When Laws Aren’t Enforced, Anarchy Follows

The women and children must be up in front with the news media. TD

Victor Davis Hanson

Law enforcement is not just a way to deal with individual violators but also a way to remind society at large that there can be no civilization without legality.

Members of a migrant caravan walk past police on the highway to Sao Pedro Tapanatepec, Mexico

What makes citizens obey the law is not always their sterling character. Instead, fear of punishment — the shame of arrest, fines, or imprisonment — more often makes us comply with laws. Law enforcement is not just a way to deal with individual violators but also a way to remind society at large that there can be no civilization without legality. 
"Or, as 17th-century British statesman George Savile famously put it: “Men are not hanged for stealing horses, but that horses may not be stolen.” 
"In the modern world, we call such prompt, uniform, and guaranteed law enforcement “deterrence,” from the Latin verb meaning “to frighten away.” One protester who disrupts a speech is not the problem. But if unpunished, he greenlights hundreds more like him. Worse still, when one law is left unenforced, then all sorts of other laws are weakened. 
"The result of hundreds of “sanctuary cities” is not just to forbid full immigration enforcement in particular jurisdictions. They also signal that U.S. immigration law, and by extension other laws, can be ignored.
"The presence of an estimated 12 million or more foreign nationals unlawfully living in the U.S. without legal consequence sends a similar message. The logical result is the current caravan of thousands of Central Americans now inching its way northward to enter the U.S. illegally. 
"If the border were secure, immigration laws enforced, and illegal residence phased out, deterrence would be reestablished and there would likely be no caravan." . . .

Next Tunnel Wall posts will be on Friday evening

CULTURAL ALIENATION: 47% of Americans 'FEEL LIKE STRANGERS In Their OWN COUNTRY'

Socio-Political-Journal.

The sense that the nation’s culture and way of life have dramatically changed is reflected in a PRRI “American Values” survey that gauged both political opinions and “cultural alienation.”

It found that 47 percent of Americans now say that things have changed so much, they “feel like a stranger in their own country.” A slim majority (51 percent) disagree.

Nearly six in 10 Republicans say that things have changed so much they feel alienated; 42 percent of Democrats agree.

Was there a better era to live in? Americans are divided on whether the country’s culture and way of life has changed for the better or worse since the 1950s. Fifty percent say such change is for the better, while 47 percent say culture has gotten worse according to the survey survey.

“There are significant partisan divides on this question, with 60 percent of Democrats and just 34 percent of Republicans believing American culture and way of life have improved since the 1950s; by contrast, 64 percent of Republicans say things have mostly changed for the worse,” the poll analysis said.

“The survey finds that partisans see two entirely different American futures. The survey shows Republicans’ vision for the country’s future is increasingly distant from the vision largely shared by Democrats and independents,” the analysis said.

The survey of 2,509 U.S. adults was conducted from Sept. 17 to Oct. 1 and released Monday.

With such a left-leaning, academia promoted atmosphere, how could non-leftists ever hope to win?

Trump Beats Media By Using Their Own ‘Narcissism’ Against Them, Ex-‘Daily Show’ Host Jon Stewart Says

. . .  “I think that journalists have taken it personally. They are personally wounded and offended by this man. He baits them, and they dive in,” Stewart told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “What he’s done well, I thought, is appeal to their own narcissism, to their own ego. … They say, ‘We are noble, we are honorable, how dare you, sir!' And they take it personally.” . . .

A 3-minute dose of schadenfreude: hilarious compilation of media announcing Trump’s imminent political demise . . . "Obama’s media support was as pervasive as the media’s hatred of Trump, and yet both men show nearly identical patterns of approval, with the slight advantage to Trump. But most importantly, Trump’s early deficit compared to Obama has now turned to an advantage in levels of approval. I think that the video embedded below (hat tip: Steven Hayward of Powerline) explains a lot about this growing advantage. The media’s hysteria has firmly established them as unfair bullies in the minds of a plurality, if not outright majority of Americans. Like Godzilla drawing power from the hi tension electric lines he crossed, the mainstream media is energizing Trump’s support." . . .

