Bacon's Rebellion

Obama & Groveton – Birds of a Feather…

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by

James A. Bacon
in

The Obama Administration today announced that it would send 1,200 troops to help secure America’s southern border. President Obama will also spend an additional half a billion dollars on the effort. Opinions vary as to why President Obama is taking this action. Some say Republicans from the Southwest forced his hand. Other say that Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) asked for the troops. Many believe that President Obama is a regular visitor to Bacons Rebellion and has seen the wisdom of trying to seal the border after reading my article earlier this week. Finally, there are a few commentators on this site who know that anybody seeking to secure the border is a racist and must, therefore, conclude that President Obama has suddenly become a racist himself.

You can read an article about this decision here.

Racism seems to be getting contagious. Some who blog on this site have gone to great lengths to establish that anybody who “conflates” border security with law enforcement actions against terrorists or drug dealers is a racist. Well, it seems that the Democratic representative from Arizona, Ms. Giffords, has also suddenly become a racist. Here’s an important sentence from the article, “Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said the situation on the ground now is different from when Bush deployed the Guard. Arrests have fallen in the Arizona sector and there’ve been record drug seizures.”.

If that isn’t enough, here’s another point from Rep. Giffords, “She said the border is more violent and law enforcement is outgunned. She and other lawmakers want the troops to be armed — they were not in the previous deployment. She said the U.S. needs to “spend what it takes” to secure its border with Mexico.”.

In a real stunner, it appears that our racist president forgot to order any troops to the Canadian border.

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13 responses to “Obama & Groveton – Birds of a Feather…”

  1. Gooze Views Avatar
    Gooze Views

    Groveton,
    Obama is not a racist, Bacon is, at least an environmental racist.
    Just kidding. Obviously, Obama is playing politics here. And just to show you what a fair and level-headed guy I am, I will remind you that none-other than George "W" actually tried to bring some rationality to the immigration mess but his idea was shot down.
    At the end of the day, however, the solutions should be economic and not political (notice that I didn't say "free-market driven" since I am avoiding that term as it is so misued by conservatives). The reason why illegals are here is that there is a definite need for them. There is a labor shortage for low-end blue collar labor.
    Back in 1971, when I had just finished my college freshman year, I went back home to North Carolina and spent part of my summer digging ditches for a Dr Pepper bottling plant among other things. Somehow you don't see college kids doing that anymore but when Verizon wired my neighborhood with fiber optics, a group of Hispanic men the size of three combat platoons handled digging all the holes to put in the wires. They even had Hispanic women come in at lunch time with pre-made rice and bean lunch dishes.
    WHat needs to be rationalized is allowing foreigners to handle these jobs that few Americans seem to want to do. There is a strong and real demand for their services. Why not let them do them and pay them well in a reasonable way? And somehow handle the immigration paperwork in a more efficient way. I bet that a lot of these people are paying U.S. taxes.
    Peter Galuszka

  2. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    She said the U.S. needs to "spend what it takes" to secure its border with Mexico.".

    Sure, let's make every issue priceless, every issue priority number one.

    No wonder we can't balance the budget.

    Not to mention the rather obvious implication that what this means is that some people's property rights are going to be valued at infinity, and others at zero.

    "Spend what it takes", I love it, that one is right up there with "Free, no cost."

    I just hope that while they are spending what it takes, someone keeps track of the spending so that whne we get done we will know how much we spent for every [probably low paying] American job saved.

    I'm guessing that if we spend $400,000 to save a $40,000 job, we are not better off.

    RH

  3. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    They are paying some taxes: they would pay thme all if we would let them.

    They would even pay a premium, if we made it so.

    I'm only half kidding when I tell people, if you are worried about social security, just give your number to a dozen illegals. All their work will get credited to your account. Even if the "mistake" gets caught SS will still have the money.

    If INS won't do their job, just give them a little [social resistance style] "help". Kind of like mailing bricks to the draft board.

    Speaking of draft board, since 9/11 more than 60,000 U.S. military personnel have become naturalized citizens.

    RH

  4. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    When you put a new hwn in the pen, the old hens don't care what color it is: all they want is the pecking order established.

    RH

  5. Larry G Avatar
    Larry G

    1200 personnel – used as 24/7 security along the 2000 mile border would translate into about one guy every 5 miles – not counting days off and vacations.

    one high enough tower every 5 miles might, with good optics and sensors detect movement but I would not bet on it.

    The thing about this is the more you focus, the more those who are trying to get across focus.

    If we can't stop drugs coming across our other borders.. I think we're whistling Dixie on this effort also.

