Today's news brought a report that President Trump is sending more than additional 5,000 troops to the U.S. southwestern border in preparation for the coming "invasion" of refugees from Central America, those people who are trekking thousands of miles hoping for safe haven in the United States.
Instead, when they finally arrive, they will be met by the U.S. military, armed and ready to chase them down with helicopters if needed.
Said a general in charge, the deployments will include three combat engineer battalions, members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and troops who specialize in aviation, medical treatment and logistics. He highlighted the deployment of helicopters, which will have night-vision capabilities and sensors.
Warned Trump: “Many Gang Members and some very bad people are mixed into the Caravan heading to our Southern Border,” Trump said. “Please go back, you will not be admitted into the United States unless you go through the legal process. This is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!”
As usual, Trump has no evidence that so called gang members have infiltrated the caravan of refugees; neither has he evidence that "Middle Easterners" constitute some of the "bad people" who are trudging in the heat towards the U.S. border, as he has claimed.
But that doesn't matter to many of his supporters who are the real audience for this drama. Trump desperately needs to rally them to avoid losing Congressional control and the danger to his presidency that a Democratic Congress would most certainly bring.
And his loyal fans are listening. Today, when challenged by one of my relatives to open my home to these folks, I said that I would if needed. Here's one of the replies in that Facebook thread:
Then, there are the Middle Easterners
When Trump talks about "Middle Easterners," he no doubt is referring to Muslims, his target whom he has targeted for years and has tried to prevent from entering the U.S., only to be blocked by the courts. He tries to make us afraid by stoking prejudices and racial hate.
But, I was struck by a report this morning of a crowdfunding campaign being started by two Muslim groups that has raised more than $55,000 for the victims of the shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue on Saturday.
The campaign on LaunchGood, a Muslim-focused crowdfunding site, reached its $25,000 goal in less than six hours, and surpassed its updated $50,000 goal in less than 24 hours. The campaign is now hoping to raise $75,000.
“The Muslim-American community extends its hands to help the shooting victims, whether it is the injured victims or the Jewish families who have lost loved ones,” the fundraising page reads. “We wish to respond to evil with good, as our faith instructs us, and send a powerful message of compassion through action.”
As of Sunday afternoon, the campaign had raised $57,362 from 1,344 supporters.
We need more people in this country like those Muslims.
Then, I saw this Twitter posting from someone in Canada:
Why can't we be like that? What do we have to fear? Really?