".... unlikely to quickly produce the swift action demanded by Republicans and some Democrats to reduce the overcrowding at the border."
The "root causes" language is a reference to something Harris said: "While we are clear that people should not come to the border now, we also understand that we will enforce the law. We also — because we can chew gum and walk at the same time — must address the root causes that cause people to make the trek."
Walking and chewing gum at the same time is a metaphor,* initially designed to insult someone who can't do these 2 relatively easy-to-do things simultaneously. It doesn't work too much as a brag, unless you're saying that the 2 things are easy to do at the same time.
What are the 2 things? There's a huge difference between wanting people not to come + caring about root causes and effectively enforcing all of the law restricting the border + changing the conditions that are causing people to come to the border.
The first set of things is easy to do, damned near effortless. The second set is nearly impossible, done together or done one at a time. Might as well laugh about doing them together because you know you're not going to make much progress at all on either.
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* "The term is recorded in a Texas newspaper in [1964]. President Lyndon Johnson allegedly said that then-Congressman (and later president) Gerald Ford couldn’t 'fart and chew gum at the same time.'
As early as the 1900s, it was observed that women talk a lot and chew gum a lot, but don’t 'talk and chew gum at the same time.' Entertainer and cowboy philosopher Will Rogers was described in 1926 as 'the only man in the world who can chew gum and talk sense at the same time.' It’s probable that the saying 'walk and chew gum at the same time' developed from the earlier 'talk and chew gum at the same time.'" That's at Quora. To speculate more coherently: People said women can't "talk and chew gum at the same time," then some crude fellows thought it was funner to say "walk and fart at the same time" — because walking and farting is a very funny subject. (I've seen George Carlin demonstrate the hilarity.) Then it got turned around for fun to LBJ's "fart and chew gum at the same time." Then it got cleaned up into the present-day corruption, "walk and chew gum at the same time."
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73 comments:
"The second set is nearly impossibly, done together or done one at a time."
Why? #1 is eminently feasible. Summon the troops to monitor the border 24/7, immediately return anyone caught crossing illegally, have judges stand by to deny any asylum claims from people moving through safe third countries, inflict serious punishment on employers of illegals, begin roundups and expulsions tout de suite.
The “root cause of migration” is that they want to live here rather than there.
More important, there is no evidence that QuidProJoe can chew gum and walk at the same time.
Democrats want young children to be sent across territory controlled by criminals and child traffickers.
So they can get some new voters.
Every child that dies because of the Biden Regime's explicit request to people to send their children is on every democrat voter's hands.
You all knew they would do this.
Day 56 Fact-Check: Biden *DID* Tell Immigrants To Surge The Border.
“Root causes?” It is apparently impossible for the dimwitted WH tag team to appeal to their base without insulting the intelligence of cogent thinkers.
You can reduce the overcrowding immediately by saying, "You will not be allowed in. Unaccompanied minors will be sent back like adults."
They caused the crisis by saying something different than that.
Oh for crying out loud; root causes again. Have liberals ever solved the root cause of anything? It's just an excuse to not do what they don't want to do. Who buys this shit?
The root cause of illegal immigration is the poverty of Central America. You are going to fix that, Kamala? Why is it even our place?
The root cause is that the United States is a much better place to live than where the illegal aliens are coming from. However, the Democrats are working to fix that so that the US is not so great.
"...because you know you're not going to make much progress at all on either."
Um...that's kind of the whole point isn't it?
We also ... must address the root causes that cause people to make the trek.
Such as? Intervene in the internal politics of Central American nations? That historically hasn't exactly worked out well for them, us, or our reputation among those nations. Is the Biden administration so clueless that it thinks that if we shovel money at them that the money will end up in the hands of the people who need it? If not, how can the Biden admin ensure that the money is well-spent without massive intervention in the local politics of each country in Central America?
Let me tell you an easier answer for the Democrats to fix "root causes" -- make the US as poor as a Central American country, and their inhabitants will stop coming here. Now, that the Democrats can do in their sleep.
Are we even sure the Harris-Biden Administration can walk?
It's all rhetorical B.S. spoken by masters of the art. We don't need to understand the root cause. We only need to close the borders, remove those that arrived illegally, and make our own problems a priority. These are simple solutions, but those promoting the illegals have too much money on the table, and will continue their efforts. A less kind society would have thrown many of them in jail for their sedition.
