Bohica!

It's amazing to us why Mr. Bush and the now-history Republicans could not rouse themselves to control the borders.

But, no. It seems the incredible blessing of American citizenship is still to be handed out like cheap candy to any and all who wake up in some foreign land and decide that American citizenship is just the ticket for them.

Peggy Noonan connects the dots on the forthcoming Bush sell out:

What is the first thing men do when they're drowning? They save themselves. With the waters rising on every side the president will attempt to re-enact his first and most personally satisfying political success when, as governor of Texas, he won plaudits and popularity for working hand in glove with Democrats. He accepted many Democratic assumptions--he shared them, it wasn't hard.

The White House's reaction to the recent election was, essentially, Now we can get our immigration bill through with the Democrats. That was a clue. I suspect the president will over the next two years do to Republicans what he did to Donald Rumsfeld: over the side, under the bus and off the sled.

He doesn't need them. They're not popular. They're not where the action is. He'll work closely with Democrats, gain in time new and admiring press--"Bush has grown," etc.

This is the path he will take to build his popularity and create a new legacy.

"Who'll Claim the Center?" By Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, 11/17/06.