i liked much of what president bush had to say last night. unfortunately for him, i think that many americans have decided that nothing the president could say would change their minds about him and about his iraq policy.  so they are tuning out everything he says, no matter what the subject is. the president’s state of the union address was about more than just iraq.  here’s one subject where the president and i disagree:

on illegal immigration(he still doesn’t get it):

Extending hope and opportunity in our country requires an immigration system worthy of America — with laws that are fair and borders that are secure. When laws and borders are routinely violated, this harms the interests of our country. To secure our border, we are doubling the size of the Border Patrol — and funding new infrastructure and technology.

pardon my skepticism…but there’s no guarantee that the infrastructure will ever be built, including that border fence. it’s nice that we are going to have more border patrol agents, but how about supporting the ones who are already there trying to do their jobs?  republican rep. tom tancredo of colorado(another possible presidential candidate) is also skeptical: “I am disappointed but not surprised that the president has once again chosen to trot out this same old pig, albeit one with a slightly new shade of lipstick.”  what he said.

Yet even with all these steps, we cannot fully secure the border unless we take pressure off the border — and that requires a temporary worker program. We should establish a legal and orderly path for foreign workers to enter our country to work on a temporary basis. As a result, they won’t have to try to sneak in — and that will leave border agents free to chase down drug smugglers, and criminals, and terrorists.

We will enforce our immigration laws at the work site, and give employers the tools to verify the legal status of their workers — so there is no excuse left for violating the law. We need to uphold the great tradition of the melting pot that welcomes and assimilates new arrivals. And we need to resolve the status of the illegal immigrants who are already in our country — without animosity and without amnesty.

Convictions run deep in this Capitol when it comes to immigration. Let us have a serious, civil, and conclusive debate — so that you can pass, and I can sign, comprehensive immigration reform into law.

like i’ve said previously, the president will now have the ability to pass the kind of comprehensive immigration reform that he’s always wanted, thanks to his new friends the democrats. 

it was a fairly ambitious speech, with new proposals on health care, setting new targets for emissions standards, and decreasing gasoline consumption by 20% in the next ten years. maybe senator mccain was on to something when he embraced david cameron’s tories as ideological twins with the current republican regime. i sure don’t see that much difference between cameron’s views on climate change and the president’s new-found belief in global warming. the tories aren’t looking much like maggie’s tories these days, and the party of reagan has now become the party of compromise, navigating by polls rather than by the strong convictions and principles held by its non-congressional members.

tags: SOTU, president bush