"State of Emergency".. anyone?

[shally]

just wondering if anyone has read an advance copy of buchanon's latest book and what their thoughts are on it.
in general, i have not been a fan of his, but the advance run up brings up some interesting concepts including a real 2000 mile fence across our southern border, with no apologies to mexico city..

[fent]

i haven't seen it yet, but i can tell you this...a complete border fence is great in theory, but what does it help? we're not talking the berlin wall here for 2000 miles, so your fence is only good so long as the 30 foot wall doesn't meet a 31 foot ladder. i do think that in some areas, they're a good idea, San Diego for example, but not the entire US-Mexico border.

the book will ultimately prove to be just like every other political commentary...it'll sell books to get people excited, but in the long run, it won't have any groundbreaking ideas.

[akhhorus]

i haven't seen it yet, but i can tell you this...a complete border fence is great in theory, but what does it help? we're not talking the berlin wall here for 2000 miles, so your fence is only good so long as the 30 foot wall doesn't meet a 31 foot ladder. the book will ultimately prove to be just like every other political commentary...it'll sell books to get people excited, but in the long run, it won't have any groundbreaking ideas.

Yep. A wall is completely useless unless you have it manned. Oherwise, its just a speed bump.

[Redskin Scott]

As with Rome's crumbling frontier in the 4th Century A.D., this is just more of the death gurgle of a dying empire. So much for "the noble experiment."

[BurgundyNGold]

Yep. A wall is completely useless unless you have it manned. Oherwise, its just a speed bump.
Man it with cameras and have local dispatch units. It's much more efficient than having Jim Bob driving back in forth in a truck.

[Patrick]

Yep. A wall is completely useless unless you have it manned. Oherwise, its just a speed bump.

Actually - I've always said a joint (Mex/US) project of building a 2000 mile (1/2 mile wide) canal. Jobs / border/canal towns for years to come - Make it one of the great engineering marvels of the world. Heck - there's enough money thrown away on usless projects in the country - why not on the inconceivable.

[CNYSkinFan]

Actually - I've always said a joint (Mex/US) project of building a 2000 mile (1/2 mile wide) canal. Jobs / border/canal towns for years to come - Make it one of the great engineering marvels of the world. Heck - there's enough money thrown away on usless projects in the country - why not on the inconceivable.
no way mexico would agree as a good portion of their economy is depoendent on illegal aliens sending back money to their familes in Mexico.

[akhhorus]

Actually - I've always said a joint (Mex/US) project of building a 2000 mile (1/2 mile wide) canal. Jobs / border/canal towns for years to come - Make it one of the great engineering marvels of the world. Heck - there's enough money thrown away on usless projects in the country - why not on the inconceivable.

Good idea, but no wall is unbreachable unless defended.

[Patrick]

no way mexico would agree as a good portion of their economy is depoendent on illegal aliens sending back money to their familes in Mexico.
Understand - but then again - a project of this magnitude (as well as the long range business opportunities / ramifications / potentials) the jobs it would create for the mexican people (both sides of the border).......... Just something I've always pondered. I know silly idea ....... but then again - so was putting men on the moon.

[BurgundyNGold]

Good idea, but no wall is unbreachable unless defended.
Great idea, economically speaking. Mexico could actually stand to make more $$$ as a result of tourism that way. The only problem is that a 1/2 mile wide canal can still be crossed in a boat or a raft or by swimming. Illegals do it all the time in South Florida, albeit to a lesser degree.

[CNYSkinFan]

Great idea, economically speaking. Mexico could actually stand to make more $$$ as a result of tourism that way. The only problem is that a 1/2 mile wide canal can still be crossed in a boat or a raft or by swimming. Illegals do it all the time in South Florida, albeit to a lesser degree.
fill it with Sharks with freakin Laser beams on their heads

http://www.ctgilles.net/images/pictars/dr.evil_one_miliion_dollars.jpg

[Patrick]

Great idea, economically speaking. Mexico could actually stand to make more $$$ as a result of tourism that way. The only problem is that a 1/2 mile wide canal can still be crossed in a boat or a raft or by swimming. Illegals do it all the time in South Florida, albeit to a lesser degree.

Yeah I know - But if condition changed to the point where staying (at least in this area) in the country could be beneficial from a monetary aspect – who knows. It might just be north Mexico that the people would want to relocate and not necessarily the US.

[BurgundyNGold]

Yeah I know - But if condition changed to the point where staying (at least in this area) in the country could be beneficial from a monetary aspect – who knows. It might just be north Mexico that the people would want to relocate and not necessarily the US.
Ah, but what if we filled the moat with gators and giant squid?

:D

[Patrick]

fill it with Sharks with freakin Laser beams on their heads

http://www.ctgilles.net/images/pictars/dr.evil_one_miliion_dollars.jpg

taking the climate of the area in consideration - gator farms. SEE what I mean - there is great potential in this idea! LOL.

[CNYSkinFan]

taking the climate of the area in consideration - gator farms. SEE what I mean - there is great potential in this idea! LOL.
As long as they are horribly mutated gators

[BurgundyNGold]

As long as they are horribly mutated gators
Would they be ill tempered?

[Spence]

Would they be ill tempered?Sea Bass!

[akhhorus]

Sea Bass!

Right......

[Spence]

There's some ugly racism in Buchanan's book, actually. Lots of "we need more white people to preserve civilization" stuff.

Look, the problem is economics. The U.S. and Mexican economies are very integrated and becoming more so every day. We do an enormous amount of trade with Mexico. We buy their stuff, they buy our stuff. Not just ordinary products, but culture, too, is moving back and forth between the two countries.

Now, look at Europe. Increasingly you are seeing internal migration in Europe [Dutch moving to Italy, Greeks moving to Spain] because of the high level of economic integration. With goods and services moving back and forth so easily, the movement of people is economically natural and -- indeed -- necessary. The Cato Institute has done some interesting work on this subject. This passage may be of interest to some of you:Mexican immigration is not a tidal wave. The rate of undocumented migration has not increased in over two decades. Neither is Mexico a demographic time bomb; its fertility rate is only slightly above replacement. Although a variety of trans-border population movements have increased, this is to be expected in a North American economy that is increasingly integrated under the terms of a mutually-ratified trade agreement. Undocumented migration stems from the unwillingness of the United States to include labor within the broader framework governing trade and investment. Rates of migration between Mexico and the United States are entirely normal for two countries so closely integrated economically.Source (http://www.cato-unbound.org/2006/08/20/douglas-s-massey/seeing-mexican-immigration-clearly/)

[Spence]

This also from Cato:What do we know about the socioeconomic achievement of the children, grandchildren, and more distant descendants of Mexican immigrants? In light of the reasons for pessimism listed above, U.S.-born Mexican Americans have done surprisingly well, though certainly areas of serious concern remain. Like Europeans in the past, Mexicans enjoy ample intergenerational progress between first-generation immigrants and their second-generation children. Relative to their parents, the U.S.-born second generation experiences dramatic increases in English proficiency, educational attainment, and earnings. From this generational perspective, the lightning-rod issue of language—in terms of both English acquisition and Spanish preservation—loses all its spark. By the time they are teens, second-generation Mexican Americans overwhelming prefer to speak English rather than Spanish, and by the third generation most Mexican Americans no longer speak Spanish at all.Source (http://www.cato-unbound.org/2006/08/22/stephen-j-trejo/the-intergenerational-assimilation-of-mexican-americans/)