Today NPR interviewed Brandon Judd, a Trump-loving Border Patrol union leader who is feeling mighty aggrieved that people are comparing his agents to Nazis or the Gestapo. Judd's level of self-awareness is very low and I expect his level of historical awareness is even lower, but the more accurate comparison would be to the Milice, the Vichy militia who rounded of Jewish children on behalf of the Germans.
They were, as Jeff Sessions would put it, serving the cause order and law and authority. And once they loaded the children onto the trains to the east it was none of their business what happened.
I could go on and on about gleichschaltung but nothing that I could say makes the point as eloquently as fervently and as evilly Brandon Judd makes it:
BRANDON JUDD: What we're doing is we're prosecuting these individuals. And we do separate them for a very, very short amount of time. It's not this separation that people are thinking weeks, months, even years. That's just not...
KELLY: To be clear, this is when people just cross the border, Border Patrol...
JUDD: Correct.
KELLY: ...You're talking about a period of a few hours.
JUDD: Correct.
KELLY: They might then go into the custody of other federal agencies, which are longer-term detention.
JUDD: Yes, if they go into the custody of other federal agencies, there could be a separation that's a little bit longer, but that percentage is small because we just don't have the facilities to hold very many people. So the zero tolerance, when people hear the zero tolerance, you would think that we're prosecuting 100 percent of the people that are crossing the border.
And that's not true. In fact, we're prosecuting between 10 and 20 percent of the people that cross border. So technically...
KELLY: But hang on, that's the whole point of the zero-tolerance crackdown is that everybody crossing the border illegally is supposed to be getting prosecuted. You're saying that's not happening?
JUDD: That's not even close to happening. With that small number of prosecutions, you're hoping to drive the numbers back down. And if you drive the numbers back down, then we'll have the resources to prosecute 100 percent.
KELLY: But help me square two facts. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen have said U.S. policy going forward is anyone who crosses the border illegally will be prosecuted. You're telling me that's not happening, that's a tiny fraction that's actually being prosecuted.
JUDD: It is a tiny fraction. They're hoping...
KELLY: Why? What's...
JUDD: We just don't have the resources. Just in one station, one station alone, we're arresting about 200 people that cross the border illegally per day. We've got over 150 stations in the United States. We just don't have the resources.
KELLY: Let me ask you about the direct consequence of this Trump administration policy, which is families being separated at the border. Have you heard from any members who are uncomfortable with that policy?
JUDD: No, because again, the Border Patrol agents, we're not separating families. We've been called the Gestapo. We've been called Nazis. I mean, we've been called everything in the media. The fact of the matter is as Border Patrol agents, we are not separating families, except for a few hours for them to go see a magistrate or in extreme cases
, , ,
JUDD: OK. I can't speak to what ICE does. The Border Patrol agents are not separating families from children. When we do, it's for a couple hours. What happens with ICE after that, I don't know.
The link to NPR is not working, Harry.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Harry, I think you finally got some of your analogies right.
ReplyDeleteTrump admin is sure more like the incompetent racist Vichy France than Nazi Germany.
Or can you envisage a Nazi officer in the duty line directly contradicting the statements of the Fuhrer to the press?
"Look, our zero tolerance is actually 80% tolerance, but we can't tell you guys, least the animals find out and keep crossing!"
Although at first some responses indicated that readers thought this was over-the-top, I don't suppose that now anyone will deny that the top of the American government is being completely nazified.
ReplyDeleteAs is your wont, your rabid, spittle flecked, hatred has made you immune to facts and reason.
Trump is enforcing long standing laws and court decisions. (Which you won't read, because a vampires hatred of the sun has nothing on your distaste for facts.)
And you will also refuse to learn anything from this.
What has been glaring in its absence is responsible journalists (or RtO) at least asking Democrats these questions:
(1) How is Trump's policy different from the policies of GW Bush and Obama?
(2) What do you suggest as a practical solution?
(3) What does current law dictate? What specific legislative changes have you proposed?
(4) In what ways are illegal immigrants treated differently from US citizens who commit crimes?
But it is so much easier to fling "nazi" with all the discretion of an incontinent goose, isn't it?
I think this works:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.npr.org/2018/06/19/621578853/border-patrol-official-discusses-family-separation-policy
I wrote this post late, went to bed and woke up to find the administration spitting in Skipper's eye.
