Bernie’s Green New Sham
The View from the Middle
Have you read Bernie Sanders’ “Green New Deal” proposal? It’s only 48 pages long and is, if nothing else, entertaining. My first impression was that it is the most blatant and massive vote-buying scheme ever perpetrated on the American public. Imagine the number of votes you could buy with $16.3 Trillion. That’s over $50,000 per person in the United States. Oh, but his real price tag is much higher than that. In his opening paragraph he states that, “we must guarantee health care, housing and a good paying job to every American.” We know that “Medicare for all” will cost the country (us, because the government has no money) $32 Trillion over 10 years. Consequently, we also know that it can’t be included in his $16 Trillion price tag. I tried to add up all the spending in Bernie’s scheme, and after my calculator stopped smoking, I estimated that Bernie’s plan will exceed the $93 Trillion cost of AOC’s fantasyland plan which didn’t receive a single vote in the Senate. Even the Democrat co-sponsor of this bill, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, only voted “present”.
The good news for Bernie is that he will have no problem getting his agenda enacted, because it appears that he is not actually running for President, but King. The words “Bernie will” do this or that appears over 25 times in this document. Congress is only mentioned a few times and only to criticize them, never to suggest that they would actually “do” anything. But being King of The United States is apparently too small of a job for Bernie. His proposal states that, “Bernie will convene global leaders to redirect our priorities to confront our shared enemy: climate change.” The only way that Bernie will “convene” world leaders is to pay them off, which he is totally willing to do.
He will, of course, recommit The United States to the Paris Agreement and a $200 billion contribution to the Green Climate Fund. So far, all other counties combined have only committed to seven billion dollars. Obviously, Bernie has no problem committing and spending our money. If this $200 billion was going to be the total amount given to this fund, America would be providing over 95% of the fund’s resources. However, the Director of that fund has already stated that the fund would quickly require over $450 billion “a year”. That would cost us over $4 Trillion over ten years if America continues to provide over 95% of that fund and I’m betting the Bernie has conveniently left that out of his $16 Trillion tab for you and me (because the government has NO money).
Besides the spending, which should scare us all to death, there are other HUGE problems with Bernie’s delusion. Parts of it are actually unconstitutional. Let’s put the idea that Bernie wants to be king aside. Throughout his “Deal” Bernie says he is going to prioritize all of this spending to “people of color” and native Americans. He doesn’t say that he is going to insure equal access or equal opportunity. This should buy some African American and Native American votes, but when whites and Asians realize that they are being disadvantaged (discriminated against) just because of the color of their skin or national heritage, I envision millions of lawsuits - because that is illegal!
Another major problem with this nightmare New Deal is the amount of control that Bernie wants to give to our already inept, corrupt and convoluted government. A quick perusal reveals that Bernie wants complete government control of our healthcare, energy, agriculture, auto and construction industries. That’s about 50% of our entire economy. And once it controls 50% of our economy it will be a $15 Trillion per year monster, which no one will dare challenge or even question. Do we really want Bernie to tell us what kind of healthcare we can have, or what kind of car we can buy or even what kind of food we can eat? At a time when trust in government is at an all-time low, according to Gallup, do we really want to it this kind of unbridled power?
But there is some good news for Bernie in his New Green Deal. It is so outrageous, so farcical and so impossible to implement, he knows that he will never be held accountable for any of these political promises. Remember, not a single Senator, Republican or Democrat, voted for the AOC Green Deal, and Bernie’s is even more fantastical. Not only will Bernie never get this bill through Congress, I can’t think of a single major plank of his plan that would even be proposed.
I will make a daring prediction right now and suggest that Bernie, with this kind of bizarre thinking, will never become President. He can make all the promises he wants to buy as many votes as he can, but he knows he will never have to fulfill those promises. And even if he were to become President, if all the other candidates and Trump were to pass away between now and November of 2020, he will just blame his broken promises on Congress.
Finally, if you are careful and thoughtful as you read this New Deal sham, you will realize there are no promises of how this will affect the world’s climate. This is because Bernie either doesn’t know or projections are so infinitesimal that even he would be embarrassed to state them.
Friday, August 30, 2019
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Note to AOC and the Squad - America IS Great
Note to AOC and The Squad – America is Great!
