Learn not to burn, Dems must take border issue seriously and other commentary

New York Post

13-06-2025

From the left: Learn Not To Burn
'The radicals on our side are so stupid,' fumes Cenk Uygur on X. The LA protesters damaging property 'are not hurting ICE or Trump, they're hurting their own side.' 'Why do you need to burn Waymos and American flags? What does that prove, other than what Trump wants to prove, that you are against America, violent and dangerous?' And 'how does it help the community or immigrants?' While most people 'are legitimately and peacefully protesting,' the rioters 'have needlessly cost us support, even at home in LA.' 'Rule #1 of protesting: Win the crowd — at home. Win hearts and minds. Win the American people over. That's what serious people who want to win and protect our communities do.'
Liberal: Dems Must Take Border Issue Seriously
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'Democrats have gotten the border issue so wrong, for so long, that it amounts to political malpractice,' mourns The Washington Post's David Ignatius. In response to pressure from its open-borders activists, party leaders 'acted as if maintaining a well-controlled border was somehow morally wrong' and 'border enforcement doesn't matter.' Even when Homeland Security Secretary 'Alejandro Mayorkas wanted tougher border policies,' the White House 'resisted strong measures.' For Dems, 'taking border issues seriously means more immigration courts and more border-control people and facilities.' Until bipartisan immigration reform passes, 'Democrats need to oppose violence, by anyone — and to help enforce immigration policies that begin with a recognition that it isn't immoral to have a border.'
Conservative: Self-Deportations Will Be Crucial
The 'Los Angeles riots may encourage illegal immigrants to self-deport,' muses the Washington Examiner's Michael Barone. Team Trump 'cannot expect that it can, logistically, remove all the untold millions of illegal immigrants' that poured in during the Biden years. 'But splashy raids and deportations can get hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of illegal immigrants thinking about what Mitt Romney in 2012 called 'self-deportation.'' And that's likely 'happening thanks to what has been happening in Los Angeles.' Proof lies in the drop of foreign-born workers since March. Estimates range from 'three-quarters of a million to a million — those numbers dwarf the number of annual deportations,' suggesting that 'self-deportation, together perhaps with the Department of Homeland Security's $1,000 travel stipend, is looking like a good option' — 'one that may be taken up by many more than are legally deported.'
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From the Right: DOGE Bares Dem's Waste
Thanks to DOGE 'we not only know the Democrats couldn't care less about waste, they revel in it,' roars the Washington Times' Rowan Scarborough. Election-denier Stacey Abrams' organization was set to receive '$2 billion for people to buy electric stoves,' and the feds 'awarded $3.7 billion climate change grants' and were 'handing out millions to a loyal Democratic Party support class: the LGBTQ+ movement.' Above all, USAID became 'a money-laden office to siphon off taxpayer funds for Democrats': '$2 million on transgender surgeries and hormone therapy,' millions to Ukrainian 'social media influencers' and much, much more. Elon 'Musk is gone. But DOGE lives on' to keep exposing 'how Democrats rip us off for their good.'
Libertarian: Kill the Dept. of Education
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'Killing' the Department of Education, as President Trump ordered, 'requires congressional approval,' admits Reason's Emma Camp, but if even if it were abolished, it 'would not necessarily mean abolishing its functions.' DOE 'directs a wide range of federal programs and commanded a budget of more than $200 billion last year.' Yet if it were ditched, most of its functions would simply move to other agencies. Too bad: 'Almost everything the Department of Education does is unconstitutional,' argues Neal McCluskey, of the Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom, 'so almost all the spending and activities should go away.' Still, scrapping it would end 'a direct conduit to the president for education special interests,' he adds — and send a message 'that education is not a federal responsibility.'
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board