Government seizes land for fence

Bushists claim to be such strong champions of property rights that the naive among us would think they'd be dripping sweat from the billowy flesh inside their heads to stop unfair land grabs like this.

But what the Bush cult says doesn't always jibe with what it does. This story proves the Bush regime's kleptocracy more plainly than perhaps any other.

One of Bush's later acts was his launching of the hated border fence. Bush's Department of Homeland Suckyurity claimed this fence would halt illegal immigration from Mexico, but there was a consensus among observers that it would be ineffective. Despite the chest-pounding nationalism of the fence's supporters, much of the steel for it was made in China. And the fence - despite costing billions of dollars - was expected to last no longer than about 25 years anyway.

The fence was opposed by almost everyone in the border city of Brownsville, Texas. That's where a local woman who owned property where the fence would go fought the new structure.

Did Bush's DHS care that most people in Brownsville opposed the fence? Of course not. So it plowed ahead with the fence.

One wonders what the whole point was in dividing the country into states, counties, and cities, if the federal government can just totally ignore the locals' wishes.

As for the woman who owned the property near Brownsville, the government didn't even consult with her or other small landowners before deciding to take their land to build the unneeded fence. But Bush's DHS eventually tried offering her only $13,500 for over a quarter-acre.

If you know anyone who has a quarter-acre of land, try offering them only $13,500 for it. You'll be laughed right off their land.

The Obama administration ought to just cancel this project. I say leave it unfinished. And if the finished portion is useful for nothing else, it'll at least be a stark monument to Bush's waste and incompetence. But the new administration has had to prioritize by cleaning up other Bush messes first.

So construction of the fence trudges on. And now a Texas judge has ruled against the property owner and has given the federal government her land. It's unclear on what legal basis.

Let me reiterate: The government needs to cancel what remains of this project - now.

(Source: http://www.themonitor.com/news/fence_25543___article.html/border_land.html)