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First of all, Mexico has traditionally been a good ally

That is possibly the most laughable statement I have ever seen on this forum, Mr. "Goldwater Republican".

You wouldn't mean the Mexico that continues to deny that the U.S. even has a right to the Southwest? The Mexico of Villa and the Columbus raid, which led to Pershing traipsing all over northern Mexico, and then to the establishment of the Border Patrol? The Mexico of the Zimmerman letter, which took us into WWI? The Mexico that supports and succors drug smuggling, human smuggling, and money laundering? The Mexico that told us to pound sand after 9/11? The Mexico that has NEVER fought in any major war (except against their own people) alongside ANY allies for ANY good reason? The list goes on and on and on.

Want to read some real bad stuff? Do a web search on Reyes Tijerina. And then, imagine a whole country full of people who sympathise with him. Then see if you can blather a feel good nonsense statement like "good ally".

Since the subject of sealing the borders and/or the President's handling of the border situation is a divisive subject, I'd like to put forth an example for BOTH sides.

When I was stationed in Berlin - I know everyone remembers the Wall - there were multiple escapes even over that system. Here's how The Wall worked, starting on the East Berlin side:

First ring of defense: Continuous strand of wire which had German Shepards tied to it. These dogs were only fed once per week, and were attack trained by the experts. You are at this point anywhere from 150-250 yards from the Wall itself. (In dense urban areas the dogs didn't exist, obviously.)

Next ring of defense: Two man guard towers every 500 meters. Both guards armed with AK-47s. Usually 100 meters of less from the Wall. Guards never worked with each other more than once per year so that they could never establish trust to form their own escape plans. They also operate the next ring of defense.

Next ring: Every 500 meters, there was a small shed that looked like a doghouse that had windows facing down the Wall. These sheds were 25-50 meters from the Wall. They contained two RPD 7.62x54 MGs, camera sighted and joystick operated by the guards in the towers. Occasionally, we would see and hear them shooting rabbits with them.

Last ring before the wall: Inside the machineguns, was a "dead zone" - MINEFIELD. When I was first stationed there, they had the fuzes set too light - those rabbits would set them off. Along about '86 they reset the tensions.

Then there was the Wall itself. The Wall was designed using the East German Olympic team's best jumpers. They discovered that by using a concrete wall 12' tall, with a two foot tall cylinder running along the top was impossible for any of them to jump up on and grab hold of.

While I was in Berlin from '82-'86, we had about a dozen or so people make it over the Wall every year. Our snipers and Delta attachment routinely made it over the Wall - with an M-21 no less. We even had one hapless guy jump the wall into our training city during a combat in cities exercise - he landed in the middle of our OPFOR troops who were dressed as Soviet soldiers. Poor guy must have thought he was losing it. (It's a long story.)

So now, take the full length of our borders - north and south - and try to imagine the cost of the manpower and materials to build the Berlin Wall to seal off the nation. Would you feel better, more safe? Remember, in just the 110 miles of linear Berlin Wall, we had 48 people get over it in 4 years.

Lastly, to those of you who bash the President on this, remember we are a Constitutional Republic. The President makes no laws. Congress does. Get your facts straight before mindlessly railing on the President. Go ahead, don't vote for him. Vote for Hillary or one of the direct enemies of the nation. Because if they win, the borders will be one of the last things you'll have to worry about.

I'm no expert on Mexican history, but I believe some of your statements are either incorrect or misleading:

"The Mexico of Villa and the Columbus raid, which led to Pershing traipsing all over northern Mexico, and then to the establishment of the Border Patrol?"

Blaming Mexico for what Pancho Villa did 90 years ago is like Bolivia blaming the U.S. for the banks Butch and Sundance robbed.

"The Mexico of the Zimmerman letter, which took us into WWI?"

Well, you don't think Zimmerman was Mexican, do you? Zimmerman was Germany's ambassador to Mexico, and he offered Mexico a return of Texas, California, etc. if it became a German ally and declared war on the U.S. Mexico did not accept the offer, by the way.

"The Mexico that told us to pound sand after 9/11?"

Gosh, that wasn't my recollection at all. When did Fox tell us to "pound sand"?

"The Mexico that has NEVER fought in any major war (except against their own people) alongside ANY allies for ANY good reason?"

Actually, Mexico fought with the Allies during WWII, and even before it entered the War in 1942 it cooperated with the U.S. war effort.

As for your statements regarding their silly claims of the Southwest (which you know as well as I are nothing but empty words) and their incompetence in stopping the illegal drug trade into our nation, I agree with you that those are not the acts of a true friend. But I didn't say that Mexico was as close an ally as Israel or Great Britain, just that they have traditionally been a good ally. Heck, they agreed to eliminate tariffs for most U.S. products under NAFTA. Now, even if you oppose free trade, you've got to admit that an enemy wouldn't agree to free trade with us. For instance, we wouldn't grant free trade to Libya, right?

Hey, I'm all for stopping illegal immigration and having tighter security on our borders, with National Guardsmen if necessary. I don't think we are very far apart on these issues. But is it really necessary to badmouth Mexico's government and people as well? Let's recognize that Mexico has been a pretty good ally of ours for many decades and insist that they need to be an even better ally from now on. But don't bring up Pancho Villa. It's 2003, for crying out loud.