# Happy now Clothahump? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 4, 2006, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312 "2006-01-04T00:50:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/261 "2006-01-06T19:45:33Z")
Okay, so I googled “gestapo homeland security” and couldn’t help but notice that the first three links were blogs, and that the fourth was a CNN story which didn’t contain the word “gestapo”. If you’re trying to convince me, you’re failing. Try again, Sparky. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/262 "2006-01-06T19:46:51Z")
I suppose I’m a little confused **CB Escapee** so I’ll need to do a little recap. 1. You approach a predominantly english speaking message board and say a word that, while may be benign in your country, isn’t necessarily benign here, so you start with inflammatory rhetoric to try and state your already shaky case against who? Another poster. 2. You accuse the USBP of being chickenshit for killing one of your countrymen who attacked him with a deadly weapon while in the process of committing a crime. 3. You claim US Media bias, yet quote an AP story. The AP is a US news outlet. 4. Quoted NYPD use of force policy in response to your rant about a Federal agency. The truth here is that you are letting emotion get in the way of the facts of life. To wit: 1. Many more people die each year trying to sneak in than are killed by the border patrol. 2. Mexican citizens sneaking into the US are being wildly taken advantage of by their fellow countrymen, (coyotes) who can charge as much as $5,000 per trip. (an airline ticket is a fraction of that) So perhaps if your OWN government fixed it’s problems, Mexicans wouldn’t be in the dire straits they are, and forced to come here to make a better life for themselves. 3. The US suffers more than it benefits from the migration of Mexican citizens, even if just because of the security breaches. 4. The Mexican government is complicit in the death of that man. Like it or not. If it weren’t for President Fox’s reckless policies, perhaps that man may have lived a life that didn’t require him to run away from his homeland. Frankly, I think border security is at the center of any prudent security policy. Sept. 11 showed us how important border security is. Because of Mexico’s absolutely lax policy and enforcement, they have forced the hand of the US. The truth here, friend, is that while we value the labors and work-ethic of the Mexican people, the security of our own borders trumps absolutely the concern of the well-being of the Mexican Citizens that commit crimes on US soil. Finally, there is a way to come here legally. Perhaps THAT would be a way not to get killed by border patrol. ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/263 "2006-01-06T19:59:45Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > Okay, so I googled “gestapo homeland security” and couldn’t help but notice that the first three links were blogs, and that the fourth was a CNN story which didn’t contain the word “gestapo”. If you’re trying to convince me, you’re failing. Try again, Sparky. I’m not trying to convince anyone. I’m convinced and that satisfies me. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/264 "2006-01-06T20:04:13Z")
> [@CBEscapee](#): > > I’m not trying to convince anyone. I’m convinced and that satisfies me. And no amount of evidence showing that you’re wrong is going to convince you otherwise? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/265 "2006-01-06T20:08:16Z")
Care to guess what I get when I google _Mexico Police Murder_? ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/266 "2006-01-06T20:09:43Z")
So. If, hypothetically speaking of course, the US were in such an economic state that people were scrambling for a way to escape to Mexico, and one day a repeat offender from Santa Monica got sighted by a Mexican BP guard, and in response he and four of his pals let loose from less than 20 feet with rocks, and the BP shot and killed him, would that be ok? ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/267 "2006-01-06T20:12:11Z")
OK, so you won’t answer. I take this to mean that you admit that the guy had been caught and released 11 times previous. I think that speaks volumes about the compassion shown by our BP in dealing with repeat violators. It also clearly demonstrates that the guy knew he was in no harm when confronted by the BP (after all, he had not been shot the previous 11 times), yet decided to throw rocks at them. I can only guess it was because he was doing something else illegal he didn’t want to be caught for, other than just illegally entering the country. Since our Homeland Security is such a farce, and our border so porous, surely you would back a proposal to build a razor wire fence along the entire US/Mexico border and man it with Minutemen. That would stop the flow of illegal immigrants and prevent a repeat of this tragic event. Do you like that version? If not, then just respond to post #211, 234, 244, with something other than jajajajaj yeah right. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/268 "2006-01-06T20:13:07Z")
Mr Bus Guy: Since CBEscapee’s not really answering my queries, perhaps you could get one from him, and without a hypothetical. Ask him what the Mexican law enforcement does in regard to illegal crossing of its southern border. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/269 "2006-01-06T20:21:33Z")
