First, the PSA: MoveOn sent me an email, soliciting funds for KIND.org — Kids in Need of Defense. So if the antics of Guv Goodhair and his media enablers infuriate you, there’s an outlet for you.
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Because nobody welcomes the Second Gilded Age as much as our Very Serious media betters and their financiers, Rick Perry’s latest publicity stunt for his emerging 2016 presidential campaign has largely been reported in terms of the optics, not the law. Here’s the NYTimes:
Texas Governor Bolsters Border, and His Profile
Gov. Rick Perry of Texas on Monday ordered 1,000 National Guard troops to the border with Mexico, seizing on a get-tough immigration message that foreshadows the approach to the current crisis by his party in Congress and that could position him in another bid for the Republican presidential nomination.Mr. Perry announced the move at the Texas Capitol, but many of the intended recipients were far away from here: members of Congress in Washington, including those who are fighting with President Obama; potential migrants in Central America who are contemplating a dangerous journey to the United States; and presidential caucus voters in Iowa, where Mr. Perry visited again over the weekend…
Of course, as the cynics at NYMag report, Perry and his GOP cronies intend to get the rest of us to pay for his partisan showboating:
This show of force will cost Texas taxpayers about $12 million a month, but don’t worry — Perry wants the federal government to reimburse him for his trouble. (“Texans are willing to put boots on the ground, but we expect Washington to foot the bill,” state attorney general Greg Abbott said.)
The saddest part of Perry’s elaborate 2016 campaign scheme is that National Guard troops won’t actually deter most of these migrants. (The National Guard troops already present at the border don’t actually perform arrests.)…
Even the New Yorker‘s limp conventional-wisdom “comedian” Andy Borowitz can’t be bothered to take Perry seriously: Perry Boosts Presidential Stature by Using Troops for No Reason.
Video up above (even Fox New’s Brit Hume can’t understand the gibberish coming out of Perry’s piehole) courtesy Heather Digby Parton, who finishes her report:
Oh, and by the way, as we watch the Republicans get more and more worked up about this alleged horde of diseased child invaders, here’s a little something to keep in mind:
While the number of unaccompanied youth crossing the border has doubled to nearly 60,000 in the past year, the total number of undocumented immigrants has mostly declined. About 1 million people have been caught crossing the border nearly every year between 1983 until 2006, but that number has dropped to about 400,000 in 2013.
That’s your immigration “crisis” for you. It’s right up there with fluoridation in the water and Cliven Bundy’s unpaid cattle fees on a list of important national concerns. Why, you’d almost think these conservative politicians and media celebrities are looking for something to gin up their gullible base for completely cynical political reasons.
Open Thread: Rick Perry, Showboating PutzPost + Comments (75)