Do Actions Speak Louder Than Words?

If the President could run away from the border mess any faster I'm sure he would. It's being said it's because being seen in the setting of kids crammed into confined spaces with their scabies and lice would reflect badly on him.  It could even be his Katrina.  Well, maybe.  But who's fault is that?

It goes to show his handlers aren't as smart as they think they are.  For one, drinking beer and shooting pool in Colorado, a state where pot is legal by state law even though it's not according to Federal law, is bad optics while his people (we citizens) are up in arms over the invasion of carpet crawlers just a few hundred miles away.

So is it when he turns up where there are natural disasters like super storm Sandy or the massive land slides in Washington.  Another state where pot is now legal by state law by the way.  All he does is hold up search and rescue efforts for the sake of a photo op. His handlers must think it shows him as caring and compassionate.  No.  It's just a photo opt.  He'd much rather be downing a few brews or shooting hoops or playing golf.  

Maybe he won't go to the border to see first hand the plight of the communities as well as the children because he's heard one should never do scenes with dogs or kids.  They'll upstage you every time. We couldn't have that.

Or it could be he really doesn't care all that much other than that it has become a political inconvenience.  There's only so much one can do to put it out of sight and mind.  I guess having  a few brews while shooting pool is as good a way as any.

The Kids Always Went Home

Watching the immigration mess going full bore brought to mind a lot of things that have involved children from other nations.  The first thing that comes to mind is the Disney song It's a Small World After All that speaks to all we have in common. Hopes, dreams, all the warm fuzzy stuff.

We've had exchange student programs where a student from another country lives with a local family to learn not only academics but what life in American and Americans themselves are all about.  We've had situations where children from war torn countries have come for a summer as a respite or have come for medical help they can't get in their own country. But always, the youngsters have returned home.

Now we're being inundated with children from and crime ridden countries who are told they'll not have to return.  But it's a horrible picture, really.  Not full of hope and dreams but survival. Survival of a journey conducted by criminals wrought with criminal activity including rape.  I'd like to see documentation of the conditions endured during the journey from central America through Mexico where their entry is supposedly criminal from the get go.

Then we're told they'll be dispersed to live with relatives already here.  Really?  Why aren't they required to prove their identity and pick up their relatives in person?  Could it be they are also in this country illegally? If at all.  Remember we're talking about tens of thousands of children here!

It makes me think there may be some legitimacy to the idea our President is systematically trying to destroy our country. He's doing a pretty good job of it.  No one holds us in esteem any more.  Our economy is still shaky at best.  He won't secure our defined borders.  He pits segments of the population against one another.  You read the headlines and they're filled with hate.  Really.  Hate.

There has long been a hue and cry about how we should not be the world's policemen.  Those who feel that way have gotten their wish and look at the results.  Now we're becoming the world's baby sitter.  Sure it's starting in a regionalized manner, but that's easily changed.  People from other countries can simply come through Central America.  It's thought, if not verified, that it is already happening.

In a perverse way of thinking, if this continues we'll slowly slide into a true third world country.  The president wants billions to fix a problem that is becoming a drain on the very economy that is to finance it.

We're not opening our doors to the best and the brightest.  We're opening it to the defenseless, sick and uneducated and are expected to care for them.

The Statue of Liberty welcomes immigrants to our shores with this ~ “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” It was for people who dreamed of a better life willing to come legally, willing to work for that life.  It wasn't meant for thugs to dump kids who know no better into a strange land and life without any survival skills what-so-ever.

What is the government thinking with their pussy footing around the issue?  What possibly good end can come from the current situation? It's a travesty of monumental proportions!

The Militia Is Coming, The Militia Is Coming!

That's all we need! News has it a call has gone out for militia, both unarmed and armed, to gather along the border to help private land owners protect their property in something called Operation Save Our Borders.  Terrific!

Remember how well it went when militia turned out to help to  help Cliven Bundy in his fight over Federal grazing rights in Nevada?  It came within a hair's breadth of turning violent.

I really feel for the border towns who are the first line of defense in this skirmish against illegals.  They're literally out manned by sheer numbers not to mention problems involving crime and disease. It has gotten to the point where the government has sent buses to pick them up as they cross because Border Patrol vehicles can no longer manage the overload.

