The Speech: That's All?

The White House Press Office has released excerpts from tonight's speech. As discussed on Power Line (linked above), it sounds like it's mostly going to be same old, same old: Lots of rhetoric about the importance of immigrants and guest workers, and a request for more funding for the border.

Unless the White House is holding back some surprises for tonight, it doesn't appear there will be a major new proposal such as a wall.

We've heard proposals to hold employers more accountable since Ronald Reagan's amnesty program in the mid-'80s. What will make this time different?

The last paragraph made me cringe:

"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."

I don't believe anyone has ever said in this debate that human beings don't have dignity and value, and I find it patronizing to be told to "remember" that. The debate has always been about upholding the laws and national security. "No matter what their citizenship papers say" comes perilously close to hinting that those citizenship papers don't matter.

This causes me to ponder, how is it that to the White House illegal aliens are hardworking individuals with dignity and value, while the law-abiding Minutemen, exercising their 1st Amendment rights by observing and reporting illegal border crossings to the Border Patrol, are "vigilantes"?

So far I'm not hearing the kinds of Presidential proposals I had hoped to hear tonight. I'll be tuning in hoping they're holding back the most interesting proposals for the live broadcast.