Coming From the Left
"Who ya gonna believe? Me, or your lyin' eyes?"
One of the things that prompted the launch of the Cavalry - Dispatch was the sheer disconnect between what I was experiencing daily in Kinney County, TX as a private citizen, and what the current professional class of journalists were saying about the border crisis.
In so many words, we were being told there is no crisis. That it’s a bunch of fear mongering. That anyone saying differently is a horrible racist. Shut up, racist. How dare you, racist? Delete that tweet, delete that post, delete yourself, racist.
Meet Melissa del Bosque, one of a pair of experienced journalists and investigative reporters. She and a man named Todd Miller, are presently based in Arizona, with Ms. del Bosque having experience in the Rio Grande Valley, and Austin.
Both have also written several books and had their journalism published in high and mighty places. Presently, they are being paid by substack.com— to publish a weekly journal called “The Border Chronicle.” They are also pretty leftward leaning, of the sort that many call “progressive.” One ventures to guess they are in favor of open borders, and a fully neutered Border Patrol, if not completely shut down.
Their most recent piece, called “Selling Chaos at the Border,” authored by del Bosque, actually raises a few excellent points, some of which I am aware of, like the absolutely abysmal state of Homeland Security and how it is riven with political infighting between agencies, individuals and conscientious professionals forced to simply keep their heads down as they try to do their jobs. As if the response to the mounted border patrol agent controversy wasn’t illustration enough.
They also say that it isn’t the border that’s in crisis— it’s Washington D.C.
Porque no los dos?
Not so, says Ms. del Bosque— claiming that we and others in Southwest Texas are all simply tools for racists in the U.S. Border Patrol and Right Wing Media, useful in the generation of “white panic.”
White panic sounds pretty scary. People who have been with the Cavalry - Dispatch for a while now can probably guess that this is where we begin to diverge.
“Who ya gonna believe, me or your lyin’ eyes?” The quote is associated with Groucho Marx. But, was actually spoken by Chico Marx in a scene where he is impersonating Groucho. It is the proposition del Bosque and others are asking us here in Kinney and Val Verde Counties and other areas along the border to accept. We should deny what our eyes behold and trust her and the rest of the experts’ assertions that everything on the border is actually fine— the cut fences, the comatose children being manhandled across the river by single men, the raped women being trafficked— that’s just all in our racist little heads.
It is so objectionable, that it threatens to obscure the rest of her points as she attempts to highlight some of what we’ve been pointing out ourselves at the Cavalry - Dispatch.
Instead of blaming the White House, or DHS as a whole, she seems to be singling out figures within Border Patrol’s employee’s unions as well as certain past and present sector chiefs— saying they have greater power within the organization than one might expect. That is something I agree with. The Border Patrol Union leaders are able to speak to the press in their capacity outside the chain of command. It is one of the ways outsiders are getting any clue at all as to what is going on. Just witness how authorities in Washington have tried to make the world think mass flights of Haitians would be returning to Haiti, when in fact they are obviously not. Just witness how carefully measured and worded new Border Patrol chief Raul Ortiz has been in his public comments, after being installed by the White House. Is he a tame little house mouse? Almost certainly. Can you blame him?
She raises valid enough concerns about civil liberty— but the idea that Border Patrol Union leaders somehow exercise more control over this crisis than the White House and the various transnational Non Governmental Organizations is absolutely laughable.
This is what’s happening folks. Award-winning journalists are basically telling you to your face, that you can’t tell the difference between the rain and being pissed on.
In other local area news, some are probably already aware after word spread quickly on Facebook, that Val Verde County Commissioners have voted unanimously in favor of mounting a lawsuit against the White House, “for failure to enforce the laws of the Constitution of the United States & failure to abide by his oath of office” & failure to protect and defend the border.
Our associates at the 830 Times were present, and shot the video which was retweeted by independent journalist Ali Bradley who has been in and out of the area reporting on the crisis for months or more. So far, the 830 Times only has the video on their Facebook page, or we would link to their main website. Their cut is about 13 minutes long. In it, Commissioner Beau Nettleton lays out his view of matters, and appears to be moved almost to tears. This is a grown man, folks. Is it racism on display? One doubts it.
Val Verde Commissioners say they are looking to form a coalition of other border area governments to take united action on the matter.
Finally— make room on your calendar for October 9th. Area activists and supporters of the Mounted U.S. Border Patrol Agents from the Del Rio sector will be gathering for a split rein trail ride. It begins on Highway 90 East, outside Laughlin Air Force Base at 10:00 AM. Don’t have a horse? No problem— motor vehicles may also join the procession. The ride will end at the soccer fields by Wal Mart, and will be immediately followed by a meet & greet.
If nothing else, one can always find comfort in the phrase: “This too shall pass.” Attributed to various far eastern mystics and philosophers, the words were later used by Abraham Lincoln:
“It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: "And this, too, shall pass away." How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!”
Thanks for reading and subscribing. Be safe, be strong, and spread the love. And, feel free to visit the website at thecavalryman.substack.com for all of our past border crisis coverage.