The View from the Middle
One of my favorite Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, famously said, “If you look for the bad in people, expecting to find it, you surely will.” And the same can be said for countries. No country is perfect. In fact, every country has blemishes throughout their histories that have delivered them to their current state. And, if you focused only on their flaws, no country would seem worthy of existence today. Somalia, which Ilhan Omar left to come to the United States, has plenty of warts in its history and even current state, lest Ms. Omar would not have left there to come here. Puerto Rico, home of AOC’s parents, certainly doesn’t boast of a perfect history and is not flawless today, otherwise they would have stayed there. Finally, the Palestinians, whom Rashida Tlaib defends, support the likes of Hamas who celebrates suicide bombers and lobs Scud missiles into Israeli neighborhoods.
Yet these three, plus Ayanna Pressley, which make up “the squad”, constantly tear down The United States by focusing only on and even exaggerating our imperfections. So, today I offer some balance to their false argument by shining the light of truth on America’s rich history.
No matter what the New York Times tries to tell you, this country, this Republic did not even begin to form until Thomas Jefferson composed The Declaration of Independence which informed King George III of our intent to separate from the Great Britain and launch a new nation. I believe that Jefferson knew exactly what he was saying when he wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”. He knew this was not even true in this new country at the time, but he also knew that these words would someday demand the abolition of slavery here. And, this was just the beginning of America's great history.
In 1861 our country entered into a Civil War which had the elimination of slavery in our Republic at its heart. Hundreds of thousands of men and women, both black and white lost their lives to make this new “free” country a reality. Both The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, and the 13th Amendment to our constitution, which was written in 1864 were products of this epic conflict. You can argue that all of this was just the first step in a realization of the true meaning of Jefferson’s words.
Over the next 100 years, as we struggled as a nation to refine the true intent of America’s promise, we defeated the likes of Jim Crow and prejudice as we marched on a continuing path towards real freedom and equal opportunity for all. And exactly 100 years after the 13th Amendment was passed, our Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This was not the end of our journey, but just another step in the direction of true liberty for all of our citizens. This relentless pursuit of freedom for all is just another reason why this country is so great.
And while we were pursuing a more perfect realization of our founding values, we were using our free people and free markets to establish the greatest economy the world has ever known. Today, for example, our annual economy exceeds $20 Trillion or over 24% of the world’s GDP while our population represents only 4% of the world’s 7.7 billion people. And it is our value of “liberty for all” that has unleashed the drive and ingenuity of our people to deliver these results. Let’s be honest. This is a great country.
Of course we should not forget the accomplishments of our armed forces. From the very beginning our military has performed amazingly. In our Revolutionary War and in the war of 1812, the plucky US Army defeated the most powerful military power in the world. During World War I and II we saved Europe and the world from the tyranny of Fascism. Today we have the most powerful and advanced armed forces in the world with more resources than the next nine countries combined. Not too shabby!
On top of all of these social, industrial and military Accomplishments, Americans are also the most compassionate and giving people on earth. We give about $400 billion a year to charities. That’s three and a half times per capita as much as the French, seven times more than the Germans and 14 times more than the Italians and maybe 100 times more generous than the Chinese (do they care about anyone but themselves?). On top of this, our government gives $40 billion to over 100 countries in our names (the government actually has NO money). I’m really proud of how Americans share their prosperity.
Maybe that’s why more people are trying to immigrate to this country, both legally and illegally, than any other country in the world. If the United States of America was so terrible, why would millions of people literally risk their lives to come here every year? Why did Ilhan Omar come here? Why did AOC’s parents come here? Why is Rashida Tlaib here? I believe that America is the most wonderful country in the world, and I’m glad that I was fortunate enough to be born here. It is not perfect, but we have made great strides in our first 243 years and I have faith that we will continue to get better as we strive to create a country in which, “All men are created equal, (and) that they are endowed by (our) Creator with certain unalienable rights, (and) that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
The View from the Middle
One of my favorite Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, famously said, “If you look for the bad in people, expecting to find it, you surely will.” And the same can be said for countries. No country is perfect. In fact, every country has blemishes throughout their histories that have delivered them to their current state. And, if you focused only on their flaws, no country would seem worthy of existence today. Somalia, which Ilhan Omar left to come to the United States, has plenty of warts in its history and even current state, lest Ms. Omar would not have left there to come here. Puerto Rico, home of AOC’s parents, certainly doesn’t boast of a perfect history and is not flawless today, otherwise they would have stayed there. Finally, the Palestinians, whom Rashida Tlaib defends, support the likes of Hamas who celebrates suicide bombers and lobs Scud missiles into Israeli neighborhoods.
