🇺🇸 Border Bickering

Plus, here’s how many hours Americans can tolerate with their families during the holidays.

December 21, 2022

The Flag

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Good morning, and happy Wednesday! Thinking of quitting your day job? These two brothers did in order to start Blankets of Hope which helps the homeless. Pretty amazing stuff.

Plus, here’s how many hours Americans can tolerate with their families during the holidays.

Also, today's sponsor, Tipxy is offering free shipping on all orders over $99. We're eying the acquired taste cognac holiday sale, which is 30% off...

FLAG POLLS

📉 President Biden Job Approval: Approve 47, Disapprove 50 (Rasmussen Reports)

🐘 2024 Republican Presidential Nomination: Trump 40, DeSantis 35, Pence 7, Haley 4, Cruz 2, Cheney 3, Rubio 1, Pompeo 0, T. Scott 1, Hogan 1 (Cygnal, R)

📉 Direction of Country: Right Track 33, Wrong Track 60 (Rasmussen Reports)

🐘 General Election: Trump vs. Biden: Biden 40, Trump 45 (Harvard-Harris)

TRENDING

Right: When Will Facebook Roll Back Censorship Policies? (Fox News)

Right: ‘Avatar 2’ called out for ‘cultural appropriation’ and ‘white savior complex’ (New York Post)

Right: Explosive emails reveal how Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX wined and dined top regulator (Washington Examiner)

Left: Is the right winning the comedy wars? (Vox)

Left: Trump's trading cards are stupid: Ha ha. But who gets the last laugh? (Salon)

Left: The American Right Is Still Showing Worrying Signs of Strength (Jacobin)

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QUICK CLICKS

Earthquake Rocks California, Trump Tax Returns May Be Released, Iran Nuclear Deal is "Dead"

US: After years of fighting for it, Democrats may release Trump tax return information (The Hill)

US: 6.4 earthquake shakes Northern California: At least 2 hurt, 70K lose power, damage reported (KCRA Sacramento)

US: NY bishop robbed during live streamed service is arrested on fraud and extortion charges (NBC News)

World: Former concentration camp secretary, 97, convicted of Nazi war crimes (Reuters)

World: Iran nuclear deal is "dead," Biden says in newly surfaced video (Axios)

World: US deploys B-52 bombers, F-22 fighters after North Korea missile launch (UPI News)

Business: Elon Musk actively searching for a new Twitter CEO, sources say (CNBC)

IMMIGRATION

Border Bickering

Late Monday night Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily extended Title 42, a policy that bars asylum applicants from entering the US to protect the American population from Covid-19. The measure will remain active while the Supreme Court considers an emergency request from Republican-led states to keep the exclusions in place.

Reporting from the Left: Title 42 to remain in place for now as Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily freezes order meant to end it (CNN)

Reporting from the Right: Supreme Court temporarily pauses lifting Title 42 border restrictions: Texas, DHS react (Fox News)

From The Flag: Title 42 was originally set to expire today. Here is more from both sides on this particular policy and immigration across the Southern Border as a whole.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Biden Doesn’t Care and Americans of All Stripes Are Fed Up

  • When Title 42 ends this will supercharge illegal migration, and with it the deadly movement of fentanyl over our southern border.

  • This is an invasion of our country.

  • Sorry, Biden Democrats, but polls show Americans want change in immigration policy. The status quo isn’t acceptable.

"The end of Title 42 will increase soaring fentanyl deaths" Editorial Board, New York Post: "President Biden’s border insanity isn’t just killing migrants and US law enforcement officers; it’s killing kids and destroying families via the massive inflow of drugs the White House has invited. ... [When Title 42 ends this will] supercharge illegal migration, and with it the deadly movement of fentanyl over our southern border. ... Our open border is an open invitation to sophisticated, violent and vast Mexican cartels. For over a decade, these syndicates have been shifting their production and distribution efforts from cocaine and heroin to synthetic drugs: meth and fentanyl. ... But until real action is taken on the border, even the bravest mayors and governors are going to be fighting a rearguard action. Biden needs to wake up to this crisis, before another 100,000 die."

"Border crisis is an 'invasion of our country'" Tucker Carlson, Fox News Opinion: "In the last year, illegal immigration into El Paso has risen by over 280% – hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals streaming in, jobless, penniless, anonymous. What happened next? You know what happened next: the most predictable disaster in the world. Crime skyrocketed. Social cohesion collapsed. Test scores in local schools plummeted, and the city began to fall apart. People who grew up in El Paso started to leave in large numbers. ... Imagine if that was your city – your city – where you work and raised your family, the city that you built and then one day some guy gets elected and decides to destroy it and the media ignores it. No one even covers it. Most Americans have no idea your city has been destroyed."

One more opinion piece from the Right: Biden's Open Border Is Truly a Disaster Issues & Insights

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

A Wave is Coming and Congress is to Blame for Decades of Incompetence

  • An immigration surge is coming and now even Democrats are sounding the alarm.

  • The administration needs to expand other legal pathways for migrants to enter the country

  • This is largely Washington’s mess to clean up.

“Everyone can now agree – the US has a border crisis” Stephen Collinson, CNN: “The expiry [today] of [Title 42] … is expected to severely strain an already stretched border, immigration and asylum system. … Even some Democrats are warning that an huge influx of immigrants [this] week could cause multiple adverse consequences. Critics say the administration took too long to engage on the issue and hasn’t done enough, though they also fault Congress for failing for decades to reform the immigration system and border enforcement – a goal that polls repeatedly show the public supports. … A last-ditch effort by Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and newly independent Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema that would have led to the protections of Dreamers and new measures to halt border crossings in this Congress just fizzled. It was the latest sign that a broken Washington can’t fix one of America’s most intractable problems – a failure that repeatedly leads to situations like the one that will unfold at the border [this] week.”

"How to respond to an expected surge at the border" Editorial Board, Washington Post: "The prospect of a worsening crisis at the border is not theoretical. Homeland Security officials … are braced for a sharp increase when Title 42 is lifted. … The administration needs to expand other legal pathways for migrants to enter the country, not least to help meet the economy’s need for workers. ... And increasing lawful pathways could put at least some smugglers who prey on desperate migrants out of business. ... While comprehensive immigration reform seems out of reach in the current political and legislative environment, there is an imperfect short- and medium-term solution to the coming surge in migration. That is to combine tougher border enforcement with expanded avenues for migrants to enter the country legally."

One more opinion piece from the Left: Another bite at the apple: End of Title 42 is an opportunity to do things better Daily News Editorial Board

FLAG THIS

Recent Poll Shows Support for Asylum Seekers But Border States Are Reaching a Boiling Point

Most Americans – 55% to 23% – continue to support protections for immigrants who are fleeing persecution and torture abroad, according to a new survey conducted for The Los Angeles Times by the YouGov polling organization.

For states like Texas that border Mexico, thirty percent of voters called border security or immigration the most important problem facing the state today, according to a survey from the University of Texas at Austin. This is far more than any other kind of issue. “Inflation/rising prices” and “political corruption/leadership” followed behind at 10% each.

Do you think Title 42 should remain in place?

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FLAG FINDS

Christmas Tree Gin, Citizen Detective, Homeschooling

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WATERCOOLER

Pan Am Flight 103, Nepo Babies, Best Christmas Movies of All Time

On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York explodes in midair over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew members aboard, as well as 11 Lockerbie residents on the ground.

Today I Learned that African elephants can distinguish between human languages and can avoid those considered a threat.

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