Good Morning, friends,
Let’s do a quick digest of a lot of the news:
Firstly: A great article by the Center Square’s Bethany Blankley, that covers a lot of ground, including efforts to establish an interstate compact. With word that Texas Governor Gregg Abbott has as many as 24 States ready to come online and push for harder security measures along the border, some are hoping that he’ll finally exercise his full authority in preventing illegal crossings. The article also delves into some of the historical precedents for such things— going all the way back to Texas Governor Sam Houston. It’s worth noting, the Governor has been tweeting Blankley’s articles quite a bit lately— indicating that he’s reading her stuff. Or leaking her information. Or just a fan.
We actually doubt she’s getting any leaks. She doesn't seem to quote unnamed sources at all, ever, that we’ve noticed.
State Troopers from several states, including Florida are back at work in Texas. Here’s a photo from Del Rio:
Also: The New York Times took an absolute beating online over the weekend, after running an op-ed that claimed in so many words, “border crisis, border smy-shish, those doggone Republicans and Democrats are just trying to scare you!”
One could argue that attempting such cowardly equivalency is the last refuge of scoundrels, but who are we kidding? They never run out of refuges.
As for Kinney County, things remain about the same. Lots of smugglers on the highways. Plenty of pursuits. No major changes to the present status quo.
We’d like to relate a recent anecdote, told to us by someone we’ve named “Local Wag.”
Longtime readers probably recognize the nom de guerre, as belonging to someone we’ve referred to as a reliable quote farm whenever we’ve wanted to publish something that wasn’t terribly PC or might seem a little out there.
The story goes that Mr. Wag was in the local convenience store down on the highway the other night, long after everything else in town was closed— on a hunt for some ice cream. The missus has a sweet tooth, and so does he, truth be told. Anyway— he’s there, trying to choose between the embarrassment of riches that are the modern freezer case, with only one other customer and a cashier. He’s not paying much attention— but becomes alert to raised voices. The other customer has some kind of out-of-town accent. And he’s practically frothing at the mouth, according to Mr. Wag. “Where the hell are the air fresheners?? How can you be out of air fresheners?”
How indeed.
“Pretty sure that jackass was smuggling,” said Mr. Wag. “Desperate for air fresheners because his truck stinks like he’s been giving large numbers of sweaty men rides around the checkpoints.”
Are there other reasons someone might be in a convenience store in the middle of nowhere having a meltdown over air fresheners? Maybe. Seems weird though.
We’re going to be honest— we’ve been struggling with the words for this latest edition of the Dispatch.
Nothing’s felt quite right as we’ve leaned back for the last week or so and watched and waited for some kind of clarity. Don’t know why anyone would expect any such thing— murkiness, as we ourselves are so fond of pointing out, is one of the most durable hallmarks of news and news coverage along the border.
Murkiness abounds for many reasons and at all levels of coverage.
Sometimes it’s simply a matter of basic stupid human failures and ass kissing and covering up. Sometimes it’s more than that. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of different agencies, overlapping jurisdictions, and competing agendas.
Right now, one of the narratives being pressed upon us all is that the expected tidal wave of immigration in the wake of Title 42 hasn’t materialized. Some boys have been crying wolf, apparently.
Or maybe not.
A lot of things seem to be happening all at once.
Foremostly, the accounting has changed. Significant numbers of individuals entering the country right now are no longer being called “migrants,” or “illegal aliens,” or “got aways”, or any of the other now commonly heard words— instead, a relatively newly abused classification: “parolees.”
Parole is typically reserved for Humanitarian or “Significant Public Benefit.” Neither category seems to be a perfect fit for what’s happening— but they’re using it anyway.
These are basically people that DHS is allowing into the country, sidestepping a lot of the usual procedures and restrictions. It is almost a sort of administrative amnesty. Parolees are allowed to enter, are usually allowed to work, and are basically allowed to start up lives here in the USA.
And they do not count on any of the normal metrics most watchdogs rely on when trying to point out signs that the border crisis is continuing more or less in the same fashion it has been all along.
We’re told that several lawsuits are being filed in an attempt to force DHS to divulge some hard facts and figures about this use of “parole.”
Many also say that the White House has actually clamped down on certain aspects of immigration— and that it’s a sure bet that many would-be illegal crossers are still biding their time in Mexico, waiting to suss out the best way to capitalize on whatever the new dynamic seems to be.
