WTF!
I just don't know anymore. I can't get a handle on all of the misinformation that is being passed out as truth. But now, I am not only seeing it from online, made up, targeted videos to my algorithm, but I am hearing it from people that I normally would have thought of as intelligent, reasonable individuals.
I know there is debate out there on who was the worst, Biden, Trump, Obama, Bush, etc., and honestly, depending on what particular policy you are talking about, there are valid reasons for choosing any one of them. But here is my take on what I am hearing:
Did Biden drop the ball on border security? I think the statistics would say, for the most part, yes. Up until 2023, more than 2.4 million people illegally crossed the border into the U.S. That is roughly the entire number of those deported under Obama. Under Trump’s first term, about 1.5 million were deported.
Yet you hear from each side how ineffective each administration has been. I heard a conservative pundit yesterday say that Trump is doing more than Obama did... it is just not a verifiable stat.
Now I am not criticizing the administration's policy. I think that getting rid of the worst of the worst is exactly what we should be doing. I would be surprised if not everyone agreed with that. But when I hear someone say (metaphorically) that you have to crack a few eggs to make an omelet... I have to draw the line.
When someone says an illegal immigrant raped and killed someone, and if they had not been here that would not have happened. Yes, without a doubt! But that does not make the tactics being used acceptable.
I mean, if you want to use the situation to bolster your support for going through neighborhoods profiling everyone that looks like an immigrant, then what do you say for the American citizen that is still out there that has committed a similar crime?
Let's see what available data has to say about that. Texas is one of the few states that tracks data from immigrants, both legal and illegal. And what we "know," not what I am trying to convince you of, is that based on the Texas data is that more U.S.-born citizens are consistently in the higher percentages for violent crimes, with legal immigrants falling in second and undocumented immigrants having the lowest rate of violent offenders. Don't take my word for it, look it up.
There hasn't been one mass school shooting that was by an undocumented resident. Don't get me wrong, I am not minimizing the crimes of those that might be coming over the border illegally, but I want some common sense discussion on the totality of violence in America. It is a problem in our society today, and I know in my heart that there are many factors that contribute to it. Society in general is seeing a decline in decorum. Respect is largely out the window when it comes to peaceful discourse, and when it comes to who is at fault in places like Minneapolis, it is multi-faceted.
Should a peaceful protester bring a gun to a protest? They have a right to, but common sense says it is not the smartest thing to do. Why? Because you never know how you might be perceived by others. Should an ICE or Border agent shove people to the ground just because they are being filmed, or should they shove someone into oncoming traffic? Of course not, but what I believe is that not all protesters are law-abiding and not all ICE and Border agents are thugs.
I would also like to see us quit comparing this president to that president, this demonstrator to that one, or this ICE situation to that ICE situation. We need to look at every situation as unique.
We all felt sorry about Alex Pretti, then video emerges of him spitting and kicking a patrol car. Some said, "see! he's not the sweet guy you thought," as if to say he then deserved to have 10 shots fired at him while he lay prone, unarmed on the ground.
1st Amendment? Yes, we have the right, but what we choose to say should be self-edited so as not to be filled with algorithmic inaccuracies.
I am much more willing to hear an opposing viewpoint when they are articulated with clean facts and not through the lens of rhetoric.
All our awareness is heightened, and it is our desire to be heard more than our desire to be accurate that is filtering through.
Let's all take a breath. Admit that both sides could do better and have a dialogue that promotes those conversations.
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