Menu Bar

Home           Calendar           Topics          Just Charlestown          About Us

Sunday, August 23, 2015

VIDEO: Ben Carson’s Immigration Solution


Ben Carson was in Arizona on last Wednesday to chat with Tea Party darling and Pinal County Sheriff, Paul Babeu. The two spent the morning touring the border and discussing how to deal with smuggling and what they call “illegals.” The tour included a helicopter ride — something I assume Carson did not get from Trump at the Iowa State Fair this past weekend.



Carson held a rally in Phoenix on Tuesday night, drawing some 6,000 GOP voters. Not bad, really, reflecting Carson’s standing as the third most popular of the GOP clown car hopefuls. His campaign puts that down to Carson’s performance in the GOP debate. Okay. If that’s what they need to tell themselves.

Carson addressed the issue of immigration at the rally, saying that the “overwhelming majority” of Americans want the Mexican border secured and immigration laws enforced. Something that is already happening. But let’s not let facts interfere with some red-meat rhetoric:


“… several administrations recently have been unwilling to get tough on this issue because they do not want to alienate a large voting block of Latinos. This is yet another area where our government’s leadership and the wishes of many of the people diverge and the people are being ignored.”
On Wednesday, as Carson toured with Sheriff Babeu, a comment he made at the rally — that he would be open to the idea of drone strikes to combat illegal immigration along the Mexican border — came back to haunt him. This struck reporter Dennis Welch as “a little over the top,” and he directed that at Carson, wondering if we should even “entertain the idea.” Carson replied:
“You can entertain all kinds of things. Here’s the take-home point: The take-home point is that we have excellent military leaders and we need to employ their expertise because this is a war we are fighting. That’s the bottom line.”
Carson went on, according to Welch, who tweeted the rest:
“You look at some of these caves and things out there one drone strike, boom, and they’d gone.”
Sure. Let’s use the military to attack those who cross the border illegally. What kind of insane policy is that? Carson should learn something about the topic before he goes around waving drones at the problem. Mexicans make up barely half of unauthorized immigrants, according to Pew Research. Read a website.

It is doubtful that calling in the military would be a good idea to deal with the drug cartels and smuggling, either. Too many civilians would be caught in the bombing. You want to stop the drug smuggling? Reform U.S. drug laws. Duh.

And bombing “caves and things?” In the desert Southwest? Archaeological treasures live in those “caves and things.” Those “caves and things” are very near Southwest reservations. Oh, good idea. What could possibly go wrong?

Carson, like almost every other GOP candidate, is parroting Donald Trump and his ridiculous ideas on immigration. But, hey, it plays to the base. The xenophobic, other-blaming, ignorant base.

So, go ahead and let your mouth run with your brain on stand-by, Dr. Carson. It seems to be working, sadly.

Author T. Steelman: A lifelong Liberal, I have been writing about politics for over 20 years, half of that time online. While I'm a policy wonk and interested in all aspects of politics, my focus is on religion, especially issues of religious freedom since I am a Wiccan. Though I do try to keep it in check, my sarcasm gets off of its leash -- more and more often nowadays. I enjoy reading, making jewelry, Prog Rock and etymology. I share my home with my husband, daughter, 2 cats and a small herd of alpacas. "If the future's looking dark, we're the ones who have to shine..."