Tim and the Casey Tibbs Pose

 

The Ghost of Border Present

Tim and the Casey Tibbs Pose

Hold On!

By Stephen L. Wilmeth

 

            Life without liberty is like a body without spirit.

                                                            ~   Kahlil Gibran

 

                As the war drags into its third week, the hourly updates from the news services continue to concentrate on the aftermath of actual fighting and the mass migration of refugees out of the kill zones.

            There is little similar live updating from the aiming ends of the AK-74 and AKM rifles used by the patriots (in the case of the former) and the invaders (in the case of the latter). Whether reporters are embedded within the troops in combat or not, accounts of that side of the conflict are seldom seen.

            The lines of migrants with heavy emphasis of the tragedy that is unfolding in the Ukrainian society is the central theme. Poland should be recognized and treated as the heroes they are and have been to the United States. No country was left in a greater lurch following World War II than Poland so they know what abandonment means. They certainly seem to be honorable and civilized people.

            There is also the theme being created of the migration that is reported to be 2,200,000 refugees.

            Faces are televised. English as a second or even fourth language is witnessed and spoken not for decoration, but for factual assessments of the intensity of the aggression. Interestingly, there is no suggestion these people are wanting to leave. The constant tone is one of pleas for help to rid their homeland of the invader for one thing … to return to their homes and normalcy.

            The Ghost of Border Present

            That 2,200,000-refugee count is matched nearly at par with the data the American public is being fed regarding the current administration’s management of the turnstile tallies on our southern border. That similar number, of course, amounts to the free (not conditional) passes being given to all comers regardless of origin. That differs completely from the wartime displacement of the Ukrainian society.

            Only the numbers remain a common characteristic. The follow-up status of our border invaders is silent. In fact, they should be labeled as ghosts. They are swept into the interior as if they are absorbed into a vacuum.

            Absent is even a glimpse of a face of the people. When last was an interview with a ghost border crosser televised? There are no firsthand accounts of the conditions that gave rise to these waves of people seeking entry. If there is an explanation, it is a statement made by someone aside from those people. Then their status disappears into a dark hole, or, in the American circumstance, what became of these new residents that amount to the population of a city the size of Phoenix.

            Whether we like it or not, each of us has become the unsolicited and appointed host and guardian to an overwhelmingly unemployed illegal citizenry equating to the population of the capital city of Arizona. There is also a standard that sets these illegal migrants apart from their Ukrainian counterparts.

            There are no voices pleading for the return to their homes and any normalcy because there is little intention of return.

            Hold on!

            The President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, stood in front of a crowd of reporters and declared his country could not sustain the influx of refugees that are swarming his borders. His informal and temporary humanitarian services for those people could not last a month.

            Standing beside him at another dais was the Vice President of the United States.

            When the question was handed off to inquire about America’s plan for refugee assistance, her incoherent and sophomoric response was a giggling, murky mix of sounds. She obviously had no idea she was going to get that question and she displayed it. There must not have been an approved list of questions and there certainly was no note card for America’s second in command to read. She floundered and embarrassed herself.

            Consequently, the world must assume there is no real plan to deal with those people any more than there is to deal with our ghost border invaders. The government she represents has no long-term plan other than to support a political agenda and spend money in the process.

            Meanwhile, Mr. Putin is giving notice he isn’t going to allow exports to those countries antagonistic to his cause or moving to distance themselves from Russian goods, services, and treasury functions. From the standpoint of impasse and disruption, he could also impact one of the things the Ukrainians bring to the world pantry in critical mass along with the Russians and that is grain and oil crops. The magnitude is immense. The annual contribution of the Russian and the Ukrainian combined cereal crops represents 28% of world exports. The oil crop mix is even greater.

            That poses unimaginable repercussions to the commodity chains.

            The analogy might be worse than watching Tim ride the bucking horse Sunday. We were as far as we could get from any news sources in preparation to commence preg testing our herd. He was horseback in the gate playing the part of the fourth movement in the age-old symphony of sorting pairs. To those unfamiliar with the process, the first movement is slow and deliberate as Pepe eased through the pen of pairs identifying the cuts. That was followed by a bit more lyrical and rhythmic action of the second movement to isolate and start the targeted cow and her calf. The third and most important movement was to separate them from the herd and offer them a corridor of escape. It was the fourth movement to assure the targeted pair alone exited the pen that our august cowboy was positioned.

            He and the big gray mare were showing the audience what grace was only to blow their entire gravitas by missing the last cut of the day. Acting on impulse the ride.r spurred his partner just a little too much for her tastes and she dropped her head and bucked going straight away. Two jumps into that little minuet and the rider was looking for a place to land. It was only by the mare’s good manners not to embarrass Tim that she eased up and allowed him to raise his free arm to start riding like he knew what he was doing. The crowd reaction was group scherzo (joke) as the ride came to a stop in mock Casey Tibbs pose.

            Let’s just pray the wars on these borders have such happy endings.

           

Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico.