The Southern Border

I've been watching a National Geographic series about the Border Patrol and Customs Inspectors. I did three tours in Viet Nam in the late 1960's, and these agents, make no mistake, are in a war. They patrol 24 hrs a day. They are armed with the latest weapons, the same weapons that our troops are using in Iraq and Afghanistan. They wear the same protective gear as our military. They are looking for not only people trying to cross the boarder illegally, and there are thousands every month, but heavily armed drug smugglers. And these guys could care less about taking out the border cops. Every one they kill is one more they don't have to deal with. One more person that will not interfere with their loads of drugs.

After watching this series of episodes on the daily life of the men and women who have chosen this area of Law Enforcement as a way to make a living, I am convinced that the powers that be in D.C. are not paying attention to what those who live along the border areas have to say about how much havoc these insurgents are raining down on U.S. citizens. It is crazy that we, residents of the USA, are allowing this to happen on our borders. There are signs posted in areas north of the border that caution people to avoid this area or that road because of violence. Thats crazy. Our government is telling us that there are areas within the United States that are too dangerous for the rest of us to travel in. This is something we cannot accept.

We have to demand that the people we elect to represent us do the job we elect them to do. If the President can allocate money to save financial institutions, and the auto industry, and so many other areas of our economy, then we have enough money in our budget to secure and maintain our boarders. We have the technology, we are building up the man power strength, now we must give these men and woman the authority to do the job with out the fear of being prosecuted if they fire on an individual who pose a threat to their safety. When we are told by these political delegates that it is just too long of an area for us to be able to patrol the entire length of the border. We must answer that the excuse is "crap". It does not matter how long our border is. It is our BORDER, and we will do what ever it takes to make sure our border's are secure. If the folks in office now cannot understand what that means, well, we say "bye bye". There is no excuse that can be given that justify's doing anything less than total security for the citizens of this country. That means that the border is secure.

It is vital that we continue to put pressure on the elected politicians to get this job done. If it means everyday, then that is what has to be done.

We have tools at our fingertips that were not available until the very recent past. The internet has to be the governments worst night mare when it comes to the populace ability to have our voices heard. Not only do we have the ability to text and email congress, but we can maintain communications with each other. That one act has to be the elected representatives worst night mare. We have this ability and now we need to use it.

Its a little more than a month before the mid-term elections where every member of the House of Representatives are up for re-election, and about one third of the Senate is trying to keep their job. The people in office now have not done their job. Not even close. Lets get some people in office that will listen to what we are saying. Get out of the way of our businesses, let our economy grow, secure our borders so we are not afraid to travel to the States along our southern border. Account for the people in this country illegally. Start doing your damn job.

I know we still have a war on drugs. If you want to reduce the supply of illegal drugs, SECURE THE BORDER. If the supply dries up, the price will go up and soon the cost will become prohibitive and a necessary step in the war on drugs will be taken. Some of this stuff is just not that difficult. Or if it is more difficult than we think, take the time to explain to us what ever it is that we do not understand.

Securing the border is a huge step in reducing illegal immigration, reducing the availability of illegal drugs and the unintended benefit derived from accomplishing this challenge is very wide ranging. Law enforcement, in every speech I've heard and conversation I have had, says that well over half of the crimes they investigate are drug related. The prison population is largely because of drug related activity.

It is not that difficult to understand. I have no idea why these things have gotten so far out of hand. It is irresponsible, negligent and unacceptable. We can no longer allow this to continue. The consequences are too far reaching. The cost of inaction if far greater than the cost of doing the job that has to be done. Its time to hold people accountable. Its time we demanded answers and action.

It Is Time We Take Our Country Back, and get back to being the Country we are all proud to be a Citizen of. Its time to do whats right, and its time to do it NOW.

ITS TIME TO PAY ATTENTION

Its time to sort out the meaningless rhetoric thrown at all of us, and start demanding meaningful dialog necessary to address the problems society's within which we live face daily. The problems have created a dynamic of there own, and the longer they go unchallenged the more difficult it will be to correct the underlying causes. It is criminal that the actions required to deal with these issues was not taken over the years as these symptoms manifested, and started adversely influencing school populations at all levels, and neighborhood routines where families could enjoy gatherings without fearing drive-by harassment which has evolved into drive-by shootings. Individually, virtually everyone reacts the same when ask to express their view of the problems we see reported in our daily newspapers over and over again. Collectively, we have been mostly unable to harness this displeasure into an actionable effort to address problems like over crowded classrooms, uninsured motorist, teen pregnancy, child abuse and neglect, immigration and illegal immigrants, failure to assume personal responsibility for those things one is responsible for, and the topics list seems to be unending. We must address each and everyone of these issues, and they must be addressed sooner than now. Social problems can all be broken down to the responsibility of the individual. As the state of are social structures reveal more and more disarray, the failure of individuals become a geometric progression of problems that are no longer compatible with an acceptable social norm. It does no good to complain about the problems that are tearing into our desired way of life on the one hand, and sit on the other hand in order not to offend those who should be offended. Concerns about political correctness is turning into an avenue that allows those new to our ways of life to avoid giving forth the effort that should be required in order to assimilate into the societies they worked so hard to join and into this culture and this collective mind set, and this way of life.
Everyone knows the problems and everyone has an opinion. At least when ask, there seems to be no shortage of finger pointing and blame assignment, but when ask to aid in the action taking phase of attacking problems, the roll call is filled with non-responses. And the lack of willingness to participate in the fixing, results in the problems complicating every aspect of our daily life, and the life styles we think we deserve to enjoy.