By
T.
Steelman
Ben
Carson was in Arizona on last Wednesday to chat with Tea Party darling and Pinal
County Sheriff, Paul Babeu. The two spent the morning touring the border and
discussing how to deal with smuggling and what they call “illegals.” The tour
included a helicopter ride — something I assume Carson did not get from Trump
at the Iowa State Fair this past weekend.
Carson held a rally in Phoenix on Tuesday night, drawing some 6,000 GOP voters. Not bad, really, reflecting Carson’s standing as the third most popular of the GOP
Carson
addressed the issue of immigration at the rally, saying that the “overwhelming
majority” of Americans want the Mexican border secured and immigration laws
enforced. Something that is already happening. But let’s not let facts
interfere with some red-meat rhetoric:
“… several administrations recently have been unwilling to get tough on this issue because they do not want to alienate a large voting block of Latinos. This is yet another area where our government’s leadership and the wishes of many of the people diverge and the people are being ignored.”
On
Wednesday, as Carson toured with Sheriff Babeu, a comment he made at the rally
— that he would be open to the idea of drone strikes to combat illegal
immigration along the Mexican border — came back to haunt him. This struck
reporter Dennis Welch as “a little over the top,” and he directed that at
Carson, wondering if we should even “entertain the idea.” Carson replied:
“You can entertain all kinds of things. Here’s the take-home point: The take-home point is that we have excellent military leaders and we need to employ their expertise because this is a war we are fighting. That’s the bottom line.”
Carson
went on, according to Welch, who tweeted the rest:
“You look at some of these caves and things out there one drone strike, boom, and they’d gone.”
Sure. Let’s
use the military to attack those who cross the border illegally. What kind of
insane policy is that? Carson should learn something about the topic before he
goes around waving drones at the problem. Mexicans make up barely half of
unauthorized immigrants, according to Pew Research.
Read a website.
It
is doubtful that calling in the military would be a good idea to deal with the
drug cartels and smuggling, either. Too many civilians would be caught in the
bombing. You want to stop the drug smuggling? Reform U.S. drug laws. Duh.
And
bombing “caves and things?” In the desert Southwest? Archaeological treasures
live in those “caves and things.” Those “caves and things” are very near
Southwest reservations. Oh, good idea. What could possibly go wrong?
Carson,
like almost every other GOP candidate, is parroting Donald Trump and his
ridiculous ideas on immigration. But, hey, it plays to the base. The
xenophobic, other-blaming, ignorant base.
So,
go ahead and let your mouth run with your brain on stand-by, Dr. Carson. It
seems to be working, sadly.
Author T. Steelman: A lifelong Liberal, I have been writing about
politics for over 20 years, half of that time online. While I'm a policy wonk
and interested in all aspects of politics, my focus is on religion, especially
issues of religious freedom since I am a Wiccan. Though I do try to keep it in
check, my sarcasm gets off of its leash -- more and more often nowadays. I
enjoy reading, making jewelry, Prog Rock and etymology. I share my home with my
husband, daughter, 2 cats and a small herd of alpacas. "If the future's
looking dark, we're the ones who have to shine..."
