If you won't help fix the problem, just blame "Joe Biden's 'open borders' policy"
Because Republicans are too lazy and cynical to participate in finding a solution, they're going to run their campaigns on the "problem"
Sometimes, when I’m looking for inspiration, I’ll scroll around (and occasionally troll people) on Truth Social. It doesn’t always work, but every now and again, I come up with something that smacks me across the face. And so it was with this graphic evidence of selective outrage.
Don’t get me wrong; the murder of Laken Riley was a tragic event…that had absolutely nothing to do with who happens to be sitting behind the Resolute desk in the Oval Office. Despite some Republicans being determined to make Ms. Riley’s murder an issue during President Biden’s SOTU (they even invited her parents to sit in the House gallery- WHAT exploitation??), their efforts at showmanship failed. The President turned the tables on them, pointing out that he knows what it’s like to lose a child.
My immediate reaction was one of disgust that Republicans would exploit the murder of ONE YOUNG WOMAN so egregiously, even as they pointedly ignore the deaths of THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS during mass shootings.
As I did my research for this newsletter, I was struck by the number of Conservative voices who were willing to lay Ms. Riley’s murder directly at President Biden’s feet. No evidence was given, no thought undertaken, just “JOE BIDEN DID THIS!!!” Well, no, that’s not at all how this works…and no matter how hermetically an American government may seal its border, someone determined to sneak into the country will do so.
After all, we should remember that the US-Canada border, at 5,525 miles, is the longest undefended border in the world. To call it porous would be something of an understatement. It cuts across lakes, forests, and towns. It also connects eight Canadian provinces and 13 American states. One could easily walk across it in many places without being detected. Many do.
But, Canadians are overwhelmingly Caucasian and so our northern border is barely an afterthought to those who demand our borders be sealed.
No, that’s not Joe Biden’s fault. The border was a problem when Donald Trump was President, just as it was for most Presidents before him.
That said,
still cynically and wrongly insists that Laken Riley’s murder is Joe Biden’s fault. I can’t help but wonder if she would’ve assigned the same blame to Donald Trump if Ms. Riley had been murdered during Trump’s term in office.The cynic in me says she would’ve found a way to argue otherwise…and I don’t think I’m wrong on that count.
Laken Hope Riley was murdered last week in broad daylight by an illegal from Venezuela who crossed the border on Joe Biden's watch. Biden waited days to respond then laughed and ate ice cream.
Seriously? Is she really going to be that cynical about it? Can’t a President enjoy an ice cream cone without it being mined and twisted for symbolism?
Then again, when you hate a President (and Democrats) just that much, you’ll use just about anything to feet that animus.
To say what happened to Laken Hope Riley is a parent’s worst nightmare is an understatement. No tragedy in life compares to losing a child under any circumstances but to know the last face your beautiful daughter saw was that of a monster who never should’ve been in the country adds a layer of pain one cannot begin to imagine.
Americans share the grief of the parents, sister, and friends of Laken, murdered while on a jog near the campus of the University of Georgia last Thursday. The 22-year-old nursing student presumably believed she could go for a run in broad daylight in a relatively safe community without fear of losing her life in the process; what she didn’t realize at the time is how Joe Biden’s open borders policy threatens the safety of every American regardless of where we live, work, study, or exercise.
I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to concede Kelly’s point that losing a child is a parent’s worst nightmare. I’m not a parent, so I can’t speak to the depth of that pain and grief, but I’m always suspicious of anyone who presumes to speak for America. So when she says, “Americans share the grief….” well, my radar goes up.
Because she doesn’t speak for America, nor can she presume to believe she has that authority.
NO ONE speaks for a country of more than 330 million people, with the possible exception of the President.
What Kelly won’t tell you is that, per data from
and , the crime rate among migrants is actually lower than among good, God-fearing White folks. Of course, that would run counter to her narrative, which would be WAY inconvenient.No, “Joe Biden’s open borders policy” isn’t, in fact, an open borders policy, nor does it threaten “the safety of every American regardless of where we live, work, study, or exercise.”
Drama much??
Republicans including Georgia Governor Brian Kemp immediately blamed Laken’s murder on the Biden administration’s reckless approach, or lack thereof, to illegal immigration. “While the dangers of this crisis have never been theoretical, this week our state witnessed a devastating tragedy,” Kemp wrote to Biden on February 24, two days after law enforcement authorities found Laken’s body in a forested area near the intramural fields of the University of Georgia after her roommates called police concerned she had not returned from her morning jog. Kemp reminded Biden of his requests for data related to Biden’s asylum policies.
