President Obama has made some interesting choices recently. Several of his choices do not reflect values held by many in this country. They favor personal pleasure and political gain rather than Presidential responsibility.
For example, Obama made the choice to vacation in Chicago on Memorial Day. This day of remembrance was established following the Civil War to commemorate soldiers who died while in the military service. Obama chose to be with Chicago buddies and take a long weekend instead of solemnly lay a wreath at the national Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, something traditionally done by the President. Oh, he did go to a Chicago cemetery for a wreath laying, but this does not equate to doing it at Arlington National Cemetery, this nation’s primary resting place for those who have died in service of country. He could not be inconvenienced by this little ceremony.
Now comes another example, maybe not of the same weight but certainly important. The Boy Scouts of America hold a jamboree every four years near Washington, DC. Hundreds of scouts from all over the nation gather for several days. You know the Boy Scouts. This is the organization that teaches young boys foundation values of our society. Something they have done for decades. Maybe the importance of this has changed because Obama has chosen to make an appearance on the television program, “The View”, and show up at political fund raisers rather than at the 100th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts except on video tape. The three presidents before Obama chose differently. Each of them appeared personally at a Jamboree. And the Jamboree this year is something special. Obama cannot be bothered.
So, the string of bad choices continues. This latest one follows all of the lousy choices made around the Gulf oil spill. For a month or more, the President could not be bothered while the people of the Gulf were suffering the loss of their way of life. It was just a little oil spill which should not interfere with tee time on the golf course.
Choices do reflect values. Thankfully, we are approaching a day when voters can affirm or refute the values held by President Obama. The nation is stuck with this President and his appointees for the next couple of years, but we are coming to a day when the balance of power in Washington can change. We are coming to a day when voters once again select Representatives and Senators who have the ultimate power, the power of the purse. Congress can control the Executive branch, the Obama branch, of government through controlling what gets funded and what doesn’t. President Obama walked away from the tradition of honoring service men and women on Memorial Day at the national Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and has decided it more important to raise political money or promote himself on “The View” rather than show up for an hour or so at the Scout Jamboree. The voters soon will have the opportunity to walk away from Obama’s values and choose real hope and change.
Now the fight really begins. On the one side are those who believe the United States is a nation of laws. On the other side are those who believe in enforcing only the laws with which they agree. On the one side are those who believe that if the Federal Government does not carry out its Constitutional duties, the States have the right to do so. On the other side are those who will pad their political pockets any way possible. Obama verses Arizona.
The President’s Justice Department has filed a law suit in federal court in Phoenix asking that Arizona’s immigration law be blocked and declared unconstitutional. Arizona intends to stand and fight. Arizonans are fed up with the flood of illegal immigrants coming across the border with Mexico which has brought crime, drugs, gangs, and a host of other problems with it. Obama claims the enforcement of Arizona’s law will “cause the detention and harassment of authorized visitors, immigrants and citizens who do not have or carry identification documents”. One would think there has been plenty of time for citizens and legal visitors to collect such documents. There has been more than sufficient notice. Illegal immigrants obviously have a problem since they are “undocumented”. But, no one is to be stopped and questioned unless there has been an observed unlawful activity in the first place. Read the Arizona law. It is perfectly clear.
This past week it was reported that six or seven bullet slugs fired across the border from a battle between a drug cartel and police in Mexico slammed into a government building in El Paso, Texas. One of the bullets passed through a window. Only a miracle prevented a US citizen from being hurt or killed. The violence along the Mexican side of the border has already spilled over into the United States. In many of the areas of northern Mexico along the US border, the cartels are in control. It was reported recently that look-outs for drug traffickers and “coyotes” already occupy key positions along the US side of the border. They are alleged to be better equipped than our border patrols with the latest in surveillance technology and weapons making pursuit more dangerous evading capture easier.
The time has long past that all illegal immigrants are only crossing the border to seek a living and care for their families. Many of them have, but there are too many now that seek to do harm. There are too many that seek to bring in drugs, crime, and even terrorism. It is time to secure the border with Mexico. Obama promised 1200 National Guardsmen to help with border security. Not one has shown up to date. President Obama has not delivered. Even if the 1200 came, it is woefully inadequate, say people in the Border States.
Maybe the law passed in Arizona is grossly inadequate. Maybe the border with Mexico should be militarized and the illegal door slammed shut securely and completely. It would be only then that this country could begin the process of weeding out the criminal and dangerous among the illegal immigrants and send them straight back to whatever country they came from. It is only then that the discussion about what might be possible with illegal immigrants who have otherwise been good and contributing “citizens” can begin. Until then….. GO ARIZONA!