Show Dick Some Respect
John Bender, notorious trouble maker. I can hear his voice now, sarcasm is thick, saying “Show Dick some respect” as he taunts Richard Vernon, the faculty member in charge of Saturday detention and generally making their lives miserable.
Show Dick some respect.
Senator Dick Durbin (D, IL) has proposed an idea to allow illegal immigrants to serve in the US military as a way to earn their citizenship.
Let’s set aside the small matter of the ENTIRE Department of Defense FAILING to meet the recruiting mission, what the causes are, and how AMERICA is failing itself by raising a generation of physically weak, mentally soft, and emotionally misguided children. We can set that aside for now.
We can also acknowledge that non-US citizens have been serving in the military since its inception. It is not even the least bit uncommon. It is actually a very well managed program within the military. Non-US citizens have limitations for length of service, rank, and security clearance. There are points where they must eventually gain their citizenship or leave the service.
Everyone who serves in the military must fill a few requirements. There are health and fitness levels that must be verified. Identification must be verified. Criminal background checks must be conducted. Medical exams and drug tests are required. Fingerprints are taken. Blood, too. Eventually, DNA is taken and put on record. Immunizations are given based on known medical history.
Any falsification of enlistment documents results in possible criminal prosecution and eventual discharge from service. The recruiter who signed the individual can also be held accountable if they are complicit in the submission of false documents.
There are a lot of people adamantly against this proposal. Granted, Senator Durbin is generally an idiot and on the surface, this sounds like a horrible idea. Some of that is bias against Durbin himself. Some of that bias is based on the uniformed idea about non-citizens serving in the military, which they already do. Some of it is bias against immigrants in general because they came across the border illegally…which should IMMEDIATELY disqualify them from service as a felon.
I have to admit, there is more promise in this idea than most people realize. There are currently thousands of immigrants coming across the border on a daily basis with zero validation and zero documentation. We don’t know who they are, have any fingerprints or criminal history, medical history, or DNA on file.
Why wouldn’t we try to close the information and intelligence gap on these individuals? Why would we not collect as much data as we can on them? We immediately collect fingerprints, DNA, any documentation, names, photographs, and any other data we can get. We get ALL that on file BEFORE they are admitted into the service as an eligible member. We get current addresses and phone numbers. We get ALL OF IT.
And if they cannot meet the same standards as anyone else? There is a file built on them and available in law enforcement databases across the country. How many criminals do you think we will catch? How many of these people will be deported? If they falsify any documents, deport them. Fail a drug test? Deported. Lie about your identity? Deported.
And if they can pass all of it? It is ALL verified and their only crime is crossing illegally? I say let them serve. If they can’t? We’ve just added a significant amount of intelligence and data to our criminal database. We’ve just put names to faces or fingerprints to names or criminal history to DNA samples. We are closing the gaps.
Senator Durbin isn’t smart enough to realize the intelligence gift he is giving us. I know he isn’t. If he was, and this was an underlying intent, he would be out of office faster than a Republican in Chicago.
And let’s be realistic, only the upstanding ones will volunteer anyway. There will be a small percentage of dumb ones who will volunteer, get caught for some criminal past, and get sent back. The rest will be willing and able and probably contribute to the greater good. So, why not?
Let’s get a few more recruits and close the intelligence gaps at the same time.
Listen to John Bender. Show Dick some respect.