As I watch the situation with the Texas border play out my mind goes a lot of places and none of them are good. The first is that I wonder if this is how Rome eventually fell. I think we often view that event as a somewhat sudden invasion by barbarians from the north who sacked the city. But, not having closely studied this aspect of the empire’s history, maybe it was a slower descent into chaos, with the sacking of Rome taking place in a manner similar to what we see going on in our cities currently.
Another more subtle and nuanced thought, is that the standoff with Greg Abbott and the Biden administration that we are witnessing has the potential to be the defining conflict that sets the course of out country for the next 100 years. Pretty dramatic, I know. But when we see a governor utilize his military assets in this manner, followed by what the administration no doubt sees as a defiance not only of the federal bureaucracy but also the Supreme Court, the potential response could be rather explosive. And given Joe Biden’s propensity to play the tough guy it seems to me all the more likely that is where we are headed.
I understand the arguments on both sides and they both have merits. But I think the one that hits me the hardest is this one:
It is arguments like these that I believe make the erasing of our history so necessary to those who want to fundamentally remake our country. These people seem to have the upper had right now because ignorance is easy. Becoming knowledgable and wise is tremendously difficult. Especially as more and more of our history is being erased every day.
Tomorrow I’ll write a little about how the Overton Window of our discourse around illegal crossings is being shifted for the worse.