A NATION OF NOTHINGS!

Now our Congress is building a fence on the border of the United States and Mexico. It is obviously not intended to keep American citizens in, because Mexico thrives on tourism, so it is intended to keep the Mexicans out. You see, these Mexicans are desperately poor. Their government is known to be corrupt, so many of them are anxious to come across the border to the United States, where our government, of course, is as pure as the white, driven snow.

These Illegal Aliens arrive by the millions. It is easy to imagine a few people sneaking across the border of the United States, but when they arrive by the millions, it leads one to believe they may as well put in a bus service. They arrive here, nevertheless, across a hot, dry desert where, if they can survive the heat and the lack of water, they melt into the American landscape.

They have one purpose, to get jobs. Of course, our American employers are mighty happy to help these poor fellows, so the jobs have been plentiful. They work for almost nothing. The problem is, when they work for almost nothing, Americans also have to work for almost nothing. A lot of Americans, unemployed, are living on nothing. And nothing is done to stem the tide of Mexicans coming across the border or to penalize the employers. That is why it is felt we must have a fence, before we all become nothings.

Not long ago, the Berlin Wall was torn down. Ronald Reagan said, "Tear down that wall!" and a fellow named Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in relaxing the stiff standards of the old U.S.S.R. The wall was torn down, and everyone celebrated. It was a time of joy!

Now, we are putting up our own Wall, or at least a fence. It is hoped that the Mexicans will not dig under it, hop over it, or swim around it. It is hoped that our Border Guards will then have an easier time of it. As it is, they are helpless. They see the same people arrive time and again, sometimes on the same day. They send them back to Mexico and they turn around and come in again, a revolving door.

Even drug smugglers have taunted the helpless status of our Border Guards. Two of the guards are in prison right now because they shot a drug smuggler, who testified that these guards did indeed shoot him. You can't argue against evidence like that. When an innocent, moral, well-intentioned drug smuggler states that two crass, cruel Border Guards shot him, where else are you going to put them besides prison?

A big problem here in the States is stolen identities. Our identities are being stolen by Illegal Aliens. They get jobs with false papers and even collect Medicare and Social Security with fabricated or stolen identities. Some Americans I know have decided to steal someone else's identity in order to get free Health Care. They are practicing their Spanish as I write this. We Americans are nothing if not ingenuous!

Soon, with Mexicans arriving by the millions, there may not be any Americans left with an identity. We may be a nation of Anonymous Nothings. No matter. We haven't many jobs, are losing the ones we have had for years, we have little health care, and we are quarreling with North Korea and Iran. Why on earth would we need identities? Look at it this way....in case of a draft, let the Identity Thieves be rounded up by authorities to serve in the military!

Perhaps Americans should consider a move to Mexico. It's cheaper there, the climate's better, and the few earthquakes and hurricanes that come around could be called minor inconveniences, no different than having a second home in Florida. There are few jobs there, either, so if one is going to be unemployed or underemployed, may as well do it where one can get an authentic taco and a gorgeous tan.

The trouble is, we Americans cannot eat a steady diet of beans without developing stomach distress. Most of us only recognize two or three words of Spanish, unless we are Miami residents. And we look like hell in sombreros. Even Vincente Fox stays away from sombreros and wears a cowboy hat, probably given to him by his close friend and election advisor, George Bush.

You see, Mexico recently had an election. This election was hotly contested, but a judge decided on the winner. Does this sound familiar? Does this sound like those poor unemployed transients are going to get good jobs real soon? No, it doesn't. It sounds like the status quo will remain and we may have to electrify that fence, sort of like those outfits that keep the dogs in the yards. Get near our border and...buzz, buzz, buzz...a few jolts will ward you away!

A pity, really, when a country resorts to erecting fences, when all that is needed are employers slapped with stiff fines for hiring slave labor. If they are going to hire Mexicans, let them pay them the same wage scale as Americans need, and that isn't the Minimum Wage....which is another word for Maximum Starvation!

But, obviously, our Congress does not want to levy fines and strict statutes on their friends, the Rich Corporations, thus biting the hands of those who pay for their golfing vacations in lush hotels located in exotic places. If they penalize the employers of Illegal Aliens, they might have to settle for camping vacations with the wife and kids, so perhaps you can't blame them.

On top of that, it would be great to have an Immigration Department that does its job, instead of issuing visas for short visits that turn into lifetime residencies in the United States, or one that stops ignoring the fact that Illegals are not Legal. For a country that George Bush calls a "nation of laws," we sure can ignore them at will. I guess we only ticket folks if they run a red light or some other minor infraction, but those other laws....like the ones in the Constitution...don't count at all!