Interior towns where the government is trying to board them are also feeling the onslaught.  Now understand, no one wants any more harm to befall the kids than what they've already been through, but when it gets to the point of affecting our towns, their budgets and their citizens it's time to take swift and decisive action.

I have two suggestions.  Congress is dragging its feet on immigration reform.  The one thing they would appear to agree on is we must have a secure border.  Pass legislation so stating, send it to the Senate and let Harry Reid sit on it if he will, but pass it. Make it simple and doable within a specified time frame.  It won't solve the immediate problem but at least no one can then accuse the Republican House of doing nothing.

Suggestion number two is another Dogwalk solution.  It's so simple, it's legal and imminently doable.  Since the buses are already at the border, load them up by country of origin, bus them to Washington D.C. and let them out on the Embassy grounds of their respective countries.  Let them figure out how to clothe them, feed them, cure their ills ~ and send them home.

Will Cheney Help Or Hurt The Republicans In The Mid-Terms?

Will the re-emergence of Dick Cheney help or hurt the Republicans in the mid-terms?  There is so much going on about which voters are rightfully incensed my guess he will have little impact.

I think it depends, however, on what happens in the middle east over the next couple of months. Those who believe it wouldn't be in the mess it is if it weren't for the Bush/Cheney policies and rush to war will be reminded of just that - the Bush/Cheney rush to war.

On the other hand, there is nothing this country did or could have done to quell the unrest between the Shiia and Sunnie and the minority religions that try to exist in the region.  It has been festering for centuries.

One argument is that had Saddam remained in power he would have kept his iron fist on the unrest.  By toppling him and putting in place a "democracy" was the regions undoing.  It has proven true across the region, not just Iraq.  Imposing what we think is the best way to govern on those who have never experienced it nor have a clue how to accomplish it is doomed to fail.

We can hardly lead by example today where we have a president seemingly intent to rule on his own without regard for the democratically elected representatives of the people.  This administration seems to mimic those in the mid-east rather than the other way around.  Who's learning from whom?

I admire Mr. Cheney's realistic grasp of what makes that part of the world tick.  But not unlike our current president, he also sees no gray in the way he feels others should think. His only advantage is clarity in his understanding, not necessarily the solution he championed at the time. That time has passed and all the backward looking will not change it. This President lacks the initial and all important understanding. Why?  Naivete.  Lack of interest. Inexperience. Plus the firm belief that he knows better than all the experts combined.  Not a combination of traits to encourage trust.

The accusations of war on women, minorities, the environment, etc. are all politically motivated means of distraction.  The real war is the one that threatens not only our security but that of the entire world is the one Mr. Cheney discusses. Right or wrong for having been part of our getting into it, he has a lot to say about where we are and where we should consider going.  We'd be foolish to let the past and political rhetoric dissuade us from listening.

So Sue Me

I often wonder these days how our country is going to survive the remainder of Obama's term.  Whether or not you agree with the Supreme Court decisions, they have been made never-the-less and the President has been slapped down on many occasions.  Sometimes unanimously.

So why, I wonder, has the President decided to continue his mantra of it's my way or the highway.  He complains endlessly about the Republicans refusal to work with him.  House Speaker Boehner explains one reason is they have no reason to trust that the President will enforce the laws they may pass. There is good reason for this. He doesn't enforce much of what is already on the books. Just look at immigration which is his latest rant.  Look at how he has changed the laws to suit his purposes, whatever they may be.  How in the world is allowing illegals to swarm our borders, taxing the border states as well as the Federal government going to help anyone?  Will it enhance the Hispanic vote?  I'm willing to bet not. What it will do is breed resentment.  It's already begun with demonstrators meeting bus loads of these people.  We'll be luck if violence doesn't ensue.

I'm thinking the Court's slap downs are too subtle.  This man needs to be hit over the head.  But then, deep inside I know he is doing what he does because he wants to.  Not because the Republicans won't cooperate.  It's because they would like to tweak some of his ideas and he won't allow it.  So who isn't cooperating?

I have never seen a man so ill suited for the presidency as this man.  I've never seen a man so invested in himself above all else, especially his country.  It's chilling.  Now he stands before his hand picked audience and challenges the Republicans, "So sue me!"

Well, Mr.  Boehner, why don't you? While you're at it  can you make it a class action suit? Does it make you wonder that the Constitution has no measures for recourse against a President's dereliction of duty?  Consider the idea that they never thought the people would elect such a person.