A Crisis by Design

The national news media has succumbed to the threat of being yelled at by the biggest bully in the whole damn valley, and all of the major networks will give free airtime to the president so he can tell us all about the crisis at the southern border that, frankly, is entirely by design - his design.

Now, don't get me wrong - we have long had an immigration problem, and it needs to be fixed - about that, there should be no question. But, that immigration problem is not defined by the need for a wall, and it won't be fixed by the construction of a wall, whether it's a big beautiful concrete one (about which the president knows more than anyone) or some variation on a theme of steel slats that is equally aesthetically pleasing (about which the president knows more than anyone) or even just concertina wire and chain link fence (about which the president surely knows more than anyone).

Since he announced his candidacy, "Build That Wall" has been the cry around which his supporters will reliably rally, because we are meant to fear the dark skinned people who cross the southern border.

It matters not whether they have crossed legally or illegally really - because just by looking at them, we are unable to tell which is which, just like we can't tell a good black person walking down the street, or shopping in a store, or making a phone call in a hotel lobby, or swimming in a pool, or hailing a cab, or driving down the highway or doing any number of other things that human beings do, from a bad one.

That's the point of fear. And that's the basis of this 'crisis' that the president has created, embraced, and exacerbated, and which he now must trying and convince us is real.

His own administration's data proves that much of what he tells us about immigration is fake, even as his minions try valiantly to deflect attention from his unbelievably bold and bald-faced lies -  or worse, to try and defend them.

His own tweets tell us there is nothing to be concerned about: the border is secure, the border is great, the border is fine, the wall is working, it's fantastic, it's a beautiful thing, we've built so much of it, it's way better than you can even imagine, it's wonderful, it's a success, CBP and ICE and the military are doing a great job, better than anyone ever before.  

Until he decided to shut down the government.

Because terrorists are trying to get in, or job-stealers, and drugs are coming through the border like water from a faucet and there's nothing we can do without billions and billions of dollars to fix the secure, great, successful, working, fantastic, beautiful, wonderful, better than you can even imagine wall because it's an abject failure that puts each and every one of us at risk from being killed in our homes by God only knows what brown-skinned person who's intent on murder and mayhem upon arrival.

Except that's not true.

It's so bad President Obama's building a giant wall around his compound in DC, I tell you -- probably one that Jared and Ivanka (who's remarkably silent lately, don't you think?) can see from their house in the same neighborhood.

Except that's not true.

Former presidents have told the crisis actor currently occupying the Oval Office that they wish they had built the wall when they were in office, he said - they've talked to him about it. 

Except that's not true.

Mexico is going to pay for the wall, either up front or after we build it when we send them the bill, or they're already paying for it through the USMCA or they're paying for it by keeping people on their side of the border instead of us having to house them on our side of the border while the asylum cases move forward. 

Except that's not true, either. Mexico is not paying for the wall. 

Things that are true? 

• Most illegal immigrants are not border jumpers, they're visa over-stayers.
• Most drugs do not come through across the southern border.
• No terrorists have been apprehended at the southern border. 
• No acts of terrorism have been perpetrated by people who crossed the border illegally.
• The brown people are not stealing jobs from Americans; there's not a high demand from people like us to pick crops for a pittance, to strip beds, clean toilets and take out the trash at fancy hotels, or to perform backbreaking day-laborer tasks on construction sites.
• The president's properties regularly hire special visa immigrants as bartenders, domestic staff, valets and so on - two of the three being things that red-blooded Americans not find to be beneath us.

You can find lots of information that supports the facts and discounts the president's comments as being misleading or outright lies: for example, 

• here's a report from the Cato Institute on the undeniably invisible terrorist threat; 
• here's a report on just some of his misleading statements about the wall;
• here's a report on the administration debunking the president; and
• here's a list of the president's 574 tweets using 'border' as the keyword (fun stuff there).

With even a hint of curiosity, you'll be able to browse to your heart's content for as long as you can stand it. 

Here's the deal on the president's role in tonight's dog and pony show, and for all of the advance info that's been coming from the government agencies currently charged with pushing out facts, alternative facts, incomplete facts, and other truth-not-truth propaganda: 

1. The president said he would be proud to shut down the government. And he did.
2. The president said he would look foolish if he reopened the government without having the funding for the wall, because he promised that he'd build it. 
3. And he now needs to regroup his base - and the members of his own party who are losing interest in this nonsense. 

And the networks - ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, MSNBC, CNN  and the rest - pretending they're damned if they do, damned if they don't air it? Well, they're at least half right. 

Here's the bottom line: if we were in a real crisis, if there were a real national security issue, would a real leader be putting out propaganda like this?