Politicians increasingly have turned their eyes, nay, everything
to three things: Wooing People to Gain Power, Managing to Stay in Power, and
Trying to get Themselves Back to Power. Gone are those past illustrious
presidents of the United States who apart from the Power aspect, focused
genuinely on issues, cared and tried to solve peoples’ problems, and generally
lived by a set of ideals and principles. I have this weakness for admiring
things, times, and events of the past, often feeling dejected that our times
should be like those when our ancestors lived…the nostalgic stuff, but I have
a strong reason to believe in the goodness of the past. 

In context, the past that comprised presidents like Washington, Lincoln, and
Theodore Roosevelt (his autobiography was a revelation of sorts, to me at
least). A far cry from the current breed of miserable
failures, sex-scandal
mongers, and water
(gate) swindlers. Are these miserable failures
presidents so devoid of originality, character, and pluck that they need to
focus only on populist issues to capture and/or retain power? Don’t they realize
that they’re being hypocrites, saying the exact opposite of what they said a few
months (or years) ago? Or maybe I’m crazy, trying to expect these where
everything is up for sale in today’s world. 

This being the penultimate year of Bush’s term in office, he is subtly sending
out hints at reforming immigration (read:
relaxing immigration laws). This proposal is being hotly debated now, with
several versions released as to whether he’ll be successful in passing the bill
or no. Apparently, Bush has his eyes on two huge vote banks: illegal immigrants
and the Hispanic people. Apparently there are about 8 million illegal immigrants
who’ve been working in the US for more than a decade and this bill seeks to
legalize their presence in the US in stages. 

Jim
Kolbe (R-Ariz.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), tries to mitigate that problem by
creating a new type of visa for previously undocumented workers who would be
allowed to live in the United States legally for three years. Then the
workers could apply for the temporary worker visa, which would be the path
to a green card, or legal permanent residency. That would amount to a
three-year advantage for those who entered legally.

This was the same Bush who had severely clamped
down immigration just two years ago albeit in the face of
terrorist attacks; more so owing to pressure from business houses and other
interests who were vociferously demanding restrictions in issuing H1-B and
other/student visas. Weren’t the Hispanic people, and the legalizing of illegal
immigrants important issues then?

Perhaps this statement explains it all:

A
leading Bush adviser said that, given the crucial swing vote Hispanics could
provide next November, "the White House feels it’s got to get its irons
in the fire now."