Chew gum and walk at the same time? Was Joe chewing gum when he fell on the steps to AF1?
Root causes: Socialism.
Let me tell you an easier answer for the Democrats to fix "root causes" -- make the US as poor as a Central American country, and their inhabitants will stop coming here. Now, that the Democrats can do in their sleep.
They are working tirelessly on that.
Isn’t it Colonialism to address the root cause of Central American poverty?
What if they don’t want our help?
Ah, more propaganda from the NYT.
They spent the past four years being hyper aware of the Trump administration, so aware that they knew all sorts of things that proved to be false and some of which were laughably and obviously false, and then two months later they forgot everything that happened because it is inconvenient to their narrative.
At some point you have to realize that not only are they lying to you, lying to you is their business model.
Obama did what he could by trying to install a Cuban supported junta in Honduras in 2009.
That would certainly solve Central America's problems and turn them into another Cuba.
Obama never expected there would be an enormous uproar over the Honduras coup. He hastily joined the outcry against the perpetrators only when it became evident that opposition to the putschists was nearly universal throughout Latin America and elsewhere in the world.
There were no "good guys" in that story but Obama made sure we got involved.
What makes anyone think the Ds want to solve the problem?
They want as many illegals here as possible.
Biden attempts to say that the recent influx is not recent and/or is not his fault:
Biden: "But this is — this is the — the source of one of the reasons why we’ve had such a — before we took office, in the midst of the last administration’s somewhat draconian policies of separating children from their parents, et cetera, what happened was that we — we found that there were a serious spike in the number of people heading to the southern border, even in the midst of that.
And as — as Alejandro can tell you, is that was because there were serious natural disasters that occurred in those countries. They were coming north, and we did nothing to do any — much about it."
changing the conditions that are causing people to come to the border.
This is difficult largely because so many politicians (in both parties) affirmatively don't want to deter people from coming to the border.
But realistically, unless we opt for open borders -- something politically impossible for a democratically accountable government -- there are going to be a lot of people who want to enter who cannot legally do so. People convicted of violent crimes, for example. And so long as our political leaders send the message that if you get caught evading border control, or if you claim "asylum" or whatever we'll let you in and then release you on your own cognizance, people are going to chance it, flouting not only our laws, but the laws of our southron neighbours as well, and exposing themselves and their children to terrible dangers in the process.
This is not a humane or decent system -- it's the outcome of a system run by moral cretins incapable of seeing anything but what is immediately in front of them: the handful of people in front of their eyes who, sure, maybe have cheated and scrabbled their way to the front of the line, but seem so desperate and sympathetic. It's like maintaining an attractive nuisance like a big unfenced pool, and congratulating yourself on saving one or two bedraggled drowning children from time to time, ignoring all the children who do drown just because you think fences are aesthetically unpleasant. They avert their eyes from both the enormous human cost of encouraging people to pursue the illegal route over the legal route, and the fundamental unfairness of prioritizing the people who happen to be physically near the border over those far away.
I'd say the "root cause" is deeply corrupt Central American governments who are often beholden to narco criminals. And that isn't an easy solve baring a land army invasion and occupation, which will never happen.
Not to worry though, cackling Kamala is on the case.
The root cause is that the United States is a much better place to live than where the illegal aliens are coming from.
And the US is easy to get to, which is why they're not sneaking into Europe or Australia.
The causes of [catastrophic] [anthropogenic] immigration reform are diverse, but not mysterious.
Emigration reform to mitigate progress and collateral damage at both ends of the bridge and throughout.
The "root causes" language is a reference to something Harris said: "While we are clear that people should not come to the border now, we also understand that we will enforce the law.
Lying whores gonna lie:
Arizona town calls state of emergency over migrant arrivals
Gila Bend, with a population of 2,000, does not have a hospital or shelter. It is 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of the U.S.-Mexico border and about 60 miles (95 kilometers) southwest of Phoenix.
The mayor's declaration came after federal agents on Monday dropped off 16 people, including young children, at a park in town. The group included six families, five from Venezuela and one from Chile.
"To drop people in basically the middle of nowhere, it's 30 miles to the next type of town, and that's 30 miles of open desert. So especially come July and August, we're going to be finding bodies," Riggs said.
