I decided to go to the Lights for Liberty SLO rally on Saturday, July 13, to see what it was all about. Although I’m a steadfast President Trump supporter, I like to hear what the left is offering in the way of solutions to the border crisis and associated challenges. Unfortunately, I only heard about the crisis (which finally the left acknowledges) and virtually nothing in the way of a solution.
The sense I took from both the speeches and the carried signs is that President Trump is responsible for the crisis or in some way has the power, unilaterally, to solve it. Actually, neither of these is true. Unfortunately, the left, with its commitment to resist President Trump at every turn, no longer cares about facts and instead focuses almost entirely on feelings.
How can one not admit that the problems at the southern border existed before Trump was president? But from the speeches and banners it seemed they were holding him responsible. Everyone seems to have forgotten that it was President Obama who was called the Deporter-in-Chief.
Also, if anyone on the left was paying attention, the Trump administration has been warning of an impending crisis at our border for at least 18 months. But it wasn’t until last week that Congress finally gave the administration the money they asked for to improve the facilities and to provide appropriate supplies and care for the more than 100,000 folks who are coming across our border each month. But at Saturday’s rally, the administration was criticized for not making the necessary improvements quickly enough now that they have the money. Really? What exactly could any department do with more than $4.6 billion in just seven days?
The solution to this crisis does not rest with President Trump, for he is doing all that he can to address it while the Democrats in Congress resist at every turn. As children and families are encouraged by the left to leave their countries on this perilous journey during which many are robbed, raped, and even murdered, Democrats in Congress resist changing the immigration laws.
When these poor, tired folks are encouraged by the left to cross the border illegally and then die from exposure in the desert or at the Rio Grande, Democrats in Congress resist changing our asylum laws. And in the more than 18 months of alarms being sounded about the impending crisis at our border, the Democrats in Congress resisted (until last week) approving the funds needed to avert the humanitarian crisis highlighted during the recent rally.
So although no one on the left seems to be willing to acknowledge that these problems started long before President Trump was elected, they were allowed to grow unchecked during the past 2 1/2 years while alarm bells kept ringing. The solution lies with the Democrats in Congress who, through their strategy of resistance, are willing to let poor, struggling families and children suffer and die rather than capitulate and help our president solve these horrific problems. Preventing President Trump from getting a win seems more important to the left than the lives of these unfortunate migrants.
Needless to say, of the hundreds of signs that passed me as the march proceeded into town, I didn’t see a single one that said anything like, “Let’s Help President Trump Solve the Border Crisis.” That spoke volumes to me about what’s really going on while putting Trump derangement syndrome on full display. Δ
Gary Wechter is a retired businessman and avid and civilized President Trump supporter, who expresses his disdain using words not deeds. You may contact him directly at garyofag@sbcglobal.net. You can also write a letter for publication and email it to letters@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Jul 18-28, 2019.
Congress needs to stop screwing around and do something about the problems at the border. There’s no reason we can’t have both a secure border and humane treatment of people.
This issue, like so many others, is a direct consequence of the two-party system. These people don’t care about good policy, only votes. And if you think that one side is any better than the other, you have been tricked.
What we need is campaign finance reform, term limits, and ranked choice voting.
We also need lobbying reform.
Remember when the left was anti-war and Bernie Sanders criticized open borders as “a Koch brothers plan”. “Diversity is our strength” is a liberal trope on both the mainstream right and left. The idea that diversity is an end unto itself and can never be critiqued is cult like behavior. Immigration is not popular. If you look at the original statements of Trump questioning immigration policies, they coincided with huge spikes in popularity. Trump was elected specifically because of immigration, while the entire establishment worked against him. That’s how powerful the immigration issue is.
Now of course Trump has turned his back on everything he said. No one is moved by tax cuts to the rich, doing everything Israel wants, and “fighting socialism” or whatever tired old liberal ideological nonsense (besides maybe boomer conservatives, but many of them have died since 2016).
So Trump will probably lose unless he makes a radical shift between now and 2020.
Trump supporters want innocent to suffer & die. They mock the deaths of children like those evil, depraved birder goons did on their Facebook site. Go on any right wing, Trump devotee website & have a look around, if you have the stomach to do so & have a look around. Trolls on such sites suggest harvesting organs from live children or torturing them in front of their mothers. Trump worshipers are psychopaths. No decent person supports the orange turd. Only morons, sadists, bigots & fools admire him.
Jay my friend, No one wants people to suffer. People suffering isn’t what this is about. If this were about people suffering you would see the same amount of outcry and activism for the opium crisis that is murdering middle America. And if Democrats really need more immigrants to come in then they should be applauding Trump for allowing in record numbers of immigrants. But no one is applauding Trump for bringing in, literally the most immigrants in American history. So what’s the problem then? Well the problem is the Democrat establishment wants power and immigration is an effective way to publicly apply emotional blackmail on the Trump administration. It’s an issue that the public has been primed for and reacts to emotionally. That’s all, it’s pure politics. Is there a crisis? Yes, but it’s half a century in the making, existed before Trump, has nothing to do with Trump now, and neither party is, either capable or willing, to actually address it. Remember Obama had a much stricter record on immigration, many more deportations, and you didn’t hear boo from either party about it, why is that?
I’m not a Trump supporter by the way, he has brought us closer to war with Iran than any other president.