Immigration? Nah, how about nun-chucks

I was going to watch the president's speech on immigration last night, but I opted instead for crazy ninja head-chopping action courtesy of my dusty old Xbox. For those who are interested, Xboxes are even more sensitive to second-hand cigarette smoke than the average Denny's waitress, so I haven't been using mine much lately -- it seems to have developed the digital equivalent of black lung.

I did catch a little bit of the speech, however, and I plan to read the transcript. First reports seem... well, pretty lukewarm. Seems as if Bush is working to try to broker a compromise between the two sides (side one being mass deportation, and side two being "let 'em all stay as long as they want.")

One of the biggest developments, it seems, is the planned mobilization of 6,000 National Guard soldiers to the Mexican border. Evidently, they'll be freeing up border security agents by providing security, surveillance, and administration.

I was pretty unimpressed by the one of the figures -- something to the effect of, "We've increased the number of border security agents from 9,000 to 12,000." Like that's the problem. And even if it was, would a 33 percent increase really do all that much to stave off the flow of illegal immigration?

Hang on, let me check the Magic Eight-Ball... "Signs point to no."

It's hard to avoid thinking about the fact that this is still an election year, which means that every issue that's discussed on a national level is colored by partisan politics. Even the choice of issues addressed is political... election years are when we rehash issues such as flag-burning and gay marriage. I imagine even the fact that we're talking so much about domestic espionage is a product of partisan bickering.

Just remember, folks -- there's still a war going on.

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