The Southern Border

      Does "securing the border"  translate into "keep Amercia white?"Does "secure the border" mean "keep america white"?  This is a question LZ Granderson , a CNN contributor, pondered in an article he wrote titled, " Does secure the border mean keep America White?". The article was last updated on February 21, 2012.  Granderson is a weekly contributor for CNN ans senior writer for ESPN magazine.  He has won numerous awards.  His writings support liberal ideals and attack conservative ideals.

      Granderson seems to claim that The GOP candidates' talk of securing the southern border to protect the nation's sovereignty is really closet racism.  He uses the Canadian border to argue his point.  He asks why there is so much concern with the southern border and hardly any for the north.  He cites statistics such as that more people associated with Al Qaeda  and Hezbollah were arrested trying to come into the U.S. from Canada than Mexico. Also, he says there is increasing drug activity in the north including tunnels and unmanned aircraft delivering drugs.

   Granderson makes a compelling argument.  But there isnt a massive drug war claiming tens of thousands of lives going on in Canada with Cartels that are just as powerful or more powerful than the Mexican government.  There arent massive numbers of illegal immigrants trying to cross into the U.S. from Canada.  He doesn't want to talk about how this war is right on our doorstep or how American citizens and border patrol are being killed along the border.  What is it going to take for people to wake up?  Maybe the death of a National Guard soldier currently patrolling the border will wake us up to the reality that there is a very real war going on in the south and the U.S. should be responding as such; not dragging our feet because we are running around calling each other and being afraid of being called racists. 

    When illegal immigrants cross into the U.S. and work without paying taxes and use social/medical programs at the expense of taxpayers, it burdens citizens and violates the nation's sovereignty.  What Granderson fails to say is that even though there are the same problems along both our land borders, they are present at a much larger scale in the south, simple as that; so of course that is where the focus should be.  There are work visas and a process of naturalization for people who want to work in the U.S. or become citizens. People can join the military to become citizens.  I myself am a veteran.  

   The reason why the securing the southern border is such a hot issue is because advocacy groups with their own personal agendas regarding whether or not the border stays open use "the race card" to keep anything practical from getting done; and it is a very powerful tool indeed.

Keystone Pipeline

            Here is an article  Washington Post Keystone Pipeline Article I found interesting about the Keystone Pipeline that would carry crude oil from Canada to refineries in Texas.  I have been following the progress of the pipeline as I am a strong believer in energy independence and security. This article should be read and this topic followed because this could give our nation a huge source of oil from a stable country.  It would be a step closer to weening us off oil from the Middle East; arguably the most unstable region in the world. The article discusses how the Obama Administration rejected a bid by TransCanada to build the pipeline, and why it was rejected.  I am disappointed that the proposal was rejected, but President Obama claims more review needs to be done about the environmental impact of the pipeline.  He also says TransCanada can turn in a new proposal after it meets certain requirements.  I agree with the Administration's decision.  If the pipeline is going to be built it needs to be done right and not rushed.  Opponents of the pipeline say, of course, that the pipeline can leak and pollute drinking water, namely the Ogalla Aquifer.  Also, they do no want to support the use of strip mining in Canada to extract oil form tar sands; a very taxing process on the environment.  I do not particularly like the idea of strip mining for oil as it is terribly inefficient and costly to the land.  However, if we do not buy the oil from Canada, they will surely sell it to someone else like China and India, so we might as well take it if Canada is going to strip mine it.  Supporters say, also of course, that the pipeline will bring jobs and energy security.