Every country in south and Central America has either a US embassy or a consulate.  Asylum seekers from those places could LAWFULLY make their applications BEORE willfully endangering their children in long, arduous treks to ILLEGALLY invade our country.  In an honest debate about this issue, we need to ask, WHY?

Unfortunately, the answer is that past practices have applied a “Catch & Release” policy that allowed these illegal aliens to stay in this country awaiting hearings. Quite predictably, almost none of these “Catch & Release” folks ever show for the hearing and simply disappear into our country. This is why the Constitutional concept of Due Process is being actively debated so to change that standard to not be applicable to illegal aliens.

There are 7 countries in Central America and 12 in South America.  With the exception of one, (Brazil), the predominate language is Spanish and the cultures, while not identical, are certainly closer in kind to one another than they are to US cultural norms.  Why are these asylum seekers not considering refuge in any one of these other countries?  They would be closer to home, share the same language, assimilate easier, and spare themselves and their children the dangers of long, difficult travel.  In an honest debate about this issue, we need to ask, WHY?

It would appear that the 19 countries most geographically and culturally appropriate to provide asylum and immigration are unwilling to do so. Why does that become the problem for the USA, the country furthest from the problem?

And finally, why aren’t the citizens of countries that are apparently falling apart, taking action?  What about a citizens revolt and take back their country instead of running away? The USA has stood up to every world threat in modern times. When the British attempted to put its thumb on the colonies, our forefathers didn’t seek asylum, we went to war in order to defend our country, fighting and dying in the process.

One year ago today, my son was nearly killed when a car pulled out in front of him while he was riding his motorcycle. Unconscious and suffering from severe, multiple injuries, Bob would remain in a coma for almost 3 weeks and would degrade so significantly while in a level 2 trauma center that he would need to be emergency air-lifted to a level 1 center in order to receive advanced lung treatments.

In the midst of this, the lead surgeon dealing with Bob’s multiple broken bones, closed head trauma and internal injuries took me aside after performing half a dozen surgeries on Bob within 10 days and told me that I had best prepare my ex-wife for the reality that Bob was likely not going to make it. His lungs had been so badly damaged that his ability to uptake oxygen had been compromised badly and the reality of severe brain damage was ever-present.  The surgeon thought that Bob would never regain consciousness and told me that after a few days to allow my ex-wife to come to terms with the reality of the situation, they would take him off the machines keeping him alive.

My daughter flew in to be with her brother. Six months pregnant with her first child, I worried about what this was going to do to her.  The airport was almost an hour away, and as I waited for my daughter to arrive, my ex-wife called me, frantic that Bob had taken a turn for the worse.  As I drove back to the hospital with my daughter, I was struggling with so many things, my daughter, my son, my ex-wife, how can this be happening?  Would my son be gone before we got back to his bedside?  It was a day I could barely handle.

On Sunday, my ex-wife, my daughter and I went to church. Bob was still in a coma and we were all fogged in with our own emotions, struggling to put one foot in front of the other, but as I left that service and went into the parking lot, the air seemed cleaner, the sun not as hot, and the day clearer.  It was a turning point.

Bob’s struggles were far from over, but he survived and he worked at recovering for those long, long weeks in the hospital and then in the rehabilitation center, enduring tremendous pain in order to coax his limbs to bend and work once again. He had to relearn walking, getting out of bed, getting into and out of a car, transferring from a wheel chair etc. all had to be done while enduring the tremendous pain of healing bones.

God Almighty intervened and saved my son from certain death.  Thankfully, the one-year anniversary falls on a Sunday and I thanked God, in his sanctuary, for giving us back what we feared we had lost.  I love you Bob.  I can only imagine what plans the Lord has for you.

The Wall represents today’s single most divisive topic in America.  No longer synonymous with one of the greatest record albums of all times, The Wall today trades in yesterdays Pink Floyd for tomorrows Donald Trump.

