It all comes down to this...

I swear if tonight, Bush uses the phrase "jobs Americans won't do" one more time to justify his disastrous amnesty/guest worker program, without first convincing me that he is serious about closing the border, I will have to break something.

There is not a single path-to-citizenship proposal including, learning English, quit stealing cars, paying their piddling back-taxes, or any of the rest of it, that will amount to anything, if we don't first close the borders. How many times do Americans have to say it for these politicians to get it?

It is unbelievable to me that the desire for real, effective, sensible immigration reform cuts across all political, racial, and socio-economic lines for the most part, yet the guys in Washington in both parties refuse to do anything that effects change in any measurable way. How abysmally stupid do they think we are? How much of them ignoring us do they think we'll tolerate?

I think the politicians believe they can have their immigration cake and eat it too. They think that they can woo the illegal alien vote (which is sure to become a reality soon...politicians can't resist a voting block that large) now in the Spring and keep them more or less happy despite the rage it induces with the bases of both parties but especially Republicans. Then they figure once the dust settles over whichever horrible immigration bill gets passed, Americans, who have notoriously short political memories, will forget about the bill as water under the bridge and get back to the business of loyal partisan bickering as usual just in time for the Fall election cycle.

I really hope they are wrong this time...at least if Bush disappoints me tonight like I expect him to.

What he says tonight in this speech may dramatically shape the elections in '08 but certainly in '06. Rove and Bartlett, even though they are neo-cons and embrace this touchy-feely, compassionate conservatism nonsense, had better pay attention to the base or it may be a Democratic revolution we see in '06 just like Gingrich and the Republican pulled off in '94. And it won't be because the Democrats have a resonant message, or inspire hope and confidence, or make us proud to be Americans, they've never been able to achieve any of those things. It's not how they get elected. They get elected with class warfare, national guilt, and fear of the future. No, if the Democrats win in '06, it will have been because conservatives stayed away from the poles in droves because our leaders abandoned the principles for which they were elected.