James K. Polk !
Zachary Taylor !
Winfield Scott !
Bring it on Fox!
Posted on 04/14/2005 8:42:25 AM PDT by churchillbuff
What would you call it if a neighboring country used its military forces to escort illegal border crossers, including drug-runners, to border areas known to be less secure?
I'd call it an act of war.
And that's what the Mexican government stands accused of doing this week – not just by the Minuteman Project President Bush derides as a "vigilante" movement, but by Border Patrol officers and elected U.S. officials.
President Bush still has a little time to save face – though it is slipping away quickly.
He can change directions, admit that the Mexican border poses the No. 1 national security threat to the United States and take definitive action to secure it, or he can face the almost certain risk of a major terrorist attack on this country with the border providing the entry point.
There are simply no other choices for Bush.
The "cheap labor" argument no longer holds water – not when we are squandering billions on ineffectual homeland security provisions that are rendered meaningless by the openness of the border.
Members of the president's own party in Congress are the whistleblowers on this latest outrage. He can't blame partisan politics. The president's support on every other issue of importance to his administration depends on a quick reversal of his misguided border policies.
Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., and chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, had some harsh but appropriate words for Bush's blindness to the border threat:
The president of Mexico is threatening to sue any member of the Minuteman who have contact with a Mexican national, threatening to take the U.S. into the International Court of Justice at the Hague over the passage of Prop 200 in Arizona, and is providing transportation to Mexican nationals trying to sneak into the U.S. ... One could say he is acting in the best interest of his nation. Isn't it unfortunate we cannot say the same thing about President Bush?
Border Patrol sources say the Mexican army recently moved about 1,000 troops to the Agua Prieta region, just south of where the Minutemen are. These troops, the sources say, are diverting all of the illegal alien and drug-smuggling traffic away from the Minutemen.
Only dramatic action by Bush can save his presidency from disgrace.
He needs to place troops on the border to supplement Border Patrol agents. He needs to support congressional efforts to hire 10,000 more Border Patrol agents over the next five years. And he needs to work with Congress on a bill to seal the entire Mexican border with a security fence.
Those should be the minimal conditions Congress requires even for discussion of the president's misguided call for a "guest-worker" amnesty program.
Even if the nation were not facing an imminent threat from cross-border terrorism, this would be the only responsible course of action. But today, after what Americans witnessed Sept. 11, 2001, we all recognize the next attack could be far worse.
It's time for Bush to admit he was wrong – that he made a mistake, that he miscalculated the threat the open border represents.
Yes, he will open himself to criticism by those who will never support him. But he can still win back the tens of millions of responsible Americans who only want what is best for this country.
Time is running out for the Bush administration and the future of his party.
If Republicans don't provide Americans with an alternative and responsible immigration and border policy, the party will go the way of the Whigs and the Bull Moose Party.
The clock is ticking and the bomb that will doom the Republicans and destroy the Bush legacy and kill untold numbers of Americans could go off at any moment.
Yep, American's have more goods than ever before in humankind...so does Mexico, so does Poland...so does Great Britain...so does China. Everyone in the entire world has more electronic equipment, cars, communication devices, etc ad nauseum now than they did in the 50's.
Ahhhh, now I see, you're sheeple. President Bush is RIGHT, American citizens are WRONG.
Sorry, can't help, have no idea.
James K. Polk !
Zachary Taylor !
Winfield Scott !
Bring it on Fox!
You didn't grow up in the United States, did you?
The 1950s, were you there?
The only federal government man we saw was the postman and he came twice a day -- and on the Sunday before Christmas.
. (Yes, it was called Christmas in those days.)
One-income families was the rule -- low taxes.
Lower-income families could afford houses.
Lower-income families could afford late model cars.
Major cities had more than one newspaper, we got "the rest of the story." No alternate media like the Internet needed.
We had libraries that were open more than closed, no Internet needed.
Children could play outside from sun up to long past sun down.
Yes, politicians were SOBs then too but they were our SOBs.
The movie "Blackboard Jungle" shocked the nation!
A string of four-letter words did not a comedian make.
It was enough that Dick Tracy had a cell phone, for most people.
One car, one TV was enough because we were whole families, older teens worked and bought their own cars however.
TV did not rule people's lives. . . .
The actions you suggest appear in order. You are correct it would take a request from a border governor. Now that USCG is under Homeland Security control I'm not sure how USCG would interface with Border Control. Everything has changed since I retired. It does seem that President Bush does not consider this to be a problem... which makes me wonder about his advisors.
BUMP!
Mexico is a toilet. Put up electrified razoe wire and station snipers every 400 yards. So what if lettuce costs $.25 more a head.
Well stated.
Vigilantism has nothing to do with intimidating anyone, legal or illegal. The definition of vigilantism is "the taking of law enforcement into one's own hands."
Good post Happy!
He is also the same moron that said Terri Schiavo was basically an equal of Jesus Christ.
It sounds like you're looking for silver bullet; fix everything in a few years. We have to live with politics. We work as Republicans to defeat the Democrats. We work as conservative Republicans to defeat liberal Republicans. It's a waste to do the latter by giving up on the former.
And when you look at the ramifications, you get a differnt view of what's going on...
The crime from the illegals, the armed gangs, etc...Most all of the drugs coming into this country come thru Mexico...
We and the Constitution look at this as an invasion...The politicians look at this as an invitation...So what's up with that???
Wrong. When you finally get sick and tired of wasting your vote over and over again on some republicrat, the only sensible thing to do is
VOTE
George Washington feared two threats to America above all others. First, the corrupting influence of political parties with their spirit of faction and selfishness; and second, the weakening of the influence of religious morality on public life. On both counts he was right - the Democrats and Republicans have betrayed us, and squandered the Founders'' legacy of liberty and justice. Countless government officials in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government take their oath to uphold and defend the Constitution with no understanding of the responsibilities that oath entails.
Join the Constitution Party in its work to restore our government to its Constitutional limits and our law to its Biblical foundation.
Constitution Party of Virginia
Contact: Howard Phillips
Email:info@constitutionpartyva.com
Address: 450 Maple Avenue East
Vienna,, Virginia 22180
Phone: 703-753-9678
Website: http://www.constitutionpartyva.com/
Constitution Party National Committee
23 North Lime Street
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 17602
Tel: 717-390-1993 Fax: 717-299-5115
"In questions of power, then, let no more be said of confidence in man but bind him down with the chains of the Constitution."
Sarcasm to the extreme.
"I refuse to choose between 2 hole drillers. At this point, I plan to go third party, like the Constitution party, next time."
I gave serious thought to going 3rd party in this past election, my first chance to vote for a president. But in the end I decided there was too much at stake to risk a John/John presidency. I'm glad I didn't waste my vote like that, I would have felt silly. We still have a couple of years to decide whether to jump ship and go 3rd party, though. The day this devoted Republican goes 3rd party is when you know there aren't distinctions between the two parties any longer, and America is officially doomed. Just thought I'd get on my soap box and pontificate.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.