Erick Erickson is having a panic attack over the imagined incompetence of President Biden, which he has humbly entitled, “The Biggest Story Happening Right Now“:
If what happened on January 6, 2021, was an insurrection, what is happening at the southern border is absolutely an invasion. In fact, outside of the Peace of Westphalia, a mass wave of foreigners entering another country would, even without arms, be considered an invasion.
What is happening is an invasion of illegal aliens, some engaged in human trafficking and drug running. They are overwhelming border towns in Texas and taxing the resources of numerous states. The problem exists for only one reason — the President of the United States is derelict in his duties.
President Biden could, in fact, order the military to secure the border through non-violent means. Instead, he has chosen to leave it open. This has placed a massive burden on the State of Texas — a formerly sovereign nation that would have undoubtedly never entered into union with the United States had it known the American President would not protect Texas’s border.
My bold. And regardless of whether this is a major problem or a minor blip on the screen, it’s worth understanding that such activities as Erickson would like to see, they cost money. Lots of money.
And the Executive, which is to say the President, has highly limited powers when it comes to the financial side of things. Sure, he has the authority to shift around funds to some minor extent, but he has no authority to lay taxes or to go into debt, with the arguable exception that he can veto legislation – and his vetoes can be overridden.
Financial matters must, by Constitutional constraint, originate in the House, even if the Republicans have been known to fudge that a bit. Erickson’s solemn proclamation is, ummm, misleading at best. A case could be made for it being an example of mendacity.
And then there’s this report:
NEWS from me & @bresreports in @PunchbowlNews PM:
MCCONNELL told a closed meeting of Senate Republicans Wed that the politics of the border has flipped for Rs and cast doubt on linking Ukraine and border.
“When we started this, the border united us and Ukraine divided us.”…
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 24, 2024
Mr. Trump wants to run his campaign on immigration, so he’s using his influence to deprive President Biden of the resources required to work on the problem.
The border problem boils down to an exercise in partisan politics, not in incompetent governance.
Now, as I’ve done before, I could go on to point out Erickson’s rant is really an exercise in keeping the herd together, a herd that, I suspect, is shrinking as moderate Republicans and independents find both Trump and Haley too repugnant for their vote. Best to keep their minds off the sliding popularity of Mr. Trump.
But it’s obvious, isn’t it?
No, what bothers me the most about Erickson’s rant is that it is congruent with what I expect we’ll be seeing as overpopulation and climate change sharpen. And while these phenomena won’t be responsive to Erickson’s pronouncements, they will have impacts on our Roman Senate-like (see Professor Turchin) leadership as they fight, tooth and claw, over every scrap of power and prestige. Rather than ask what can be done, they ask what can be done with it.
It’s like teenagers in a badly run high school, rather than adults. With the 200 ft tsunami getting ready to drown all, good, bad, and middlin’. And Erickson’s right down in the muck, scrappin’ away.
I don’t care about Erickson, but I worry about the real crises driving our neighbors to the South to leave their homes and come here.
