Tag: ice

In my opinion, most of the Dems and their allies in the media have been deranged and disillusioned with respect to Donald Trump for ten years now, even before he became president. They seem unable to act rationally with respect to him and his actions. Anything he is for they are against. ANYTHING, regardless of whether or not it is rational, logical or in the bests interest of the country and its citizens. I have discussed this in various previous blogs. In this case I maintain they have crossed the line of human decency. See below for some examples. They have also become downright dangerous. See below.

Their actions have gone way beyond honest political disagreement. Political disagreements can be resolved, provided that each side has respect for the other and his or her point of view. That’s the way it has always been in D. C. – until the last ten years. Every time I think their actions have hit a low point, they go even lower. It’s as if they are practicing the limbo. (“How low can you go.”) Now, in my view, they have also become deranged and dangerous.

There have been many examples of this in the last several months, but in the interest of brevity I will cite only two.

1. The Kerrville, TX flood. Kerrville is located in the area of the Texas Hill Country known as “Flash Flood Alley.” In the recent past county officials had discussed paying to install enhanced flood warning systems, but they never followed through due to budgetary issues. So, when the flood came in the wee hours of July 4 such systems weren’t in place. The flood was among the deadliest natural disasters in Texas history. Already, it is the second deadliest flood, after the 1921 flood in San Antonio that killed 215 people. I think we can all agree that this was a horrific tragedy on a massive scale, a once in a century flood caused by torrential rains that caused the nearby Guadalupe River to rise 27 feet in a mere 45 minutes in the middle of the night. The campers and counselors were all asleep and many never had a chance. As I write this, multiple sources have confirmed at least 120 fatalities, including 59 adults and 36 children in Kerr County alone, and an additional 173 unaccounted for who are likely also dead. The property damage is incalculable at this time. The nexus of the devastation was a girls’ summer camp, Camp Mystic, which abuts the Guadalupe River.

Imagine you are a seven-year-old girl camper perhaps away from home for the first time. You’re a little nervous to be away from home. You’re awakened in the middle of the night to a scene of chaos with a 20+ foot wall of water heading toward you. Maybe you escape; maybe you don’t; but either way it is a frightening experience. Either you perish in a most horrific way, or luckily you survive, but you are likely seriously traumatized.

Alternatively, imagine that you are a parent of that child, and you hear the news that no parent should ever hear. Your child is missing or dead. This is what the people of Kerr County and surrounding counties are experiencing now.

In the current situation what is needed is a helping hand from federal, state and local disaster relief agencies. What you need is the rescue or recovery of your loved ones. What you need is food, shelter, clothes, etc. What you don’t need is accusations, second-guessing, ass-covering, and political grandstanding. What you don’t need is government agencies blaming each other. What we certainly don’t need is people with little knowledge of the facts bloviating nonsense on tv and jumping to conclusions. There will be a thorough investigation in due course, and hopefully appropriate action will be taken.

Yes, there should have been a better early warning system. That said, what you don’t need is Dem politicians like Eric Swalwell, Rachid Talib, Joaquin Castro, and left-wing media outlets politicizing the situation by blaming Trump and his DOGE policies, race and climate change as they do for any negative event or development. These are their “go to” criticisms. They have nothing else to offer. You will notice they never offer any resolutions, just criticisms.

Castro opined that “climate change is obviously a part of it.” When did he become a meteorology expert? Sade Perkins, a former member of the Houston Food Insecurity Board, was one who played the “race card,” one of the Dems’ favorite tactics, which unfortunately often gets traction in the mainstream media. She posted an inane video suggesting that the intense media coverage of the event was because the young girls who were killed at a summer camp in the flood’s path were white. 

CNN “climate experts” commented that “these floods are happening more often,” without offering any explanation or cogent analysis. Finally, what you don’t need is a newspaper like the NY Times exacerbating the situation by denoting that “several of the cabins were built on extremely hazardous floodways where water moves at its highest velocity and depth.” That was a story characteristic of a fringe “rag” publication, not a mainstream newspaper.