There’s also the fact that DPS and Texas National Guard made a big show of physically forcing people back across the river down in Brownsville, recently.
But this is basically all just inside baseball at this point. Details. Part of the game, really. If “they” can bog you down in a debate over the details, it’s practically over and you’ve already lost. You’re basically getting mugged down in the weeds— and while you’re arguing over the finer points of a thing, the circus continues its clownish antics in the background, unabated. It’s a fine tactic used to great effect, whether deployed against folks on the right or the left— whether the subject is border control, guns, or taxes.
One of the things we’ve spent a lot of time doing lately, is lurking in various live online discussions featuring “border experts” of various stripes. And something that jumps out at us is how frustratingly oblivious certain otherwise well-meaning individual experts seem to be.
People seem to think they’re going to be able to fix things with a single election. Or impeachment. Or lawsuit. Or bill. Don’t get it twisted— all of these things could potentially be positive developments, but one thing that has become more obvious and more blatant than a Vegas showgirl, is that we are looking at years of effort before we can hope to fix what’s broken. Years of effort in repairing trust in our battered systems and institutions.
For one thing— witness the damage that can be done with the wrong people in key local offices. There’s no need to get the legislature to legalize marijuana— get enough captive DA’s to declare their plans to decriminalize it, and you’ve basically legalized it in the major metros.
There’s no need to get Congress to pass some kind of amnesty. Just make it a defacto thing, between captive DA’s, sanctuary cities, and other local fractures in the system.
Point being— we find ourselves losing all patience with many self-proclaimed patriots who want to just talk about the next big national race. Or the next big statewide election.
That isn’t going to get it done. If you’re not talking, or thinking, about getting control of your DA’s office— of getting control over your local school boards, your County Commissioners Courts, you’re ultimately wasting your time.
Just look at the hell people are going through with the election uncertainties in various Arizona Counties and Harris County in Texas. Think about the hanging chads in Florida back in 2001.
It’s depressing to consider, but the alternative is worse.
The ancient Greek philosopher Plato is credited with saying: “One of the penalties of refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”
It sounds a little edgy to modern ears, perhaps. Put it another way— if you’re too busy for politics, then you're going to get what we’ve all been getting. Which is garbage.
We are drowning in it. Can’t find anyone at the ground level of this border issue that’s happy with what’s happening. Some of the biggest “libs” we know are furious with the current administration— for their own reasons, they’d tell you, but if you drill down, they’re actually not that dissimilar from a lot of the reasons many a conservative has.
What’s to be done, friends? Don’t know. But we don’t have a whole lot of patience for folks who want to talk about the legislature, when they can’t even get their school boards and city councils to act right, let alone their DA’s and State Reps.
Let’s finish up with some more random bits.
A lot of Texas Legislative hawks have their feathers ruffled as a special session looks more and more likely.
Lawmakers seem to be dropping the ball on all kinds of positive border bills. And somehow, it’s happening even though Texas Republicans are supposed to be oh-so-large and in charge.
Maybe there is something to recent claims online:
That’s a screenshot. Here’s a link to the video.
We’ve watched it. It looks pretty bad. Dade Phelan manages to channel his inner Joe Biden throughout the thing. Stumbling, bumbling over words. Slurring. All manner of mishaps.
Some have suggested that he may have some kind of unknown health complications that reared their head in the video.
Maybe.
But it is a fact that there’s a bit of a drinkin’ culture in Austin. And it’s also notable that no one in the room seemed shocked, surprised or concerned by the display.
Weird, huh?
We’ll probably be back again sometime later this week. Call it a hunch.
Until then— have a great one. We expect Kinney County’s going to be looking more like County Kerry than usual— with all the rain, it’s gonna be green as Ireland, me lads and lasses. Bad news for people trying to cross the river in Maverick County/Eagle Pass— it’s bound to be deeper and moving fast as hell in some spots.
As always, the newsletter is produced separately from our day job, paying attention to public information requests and related matters on behalf of Kinney County. No one should mistake it for any kind of an official communication on behalf of the County, indeed, any errors, mistakes, or other misdeeds are entirely our own.
See you soon.
Border Math Murkiness and other Games
The picture you have on this post is from Alison Anderson if Del Rio, Tx. This picture is not off any DPS website. Please acknowledge where you got this photo from.
The picture of the Florida State Troopers is my photo sir. Alison Anderson. Feel free to msg me w any questions. Gotta love the internet and how things end up getting shared 😊