It seems every republican out there is making the claim that the U. S. southern border is not secured. Again and again we hear right-wing talking heads on Fox News and at Salem Communications radio stations telling us how we need to "secure the border". Every republican campaign has placed border security as part of their criticism of the present administration. But we have all noticed something peculiar in that at no time have any of those critics offered an explanation on exactly HOW they would further secure the border. Conservative republicans are purposely avoiding that part of the discussion. In fact former V.P. candidate Paul Ryan himself in his recently released book 'The Way Forward ' discusses border security - yet he purposely leaves out an explanation on how he would further secure the border. In effect all these conservative republicans talk about the need for border security without telling us exactly what they would do different than what the Obama Administration has been doing. The reason for avoiding that part of the discussion is because they do not want to bring up the subject of the 'wall' that was supposed to have been built along the the Southern Border. It was not very long ago that every republican out there was talking about building a huge wall along the southern border. GOP members could not stop themselves from talking about the need for a 'wall' as the answer to the immigration problem. America had to build that wall one way or another - they claimed. Yet these days republicans seem unable to even utter the word "wall" in their discussions of border security. That is because we all know - liberals and conservatives - that all that talk about a 'wall' was just a ploy to get votes. Just as it is now.
This time around we find a bit of double-talk in their criticism by reminding us that some 50,000 women and children were picked up at the border this past summer. We can all see how those two propositions are at odds with one another. If the border is not secured then exactly WHO picked up the illegal immigrants? Well we all know that it was the U.S. Border Patrol that picked up all those women and children. The U.S. Border Patrol is routinely picking undocumented immigrants and processing them accordingly. Undocumented immigrants are still arriving at the Southern Border.That's because border security DOES NOT keep immigrants from arriving at our country. In effect border agents simply become part of the apprehension and processing staff. The undocumented immigrants are still allowed to enter the U.S. A few months ago we all heard from Texas Gov. Rick Perry who told us that he was going to secured the border himself by putting the Texas National Guard along that boundary. This is the same governor that proposed to give a "free college tuition" to illegal aliens in Texas. He went as far as accusing other conservatives who did not agree with him with not having a heart. No wonder thousands of undocumented mothers and children from Latin America found their way to the Texas border. He tried to blame President Obama but we all know that Rick Perry was partially responsible for the wave of immigrants into Texas this past summer. And what exactly did the Texas National Guard which was sent to the border by Rick Perry accomplish? Since he is still whining and crying about the 'porous border' we can only conclude that his national guard strategy did not work. All Gov. Rick Perry did was to provide additional help to the U.S. Border Patrol in receiving and processing those who show up at the border - who are then allowed to enter the U.S. They are allowed to enter because of our immigration laws. Laws that could have been changed by republicans who took control of every facet of government in the year 2000. But they did not change such laws because conservative republicans wanted to, and still want to, protect American corporations and their pursuit of cheap labor - at any cost.
In light of the coming elections we know that republicans are not going to provide any detailed explanations on the subject of border security. That's because the GOP is relying on a 'keeping it vague' strategy for the elections. They are relying on what they believe is the naivete and gullibility of voters to get them into office. This is why they are trying to connect Ebola (brought here by a man who flew into the U.S. from Brussels, Belgium) to immigrants from Mexico and other Latin American countries. It is all done through insinuation of course. They just want to IMPLY that there is a connection between Ebola and the southern border. They believe that conservative voters nearly always fall for such 'implications' even if they are complete fabrications. All of this is done from the republican belief in 'citizen stupidity'. The GOP and its conservative core believe that conservative voters are just dumb, uneducated, naive, and ignorant. So if the GOP just keeps everything vague and simply offer confusing double talk on political issues - the conservative voter will vote for them. Keeping things vague by double-talk and/or offering contradictory narratives are very clever tactics that can work - if the audience is gullible enough.