Folks, it was a once in a century natural disaster. We don’t control the weather. The right course of action is to (1) support the rescue or recovery of the missing victims, (2) provide whatever assistance is needed to the area residents, and (3) once the dust settles work in concert to enhance the early warning systems so as to mitigate the chances of a recurrence. I say to Dems: in the immediate aftermath of a tragedy such as this show some empathy and decency for a change.

Several meteorologists have pushed back in recent days on Democrat claims that the Trump Administration’s cuts to NOAA, NWS and other government agencies directly contributed to the tragedy.  Meteorologist Chris Martz posted on X that “[t]he event has nothing to do with climate change, and the tragedy had nothing to do with DOGE cuts. If you are someone who has exploited this catastrophe because you just don’t like Trump, you need to take a serious look in the mirror.”

Tom Fahy, legislative director for the NWSEO, told NBC News that weather forecasting offices were adequately staffed, and “they issued timely forecasts and warnings leading up to the storm.”

Texas-based meteorologist Avery Tomasco opined, “All I’ll say is this. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for Kerr County more than 12 hours ahead of the catastrophic flood. A flash flood warning was issued for Hunt & Ingram Counties three hours before the Guadalupe started to climb. They did their job, and they did it well.”

Tom Fahy, legislative director for NWSEO, contradicted Dem criticisms that staffing reductions contributed to the tragedy. He told NBC News that weather forecasting offices were adequately staffed, and “they issued timely forecasts and warnings leading up to the storm.”

2. Interference with ICE Personnel

You may not concur with the politics of ICE detaining, arresting and deporting migrants, but it is incumbent upon you to be cognizant of the fact that according to ICE.gov interfering with an ICE arrest is a crime and can result in serious legal consequences.  Moreover, it could jeopardize your own safety and that of others. According to the New York Civil Liberties Union this includes actions such as physically blocking officers, hiding individuals they are trying to arrest, or refusing to cooperate with their lawful requests. These actions are bad enough, but some lefty politicians and activists are taking it one step further. They are trying to ascertain and disclose the identities and addresses of the ICE agents, which endangers their physical safety and that of their families. (This has led to many of the agents’ wearing masks, which of course has also been criticized. You may recall that many of the rioters on college campuses have been wearing masks, but of course the lefties have not objected to that.) Clearly, these people have crossed the line and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

As if that isn’t bad enough several elected officials, such as CA Governor Gavin Newsome, LA Mayor Karen Bass, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, have threatened to openly defy ICE and have encouraged others to do so, violently if necessary. There is widespread concern that their words and actions could spur some unhinged lefty to murder an ICE agent and/or his family. I am not a lawyer, but in my opinion, they are engaged in sedition, which is defined as the act of inciting rebellion or violence against a lawful government.  Sedition can involve speech, writing, or other actions that encourage people to disobey or resist the established authority.  Sedition is a serious offense that can be prosecuted as a crime.  This is the crime that the Dems accused Trump of with respect to the January 6 protests. In my view sedition is a criminal or perhaps an impeachable offense. The Departments of Justice and Homeland Security have vowed to prosecute offenders “to the fullest extent of the law,” so we’ll see what happens.

Conclusion

Once again, the Dems and their lefty allies, thanks to their mindless opposition to anything “Trump,” have planted themselves firmly on the wrong side of an issue. Once again, the far-left lunatics are in the forefront of the Dem Party. I, for one, am so sick of this. Where are the moderate Dems? Are they hiding in their basement? Are there any left? PA Senator John Fetterman is the only Dem official whom I have heard take a moderate tone.

Where is the Senate Majority Leader (Up)Chuck Schumer whom Trump has aptly labeled the “Palestinian Senator.” Could he maybe try to step up and tell these radicals to moderate the discourse? Apparently not. He’s too afraid of them who hate him anyway. According to recent polls his approval rating is a well-deserved 17%.

This is not a time to criticize and politicize. This is a time for empathy and compassion. People are dead! Children are dead! People’s lives have been devastated! The Dems have to wake the hell up.