Sick as his actions are, I find myself nonetheless involuntarily laughing each time I hear Trump rant about calling out 15,000 soldiers to stop the hell of 7,000 migrants coming to the U.S. Migrants! They're migrants. Okay, wait, let's repeat that to be incredibly clear -- these are migrants. This isn't Isis. Or al Qaeda. Or Hamas. Or a massed-army of marauding white supremacist neo-Nazis coming armed with weapons to reclaim their America. Or even a ground attack by Russians. It's migrants! You know, the people who come to the U.S. to pick grapes. Not to take your job at Staples, or be a VP at Koch Industries. (By the way, you you work at Staples and are concerned that a Honduran migrant is going to take your job, then maybe that's a sign you probably shouldn't be working at Staples, and instead should find a more low-key job to fit your skill set, like blood donor.) And Trump wants to send 15,000 soldiers to the border to meet this supposed, dangerous threat on America. For perspective, that's more U.S. soldiers than are in Afghanistan. Really. In fact, it's 50% more. There are 10,000 American soldiers in Afghanistan. And they're fighting organized, trained terrorists who have bombs and missiles and anti-aircraft weaponry and semi-automatic rifles. The migrants, by contrast, were recently in a fight where they battled with rocks and bottles. Lest you think that rocks and bottles is a small matter, Trump is here to disabuse you of that notion. He tweeted yesterday, "I will tell you this, anybody throwing stones, rocks ... we will consider that a firearm, because there's not much difference when you get hit in the face with a rock." Note: If you are ever hit in the face by something, would you hope it was a rock, or a bullet shot from a firearm? There is, in fact, a VERY BIG difference. That said, I'm now looking forward to after the election when Trump pushes for rocks being protected by the 2nd Amendment. After all, rocks don't kill people. People throwing rocks kill pe...well, actually, hmmm, no, they usually don't. But the migrants are coming. The migrants are coming!!! I'm just shocked that Trump hasn't called out the 15th Airbone division. Or sent drones. Though as the election nears I don't put that out of the realm of possibilities. After all, Honduran migrants are a feisty lot. Speaking of which, honestly, if any of the migrants make it the whole 1,600 miles walking from Honduras to the U.S. border without having the luxury of eating at an Arby's or staying at a Days Inn, but just plodding on against the elements as the cold of winter nears, making it past the Mexican army, while caring for and literally carrying their children, even against armed opposition of the U.S. government then I'd almost say we should consider being thrilled that people that strong and determined want to come to live in the United States, to add to the vibrancy of the country. To be clear, I'm not arguing for or against whether 7,000 migrants fleeing oppression or not should be allowed into the U.S. without normal border conditions. I can understand why it's a basic immigration issue -- and can understand why it's a humanitarian action. But this here is about something else. This here is about laughing at the pathetic, cruel, sick, racist, hate-filled maniacal effort by Trump to create military fury and fear over 7,000 migrants coming to the U.S. Imagine for a moment if he showed just one-tenth of this concern over Russians actually attacking the U.S. during the 2016 election. A military assessment of the migrant situation was unexpectedly released to press yesterday, seemingly by army officials upset with misuse of their manpower. The document (which was not secret, though was expected to be held in confidence) stated that only 20% of the migrants will likely even make it to the U.S. border -- that's 1,400 people. (In fact, as of a week ago, with over 1,000 miles to go, USA Today reported that the number of migrants in the caravan was already down to 4,500.) With 15,000 soldiers perhaps waiting for them. And there is Trump, trying to whip up apoplectic delirium and terror among his profoundly racist and easily deceived base and crying out his vision of utter doom for the United States being attacked by...migrants. His actions are sad, pathetic, dangerous and divisive. And yet when I see him doing so, decrying the outraged threat of...migrants!!, all I can do first involuntarily is laugh. Man, is he ever petrified at the Democrats winning control of the House.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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