Kansas Crimson

In the run-up to the expiration of covid-19 restrictions on those seeking asylum, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene repeatedly predicted that our country would be overrun by migrant hordes from the south. Hundreds of thousands would “rush the border,” the Georgia Republican proclaimed, warning of an “Imminent Invasion!”

Since the Title 42 border policy ended last week, the average number of migrants crossing the border has dropped. Yet Greene hasn’t missed a beat: On Thursday, she introduced impeachment articles against President Biden, proclaiming that the supposed migrant invasion is central to her case. She raged: “He is a direct threat to our national security.”

This disconnect captures a truth about today’s MAGA-fied GOP: The idea that our border is under perpetual siege isn’t intended as an empirical declaration about a concrete challenge facing the country. Rather, it’s a kind of animating myth, one manufactured to mobilize political energy. In this, it’s essential to MAGA’s identity.

[...]

Greene and other Republicans were plainly salivating at the prospect of a large spike of migrant arrivals after the Title 42 policy ended. We can surmise this because now that this spike hasn’t materialized, House Republicans are finding all kinds of creative new ways to simply pretend that it has.

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), for instance, raged at CNN for posting border-crossing numbers and claiming there’s been “still no surge” after the border policy’s end. But CNN was right: The numbers did show a drop.

Still another House Republican tweeted a video of migrants storming the border to depict Biden’s supposed failure to prepare for Title 42’s end. In fact, the video was months old and depicted an isolated group misled by disinformation about the border, which says nothing about Title 42.

Meanwhile, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) responded to the drop in crossings by demanding more concessions from Democrats on immigration. Among far-right Republicans, after the post-Title 42 surge failed to materialize, support for impeaching Mayorkas actually grew.

[...]

The GOP addiction to border invasion imagery is such that many Republicans can see migrant children — once worthy of bipartisan assistance — only as a threat to be repulsed. They want to impeach Mayorkas — and possibly Biden — partly over a border surge that hasn’t happened. All this comes as Republicans regularly hold border photo-ops in buffoonish military gear and spend huge sums on ads depicting the border as something out of an apocalyptic video game.

The fantasy that the border is constantly in chaos has become a marker of MAGA identity. It’s a myth that MAGA Republicans want “border security” that is genuinely achievable or see the border as a policy problem to be solved in any meaningful sense. The border crisis, or at least the version that Greene and her cohorts keep invoking, exists largely in the collective MAGA imagination.

jfish26 wrote: ↑Fri May 19, 2023 1:29 pm Oh.

KUTradition wrote: ↑Tue Jul 18, 2023 11:57 am related, abbot’s floating balls are being challenged by Mexico

they should be getting challenged by conservation and animal rights groups as well, as they represent a significant threat of drowning for ANY animal trying to cross the river

Sparko wrote: ↑Tue Jul 18, 2023 6:44 pm Reported deaths. As stated above, Texas does its own security in places. The hysteria over migrants infects the nation.

RainbowsandUnicorns wrote: ↑Tue Jul 18, 2023 7:21 am Yesterday was the first time I realized maybe I am not as compassionate as I think I am and I guess I must be an asshole - in this regard...

I took/walked the long route home after work so I could stop by a grocery store.
I walked towards the migrant "shelter" which is actually a decent hotel. I may post pics later.

As I was walking east on Ohio Street some kids on bikes and scooters zoomed by me on the sidewalk.
I looked closely and they appeared to be "migrants". Whatever.
Then as I walked closer towards the hotel I felt as if I was in a foreign land. People everywhere. Sitting on the sidewalk, standing around, sitting on the benches at bus stops, etc. All appeared to be migrants.
I walked closer to the hotel and wtf? People eating good/expensive chicken, good/expensive pizza, nice fruit. Some talking/"face timing" on cell phones, etc., smiling, laughing, having a good ole' time.
My first thought was, gee - why would these people want to find jobs and work when they can sit outside and enjoy a beautiful day while they get fed well, can live in a decent hotel, be given clothing, obviously be able to use cell phones, their kids get gifts, etc.
Why wouldn't they encourage their friends and family members back home to "migrate"? The USA truly is paradise. Right?

Then I thought to myself, my tax paying ass had to fill out paperwork yesterday because I sold a pair of shoes on StockX that put me over the "tax line". I had to work 9 hours yesterday. I had to pay $10 for less than a pound of chicken. I walked back to my $2500+ a month "decent" but not "great" apartment. I changed out of my clothes I had to pay for. I logged on my computer and turned on my TV that I pay $300 a month for wifi and cable for, etc., etc., etc.

For ME, living in Chicago in 2023, maybe it is better to be a "migrant" than to be a "natural citizen"?

ousdahl wrote: ↑Tue Jul 18, 2023 6:40 pm

ousdahl wrote: ↑Wed Jul 19, 2023 7:37 am Which is a better response:

to make some point about how people have been invading this country for centuries before Orwell was a thing?

Or to make some Jesus point like, for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you said, “no way bro, I couldn’t possibly welcome you, not if you came here illegally!

KUTradition wrote: ↑Thu Jul 20, 2023 7:17 am https://abc7.com/amp/texas-troopers-tol ... /13523700/

JKLivin wrote: ↑Thu Jul 20, 2023 9:56 am

ousdahl wrote: ↑Wed Jul 19, 2023 7:37 am Which is a better response:

to make some point about how people have been invading this country for centuries before Orwell was a thing?

Or to make some Jesus point like, for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you said, “no way bro, I couldn’t possibly welcome you, not if you came here illegally!

I liken it to a lifeboat that is already overloaded and is in danger of sinking. Do you keep allowing people to get out of the water and into the boat because you feel bad for them, which guarantees that everybody will end up in the water, or do you encourage them to find another boat?

Last year was an eye-opening experience for me. My wife and I decided to see what it would be like to teach at a State university, so we lined up visiting professorships at a school in the Texas A&M system located in Laredo. It was by far the worst place I have ever lived. Laredo is right on the Mexican border, with thousands of people coming over from Nuevo Laredo every day to work and shop and live during the work week. The infrastructure is overwhelmed, everything is crowded all the time, and the utility system is continually in overload.

We rented a house in what used to be a nice neighborhood, where we were an anomaly. It was the two of us and our infant in a small three bedroom two bath house. All of our neighbors had six to eight cars in their driveways and lined up along the streets because they had ten to twelve people crammed into their similarly-sized houses - many of whom I'm sure were there illegally. They had people living in their garages with rigged up window A/C units running non-stop. The power went out on a regular basis, and the temperature was always at or near 100. As the other faculty at the university told us, we were technically in the United States, but in reality, we were living in Mexico. It was one iota above a Third World country in most respects.

Here's my point. We left because it was a horrible place to live, and the university continues to have difficulty attracting, hiring, and retaining faculty for that reason. I don't want to live like that, but if we continue to let uncontrolled streams of illegals come across our border, we will all be living that way eventually.

There are other countries to go to. We are at capacity. It's just reality.