A clip of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg -- whose greatest talent seems to be spoon-feeding a certain type of liberal exactly what he or she wants to hear in smooth soundbytes -- is going super viral. Buttigieg appeared among a parade of politicians and personalities at an ideas festival in Austin, Texas over the weekend. He was asked about the recent controversy surrounding Republican governors sending groups of illegal migrants to various Democratic jurisdictions, which has sent much of the Left into an irate collective meltdown. Focusing his critique on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (whom I'd guess Buttigieg sees as a potential future opponent, given his well-known and life-consuming desire to be president), the Indianan-turned-Michigander (subtle!) said this:
When Pete Buttigieg comes for someone, he doesn’t carry a sledgehammer…he wields a scalpel.
— TrumpsTaxes (@TrumpsTaxes) September 25, 2022
And in this must-see clip, Pete slices Ron DeSantis into a million little pieces. pic.twitter.com/FvmNpbL6yn
This answer trended on Twitter, amassing tens of thousands of likes and retweets, and has been widely shared elsewhere. Lefties love it, as evidenced by the gushing framing in the tweet above. Did Buttigieg really 'wield a scalpel' as he 'sliced' DeSantis apart? Superficially, its an appealing answer that caters to progressive sensibilities and appears to take down the supposed nihilism and attention-seeking of a rising politician from the opposing party. Upon deeper, substantive scrutiny, however, I find it to be strikingly weak and unresponsive to what DeSantis has done -- and why. I explained my thinking in a thread:
1) Governors can only do so much, policy-wise, on immigration. It’s a federal issue & the Biden admin is failing historically on the border crisis. That’s just math. Lashing out at DeSantis (or Abbott) is a partisan deflection, even if you accept PB’s questionable framing…
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) September 26, 2022
3) “Reforms” in Congress often entail various forms of amnesty. I’ve been a squish on immigration (pro DREAM Act + path to legal status), but enforcement *must* come first, especially amid this unacceptable & inhumane chaos. Everything else stops until then…
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) September 26, 2022
5) Pete seems like a reasonably smart guy, but DeSantis is (at least) every bit as bright & has a record of governance far beyond a small city & whatever this Transportation Secretary has done. I suspect RDS would welcome this debate. He knowingly invited it, after all.
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) September 26, 2022
Fundamentally, every minute a Democrat -- and especially one serving under this administration -- spends complaining about GOP governors' efforts to force a conversation about Biden's catastrophic, record-shattering humanitarian and security debacle is a minute he or she is avoiding the actual problem. Helpfully, however, it's also a minute he or she is spending rewarding the Republicans' admitted stunt, the whole point of which has been to draw attention to a disaster that's been largely ignored beyond right-leaning media. Incidentally, my 'questionable framing' aside refers to the dispute over whether anyone was actually 'tricked' into being flown or bussed anywhere. Republicans say all of the illegal migrants signed waivers, and various reports have confirmed that many of the migrants are actually grateful for the transportation and provisions. What's truly cruel and indefensible is not GOP officials forcing 'sanctuary'-backing Democrats to shoulder some of the burden of the crisis their party has created; it's incentivizing millions of people to come to our country illegally, a journey that has resulted in horrifying levels of sexual assault, exploitation, and death. And this is an important insight:
What they don’t get is Abbott et al are not trying to teach a lesson to the migrants. They’re trying to teach a lesson to the Ds whose policies are overwhelming the border (& now other towns). https://t.co/gYPPEguQCU
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) September 25, 2022
The politicians and pundits shouting about 'pawns' ignore the fact that the alleged 'pawns' have agreed to be moved around the country. They are treated humanely, en route to their new destinations. It's the American leaders of those destinations who are having the consequences of their policies thrust upon them. That's what really offends them. As I noted in my thread, it is the Democrats' official position, asserted over and over again by their top officials, that the border is "secure." What Abbott, DeSantis, et al are doing is shining a glaring light on that lie. Also noted is the obvious reality that of course Republicans have solutions, contra Buttigieg's central attack. Simply reverting back to the successful policy mix at the end of the Trump administration would go a long way to ameliorating the crisis and flipping the incentive structure back to a status quo that's much more functional and manageable. Any of the impacted Republican governors could easily make that case, but Buttigieg pretends they are bereft of ideas. No, they certainly do have ideas and proposals on this front, as did the House Republicans when DeSantis was among their ranks. Buttigieg and his party just reject them out of hand. That's a political choice. Not liking or agreeing with them doesn't mean those ideas and proposals don't exist.
Buttigieg suggests that none of the GOP officials he's decrying have done nothing of substance to combat the problem. Having traveled to the border to report on the crisis, that's demonstrably untrue. The government of Texas has been forced to do an enormous amount to deal with the mess at their doorstep. And again, it's the policies of his party that have turned a perennial challenge into an outrageous and dangerous crisis. As for the claim that Republicans are turning their backs on people fleeing Communist regimes, I addressed that talking point on Fox, as part of a wider answer on immigration and identity politics:
‘It’s gross’ @guypbenson slams the view cohosts for attacking Latinos who vote conservative #FoxNews #TheView pic.twitter.com/cUDCmQ9FMN
— The Guy Benson Show (@GuyBensonShow) September 26, 2022
A small fraction of this rolling crisis involves people seeking legitimate asylum, as they run from oppressive Communist countries. That group should be given refuge, and citizenship, as far as I'm concerned. They tend to vote for the party Buttigieg is decrying, for reasons that I'd love to hear him try to explain. But more than two million people have come to this country illegally this year alone. Roughly one million have entered illegally and escaped without capture since Biden took office. It's dishonest to pretend that this crisis is being driven by bona fide asylum-seekers escaping Communism. It's not, and it's not even close. That's just a politically-convenient point to inject into the discourse to make Republicans sound like hypocrites. Relatedly, our system for adjudicating asylum claims is being deliberately abused and overwhelmed. It's amazing that this needs to be said, but it does. Here's Byron York:
YES, ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSERS ARE BREAKING THE LAW...This is the simple fact: It is illegal to enter the U.S. without authorization, as all the Venezuelans did when they waded across the Rio Grande into Texas. Again: It is not legal to do that — wading across the Rio Grande is not a legal way to enter the U.S. Such an offense is punishable by up to six months in prison. A second offense — that is, doing it again after being returned to Mexico following a first offense, as many migrants do — is punishable by up to two years behind bars..."If you run across the border and you don't stop and talk to an official, that's called entering without inspection," said Joe Edlow, a former acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. "That is a federal offense, and you can be prosecuted for that. It is a criminal law, so your breaking that law has no bearing on your reason for entering the United States. There is no defense in that law as written that says, 'I was coming in to seek asylum.'" ... The illegal border crossers are in removal proceedings. Why are they in removal proceedings? Because they entered the U.S. illegally...And even while claiming asylum is allowed by law, the fact is, the overwhelming majority of illegal border crossers will not receive asylum. Most are coming in hopes of getting a job and making more money than is possible in their homeland. That is not a valid basis for asylum in U.S. law. Democrats sometimes try to gloss over that fact, but it is a fact.
I'll leave you with this, as Texans take inventory of what they're seeing:
?? TEXAS POLL By @TexHPF
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) September 26, 2022
TX Governor
(R) Greg Abbott 51% (+7)
(D) Beto O'Rourke 44%
Almost Certain Voters (N=867)
(R) Greg Abbott 53% (+10)
(D) Beto O'Rourke 43%
1,172 LV | 09/6-15 | ±2.9%https://t.co/bMShWRuUeB pic.twitter.com/7ua8DNW9M3
UPDATE - Here's my radio monologue on this flare-up:
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