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You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Open Thread: Militarizing the Border: “Say the President Was Confused”

Open Thread: Militarizing the Border: “Say the President Was Confused”

by Anne Laurie|  April 4, 20186:52 pm| 55 Comments

This post is in: Dolt 45, Immigration, Military, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Not Normal

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The best thing to come out of today was that the president was confused. @OutFrontCNN pic.twitter.com/QqsLFUetcX

— Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) April 4, 2018

May I state for the record: Go with your poll-tested Reagan Defense, claim the President is too far into Alzheimers to know what he’s talking about is not only definitive, it’s the most Massachusetts political commentary of the week…

Yesterday:

Trump appeared to promise to militarize the border, per pool report. "We are going to be guarding our border with our military. That's a big step."

— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) April 3, 2018

Breaking: Donald Trump Makes Mouth Noises
(I don't even know what this is supposed to mean)https://t.co/kyF2LbB4tk

— Dara Lind (@DLind) April 3, 2018

Grab ‘em by the posse comitatus. https://t.co/SeqrsuQEpE

— Seth Masket (@smotus) April 3, 2018

Today:

BREAKING: Trump administration: President working with governors on 'immediate' deployment of National Guard to US-Mexico border.

— The Associated Press (@AP) April 4, 2018

Per the Washington Post:

President Trump will sign a proclamation Wednesday sending National Guard troops to the southern border to ramp up security efforts, the administration announced, after days of warnings from the president about the dangers of illegal immigration.

The National Guard will be sent to assist Border Patrol agents until legislation is passed to close “loopholes” that the Trump administration says allow certain undocumented immigrants to stay in the country and the “catch-and-release” policy is ended, according to a person familiar with the expected White House proposal. Catch and release is a practice of releasing undocumented immigrants from custody while they await their hearings.

The troops will be in a support role, doing tasks such as road development and intelligence gathering, according to the person familiar with the plan who would discuss the unreleased details only on the condition of anonymity.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Trump will sign a proclamation Wednesday that will direct her department and the Pentagon to work with states to deploy the National Guard.

She declined to provide the number of troops that will be sent or other specifics about the plan, saying the administration plans to coordinate with governors of southern states on the border strategy.

“We hope to have the path forward very much specified in the very near future,” Nielsen said.

She said the hope is to begin the deployment immediately and that some troops could arrive at the border as soon as Wednesday night…

Earlier Wednesday, Trump teased the announcement on Twitter: “Our Border Laws are very weak while those of Mexico & Canada are very strong. Congress must change these Obama era, and other, laws NOW! The Democrats stand in our way — they want people to pour into our country unchecked….CRIME! We will be taking strong action today.”

Previous presidents, including Barack Obama and George W. Bush, have deployed National Guard personnel to provide backup to Border Patrol agents amid concerns about security and drug trafficking. In recent years, however, the number of people crossing illegally into the country has plummeted and is at its lowest level since 1971.

Info DHS Sec Nielsen does not have:
– How many National Guard troops will be deployed to border
– How long their deployment will last
– How much it will cost

— Jordan Fabian (@Jordanfabian) April 4, 2018

By this description, the military deployment Trump has ordered is basically what Bush and Obama did on temporary basis. Possibly smaller than what Bush did.

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 4, 2018

With announcement today, DHS seems to confirm @juliettekayyem was correct when she said Trump was confused about national guard v. military at the border. https://t.co/BwOAXpfmPv

— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) April 4, 2018


.

As ever: If it weren’t for hypocrisy, Repubs would have no shared values whatsoever!

Hey, remember that time @GregAbbott_TX sent the State Guard to spy on U.S. soldiers doing a routine exercise because he was so convinced Obama was going to impose martial law?

And now Trump literally just said he's going to impose martial law in Texas and… crickets? #txpol

— Matthew Chapman (@fawfulfan) April 3, 2018

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Reader Interactions

55Comments

  1. 1.

    Hungry Joe

    April 4, 2018 at 7:08 pm

    Most memorable line (for me, anyway) from “The Right Stuff.” It was repeated three or four times:

    Astronaut — any astronaut — to reporters, after Gus Grissom has made a comment: “I think what Gus is trying to say is … “

  2. 2.

    Corner Stone

    April 4, 2018 at 7:08 pm

    When Ilsa Nielsen speaks…click your boot heels together, Herr Governors.

  3. 3.

