Back when I was a kid, my dad liked to pull surprises on me - especially around Christmas. For instance, I would ask for a bike - fully expecting that my dad would get it for me. But when I would get up on Christmas day it wouldn't be there and I would just see "little presents" like small toys and such. Then just when my disappointment reached it's zenith, Dad would take me to the garage and show me "just one more thing Santa left me".So what about all this flap about Bush's plan?
Well, here are the facts as we know them tonight. Of course the Hawks are hawking, not happy at all and some have switched sides and joining the Democrats.
But the fact is that the majority of Americans - Right and Left - support the President's plan.
As I said, "This is only the beginning", and only one person really caught what I was referring to, that this is ONLY the beginning.
You see Hawks wanted walls, wires and guards - thus a complete stop of the flow of illegal immigrants, along with packing up those who were here and shipping them home in box cars if need be.
That didn't happen. Thus they are calling Bush anathema and even going so far, as in the case of Poli, to support Democrats now for reelection. Oye!
Just as they did with Harriet Myers, Bush didn't give them what they wanted, so as then its now it's time for spanking him and threatening to stay home at the polls in November and other paybacks.
But just for a minute, put away the Howard Dean Is Really a Nice Dude video. Let's play "What if"?
But what if Bush didn't outline the entire plan? What if he just layed the 'ground' work - an outline - however sparce or incomplete?
For instance, had Bush said he was detailing the Army Corp of Engineers and asking Congress for Bizillions of dollars to build walls all around the US, the Hawks would have coronated him and Polipundit would have put Bush's picture back on his desk.
Yet the reality is it would have had as much chance in actual passage through the Senate as I do of dating J-Lo. With approval numbers in the crapper Bush is a lame duck on this issue. He has NO capital or clout be the bull right now. That's just reality.So what if he decided to lay a simple groundwork - a beginning, knowning full well that in battle, it's sometimes better to come in like a lamb to go out like a lion. (Trojan horse anyone).
Think about it.
So he leaves the wall issue for others to determine down the line - AFTER the midterms. Why? Simply because he is simply not going to get an immigration reform package through to law with Hawish language in it. Forgetaboutit. Just isn't going to happen.
So he feigns he has nothing in his hand and 'bluffs".
But I wonder, Does he have something up his sleeve?
Interestingly enough, VP Cheney was on the Rush Limbaugh Show today and said in essense that if the Guard wanted to put up fences - well, so be it. Thus the option is open - down the road - to have more fences put up.
That's how you gain ground in war folks - an inch at a time. If I'm right then The Crawford Kid is the genius I believe him to be.
Today the Senate went to work, and while Hawks are having a fit over the defeat of the Enforcement First amendment, something got done, but it's not a done deal yet.
Remember I told you that Bush was known to be a really good poker player in college. Did he bluff so good that even the Hawks fell for it? Read this article by American Thinker's James Lifson is worth a read for perspective on what I'm referring to.
We'll see. But I'm upbeat, I see good things coming out of this in the future.
UPDATE: Ross Kaminsky at RCP Blog says Bush is Right on Immigration.
A quote: "Not only is Bush's plan the right answer (or as close as I think we will get) for our short and medium-term immigration problems, but it is also a potentially huge win for the GOP in the long run, potentially breaking the trend toward viewing the Republican party as for the lily-white only. This factor, i.e. the potential for the GOP to garner a big percentage of hispanic votes for the long-term, is the main reason that many Democrats will want to oppose the plan, though they will never make that motivation plain. They will claim to oppose it for other reasons, but don't be fooled.
The Tancredo wing of the GOP will also oppose the plan, partly for political gain and partly out of true principle. While I believe their principles (i.e. close the border first) are wrong in this case, Tancredo and friends do have a legitimate basis for skepticism: The Simpson-Mazzoli Act debate of 20 years ago included strong talk about employer sanctions which simply never happened. Since only the amnesty portion was enacted in any significant way, the plan gave a strong message to would-be illegal immigrants: Come on in, we're not serious about enforcement. This must not happen again, and Tancredo is right to wonder why we should have confidence it will not happen that way a second time."
Again, come back Poli - we ain't done here yet!
UPDATE I: Rick Moran on "The middle ground" and Captain Ed sees the same.
bush Politics immigration
Subscribe by Email
Follow Updates Articles from This Blog via Email
No Comments