    The bottom line is that people who run drugs are highly motivated and for the most part very successful. This is not an opinion. It's a demonstrable fact.

    Second, ordinary troops are not equipped with the proper tools for anything other than the most blunt-instrument drug running.. i.e. the real stupid ones ….

    You won't stop drugs until you remove the demand for them and you won't stop illegal immigration until what they are coming here for – is not longer here for them – and it won't matter if you have one guy every 5 miles or not.

    Could we do it with 5 times as many troops – i.e. 5000 or so?

    Well that would give us one guy every mile…

    how about 10,000 troops?

    added to the current border patrol – I'll admit that you'd start to make things pretty dicey … add a 20 foot contiguous wall.. yes.

    If that's what a majority of Americans are willing to pay increased taxes for – or pay-go it by taking away something else – then I'd go along with the majority.

    and I'll admit also that doing that strategy does not have to be tied in with any potential decision as to what to do about those already here.

    This issue has been so divisive and distracting to the country that I'd swallow those toads to move us on to much more vital issues – like the longer-term economic viability of this country.

    Perhaps we can offer government service to those already here.

    Join the military or staff community needs projects, etc in exchange for the time here – illegally.

  6. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Join the military or staff community needs projects, etc in exchange for the time here – illegally.

    We are already doing that: since 9/11 more than 60,000 U.S. military personnel have become naturalized citizens.

    Your persons per mile analysis supports what I said previously about spending $400,000 to protect a $40,000 job.

    That is a different analysis than one which considers illegal drugs. Most of those who come here and stay are not running drugs: they are staying here, so for them it is a jobs issue.

    The drug runners, as you point out, have a different motivation, and stopping them doesn't protect any American jobs.

    Boeing has already spen $1.1 Billion on this, and they have protected less than 40 miles of border.

    But, what the heck, we ar going "spend what it takes".

    Then we will turn around and blame Obama for the deficit.

    RH

  7. Gooze Views Avatar
    Gooze Views

    Groveton,
    And while we're at it.

    On of the dumber ideas in the Bush administration was to build the big fence.
    I did a story for an education magazine about a school in Brownsville, Texas on the Rio Grande border with Mexico. The campus is actually in both countries. Students would have to pass through passport control to go to psychology class.

    It was so nuts they dropped the idea.

    PG

    PS: The original post by you had to do with terrorists crossing the Mexican border not bus boys and gardeners.

  8. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Larry says "you won't stop illegal immigration until what they are coming here for – is not longer here for them." Agreed.

    Many jobs that allegedly require staffing by non-U.S. legal residents used to be staffed by U.S residents when they paid a decent wage. I grew up in Minnesota, where meat packing plant workers used to make a decent living. A job to aspire to – no. But a job that provided reasonable pay – yes. But now, we cannot staff these operations except with illegal immigrants. Enforce the immigration laws; wages will rise; and Americans will take many of these jobs. If there is still insufficient workers, sign me up to support a fair guest worker law.

    TMT

  9. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Enforce the immigration laws; wages will rise; and Americans will take many of these jobs.

    Why would you do that if it turns out it is going to cost more to protect the job than the job pays, even at "American" wages?

    May be you can do that on the cheap by throwing a few high profile CEOs in jali for hiring illegals.

    But that's not wahy we are spending billions on the southern fence, is it?

    RH

  10. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Ray, I've not argued anything about a fence. I don't know what should be done at the border, but most countries at least try to keep control of their borders. We can't do so because it would be racist to do so.

    Do you think we should have an open border? Do you think that anyone should be able to come to the U.S. and work? How about bringing relatives?

    TMT

  11. Mimi Stratton Avatar
    Mimi Stratton

    I think commenters on this blog have been fairly restrained in their characterizations of others' opinions regarding race.

    So the point of this post stirring that particular pot is really beyond me, and quite unnecessary.

  12. Groveton Avatar
    Groveton

    Mimi:

    Race vs racism, Two very different things. I was accused of being a racist when Idemanded tighter border controls. Then, President Obama sent 1,200 troops to the southern border to help seal that border. Since I had been accused of being a racist for wanting to do what Obama did … I had to ask, is Obama a racist too.

    This had nothing to do with race and everything to do with claims of racism,

    Since none of you know what race I am, I wonder how you think race plays into this.

    I'd claim to be Thomas Sowell but my lack of written clarity and conservative economic logic would give me away.

  13. rh Avatar
    rh

    We can't seal the borders because people will walk five days through the desert to get a low spying US job that pays five times what the Mexican job would pay if there was one.

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