This week two West Virginia National Guard soldiers were shot in what has been described as a “targeted attack”. As of this morning one of them has died. The editors of the Washington Post lament:
Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, were ambushed by an Afghan refugee while on patrol near the White House. Beckstrom died Thursday. As Wolfe’s family waits at the hospital, it’s worth considering what the tragedy says about the state of the country.
The National Guard’s presence in the capital has been controversial since it began this summer. But blaming the presence for provoking this monstrous act is inappropriate. The Guard has helped reduce and deter violent crime and is far from menacing. At worst, deploying soldiers to pick up trash is a poor use of resources. President Donald Trump’s decision to call up 500 additional Guard members to patrol D.C. is a symbolic gesture, not a prelude to fascism.
Last night after announcing the death of Ms. Beckstrom President Trump declaimed:
Even as we have progressed technologically, Immigration Policy has eroded those gains and living conditions for many. I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden’s Autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country, end all Federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens of our Country, denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization. These goals will be pursued with the aim of achieving a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations, including those admitted through an unauthorized and illegal Autopen approval process. Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation. Other than that, HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL, except those that hate, steal, murder, and destroy everything that America stands for — You won’t be here for long!
I have seen the attack blamed on
lax gun control laws (The Guardian)
the presence of the National Guard in Washington, DC (New York Times)
U. S. political culture (WaPo)
President Biden (President Trump)
Third World immigrants (President Trump)
None of these claims is entirely true and none is entirely without basis.
From my perspective this incident confronts us with a worst case scenario. It’s a Rorschach test but it is unlikely to foster support for increased immigration (or accepting asylum-seekers for that matter). It appears to me to be reprising the Immigration Act of 1924, something I’ve been warning about for some time.
Hard to make any conclusions without knowing the real motivations and goals of the murderer.
For example, if he wanted to kill US troops, Portland is a lot closer (he lived in WA state) and has NG troops “patrolling” there with little extra security. WA state has a major military population with several bases and lots of uniformed people around. Why go to DC to try to murder some NG personnel a couple blocks from the WH? Maybe he was looking at a different target and decided it was too hardened, so picked something easier.
And it will be interesting to see where/how he got the gun. Since he was granted legal asylum earlier this year, it may have been legal for him to purchase it.
I would prefer seeing the facts come out during the trial instead of bickering. While there maybe an attempt to revive the 1924 law, the need for cheap, expendable labor (and campaign donations) exists. Also, there is a need to divert attention from the bread and circuses are shrinking.
“Need” is an interesting word. Does the U. S. actually need “cheap, expendable labor”? Or are there some business models which require “cheap, expendable labor” so that those who pursue such models can operate at a profit without making substantial capital investments? I would think that if there were an actual need for such labor that the wages for it would be rising (which they aren’t) so that those pursuing those models would start make major capital investments (which they aren’t) or go out of business (which some are).
Andy:
Will we ever know the “real motivations”? What would learning those require? I would think it would require a confession which I doubt will be forthcoming.
The need is mainly from corporate models, e.g bigtech, meat packing, ag sector, personal care providers, etc. Short term profits, long term devil take hindmost is replacing the invest now take the loss, long term profit model.
As for cheap and expendable labor, that is a Third World economy. In a First World economy like China’s, the factories, warehouses, transportation hubs, et al., are fully automated and optimized. Labour consists of a few highly skilled, highly paid engineers who program and maintain the robots.
China has something two-thirds of all the world’s industrial robots, and each year makes and buys most of the world’s new robot production. It has something like three quarters of the world’s 5G and all of its 6G hubs, and it runs advanced AI on them to optimize its manufacturing and systems.
In its last plenary meeting, the CPC decided that banks and financial companies would divert future investment from real estate and put it into manufacturing.
China’s electrical generation capacity, necessary for AI and a modern economy, is already very much larger than the US’ (2x, 3x?), a nd is expanding very rapidly. They lead the world in building every kind of generator: hydroelectric, coal, natural gas, nuclear, solar wind. It must be noted that US electrical generating capacity is declining, a regulatory decision, and that some of the new AI farms in the US sit idle for want of power.
Are cheap lettuce pickers really an issue?
I have already documented (using official Chinese figures) that only a very small percentage of China’s factories are fully automated.
IMO the Chinese economy can only be understood as being somewhat similar to ours: a First World economy existing within the same borders as a Third World economy. I don’t think we should have a Third World economy here and wouldn’t have if those benefiting from it were paying its costs.
I think some people want a zero tolerance policy which is nearly always bad policy. If we admitted 100,000 engineers on par with Musk one of them, at least, is going to kill someone. We could decide to never let in immigrants again (legal ones as we have never been able to stop illegals) but that would be a major hit to the economy.
I am also concerned that it would not be good for future military adventures if we fail to keep our promises to those who help us. Ethically, it’s wrong but I suspect that wont be a concern for most on the right. It’s also wrong strategically so that might make them have second thoughts.
Steve