I like President Bush.  If I could get his attention for a minute and speak to him as a friend, I'd take him aside and say this: I applaud your persistence in Iraq for 4+ years.  But I strongly condemn your blind rigidity on the immigration issue.

You think the public doesn’t  “understand” this bill.  In fact, “We the People” understand only too well the failure of your Administration to enforce border control for 6 years. We suffer the crime impact and we pay the costs due to your failures. We worry about the Terrorists who are penetrating our borders, possibly with nuclear weapons devices.  Your own FBI Director, Bob Mueller, believes this latter worry is not paranoia.  He says he loses sleep over this at night.   So, what we don’t understand is NOT the Senate Bill, but how you can expect us to swallow more paper promises after 6 years of failed performance.

Here’s what we want:
1) Total border enforcement – 100%
2) Enforcement of total benefits denial, in the realms of workplace and entitlements,  to any non-citizen. This requires demonstration and use of a tamperproof ID system.
3) When the above 2 items have been demonstrated to be effective for several years, then a “Guest Worker’ program can be added, with proper safeguards: i) Any job must first be offered to a U.S. citizen. Only after finding zero applicants, can it be added for guest worker listing. ii) All guest worker jobs must have a time limit not to exceed 1 year and a fail-safe mechanism to accompany the worker out of the Country, on completion of the job duration.  iii) The “guest” worker provision applies to the wage earner only, not to any family members. 

That is, we want a controlled, enforceable, legal process.

Now we are not anti-immigrant.  My 4 grandparents were proud immigrants.  But we oppose  out-of-control  illegal immigration.  It's a sign of a messy housekeeper.  Now, I revere this Country as my own home. And I object to your Administration's messy housekeeping.  I voted for you twice as a patriotic, competent executive.  You have less than 2 years  to prove me not wrong.

Now, back to Iraq. A recent news story says you have decided not to attack Iran. To me, this is a decision to forfeit further lives of our servicemen to a policy of lose-the-war in Iraq.  In 2001, you pronounced yourself a “War President”. I took solace in that assessment.  But War Presidents must WIN, not LOSE the war !   That means you must apply American might to vanquish and lay prostrate the enemy, until he no longer has an appetite to fight. That means: i) innocent civilians, must be accorded 2^nd priority, well below the lives of American servicemen. Any other approach prolongs this war, sees more Americans die and is an immoral position; ii) Enemy enablers such as Iran, Syria (and segments of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan) must be damaged sufficiently so they conclude their policy is not prudent.  Today, you're allowing them to inflict casualties on us without any retribution in kind.

So, Mr. President …please return to your vision and promise.  Renounce the recent  turnabout of your view of the American Citizen as uninformed and in need of education.  Rejoin Thomas Jefferson in his trust in the American people.  Renounce the recent softening of your view to pursue Democracy in the Middle East. It's a noble view and worthy of sacrifice and tenacity.  Rejoin Ronald Reagan in his quest to preserve Liberty and destroy the new Evil Empire. 

Mr. President, I want to follow your leadership -- but not over a cliff.