The root cause is capitalism and liberal democracy. If the US wasn't so successful and wonderfully fair, those people would stay home. Of course, this is 100% the fault of the coastal elite libtards responsible for the economic juggernaut.
Also, the history of US corporations, mercs and the Marines propping up bloodthirsty juntas was responsible for creating the shithole status quo while raping the abundance of natural resources.
Democrats want young children to be sent across territory controlled by criminals and child traffickers.
Yes, children with "benefits" is one motive. Democratic gerrymandering another. Redistributive change a third. Labor arbitrage a fourth. Natural birth to a mother and father who are not citizens of the legal jurisdiction, too. And, of course, to compensate for the excess deaths in Planned Parent/hood offices, clinics, and practices.
Isn’t it Colonialism to address the root cause of Central American poverty?
Yes, color supremacists and privilege. They want to abort the baby, cannibalize her profitable parts, sequester her carbon pollutants, and have her, too. With the Pro-Choice religion, yes, they can, but only when politically congruent (a nod to reconciliation or force).
Central America has had bad government since at least before the days they were chopping of heads and rolling them down pyramids. But people couldn't really flee to a place with better government back then.
Why do Progressives want disadvantaged brown people from other countries to come to our RACIST, Brown people hating country?? Kind of backwards, don't you think??? Maybe Progressives who hate OUR country should migrate down there!!!
Flatulence (notably attributed to vegans including cows) is a first-order forcing of [catastrophic] [anthropogenic] climate change in the Earth system, and, apparently, social and political systems, too.
Dems have spent $23 Trillion and 60 years combatting the "root causes" of poverty in the US and have only succeeded in making things worse, but sure, Kamala's gonna knock out poverty in foreign countries across all of Central and South America in the next few months ...
This is the newest version of the old Democrat bait-n-switch of "raise taxes today and we will cut spending tomorrow". In this case it is "we will CARE for them now and enforce the law later..." except we ALL know "later" never comes.
The root cause of people in shithole countries wanting to come to America is that America is not a shithole.
The Harris-Biden administration is working day and night to fix this problem.
I thought the phrase was walk and pull the dog's tail at the same time.
Ms. Harris has chewed a lot of things in her life trying to get a head. Her recent reaction to a question about the border---her little giggle--is a tell that she has no bleeping clue what to do.
The quick way to halt border "migration" is to build and maintain the danged wall.
The last thing you need to do is engage in social work and nation rebuilding in Central America. But naturally in her typical inversion/insertion of cranium way up her posterior, Ms. Harris wants to nation build.
The border should safe, secure, orderly, and open - in that exact order.
Well according to Biden, addressing "root causes" is paying contractors in Honduras (not the government because they're corrupt) to put up electric lights in the city. I don't know how those lights survived the two hurricanes. And it is interesting that a mother sent her child through the hurricane ravaged "desert" to reach the United States unaccompanied.
I wonder what the American people, expecting $2000 stimulus checks but getting less than promised, think about sending $700 million to foreign contractors in various countries to keep migrants in those countries.
Howard writes: Also, the history of US corporations, mercs and the Marines propping up bloodthirsty juntas was responsible for creating the shithole status quo while raping the abundance of natural resources.
Howard goes full Bruce Coburn but stops short of wishing he had a rocket launcher.
Her recent reaction to a question about the border---her little giggle--is a tell that she has no bleeping clue what to do.
Harris does giggle a lot. I think that a tell of immaturity.
Joe Biden has always been the creepy guy in the van trying to lure kids in with a puppy.
He is just doing it on a larger scale right now.
Howard said...
The root cause is capitalism and liberal democracy. If the US wasn't so successful and wonderfully fair, those people would stay home. Of course, this is 100% the fault of the coastal elite libtards responsible for the economic juggernaut.
Also, the history of US corporations, mercs and the Marines propping up bloodthirsty juntas was responsible for creating the shithole status quo while raping the abundance of natural resources.
That was a great argument for open borders Howard.
Brilliant, focused, direct.
Maybe you aren't that stupid after all.
changing the conditions that are causing people to come to the border
There are no conditions that cause people to come to or cross the border. Coming to or crossing the border is a choice. There are reasons why people make that choice. Unless those choices are enforced by say a gun pointed at you, this is a rather peculiar formulation of what is going on.
