Lawrence O'Donnell and Sheriff Arpaio

Recently Sheriff Arpaio of Arizona appeared on Lawrence O’Donnell’s The Last Word to discuss presidential candidate Herman Cain’s reference to a lethal electric fence on the southern border.

Sheriff Arpaio accepted Cain’s explanation that this was an effort at humorous hyperbole, adding that he felt Cain is just one of many who are frustrated with the number of people entering the country illegally. But he made it clear that this is not a capital offense.

By the way, it is a crime [to cross the border illegally] but it’s not a crime you go to the death chamber for; it is a misdemeanor.

While Sheriff Arpaio is well known for his tireless efforts to remove the undocumented families from his state,  he makes an important distinction.  Herman Cain’s reference to a lethal restraint aside, Arpaio does not advocate such an approach to border security.

This raises an obvious question.  Short of killing desperate families at the border, just what does the United States plan to do?  To hear many politicians tell it, it is simple: just secure the border.  Yet that begs the question– just how does one expect to do that, short of the drastic action implied by Cain and rejected by Arpaio.

Yet there are many who, if their words carried full weight, would happily destroy any souls attempting to cross over.  The time has come to insist that our presidential candidates clearly state what they mean by border security, and at what cost to humanity.

For Herman Cain, this is apparently a joking matter, a way to garner a cheap laugh from the extreme in his party, and to encourage an American arrogance that so easily dismisses and demonizes an entire people.

Meanwhile, the negative energy against the Hispanic among us is always available to the politicians who would seek to lead us.

The following should cause reflection, assuming we still have that capability:

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