Bush tonight...

[BS Gal]

That was tooooooo funny.

 

[MMDad]

I will get my butt kicked on the forums, but the President was an idiot tonight. He's back-pedaling and wasn't even believable. I'll believe it when I see it. What say you, Vrai?

You are right. The only positive thing I have left to say about him is that he isn't John Kerry.

 

[vraiblonde]

What say you, Vrai?

I liked it :shrug: I think it addressed the need for securing the borders and discouraging illegal immigration without getting too carried away kicking out the ones already here who aren't causing a problem.

I liked how he talked about penalties for employers - that makes the most sense to me. If the jobs dry up, then they won't come here illegally.

But, as several have said, we'll see what happens for real. Presidents always come on TV and say they're going to do this and that, but then Congress gets their mitts on it and it becomes something else entirely.

My biggest disagreement was when he said Mexico was our friend. I hate that friggin' Vicente Fox and think he should die of embarrassment because of the crappy country he presides over.

 

[bcp]

I missed the part about when we can start whoopin up on them.

will we be able to use fully automatic weapons?

 

[vraiblonde]

I missed the part about when we can start whoopin up on them.

George Allen just said we can start now. I think he wants to be President.

 

[Larry Gude]

Perspective...

1 in 10 Mexicans are in the US.

The largest single segment of Mexico's economy is the money these people send home, some $20 billion a year.

35% of Mexicans graduate high school.

 

[vraiblonde]

My big WTH moment was when he was talking about the wounded Marine who told Bush he wanted to be an American citizen. Does our military routinely recruit non-citizens into our Armed Forces???

That doesn't seem like a very good idea to me.

 

[Wickedwrench]

1 in 10 Mexicans are in the US.

The largest single segment of Mexico's economy is the money these people send home, some $20 billion a year.

35% of Mexicans graduate high school.

So what you're saying is that there are lots of illiterate Mexican millionaires south of the border?

I think if I was one of them I'd stay put and keep collecting.

 

[Bruzilla]

His call for 6,000 more border patrol folks would be more impressive if that number hadn't already been appropriated through Congress years ago and Bush cut that number back over the past few years.

In any case, you can triple the number of border patrol personnel and I'm sure that in a few years you'll be hearing how it's still not enough and we need more to stem the tide of illegals.

One thing that I did hear yesterday that was interesting was on Hardball. Chris Mathews has a congressman from CO and this guy was talking about how he had gone out with some Marines on an exercise on the Canadian border where the Marines would use their perimeter security equipment to find illegal border crossers then report the positions of the trespassers to the Border Patrol for action. He was talking about how well this worked, but I was surprised to hear that there are so many illegal crossings of the US/Canada border everyday.

 

[Larry Gude]

Huh?

So what you're saying is that there are lots of illiterate Mexican millionaires south of the border?

I think if I was one of them I'd stay put and keep collecting.

Why do you say that? If there are 11 million illegals who, collectively, send some $20 billion a year back to Mexico, that's not even $2,000 per person.

It's the largest segment of Mexico's economy and it, the 2k, is what a large SUV owner in the US will spend this year on higher gas prices.

Far from millionaire, it illustrates just how sad a shape Mexico is in.

 

[Larry Gude]

So es'splain something to me...

His call for 6,000 more border patrol folks would be more impressive if that number hadn't already been appropriated through Congress years ago and Bush cut that number back over the past few years.

In any case, you can triple the number of border patrol personnel and I'm sure that in a few years you'll be hearing how it's still not enough and we need more to stem the tide of illegals.

One thing that I did hear yesterday that was interesting was on Hardball. Chris Mathews has a congressman from CO and this guy was talking about how he had gone out with some Marines on an exercise on the Canadian border where the Marines would use their perimeter security equipment to find illegal border crossers then report the positions of the trespassers to the Border Patrol for action. He was talking about how well this worked, but I was surprised to hear that there are so many illegal crossings of the US/Canada border everyday.

Why aren't we simply using the armed forces to secure the border? Declare a national emergency and set up training bases. We rotate kids in and out in, what, 3-6 month deployments. They leave boot, go to the border for like pre-AIT, then on to their AIT. They get extra training and move on to their next duty station and no one gets burnt out or corrupted by being in the same place too long.

2,000 miles, right? There's 8-10,000 kids coming out of boot every month. It would take three months to build up to a 30,000 man force, a goal of a platoon per mile ought to do it. Maybe less in some areas, more concentrated in others. So, you've constantly got people coming and going, getting extra training and serving the national defense from day one.

Thoughts?

