Laredo…Not So Fast

Gloomy skies in a usually sunny area should have been my first clue as to how this day might go.

I had my day planned. Then I opened the Washington Post feed I receive every morning. The news is often gloomy, especially since 45 took office. Today his chaotic news affected me more than usual.

Today was the day I planned to buy my bus ticket back from central Mexico’s highlands where I’ve been living the last six months. My visa expires next week so I have to leave the country. I don’t want to fly — -not with all the mechanical, emotional, and real turbulence in the air these days. More so, I want to see by land more of northern Mexico and its people.

Mexico’s buses are far more comfortable than those in the US. A day through the countryside, pass through the border, pick up a rental car on the other side, drive onward through my favorite western states. I had a great plan.

Not so fast there, the news let me know. The Laredo border, the one closest to me, would be among the first to be closed by 45’s order. This change means a major inconvenience and increased cost to me and numerous other Americans residing and traveling to and from Mexico. It impacts mail delivery we receive here. Parcels of all kinds, Social Security checks, insurance papers and all the usual kinds of mail could no longer be picked up in Laredo, then trucked on to expats in Mexico.

Of course, it matters little to him that border agents, workers who commute on both sides, and others would be impacted significantly. Bearing the most significant burden of the closing? American consumers by way of higher food costs because trucks carrying produce will be unable to get through the border. Numerous costs have already risen due to deported workers, ones who could have become lawful and productive citizens. When the government or your corporation pays the tab for your food or labor in DC or Mar-a-Lago, it doesn’t matter to you if costs rise; you’re not picking up the check.

All this, as sane and well-read persons know, is unjustified. Legal scholars can debate whether or not he has authority to do it. Morally, I know it is wrong, just as immoral as the other behaviors he has instigated against immigrants and those wanting a better life. He wanted what he perceived was a better life — -why else did he cheat and lie has as evidence shows he has through the years — -to gain more financial and prestige resources? Shouldn’t others have the same opportunity?

Am I angry this morning? Of course, I am. I am being inconvenienced but that is nothing like the harm, the devastation, the degradation which has happened to thousands of law-abiding immigrants in the US and elsewhere.

But at whom am I angry? Yes, I am angry at Trump and his uncaring, dishonest, lying minions. I am even angrier at those who did not do their homework, including mainstream media, before the 2016 election, discovering how irrational and dishonest this man has been all of his life. I am angry with those who did not care or didn’t believe the evidence in front of them about his outrageous behavior.

I am livid with those who did not care enough about their fellow humans to connect the dots about what would likely happen with him in power. I’m angry at Kentucky voters who have continued to put McConnell in office, a man known to support policies directly against those who voted for him. I’m angry at the Paul Ryan types who stood by, taking care of themselves instead of policies supporting the kind of country our founders fought so hard to build. And I’m furious with those who say — -oh, it’s all just too much for me. I have to turn off the tv and not be bothered.

Fine. Don’t be bothered, I say to this latter group. Just don’t let me hear one complaint from you about your loss of freedom, your lower wages, your lack of clean air, your loss of anything which made the country truly great.

My day plans have changed. I’ll develop new ones. Yes, they will include travel plans but they will also include specific actions to assure that my country becomes even better than it was pre-45.

Now the sun has arrived. Onward I go.