Looking For Your Car Keys Under The Streetlight

There is an old joke about a man who was looking for his car keys under a streetlight after having dropped them across the street, near his car.  When asked why he was looking across the street instead of where he had dropped the keys, he explained, "Because the light is better here."  That is what we have going on in the discussions of President Obama and President Felipe Calderon as they discuss the illegal immigration situation.

Investors.com posted an article yesterday detailing the relationship between illegal immigration from Mexico to the United States and the Mexican drug cartels.  The article points out that up until the mid 1990's smuggling immigrants across the border was done by small operators who came and went.  When the United States increased its Border Patrols and border control measures, these small businessmen disappeared. 

The article points out:

"The cartels -- which had vast networks of smugglers, document forgers, safe house operators, drivers, and officials on the take -- had resources to evade border checks and to rake in money.

"Texas' border crackdown in recent years sealed a key entry point, so Arizona has become the new gateway."

This is one of the reasons Arizona passed its new immigration law--to protect its citizens.  The article concludes:

"Fact is, drug cartels are financed by cash, and much of that cash is coming from a nonstop stream of illegal immigrants -- who, incredibly enough, are being encouraged to immigrate to the U.S. by the Mexican government itself as a convenient means of relieving themselves of the pressure of creating jobs and investing in education.

"Unfortunately, this is now being ignored in the wartime strategy to defeat Mexico's violent cartels.

"It makes zero sense. Until cartels start losing the billions in cash flow they get from illegal immigrant smuggling operations, it won't matter how many drug operations are won."

Aside from the fact that the two Presidents are choosing to encourage a situation that is harmful to the United States, the spectacle of the President of the United States joining the head of a foreign country in bashing an American state from the White House followed by Democrats in Congress cheering a foreign leader as he bashes an American state in a speech before Congress is simply obscene.  If can't unite against a foreign President encouraging policies that are not beneficial to us, can we unite against anything?