It was as predictable as the sunrise – the second the “deal” was announced Friday to reopen the government, smug liberals took to social media to declare victory. And why not? They won. But what exactly did they win? And is the fight really over?
What Democrats won is a continued unsecured border. Americans will continue to be victims of crimes, up to and including being murdered at the hands of people who shouldn’t be in the country in the first place, congratulations. Those criminals will continue to enjoy the protections of Democratic Party officials until they manage to cross the ever-moving line leftists draw to protect illegal aliens (basically a violent crime) and allow authorities to call ICE. Way to go! Opioid overdoses will continue to skyrocket, claiming more American lives every year than died in the entirety of the Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq Wars combined. Congratulations, Democrats.
I don’t really see how any of that is worth celebrating, but I’m not a “progressive Democrat.” I’m more interested in protecting American citizens than I am with illegal aliens or scoring political points with a race-obsessed base.
But I can’t really blame Democrats either. Their political agenda comes first, everything else takes a backseat. It’s what they are. If the 100 million murdered in the name of their philosophy in the 20th century didn’t cause any soul searching, what’s the murder of a college student here or a police officer there going to do? Nothing.
Less than nothing, actually. Journalists so infrequently ask any Democrats about these completely avoidable tragedies their actions enable, and never press the issue, that they have nothing to fear and no reason to care. If they can’t hurt their electoral prospects, they might as well have never existed.
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In the debate over the wall, they haven’t. The victims of illegal alien crime have not been a point of discussion beyond being dismissed by progressives on CNN and MSNBC and in the pages of the New York Times and Washington Post, not as specifics but as concepts. They don’t exist; the liberal spin is illegal aliens are better than Americans, work harder than Americans, commit fewer crimes than Americans. Angel families jeopardize that narrative. Since people who’ve had their identities or property stolen, been physically assaulted, or been murdered can’t really have their stories refuted, they have to be ignored. It’s disgraceful.
Congressional Republicans are horrible at messaging, so left to their own devices, a loss was not surprising. But President Trump, he’s a dealmaker. Hell, he’s THE dealmaker.
The President drew the line, as unambiguously was President Obama did in Syria, when he said, “I can't tell you when the government's going to be open," Trump told reporters. "I can tell you it's not going to be open until we have a wall, a fence, whatever they'd like to call it. I'll call it whatever they want.”
Call it gone.
The President tweeted Friday, “I wish people would read or listen to my words on the Border Wall. This was in no way a concession. It was taking care of millions of people who were getting badly hurt by the Shutdown with the understanding that in 21 days, if no deal is done, it’s off to the races!”
Maybe there’s a way to cut a deal, but at this point the price would be so high it likely wouldn’t be worth it. When the President Trump agreed to reopen government for three weeks because people were hurting, he lost all the leverage he had.
People hurting, people calling their Members of Congress complaining about that hurt, was the leverage. No Democrats were going to negotiate because furloughed government workers were flooding their offices with calls about how they’re enjoying their time off, it had to be the pain. I know it’s not fashionable to say, but I have to honest. If, in three weeks, no deal is cut, all the teeth of a shutdown have been extracted.
All that leaves is an emergency declaration, which will be enjoined by a liberal judge before ink on the President signature has even left the pen.
I hope I’m wrong about this, I hope there is a secret sect of Democrats willing to protect Americans against the wishes of their leadership but there is nothing in the last 35 days to indicate there are more of those types of Democrats than there are unicorns roaming the countryside.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but as long as the President thinks tweeting is a good substitute for the pressure a tour with angel families and a series of policy speeches around the country in purple states with possibly getable Democratic Senators and Congressmen, it’s the truth. I don’t know who is advising Donald Trump on strategy here, but they should be the next group of people deprived of a government paycheck.
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