President Bush, yesterday:

It’s going to take time to get the technology in place, and it’s going to take time to train the Border Patrol agents. And yet, the need to enforce the border is urgent, and that’s why, in coordination with our governors, we’re going to send 6,000 National Guard troops to be deployed on the southern border.
Now, the reason why I think this strategy is important is because deploying the 6,000 troops to complement the work of the Border Patrol will get immediate results. And it’s time to get immediate results.

Interesting how this urgent need has developed over five years since Bush assumed office.

It really is hard to listen to some of the rightist punditry on the immigration debate and not conclude that it’s being driven, at least in part, by racism.
Why else would these people be floating highly speculative estimates on how tens or hundreds of millions of immigrants will flood in, and then darkly note how this will change the culture and power structure of our country? I suspect this same kind of rhetoric has been used every time America has seen a concentrated influx of immigrants from an out-of-vogue ethnic group.

It really has been cool out. According to the National Weather Service, the temerature average on Monday was 14 degrees below normal, and the high was 59. The last time it failed to reach 60 in Knoxville was March 27.
Kind of funny how quickly I become “soft” in the spring. Back in Februrary, I would have thought a 59 degree day was great weather to go bike riding; on Monday I didn’t bother because it felt too “cold” out.

Released excerpt from President Bush’s speech tonight

we must face the reality that millions of illegal immigrants are already here. They should not be given an automatic path to citizenship. This is amnesty, and I oppose it.

Really, why does he keep repeating this? Most who shudder at the dreaded amnesty word already see through the hallow rhetoric.
I guess there are still a few super-gullible people about who take Bush’s word at face value. But even the talk radio crew isn’t buying that one any more.

The latest episode from our we-don’t-pay-attention-to-polls White House:

Bush, in a speech to the nation Monday, will propose using the troops as a stopgap measure while the Border Patrol builds up its resources to more effectively secure the 2,000-mile line between the U.S. and Mexico, said two White House officials speaking on a condition of anonymity before the president is scheduled to speak at 8 p.m. EDT.

Yes, almost five years after 9/11, Bush has suddenly determined that we need to shore up the border. Never mind that, as this post points out, Bush refused to fully fund an increase in border patrol agents scheduled for this year. We now have a “crisis” and our leader, in a prime-time TV event, is summoning the troops!
UPDATE: David Frum:

When the Bush administration fitfully attempts to enforce the immigration laws, it looks for measures that meet four criteria:
They must be 1) spectacular; 2) expensive; 3) unsustainable; and 4) ineffective.
The proposal to deploy the National Guard to the border meets all four!
This plan won’t work, and it is not seriously meant to work. It’s supposed to look dramatic and buy the president some respite from negative polls – and then it is supposed to fail, strengthening the administration’s case for its truly preferred approach: amnesty + guestworkers.

Ouch. If this is an effort to shore up the 29%, it doesn’t appear to be working thus far.