like … lol
I have NO real issue with Bush on ANYTHING except the border issue…
And all he’s doing NOW is pandering to US, someone in the RNC told him to pull his head OUT of his ass, and that he’s KILLING the Republican Party, all by himself…
And anyone running for an office in November is in PANIC MODE right now, and they are hoping this will turn the tide and BS some Conservatives into voting for em again…
Maybe, maybe not, let’s see if the ‘Panderer/deciderer in Chief’ is for real or is it strictly a political move…
I think we ALL, well, most of us already KNOW that answer…
Some folks are gonna think he’s “GOD” no matter what…
We are going to wait and see but as of right now I agree with Fred, This POTUS has had my support from day 1 and he has done a lot of good things for this country.
If he does not grow a set over this border issue it will become a deal breaker for me, and I will be extremely vocal about the Republican party as a whole.
any senator or congress person signing this AMNESTY bill(Thats all it is) can look forward to being unemployed this November.
If any of the concepts of ‘amnesty’, ‘guest worker’, or ‘path to legality’ is mentioned positively, this President will have lost my support. This is a National Sovereignty issue, pure and simple.
We cannot *need* ‘guest workers’ as we *have* an unemployment rate.
If any job category has problems filling jobs, raise the wages until they are filled. If this causes the product or goods involved to cost too much and that business to go under, then it was not economical for it to be doing that business in the first place.
Once the unemployment rate is 0% and we have it heading into the negative regions due to economic growth, we might look at something… perhaps offering retired workers something to go back to work…
Only once *all* of Our citizens are employed should we even *think* about looking outside of the Nation.
Putting the Army or NG on the border is only of use if there is a *solution* to back them up. Such as a permanent border control capability. I do not trust an electronic ‘fence’ as it is prone to all the ills of electronics. Adding in a sensor web to a real wall is the only solution.
Anything else is hot air and misdirection.
AB Freedom: sorry, couldn’t pass up the visit. It’s important to know what our neighbors up north are doing! Great blog too, and fabulous posts! Everyone oughta read ya! Uh-oh, I feel another post coming on. . .
TF: oh c’mon, you don’t think money runs through his budgets like water? He spends like any other Dem — he’s SURE as heck no “fiscal conservative.” I submit it’s a political move, that perhaps someone or a bevy of someones finally got through the “illegal immigrants aren’t bad” wall in his head. Bush isn’t God, that’s for certain, and the Republican party now isn’t the Republican party of the 80s. I tell people, any more, that I am a Conservative rather than a Republican. That should speak volumes in and of itself.
Buckwack: many people are in your corner in terms of the issue being the proverbial “dealbreaker.” And what I find so seriously sad is that his stance will affect the overall GOP and result, unless he manages to turn the Titanic’s wheel sufficiently soon, in a loss of GOP House and Senate seats — and you know folks, that just doesn’t have to be.
It does NOT have to be!
AJ: you are SO spot on! “If any job category has problems filling jobs, raise the wages until they are filled. If this causes the product or goods involved to cost too much and that business to go under, then it was not economical for it to be doing that business in the first place.”
Truer words were never spoken! Let the market and the people find the level of convergence! A free market economy can handle all that and then some!
The so-called “Day Without Immigrants?” Economically speaking it was a total bust and should have clearly indicated to everyone with a head on their shoulders that ONLY MEXICAN COMMUNITIES WERE AFFECTED.
That AGAIN should have spoken volumes — but were The People truly listening?
BZ
OK liten up.
You can slight Bush on the border problem. He deserves it. But you also have to slight all the other presidents for 30 years. Damnit this aint new.
And Bush doesn’t spend money. Congress does. That is like blaming your kids for spending the money you throw at them.
Also Bush can’t pandar. He aint ever going to be up for election ever again. Maybe you ought to pat yourself on the back for changing his mind about something.
I don’t think Bush is God. But, I know enough history to recognize that he is fantastic president. I look at what he as accomplished I am impressed. I compare him to the other presidents of the past 100 years and understand he is amazing by comparison.
I am pretty damn sick and tired of being belittled because I like the guy. I have plenty of good reasons to like him. I can list plenty of good reasons why he is a damn fine president.
Yeah, he CAN, and DOES PANDER, does it ALL the time, not for himself now, but for the RNC, and if the Repubs don’t pull their heads OUT of each others asses, there won’t be an RNC much longer…
BWH, of ALL the “Bush is God” folks, I thought you were a lot smarter than that…
This will be nothing more than a temporary show piece to TRY and appease the voters before November rolls around… And as soon as the elections are done, look for the USA to become WETBACK heaven, courtesy of GWB and Company…
BZ, absolutely correct, but I wasn’t going on a Bash Bush fest in your blog, didn’t want you to be opened up to the bullshit from the “Bush is God” crowd that I got hit with, no point in you being called the names and lied on like I was…
His fiscal conservatism IS a joke BUT, the economy is pretty damned good and unemployment is fantastic, I gotta give him that..
Ya see, that’s the thing the “Bush is God” people never understood, I will support Bush, IF I feel he is right, but if he’s WRONG, he’s fair game and that is our DUTY as American voters…
United We Stand, not Blindly We Follow, and there are a few old bats around here that are truly BLIND…
Texas Fred: My point precisely. I have discovered one very important thing since blogging: I am a Conservative first. I thought I was a Republican first but the GOP disabused me of that notion.
And BWH, I’m not attempting to Bash Bush per se; I am, however, reserving the right to disagree with some of his decisions. I reserve the right to not be a Straight Line Republican — “the GOP is correct on all terms;” they are not.
I find it excruciatingly disconcerting that, whilst power was right in the palm of our hands, we took so many missteps along the way. Yes, to a degree the GOP pandered; for whatever reason the GOP seems to be reticent to exercise the true power it once possessed in Bush’s first term. Even now the GOP and even Bush could come on the pipe like gangbusters and solve any number of problems — if only they would stand firm, TAKE a stand, accept no watered-down proposals and wield that power.
The Dems and the DEM have no qualm whatsoever about wielding power when they have it; why is the GOP so timid?
As the years pass one phrase I remembered from my high school social studies teacher holds so true now, some 30+ years later:
“Democrats don’t win elections; Republicans lose them.”
BZ
You can and should take issue with Bush’s bad decisions. But he damn well makes more good ones than all the other presidents we have had in the past 100 years except Reagan. And None of the recent presidents including Reagan have done a damn thing about our borders.
Quite franky Fred, If you can’t see the value of the arguments I made for the esteem I hold for Bush, I can’t say anything “smart” enough to pursuade you. There is some good in better. These may be baby steps. But they are steps none the less.