Children In Cages

Children in cages.  Three simple words.  Three simple words that should be enough to cut through all the clutter.  To cut through the breathless talking heads, the purported policies and laws, the unconfirmed audio, and, if it is your cup of tea (party), the "fake news."  Three simple words that should make us, all of us, wonder what the hell is going on in this country we all claim to love.  Though, there were moments and simple words that previously should have been enough.  Grab 'em by the pussy.  Mocking a disabled reporter.  "Many sides" and "good people" in Charlottesville.  Endorsing Roy Moore.  Lie after lie with some untruths mixed in for variety.  Exhibits A through Z of evidence proving that Donald Trump's supporters, flattering Fox News  flunkies, and spineless Congressional Republicans are with him no matter the fuckery he trots out.  The blind loyalty somehow remains both astonishing and unsurprising. 


Back to today's issue.  (Which I assume is still the most recent forehead-slapping thing I need to worry about.  But I haven't been on Twitter in like five minutes, so who knows.)  There's no doubt we need immigration reform.   However, this zero-tolerance garbage is more like zero-compassion.  I've heard a bunch of arguments today from our President, from his administration, from his staff pundits at Fox News, and from friends and family defending separating kids from their parents.  Some of them are good; almost as good as PizzaGate and Birthers.  Let's check in on the latest. 


They're illegal!
Yes, some of the refugees are illegally crossing the border.  Deal with them accordingly.  But what about those showing up, at the proper designated ports of entry, willfully turning themselves in to seek asylum?  Do they not deserve to have their cases heard in a timely manner?  Can't we find a way to keep their families intact in decent living conditions while the legitimacy of their requests are considered? 


The holding facilities are like summer camps.
Laura Ingraham, to what kind of summer camps are you sending your kids?  Doggie day care?
Of course, I could be wrong. I am woefully out of style.  Maybe mylar blankets will be the next fidget spinners or Hatchimals dotting every kid's Christmas list this fall.


President Trump's hands are tied by a Clinton-era law.
Show me the law.  Seriously, point to it, send me a link, show me. And, no, the meme Uncle Don't Tread On Me just posted on his wall doesn't count.


The policy is a deterrent.
No, it's not.  It is a cruel, base-pandering, fear-mongering, brown people-punishing, fulfillment of a campaign promise.  And, if what you say is true, that migrants/refugees/animals/breeders/ insert-callous-word-Trump-has-used-here are indeed still flooding the borders, then this really isn't such
a hot deterrent after all, eh little chum?


Obummer (look at how clever you are) separated families, too.
Yep, and that was shitty, as well.  And protested. No, it did not get major media publicity.  I'm not here to debate the hypocrisy of the media; that ground is pretty well tread.  Obama also didn't send his Attorney General out like the town crier declaring war on refugee kids.  Damn, now I can't shake the image of tiny, elfin Jeff Sessions struggling to drag around his "Down with The Brown" sandwich board. Here's the thing, though.  Donald Trump has spent the first eighteen months of his presidency trying to dismantle every single policy enacted by Barack Obama.  But this one, splitting toddlers from their parents, putting boys on lockdown behind chain link in a refurbished Wal-Mart, this is the predecessor's policy that you leave in place?  Whatever, man.


Uh, if you don't want to lose your child, don't bring them here. 
Holy shit, listen to yourself!


So here we are, unable to move on to important matters like establishing a Space Force because I have to rage against children in cages.  Fortunately, others have taken up the cry.  SOME religious leaders, SOME Republicans, SOME  Trump voters.  But not enough.  It is not enough until ALL of us call for a better way.  It's not hard to do the right thing.  Sometimes all we need is a simple reminder.  Three simple words.  Children in cages.