When There is No Price for Failure

There will likely be more of it

It should be THE story of what should be THE issue of the campaign. Instead, it was relegated to “taking out the trash status,” a euphemism for what amounts to a news dump in which govt tries to bury things that look bad. Last Friday, it was data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that showed tens of thousands of illegals who have been convicted – not charged, convicted – of offenses in their home countries ranging up to murder, are roaming American streets.

Up to 20 million illegals (and such numbers are estimates; no one has a clue what that real figure is) have been waved right in while the corporate press works to protect the administration’s border czar from any fallout. One might think that word of nearly a half-million convicts who shouldn’t be here in the first place would be, to quote ole Joe, a big f-ing deal. Yet, the only reason anyone is aware of this is because a Texas Congressman asked for and received the data, and then shared it with a news outlet willing to dive into the weeds.

And it’s not just the people who have been convicted. About a quarter-million more face pending charges in their home countries. It’s almost as if Donald Trump was onto something years ago in saying that some countries are not sending their best and brightest. Two of three major networks ignored the story but noted the VP’s trip to Arizona. Anyone familiar with journalism might think those two facts could and should be linked. But no. Even NBC, which gave the story a brief reading, mentioned only the 13,000 “migrants” convicted of homicide.  

What happens when govt not only fails in its core roles but fails with potentially catastrophic consequences to citizens? Typically, nothing which is why there is a pattern of consequence-free life at taxpayer expense. Anyone wondering what, if anything, will happen within the US Secret Service after two failed assassination attempts against Donald Trump need only look at the aftermath of Covid and the state of the FBI for answers.

In another story that largely flew under the radar, FBI whistleblower Marcus Allen talked about people like him becoming pariahs if not worse, for saying the agency is out of control and that Americans may want to wake up and face reality. As with many American institutions, whatever favorable opinion the Bureau enjoyed in the past has significantly eroded. When people lose trust in key cogs of the “rule of law” machinery, little good follows.  

In his testimony before Congress, Allen noted that the agent in charge of investigating the charges against the second would-be assassin is no friend of MAGA, which might be less of a deal if this agency had not spent years revealing itself as wholly unprofessional and barely ethical. Comey, McCabe, Strzok, and others somehow go from infamy to teaching and cable tv jobs as though that’s normal.

The Secret Service, meanwhile, has made virtually no substantive changes after the dual attempts on Trump. A bipartisan House committee found serial failure in the agency’s performance in Pennsylvania, which sounds better than accusing personnel of complicity, but other than the former Director resigning, nothing much has happened. And it’s not likely anything will.

The same is likely with Covid. Senator Rand Paul keeps asking for documents and keeps getting stonewalled. For some reason, information about the pandemic – specifically its point of origin – remains classified. Why? The best response available is FYTW, the all-purpose answer from elected and unelected officials alike when confronted with uncomfortable matters. The crisis of non-accountability is not limited to the federal level, either.

Even all this time later, with people having full knowledge of how they were lied to, a New York City public health official named Jay Varma is basking in the glory of having been the one to stop basketball player Kyrie Irving from participating in 2021 for the high crime of being unvaxed. “This is a fun part of my life,” said Varma about the media fanfare he received. One might think that with the benefit of hindsight, an alleged medical professional would be contrite, maybe even embarrassed by his decision. But not Varma. He’s proud of it and many likely agree with what he did.  

A few days ago while driving around, the terminally annoying John Legend appeared in a radio commercial to push…..the need for you to get the latest Covid booster. This madness is not only never going to stop, but people are also being rewarded for perpetuating it. Legend does not do this for free. Never mind that it’s beyond common knowledge that the jab prevents neither infection nor transmission; get it anyway, prole. And shut up. Also, make sure your kids get it. By the way, the shot is still being pushed on children as young as six months.

I have never expected perfection from govt. That’s too high a standard for anyone. But competence would be nice and avoiding what looks like attempted malfeasance would be even better. When govt is actively importing people by the millions with no regard as to who they are, and it turns out that someone in that govt is aware of a large criminal element, it’s not too much for the taxpayer to believe that some action might follow. But it doesn’t. Ever. Are any of the 13,000 convicted killers in danger of deportation? How about the 220,000+ who are charged and awaiting trial?

A featured argument on the pro-open borders side – and that’s what it is; this is not just pro-immigration – is the need for labor amplified by America’s lagging birth rate. Is the country so hard up for hired help that it needs another nation’s criminals? Because it’s not like the US does not have enough of its own and a lot of them are non-violent offenders who will one day be released. There are also the ranks of the unemployed who would like to work. Whatever one’s view on immigration, it’s not too much to ask that a little vetting be done. Unfortunately, legal immigration is such a painful exercise that one can almost see why people don’t bother with it.

For the sake of clarity, my issue is not with the immigrants, not even the criminals in the lot. The issue is with the people who are allowing if not encouraging this to happen. And that extends to a media establishment that engages in the worst kind of malpractice. Stories that claim illegals commit crimes at a lower rate than the natives are misleading at best and false at worst. First, they have ALL committed at least one crime; it’s why they’re called illegal immigrants. Second, the lower rate has an eggs and omelets quality to it as if a certain level of crime, even violent crime, is an acceptable tradeoff for whatever benefits accrue.

One last time – immigration must first and foremost work to the benefit of the host nation. Not the immigrant, legal or otherwise. Not the nation being left behind. Not some employer who wants to pay sub-market wages. This country. The one whose social cohesion is deteriorating in real-time. The one whose budgets are crumbling under the weight of millions who were not expected or invited. The one that is being led by people who ignore foreseeable consequences because they can.