Yet these three, plus Ayanna Pressley, which make up “the squad”, constantly tear down The United States by focusing only on and even exaggerating our imperfections. So, today I offer some balance to their false argument by shining the light of truth on America’s rich history.
No matter what the New York Times tries to tell you, this country, this Republic did not even begin to form until Thomas Jefferson composed The Declaration of Independence which informed King George III of our intent to separate from the Great Britain and launch a new nation. I believe that Jefferson knew exactly what he was saying when he wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”. He knew this was not even true in this new country at the time, but he also knew that these words would someday demand the abolition of slavery here. And, this was just the beginning of America's great history.
In 1861 our country entered into a Civil War which had the elimination of slavery in our Republic at its heart. Hundreds of thousands of men and women, both black and white lost their lives to make this new “free” country a reality. Both The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, and the 13th Amendment to our constitution, which was written in 1864 were products of this epic conflict. You can argue that all of this was just the first step in a realization of the true meaning of Jefferson’s words.
Over the next 100 years, as we struggled as a nation to refine the true intent of America’s promise, we defeated the likes of Jim Crow and prejudice as we marched on a continuing path towards real freedom and equal opportunity for all. And exactly 100 years after the 13th Amendment was passed, our Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This was not the end of our journey, but just another step in the direction of true liberty for all of our citizens. This relentless pursuit of freedom for all is just another reason why this country is so great.
And while we were pursuing a more perfect realization of our founding values, we were using our free people and free markets to establish the greatest economy the world has ever known. Today, for example, our annual economy exceeds $20 Trillion or over 24% of the world’s GDP while our population represents only 4% of the world’s 7.7 billion people. And it is our value of “liberty for all” that has unleashed the drive and ingenuity of our people to deliver these results. Let’s be honest. This is a great country.
Of course we should not forget the accomplishments of our armed forces. From the very beginning our military has performed amazingly. In our Revolutionary War and in the war of 1812, the plucky US Army defeated the most powerful military power in the world. During World War I and II we saved Europe and the world from the tyranny of Fascism. Today we have the most powerful and advanced armed forces in the world with more resources than the next nine countries combined. Not too shabby!
On top of all of these social, industrial and military Accomplishments, Americans are also the most compassionate and giving people on earth. We give about $400 billion a year to charities. That’s three and a half times per capita as much as the French, seven times more than the Germans and 14 times more than the Italians and maybe 100 times more generous than the Chinese (do they care about anyone but themselves?). On top of this, our government gives $40 billion to over 100 countries in our names (the government actually has NO money). I’m really proud of how Americans share their prosperity.
Maybe that’s why more people are trying to immigrate to this country, both legally and illegally, than any other country in the world. If the United States of America was so terrible, why would millions of people literally risk their lives to come here every year? Why did Ilhan Omar come here? Why did AOC’s parents come here? Why is Rashida Tlaib here? I believe that America is the most wonderful country in the world, and I’m glad that I was fortunate enough to be born here. It is not perfect, but we have made great strides in our first 243 years and I have faith that we will continue to get better as we strive to create a country in which, “All men are created equal, (and) that they are endowed by (our) Creator with certain unalienable rights, (and) that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
Friday, August 9, 2019
The Dems Great Miscalculation
The Dems Great Miscalculation
The View from the Middle
It all started on September 10th, 2016 at a fundraiser in New York City. Hillary Clinton stated that you could put half of Donald Trump’s supporters into what she called a “basket of deplorables”. She called his backers racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic and Islamaphobic. Since she knew that there was no way to know which half any Trump voter was in, she was, in effect, insulting every Trump supporter with her elitist, multi-syllabic slurs. She either felt that she didn’t need their votes so she spewed this toxic, filthy, disgusting rhetoric to inflame her base. OR, she actually believed she could spit in people’s faces one day and convince them to vote for her the next. Either way, her official campaign strategy became the disparagement of Donald Trump and half of America. She was accusing over 60 million people of the most despicable behavior on earth and of having a fundamental lack of humanity. Good strategy!
I think I can speak for every person put in that basket of deplorables when I say that I was insulted, saddened and even shocked that a person who was running for President of all of the people of America could have so little regard for so many of us. In fact, wasn’t she modeling the exact behavior that she was accusing Trump of exhibiting? Certainly not. That would be hypocritical, and we know that type of behavior doesn’t exist in Washington.
