A Lesson in Contrasts

Because of the rapidly escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, Beirut is no longer a safe place, and many foreign nationals are attempting to flee. But, says Reuters, “Unlike the US, the British government is not charging its citizens for the evacuation. Americans in Beirut are complaining that they have been asked to sign forms agreeing in advance to pay unspecified sums to cover the cost of their evacuation. Some said they had been told they will not be allowed to use their passports again until they pay.”

On the one hand, we have thousands of U.S. citizens in grave danger on foreign soil, and the federal government says, “We’ll get you to safety—and we’ll send you the bill.”

On the other hand, we have thousands of illegal immigrants sneaking across our California border and the government says, “Come on in, and we’ll pay for your kids to go to school; if you need medical care, we’ll take care of that bill too.”

Clearly the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing.