I am dissapointed.
I was giving President Bush a chance tonite. I did not want to have any preconcieved speculations as to what he was going to discuss this evening; however, any of my conjectures, I will admit were less than positive.
President Bush did not really offer any dynamic solutions to the illegal immigration rift. As your humble pundit made mention in an earlier post, the only aspect of his speech that considered something bold, was the enforcement via the national gaurd; though, this planned outline for their use is already defanged. I will refrain from going further into the discussion of the other aspects for all five of them are predictable, soft middle-ground stances that he has espoused quietly from the sidelines throughout this whole debate.
Otherwise, President Bush only added more blood to the water of his critics with this speech. President Bush was quite Roveian with his approach, which to me as been impotent on issues of dire conservative concern over the last number of years. Instead of seizing the oppuurtunity of being a capable, bold leader on one domestic issue, President Bush is inching his way closer to securing a legacy quite similar to that of President Nixon.
I am dissapointed in him, as all Americans should be.
UPDATE: (Blogosphere Roundup)
Bush needed to throw some red meat to the staunch anti-illegal-immigration elements, but he decided to cheap out. The meat he found was all fat and gristle, so it tastes good and will keep some chewing for a while, but it will ultimately prove frustrating, unsatisfying, and downright unhealthy. His grand initiative is full of sound and fury, but signifying nothing.
George Bush tried to reassure conservatives and others concerned about the lack of action on border security that the administration takes those concerns seriously. In his speech, he laid out specifics intended to bolster support for his comprehensive immigration reform policies that would reassure people that the border would get effective attention. The two chief proposals comprised the deployment of National Guard troops to support the Border Patrol and the establishment of a fence in high-traffic areas and a system of barriers and electronic surveillance in others.
However, within hours of the speech, holes began to appear in both elements. The New York Times reports that the governors of the border states that would have to authorize the deployment of the National Guard did not get consulted on the plan ahead of time:
Unfortunately, visitors to a Bush ‘43′ Library may have to cross the border into Mexico to take it all in. In a speech which was as much a eulogy for the so-called Reagan Revolution, as it was an unfortunate beginning to a pending political battle on immigration, President Bush all but declared himself irrelevant to the conversation. In essence, the sitting President of the United States through up his hands and declared, “No mas.”
All in all, I have to say it was a good speech last night. Mark has expressed his approval and I have to say I came out of it mostly satisfied. I expect Democrat to disapprove of everything Bush said, whether they disapprove of the National Guard being used to defend our borders (of course, they seem to disapprove of the National Guard doing anything, but that’s another story) or pretend like they really believe Bush isn’t doing enough and try to act as if they would do more.
The Jawa Report observes that Bush is learning from the MSM.
Southern Appeal has a roundup.
Right Wing News also has a thorough roundup.
Hot Air has yet another roundup.
Technorati: Bush Speech / Immigration / Bush / Illegal immigration / national guard / President Bush / Mexico / México / MEXICO / Immigrants / Politics / Current Affairs / News / Immigration Speech / Undocumented Worker / Republicans / GOP / Election 2006 / election-2006 / Democrats