I hate to raise such an ugly possibility, but have you considered lunacy as an explanation? Craziness would make a certain amount of sense. I mean, you announce you are going to militarize the Mexican border, but you assure the president of Mexico you are not militarizing the border. You announce you are sending the National Guard, but then you assure everyone it’s not very many soldiers and just for a little while.
I suppose you have to wonder about a man with a Yale education…and a seemingly complete inability to speak the Queen’s English without completely mangulating it. What about a man who rode into Washington promising to be a uniter and not a divider…and yet has done nothing but further divide this country? Yes, Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader has not only shown himself willing to steal an election, he has also engineered an immoral war of occupation which appears to be little more than an oil grab and a way to sentence young American soldiers to senseless, gruesome deaths. It’s certainly not doing anything to win the war against terrorism, regardless of his protestations to the contrary. (Uh…where, exactly, WAS the terrorist threat in Iraq prior to the war? If you said there was none…well, tell them what they’ve won, Don Pardo!!)
I’ve always enjoyed Molly Ivins’ take on Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader. After all, she’s been watching him since before most of the Washington press corps even knew who he was. If she’s convinced that the man is a lunatic, it’s an observation that bears watching. When it comes to lunatics and politics, they don’t come much stranger than Texas Republicans.
Given Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader’s Texas political roots, the potential for some seriously strange doings is world-class…and he’s spent the past five years demonstrating it.
HEY…It’s a dessert topping AND a floor wax!!
Militarizing the border is a totally terrible idea. Do we have a State Department? Are they sentient? How much do you want to infuriate Mexico when it’s sitting on quite a bit of oil? Bush knows what the most likely outcome of this move will be. He was governor during the political firestorm that ensued when a Marine taking part in anti-drug patrols on the border shot and killed Esequiel Hernandez, an innocent goat-herder from Redford, Texas.
That’s the definition of crazy — repeatedly doing the same thing and expecting a different result.
I suppose politics could explain it, too. It’s quite possible that lunacy and politics are closely related. It’s still damned hard cheese for the Guard, though. The Guard is heavily deployed in Iraq, currently 20 percent of those serving, down from 40 percent last year. Some soldiers are sent back for multiple tours. Lt. Gen. James Helmly, head of the Army Reserve, said the Reserve is rapidly degenerating into “a broken force” and is “in grave danger of being unable to meet other operational requirements.”
Happy hurricane season to you, too. The Guard is also short on equipment and falling short on recruiting goals. But right-wingers are very unhappy with Bush right now, and this is a strong, red-meat gesture that will make them happy, even if it does nothing to shut down the border.
You want to shut down illegal immigration? You want to use the military as police? Make it illegal to hire undocumented workers and put the National Guard into enforcing that. Then rewrite NAFTA and invest in Mexico.
It doesn’t get much crazier than trying to militarize our southern border while our northern border remains the largest undefended border IN THE WORLD. Of course, anyone with any degree of honesty will admit to what’s really behind Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader’s plan: it’s about keeping out the Brown People.
Let me see if I have this one straight. We’re going to spend BILLIONS militarizing our southern border, while it will still be possible for anyone with a decent pair of shoes to walk across our northern border unmolested? Is that NOT a textbook definition of insanity…not to mention the complete ignorance of reality? If we’re at all concerned about our security, why would we barricade the front door while we leave the back door wide open? Only in this political climate would this sort of lunacy be advocated in the name of Homeland Security.
To make matters even worse, Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader’s plan is to use the National Guard…yes, the underfunded, underequipped, overstressed National Guard. That the National Guard was never intended to be used for the missions it’s currently being used for seems not to matter to the policy makers who see the Guard as a one-size-fits-all solution to years of poor planning, training, and funding.
Still glad you voted Republican??
