Hard to keep up these days, things are happening so fast. Let's see if I've got a couple of the most recent revolting developments straight:
For most of us, one of the absolutes in life is that you never, ever take a swing at a police officer. We understand that if you assaulted a cop in any way, you'll probably end up on the receiving end of a nightstick, or a can of mace.
And probably deserve it.
If the cop thinks you're going for his gun, you could end up dead.
And you wouldn't get much sympathy.
So the video last week of 13 thugs – apparently recently-arrived “guests“ in our country – beating and kicking the daylights out of two New York City police officers, shows just how far down the road to perdition we have come.
Podcaster Dan Bongino says two things dominate the news these days, sound bites and video clips. Not “white papers” or thoughtful speeches. And the video of those thugs beating those cops has been seen by millions.
Subsequent videos showed two of the thugs giving us multiple middle fingers, as they were put right back on the street by New York's nutty court system. Only one thug was kept in custody.
Beating cops and not jailed? The mind boggles.
People have streamed into our country by the millions, and while they are often depicted as families seeking a better life, many, many are single men in their 20s, an age when they could be serving in some military. A report from former FBI officials last week warned that our country faces a “grave threat” from this “soft invasion.”
Thanks, Joe.
Meanwhile, an amazing election-year transformation has taken place. The president, who on his first day in office undid virtually everything his predecessor did to secure the border, now says he will stop illegal immigration if Congress gives him the power and the money to do so. (Power and money Donald Trump didn't need to secure the border. Go figure.)
This from the man who signed 91 executive orders reversing much of what Trump accomplished. This from the man who stopped construction of the wall. This from the man who ended the “remain in Mexico” policy. This from the man who is suing Texas for stringing razor wire and putting floating barriers in the Rio Grande to block illegal immigrants from entering their state, a job Joe Biden has steadfastly refuses to do.
That guy's going to secure the border? Were you born yesterday?
Democrats and some Republicans unveiled a 360-page immigration bill late Sunday, and plan a vote as early as Wednesday. It includes a trigger of 5,000 illegal entries that would require the president - who has done nothing to secure the border - to temporarily shut down the border. This is the kind of last-minute, hush-hush, Eddie Haskell-style mendacity we have come to expect from Congress.
And if Republicans don't wag their tails and go along, then the whole immigration fiasco will be blamed on, you guessed it, Donald Trump. And us. Now there's a message the Democrats and the loopy liberal news media can sink their teeth into.
And the American public might just be preoccupied enough, or partisan enough, or dumb enough, to buy it.
I'm reminded of something my Lander friend Karl Brauneis sent me two weeks ago:
“I tell folks that I'm a JFK Democrat and today that puts me to the far right of President Trump,” Karl wrote. “Often, I get that 'deer in headlights' look back. Given the state of historic knowledge and understanding in America I should probably say, 'You know, John Fitzgerald Kennedy - President of the United States - assassinated in 1963 - the president who said, Ask not what your country can do for you but rather what you can do for your country. That guy. Still not getting it? The president that was going to shut down the CIA and investigate the Fed.'
“Deer in headlights look,” Karl continued. “'OK I give up. We can talk about your iTunes playlist or your Facebook page or what Taylor Swift was wearing at the last Chiefs game, or how much you hate Donald Trump.'"
Thanks Karl. Pretty much says it all.
Dave Simpson can be reached at: DaveSimpson145@hotmail.com
