Dem
51
GOP
49
We've already warned you that today's posting is heavy on Republican kookiness. That is just how it runs sometimes. We wish it wasn't that way, but we don't get to choose the times we live in. Anyhow, of all the items in store for today, this one might well be the kookiest of all. So, hold on to your hats.
As it turns out, Donald Trump's border wall did absolutely nothing to help with the nation's fentanyl crisis. There are two possible explanations for this. The first is that he didn't actually build the border wall, despite his many promises to do so. The second is that the fentanyl that comes from Mexico is usually smuggled through ports, and not across land, so even the Great Wall of China wouldn't do much to stop the flow of the drugs. Feel free to choose whichever of these explanations you like best.
It would seem that, having noticed the ongoing flow of fentanyl, and having concluded that voters probably aren't going to buy "elect a Republican president and we'll build a wall" again, many Republicans are pondering a very different approach, namely sending U.S. planes to bomb Mexico.
The general idea these Republicans—among them Donald Trump, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), and several others—have is that the Mexican drug cartels are like ISIS. And so, the only way to rein them in is through use of extreme amounts of deadly force. Bombing runs are just one idea; another is to invade Mexico with special forces. Inasmuch as cartels do not exactly put up giant flags saying "Guadalajara Cartel HQ," it is unclear how the U.S. will know exactly where to bomb so as to avoid killing innocent civilians. Also, it is extremely unlikely that the Mexican government would sign off on this scheme, although some Republicans (most obviously Cotton) say that it really doesn't matter if the U.S. gets permission from Mexico or not.
Again, many of today's items make our heads spin, but this one in particular... wow. Staging a military invasion of a neighbor and an ally, very likely without their permission? Is it not obvious how problematic that is? And how it's not going to do a damn thing besides cause the cartels to become more violent, while also driving an even greater number of refugees to seek asylum in the U.S.? Let's put it this way: John Bolton, who is so hawkish he eats small rodents for breakfast, thinks it's a bad idea.
We would certainly hope that cooler heads would prevail should a Republican take the White House and then bring this plan up for discussion. But given how openly and enthusiastically some members of the Party are already talking about the scheme, can we really be sure? In particular, doesn't this seem like something Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) would consider doing if he gained power, just in search of some positive right-wing press? (Z)