Texas governor Rick Perry finally deploys the Texas National Guard:
Texas Gov. Rick Perry is expected Monday to announce the deployment of up to 1,000 National Guard troops to the border following an incident in which members of Mexican drug cartels allegedly fired shots from a .50-caliber machine gun from the Mexican side of the border into Texas, sending U.S. Border Patrol guards scurrying for cover.
Following the shooting incident Friday night, Texas state Rep. Terry Canales, a Democrat, told the Associated Press he was briefed by his staff on Sunday after a conference call with the governor’s office, Texas National Guard and the state Department of Public Safety. Perry is scheduled to make the announcement Monday at 2 p.m. Central Time.
More than 3,000 Border Patrol agents now work in South Texas, and Perry has repeatedly asked President Obama to send the National Guard to the border. At the same time, Perry has come under growing pressure from the conservative wing of his own party to act on his own under Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution. This clause gives states the right to declare an ‘imminent danger’…and to call up the National Guard.
Conservative politicians don’t seem to understand that the days of “calling for” this and “fighting for” that are over. Do something or shut up. Why was Perry asking Obama to do his job for him? It’s this sort of political tone-deafness that allowed a very vulnerable Romney to steamroll him during the 2012 nomination.
And why only 1,000 National Guardsmen? That’s not enough to control the border. It looks as if Perry is only acting in order to appear he is doing something.