The Southern Surge -- November 13, 2021

This is a work in progress. 

I've struggled with the "southern surge."

But I'm starting to come to terms to it. 

This is the background that helped crystallize my feelings with regard to the southern surge:

• visiting Shilog National Cemetery;
• re-reading Memoirs of Ulysses S Grant
• the American response to masking, social separation, and vaccines;
• coming to terms with Covid-19

I don't blame President Biden or the vice president for the current situation. It's an impossible situation and until there's some tipping point not much will change. 

The problem goes back decades. With regard to presidents, I assume it's gone back as far as Abraham Lincoln. I do not know when the modern era with regard to the southern surge began. Was it with Jimmy Carter? 

Whatever the southern surge was or whatever it was to become, became so because of ambiguity of the American government, as well as the American electorate. Even Texans living along the border have been ambiguous in their response to the southern surge. 

Modern presidents:
Bush II: too many other things on his plate; no time to deal with the southern surge;
Obama: politically astute; knew it was not worth wading into this political morass
Trump: the least ambiguous of any modern president but the media framed the story and Americans, in general, were ambiguous in their druthers. And to put an exclamation mark on that the American public voted Trump out of office
Biden: the southern surge was just one of many issues for this president; Americans knew what they were getting; and they are getting it. From what I can tell, the American electorate remains ambiguous with regard to their feelings about the southern surge; even the most ardent Pelosi democrat remains ambivalent with regard to the southern surge. Interestingly enough, the most ardent conservatives have been unable to make this story go anywhere, which suggests Americans remain ambiguous.

IN PROGRESS