I still have respect for the office of the president. Not so much a respect for the individual, but a respect for the presidency in general.
As an elected official the president enters into a contract with the people governed by the office. The symbolic acceptance of that contract is the act of the inaugural oath. Though it may not state it specifically, that oath implies a certain amount of respect that we as citizens owe to the person that occupies the office. In return the president also has an unwritten responsibility to respect the citizens of this country. This implied respect is actually spelled out in the oath, "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." The oath does not say, "I will do whatever the hell I want, then justify it using some fear mongering propaganda". It does not say, "I will rewrite the law as I alone see fit", and it does not say, "I will ignore the constitution, Congress, and my constituents, whenever they do not agree with my personal beliefs". It does say, "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution", and the Constitution upholds the "right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects" and that "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." And, by virtue of the Declaration of Independence, that we are entitled to "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". So when Bush took that oath, he also took on the responsibility to abide by that which came before him.
I think that a president that holds up their end of the contract does deserve our respect even if we disagree them. However, Bush has broken that contract. He has consistently disregarded and disrespected the safety, welfare, and interests of the American people. He has lied and he has committed criminal offenses against our governments core structure of checks and balances. He does not respect us, and he does not have our nations best interests at heart. He does not deserve our respect. He has given up that right for a few extra percentage points on the balance sheet of the wealthiest 1% of Americans, illegal immigration , Mexico and President Fox. Bush has broken the contract of mutual respect with Americans by ignoring our rights as citizens. He tells us we needed more illegal aliens because they are doing jobs Americans would never do. He is trying to lead us into thinking that the droves of immigrants coming across the border are good for the economy. And to top it all off he keeps promoting his "guest-worker" program – the amnesty-by-any-other-name program, as something that will benefit America.
In his latest attempt to pull the wool over our eyes and lead us into a slaughter by Mexico, he has decided to send the National Guard to the border. He's hoping that we are so eager to do something on the border – however meaningless and insufficient it might be – that we will agree to his "comprehensive plan."
Bush is holding the American people hostage. It sounds to me like political extortion. Bush believes he can still fool enough of the people some of the time – despite what the polls show. What Bush is doing is nothing less then a criminal assault against Americans.
Every time the words "guest-worker program," spews from Bush’s mouth more illegal aliens are crossing the border into our country. Bush and his mistaken idea that these are our "friends" has only served to increase our illegal-alien problem.
President Bush and other politicians in Washington need to be held responsible for the chaos they are causing and how it is affecting our people with the loss of jobs, increases in taxes, medical aid, and welfare to name a few at the hands of illegal aliens. With his conscious decision to break the law and refusing to enforce immigration legislation, Bush is ignoring the oath he took to uphold the Constitution.
On top of everything, Bush is trying to blackmail the American people by telling them "I will finally enforce the border laws, if you pardon millions of lawbreakers already here." I am sorry Mr. Bush, I'm not even willing to pardon you for your illegal behavior in creating this mess. I'm certainly not willing to discuss pardoning your 12 million to 15 million co-conspirators.
President Bush wants us all to believe that he has had a sudden realization that the border is broken, something 90 percent of other Americans knew all along, but he takes us for fools that can be led by the nose, who are willing to follow his demands that we accept his New World Order.
Bush has invited the invasion of illegals into our country with the laws that he has refused to enforce, now he thinks he will solve it with his ban aid "comprehensive plan." This is something that is not going to fix the problem he has created, it will only bring us closer to be a Third World country, and the laughing stock of the rest of the world. He thinks by putting this plan into effect it will solve the problem that is already here, American people see it as his smoke screen for amnesty for these undocumented aliens. Before discussing guest-worker plans and amnesty plans and deportation plans
Bush needs to secure the border, shut off the flow of illegal human traffic, and stop it cold, by whatever means necessary and stop playing the role of a dictator.
Bush has lost any trust and credibility as a leader on this issue. He will be hard pushed in trying to re-establish some if any trust and credibility he has with the American people. There's an easy way – stop the invasion at the source and think first what he can do for the citizens of his country, not President Fox, not Mexico, not corporations, and not vying for votes of his newly found friends.