Monday, October 30, 2006

Idle threat of the week

Lost in the hubbub of the cautious drape measuring and father-son, mouth-to-penis action typical of late October election year politicking, President Bush signed legislation to build a fence along the United States-Mexico border.

The panel of judges have nothing against the idea of a fence: What's the point of having a country if you can't wall it in and force your citizens to pay 30 dollars for a head of lettuce?

Still, the panel couldn't help noticing the legislation authorized about 700 miles of fence, whereas our collective knowledge confirmed the US-Mexico border is exactly 1951 miles long.

The strategy of only protecting higher population areas, such as Brownsville and El Paso, would have probably worked really well back before Mexicans had legs. But today's fully evolved and moderately motivated Mexican shouldn't find the challenge of following a fence to its end that overwhelming.

And that's today's Mexican. Who knows what kind of powers the Mexican will have developed by 2073 -- when the fence is actually completed. I know if I squint really hard I can see an all-terrain, four-by-four in their future.

With its surprisingly low birth rate, obviously negative immigration flow and increasingly cataclysmic reaction to loses by their national soccer team, there is no guarantee Mexico will even exist by the time the fence is finished. What is certain is Congress's threat to keep illegal Mexican immigrants out of the United States with a partial and unfunded fence is the definition of idle.

The 109th Congress might be winding down, but they've successfully tacked Idle Threat of The Week for October 23-29th to their currently unpopular legacy.

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