Opinion: Biden should put U.S. security first

You can’t be on the internet for 10 minutes without stumbling onto some sort of clickbait icon.

The original clickbait is the newspaper headline, honed to a fine point by the supermarket tabloids.

Who can resist “Blind Man Gets 20/20 Vision After Eating 500 Bushels of Carrots?” You just gotta buy that rag.

Because I’m a reader of newspapers, I’m a collector of headlines. One that caught my eye recently was,

“Economy Better, but People Feel Worse.”

The writer went on to explain that no matter what you think about prices at your grocery store or what your electricity bill says, there are government data to show that things are better than you think.

Rather than wasting a lot of print, the story could have been summed up with, “Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?”

Last Monday’s headline in my local broadsheet, 72-point type, above the fold, was “Biden: Border is not

secure.”

The president is quoted in a USA Today article by Joey Garrison, “No it’s not. I haven’t believed that for the last 10 years, and I’ve said it for the last 10 years. Give me the money.”

Biden is further quoted, “I believe we need significant policy changes, including changes in our asylum system, to ensure we have the authorities we need to control the border. I’m ready to act.”

After 36 years as a U.S. senator, eight years as vice-president and three years as president, all the while

avoiding what he now sees as the immigration crisis at the border, he is forced to admit the truth and he is

“ready to act.”

He is, however only ready to act if Congress will give him the money. And that’s the crux of the matter.

The money he wants is not money to fix the border crisis, but money to continue funding the war in Ukraine. The money to fix the border is an afterthought. First the billions for Ukraine then the

small change for the border.

The primary job of the U.S. president is to ensure the security of the nation. The current president of the

United States believes the border is not secure. He has believed this for at least 10 years. And yet he

places the security of a foreign country over the one he is sworn to defend.

Think about that.

Rube Render is a former Clovis city commissioner and former chair of the Curry County Republican Party. Contact him:

[email protected]