Who is buried in Grant’s tomb? Don’t think too hard about the answer or you might pull something. Seriously, only a politician could spin the answer to such an inane question into a confusing cauldron of psychobabble.

            Here’s what I mean. What organization in our country would be best suited to guard the nation?

            Duh…the National Guard?

            “Ding, ding, ding, ding and what do we have for our contestant, Johnny?”

            If he or she is a Democrat, “We have a nice parting consolation prize for you.”

            After President Bush addressed the nation Monday night on the issue of immigration, proposing the dispatch of 6,000 National Guardsmen to help secure our borders, Democratic leaders had several vapid sound bites to offer in protest. “Military support is a stopgap measure that will have little practical effect,” New Mexico’s governor Bill Richardson said.

            Since when is the military a “stopgap measure?” The military is a buck ends here measure. You can’t do better than have members of the armed forces in charge of security.  

            War hero Sen. John Kerry had this to say: “Putting another burden on the backs of the National Guard troops who are serving their second tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan isn’t the right answer... I’m introducing a plan to put an additional 1,000 additional Border Patrol agents on the border next year, plus 100 more helicopters and 250 more power boats to secure our borders.”

            Next year? Is he kidding? We need to staunch the flow now, not next year.

            House minority leader Nancy Pelosi attempted to make political hay out of the president’s comments: “We must protect our borders, but militarizing our borders is a desperate response by the president to his and Republican Congress’ policy failures.”

            And Senate minority leader Harry Reid weighed in with this nugget of wisdom: “It is not enough for President Bush to tell us he wants to increase security at our borders. After all, he's had five years to do it. If he wants to be credible on border security, he must acknowledge his mistakes and commit to fixing them.”

            Kerry, Pelosi and Reid are members of the legislative branch of the government. It is their role to legislate, i.e. to make laws. They also had five years to propose immigration reform and to increase border security. Did any of these congressional luminaries introduce legislation to that end during that same period of time?

            It is unclear whether they heard the president’s address or just weren’t listening. One thing is clear; however. They had their own pre-planned responses.

            The president scooped them all. 

            Reid said the President must “acknowledge his mistakes.”

            But President Bush did exactly that, although he implied his predecessors were also culpable: “We must begin by recognizing the problems with our immigration system. For decades, the United States has not been in complete control of its borders. As a result, many who want to work in our economy have been able to sneak across our border and millions have stayed…”

            Kerry, while offering no immediate solution, proposed adding “1,000 additional Border Patrol agents” a year from now.

            But the president said: “In coordination with governors, up to 6,000 Guard members will be deployed to our southern border…By the end of 2008, we will increase the number of Border Patrol officers by an additional 6,000. When these new agents are deployed, we will have more than doubled the size of the Border Patrol during my presidency.”

            Pelosi accused the president of acting out of desperation to shore up his policy failures.

            But the president had already spoken to that end: “America needs to conduct this debate on immigration in a reasoned and respectful tone. Feelings run deep on this issue and as we work it out, all of us need to keep some things in mind. We cannot build a unified country by inciting people to anger, or playing on anyone's fears, or exploiting the issue of immigration for political gain. We must always remember that real lives will be affected by our debates and decisions, and that every human being has dignity and value no matter what their citizenship papers say.”

            Bush was direct, poised, and compassionate. He addressed one of the nation’s most vexing problems head-on. And in so doing, he not only offered both immediate and long-term solutions, he made his three harshest critiques look very silly. n