"Exaggerating U.S. border violence?"

I am extremely excited to let you all know that Chuck Norris not only knows who I am, but he agrees with my point of view! Enough to quote me in a lengthy piece he recently wrote for WorldNetDaily.com. Now, WND is not my favorite source of information because they're very skewed to the right - more so than me - but I can't help but be excited that Mr. Norris found my opinion significant enough to quote. Here's a brief excerpt:

"After a decade of playing one on television, a few months ago, my brother, Aaron, and I were blessed to become real Texas Rangers, in the presence of Gov. Rick Perry, fellow Texas Rangers and many others. Gov. Perry mentioned at that induction, 'As the drug cartels have turned up the heat on the other side of that border over the past few years, we have invested significant state resources to secure our border, looking to local police departments, county sheriffs, game wardens and even Texas military forces. However, when it was time to take the fight to the bad guys, there was only one choice to lead our efforts, so we formed our Ranger recon teams. It is reassuring to know that our Rangers are on the job, especially in light of ongoing reports of deteriorating conditions with kidnappings, assassinations and terroristic acts just miles from Texas communities.'

"Only weeks later, on Jan. 31, 2011, U.S. Department of HomelandSecuritySecretary Janet Napolitano asked public officials to stop exaggerating claims of violence on the U.S. side of the border and "be honest with the people we serve." She added, "Let's stick with the facts. We need to be up front and clear about what's really happening along our borders." And the very same day she told a group at the University of Texas in El Paso that it is inaccurate to say that the border is out of control and overrun with violence, citingstatisticsfrom the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program. However, Sylvia Longmire, a former special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and a senior intelligence analyst and bordersecurityexpert for the California Emergency Management Agency, says Napolitano's statements don't have a leg of credibility to stand on."

To read the rest of Mr. Norris article - and see how he quoted me - please CLICK HERE!

Comments

[KL]

You know, I'm probably not typical, but I do not see your analyses as politically slanted to the right, Sylvia. Do some in the media characterize you that way because you used to serve in the military? I would hate to see you pigeonholed; it would limit your audience. I consider the issues you write about very much bipartisan. (Isn't security something we all think is important?)

I found the commentary posted by Norris convincing. There seems to be a broad campaign of denial about border security issues by government agents, like Sec. Napolitano. But we see that with every administration.

Unless we scale back foreign wars abroad, we will not have the resources to properly secure the borders. So the serving President offers a band aid (say, a few National Guard units), and assures us everything is OK...

Before someone concludes I'm Obama-bashing, it is important to note that it was the failure of the Bush 2 administration to push through a sensible approach to immigration -- when it had ample political opportunity -- that helped create the current dysfunctional status quo. The Federal government has been inadequately addressing immigration and the security of the borders for some time.

Personally, I'd like to see the states along the borders withhold federal taxes, and re-direct the funds to state-based border security efforts. If the Feds won't do the job, let's stop paying them, keep the money, and create jobs in our own states to do the job that needs to be done. Maybe we can then offer security jobs to some of the veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq (who currently have 11.8% unemployment rate).

But that's crazy talk, right? :-/

Meanwhile... my favorite Chuck Norris joke:
"Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits."

[Sylvia Longmire]

@Kael - By my own admission I'm slanted to the right, but I work hard to take a common sense approach to my analysis that hopefully is politic-free for the most part. For example, I often dramatically depart from the party line when I criticize the pro-gun lobby for hampering law enforcement efforts to curb southbound weapons trafficking through the pressure they put on politicians at the highest levels. I also often call for the legalization of marijuana because it just makes good business sense, and few on the right would go for that. But yes, I'm very pro-military, pro-law enforcement, and pro-gun (believe it or not). That doesn't mean I can't call out stupidity when I see it :).

[andres]

Wait, so only those on the right are "pro-military, pro-law enforcement, and pro-gun"?

I do not consider myself a conservative (Im a centrist registered Democrat) however I support all those three of those things. One of the most divisive tactics in politics today is demonizing those whose views are only marginally different that one's own.

There will always be extremists on the left and the right. The most important thing going forward is for those who do not occupy those spaces to come together and compromise so that something can be done for the good of the country.

[Ike]

Sylvia:

You stated, "...I criticize the pro-gun lobby for hampering law enforcement efforts to curb southbound weapons trafficking...".

Sylvia: John Adams put it very well when he stated the principle of "a government of laws and not of men".

When men in law enforcement violate the law to enforce the law, then we have a problem. We all support the police, but we don't (and won't) support a police state. It's a very fine line and a very slippery slope. As the efforts of Senator Grassley and others have recently shown, ATF and possibly DOJ crossed the line..... Instead of 'curbing' trafficking, ATF facilitated it, to the detriment of Mexico. Clearly, in this case, law enforcement needed 'hampering'.

[P]

Do you know how Chuck Norris met his current wife?? Suffice it to say - DON'T send him any personal photo's of yourself. Other than ... that you should be safe unless you volunteer as a stuntwoman on the TV show.

I do give Chuck credit for staying in shape, though. :-)

P.

[Bill]

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2011/03/mexicos-forgotten-victims-of-drug-war.html

Isn't it about time the UN got involved with 35,000 dead in the past five years? And if they do get involved I think the ATF will be pretty far down the list on the agenda.
And thank you for your service Senator Grassley, but as Andres said earlier: "The most important thing going forward is for those who do not occupy those spaces to come together and compromise so that something can be done for the good of the country."