    Corner Stone

    April 4, 2018 at 7:12 pm

    Who is going to pay for this call-up?
    Where are they going to be housed?
    How will they be resupplied?
    Are they going to field arms inside our border?

  4. 4.

    ? Martin

    April 4, 2018 at 7:13 pm

    @Corner Stone: MEXICO!

    [rimshot]

  5. 5.

    clay

    April 4, 2018 at 7:14 pm

    White Presidents deploy the authors National Guard like this. Black Presidents deploy the National Guard LIKE THIS.

  6. 6.

    Major Major Major Major

    April 4, 2018 at 7:18 pm

    Morons gonna moron.

  7. 7.

    Zelma

    April 4, 2018 at 7:19 pm

    How happy do you think National Guard members are going to be about leaving jobs, home and family for this particular duty?

  8. 8.

    Cheryl Rofer

    April 4, 2018 at 7:21 pm

    Trump is calling the National Guard to the border because he is frightened of the “caravan” of refugees that Fox reported on.

  9. 9.

    geg6

    April 4, 2018 at 7:22 pm

    This will do wonders for NG recruiting and retention.

  10. 10.

    Jay

    April 4, 2018 at 7:23 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    “Who is going to pay for this call-up?”

    Who knows. Barring Federal Funding, the States who elect to agument with National Guardsment will have to foot the bill.

    “Where are they going to be housed?”

    Motel 6 because Senior Management is tight with ICE,

    “How will they be resupplied?”

    Taco Bell border runs.

    “Are they going to field arms inside our border?”

    Nope.

  11. 11.

    Major Major Major Major

    April 4, 2018 at 7:23 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: this is my understanding.

    See above…

  12. 12.

    bobbo

    April 4, 2018 at 7:24 pm

    I am not familiar with her work but Juliette Kayyem is really, really good.

  13. 13.

    Mnemosyne

    April 4, 2018 at 7:29 pm

    I’m telling you guys, Kirstjen Nielsen is John Kelly’s mistress. Make them deny it.

  14. 14.

    Fair Economist

    April 4, 2018 at 7:29 pm

    @geg6:

    This will do wonders for NG recruiting and retention.

    What? You don’t think people are just *dying* to march around in remote areas of the Southwestern deserts in the heat of summer?

    Now that I think about it, with Trumpians organizing, they might well be dying to do it – literally.

  15. 15.

    Kay

    April 4, 2018 at 7:31 pm

    So this is just the National Guard deployment that the last two Presidents did?

    You have to hand it to Trump. He gets wall to wall coverage of this bullshit every single time.

  16. 16.

    Jay

    April 4, 2018 at 7:33 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    Which is a “protest” Caravan that’s happened for years, get’s “broken up” in Mexico, and some people from the Caravan, make it as far as registered US Border crossings, where they turn themselves in and claim amnesty as refugees.

  17. 17.

    BC in Illinois

    April 4, 2018 at 7:35 pm

    I have heard, for perhaps the first time in my life, people discussing the 21st century application of the Third Amendment:

    No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

    It is said that much of the southern border is not open land or public land. It is private land. Since we are, as far as I can tell, not “in time of war,” can any landowner simply tell the soldiers to get off of his lawn?

  18. 18.

    ruemara

    April 4, 2018 at 7:36 pm

    It would be breaking news that the president was not confused.

  19. 19.

    Jay

    April 4, 2018 at 7:46 pm

    @Fair Economist:

    They arn’t going to be marching around the SouthWest in the heat.

    They, ( if Govorner’s sign up for it and funding get’s worked out) will be sitting in AC offices a cubicles, getting paper cuts and looking at maps.

  20. 20.

    Corner Stone

    April 4, 2018 at 7:48 pm

    @Fair Economist: South Texas in summer is actually quite delightful. Maybe not humping an AR, ammo and a stuffed rucksack, but delightful nonetheless. AZ is a full on bitch because for whatever reason, the UV/sun is much more intense and just fucks with you non-stop.

  21. 21.

    tamiasmin

    April 4, 2018 at 7:56 pm

    “In recent years, however, the number of people crossing illegally into the country has plummeted and is at its lowest level since 1971.”

    Yes now, right now, is the time to act. It’s a mergency, I tell you. MUST DO SOMETHING!

    And within a few days the C-in-C will claim credit for a decline that began while he was getting spanked by Stormy.

  22. 22.

