Bush Immigration Plan: Sucky? Or Suckiest Plan Ever?

Let's take stock of the reactions to Bush's immigration plan, shall we?

First off, there's the National Guard itself, resisting federal control:

Nat Guard leaders oppose Bush takeover

U.S. state-level National Guard leaders will fight any effort to place their forces under direct presidential control.

The National Guard commanders are poised to carry out the Bush administration's border-security plan to deploy thousands of troops to patrol the Mexican border, but they likely will fight any attempts to place the state-run units under the president's control, CongressDaily reported Tuesday.

Then there's the governor of California, who would seem to have a stake in the issue:

"Securing our borders is a law enforcement function and what we need are more Border Patrol agents, not National Guard troops who are neither trained nor suited for this purpose," Schwarzenegger said in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

And then there's the entire country of Mexico:

Mexico warned Tuesday it would file lawsuits in U.S. courts if National Guard troops detain migrants on the border, and some officials said they fear the crackdown will force illegal crossers into more perilous areas to avoid detection.

There's the Minutemen:

Minutemen dismiss Bush's border plan

TUCSON, Ariz. --A civilian border-patrol group said it still plans to erect a short security fence along the Mexican border, despite President Bush's pledge to deploy thousands of National Guard troops there.

A spokeswoman for the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps said Tuesday what Bush promised was not enough.

Add to that the writers at business website Forbes.com, an outlet that felt compelled today to publish not one, but two editorials questioning the wisdom of the idea, one claiming Bush's plan could "lead to a nightmare of contract abuse and waste," and another entitled "Mission Impossible?" that comes dangerously close to arguing Bush cannot possibly satisfy all the people he's claiming he will satisfy (known in reality world as "pandering").

There are various residents of El Paso, interviewed by AP:

"It didn't seem like a meaningful suggestion at all," said O'Rourke, a 33-year-old freshman city councilman in this border city. "But maybe that's because we already have it and it doesn't seem to be working."

And then there are the hodge podge of Senators and Congress people too numerous to cite and mention, fighting it out on the Hill. There's even some group I've never heard of, the National Immigration Institute, saying it will ask the Mexican government to "send a migrant protection force to remote sections of the border."

So who does Bush trot out to defend his nonsense? None other than Donald Rumsfeld. Remember him? The one who showed such prescient judgment on how many troops were needed in Iraq? Yes, that Donald Rumsfeld, if you can believe it.

And he sends Karl Rove, so close to indictment he's shifted his diet to prison fare in anticipation, to twist arms on Capitol Hill. You've got to wonder on that one, with all the back-stabbing he's done over the years. I can hear some House rep now: "Sure, Karl. I'll get back to you on supporting this loser issue. Right after Fitzgerald's next press conference."

So what is Bush's response to all this caterwauling from the ungrateful? Why, a photo op, of course!

Bush to Visit Border Smuggling Hotspot

YUMA, Ariz., May. 17, 2006

President Bush will be get an up-close look on Thursday when he visits Yuma as part of his push to overhaul the nation's immigration laws and tighten the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexican border by sending up to 6,000 National Guardsmen in a backup role.

I have but one request of my country: If we're going to have a president whose sole job in life seems to be flying hither and thither on my taxpayer dollar in search of the ideal manly backdrop, can we at least elect George Clooney? Please? Pretty please?