...is the current status of the bill okaying the erection of 750 miles of additional fencing along the southern border of the USA. Yes President George W. Bush made a big deal about signing the fence bill into law yesterday, it was on all the news stations, but his signature on that piece of paper means little if the fence is not funded, since without the money it will never be built.
I suggest you make calls, send emails and letters to your elected officials in Washington. I have already contacted the president, vice president, my two senators, and my congresswoman (as useless as she is, it is still worth the effort). If enough folks speak out on this in favor of the funding, the money for the project will materialize like magic.
On another note related to the fence, I see that Mexico is up in arms over our wanting to build this fence. Now bear in mind, this fence is only a partial border barrier, it will not keep anyone out of our country who comes here legally, it will cut back on crime, it is not a device built to harm anyone, it is a fence - just that and nothing more. Yet Mexico, specifically President elect: Felipe Calderon, reportedly said, in this article Mexico Anger over U.S. Border Fence at BBC.com said that:
"...the fence was "a grave mistake" which would lead to more Mexican deaths on the border."
How this fence will lead to more Mexican deaths on the U.S. border was not made clear as far as I can tell. My guess though would be that Mr. Calderon means more Mexicans will wind up being stuck inside of Mexico when they find they cannot cross the border, and they will die there because Mexico offers them little to no relief for poverty stricken lives which they lead in Mexico. Hmm, who would be at fault for this. Is this a U.S. problem? No it is not. Sure we help out with relief and such, but the crappy conditions in Mexico are the fault of a notoriously corrupt government that has been in a state of corruption for beyond, well beyond, as long as I can remember. Maybe it is about time that Mexico takes hold of the problem and tries to solve it instead of dumping its problem in the form of illiterate, poverty stricken Mexicans into the USA.
He then went on to compare such a fence to the Berlin wall:
""Humanity committed a grave mistake in building the Berlin Wall," he said."
First of all, allow me to correct Mr. Calderon, humanity did not build the Berlin wall, so why is he trying to make it look as if we were all responsible for it. I imagine because he wants us all to feel responsible for any Mexican deaths that he will try to attribute to the U.S. border fence. That way we all can feel bad about it and put pressure on the U.S. government to stop it. Sorry it is such a poor attempt at perverting history in order to gain sympathy in the current situation as to make me laugh out loud while typing.
I will grant him though that the Berlin wall, the whole barrier between East and West Germany, was a mistake; but remember it was built to trap people, to keep them in their own country, not to keep out illegal aliens, terrorists, and other criminals. There is a big difference here, one he does not want to accept.
As far as acceptance goes, another thing that Mr. Calderon does not seem to want to accept is Mexico's responsibility for its own people. Mexico is an oil rich nation, yes I said oil rich. They also have a booming tourist trade. Yet where does that money go. Certainly not into government mandated programs to enrich the lives of Mexico's poor, certainly not into education for them, most decidely not into health care, certainly not into creating jobs for all those who need them, certainly not into crime prevention. Yet, that money must go somewhere, I just wonder into whose pockets?
When it comes right down to it folks, the truth about why Mexico does not want this fence is that if it gets built, then more may get erected. If the whole border winds up fenced off, then Mexico loses what amounts to a pressure release valve for its own internal problems - its poor people. When that pressure gets to great in Mexico, what do you think will happen? Yup, you guessed it, probably a revolution, something for which Mexico is famous. Of course a revolution is avoidable, so to are Mexico's other problems. The way to avoid them all is for the Mexican government to clean itself up, and to actually start to do for its people what it says the U.S. should do for them - make their lives better. One way or the other, if that fence goes up, things will change in Mexico.
Yes folks contact your elected officials, tell them we need funding for this fence and need it fast; it is about the only thing that will get something done for those poor souls south of the border.
All the best,
Glenn B