    Tony Jay

    April 4, 2018 at 7:56 pm

    I’ve said it before and, look, I’m saying it again. Just advertise on Fox for brave, patriotic Americans to sign up for the White American Liberty Legion, charge them a couple of hundred dollars for their W.A.L.L. armband, then have a few hundred of them shuttled to the border for photo ops where they pose against rugged desert outcrops looking armed, fat and out of place.

    “President Trump has built his W.A.L.L.! You are the W.A.L.L.!’

    What could possibly go wrong?

  23. 23.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 4, 2018 at 7:57 pm

    @BC in Illinois: All Amendments Matter!

  24. 24.

    karen marie

    April 4, 2018 at 7:59 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I googled that and all I can say is “wow.”

    The guy who “shepherded” Nielsen through her confirmation hearing is a lobbyist for Panamanian interests, among others, with lots of lobbying of the Department of Homeland Security.

    I am starting to think the Trump administration motto is “If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.”

  25. 25.

    Jay

    April 4, 2018 at 8:03 pm

    @Tony Jay:

    There’s grifter groups that already do that. There’s not a lot of people willing to sign up, and it often ends in murder.

    You are better off setting up a PAC to target the Gullibillies. You don’t have to spend any of it on anything other than salaries, travel, perks and a nice office space.

  26. 26.

    hellslittlestangel

    April 4, 2018 at 8:04 pm

    Coming soon from the mouths of loyal Republicans (and all good Americans): We have always been at war with Mexico.

  27. 27.

    schrodingers_cat

    April 4, 2018 at 8:13 pm

    @Kay: The media including the lefty blogistan are like trained circus animals responding to the the tangerine clown.

  28. 28.

    TenguPhule

    April 4, 2018 at 8:13 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    How will they be resupplied?

    Live off the land?

  29. 29.

    mad citizen

    April 4, 2018 at 8:15 pm

    Hey lay off the Gus Grissom cuts–he’s a Hoosier hero, from Mitchell Indiana, Purdue graduate in Mechanical Engineering, WWII and Korean War pilot, etc.

    I enjoy the Right Stuff, though, great movie.

  30. 30.

    RSA

    April 4, 2018 at 8:16 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Where are they going to be housed?

    I’ve never before felt happy about the Third Amendment in the Bill of Rights.

  31. 31.

    mad citizen

    April 4, 2018 at 8:18 pm

    It really is a non-stop solid brown waste show. Today is a slow news day, and we have the trade war with China, and this National Guard to Mexico border nonsense.

  32. 32.

    Hungry Joe

    April 4, 2018 at 8:20 pm

    @mad citizen: I wasn’t trying to rag on Grissom — hey, i was born a Hoosier myself. It’s just a funny line, is all, and more than applicable to the Commander in Chief of He Doesn’t Have a Clue What.

  33. 33.

    Roger Moore

    April 4, 2018 at 8:21 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    South Texas in summer is actually quite delightful.

    I knew somebody who died of heatstroke photographing Big Bend NP, so I’m not 100% convinced.

  34. 34.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    April 4, 2018 at 8:31 pm

    @Corner Stone: It’s a dry heat.

  35. 35.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    April 4, 2018 at 8:43 pm

    Speaking of Posse Comitatus, when is it legal to deploy military units on American soil? Martial law and invasion by a foreign power?

  36. 36.

    mad citizen

    April 4, 2018 at 8:46 pm

    @Hungry Joe: No offense–I’m just kidding too. I was trying the interwebs to see if I could find evidence of Grissom’s smarts. Obviously he had something going along with balls of steel since he graduated Purdue. I sometimes think of these how these small town boys grow up, or grew up, and could handle advanced math, etc. in college. I went to a large high school in Fort Wayne, so had college prep classes, but what was the school like in Mitchell Indiana in the 1930s?

    They should show The RIght Stuff and From the Earth to the Moon to 4th or 5th graders to show them what our nation once achieved.

  37. 37.

    WhatsMyNym

    April 4, 2018 at 8:47 pm

    Barry Ritholtz covered the USPS problems in Bloomberg View (and on his website) today.

    Then there is the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA), which some have taken to calling “the most insane law” ever passed by Congress.

    Incidentally, the PAEA bars the Post Office from pricing parcel delivery below-cost.

  38. 38.

    Josie

    April 4, 2018 at 8:48 pm

    @Corner Stone: I beg to differ. I taught summer camps at a world birding center there for three summers. I can assure you that the heat was anything other than delightful. We finished at 1:00 p.m each day, and I was exhausted.

  39. 39.

    Jay

    April 4, 2018 at 8:52 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:

    It’s in the wiki links.