Camp of the Saints redux. And certainly Europe is making its own set of mistakes--particularly the always idealistic Germans under La Merkel--as we type.
Narr
Root causes flatulence
If you really want to know what are "the conditions that are causing people to come to the border", the best people to ask are those that have made that choice. The second best are those that have direct contact with them.
As a direct aside to Ann, you have misused the word cause.
The 'elephant in the room' about open borders immigration policy is not discussed at all in most media articles. Countries who lose their population on such a large scale will suffer the most. Because the people who take on such journeys are the young who are the most productive of their societies. If this continues - Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, etc., will have to replace the productive capacities and that is impossible to do other then decades in the future [It takes 20 years to grow a child]. One of the prime examples, in history, was during the 1970s UK 'Brain Drain' immigration outflow. Where 1.44 million graduates had left the UK to look for more highly paid jobs in countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia. This was caused by the high tax rates, where top rate of income tax was 83% and if you were dumb enough to invest in British business, creating jobs and enterprise, you paid an extra 15% "unearned income" surtax, taking your tax rate to 98%. France had no such taxes and no 'Brain Drain'. Similarly, immigration from Latin countries, due to no jobs, is a drain of young people. Thus hallowing out a country's future growth because of the exiting of their most productive workers.
My parents waited eight years to legally immigrate to this country, so im not impressed.
Blogger Skeptical Voter said...
Ms. Harris has chewed a lot of things in her life trying to get a head. Her recent reaction to a question about the border---her little giggle--is a tell that she has no bleeping clue what to do.
I think she knows more about giving head.
The basic reason why South and Central America are such a mess is the Spanish heritage. Does anyone know a well run Spanish former colony ? Argentina was the best but was about 40% Italian with a very small Indian component. Peron screwed that up.
They also seem to choose the left wingers in government. Kind of like us in 2020.
On Sunday August 11, Argentina’s right-wing president Mauricio Macri suffered a landslide defeat in the primary elections against the progressive-opposition ticket of Alberto Fernández and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. During Macri’s presidential term the Argentine economy suffered a serious blow with the most visible indicator of the more than 566% devaluation of the Argentine peso from when Macri entered office until today.
The principal impacts of this economic crisis in Argentina have been felt by the working class and marginalized sectors in Argentina. Thousands have lost their jobs, the prices of food and public services have increased while wages have decreased and the number of people without homes has increased exponentially.
Before the results were announced Sunday, the peso was worth 45 to the dollar, but by Monday morning after Macri’s defeat had been announced, rumors circulated that the peso had devalued another 33% resulting in the rate of 60 pesos to the dollar.
They already had a disaster in 2001.
During most of the 1990s, Argentina outperformed most other countries in Latin America in terms of growth. However, in the late 1990s, Argentina’s hard currency peg to the US Dollar, pro-cyclical fiscal policies and extensive foreign borrowing left the country unable to deal with a number of economic shocks. This eventually led to the outbreak of a severe currency, sovereign debt and banking crisis.
Ours are coming soon. Courtesy of Democrats who aren no better than Peron and Evita. Harris actually resembles Evita a bit.
Chile had a salvation with Pinochet but they have slid back into the hole since then. It's the Spanish curse.
The root cause of Latin Americans migrating here from Latin America is that Latin America is full of Latin Americans. Once this country is full of Latin Americans too there'll be no reason to come here anymore. The migration problem solve itself.
"... must address the root causes that cause people to make the trek."
Is she suggesting that she, as the USA Vice President, has the power and authority to change the social and economic conditions in Central and South America that are driving migrants to the US? I know she isn't talking about reverting to the Trump policy of rejecting, rather than welcoming, as many people as possible that are coming here illegally.
One particular Mexican, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has a clue for Kamala regarding "root causes": "Expectations were created that with the Government of President Biden there would be a better treatment of migrants. And this has caused Central American migrants, and also from our country, wanting to cross the border thinking that it is easier to do so.”
See how easy that was?
Recall Democrats telling us about dealing with the "root causes" of crime? Crime exploded, in spite of all that Democrats were doing to deal with the "root causes" of crime.
Come academics like James Q. Wilson and pols like Giuliani , who said that a "root cause" of crime was being able to commit crime without being punished. Turns out Wilson and Giuliani were right.
