◼ Obama had resisted the meeting with Perry, as he resisted visiting the border along the Rio Grande. In Dallas and Austin for big-buck fundraisers with his conspicuously wealthy friends, Obama was ultimately shamed into the meeting. Given Obama’s stubbornness and vanity, the meeting signified the White House’s perception of the weight of the moment. - Scott Johnson/Powerline
◼ Disorder at the Border: What Obama wrought. - Scott Johnson/Weekly Standard
Watching the influx of unaccompanied minors crossing our southwestern border daily, a reasonable man could conclude that we are living out the fevered dreams of a dystopian novel. The United States has lost a basic aspect of sovereignty. Control over its borders is a relic of the past....
Many Americans are deeply disturbed by the “situation.” They resent the expenditure of resources and the appropriation of facilities for the detention of the minors. They fear the public health consequences of their dispersion, with reports reliably indicating, despite attempts to suppress the information, the presence of tuberculosis and other unwelcome conditions among them. They also suspect that the president of the United States supports the situation....
Scheduled to attend a couple of big-buck Democratic fundraisers last week in Dallas and Austin, within shouting distance of the border, Obama declined to take a look at what’s going on with his own eyes. A White House spokesman explained that Obama already had a good grasp of the “situation,” while the president himself declared, “I’m not interested in photo-ops. I’m interested in solving the problem.” Even some Democrats didn’t buy it. “Don’t take any cameras, Mr. President, but go down there and see what we’re facing,” Texas congressman Henry Cuellar said on CNN, calling it Obama’s “Katrina moment.”
Obama was ultimately shamed into holding a couple of meetings before he flew off to a fundraiser at the home of Machete director Robert Rodriguez, where donors paid up to $32,400 to hobnob with the president and Hollywood celebrities. After the talks, which included Texas governor Rick Perry, Obama made a brief statement, arguing for “comprehensive immigration reform” and the $3.7 billion he’s requested, and filibustered responses to two questions. He said that Governor Perry had asked him to deploy the National Guard at the border, conceded that it made sense, but opposed it as a “temporary” measure. He blamed Republicans for the crisis, deriding them as opponents of negotiation and compromise. Calling his claims straw men is an insult to straw men everywhere, but the metaphor is apt. Obama’s straw men are the only force that will be deployed at the border, and they are inviting people to come on in.
◼ Why Obama won't take strong action in border crisis - Byron York/Washington Examiner @ByronYork
Does President Obama want to solve the border crisis? It depends on what the meaning of "solve" is....
