P.T. Barnum - entertainer, entrepreneur, showman, celebrity, and ringmaster - famously once said, "there is one born every minute." He was referring to the "suckers" that would be attracted to his circus or show or carnival or to wherever he set up his tents to offer his acts and displays and lay down real money to "enjoy the show." Today's celebrity, entertainer, showman, entrepreneur, AND Presidential candidate, Donald Trump could be in the process of becoming the biggest "three-card Monte" dealer ever to come from the streets of New York and "pitch his tents" all over America in search of "suckers."
As anyone who has been paying attention knows, a major plank of the Trump campaign for President has been his immigration policy. It has been the major difference between him and the other 16 candidates for President during the Republican primary elections this past spring. Often called "radical", "unworkable", "racist", and an "economic disaster", the Trump plan represented a radical departure from Republican orthodoxy on the topic and was the primary distinction between himself and the other Republican candidates. The Trump Plan calls for: 1. Build a GIANT wall across the entire 2000 miles border between the US and Mexico - and make Mexico pay for it; 2. Create a Federal Deportation Force to round-up ALL of the illegals present in the country - some 11,000,000 people - men,women, and children (including the so-called "anchor babies" who are US Citizens as guaranteed by the US Constitution), and send them all back to wherever they came from; 3. Completely bar any Muslims from entering the country - refugees from violence, war, and economic ruin, especially from anywhere that there is any current conflict. Well, where do war-weary refugees come from? The French Riviera? And, 4. For anyone seeking to emigrate to the US, "extreme vetting" before admittance (whatever that means). This also applies to anyone presently here who would want to return after they return home and apply for re-admission. The hoped-for "softening" of these program elements - like the unconstitutional deportation of natural-born US citizen children or the religious discrimination against all Muslims - simply did not occur. Or, at least it doesn't seem as though Trump "softened" on his immigration policy. Well, except if you were in Mexico City yesterday.
Three-card Monte is a street game used by hustlers to separate on-lookers from their cash. If can be played with three cards and a fourth, with three cups and a ball, with three walnut shells and a pea, or other variations. Essentially, the game is a sleight-of-hand, sort of a magician's mis-direction play, where the "player" (read sucker) attempts to locate the card, pea, ball after the "shuffle" by the operator/dealer. When the Trump circus arrived in Mexico City yesterday to meet with the President of Mexico, Trump played the role of the "dealer." In that meeting and the press availability that followed, Trump and the President Nieto played the "softening" card - as though the meeting brought some softer approach in Trump world and that he might have even "sort-of" apologized for comments that he had previously made about Mexicans (crime, drugs, and rape come to mind). Just hours later, at a rally in Arizona to announce and "clarify" his position on illegal immigrants in the US, Trump commented on the meeting in Mexico and said that, the two discussed his proposed wall on the southern border, but that the issue of who paid for the great Trump wall did not come up in their hour-long conversation (maybe they discussed Olympic soccer?). Then, hours later in Arizona, Trump took to the stage to make his Immigration presentation and to clear up any "confusion" that might have developed since the Primary. As he has so often done, Trump doubled down on his initial positions and outlined his policy (see 1 to 4 above). He did provide additional details like eliminating sanctuary cities like Houston and San Francisco, deporting law violators first, that US citizen children would need to be deported with their immigrant parents and that he would explore amending the "law" to remove the automatic citizenship as a right of birthplace, just to name a few. He doubled down on the "Deportation Force" to "round-'em-up and throw-'em-out. And, he mentioned that the process - involving two million or more at first and more later on who did not commit any violations or improperly collect any public money - would take some time, likely several years. But, the criminal immigrants would go "on day one." All 2 million in one day? What planet is this guy on? Careful now.... which cup do you think the ball is under????
Just today - one day after his Mexico visit and his Immigration speech - the President of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto, disputed Trump's description of the meeting and insisted that they did discuss the payment for the wall. President Nieto said that he made it "very clear" that Mexico would not pay for the Trump wall. Trump has rejected those comments and continued to press his immigration policy. President Nieto said that Trump lied and "is a danger to the future of Mexico." Trump said that President Nieto lied in saying that he told Trump that Mexico would not pay for the wall. Several of the Trump Hispanic Advisory Council resigned in disgust. So, who lied to who? And, after all of this, what is Trump's Immigration policy anyway?
Lyin' Ted Cruz wants to know.
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