Column: Deflecting blame in America

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My friends may disagree, but I don’t believe I am any grumpier today than I was 20 years ago.

Still, as I age, I find more and more things that drive me nuts.

Here are a few of my least favorite things:

  • Bad cable, satellite TV and internet connections;
  • That really, really, really long stoplight at at Harding Way East and Columbus Street in Galion;
  • Shoppers who appear to be completely lost when it comes time to pay for groceries in front of me at Meijer;
  • Those in the drive-thru at McDonald’s who take five minutes to read the menu before placing their order for an Egg McMuffin and a cup of coffee;
  • Rounds of golf that take longer than four hours;
  • CNN and MSNBC.
  • And hypocrites, or politicians, which anymore are one and the same.

But those are just minor irritants.

A major irritant is this nation’s inability and unwillingness to place blame where it belongs.

A parent being separated from a child is — in most circumstances — tragic.

But when it comes to illegal immigrants, why do we blame those enforcing the law, and not those breaking the law by sneaking across the border — with their children — without proper documentation?

Illegal immigrants are an expensive problem America can no longer afford.

We pay out billions to care for illegals when our veterans struggle to find quality health care.

Our nation’s infrastructure is falling apart. The billions used to educate, feed, house and provide phone for illegals could better be spent on upgrading power grids, highways, bridges and dams.

Unfortunately, immigration policies are a far juicier topic for politicians and political parties.

Parents who try to sneak into America — with their children, without proper documentation — are breaking the law.

End of story.

They are the the ones to blame for their children being taken from them while court process runs its course.

Why is that so difficult to understand?

Stop blaming lawmakers and immigration officials for doing what the law requires.

Place the blame where it belongs.

In a world free of politicians and hypocrites, that task would be much easier. The real job of political parties these days is to find fault with everything the other side is doing. Right or wrong doesn’t matter. Moral or amoral doesn’t matter. Good for the nation or terrible for the nation doesn’t matter.

According to leaders of both of our major political parties, the person to blame is whoever is in the White House.

All that matters anymore is getting the other guy out of the office, no matter how much hyperbole is used and how many lies are told to so so.

Republicans did it when Obama was in office. Democrats are doing it to Trump.

It’s pathetic. And it never ends.

An email I received Wednesday is responsible for this rant. So, if you don’t like what I’m saying, blame Outlook, which delivered the offensive email to my inbox at work.

The email was about a planned protest march in Washington to #EndFamilySeparation.

Here are the details: On June 28, more than 1,000 women horrified by (President) Trump’s family separation program will meet at the Department of Justice, and then march to Congress despite the risk of mass arrests.

Good for them. They’re making a political point, they’re trying to send a message.

But what message are they actually sending?

This group of protesters want to stop law enforcement and immigration officials from enforcing the laws of this nation, and they are willing to break some laws in the process.

At least they’re consistent. Lawbreakers are uniting in an effort to protect other lawbreakers.

Every year, two or three box trucks or semi trailers are abandoned in a southwest dessert somewhere. When discovered by border agents and opened, the only thing inside these chained and locked trucks the bloated bodies of men, woman and children left to die in sweltering conditions.

Why have I never seen a march to protest this kind of illegal, murderous activity?

Because it’s not politically advantageous to anyone.

But the problem of blaming the wrong person is not exclusive to border crossings.

For years, terrorist organizations have been building chemical manufacturing facilities and storing weapons and holding secret meetings with other terrorist leaders in buildings next to schools and hospitals.

If there is no school around, they kidnap and bus in children and put them in harm’s way. They do this with no regard for the innocent children or adults who may die at the hands of a U.S. drone or cruise missile.

And when an innocent person dies in one of these attacks, the media blames the ugly Americans who ordered the missile launch or drone attack, not the terrorists who intentionally moved next door to the schools and churches and hospitals or trucked in kidnapped children in an effort to deter attacks.

It’s time we stop emboldening law-breakers and terrorists by placing blame where it does not belong.

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Russ Kent

Galion Inquirer

 

 

Russ Kent is editor of the Galion Inquirer. Email him at [email protected].

 

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