What the mainstream media and the Democrats aren't telling you about children being separated from their parents
Having failed to successfully attack Donald Trump on multiple levels, the Democrats have now turned to the latest issue they hope to use to ressurrect the fading blue ripple back into a November blue tide at the polls: childen being cruelly ripped from their mother's arms and thrown into cages like animals.
Before we look at what is actually happening, a bit of groundwork for the real reason the Democrats are going into attack mode on children and immigration:
Consider if you will that virtually every other line of attack by the Democrats, whose plan for the mid-terms appears to hinge almost entierly on attacking Trump, has failed. You certainly can't attack Trump on the economy, which is soaring. Not on GDP growth, the stock market, rising wages, record numbers of jobs and record low unemployment. You can't attack Trump on safety, given that ISIS is all but crushed and that he is in the middle of achieving a generationally historic peace agreement and denuclearization with North Korea. Although they are trying mightily to peddle a false narrative about the agreement, they have to know that such a narrative will fail just like their attacks on the Trump's tax cuts has done.
Speaking of tax cuts, every time doddering Nancy Pelosi opens her mouth it is adding more support for Trump and his party. And I have to remind readers that it was Pelosi who told her Democrat House members that "we have to stop the tax bill if we want to re-take the House". She knew it would be good, just as she knows now. But she can hardly embrace it, so she mumbles on about "crumbs" and "whoopee, unemployment is down". No wonder much of her party is running away from her almost as fast as they are ditching Hillary and Bill Clinton!
The Dems have tried the race card, and they will keep trying. It is, after all, part of their playbook in every election. But Trump support among blacks is rising. Ask Kanye West, whose new album is seeing record sales numbers. Perhaps the lowest black unemployment in history has something to do with that? What has the Democrats really shaking is that they know that historically they have to wini 85% or more of the black vote in order to win, at least in Presidential elections. And that level of support is fading fast.
So OK, the Dems are losing on the bread and butter issues of economy and safety that usually decide elections. They are losing ground with black voters and likely Hispanic voters too. Stormy Daniels and her corrupt self-promoting lawyer are fading into the past. The Democrats have no national leaders to unify the party other than groping, gaffing Joe Biden and a group of socialists. So what are they to do?
Well, the Democrats could try to halt the move to the far left and re-connect with the millions of middle American voters they have lost who once made up their base with a unifying message. But that seems to make too much sense to a party that increasingly, insanely appears determined to try to do the same thing that has failed them and somehow get different results. So, insane as it may be, it is all out anti-Trump and their new anti-Trump message is how he cruelly rips children from the arms of their mothers and throws them into cages. Never mind that it isn't true. Since when did truth have anything to do with politics?
And now for the rest of the story. Here is what is really happening:
Family units who present themselves at the official border crossing checkpoints seeking asylum are not being separated. Did you get that" NOT separated. Not unless the parent is a criminal or is otherwise deemed to be a threat to the child. Family units which are apprehended trying to cross the border illegally are being separated because crossing the border illegally is a crime and just like happens with U.S. citizens, when you commit a crime and are incarcerated you are separated from your children.
But are those separated children, as well as the unaccompanied minors that are apprehended, being "thrown into cages"? Not really. Yes, the border agents may temparily give them shelter, as well as food, water and medical attention, in enclosures that could be described as cage-like for a few hours to a couple of days before they are sent to better facilities. It beats the hell out of dying from heat and dehydration in the desert or in the back of a crowded cattle-call truck. Or being left in the custody of a human trafficker. And may I remind the readers that most of the photos of "children in cages" were actually taken when Obama was in office.
That brings us to the more permanent and much more amenable facilities the children are quickly beiing transferred to. Many of you may have seen the Democrats publicity stunt this past week where a group of Democrat legislators paid a visit, press in tow, to a detention center on the border. One by one, the Democrats dutifully took their turns in front of the microphones and cameras to decry how cruel the Trump administration was. What you did not hear, or see, was how well the children in the facility were actually being treated.
The children in the facility were not caged nor even locked up. Each had their own beds in rooms they shared with up to four other children. They were being cared for by a caring staff that included doctors, nurses, psychologists and other social workers. They were also being well-fed. And they had recreational activities, both indoors and out, as well as classrooms. Among the things many of them were taught was basic hygiene, such as how to shower and how to use a flush toilet. Compared to the conditions many of them were used to, they were living better than they ever had - albeit without their parents. And they were being prepared for reunification with their parents as soon as possible. Hardly treated cruelly.
The Democrats are correct when they observe that the number of children being separated from their parents is increasing. Along with increased numbers of illegal crossings, that change is due to the "zero tolerance" policy of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Probably not the best political decision from the old hard core dinosaur, but something had to change. In the past, the policy of catch and release sent literrally millions of illegals into our communities with a promise that they would show up for their deportation hearing in, oh, two years. Over 80% failed to show up and the number of illegals in our country grew and grew.
Wrap your head around this: Every day an average of 1500 individuals are apprehended trying to illegally enter the U.S. between border check points - and that's just the ones that are being caught. Think about that for a bit. Every single day, thousands of people are illegally pouring into our country - and that includes criminals, drug traffickers, and human traffickers. Among those being trafficked, often for sex, are underaged children.
Make no mistake: separating children from their parents is abominable and it must stop. But don't look for it to stop any time soon because what is really called for is an agreement on immigration reform. The neocon Republicans on the right, who are owned by their masters on Wall Street, K Street, the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable, as well as the Koch Brothers, are being paid to do their masters bidding and provide cheap labor. Why else do you think that no immigration bills under consideration propose having E-verify to insure that only legal, higher wage earners can be hired?
The Democrats on the left, who see the vast majority of illegals as undocumented future Democrat voters, don't want to close down the border any more than they want to end chain migration (more future voters for Democrats, you see). And, most importantly for the moment, Democrats want to keep illegal immigration and "children being ripped from their mothers arms and thrown into cages" as an issue for the mid-term elections that may be slipping away from them. Do the Democrats really care about the children? Apparently, not as much as they care about winning elections.
Yes, separating children from their parents is cruel. What is cruelest of all is the way the left is using children as political pawns.
My two cents.