Biden's Presidency Will Be Transformative in a Bad Way, Reminiscent of James Buchanan
Biden's Border Failures Indicates a Lack of Morality
Our 15th President James Buchanan is famous or maybe infamous, for leaving the office with a huge problem for his successor and the country. In fairness Buchanan didn’t create the issue of slavery, but he didn’t deal with the issue. He dithered till the end of his term. Any possible solution became more difficult due to his inaction. According to my historical reading of the man, he didn’t like being President, I bet he felt like a prisoner counting the days until his release. On inauguration day he told his successor Abraham Lincoln, “I hope you enjoy entering this office as much as I enjoy leaving it.”
My question with Buchanan has always been a question of morality. How could he just leave such a huge problem for others, certainly a moral person would not be so dilatory. I have always believed that the core of morality is to take responsibility for your actions. Immoral people don’t take responsibility. They leave it for others.
Buchanan took no responsibility but when comes to morality I think that Biden is even worse than Buchanan.
Joe Biden will leave to his successor a crisis which our country will be dealing with for generations. It is also an issue that could spark a civil war, but unlike Buchanan, who probably just didn’t know what to do, Biden created the problem at the southern border. It is by design.
When Biden opened the gates three years ago, did he have any idea of where the millions of destitute migrants were going to live? Did he wonder who would pay to house them? Who would provide food and medicine? How much would it cost? Did he consider the possibility that when their asylum hearing comes up in around 2030 for many of them, what would happen if they lost their asylum case, how they’d feel about getting deported? You would think a moral person would consider those questions. Did he consider the impact on state and local governments, especially the major cities?
No, he is taking a gamble, he is rolling the dice. The gamble is that the politics of this crisis will benefit his party, perhaps not this election year, but in future years. What if he is wrong one may ask. Well, he will be out of office when it all blows up. This is in my view is a man who is immoral. I think Joe is very much like his son Hunter. Someone else will be around to clean up his mess.
Biden wanted to get in millions of people, the details would be figured out by someone else. The cost taken up by charities, churches, individuals and local governments etc. Sure, their budgets may be stretched as it is, sure their resources are already thin helping out actual Americans citizens who are down on their luck, but Biden probably figures they will adjust. Actually, he probably doesn’t think about it at all.
For Biden there is a greater goal, a higher purpose. He believes that the politics of open borders is good for his party, and he may be right. Machine politics is based on groups of people; divided, segregated, and agitated.
The Irish came over and voted Democrat for generations, the Italians voted Democrat for generations, Jewish Americans as well. All three of those groups are no longer a lock for Democrats. I am old enough to remember when white working-class voted heavily for Democrats. They are now mostly Republicans. So, they will need to be replaced.
Biden, as leader of his party needs to find new groups. He has to keep the machine going for future Democrats. Is it good for the country? I think Biden sees the crisis through the lens of politics. He probably doesn’t think it is good that millions of poor people, most of whom don’t speak English, and probably aren’t even literate in their own language, some of them may be gang members, some of them may be drug addicts, some of them may be carrying drugs, some of them may be terrorists, entering the country is good in and of itself. But it is indirectly positive to let in the horde, warts and all. Because ideally, they will go on a great path, first welfare, next become citizens and then vote for Democrats on a predictable basis. Over time Biden probably believes it will be worth the cost. He may even feel it’s his legacy. He will be thought of as the great leader who opened his arms and let in the world. He is the great globalist.
But Biden won’t be around when the chickens come home to roost, to borrow Reverend Wright’s expression, the country will have to deal with the effects. At the very least the effects of Biden’s open border will stretch the political divisions even further, perhaps to the point of a civil war. A civil war that like the last one, may also be called the war between the states. Instead of blue and gray, it may be blue and red.
Biden must know that everyone who comes into the country intends to stay. He doesn’t say anything to disabuse them of that notion. It’s reminiscent of the college kids who really believed Biden when he said he’d eliminate their student loan obligations. The vast majority of those people that come in will lose their asylum case, Biden knows that. Will they voluntarily leave? Probably not, so to enforce our laws millions will have to be deported, causing a clash. Imagine millions of foreign nationals in the country defying a court order. What are we going to do about it?
Well, to avoid the clash there will be a movement, embraced by Democrats to get around our immigration laws. They will call for a new “pathway” to citizenship. That is rewrite the laws for people who aren’t going to follow the law. And why would the migrants follow the law, they have come so far, given so much, promised so much, so to keep the peace, we will need a general amnesty, so the Democrats will argue.
Biden is betting that this can only help his party in the effort to push for a “humane amnesty.” But there will be another half of the country, red state America if you will, who will want to enforce our immigration laws. This will add tension to an already divided country.
Imagine half the country will say we must follow the law, the other half will say no, and the around 20 million illegals (recent and decades old migrants), will say who cares we are not going to follow it anyway.
The other division that the open borders crisis exacerbates is the divide between the cities and the suburbs.
Every day I read a story of a major city that is feeling its social services starting to crack under the strain of the needy migrants. The cities are speeding toward bankruptcy. The suburbs are not going to want to bail out the cities, especially the cities that years ago declared themselves “sanctuary cities”. Cities that resist cooperating with immigration enforcement, so, Congress is not going to want to do it.
It won’t’ just fall along the Republican vs. Democratic members divide. There will be some Democratic members of Congress representing suburban districts that will object to bailing out the cities.
The laws of economics are impossible to circumvent. The cities can’t debase our currency by printing money. That special privilege is jealously guarded by the Federal government. Cities have to live within their means. You think the crime and homelessness problem is big now, the steady invasion is taking a toll every day. Higher taxes will lead to the rich getting out, decreasing the tax base. Budget cuts to social services and the police will increase crime, which will lead to fewer people coming in, and more people leaving. It will be a death spiral.
The problem of illegal immigration does precede Biden. And if you add up past illegal entrances and the current invasion the numbers of illegals are substantial. I have heard anywhere from 12 to 20 million people. I think they will make demands. The country will become hopelessly divided. Do we comply with those demands or do we stand firm? Do we defend our laws?
I think it is obvious that in such a divided country it is probably best not to bring in millions of more people. But for Biden and the left there are political advantages to division.
There are a few similarities between Buchanan and Biden. President Buchanan was born in Pennsylvania, so was Joe Biden, and like Biden, Buchanan was also a Democrat. One positive difference in Buchanan’s favor, he didn’t have a crack addicted, corrupt, influence peddling Son to embarrass him on the world stage. He never had to prostitute himself and cheapen his office by meeting with his Son’s business partners.
However, through their immorality both Buchanan and Biden set up the country for a civil war.
Hopefully, we can avoid such a fate after Biden.
David Shephard is the author of ‘'Elections Have Consequences; A Cautionary Tale."