I still don’t know how he can cross our border and Homeland Security can’t do anything about it. If he does it legally, they can examine his documents, and say yea or nay. If he does it illegally, if caught, he can be arrested and deported. Is there a third way to cross the border? ---
**Author:** ![AFAIKnow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@AFAIKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AFAIKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/270 "2006-01-06T20:24:41Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Is there a third way to cross the border? Yup, ignorance is a power in and unto itself. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/271 "2006-01-06T20:26:17Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > I still don’t know how he can cross our border and Homeland Security can’t do anything about it. If he does it legally, they can examine his documents, and say yea or nay. If he does it illegally, if caught, he can be arrested and deported. > > Is there a third way to cross the border? Hmmm, maybe he’s capable of astral travel or something like that. I don’t think it’s illegal to cross borders on a metaphysical plane… ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/272 "2006-01-06T20:27:52Z")
> [@Mr Bus Guy](#): > > So. If, hypothetically speaking of course, the US were in such an economic state that people were scrambling for a way to escape to Mexico, and one day a repeat offender from Santa Monica got sighted by a Mexican BP guard, and in response he and four of his pals let loose from less than 20 feet with rocks, and the BP shot and killed him, would that be ok? Is that what happened on December 30? ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/273 "2006-01-06T20:32:03Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Care to guess what I get when I google _Mexico Police Murder_? So childish monty really. If you google _american police murder_ it returns 5 time that of your query. What are you trying to prove? ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/274 "2006-01-06T20:34:41Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > I still don’t know how he can cross our border and Homeland Security can’t do anything about it. If he does it legally, they can examine his documents, and say yea or nay. If he does it illegally, if caught, he can be arrested and deported. > > Is there a third way to cross the border? Not only a third but I can think of a fourth too!! Don’t overheat those few gray cells you posess trying to figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/275 "2006-01-06T20:35:50Z")
> [@CBEscapee](#): > > Is that what happened on December 30? The key word is “hypothetically”. jajajaja look it up. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/276 "2006-01-06T20:51:10Z")
Oh, do share, then. If you fly over, your point of entry is the legal crossing, for all intents and purposes. If you’re a diplomat, the acceptance went with your credentials. ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/277 "2006-01-06T20:52:40Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > If you’re a diplomat, the acceptance went with your credentials. One down, one to go. Don’t burst a blood vessel strining your brain. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/278 "2006-01-06T20:56:28Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > However, I thought some of you might be interested in the etimology of the word, so I provide this note from this month’s American Heritage Magazine. Enjoy! [http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2005/5/2005\_5\_14.shtml](http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2005/5/2005_5_14.shtml) Hm. Not 'Green Grow the Rushes (Not Lilacs), which is what I always thought it was. You live, you learn. > [@The Article](#): > > The term almost certainly derives from griego, Spanish for Greek. In its (rather late) first appearance in the Real Academia Española’s official Spanish dictionary, in 1869, “to speak in gringo” is recorded as meaning “to speak in Greek,” or to speak unintelligibly, just as we may say in English when bewildered by what someone is saying, “It’s Greek to me.” Of course, it is an offensive term in the New World. But not in the Old. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/279 "2006-01-06T20:58:54Z")
If one is born in America, one never crosses a border. If one lives in a land that America adds to itself, the border crosses them. So I must ask, then, how you claim to be able to cross the border without Homeland Security being able to do a thing about it. ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312/280 "2006-01-06T21:03:33Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > [http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2005/5/2005\_5\_14.shtml](http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2005/5/2005_5_14.shtml) > > Hm. Not 'Green Grow the Rushes (Not Lilacs), which is what I always thought it was. > You live, you learn. > Of course, it is an offensive term in the New World. But not in the Old. Put that backpedaling spin on it dude. Old World — good New World ---- bad Lame. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-now-clothahump/338312.md?page=15)