[Ninong]

Tonight's the night. Tonight El Presidente Bush will unveil Part One of new White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten's new plan of attack.

1 DEPLOY GUNS AND BADGES.

This is an unabashed play to members of the conservative base who are worried about illegal immigration.

Under the banner of homeland security, the White House plans to seek more funding for an extremely visible enforcement crackdown at the Mexican border, including a beefed-up force of agents patrolling on all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). (Add in 5,000 6,000 National Guard troops for good measure!)

"It'll be more guys with guns and badges," said a proponent of the plan.

"Think of the visuals. The President can go down and meet with the new recruits. He can go down to the border and meet with a bunch of guys and go ride around on an ATV." (But no horses! He's scared to death of horses!)

Yep! Just another publicity stunt. One gigantic photo-op in the making. That's the way they think at the White House.

You can read the rest of Josh Bolten's 5-part plan here. The article is a little dated since it was written three weeks ago.

[Ninong]

El Presidente Bush is touring the U.S.-Mexican border near Yuma, Arizona right now. So far no signs of any ATVs.


President Bush, right, walks with Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, left, and Ron Colburn, Yuma Sector chief, center, as he tours the Yuma Sector Border along the U.S. Mexico International Border, Thursday, May 18, 2006 in San Luis, Ariz. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
4:01 p.m. ET, 5/18/06



US President George W. Bush (L) tours the US Border Patrol Yuma, Arizona, Sector Headquarters and watches monitors looking for illegal activities along the US-Mexico border area 18 May, 2006. Bush is seeking to drum up support for his immigration reform plan unveiled Monday, which has been met with skepticism by conservatives in Congress. The US president hopes to show disaffected members of his conservative base that he will be tough on border security.
4:30 p.m. ET, 5/18/06

[Ninong]

Yep! They sure did get the ATV shot. It's called a "Border Control Buggy" and there was a shot of El Presidente being driven along the border in one by a Border Control Agent. I just saw the video on NBC News.

So it would seem that Josh Bolten did get the choreography he was looking for even if all of the shots didn't show up as stills on the web.

P.S. -- That stupid clip is being played over and over again on all of the networks. The driver makes a sweeping curve in front of the camera pool and Bush waves at the cameras.

[Ninong]

El Presidente Bush instructs Border Patrol Agents on the proper technique for apprehending illegal aliens.

[Ninong]

El Presidente Bush fearlessly patrolling the border. We sure do know how to stage spectacular photo-ops!

"It'll be more guys with guns and badges," said a proponent of the plan.

"Think of the visuals. The President can go down and meet with the new recruits. He can go down to the border and meet with a bunch of guys and go ride around on an ATV."



Trivia question: How many of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' grandparents were illegal immigrants?

Gonzales told Wolf Blitzer on CNN that no immigration documentation exists for three of his grandparents and they may have entered and resided in the United States illegally.

[Ninong]

They had to make a second run past the cameras to make sure everyone got a good still shot. The first pass was for the video, then they came back around and parked so that everyone could get some nice stills. El Presidente Bush remembered to smile for the cameras. It was a great photo-op!



"I think I'll get me one of these here buggies for the ranch! A lot easier than pedalling that stupid mountain bike."

Meanwhile, Snowy is having a hard time explaining to those pesky White House correspondents why Bush is suddenly in favor of new fences along the border when he was opposed to that idea just a few days ago. He was against it then but he's for it now. How difficult is that to understand? Stupid reporters.

[Ninong]

We all know that El Presidente Bush, who graduated in the top 85% of his class at Yale, later attended Harvard Business School, where he was somehow awarded an MBA. I realize it's hard to believe listening to him speak but here's proof that he actually did attend Harvard, courtesy of the Harvard yearbook:




Now, I found proof that even a Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard doesn't mean much. Remember Jerome Corsi, the wingnut who wrote the Swift Boat book attacking John Kerry? He has a Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard and this is what he wrote today in Human Events:

President Bush is pursuing a globalist agenda to create a North American Union, effectively erasing our borders with both Mexico and Canada. This was the hidden agenda behind the Bush administration's true open borders policy.

Secretly, the Bush administration is pursuing a policy to expand NAFTA to include Canada, setting the stage for North American Union designed to encompass the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. What the Bush administration truly wants is the free, unimpeded movement of people across open borders with Mexico and Canada.

Uh, Dr. Corsi, I believe NAFTA already includes Canada. Maybe they're keeping that part secret from the right-wingers?

[Ninong]

...and this is sort of an immigration issue:

"The president has never supported making English the national language." -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Houston, TX, May 19, 2006

"I don't see the need to have laws or legislation that says English is the national language." -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Houston, TX, May 19, 2006

I wonder if Josh Bolten agrees with that position? It seems reasonable to me, which is probably a good indication that it isn't going to go over well with The Base. Every time I find myself agreeing with George Bush, he changes his mind later on.



P.S. -- I'm just throwing this in here so that we can see how long it takes for the White House to backtrack like they did on the fences.

[Poseidon]

Hey, that buggy looks like fun! On a photography note, if they had to park the car for the still photographers, then they (the photographers) should all be FIRED! Pro level cameras, like the one I use, can track objects moving directly at the camera, or on a tangent, at speeds over 180MPH!!!

Maybe I should apply for a White House photography job!

[Ninong]

I don't know if they had to park it but it appears that it's not moving in that last shot, right?