“Frankly, Mr. President, your silence on these reasonable requests is outrageous,” Kemp continued.
But Biden wasn’t just silent on inquiries by Kemp and other governors seeking information on the impact of the more than nine million illegals who have crossed the southern border since Biden took office. Biden, who never misses an opportunity to discuss—and often lie—about the circumstances of the untimely and tragic death of his son, Beau, remained silent throughout the weekend as the public expressed outrage and heartbreak over Laken’s murder.
Here’s what I truly don’t understand about Conservatives like Julie Kelly- the willingness to get deeply personal and downright nasty in the attempts to take down Joe Biden.
Stating that the President, “never misses an opportunity to discuss—and often lie—about the circumstances of the untimely and tragic death of his son, Beau….” OK…wait just a damned minute. If anyone would know about the circumstances of his son’s death from cancer, it would be Joe Biden, who, after all, wrote a book about his son’s death.
That’s a profoundly cheap and dirty shot on Kelly’s part…but, when you hate Joe Biden with the white hot passion of a thousand burning suns, I suppose no wound is beyond pouring salt into, eh?
Kelly expects the President to extend condolences to Ms. Riley’s family, but what about the families of the thousands of victims of mass shootings? Are they somehow unworthy of the same concern? Or do they not conveniently fit Ms. Kelly’s political agenda the way Laken Riley does? Because this has nothing to do with Ms. Riley or sympathy for her family, does it? Julie Kelly, like pretty much every other MAGA Republican out there, is looking for a way- ANY way to embarrass Joe Biden.
If it takes exploiting the tragic murder of a young woman, so be it.
Stay classy….
As if Republicans are out to recreate the days of using Willie Horton to exploit White America’s “fear of a Black planet,”
discusses how the GOP is the same hateful, racist, fear-mongering party it always was. It’s still “motivating its base with prejudice and fear based and lies and distortions.”Same as it always was.
If you can persuade ‘em with logic and facts, bludgeon with fear, bullshit, and racism. And don’t skimp on the racism.
Republicans have latched onto the tragic murder of Laken Riley, a nursing student in Georgia, to imply that all immigrants are dangerous and a threat to our families. Just like the Willie Horton ad blamed Michael Dukakis, Republican ads are blaming Biden for Riley’s death because her killer was an undocumented immigrant. The tag line of the latest reads, “How many killers has Biden set free?”
The ad is misleading and exploitive, but it’s meant to incite prejudice and fear. Numerous studies, including one from the conservative Cato Institute, show that immigrants are much less like to commit crimes than native-born citizens. The Cato study said, “The illegal immigrant criminal conviction rate was 45 percent below that of native‐born Americans in Texas.” Republicans are creating fear from lies and disinformation.
Sure, the ad is misleading and exploitive, because Republicans always revert to type when they feel things slipping away. It’s like they have no idea how to appeal to America’s better angels, and so they don’t bother. Like their Dear Leader, they believe America is a dark and evil place, overrun by criminals and those who’d destroy them if given half a chance.
What they don’t (or refuse to) realize is the one very basic truth about America- that we are a nation of immigrants. Without immigrants, this would be a very different and far less vibrant and successful country.
Immigrants are crucial to our economy and essential to who we are as a country. They provide the labor to fuel our rapidly growing economy and the innovation and motivation to create new jobs. They not only are mostly law-abiding, they are continuing the American story of building the most successful and diverse country in history.
The people supporting large scale deportations are an angry, loud, and largely ignorant minority. They are the racists that the GOP will incite and cultivate as voters. Fear and bigotry are the tools of the Republican Party and have been throughout my life. Now, they are ramping up for November. Don’t believe a word they say.
So, no, immigrants aren’t the problem, nor is Joe Biden’s “open borders” policy- especially since the Biden Administration has continued many of his predecessors’ immigration policies.
The problem is that Republicans hypocritically refuse to participate in finding a solution to the problem. This is so Donald Trump can run on the problem Republicans have helped to create and continue blaming Joe Biden for not “fixing” it.
It doesn’t get much more evil and cynical than that….
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