And, silly thought it may sound, the border is secured in the process with NO expense of a fence.

 

[SamSpade]

My big WTH moment was when he was talking about the wounded Marine who told Bush he wanted to be an American citizen. Does our military routinely recruit non-citizens into our Armed Forces???

That doesn't seem like a very good idea to me.

What I've read on the web is that we have somewhere between 10 and 20 thousand non-citizens in our armed forces, and that by serving, they are expediting the path to citizenship.

Yeah, a LITTLE scary to know the guy defending your back isn't even a citizen.

 

[MMDad]

My big WTH moment was when he was talking about the wounded Marine who told Bush he wanted to be an American citizen. Does our military routinely recruit non-citizens into our Armed Forces???

That doesn't seem like a very good idea to me.

Yes, many. Enlisted only, and with a Green Card.

 

[Wickedwrench]

Why do you say that? If there are 11 million illegals who, collectively, send some $20 billion a year back to Mexico, that's not even $2,000 per person.

Maybe all the illegals owe the same coyote that trucked them over cash for his services.

That's one rich Mexican.

 

[Bustem' Down]

My big WTH moment was when he was talking about the wounded Marine who told Bush he wanted to be an American citizen. Does our military routinely recruit non-citizens into our Armed Forces???

That doesn't seem like a very good idea to me.

We had a party for a guy on my ship when he got his citizenship. There's only certain jobs they can do, nothing that requires a security clearance. Our military pays more that other countries military.

 

[PJay]

Twenty five million illegals...repeat: twenty five million have crossed the border from Mexico into the United States since 1990, the only actions our elected officials have taken is to legitimize about 13 million of these criminals through various amnesty programs.

Eight out of ten Americans want the border closed ... yet the politicians who are supposed to be listening to us do nothing.

So..I ask you.. why absolutely nothing from our government? Why, in the name of all common sense, haven't the borders been shut down? Could it possibly be that the Mexican invasion is actually welcomed by our politicians?

I tell you IMO, yes..absolutely and I believe I know why.

How about any of you? Think about it and share why you think our voices/opinions on this are being ignored, then I will share with you why I think this is happening.

Hint: Government education. A stretch? Figure that one out for yourself.

 

[Larry Gude]

Well...

Maybe all the illegals owe the same coyote that trucked them over cash for his services.

That's one rich Mexican.

...that's possible...Gretta was on the border last night and the Border Patrol told her that people were paying $1,000 to $3,500 to 'coyotes'.

Coincidence?

 

[nomoney]

I didn't get to watch the speech but was discussing it here in the office this morning. Is it true the National Guardsmen are only going to be doing 2 week tours at a time down on the borders? Seems like a waste to me if that's true. Let's get a bunch of you trained so you can effectively watch the borders for one week before we ship in a bunch of new troops to sit around and train them to effectively watch the borders for their week.

Is there a transcript of his speech avail yet?

 

[Toxick]

Anyone but me and Pete watch it?

I watched it.

It was pretty much as I expected - no mass deportations, not really militarizing the border, Mexico=amigos. Some parts were better than I expected.

Two things stand out in my mind.

1) The most important thing was the weakest part of his address. Penalties for businesses who hire illegal workers. This should have been the real meat of this measure. Instead it sounds like it was tacked on as an afterthought.

2) Why are Illegal Aliens serving in our military? WTF? Don't get me wrong, all due respect for a man who puts his life on the line to serve the United States and freedom, and I hope he's automatically granted citizenship; his battle wounds prove his loyalty and honor - but I have to ask: Why was he there in the first friggin place? Is this common practice? Is it legal?

Other than that, and the fact that Bush was more articulate than usual, there was nothing earthshattering or remarkable about his speech.

 

[nomoney]

I watched it.

It was pretty much as I expected - no mass deportations, not really militarizing the border, Mexico=amigos. Some parts were better than I expected.

Two things stand out in my mind.

1) The most important thing was the weakest part of his address. Penalties for businesses who hire illegal workers. This should have been the real meat of this measure. Instead it sounds like it was tacked on as an afterthought.

2) Why are Illegal Aliens serving in our military? WTF? Don't get me wrong, all due respect for a man who puts his life on the line to serve the United States and freedom, and I hope he's automatically granted citizenship; his battle wounds prove his loyalty and honor - but I have to ask: Why was he there in the first friggin place? Is this common practice? Is it legal?

Other than that, and the fact that Bush was more articulate than usual, there was nothing earthshattering or remarkable about his speech.

so basically he was just blowing air up our asses and trying to improve his approval rating by humoring the stupid masses?