This is why one day republicans claim that the president should never reveal what he plans to do about ISIS - then on the next day they are asking "Mr President when are you going to tell us what you intend to do about ISIS?" Two completely contradictory assertions. One day they claim Obama has changed the nation so much that we 'can't even recognize America' anymore. Then the next day they are asking "Mr President where are the changes you promised?" Again it is all about contradictory claims aimed at confusing the voter. That kind of double-talk goes on all the time in the republican media. It goes on constantly because they believe that conservative voters do not analyze information, do not ever deconstruct stories they hear, and never use critical thinking when they vote for candidates. Michael Medved, Hugh Hewitt, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Laura Imgraham are just a few conservative talking heads that constantly insult the intelligence of the American people by using those rhetorical tactics. They all use the same line about President Obama "leading from behind". But as anyone with a brain knows - that is a contradictory statement. One can't lead from behind! The word lead actually means being 'in charge of' or 'in front of' whatever task is being performed. So those lines are being fed to the ignorant and naive conservative voters out there. The same voters that have created the entire right wing conservative radio movement in America.
The GOP has in the past been right about the naivete of the conservative voter. After all conservative voters did back the deregulation of the financial services industry - and then those same conservatives saw their own investments, their 401 Ks, their retirement plans, their real estate, and their businesses disappear. Some have estimated the financial "loses" under the Bush/Cheney administration to be as much as $14 trillion. But let us remember that in capitalism there is no such thing as "lost wealth". Money is never lost. It is simply transferred from the hands of one person into the hands of another. So that all that wealth actually went into the hands of a very small group of citizens - perhaps 1% - who many believe orchestrated the entire recession. We are sure that most of those conservative talking heads saw their stock portfolios increase in value while the rest of America took the loses.
Going back to the issue of border security - why doesn't the GOP speak frankly and in detail about border security? Because they do not want to obligate themselves to the construction of a permanent wall along the southern border. The GOP does not want to deprive corporate America of the cheap labor that is derived from undocumented immigrants. Most people remember that the GOP spent years telling the American people how our nation had to be protected by the construction of a very large wall along the southern border. The idea of such a wall goes back to the Nixon days and one thing we have all seen is that republican Presidents - Nixon, Ford, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George Bush have all put on a great deal of theatrics and talk about the need for such a wall - yet none ever did anything about it. In Reagan's case not only did he not build a fence, he gave millions of undocumented aliens amnesty. And in the case of George W. Bush - he had all the legislation in place, billions of dollars set aside, a republican Senate, a republican House and republicans in charge of every government agency in the United States - yet he refused to build the wall along the southern border. Somehow the funds for that project seemed to have gone elsewhere. They did all that talk and campaigning on border security for building a physical wall along the border - yet when they were given the opportunity to actually construct the wall - they turned it down. It was all a phony narrative to con conservative Americans into voting for them. Just as they are doing now!
Today in 2014 - any voter who buys into the "border is not secure" narrative - can be assured that the situation is not about to change. When republican candidates talk about "border security" - it is all just that- TALK! Conservative voters may want such a wall to be constructed but not the GOP itself. The GOP is the party of corporate America and they believe that keeping undocumented immigrants from entering the United States would devastate a relatively large sector of the American economy. The GOP believes that corporate America needs the cheap labor! In effect Republicans and American corporations want to have it both ways! They want the "illegals" to keep entering the U.S. because they are the source of cheap labor. At the same time those same politicians and corporations do not want any of those immigrants to become 'citizens'. Once they become U.S. citizens they can't be exploited anymore. Which means all those jobs would have to go to American citizens. That would mean that corporate America would have to recruit a whole new batch of undocumented immigrants - which would start the cycle all over again. Just as it happened right after Reagan's amnesty program. Conservatives never ever want to admit that they are part of the problem. They always blame the undocumented immigrant who "breaks the law" when they enter the U.S. but never ever mention the corporations and all the laws they break.
Conservative republicans talk a great deal about border security but do so little about it. Because the GOP is not really interested in border security! It's their stock portfolios that they want to secure - not the American people. Finally we have to think of the optics. Imagine republicans building a huge wall along the Southern Border with images of Ronald Reagan's call to the former Soviet president - "Mr Gorbachev tear down this wall!" The hypocrisy would be overwhelming.