harsh measures

No wonder CNN's ratings are in the tank: They began their coverage of President Bush's immigration speech last night sixteen seconds early as the leader of the free world was rehearsing his remarks.

CORRECTION: NBC has the official White House feed on Bush's speech Monday night, NOT CNN. So CNN was just following the lead of NBC when they began broadcasting Bush's rehearsal. It was NBC trying to embarrass the President. My apologies to CNN.

Americans are generous people, but we don't like unfairness. Just as it was unfair for a major media organization to try to embarrass the President before his speech, it is unfair for illegal immigrants to believe that they have the same rights as American citizens.

Unfair too is advocating the placement of 6,000 National Guard troops along the US/Mexican border, allowing them to be nothing more than casual observers. Talking tough on immigration isn't going to solve the problem. If we intend to get tough on immigration shouldn't we be prepared to stop the people attempting to cross over illegally?

If securing our borders is a matter of national security, then shouldn't we really be serious about preventing illegals from getting into the country? That means arming the Guard with guns while the wall is built and while the drones and the sensors are being installed. That means shooting to kill. Do that a couple of times and I guarantee that they'll stop coming. That also means the rejection of social services to those illegals in our communities. Refuse to grant medical care to illegals and they will stop coming.

Unfortunately, we are incapable of doing what truly needs to be done. We lack the 'National Will.' As Shelby Steele wrote in a brilliant op-ed last week in the WSJ, American political correctness (Steele calls it 'white guilt') prevents us from doing what is necessary to solve problems, both at home and abroad.

Last night President Bush outlined five clear objectives to tackle illegal immigration:

[1] Securing the border.
[2] Creating a temporary worker program.
[3] Holding employers accountable for their hiring practices.
[4] Facing the reality that millions of illegal immigrants already live among us.
[5] Honoring the great American tradition of the melting pot.

Bush said 'The United States must secure its borders. This is a basic responsibility of a sovereign nation.' I wholeheartedly agree. But the time to do that was about forty years ago. Today we already have an estimated 12 million illegals inside the United States and many more coming everyday. I hate to be cynical and say it's too late, but I actually believe it is too late to enact real change on border policy.

I support the creation of a temporary worker programbecause it would assist us in knowing exactly who is in the country and it would allow us to keep track of these people so we would know when it was time for them to leave.

I support holding employers accountable. Companies cannot continue to hire illegal immigrants all for the sake of cheap wages. Denying illegals job makes sense. If they can't work, they'll stop coming.

It seems to be true that the country is finally waking up to the fact that there are illegals among us. We've had our heads stuck in the sands or in the clouds for far too long. We've expected the problem to go away.

This melting pot argument doesn't matter to me. I've never been down with 'diversity.' To me, that's code for racism. An illegal is an illegal. Frankly, I think it is outrageous that we have illegals fighting in the American military. The President spoke of a Marine last night, Guadalupe Denogean. I respect his love for America, but I question the decision to allow non-citizens to wear the uniform of the United States.

I salute President Bush for going on the record about what he believes. Overall, I think it's a good beginning. And yet again, Bush and the GOP have something the Democrats don't: A plan.