Two dangerous situations remain unresolved, that is the subject of this evening's Talking Points Memo.
Almost everywhere I went this Fourth of July weekend people stopped me asking why the country is such a mess. No question, the folks are concerned, some of them very angry.
In Iraq, this man. The terrorist thug al-Baghdadi, is openly threatening America, Jordan and other countries, saying that his ISIS army will attack.
Incredibly Baghdadi was in U.S. custody, but the Defense Department let him go during the Bush administration.
Now he heads perhaps the most powerful terrorist organization in the world. Another big screw up in the War on Terror.
As you may know, the ISIS army is an off-shoot of al Qaeda and is now occupying thousands of square miles in Iraq and Syria. It is well armed, funded and wants to kill Americans.
Yet President Obama has done very little to constrain ISIS.
In fact, it looks like the president doesn't know what to do and certainly Baghdadi does not fear the U.S.A.
A brutal situation that is about to get much worse.
But even more upsetting to some Americans is the chaos on the Southern border.
Over the weekend, a Border Patrol Agent, Hector Garza, openly criticized the Obama administration.
Hector Garza, Border Patrol Agent: We have a situation right now where the federal government is pretty much aiding and abetting and facillitating the smuggling of these individuals, illegal aliens. These illegal aliens cross the borders illegally. We apprehend these illegals that pretty much surrender themselves because they know that they are getting a free pass. This is organized, it's an orchestrated situation. It's orchestrated by the drug cartels, and it's pretty much a rampant abuse of our immigration system.
Mr. Garza is a spokesperson for the National Border Patrol Council for the Laredo, Texas sector and his opinion is echoed by many federal agents.
On the state level, Texas Governor Rick Perry was equally blunt.
Governer Rick Perry: What has to be addressed is the security of the border. You know that; I know that; the President of the United States knows that. I don't believe he particularly cares whether or not the border of the United States is secure.
President Obama is traveling to Texas this week, but is not going to the border. That strikes Talking Points as very strange. Ed Henry will have a report, in just a few moments.
The President has made a few statements about the border meltdown but not many, perhaps because the stats are grim.
In this fiscal year about 300-thousand undocumented aliens are expected to be apprehended by the Border Patrol. That includes more than 50 thousand children, an average of 200 children per day.
That's a 99 percent increase from fiscal year 2013 and does not even account for those illegals who elude the Border Patrol.
So far on President Obama's watch, more than two million illegal aliens have been apprehended by federal authorities. About half were deported until this year, when deportations slowed down.
That has led to bitterness on the part of some Americans directly impacted by the illegal immigration.
In just a few moments we will talk with the Mayor of Murrieta, California, a town in the eye of the storm.
On Long Island where I live, houses are being rented to Hispanic men, dozens of them living in a single house, wreaking havoc on the entire neighborhood.
And all over the U.S.A., social problems are arising because of the massive influx of migrants.
Again the Obama administration seems unprepared to deal with the problem. Late today the AP reported there is no plan to send immigrant children back to their countries ... yet. No plan.
Last week ABC News, reported the situation this way:
ABC News: Melissa here brought her 5-year-old son on the journey, starting in Honduras, then eight days on a bus through Mexico. Across the Rio Grande by raft to McAllen, Texas, four nights in a Border Patrol processing center, and then by bus to Maryland. All with just one promise: show up in court today at 10 o'clock in the morning in Baltimore. ABC News was there. She was not. She wasn't at the Maryland address she gave, either. Border Patrol sources say fewer than 20 percent ever show up as promised.
That's a disaster, and every fair-minded person knows it.
But we are living in a time of intense ideology, which sometimes fogs up dangerous situations.
Some on the left, believe that the U.S.A. should accept all so-called refugees. And if you oppose that philosophy, you are inhumane, uncaring, unchristian and so on.
The demonization of opposition has been effective for the left, spurred on by a sympathetic media.
For example, Americans who believe that companies should not pay for abortion-inducing medications are practicing gender bigotry.
If you believe people on welfare should be drug tested, you are anti-poor.
If you believe an I.D. should be shown at the voting booth, you are anti-poor.
If you believe traditional marriage should have a special place, you are a homophobe.
And in some cases, if you criticize President Obama's policies, you are a racial bigot.
That's why there is so much anger in America; the issues have become very personal.
No longer are opposing points of view respected, and the left is driving this terrible train.
Although I have to say, pictures of anti-illegal immigration protesters spitting at people were disgusting.
There is a lunatic fringe on the right as well, and it greatly harms the debate for effective public policy.
The truth is that President Obama has lost control of the process. America is now being threatened by terrorists once again and the terrorists believe they are winning.
The Southern border is a sieve. Mexico is facilitating hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens coming into this country.
And what is the administration doing to Mexico?
Nothing!
Finally, in a perfect world all oppressed people would be given an opportunity to have a better life. America is a place of opportunity and we should take a sane number of immigrants every year into our system.
But to have millions of mostly poor people pour into this country without the resources to care for them to educate them to relocate them is simply anarchy.
The Obama administration said for years that the border was secure.
That was the backbone of the proposed immigration reform, but it is not true and never has been true.
The public was sold a lie.
If Americans do not wake up and demand a better performance from their elected officials on all levels, this country will continue to decline.
Right now, the president should degrade the ISIS army by using American air power and should move the National Guard to the southern border to stop the madness down there.
After that, then Congress should try to solve these awful problems in totality.
