You're Killin' Me Charles!

So, I’m reading my Washington Post yesterday and ran across this from Charles Krauthammer. Krauthammer’s a funny little cat. I was first exposed to him on PBS shortly after my accident in 2001 and therefore, being a fellow quadriplegic, was instantly interested in what this guy had to say. You never really know what you’re going to get with one of Krauthammer’s pieces. Sometimes I am completely enthralled with his pointed, well-reasoned opinion and yet on others he makes me realize why so many people hate Republicans so much. This little article, I’m sorry to say, falls into the latter category.

Immigration is obviously a big issue nowadays and I’ve been intending to do an entry on it but this little piece provided me with the kick in the ass that one often needs to get the ball rolling. So, here Krauthammer proposes the now famous radical right solution to our little immigration problem: build a fence. Somehow the word “fence,” I guess, is supposed to be less offensive than the word “wall” but a wall is really what it is. Charles softens up his audience by first proposing amnesty for the 11 million illegals that are already here and justifies building the “fence” as a way to calm the fears of those opposed to legalization:

My proposition is this: A vast number of Americans who oppose legalization and fear new waves of immigration would change their minds if we could radically reduce new -- i.e., future -- illegal immigration.
Forget employer sanctions. Build a barrier. It is simply ridiculous to say it cannot be done. If one fence won't do it, then build a second 100 yards behind it. And then build a road for patrols in between. Put in cameras. Put in sensors. Put out lots of patrols.

Holy shit . . . holy fucking shit . . . are you serious! Do you know how long the United States’s southern border with Mexico is? 1,951 miles!!! Let’s take a minute and let that sink in. That’s nearly the same distance from Knoxville, Tennessee to Los Angeles, California!!! Not only does Krauthammer proposes building TWO of these so-called “fences” but also a road for patrols, cameras, and sensors!!! Oh by the way, who’s going to man this 2000 mile monstrosity? I sure as hell know who’s gonna build it . . . the same people who build everything in this country: Latin American immigrants, most of whom are probably illegal!!! Hmmmm . . . how quickly we forget! But this isn’t even my favorite part of the piece, oh yes sports fans Krauthammer goes on:

Can't be done? Israel's border fence has been extraordinarily successful in keeping out potential infiltrators who are far more determined than mere immigrants. Nor have very many North Koreans crossed into South Korea in the past 50 years.

Oh, well now I feel better ‘cause the Korean and the Arab-Israeli relationships seem to be working out just fine . . . wake up and smell the fucking reality Charles!!! Not only are these "fences" mere fractions of the size that would be needed to "secure" our border, they also do little to establish long-term security. They are a simple solution that, if effective, provide short term border stability. Walls solve nothing, they only serve to antagonize. If you truly want to solve the immigration problem and create long-term security, you've got to work with our Latin American friends and create economic incentives there, so workers won’t feel like a mad dash to the United States is their only way out of death, disease, and poverty. Will this happen overnight? Not a snowball’s chance in hell. But it is the right thing to do and everyone, deep down, knows it. Big problems call for big solutions and until this kind of economic overhaul can be achieved for our sisters to the south, I’m fond of quoting that often repeated phrase, upon which this country was built but which now seems forgotten:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.