immigration -- don't confuse motion with action

Last night de facto President George W. "Mexicans work for cheap" Bush said, "We do not yet have full control of the border, and I am determined to change that." Bush has been president for 5 1/2 years. Who to blame? In any case, sending 6000 Guards from other states is a dumb idea. It won't secure the border and it will stretch the Guard even further.

I agree with Elizabeth Flores, the mayor of Laredo, Texas, who said "The National Guard is trained to protect us from deadly people. People crossing over here to work are not our deadly enemy. . . . I think this is all about discrimination and nothing else." Militarizing the border is a bad idea, is just pandering to the anti-immigration crowd, and frankly is a waste of the Guards' time and training.

Post TV critic Tom Shales had the REAL reason for Bush's prime-time immigration special. It wasn't because of any change in immigration as an issue. It was simply an attempt to distract attention from everything else this administration has gotten wrong, with Iraq at the top of a long, long list, as reflected by its Nixonian 29% approval ratings. A good final line from Chris Matthews about Bush's initiative: "Don't confuse motion with action."