America Is No Longer Feared Or Respected

Make no mistake, I am proud to be an American. I will apologize for that to no one. I am glad I was born here, in the best, the freest, the safest country in the world. We have been involved in conflicts throughout our history, but there has always been one overriding factor that has always kept us safe. Looking back on our history, I am certain mistakes were made. There were probably conflicts in which we were involved that we should have stayed out of. But no one dared strike us on our homeland, for fear of the terrible reprisal that would surely follow. I call it the big stick philosophy of fear and respect. We have had the strongest and most far-reaching military in the world for many years. Our enemies are well aware of that and of the consequences that would result, were they to attack us or our interests. Japan learned that lesson the hard way, after they struck Pearl Harbor.

When the Islamic terrorists struck our country on 9-11, we were made aware of one fact. We were more vulnerable than we believed. To someone who did not care how strong our military was, the fear of reprisal was lacking. They did not care to die for their twisted cause. President Bush set about the task of making sure the reprisal took place and thus, we have been embroiled in Afghanistan and Iraq for a good number of years. Far too long for my taste.

In spite of the first two paragraphs of this post, I do not intend to write so much about the curse of Islamic terror, but rather the direction our country has gone in the past several years. Namely, since President Obama moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. When that happened, he quickly went on a world tour of apology. He tried to tell the world that feared us that we were going to be different from now on. In doing so, he spoke truer words than any of us could have imagined. Not only do our enemies no longer fear us, the friends we have no longer trust us to come to their aid, if it is needed. I would even wonder if they fear us themselves. Certainly, the respect we used to command is no longer there.

This lack of respect and fear is no more present anywhere than it is on our Southern border. We are under attack from the South and we seem incapable of stemming the tide, or even of fighting back with effective tactics.

Fox News – A game warden hit in the head with a rock while trying to seize a raft. Police officers wounded in an hours-long standoff with a gang member wanted for murder. Criminals spewing obscenities and death threats at local cops before asking for – and receiving – medical treatment.

And that was just last week.

A weekly report distributed by a Texas state agency to senior law enforcement officials paints a grim picture of the Mexican border, where authorities regularly confront illegal immigrant gang members and draw automatic gunfire from across the Rio Grande, and where local, state and federal authorities fight a never-ending battle against drug smugglers.

The most recent Border Operations Sector Assessment report compiled by the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Border Security Operations Center, dated July 25 and obtained by FoxNews.com, details local and federal authorities encountering smugglers carrying millions of dollars’ worth of marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine, some of which was found in vehicles filled with biblical passages and religious items; federal agents being assaulted and shot at; gang members brazenly approaching people in their homes; and ranch workers witnessing men crossing into the U.S. wearing camouflage and carrying long guns and automatic weapons.

“In recent weeks the traffic appears to have slowed slightly, yet assaults on law enforcement have increased. This is a disturbing trend that needs to be addressed,” Chris Cabrera, vice president of the National Border Patrol Union, Rio Grande Valley Sector, told FoxNews.com.

“It is paramount that we get this problem under control. It is evident that we need more agents in the field to address the various threats posed to law enforcement as well as to our nation.”

This is where the respect and fear should come into the equation. If Mexico and the Central American countries from whence most of these illegal immigrants are coming from respected our borders, they would do something about this. Instead, they act as if it is our fault and that we have an obligation to their people to let them across the border. Never mind that they are breaking our laws when they do so. I would point out that Americans can’t even cross into Mexico accidentally without the fear of imprisonment for an unspecified amount of time. I’ve never been able to figure out why this doesn’t go both ways.

If America was still feared, the illegal immigrants coming across our border would not be so willing to come up to the Border Patrol agents, turning themselves in and demanding medical treatment.

If America was still feared, the Border Patrol agents would not have to be taking cover from automatic fire from .50 caliber and other weapons. Given the fact that they are ill-equipped to fight such weapons, our agents had little choice to duck for cover and hope one of the rounds didn’t find its way through said cover. That fact is simply shameful. What should be happening is to utilize the National Guard troops and equipment that Texas Governor Rick Perry has called to the border. Surely they have weapons and equipment that can face, suppress, and defeat the weapons the Border Patrol is facing.

We have a crisis at our Southern border that stems from the White House. I am not naive enough to believe other administrations were not at fault for our lax immigration policies, but it has gotten much worse since President Obama took over. He has made his intentions clear as a bell. He has not and will not enforce our immigration laws. He has enacted a portion of the Dream Act via Executive Order and there is every indication that the many illegal immigrants who have passed across our border since last October are about to receive the same gift. They, along with other would-be illegal immigrants on their way to our border know this. That’s why they are coming.

President Obama and his entire administration has made it clear they have no interest in enforcing our immigration laws. Instead, they are working on giving assurances to groups like La Raza that their concerns will be addressed. In other words, they are more focused on ensuring the safety and well-being of the illegal immigrants than they are on enforcing our laws and providing safety and security to the law-abiding citizens of the United States of America. They are more focused on keeping Daniel Radcliffe from entering America from Canada because of a missing time stamp on his Visa, rather than closing and securing our Southern border. Their priorities clearly leave a lot to be desired.

Would you like to know why America is no longer feared or respected? Look no further than President Barack Obama and the policy initiatives he has enacted since taking office. It seems the only people who should fear him is those of us who are abiding by the law and challenging his authority to openly flaunt the Constitution. Everyone else seems to be safe from harm, especially if they have entered America illegally.

I’m thinking someone needs to carve out a new big stick and start using it.