But what is even sadder is that virtually every Democrat and the mainstream media (but, I repeat myself) has embraced this strategy. Don Lemon, supposedly a news person at CNN, said that “anyone who supports Donald Trump is complicit in racism”. Joe Scarborough, also of CNN, went through a long and torturous explanation of why Donald Trump is a racist and every Trump supporter must also be one. And, as you might guess, MSNBC is replete with hosts, like Chris Hayes, and guests, like Tiffany Cross who demagogue with the same story line. It never ceases to amaze me that these people can denounce hatred and bigotry while exhibiting that exact same behavior.
And it appears the Joe Biden, currently the Democrats’ leading Presidential candidate, is also adopting this same strategy. Back in 2012, Biden told a largely black audience that Republicans wanted to “put y’all back in chains”. That statement is beyond mere exaggeration. It is specious, malicious and inflammatory, and Joe knows it. More recently Joe claimed that Republicans wanted to, “bring back Jim Crow.” It is astonishing that Joe could say this, while at the same time accusing Republicans of fearmongering. Isn’t that the very definition of hypocrisy? Certainly not, right?
And finally, to put the icing on this disgusting, slanderous cake, I give you Joaquin Castro. Joaquin is the twin brother and campaign manager for Julian Castro who is a Democrat candidate for President and past mayor of San Antonio. Joaquin listed the names and work places of forty-four Trump contributors putting them at risk of financial and even physical harm. And Julian wants to be President of all the people of this great country? He, and his party, preach tolerance and condemn hatred in one breath and spew bigotry and hostility in the next.
The Democrat Party miscalculation is twofold. First, they have abandoned all realistic policy positions and embraced delusional, utopian policies like guaranteed incomes, free everything and fantasies like the green new deal. Second, they seem to believe that they can attract voters by insulting them. This is not a winning strategy. Even if you love the Democrat Party, the party of my father and John Kennedy, the only way to save it is to reject its platform of hatred, hypocrisy and a two-tiered system of justice. I believe we are seeing signs of that rejection right now. If Trump is re-elected in 2020, Democrats will have no one to blame but themselves.
The View from the Middle
It all started on September 10th, 2016 at a fundraiser in New York City. Hillary Clinton stated that you could put half of Donald Trump’s supporters into what she called a “basket of deplorables”. She called his backers racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic and Islamaphobic. Since she knew that there was no way to know which half any Trump voter was in, she was, in effect, insulting every Trump supporter with her elitist, multi-syllabic slurs. She either felt that she didn’t need their votes so she spewed this toxic, filthy, disgusting rhetoric to inflame her base. OR, she actually believed she could spit in people’s faces one day and convince them to vote for her the next. Either way, her official campaign strategy became the disparagement of Donald Trump and half of America. She was accusing over 60 million people of the most despicable behavior on earth and of having a fundamental lack of humanity. Good strategy!
I think I can speak for every person put in that basket of deplorables when I say that I was insulted, saddened and even shocked that a person who was running for President of all of the people of America could have so little regard for so many of us. In fact, wasn’t she modeling the exact behavior that she was accusing Trump of exhibiting? Certainly not. That would be hypocritical, and we know that type of behavior doesn’t exist in Washington.
But what is even sadder is that virtually every Democrat and the mainstream media (but, I repeat myself) has embraced this strategy. Don Lemon, supposedly a news person at CNN, said that “anyone who supports Donald Trump is complicit in racism”. Joe Scarborough, also of CNN, went through a long and torturous explanation of why Donald Trump is a racist and every Trump supporter must also be one. And, as you might guess, MSNBC is replete with hosts, like Chris Hayes, and guests, like Tiffany Cross who demagogue with the same story line. It never ceases to amaze me that these people can denounce hatred and bigotry while exhibiting that exact same behavior.
And it appears the Joe Biden, currently the Democrats’ leading Presidential candidate, is also adopting this same strategy. Back in 2012, Biden told a largely black audience that Republicans wanted to “put y’all back in chains”. That statement is beyond mere exaggeration. It is specious, malicious and inflammatory, and Joe knows it. More recently Joe claimed that Republicans wanted to, “bring back Jim Crow.” It is astonishing that Joe could say this, while at the same time accusing Republicans of fearmongering. Isn’t that the very definition of hypocrisy? Certainly not, right?
And finally, to put the icing on this disgusting, slanderous cake, I give you Joaquin Castro. Joaquin is the twin brother and campaign manager for Julian Castro who is a Democrat candidate for President and past mayor of San Antonio. Joaquin listed the names and work places of forty-four Trump contributors putting them at risk of financial and even physical harm. And Julian wants to be President of all the people of this great country? He, and his party, preach tolerance and condemn hatred in one breath and spew bigotry and hostility in the next.
