You forget that Bush has an M.B.A. He thinks like a businessman in terms of the bottom line. Results. Profit and loss.
But we talk of how the little that Africa does export to other parts of the world is still greater than the amount that it trades within the continent. I say that's because there are more landlocked countries in Africa than anywhere else in the world. "So they can't get their stuff to market?" he asks quickly. "Exactly," I say. "You have to pay so many tariffs at each border that by the time you get to the coast, you're overpriced." "You gotta dismantle borders, then." He's curious and quick.
-time.com
so that it is clear,
Geldof: "that's because there are more landlocked countries in Africa than anywhere else in the world."
El Presidenté: "So they can't get their stuff to market?"
Geldof: "Exactly."
El Presidenté: "You gotta dismantle borders, then."
What occasions these reflections is this morning's lead story in The Washington Post: "'Virtual Fence' Along Border to Be Delayed: U.S. Retooling High-Tech Barrier After 28-Mile Pilot Project Fails."
The opening paragraphs:
"The Bush administration has scaled back plans to quickly build a 'virtual fence' along the U.S.-Mexico border, delaying completion of the first phase of the project by at least three years and shifting away from a network of tower-mounted sensors and surveillance gear. ...
"Technical problems discovered in a 28-mile pilot project south of Tucson prompted the change in plans. ..."
Thus, building the first 100 miles of "virtual fence" will take Bush longer than it took FDR to win World War II."The virtual fence," writes the Post, "was to complement a physical fence that the administration now says will include 370 miles of pedestrian fencing and 300 miles of vehicle barriers to be completed by the end of this year. The GAO says this portion of the project may also be delayed and that its total cost cannot be determined. The president's 2009 budget does not propose funds to add fencing beyond the 700 or so miles meant to be completed by this year."
In short, these characters cannot build a virtual fence and won't complete a physical fence.
-Patrick Buchanan
The consequences of this has been written about here before.
But if people haven't figured out by now what our leaders have in mind, they never will....
.