If the media says Trump is a goner it must be true!  "My impression is that Trump has been steadily growing stronger and more confident as president since his inauguration. He still has some very bad moments and ill-advised tweets, but it is a fantasy that he will be driven from office barring anything truly scandalous from the Mueller investigation, and I’m pretty sure we’d have had it by now if there was anything to the Russia collusion story.

"I’m thinking there’s an inverse relationship between Trump’s strength and media hysteria. Some clever person put together this montage of the media claiming routinely since January 20, 2017 that a “tipping point” had been reached, that the newest “bombshell” was curtains for Trump, that “the walls are closing in.” Talk about fake news. Heh. Enjoy this—we’ve got a long way to go yet." . . .

The rest of the story on that non-partisan voter telethon

Don Surber

Don Surber  "Launched by Michelle Obama’s non-partisan, non-profit campaign 'When We All Vote,' the first-ever 'The Telethon For America' is set to air live November 5 on YouTube, Facebook Live, and Comedy Central Online," Deadline Hollywood reported.

"The wire services and other media outlets also describe the event as non-partisan.

"Reuters credited comedian Ben Gleib with the idea.

"Ben Gleib: "Donald Trump just committed treason today on live television. Anyone who still backs this traitor to our nation is guilty of supporting treason. Pick a side. Russia or your own."

"Reuters listed as guests Jane Fonda, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Amy Schumer, Judd Apatow, Chelsea Handler, and Olga Kay.

"Fonda: If Donald Trump "fires Mueller, we have to get in the streets — nobody should work. We should shut down the country. Shut it down!"

"Louis-Dreyfus: "Julia Louis-Dreyfus Mocks Donald Trump As She Accepts Mark Twain Prize."

"Schumer: "Amy Schumer’s Trump comments prompt walkouts. At Tampa show, Jewish comedian calls GOP candidate an ‘orange, sexual-assaulting, fake-college-starting monster.’"

"LANGUAGE WARNING! LANGUAGE WARNING! Skip the next paragraph if you detest foul language."  We warned you; here it comes....

Media’s Blaming Trump for ‘Climate of Hate’ – They Need To Look in the Mirror

Western Journal  

CNN host Don Lemon

"Members of the media and their allies on the left should look in the mirror — or at least take a moment for the country to mourn tragedy — before blaming violence and incivility on President Donald Trump and conservatives in general.

"They certainly haven’t done that in the last few weeks."
. . . 
"First, authorities arrested a seemingly disturbed man in connection to pipe bombs that were mailed to CNN and prominent Democratic politicians.

. . . "The media was quick to blame these incidents on the president, saying that he has created a climate of hate and fear that is producing these kinds of incidents.
"Progressive columnist Paul Krugman wrote in The New York Times: “All of these hate crimes seem clearly linked to the climate of paranoia and racism deliberately fostered by Donald Trump and his allies in Congress and the media.”

"He then blamed “hate peddling” on “one side of the political spectrum,” meaning conservatives." . . .

What if the caravan makes it to the border?

A little Photosnark by Rich Terrell

Daily Caller  "President Donald Trump, spurred to the presidency by national skepticism of unchecked immigration, now faces an advancing U.S.-bound caravan of would-be illegal immigrants marching through Mexico, one he’s determined to stop.

"What he’ll do, precisely, is less clear.

"The caravan of nearly 6,000 seeks U.S. resident status largely under the auspices of economic asylum. The legal challenge consists of migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and then claiming a “credible fear” of return to their home country.

. . . "Administration officials speaking on the condition of anonymity conceded to TheDC they have few good options once the caravan arrives. The options floating around internally revolve around the use of executive action with an attempt to bar asylum claims and fortifying legal ports of entry for orderly administrative processing (one that would presumably end for most in flights back, should Trump get his way).

. . . 

"One of the major considerations includes a presidential proclamation specifically barring the caravan from entering the country, officials said." . . .

How many US troops are from Central America and sympathetic to these people? Should we be concerned with discipline issues on the part of our military? TD

More from the DC article here:

The Drawbacks:

"The Trump administration maintains, however, that as many temporary changes, troop deployments, and executive actions it takes, their hands are largely tied by U.S. asylum laws on the books and laws disallowing detention of families for long stretches of time.

