The Border Problem

My concern about our largely unsecured southern border has primarily been about the non-Hispanics who are able to come across toting things like suitcase nukes. Those fears are not unfounded and I think the most likely entry route for the perpetrators of the next 9/11 will be through Arizona or Texas.  www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=196037 Large numbers of unemployed Latinos flooding across is a problem, of course, but not one with the same immediacy of a mushroom cloud. I definitely share the concerns of the governors of Arizona or Texas, though, and I would definitely be very concerned for the safety of my citizens in that the narco lords are now apparently running at least the southern part of Arizona. townhall.com/columnists/OliverNorth/2010/08/27/under_siege These are the same folks that are currently battling Mexico's central government pretty much to a standstill.  Arizona recently took action because the Feds have lifted nary a finger to stem the tide and I support them in their endeavor to protect their residents. The big "Hmmm..." question, however, is why are the Feds so determined to leave the border open despite the obvious dangers and in the face of the 70-80% of the American electorate that wants it shut down.

The traditional answers are cheap labor for business on the part of Republicans and new voters (albeit illegal) for the Democrats. This undoubtedly still holds true for a number of politicians in both parties  
but it doesn't explain the stubborn, almost fanatical resistance on the part of a number of high level politicians to protecting the border. I have gradually come around to the conclusion that one answer does fit - money.

The narco lords have huge amounts of cash raised from Americans blowing their products up American noses, shooting it into American veins, and drawing it into American lungs. It is often said that money is the "mother's milk" of politics and that is a true statement. Many politicians have huge egos and think that somehow the Republic will not survive without them. Money does the job and rationalizing the "obvious" good of their continued political careers versus a problem that can be soft-soaped (the U.S. is a land of immigrants, no racism, etc.) is relatively easy. Other politicians are just plain venal. They look at public service as their ticket to the Good Life. They are pragmatists and well, you gotta do what you gotta do. As we have moved away from our Judeo-Christian roots, individual character has become less and less a concern and as character declines, corruption of all kinds increases. Thus, I believe that the U.S. is ripe for corruption at the Federal level like we have never seen before.

There is an old adage that if you want to get to the bottom of a seemingly inexplicable problem, follow the money. One hopes, perhaps in vain, that there are still some in law enforcement with the courage to start following the money trail and see if the connections between the narco lords and some of our high level politicians exists. If so, it would not take the prosecution of more than a few before I suspect we would see action on border security. The uncaught others would still be cockroaches, but at least they would have scurried back under cover and the rest of us could enjoy a safer country, at least for awhile.