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Unsolicited advice attributed to Mom

One of the hottest topics of the national conversation is the separation of children from their parents at the southern border of the United States. President Trump is getting grief from both sides of the aisle for enforcing the laws of a deeply damaged immigration policy.

Senators and members of Congress are reveling in the opportunity to appear on camera verbally wringing their hands and pointing fingers. The Democrats blame the Republicans who denounce the Democrats right back. While the children are separated from their adult supervision, they are safe from people who would harm them. That was the original purpose of the law.

The talking heads on the pseudo-news channels are having the best time blaming this cruelty on everybody in sight. One of the theories is that President Trump is hoping to get funding for his wall.

Defending the borders and keeping criminals out of the United States is vital to our national security.

Enacted in 1997 while President Bill Clinton occupied the White House, the law being enforced was originally intended to protect minors from human trafficking.

For years, people have been clamoring for a zero-tolerance policy designed to keep illegal immigrants out of the country. Now that one has been implemented, the fallout and associated consequences seem to have taken everyone by surprise.

Extensive discourse about the trauma inflicted on the kids separated from their families has everyone outraged. Yet the people who use these children to legitimize their flight from countries south of the border are barely acknowledged. Can we assume the youngsters being detained are receiving medical care in addition to food and shelter? At the very least, they should be inoculated against childhood diseases such as a whooping cough, measles and polio. How long does it take to run the tests to check if the children have had any of these vaccinations?

Rather than fixing the problem our political leaders are too busy enjoying accusing and affixing culpability to the opposition.

Perhaps it is time to add new states to the country. My husband has long said we should take over Mexico. He figures the whole exercise could be accomplished over a long weekend. In the meantime, the rest of the world is watching this debacle to see how it wills play out. Someone more intelligent than I will need to iron out this mess.

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Little nuggets of wisdom are sometimes known as Momilies. A book by Michele Slung has collected a number of these, some familiar, some not.

Advice such as:

“Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.”

“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”

“Remember the three Bs — be careful, be good and be home early. Nothing good ever happens after midnight.”

“Don’t do anything you wouldn’t do if I was sitting on your shoulder.”

“Don’t expect too much and you’ll never be disappointed.”

“Don’t bother to get angry at people who don’t matter to you.”

One of my family’s favorites is “Always buy the best shoes and the best mattress you can afford, because you are going to be in one or the other for the rest of your life.”

I attribute this last one to my dad’s brother, Joe Warren Hill. Depending on who in my family told the story I may have been his namesake. Except my maternal grandfather was Joseph William Berry Kirk. In addition, my mother’s high school best friend was Betty Jo Rowland.

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Have a great weekend.

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Readers, may contact Tami Jo Nix by emailing tamijonix@gmail.com or following @TamiJoNix on Twitter.

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