Via Kathy Shaidle, who says “Who doesn’t want to sign up for this??“

“As part of the Virtual Neighborhood Border Watch Program, the State of Texas has been testing video surveillance cameras in different environments along the 1240 miles of Texas/Mexico border using the internet to transmit the images. The last stage of the test is to stress the system by providing public access to numerous surveillance cameras.

“Thank you for helping test this important capability. To be part of the program you will need a user account…”

There are problems with the “virtual fence” approach, compared to an actual actual wall; the Border Patrol has to go get the people detected by the “virtual fence” and that means someone’s going to get hurt, either the Border Patrol or the illegals. (Which will lead to screaming and crying from the ACLU, and the Bush family, but that’s another story.) See Virtual border fence is morally backward By Terence Jeffrey Wednesday, April 5, 2006.

But this is a very cool idea for people who don’t have the ability to join the Minutemen, but want to help–you don’t need hiking boots or a rifle, just a fast connection and good video card.

Looking at the headlines from the Washington Times. (one of the only two newspapers worth reading although I can’t think of the other) this morning, I noticed something peculiar.

The Times is running a five-part series titled The Next Congress and the topics are:

• Part I: Democratic majority ready to go to war over Iraq (David R. Sands)
• Part II: Democrats wait in the wings with subpoenas (Audrey Hudson)
• Part III: Specter of tax man haunts Democrats (Donald Lambro)
• Part IV: Bush may find an ally on immigration (Stephen Dinan)
• Part V: Democrats write new prescription (Gregory Lopes)

Hmm, let’s see…Part I bad, Part II bad, Part III bad, Part IV good and Part V bad.

Basically what the Times is saying is that a new Democrat-controlled Congress would not bode well for Bush…except where immigration is concerned…and this got me thinking!

Bush has always been so emotional and passionate about his stance on illegal immigration (you remember the maudlin mantra: “family values don’t stop at the Rio Grande”…blech!) that at times, passing an amnesty bill seems to be his highest priority. Oh yeah, I think Bush is hoping to be remembered as “the illegal alien President.”

I’m not suggesting that Bush is sabotaging the GOP or that he is even aware of what he is doing but considering what a Democrat-controlled Congress would mean for his immigration/amnesty plan, he probably wouldn’t mind a Democrat victory next week.

If the President were truly a consevative all five of those stories in the Times would show the Bush administration at odds with a liberal Congress, right? And it does, except where immigration is concerned…the best hope for Bush’s immigration/amnesty plan is a Democrat-controlled Congress...and he may get it!

Normally, a President would be campaigning hard right about now if his party was faced with losing their majority after more than a decade–but that isn’t happening, folks.

Illegal immigration is not the President’s pet project; it’s his Achilles Heel.