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Open border policies causing undue chaos
To the Editor:
How did we get into this? The ship is sinking and the crew are doing nothing about it, which is to say that the border is open, and thousands of people are pouring in each day while nobody is doing anything to stop it. These are people with no idea of what they're getting into, but expect that somehow things will be better for them. The costs of caring for them, which result from reasonable charity for people in need, are funds that were for the regular care of people already here, in terms of safety and health services and other support. At the same time, in New York City at least, very few of these people have taken steps to find jobs. State budgets are being stressed by the costs of flying a lot of these people from here to there, because it's cheaper to fly them somewhere than rather have to care for them. And, what is frightening for the states is that they have no idea about how long they are expected to keep paying for these people; every day of inaction drives up the cost.
The idea that a sovereign nation has open borders is contrary to any model of a viable political structure, and the continuance of such a policy threatens the existence of a nation that values law and order. We are in this mess because Biden, in a move of surpassing idiocy, decided he wanted to demonstrate his independence of a Trump policy. (If, as some have suggested, he did to procure more Democratic votes, it was an equally stupid move, for other reasons.) And, in any event, by opening the borders, he was encouraging and abetting criminal activity. The incompetence of Biden in the Presidency is overwhelming: his open border policy shows how childishly petty he is; his inability to understand the results of that policy shows how stupid he is, and his refusal to explain the reasons for it, along with other decisions of his, shows how arrogant he is. Let us remember that, when asked a challenging question, his response is either to sneer at, laugh off or simply walk away from it. This is not a result of his age: it is a matter of who he is.
Biden considers himself above the law, and these days perhaps he is. We do not have to wait for a "dictatorial challenge" from some new candidate: we have it already. The establishment protects him. His handling of classified documents at his home has been swept under the rug without explanation. His involvement with his son in business dealings (that he shamelessly denies) are quietly disregarded by the Government and the press. These activities, which circumstantial evidence identifies as criminal actions, involve bribery of the Biden family by the Chinese government. What are the Chinese getting in response from Biden for their millions? What that return is remains secret -- and potentially treasonous if it has provided China increased political influence and economic benefits in this country.
Another reason that Biden remains above the law is that Congress will do nothing to hold him to account (while the millions flow across the border). For the Democrats to challenge him would be seen as party disloyalty, jeopardizing the future political career of anyone involved in it. And the milktoast Republicans do nothing, either. They sit back and say that there's no point in proposing legislation that the Democrat Senate would refuse to consider. (They could, of course, take the initiative and try something; if the Democrats refuse it, then at least the public knows whom to blame if the proposed action was clearly sensible.)
So, the border remains open. Republicans pretend to do something by grilling that arrogant fool Mayorkas, as though his impeachment would solve the problem. The only way to solve the problem is to strike at the heart of the matter, by impeaching Biden. That would require a lot of party disloyalty, and perhaps that will only happen when pigs fly. But every member of Congress knows in his heart that that's what has to be done, and must accept the guilt for not helping it come about.
People say, there's no point in impeaching Biden: that would leave us with Harris, which would be worse. But that's only if, when Harris takes office, you don't say, close the border or out you go, too. It's simply a matter of will - of Congress having the guts to shed their cloaks of party loyalty and act with some integrity in the national interest for once.
What about the next election, however? What's to be done? In spite of all the talk about other candidates, the parties are lumbering along with two supremely unattractive options and the time for something different is getting short. (I wouldn't vote for Trump ever again, but that's another matter.) Voters may have to drag themselves unhappily to the polls and, at the last minute, choose their lesser bad option, as their civic duty. On the other hand, they could write in somebody - Nikki Haley, Robert Kennedy, Chris Christie, their next-door neighbor, anybody. If enough people did that, perhaps neither Biden nor Trump could get elected. What would happen then? Hopefully, the Democratic and Republican parties would close their doors and go away and the malign force of party loyalty could vanish into thin air. People would have to start thinking more seriously about whom they would like in office. Today's Congress, which has little to recommend itself, could profitably be put on the shelf by having people unconditionally vote against the incumbent in the next election.
There will be a clearer future if people stop thinking of themselves as Democrats or Republicans and more as Independents. In fact, people who still call themselves Republican or Democrat are mired in a tragic mindset, as the control of Congress by the party system is leading us towards a national collapse.
John Brittain