The Democrat Party miscalculation is twofold. First, they have abandoned all realistic policy positions and embraced delusional, utopian policies like guaranteed incomes, free everything and fantasies like the green new deal. Second, they seem to believe that they can attract voters by insulting them. This is not a winning strategy. Even if you love the Democrat Party, the party of my father and John Kennedy, the only way to save it is to reject its platform of hatred, hypocrisy and a two-tiered system of justice. I believe we are seeing signs of that rejection right now. If Trump is re-elected in 2020, Democrats will have no one to blame but themselves.
Thursday, August 1, 2019
AOC's Big Lie
AOC and Her “Big Lie”
The View from the Middle
During WWII, Adolph Hitler appointed a man named Joseph Goebbels to the position of Minister of Propaganda. His job was to convince German citizens and then the world that the actions of the Nazi party were noble and the real enemy was the Jews. Goebbels invented a new and very effective strategy called “the big lie”. According to Goebbels, “if you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually believe it.” This despicable technique was and is so effective that some unscrupulous people still use it today.
I think the best example of a “big lie” today is when Alexandria Ocasio Cortez equates the detention centers on our southern border to concentration camps in (ironically) Nazi Germany. Ted Koppel, hardly a right-wing journalist, recently wrote a column politely criticizing AOC’s equation. He called her comparison of the US detention facilities on our southern border to concentration camps in Nazi Germany a “facile (shallow) analogy” and added that he believed they were rash and overheated. I’ll go a step further. I’ll call her comparisons an intentional lie. I will suggest that even she, a pampered 29-year-old, knows the real difference and if she doesn’t she just needs to read a book or look at a few pictures of emaciated prisoners from the second world war to understand.
Most of us have seen the pictures of the actual living conditions in the detainment facilities in Texas, Arizona and California and we’ve seen pictures and even some videos of the deplorable conditions in Auschwitz, Dachau and Treblinka, the most infamous of the Nazi death camps. I’m going to go a step farther than Ted Koppel and call her comparisons ridiculous, irresponsible and even dangerous.
I’ve searched the archives of the Nazi concentration camps and didn’t find a single reference of these facilities having big screen TV’s for their prisoners to watch. Yet, I have seen repeated reports of the detainees on our southern border watching the latest soccer matches and playing video games on bigger and nicer TV’s than the average American can afford.
I’ve seen the examples of the good hygiene welcome packages that internees on our southern border receive. They contain toothpaste, a toothbrush, soap and shampoo. I’ve even seen videos of these detainees being checked by dentists and doctors. I’m pretty sure the inhabitants of Treblinka didn’t receive such welcome packets. In fact I cringe at the absurdity of that remark. If there were doctors at Dachau they weren’t there with the well-being of the prisoners in mind. Doctors like Josef Mengele performed experiments on the Jews, Catholics, Gypsies and homosexual occupants of Auschwitz.
And, of course, we must remember that the people who were eventually imprisoned at Treblinka, Auschwitz and Dachau were not trying to get into Germany or Poland or other Nazi occupied territories. If anything, they were trying to get out!! The people on our southern border are trying to sneak in to this country and flee the poverty, violence and oppression of their home countries. For most, if not all of these people who are illegally crossing our borders, these facilities with three meals a day, exercise yards and protection from the elements must look like an oasis compared to the conditions they left or the dangers of the treacherous journey they had to make to get here.
Finally, to compare the guards and other workers at the US detention facilities to the guards at Treblinka, Auschwitz and Dachau is also absurd. The watchmen in these camps were famous for their cruel, inhumane and even sadistic treatment of their prisoners. The stories are so horrific, I won’t even give examples here to save my reading audience from the revulsion they would experience. The US guards are doing the very best they can with the limited funds they have, and working in facilities that were not designed to handle the number of people who are now flooding over our border.
Tragically, there have been some deaths on our southern border. A young girl drowned as she and her father tried to cross the Rio Grande. Since 2003 there have been 188 deaths and each one is tragic. However, in the Nazi concentration camps there were 11 million people systematically exterminated in just the seven years between 1938 and 1945. These people didn’t die from “poor treatment” or “spotty oversight”. Any comparison of these two realities is just preposterous.