Like Calypso Factor and Mexican President AMLO point out, illegal immigrants being permitted to enter the US results in more illegal immigration. Trump cracked down on illegal immigration, resulting in less illegal immigration. Many prospective immigrants saw no point in traveling 1,000 miles from Central America to the US border, only to have to return to their home countries.
Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
And hurry!
Narr
Enough with the manana attitude
The effort by Ms. Harris to address the root causes of migration, which can take years, is..."
Well, the "root causes," if you are to take the asylum claims seriously, are that many of these are "shit-hole" countries.
And if they were being truthful and honest about claims of "asylum," then they would send in international military forces to take over these countries.
But it's all farce. And encouraged.
Didn't the Democrats (with George Soros) organize the caravans from Central America?
We have her answer then.
And here I thought the root cause was climate change.
"Root causes," and "unlikely to produce swift results." Y'know, I think those phrases have been in the same sentence before many times since 1960 and I don't even live in Washington DC! She must be a slow learner.
Or maybe it is I who am the slow learner, because I keep expecting adults who profess to want to solve one problem or another to say things which make logical sense, rather than things which help them gain more power and get elected again.
It's Kinisonian, go where free money and food is.
Revitalization. Rehabilitation. Reconciliation. At the source (i.e. emigration/migration reform). Abstain from the compelling lure of secular lucre (e.g. redistributive change). Do not pass Democrat-affiliated community organizers, do not take a knee to diversity dogmatists.
When you find that 1 person who CAN'T walk and chew gum at the same time...
Please let me know?
Obviously not including para- and quadriplegics.
Probably fleeing the white supremacy of the white Hispanics.
A guy who could chew gum, play guitar, and sing at the same time.
We have a defense dept with a budget of 3/4 trillion dollars. Maybe our soldiers could be put to use defending our borders instead of getting shot up in pointless foreign entanglements.
Kamala wouldn't even need to break a sweat.
The "root causes" language is a reference to something Harris said: "While we are clear that people should not come to the border now, we also understand that we will enforce the law. We also — because we can chew gum and walk at the same time — must address the root causes that cause people to make the trek."
The "root cause" is that the Democrats invited them to come.
The "root cause" of that is that Democrats have sold their souls to abusive employees who want cheap workers who, because they're here illegally, can't go to the government when the boss abuses them
The root cause of that is that Democrats are scum
The second set is nearly impossible, done together or done one at a time
False. Trump did it.
Enforce the law, tell them you're going to enforce the law, and never let them into the US (see Trump's deal with Mexico).
The only reason why they "can't do that is because they don't want to
The only reason why they "can't do that is because they don't want to
Americans, second, third, or Planned Parent/hood.
Probably fleeing the white supremacy of the white Hispanics.
Color supremacy or rabid diversity as in inclusive exclusion. Also, People of White Hispanic (i.e. color bloc, identity defined by skin color, racism) is forward-looking, politically congruent, socially progressive: one step forward, two steps backward.
Sometimes it's a baby. Sometimes it's a fetus. It's always subject to judgment, labels, and selectively denied Life etc.
Is she suggesting that she, as the USA Vice President, has the power and authority to change the social and economic conditions in Central and South America that are driving migrants to the US?
This is how the graft keeps filling the coffers of politicians.
Central American people are poor because the economies are poor, because the govt are corrupt. The likes of Kamala claim the solution to a corrupt govt is to send them money. BUT. Not directly to the govt...(shhh, they're corrupt). The money is funneled through, NGO's, non profits, think tanks, and charities. In the form of grants.
Now find out who is on the payroll of those agencies charged with distributing $billions. Kamalas relatives, and donors.
This is the only truly non-partisian activity in DC Republicans are just as fully engaged.
That is why President Trump had to go. He was seriously cutting into the flow of vig into politicians pockets.
I know the average person is a moron, but, does the average person, after 4 years of Trump getting things under control at the border, believe that now, all of a sudden, it's just impossible to control?
What changed?
Similar to we had years of declining oil & gas output, and some asshole saying we couldn't drill our way out of the problem for 8 years.
Trump rolls in, and for the first time in FIFTY years, the USA is energy independent.
And now, again, it's just impossible to drill our way to energy independence.
What changed?
Are people really that stupid?
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