Yesterday I took a drive out to one of our city’s Department of Motor Vehicles offices to renew my drivers license, and I have some information for you.  The last time I applied it was simple because I was able to do it online.  Unfortunately  in my home state I can no longer do that since I am over 70 years old, plus even if I was younger, residents are only allowed to do the online thing once every 10 years.  Because of homeland security protocol, going to your DMV to renew your license in person is not so simple anymore.  You need to prove who you are and where you live and of course it’s kind of a tedious procedure.

Good news, for me anyway.  If you are prepared and present proper documentation you will have your new license in under an hour. I found this particular DMV office to be remarkably efficient.  It was crazy busy, but well staffed and organized.

You might want to know something else.  You can change your political affiliation while you’re renewing your license.  That’s handy if you’re like me and have been too lazy for the past 20 years to do anything about removing the stain of “Republican” from your voting record.  But to be honest I’m not exactly enamored with the Democratic party either.  And nothing could point out how disenchanted I am with our two party system than what has been unfolding along the U.S-Mexico border.

Immigration reform has been batted back and forth and kicked down the road by both parties for so long I doubt if you could find a better example of the incompetence and impotency of our democratic form of government.  Band-aid immigration policies have been piled on top of each other  until it is almost unconscionable to call any of it policy.  And then Trump came along with his typical lack of forethought and turned a conglomeration of pudding policies into a mind-boggling disaster, one so egregious the never apologizing president found himself basically doing just that with the theatrical signing of an executive order on national television.  Policy Nightmare

Trump should be held accountable for his own incompetence.  And using children to promote deterrence and as political pawns to advance policy is absolutely heartless.  That’s the
kind of man he is though.  But there is plenty of blame to go around.  Ultimately, congress can fix this and they must.   We elected them to do the hard work of governing, not sit around with their thumbs up their asses and getting nothing accomplish except fruitless bickering.

We need serious immigration reform.  And to me that starts with our ports of entry.  We have 48 of them along our border with Mexico.  But for some reason for those seeking asylum through  these official places it is pretty much a fool’s errand.  Recent reporting during this Trump fiasco revealed that migrants are being processed at a rate that seems  incomprehensible-  barely one a day.  No wonder so many attempt to cross illegally.  These are desperate human beings.  They give themselves up at the border hoping for asylum because they can’t cross legally.  Geezes take a page from the DMV’s in Omaha. Get people trained and staff these places and then- do your job!

Even with that process breaking down, there are some other things that can be done.  Rethink Immigrant Detention.  And no doubt we have to get more judges in place to conduct deportation hearings.  There are ways to fix the migrant mess.  Hell, I would even be in favor of Trump’s gigantic wall- if Mexico pays for it.  Otherwise all it is is a colossal waste of  tax revenue.  Have you seen the aerial video of the border?  Certainly there are better and more financially feasible ways to deal with the problem.  The people who are supposed to be figuring that out are in Washington DC doing little except polishing their chairs with their asses.  Get to work and do your job!

In closing, kudos to the Omaha DMV on North 108 St.  I was very impressed with your efficiency, and thanks to your intake form I am now happily ensconced in my new political affiliation- registered Independent.