  40. 40.

    Jay

    April 4, 2018 at 8:53 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    And in the winter, a dry cold.

  41. 41.

    Miss Bianca

    April 4, 2018 at 9:01 pm

    @Jay: or would that be “Gullibullies”?

  42. 42.

    bemused senior

    April 4, 2018 at 9:03 pm

    Went on a road trip through the Southwest with my dear departed dog Toro in April. We camped at Big Bend National Park, and it was in the 90s. I was extremely glad I had brought a 5 gallon jerry-can of water. Can’t believe it would be “pleasant” in the summer.

  43. 43.

    Jay

    April 4, 2018 at 9:13 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    Gullibillies, they think they are tough, when it’s women and children, but when push comes to shove, they are like The Crying Nazi.

    They are dumb enough to donate money.

  44. 44.

    TenguPhule

    April 4, 2018 at 9:24 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:

    when is it legal to deploy military units on American soil? Martial law and invasion by a foreign power?

    Riot, insurrection, natural disaster, martial law during a state of emergency.

  45. 45.

    Corner Stone

    April 4, 2018 at 9:35 pm

    @Josie: I have been there many times, doing manual labor on a lease as well as camping/hiking, when it was 118F and higher. I found it quite peaceful, beautiful and exhilarating.
    I’ve been in Tucson, AZ at 115F + and Las Vegas at 125F and found both of them oppressive. I think LV because there is no shade and you go from 68F into the raw oven that is the outdoors. The sun in AZ is just brighter and more intense than anywhere else in the US I have been.

  46. 46.

    Hildebrand

    April 4, 2018 at 9:39 pm

    @Corner Stone: You are high. Lived for 10 years in Deep South Texas – mornings are humid as hell, the wind blows at gale force on most days, we hit 100 degrees for 90 straight days one summer (without a drop of rain), and AC runs at least 10 months a year. I do miss real fajita, though. Miss cheap avocados, too.

  47. 47.

    TenguPhule

    April 4, 2018 at 9:42 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    I have been there many times, doing manual labor on a lease as well as camping/hiking, when it was 118F and higher. I found it quite peaceful, beautiful and exhilarating.

    Well now we have confirmation that you’re completely insane.

    And also possibly a mutant turtle.

    :P

  48. 48.

    Corner Stone

    April 4, 2018 at 9:54 pm

    @TenguPhule: One of my best friends now lives in El Paso but used to live in Juarez and commuted daily between the two. Until his wife became pregnant he and I redefined “insane” with the stupid shit we got away with. His wife made him sell the bar he owned in Juarez after she was pregnant with their second child.

  49. 49.

    Ruckus

    April 4, 2018 at 10:22 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    Before all of that, where are they going to get the bodies? I know an NG member, he is going to Jordan, with his unit. We are so short of full time military that the NG is being used to shore up the military. The navy is short staffed. 15 yrs of war will do that to a country that wants to be everywhere but doesn’t understand that you have to do more than just pass a budget.

  50. 50.

    J R in WV

    April 4, 2018 at 11:25 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    South Texas in summer is actually quite delightful.

    You may need medical care, immediately. No place in Texas is delightful in the summer. No, really, nowhere. I’ve been there at all times of year. The hill country is nice on warmer winter days, but in the summer? Just nope.

  51. 51.

    jimmiraybob

    April 4, 2018 at 11:42 pm

    I’m guessing that they – the Guard – will mostly be spreading the gospel of freedom (and paychecks) in small towns and crossroads with liquor stores and cantinas. I’m also guessing that working women across the southwest are initiating a mobilization of their own. I’m patenting and/or trade marking “Spring Break Border Wall” – call me MTV. I may sign up. I know a couple of places in So. AZ that I wouldn’t mind seeing again.

  52. 52.

    Tehanu

    April 4, 2018 at 11:49 pm

    I think Dump should volunteer for “wall” duty himself. The size and smell of his ginormous ass ought to stop at least a couple of border-crossers, dontcha think?

  53. 53.

    m.j.

    April 5, 2018 at 4:40 am

    I really hate the phrase catch and release.

    These are people, not animals.

  54. 54.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    April 5, 2018 at 9:31 am

    I am sure Jerry Brown will be happy to activate the California National Guard to sooth Trump’s night terrors over illegal alien caravans.

  55. 55.

    lumpkin

    April 5, 2018 at 11:19 am

    @Corner Stone:

    Hottest temperature ever in Las Vegas is 117.

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