Looks like Bush....

[ckg68]

is going to announce in his speech that he's going to use the National Guard to help patrol the Mexican border.

Anyone else think this is little more than a badly thought-out,knee-jerk publicity stunt that will please the nativists,but no one else? Plus,what happened the first time a National Guardsman shoots and kills someone crossing the border,trying to find a better life for themselves? I'd guess we're going to have riots on our hands. Oh,and one more thing....considering that the military is overstretched as it is,how much money is this going to cost us the taxpayers?

[sukie]

Again we have an encroachment on my affordable cabbage resources. Dammit

[gilchristfan]

"considering that the military is overstretched as it is,how much money is this going to cost us the taxpayers?"

Guardsmen get paid whether they work or not, right?

[Fortunesmith]

It's a great idea and long overdue (if it actually happens).

[Fortunesmith]

Plus,what happened the first time a National Guardsman shoots and kills someone crossing the border,trying to find a better life for themselves? I'd guess we're going to have riots on our hands.

That's a kneejerk reaction.

[Stealth01]

Anyone else think this is little more than a badly thought-out,knee-jerk publicity stunt that will please the nativists,but no one else? Plus,what happened the first time a National Guardsman shoots and kills someone crossing the border,trying to find a better life for themselves?

First off, I doubt any National Guardsmen will shoot anyone. Their rules of engagement will probably be even more restrictive than they were in New Orleans, with authority to fire only given if the guard member or a Border agent is in danger.

Second, yeah, it's a publicity stunt, but I'm torn on it. I HATE seeing guardsmen go to Iraq. They're supposed to be here, defending the homefront, so this is more what I THINK they should be doing. BUT, I think they should be guarding agains the Mexican military units, drug gangs, and other DANGEROUS crossers, not worrying about Jose trying to earn some $$. I am against allowing illegal immigration and against amnesty, but I don't think we need soldiers dealing with the average crosser. We need law enforcement doing that.

Oh,and one more thing....considering that the military is overstretched as it is,how much money is this going to cost us the taxpayers?

Probably a lot, but not as much as hiring thousands of civil servant border patrol agents, I suspect.


Guardsmen get paid whether they work or not, right?

I don't think so, at least not fully paid. When they are active, they get their active duty pay. When they are inactive and pursuing their civilian careers, they get some portion of it, I think. There are full-time guard members, but they are the minority, if I understand the system correctly. So we would have to activate them and send them away from their civilian jobs.

This alone is nothing. If this is ALL that gets done, it is a stupid, knee-jerk reaction that will result only in problems. However, if it is a temporary fix, designed to stopgap the problem until a more permanent solution is in-place, AND if the rules of engagement are done right, it COULD work, IMHO. But we need more. We need a wall. We need a guest worker program, but NOT amnesty. Anyone here illegally now should be rounded up and moved out. Not criminalized and locked up--just sent home to get in the back of the line waiting for legal immigration. People in the guest worker program should, if they want it, get advanced citizenship exemptions. Etc etc.

The bottom line that the average "guest worker" doesn't understand: If you become a citizen, you are NO LONGER cheap labor. You get taxed, your employer gets taxed, you require minimum wage. Etc. So a temporary guest worker program might be better for most of these people.

[rob on the job]

Why so much hate for Old Mexico?

[Stealth01]

No hate for Mexico at all from me. But there are people from other parts of the world who don't have the option of just running across the border and jumping in line in front of everyone else. More Americans are kidnapped along the Mexican border than have been kidnapped in Iraq since the war started. Drug gangs are crossing all the time, and it would be easy for a terrorist to do so. How many Americans can tell the difference between a Mexican and an Afghani with his beard shaved off? Probably not many.

[rob on the job]

... How many Americans can tell the difference between a Mexican and an Afghani with his beard shaved off? Probably not many.

I could make a nasty ethnic joke here, but I won't.

[Stealth01]

LOL. Well, there's always the uncensored PRS forum. :D

[Stealth01]

LOL. When I first saw the title, I thought, "Looks like Bush...smells like Bush, tastes like Bush..."

[Wing Eater]

well it looks like the national guard isn't doing any patroling, just doing the "other jobs" that the boarder patrol is doing, so that they are free to do more patrols.

[uppy]

I want a 20' high wall from the Gulf to the Pacific


http://www.photoatlas.com/photo/china_great_wall.jpg

[Stealth01]

Minefields. That'll do it. Minefields.

[gilchristfan]

I don't think so, at least not fully paid. When they are active, they get their active duty pay. When they are inactive and pursuing their civilian careers, they get some portion of it, I think. There are full-time guard members, but they are the minority, if I understand the system correctly. So we would have to activate them and send them away from their civilian jobs.


Yeah, I was referring to the full timers. I didn't realize they were a big minority of the guard though, maybe because we have a few units around here (army and Air), and it seems just about anyone you meet in the military is full time in the guard.

[sukie]

I want a 20' high wall from the Gulf to the Pacific


http://www.photoatlas.com/photo/china_great_wall.jpg
one with a view and restaraunts and shops along the way?

[uppy]

one with a view and restaraunts and shops along the way?


That would help pay for the wall,i'm all for it.We could have gun inplacements
between the shops.

[sukie]

How about a country long open field paintball range?

[Stealth01]

I missed the speech b/c I was teaching my daughter to drive (read: stressing out white-knuckled in the passenger seat). But I understand he said something about the NG taking water and aid into the desert so people wouldn't die. Is that true?

[nehemiah]

First off, I doubt any National Guardsmen will shoot anyone. Their rules of engagement will probably be even more restrictive than they were in New Orleans, with authority to fire only given if the guard member or a Border agent is in danger.are you sure?

MARFA, Texas (CNN) -- A grand jury refused Thursday to indict Marine Cpl. Clemente Banuelos in the killing of Texas teen-ager Ezequiel Hernandez, whom the Marine shot while on a drug patrol along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The grand jurors issued a statement saying they were convinced that Banuelos and three other Marines followed the proper rules of engagement on May 20 when they encountered Hernandez tending his goats near the Rio Grande.
http://www.cnn.com/US/9708/14/border.shooting/


military is for killing - not policing. this is a top 3 "dumbest. idea. ever." by gw bush.