These facilities are not like staying at The Ritz, but to compare them to concentration camps is ludicrous. There are two things we should do to AOC and the like. First, the mainstream media should send a strong message to these people that comments to this effect are inaccurate, reprehensible and even dangerous. Second, we all need to demand that these people do their jobs and change the laws that are encouraging the deluge of illegal entries at our southern border and to properly fund the facilities and workforce that must deal with this humanitarian crisis. If we do not call out the “big lie”, as Joseph Goebbels said, “people will eventually come to believe it.”
The View from the Middle
During WWII, Adolph Hitler appointed a man named Joseph Goebbels to the position of Minister of Propaganda. His job was to convince German citizens and then the world that the actions of the Nazi party were noble and the real enemy was the Jews. Goebbels invented a new and very effective strategy called “the big lie”. According to Goebbels, “if you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually believe it.” This despicable technique was and is so effective that some unscrupulous people still use it today.
I think the best example of a “big lie” today is when Alexandria Ocasio Cortez equates the detention centers on our southern border to concentration camps in (ironically) Nazi Germany. Ted Koppel, hardly a right-wing journalist, recently wrote a column politely criticizing AOC’s equation. He called her comparison of the US detention facilities on our southern border to concentration camps in Nazi Germany a “facile (shallow) analogy” and added that he believed they were rash and overheated. I’ll go a step further. I’ll call her comparisons an intentional lie. I will suggest that even she, a pampered 29-year-old, knows the real difference and if she doesn’t she just needs to read a book or look at a few pictures of emaciated prisoners from the second world war to understand.
Most of us have seen the pictures of the actual living conditions in the detainment facilities in Texas, Arizona and California and we’ve seen pictures and even some videos of the deplorable conditions in Auschwitz, Dachau and Treblinka, the most infamous of the Nazi death camps. I’m going to go a step farther than Ted Koppel and call her comparisons ridiculous, irresponsible and even dangerous.
I’ve searched the archives of the Nazi concentration camps and didn’t find a single reference of these facilities having big screen TV’s for their prisoners to watch. Yet, I have seen repeated reports of the detainees on our southern border watching the latest soccer matches and playing video games on bigger and nicer TV’s than the average American can afford.
I’ve seen the examples of the good hygiene welcome packages that internees on our southern border receive. They contain toothpaste, a toothbrush, soap and shampoo. I’ve even seen videos of these detainees being checked by dentists and doctors. I’m pretty sure the inhabitants of Treblinka didn’t receive such welcome packets. In fact I cringe at the absurdity of that remark. If there were doctors at Dachau they weren’t there with the well-being of the prisoners in mind. Doctors like Josef Mengele performed experiments on the Jews, Catholics, Gypsies and homosexual occupants of Auschwitz.
And, of course, we must remember that the people who were eventually imprisoned at Treblinka, Auschwitz and Dachau were not trying to get into Germany or Poland or other Nazi occupied territories. If anything, they were trying to get out!! The people on our southern border are trying to sneak in to this country and flee the poverty, violence and oppression of their home countries. For most, if not all of these people who are illegally crossing our borders, these facilities with three meals a day, exercise yards and protection from the elements must look like an oasis compared to the conditions they left or the dangers of the treacherous journey they had to make to get here.
Finally, to compare the guards and other workers at the US detention facilities to the guards at Treblinka, Auschwitz and Dachau is also absurd. The watchmen in these camps were famous for their cruel, inhumane and even sadistic treatment of their prisoners. The stories are so horrific, I won’t even give examples here to save my reading audience from the revulsion they would experience. The US guards are doing the very best they can with the limited funds they have, and working in facilities that were not designed to handle the number of people who are now flooding over our border.
Tragically, there have been some deaths on our southern border. A young girl drowned as she and her father tried to cross the Rio Grande. Since 2003 there have been 188 deaths and each one is tragic. However, in the Nazi concentration camps there were 11 million people systematically exterminated in just the seven years between 1938 and 1945. These people didn’t die from “poor treatment” or “spotty oversight”. Any comparison of these two realities is just preposterous.
These facilities are not like staying at The Ritz, but to compare them to concentration camps is ludicrous. There are two things we should do to AOC and the like. First, the mainstream media should send a strong message to these people that comments to this effect are inaccurate, reprehensible and even dangerous. Second, we all need to demand that these people do their jobs and change the laws that are encouraging the deluge of illegal entries at our southern border and to properly fund the facilities and workforce that must deal with this humanitarian crisis. If we do not call out the “big lie”, as Joseph Goebbels said, “people will eventually come to believe it.”
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