[originally posted 9/10/2006]
Senator Hutchison,
I recently visited Ground Zero for the first time since the 9/11 attacks. I was most affected not by the lack of the towers but by the display of childrens paintings near the site. Two samples are included in this letter.
I wept out loud when I first saw these images. As a father of children aged three and six my job is to do everything humanly possible to protect my children from harm. The government is supposed to play the same role for its citizens. Failure to enforce current laws and thus allow, and even encourage, the open flow of illegal aliens from many nations into our country is a slap in the face to the founding fathers, our soldiers and our patriotic citizenry. Why isn’t our border being secured?
There WILL be another day like 9/11. To think that this is paranoia is blatant denial of an obvious truth. While officials meet to discuss what else citizens cannot carry onto a plane, people from middle-eastern countries that want to kill us (irregardless of our political affiliation) are entering our homeland unabated. They are planning their next attacks on our water supplies, sports arenas, shopping malls and office buildings.
How can you sleep at night knowing that when, not if, but WHEN the next disaster takes place that you have done nothing to make our nation safer? Do you realize the political, personal and legal wrath that awaits all currently elected politicians that will have American blood on their hands when the next 9/11 happens? I literally lose sleep thinking that there is NOTHING I can do as a citizen of a country whose government is supposedly OF the people, BY the people and FOR the people.
In March of this year you stated “We need to enhance security along the border and in the interior, but we also need comprehensive immigration reform.” Apparently it appears that the Senate views border security and amnesty as a single issue. This is NOT an immigration issue and should NOT be tied to amnesty or other Mexican-related topics. This is about NATIONAL SECURITY.
Why must bills be passed with strict dependencies on other topics? Current immigration laws are sufficient but our law keeping forces are not. On this you and your constituents agree. But, to ignore our porous border and suffer another attack while trying to figure out how to appease the Mexican population and those unpatriotic businesses that fuel the flow of illegal aliens would be analogous to a doctor ignoring a severed limb and trying to save the patient by offering him an aspirin and some water. The continuing flow of blood or illegal aliens will kill each victim.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE draft and pass legislation that secures our borders before we suffer the pain of another 9/11. It is not impossible, it is not difficult, and it is not a campaign issue. It is a matter of time, a matter of life and death. Let the citizens of other countries take a back seat for the time being and focus on the citizens that put you into office in the first place.
I just read an article by Stu Bykofsky at the Philadelphia News. The title: “To save America, we need another 9/11.”
Abrasive? C’mon… Stu is in friggin’ Philly.
Shocking? Perhaps.
Accurate? Damned straight.
Stu hit it out of the park, he hit the nail on the head, he <insert accuracy metaphor here>. I’ve been thinking the same thing for a couple of years. Americans these days are more concerned about the demise of a falling pop star or whether to choose Manning or Brady in their fantasy football draft than they are about whether or not Wall Street or the Pentagon get nuked.
Hell0? McFly? We are in the middle of a war!
While some politicians and energetic patriots (us loud talkers) are trying to secure our borders other Americans are getting their panties in a wad and are calling the efforts bigoted or racist. (Never mind the fact that 25% of those crossing our borders illegally are not even Latino.) While some are working to get our troops the equipment they need to fight and survive, others are forcing them to fight under ridiculous rules of engagement.
Political correctness. Catering to Islam. Arrogance. Conceit. Complacency. They are turning us into a sweet target… a fat, plump tomato at the peak of its ripeness. The longer the bad guys wait, the less we will care. Then it will happen. Maybe this time it will be a syncronized multi-city attack on our elementary schools. Maybe it will be a poisoned water supply in the heart of America. Maybe it will be the destruction of a nuclear reactor near a big city. I can think of dozens of ways to wreak havoc. But whatever they do, it will be effective, chaotic, and sadly, unexpected.
What happens next is easy to predict. Flags will get dusted off and propped up on cars and trucks. Politicians will call for togetherness while trying to avoid looking like opportunists. Passionate conservatives will gather up their ammunition and vow to secure their families and possessions. Passionate liberals will call for dialog and understanding. Some on the left will say that we deserve what we get, that we are the cause of the strife in the world. Some on the right will scream for a nuclear response. And a whole bunch of us will say “told you so.”
One thing is certain. When the next attack happens (and some think it will happen before the end of this year) there will be a significant rise in vigilantism and a serious increase in anti-Muslim sentiments. Local mosques will be destroyed; innocent Muslims will be killed by angry Americans frustrated that our leaders have been so incredibily ineffective for the past six years.
But for now we have to live with the stupidity of restrictions on liquid carry-on containers at airports and the need to remove our shoes before walking through a metal detector. We will have to live with the fact that we can’t offend Muslims by profiling. We will have to live with a wave of self-centered Latino pride that refuses to become American yet demands the rights of Americans. While Britain continues to capture terrorist thugs we will have to endure the mindless rantings of paranoid tinfoil hat wearers that refuse to even consider the benefits of increased video surveillance in our cities. No, no, no, we can’t piss off the ACLU or CAIR.
In other words, we will continue to live with our asses exposed to the world for anyone that hates us to kick us right where it counts. And I guess we will deserve it, but not because of our political views. We will deserve what we get because as a whole we are too damned worried about who Brittney is kissing or how much Lindsey Lohan had to drink. We are drunk on vapidity, and the only way to sober up is a nice warm cup of death at home.
[originally posted 9/10/2006]
Senator Hutchison,
I recently visited Ground Zero for the first time since the 9/11 attacks. I was most affected not by the lack of the towers but by the display of children’s paintings near the site. Two samples are included in this letter.
I wept out loud when I first saw these images. As a father of children aged three and six my job is to do everything humanly possible to protect my children from harm. The government is supposed to play the same role for its citizens. Failure to enforce current laws and thus allow, and even encourage, the open flow of illegal aliens from many nations into our country is a slap in the face to the founding fathers, our soldiers and our patriotic citizenry. Why isn’t our border being secured?
There WILL be another day like 9/11. To think that this is paranoia is blatant denial of an obvious truth. While officials meet to discuss what else citizens cannot carry onto a plane, people from middle-eastern countries that want to kill us (irregardless of our political affiliation) are entering our homeland unabated. They are planning their next attacks on our water supplies, sports arenas, shopping malls and office buildings.
How can you sleep at night knowing that when, not if, but WHEN the next disaster takes place that you have done nothing to make our nation safer? Do you realize the political, personal and legal wrath that awaits all currently elected politicians that will have American blood on their hands when the next 9/11 happens? I literally lose sleep thinking that there is NOTHING I can do as a citizen of a country whose government is supposedly OF the people, BY the people and FOR the people.
In March of this year you stated “We need to enhance security along the border and in the interior, but we also need comprehensive immigration reform.” Apparently it appears that the Senate views border security and amnesty as a single issue. This is NOT an immigration issue and should NOT be tied to amnesty or other Mexican-related topics. This is about NATIONAL SECURITY.
Why must bills be passed with strict dependencies on other topics? Current immigration laws are sufficient but our law keeping forces are not. On this you and your constituents agree. But, to ignore our porous border and suffer another attack while trying to figure out how to appease the Mexican population and those unpatriotic businesses that fuel the flow of illegal aliens would be analogous to a doctor ignoring a severed limb and trying to save the patient by offering him an aspirin and some water. The continuing flow of blood or illegal aliens will kill each victim.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE draft and pass legislation that secures our borders before we suffer the pain of another 9/11. It is not impossible, it is not difficult, and it is not a campaign issue. It is a matter of time, a matter of life and death. Let the citizens of other countries take a back seat for the time being and focus on the citizens that put you into office in the first place.
