President Trump threatened to shut down the border. The MSM screamed with outrage. Numerous brilliant people from all sides of the political spectrum considered this to be a huge mistake. None of them had any solutions for what is clearly a national security crisis. They are only certain that Trump is wrong. The problem is that people are pouring across our southern border and not only are we doing nothing to stop the surge, Democrats are literally cheering them on.

Anyone who does not recognize the crisis here has simply not been paying attention. Europe is a real mess, because they let in a lot of people who have zero intention of assimilating. Politicians in Europe are just as oblivious as politicians in America, so they were the last to notice. But the people noticed and their voices are starting to be heard. This is one of the reasons Britain voted for Brexit.

Once again, it looks like everyone underestimated Trump. In some ways this reminds me of George W. Bush. That probably would offend Trump. But Bush faced a similar problem in Iraq. Everyone was telling him the war was over and we lost. Democrats were demanding he just withdraw all troops and quit. Few remembered that they were the ones encouraging him to invade Iraq in the first place. He had a similar problem with his generals. He had numerous highly respected military professionals who explained why the situation was hopeless. He had a congress that wanted to quit. But Bush kept looking for one general who didn’t propose how to lose gracefully, but rather one who proposed a strategy for winning. He found General David Petraeus. He was brilliant. He developed the plan that literally saved the day.

There is another precedent for this. In March 1864 President Abraham Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant to rank of lieutenant general of the U.S. Army. The establishment generals, who had suffered defeat after defeat, were outraged. At one point Lincoln was told that Grant was a drunk. His response was to say that if he could find out what brand of whiskey Grant drank, he would send a barrel of it to his other commanders. (That was probably not a true quote, but still interesting) But in Grant, Lincoln finally found his general who was totally focused on what could be done to achieve victory. He then set out to do exactly that. There was also something else very different about General Grant. Grant knew Robert E. Lee. He had served with him in Mexico. He wrote about it in his memoirs. He liked and respected Robert E. Lee, but he also know him to be another mere mortal, not a deity. He also knew he could be defeated.

Both Petraeus and Grant snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. In both cases, there was increasing opposition from members of congress all too willing to embrace such defeat. In both cases the thin line between victory and disaster was held firmly in the hands of one man. A President of the United States who said: “NOT ON MY WATCH!.” Congress was less than worthless.

We do not know if this is a similar moment. We do not know if the people now being chosen by Trump are up to the job either. What we do know is that if nothing is changed, nothing will change. What we are doing now is not working.

All these recent apprehensions have one thing in common. We are arresting people AFTER they cross the border. All of those laws, passed by congress, that make it close to impossible to handle this situation have one thing in common. They are U.S. laws. That means if people cannot get into the country in the first place, they do not apply. I believe Trump is seeking his own general. One who will find a way to do exactly what Trump said needs to be done, to shut down that border. He is not talking about stopping trucks hauling tomatoes. He is talking about stopping people from coming here illegally and then immediately demanding special treatment. When Trump says he intends to shut down the border, believe him.

TDM