Clearly a corner stone, (wall-reference), of Trump’s successful presidential campaign, building The Wall was a promise certain that loudly and clearly resonated with the Trump faithful. Why would a secure border insult, anger or alienate anyone, regardless of his or her feelings about Trump?  The only explanation I can conceive is that those opposed to a wall must be advocates of an open-border.  Why else would you oppose something that by definition defines and outlines the country?  Ronald Reagan said, “A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.”

Even the pope got involved with our Wall business stating that building a southern US border wall was “not Christian.”  That is hilarious when you see what surrounds the place where the Pope lives, The Vatican.

Not only do all nations have a right to sovereignty, the governments of those nations have the obligation to preserve and protect that sovereignty by defining their nation with sure and secure borders. To do otherwise is to fail citizens in the most fundamental way: in protecting their safety.

Advocates for open-borders, sanctuary cities, amnesty for illegal aliens and those opposed to border walls are not only completely contradictory to the rule-of-law, but are encouraging anarchy and sedition. Ala carte legal compliance is no law at all and anarchists committing acts of sedition are enemies of this nation.

“Doors have locks, citizens have guns, and countries have borders.” Tomi Lahren

New York City mayor, Bill DeBlasio, declared today that penalties for publicly smoking marijuana will be reduced to getting a ticket as opposed to being arrested.  The mayor estimates that this will lower arrests by approximately 10,000 annually.  DeBlasio states that the primary reason for this change in procedure is the fact that 85% of those caught smoking marijuana are either black or hispanic.  Somehow, DeBlasio has surmised that this disparity in numbers is defacto discrimination.

If this is true, then the National Basketball Association, (NBA), which is 87% black, also has a discrimination problem.

Of course, the truth is that blacks have proven to be disproportionally better at basketball than whites. Apparently, they also like their marijuana disproportionally more.

Neither of these statements are racist, they are true. There are many things found disproportionate when comparing blacks to whites; incarceration rates, out-of-wedlock births, income, education, cannot all be explained by simply playing the same old race card over and over again.  The over-privileged, over-educated, spoiled rotten crowd produces their share of failures, just as the under-privileged, poverty stricken have encouraging success stories, so lets stop with the easy blanket statement of the blame game on race.

We don’t have a race problem in the USA, what we truly have is a clash of cultures that find within them people of all kinds and colors.  Black or white, you can embrace a culture that centers around, honors and protects family, demands respect, personal responsibility, values education and achievement.  Black or white, when attempting to interact with a counter-culture that trivializes familial importance, respects nothing while disrespecting others, fails to take responsibility, rejects education and distains achievement, not surprisingly, these groups will not blend.  These cultures are diametrically opposed.

The ultimate irony that produces the under-tone of anger, is that those embracing the values of perseverance, hard work, success and achievement, are, because of their success, forced to pay for the poor choices of a culture that has figured out how to game the system, fails to contribute, and drains social services.

Governments all over the country are caving to the pot crowd with an eye, not towards the public interest and the public’s health, but as another funding fountain to sustain and perpetuate the insatiable appetite government at all levels has for spending, expanding, and interfering with our lives.

Pot smoking saps initiative, something already in short supply if you haven’t noticed. By making money off the backs of pot smokers in the form of taxes, fees and penalties, government is giving tacit approval to a serious vice and in doing so is trading their honor, their supposed wisdom and their leadership for access to funds that further their purposes, pot smokers be damned.

No mayor DeBlasio and all other government officials that fein enlightenment regarding the legalization of pot, this will not help, you know it, and you are dishonorable and disingenuous scoundrels. Our real problem is the clash of very different color-blind cultures.

What an unsettling sensation to realize that a roof replacement and a 30-year mortgage will outlive me. New golf clubs or a tennis racquet bought today, are likely never to be purchased again.  Such are the thoughts of a 65-year-old man shortly after his birthday, pondering the reality that no matter how you look at it, if life is equated to a hockey game, I’m well into the third period.

As unsettling as this is, I’m grateful to God-Almighty for allowing me the good fortune to still be active, athletic and alive.