[TexasPatriot8]

I'm surprised so many people are being so hard on Bush after that speech. He only said 90% of the things that people like Tancredo who are serious about border security have been calling for. I haven't been a Bush fan at all on domestic policy other than taxes, but I don't get all the hostility towards him by folks here. I mean, if he's serious and does what he says, how is it a bad thing??? Am I missing something?

[Paladin2]

I agree with you in general, but it would be good to send 20,000 to hold the border initially and back off from that when technology is properly developed AND proven(physical obstruction of some type in most places).

[VOA]

I'm surprised so many people are being so hard on Bush after that speech.

Honest, friendly thought...I think one important element has to do
with the old phrase:
"Timing Is Everything"

Dubya didn't really tighten up the border following in the years following 9-11.
Only when an amnesty package gets heat, the Border Patrol-Mexican Consulate
story appears...does he snap to action and say out loud that the
border is out of control.

If he'd secured the border within maybe six months after 9-11...
he might have preserved that "political capital" said he got from
the Nov. 2004.
Just my opinion.

[Publius6961]

but I don't get all the hostility towards him by folks here. I mean, if he's serious and does what he says, how is it a bad thing??? Am I missing something?

Obviously, you are. Perhaps your memory blocked this out from our president in 2004...

Some temporary workers will make the decision to pursue American citizenship. Those who make this choice will be allowed to apply in the normal way. They will not be given unfair advantage over people who have followed legal procedures from the start. I oppose amnesty, placing undocumented workers on the automatic path to citizenship. Granting amnesty encourages the violation of our laws, and perpetuates illegal immigration. America is a welcoming country, but citizenship must not be the automatic reward for violating the laws of America.

Not exactly what I heard tonight. He couldn't even bring himself to define the problem. He wasted lots of words defining the value of legal immigrants. Unfortunately that's not the problem that is dividing us.

[ntnychik]

I mean, if he's serious and does what he says, how is it a bad thing??? Am I missing something?

If he were serious, border control would have been job one after 9/11/01, if not before. By definition he can't be serious about illegal immigration, if in the 6th year of his presidency he only made this speech to quiet his conservative critics. I know what he said. It was just words. The national guardsmen, who should be resuming their jobs and normal lives, might spend some token time freeing up immigration agents, but Pres. Bush's heart is where it has been these 5 1/2 years that he's been setting the agenda. The results will be no different than if he hadn't made the speech.