Will this be the breaking point? Will the alliance of nazis and evangelicals prove to be incompatible?
I am not hopeful but it's the internal fights that destroy unprincipled movements.
Yes, Harry, suddenly, per their own talking points up to yesterday, the Trump admin is grossly flaunting the Law with his last Executive Order.
ReplyDeleteI suggest they should impeach him.
BTW, I don't buy the myth of the superefficient nazis. Hitler was a hands-off manager, like Trump, and his acolytes were a vicious pack of backstabbers, like Trump's.
ReplyDeleteFuhrerprinzip was and remains much more a matter of emperor-worship than an alternative way of organizing a government.
Harry
DeleteHitler was not particularly smart or competent, but the society he led was, and still is.
I wrote this post late, went to bed and woke up to find the administration spitting in Skipper's eye.
ReplyDeleteIf there was ever a perfect example of how vile progressives are, that, right there, is it.
What has been glaring in its absence is responsible journalists (or RtO) at least asking Democrats these questions:
(1) How is Trump's policy different from the policies of GW Bush and Obama?
(2) What do you suggest as a practical solution?
(3) What does current law dictate? What specific legislative changes have you proposed?
(4) In what ways are illegal immigrants treated differently from US citizens who commit crimes?
But it is so much easier to fling "nazi" with all the discretion of an incontinent goose, isn't it?
According to you, Harry, Trump is a nazi for enforcing laws passed by previous administrations, then accommodating public opinion because Congress (i.e., the Democrats) can't be fussed to deal with a situation of their own making.
Yes, Harry, suddenly, per their own talking points up to yesterday, the Trump admin is grossly flaunting the Law with his last Executive Order.
Yes, Trump is, and he has acknowledged exactly that.
Which means Harry (and you, but since your aren't a US citizen, much more forgivably) is either ignorant, or mendacious.
How about I embrace the power of "and".
Trump enforces the law. Contradiction ensues. Congress (Democrats) refuse to address the contradiction. Trump is obliged to enforce the law. Now what?
Harry won't read this, because his superpower is allergy to facts, but you should.
Skipper,
ReplyDelete"Which means Harry (and you, but since your aren't a US citizen, much more forgivably) is either ignorant, or mendacious."
Do you really want to go there? Last time you wanted to make it personal, you couldn't take it. Better to go back to civil discourse, or you will need to run away for mom for a longer time after we are finished...
If you can't address these issues:
ReplyDelete(1) How is Trump's policy different from the policies of GW Bush and Obama?
(2) What do you suggest as a practical solution?
(3) What does current law dictate? What specific legislative changes have you proposed?
(4) In what ways are illegal immigrants treated differently from US citizens who commit crimes?
Then you are ignorant about what is going on. That is not an insult, BTW. All of use are ignorant about almost everything. And since you don't have a dog in the fight, your ignorance would be completely rational.
Last time you wanted to make it personal, you couldn't take it.
I never made it personal; you were the one who provided insults where arguments belong. I'll be happy to provide direct quotes if your memory fails you.
Skipper,
ReplyDelete"1) How is Trump's policy different from the policies of GW Bush and Obama?"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/06/19/the-facts-about-trumps-policy-of-separating-families-at-the-border/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.2b497442ded7
"(2) What do you suggest as a practical solution?"
Build a Wall. We need to protect those children from barbarians such as you, who are unfit to get anywhere near them.
"(3) What does current law dictate? What specific legislative changes have you proposed?"
Current law *does not require* separation of families. It may allow for it, but does not impose it upon the administration, as Trump EO just proved (as well as the previous 15 years of previous policies).
"(4) In what ways are illegal immigrants treated differently from US citizens who commit crimes?"
To enter illegally in the US the first time is a misdemeanor, not a full crime. US citizens who commit crimes - as opposed to misdemeanors - go to jail after full proceedings in a court of law. Those illegal immigrants are losing their children by fiat, before any such proceedings are finished, and without time and resources (other parent, family, etc) to give them support to take the children in a safe environment.
"Then you are ignorant about what is going on. That is not an insult, BTW."
It sure is. You hit and run, for you are not man enough to own it up.
"I never made it personal; you were the one who provided insults where arguments belong."
You are often using lower language to address both Harry and myself, while posing as the Socratic arbiter. Until you can't take the heat and goes home to cry for mamma.