The Gulf of Ocean

The Gulf of Ocean
Rich Galen
Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Last week, when Mexican President Felipe Calderon came to Washington, President Barack "Please-Adore-Me" Obama said, doing his famous John Lennon "Imagine there's no countries" imitation:

"In the 21st century we are not defined by our borders, but by our bond."

Keep in mind, this was in the midst of the great Arizona Immigration Law debate which had caused Calderon to issue a "travel warning" suggesting that Mexicans who might have been thinking about vacationing in Arizona should rethink their plans, about which many legal residents of Arizona responded: "Deal!"

Just a week later Obama announced he was sending an additional 1,200 troops to the border to … according to the LA Times: "The troops won't make arrests or otherwise intervene directly, but will help with support and surveillance targeted both at illegal border crossing and drug smuggling, according to an administration official who was not authorized to speak publicly."

So … Obama is ordering 1,200 National Guard troops to leave their homes, their families and their jobs to what; to set up a series of lemonade stands and help reduce some of that 173 quadrillion dollar debt he has run up?

The LA Times pointedly suggests Obama is "seeking political cover in his pursuit of immigration reform," and reminds us that

"The moves comes a month after Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano told a Senate committee that the U.S.-Mexico border 'is as secure as it has ever been.'"

I hope someone is keeping track of the stuff that keeps spewing out of Napolitano's mouth because there is going to be a best-selling book involved.

Remember when she announced that "the system worked" after the underwear bomber's tighty-whities didn't explode even though he had boarded a plane in Europe with no luggage, having paid for his ticket with cash after his father had warned the U.S. Embassy that his son was nuts?

Then, when the SUV bomber tried to blow up Times Square she announced that the U.S. Government was investigating whether it might have been a "potential terrorist attack."

Last week she said the Obama administration would not rest until "this well is sealed and this ocean and this area is cleaned up …" confusing the Gulf of Mexico with an ocean.

Where was I? Oh, yes. Obama and troops on the Arizona border.

The real issue about the troops is: What will be the rules of engagement?

If a squad of American soldiers happens on some drug or human smugglers will they be permitted to detain them? Arrest them? Pursue them in U.S. territory? Pursue them … into … Mexican … territory?

If they are fired upon from the Mexican side of the border, can they return fire?

There are dozens of these kinds of scenarios. The major question is: Is Obama putting U.S military personnel in harm's way because his job approval is dropping? I hope not, but we need an explanation from an administration official who is authorized to speak. Someone like President Obama.

MULLINGS will be making a personal inspection tour of the oil spill on Saturday. As personal punishment I will be traveling from Washington, DC to New Orleans by train. By AMTRAK train. It is expensive, inefficient, and inconvenient. It takes about 27 hours and that is only if all the cars stay on the tracks the entire way.

I suspect someone leaked my excellent plan to the White House staff because they announced yesterday that the President will be making a trip to Louisiana to look at the oil spill on Friday.

Obama has been roundly criticized for planning on attending fund raisers and other political events in California while forcing Napolitano and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to be the public faces of the increasingly inept government handling of the increasingly destructive oil spill in the Gulf of Ocean.