(Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
Funny things can happen when you whip up a state of confusion and panic, drop-kick basic norms, contradict things you said in very recent history, and otherwise convey a sense that the wheels are falling off the national choo-choo. Americans might react by saying, “Boy, things sure are tough, so please restrict and control our lives even more, wise leaders.” But they might also start to think, “Hang on, you’re in charge. Isn’t this all your fault?”
There is a border crisis that is indisputably real and is indisputably of Biden’s own making. Thousands of illegal immigrants are carrying the coronavirus, and the federal government is all but welcoming them into the country. In some cases the government is bringing them up from the border and giving them hotel rooms in unsuspecting communities.
If you do this kind of thing while COVID infections are surging, of course people are going to connect the dots. This isn’t a “GOP talking point,” nor is it merely a gotcha that points out hypocrisy. This is the reality: The federal government is successfully terrifying people about COVID while it is shrugging at the thousands of infectious illegal aliens who are coming into the country and spreading the virus.
I realize progressives will say the mocking quotes in my headline should be around the crisis relating to the border and not around the crisis relating to COVID, but, sorry folks, you don’t get to choose what people notice or what they fear. The more the mainstream media ignores the border crisis, and the associated COVID infections, the more traffic will surge to outlets that are actually covering this. I expect the White House to dial back the COVID fear porn because pushing the panic button isn’t advancing its goals of seizing more power, but rather the fear is zapping its approval ratings. This week is the first time three consecutive polls listed in the RealClearPolitics survey had Biden at less than 50 percent approval.