Problems. They are part of life. Some problems are big, and some are small. Everybody has them, but what matters most is how you handle them. That's especially true if you happen to be in politics and have the responsibility for a city or a county or a state or a nation on your back. You can try to blame the problems on someone else for a while, but not for long. Once you're in, you’re in, and all the problems are now all yours. Like most politicians, President Biden has problems. From all appearances, he seems to understand that, but he should also now understand that every poll taken in the past 5 months indicates that 70 percent of the 331 million people in the United States feel that the country is heading in the wrong direction. Biden is arguably the most powerful man in the free world. He commands the strongest military, leads the most expansive economy, and directs the government of the strongest democracy in the history of the world. The responsibility is his. If there is a problem, he has the power and the duty to be ringing every fire bell, using every alarm, and activating every early warning system to fix the problem. The President must finally accept the fact that we are now in combat against the worst inflation in 40 years, the highest fuel prices since 1981, and the highest food prices in 44 years. Instead, next week President Biden will be touring the country trying to explain how the crushing debt of trillions of dollars in unneeded and unwarranted "rescue and recovery programs", stimulus giveaways, green new deal subsidies, and climate, health care, and tax legislation from the Democrats will help solve all our problems by spending even more and more and more money. This is dangerous territory. Biden's credibility is already circling faster and faster around the drain. But as long as he's taking a road trip out into the country, it also would be helpful for the President to try to explain his administration’s policy on border security. Apparently, President Biden’s answer to the chaos of illegal immigration is simply to ignore it and hope that everybody else ignores it too. Last week, NBC news reported that increases in illegal migrant numbers on the southwest border this summer have now pushed the monthly average to 189,000 people illegally crossing into the U.S. a month. These masses of immigrants come from more than 79 countries throughout the world, including Russia, Syria, China, Cuba, Venezuela and Turkey. This number is staggering and defies explanation. No developed country in the world allows uncontrolled immigration at this scale. Not only has the Biden administration lost control of illegal "human" migration, but also seems to be surrendering to the invasion of lethal, illegal drugs into the United States at a rate which is now taking more young American lives than ever. Fentanyl entering from Mexico has caused 72,298 deaths in the U.S. so far this year out of a total of 107,000 deaths from illegal drugs crossing the borders. This number represents a 9.2 percent increase over 2021. Local officials agree that just like meth and other addictive drugs, fentanyl will make its way to Emanuel County soon, if it hasn’t already. It is many times more deadly than any other drug and it only takes one pill to kill.
Perhaps the most important duty of the government is the protection of its citizens. If we were losing 107,000 people a year to an armed military conflict or a natural disaster, or any other threat, we would demand that our government take action. President Biden, you are the President. I wish you success in your job, but it is now time to face your problems, and do your job. Plan a realistic, bi-partisan path forward, speak honestly and frankly to all of the people of this country, and then competently, responsibly and expediently, act. We are waiting.
