I'm not sure how many people watched President Bush's speech on television last night, but I was only able to catch about the last five minutes of it since I somehow completely forgot it was coming.
Today, when I got the chance, I went online and read the entire oration. And I had a few thoughts on the subject.
I can't say that much of what he said was new because I'm pretty sure I've heard most of what he said before. Although in his speech many of the strategic points were finally clearly stated - like the eventual end of "catch and release", the worker IDs, and the ability for illegals to work toward citizenship, but not blanket amnesty. Also, the use of National Guard troops at the border was stated in his speech. He also said that the Guard are not to be militarizing the border, but basically in a support capacity for the Border Patrol. I know a lot of people didn't like the use of Guard troops being mentioned as many feel that we're already stretched too thin in that respect. The number of Guard troops that the President gave, however, would only be about 2% of the country's Guard forces.
Overall, it was a middle-of-the-road-soluton speech, I feel. Guard troops and "no amnesty" to appease the hardline conservatives, and "a chance for citizenship" and "no mass expulsions of the illegals already here" for the liberals. Still it would seem that there are people unhappy on both sides.
There are GOP members who say anything short of arrest is amnesty, and you have liberals who are saying that Bush is simply pandering to both sides(I thought that's what a solution was supposed to do?). I find both groups completely contemptible, myself. Neither really wants to find a middle ground, they're more interested in winning the argument.
I did go around the internet a bit today to see the reaction to the speech and I have to say it was kind of funny. On the conservative side there really wasn't much to read. It was kind of a collective "eh", if you will.
Whereas on the liberal side they seemed to be stark raving mad. When some of the comments on AirAmericaRadio and it's message board compared Bush's speeches with those of Adolf Hitler, I almost had to laugh! What a bunch of f*cking whack jobs, man.
Now, if you're a liberal and/or a Democrat, that's fine, I have no problem with that. But don't expect anyone to take you seriously when you start to say things like that. It's impossible to listen to someone reasonably when they get into that territory. It shows a lack of a deductive thought process and ignorance. Shouting that the other guy is narrowminded because he holds a different political opinion is simply "the pot calling the kettle black".
As far as my own view of politics is concern it's a lot like this:
The late great Bill Hicks summed it up best when he said that when you're deciding to vote for either a Democrat or a Republican you're basically saying,"I believe the puppet on the left expresses my views... No wait, I feel like the puppet on the right shares my political opinons... Hey wait! One guy is holding both puppets!" (a loud voice comes over a p.a. system) "Go back to sleep, America. Everything is fine. Go back to sleep, America,"
That pretty much sums it up for me and politics. Do you wanna vote for Coke? Or would you pefer Pepsi?
As far as the President's speech is concerned, I'd have to say it made sense to me. I honestly don't care about the issue that much and if what he said will shut everyone up, good - do it!
And if people are still up in arms at this point, I'd have to say screw 'em. You can't please everybody.
Agree? Disagree? I'm always open to hear what others think.
Tags: Politics Bush Immigration Opinion
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