"Center for Immigration Studies executive director Mark Krikorian declared Friday that ultimately only Congress can truly fix the laws required to stop the caravan.

"“The caravan, and new ones forming behind it, are merely symptoms,” Krikorian said, explaining “the problem is an overly permissive asylum system (including rules for dealing with illegal-alien minors) that has become the preferred way to penetrate our borders for those with no other way to do so. And only Congress can fix that.”

"Experts also note that asylum seekers who enter the U.S. illegally are subject to the least amount of scrutiny of nearly any foreign national who enters the country. Furthermore, the asylum processing agencies of the Executive Office for Immigration Review and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are rife with fraud and abuse, a 2015 General Accountability Office report found." . . .

Shame on Democrats and their MSM for co-opting the word "immigrants". This is demagoguery and yes, fake news to promote illegal immigrants as being just like us all.

Noisy Room

Branco Cartoon – Pro-Choice

Choose wisely

Tony Branco at Legal Insurrection

The Obama boys: Reporting for duty again

Silvio Canto, Jr.  "Is anyone shocked?  I am not.  Remember the five Gitmo terrorists exchanged for U.S. Army sgt. Bowe Bergdahl?  It turns out that all five are reporting back to duty, according to the AP:   

Five members of the Afghan Taliban who were freed from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in exchange for captured U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl have joined the insurgent group’s political office in Qatar, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.

They will now be among Taliban representatives negotiating for peace in Afghanistan, a sign some negotiators in Kabul say indicates the Taliban’s desire for a peace pact.“

"These people are respected among all the Taliban,” said Mujahed. “Their word carries weight with the Taliban leadership and the mujahedeen.”

"Maybe so.  Maybe they are highly respected, but who cares?  They are free men and working for the other side.  

"I remember the families of the men who were killed in Afghanistan or in a mission to rescue Bergdahl.  The families of dead soldiers don't get their sons back.  The fallen soldiers don't get a second chance.  They are dead and buried.

"Once again, we see the wishful thinking approach of the Obama administration.  Did we not demand that these five men stay away from leadership positions?  

"Yes, I understand that you want to rescue or bring home every U.S. serviceman.  Do you give up five of your most senior terrorists to do so?  Do you do so without conditions?

"Thank God that we have a new leader in town."

Is the Bergdahl Swap worthy of another Nobel Award?  It was a pretty low bar, after all.

It's amazing that we hear nothing anymore about Trump's astonishing success in Korea.  Two years ago, Kim Jong-un was shooting rockets over Japan, exploding nukes underground and acting all belligerent.  Confrontation was his game, and everybody was wary and worried.  Donald Trump gave China a chance to solve the Korea problem and, after the Chinese failed, said he would "take care of it."
He did.

Pittsburgh Shooting Widow Shared Touching Reason It Was Important To Her To Greet Trump

Weasel Zippers "While the liberal media rants about how President Trump was given the cold shoulder by the grieving community in Pittsburgh, videos and other reports are proving the opposite.

"The president and first lady on Tuesday visited the site of the Tree of Life synagogue massacre where 11 people were gunned down Saturday during a service."

From BPR: 

While the liberal media rants about how President Trump was given the cold shoulder by the grieving community in Pittsburgh, videos and other reports are proving the opposite.
The president and first lady on Tuesday visited the site of the Tree of Life synagogue massacre where 11 people were gunned down Saturday during a service.
The widow of one of the victims was on hand later that night to welcome the Trumps, even as local elected leaders shunned the president’s invitation to join him on the solemn visit, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders revealed on “Fox & Friends” Wednesday.
“She said that she wanted to be there in order to show him that people wanted him there,” Sanders said of the widow of Richard Gottfried, one of the victims who was killed.
“He spent a good bit of time with her and said he was very humbled and very saddened by the experience that he had yesterday in Pittsburgh,” Sanders added.[…]
The president met with with law enforcement officials in the Medical Center who were wounded in the attack and patients “seemed grateful for the President’s interest and visit,” Dr. Donald Yealy, the hospital’s chair of emergency medicine, said according to CNN.
The scene at the University of Pittsburgh Hospital where Trump visited was a firm rebuttal to the left’s narrative as a video showed hospital staff enthusiastically thanking him for visiting.

