Perfect Metaphor For the Bush Administration

Yesterday the Prez signed a bill providing for construction of a fence along 700 miles of the Southwestern border between the United States and Mexico and said it was “an important step toward immigration reform”. However the bill the president signed is an unfunded mandate. Since it didn’t appropriate specific funds for the fence, it is assured that the fence will never be built. As in nearly everything the Bush administration has done or has bragged that it has done, this bill is all hat and no cattle, all bluff and no substance, all lie and no truth. This bill is a huge load of horseshit with no pony. The Washington Post reported, “The House and Senate gave the Bush administration leeway to distribute the money to a combination of projects -- not just the physical barrier along the southern border. The funds may also be spent on roads, technology and "tactical infrastructure" to support the Department of Homeland Security's preferred option of a "virtual fence." And as if that were not a clear promise that this fence will never see the light of day, WaPo said, “GOP congressional leaders pledged in writing that Native American tribes, members of Congress, governors and local leaders would get a say in "the exact placement" of any structure, and that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff would have the flexibility to use alternatives "when fencing is ineffective or impractical." Our virtual president made a virtual decision to build a virtual fence in his first step toward virtual immigration reform. The last thing the current crew in the White House wants is immigration reform. Big business gets a huge benefit from hiring illegal immigrants who will work for a fraction of the cost of hiring American citizens and/or legal immigrants. It’s not that Americans don’t want the jobs, it’s that Americans feel they should have and deserve a living wage. And why will illegal immigrants from Mexico work for less than a living wage? Because Mexico’s economy is based on the abuse and mistreatment of its citizens. And it is so bad in Mexico that being abused and mistreated in the United States is better than living under the hideous conditions in Mexico. That fence is not going to be built because the GOP likes the services performed by illegal immigrants. And the US is not going to pull out of Iraq because the GOP likes the money that war, any war, puts in Republicans pockets. The US is not going to take a tough stance with North Korea, Iran, or Syria because the GOP has squandered our military power on an ill-conceived and unnecessary war in Iraq that lines the pockets of rich Republicans. The US has to do China’s bidding because China bought us from sea to shining sea after the GOP spent our surplus on the war in Iraq that lines the pockets of rich Republicans. That silly virtual fence between the USA and Mexico is the least of our problems.