Underwhelmed

Justin Ruhge’s response to Salud Carbajal‘s letter in last week’s print edition was refreshing and provocative. Instead of expressing agreement directly, Ruhge used the more effective tactic of pretending to be an unwitting dupe expressing his disagreement.

By his clever use of hyperbole, he creates a character completely untethered from reality, lathering at the mouth about the “pawns of drug cartels” and “you un-American Democrats.” The sarcasm cannot be lost on anybody who reads. In this age of questions about Russian pawns and unethical behavior, being able to have a quiet chuckle is appreciated.

It takes skill to write like that, and I applaud Mr. Ruhge not only for his skill but for the courage to risk being taken seriously.

I hope that the reality of what has happened on our border is not lost in the vicious babble of excuses and fallacious blame storming. Not knowing where your small children are, or if you will ever see them again, is one of the hardest things a mother or father can face. It can happen often enough by accident, but to manufacture such a horror through policy is worse than un-American, it is inhumane.