So who is to be believed; the hospital staff, or this lady and her friends?  Tell me: Does this sound like a Nazi to you?

Trump Is the Best President Ever for American Jews

"President Trump's statement on  anti-Semitism the day after the Tree of Life massacre truly was "electrifying."

The Jews have endured terrible persecution, and you know that we've all read it: We've studied it.  They've gone through a lot and those seeking their destruction...we will seek their destruction...Never again.

. . .  I'd say this lady in the photo watches CNN and TV "entertainment" shows 

Fake news: Is 'Trump's America' really a special danger to Jews?

. . . Eye-poppingly, the press and the ADL ignore the fact that the large increase of reported anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses from 2016 to 2017 (108 to 204) is almost totally the result of leftist anti-Israel political activism and not a product of right-wing enthusiasm.  As any sentient observer knows, conservative beliefs (to say nothing of "far-right" ideas) are all but forbidden on America's institutions of "higher education."  Academic anti-Semitism, therefore, can hardly be blamed on Donald Trump.  . . .

Is it possible that friends of the lady in this photo sent death threats to the rabbi for meeting with the Trumps? Not saying it, just asking. TD

Pittsburgh Presbyterian Minister Screams at Trump “You’re Not Welcome Here!”

Which would you prefer to visit you in the hospital: the First Family or this minister? Apparently a CNN viewer.  TD

YOU MEAN THAT'S NOT ALREADY IN THE CONSTITUTION?

Ann Coulter  "Having mastered fake news, now the media are trying out a little fake history. 

Ann Coulter

     "In the news business, new topics are always popping up, from the Logan Act and the emoluments clause to North Korea. The all-star panels rush to Wikipedia, so they can pretend to be experts on things they knew nothing about an hour earlier. 
     "Such is the case today with "anchor babies" and "birthright citizenship." People who know zilch about the history of the 14th Amendment are pontificating magnificently and completely falsely on the issue du jour. 
     "If you'd like to be the smartest person at your next cocktail party by knowing the truth about the 14th Amendment, this is the column for you! 
     "Of course the president can end the citizenship of "anchor babies" by executive order -- for the simple reason that no Supreme Court or U.S. Congress has ever conferred such a right. 
     "It's just something everyone believes to be true. 
     "How could anyone -- even a not-very-bright person -- imagine that granting citizenship to the children of illegal aliens is actually in our Constitution? " . . .

Trump’s Winning Demeanor. Wait! What? Have I been getting ticked off at POTUS for nothing?

Conrad Black  "The problem with all the advice to the president urging him to change his demeanor is that it is given for the wrong reason and at the wrong time.

As I have often recounted, since Donald Trump attacks the entire political system and almost everyone in or near it in both parties (including former presidents), it was never going to be possible for him to lower the ferocity of his barrages until it was clear how successful his effort to dislodge or reorient the entire political establishment had been.

"Obviously, if he had not won the nomination, or lost the election, he would be, in political terms, a trivia question like Michael Dukakis (Democratic presidential nominee in 1988). He has expelled the NeverTrumpers from the Republican congressional delegations with Senators Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), and others headed for the exits. But if he loses control of the Congress next week, gridlock will reimpose itself, and we will have trench warfare until the next presidential election. In those circumstances, Trump might likely be disposed to be more placatory, and behave more like a contestant in a great national debate, with little realistic hope of changing the system he has attacked much more than he already has.

"A Truly Transformative Presidency This was the lot of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, who put in their tax increase and health care, respectively, in their first two years, and then were severely defeated at their first mid-terms and never moved more than a Christmas card through Congress thereafter. Republican congressional leaders Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole frustrated Clinton, and John Boehner, Paul Ryan, and Mitch McConnell drove Obama to attempt government by questionable executive regulation, leading to the extreme politicization of Supreme Court nominations." . . .

How's this for demeanor?