The news cycle moves at a rapid clip these days. One of the strangest and most pernicious ways this phenomenon manifests is in the “current things” about which those on the left are momentarily obligated to pretend to care. My favorite example is from summer 2020, when for about two weeks it was conventional wisdom on the left that Donald Trump was set to steal that year’s presidential election through the mail. I’d bet that, if you asked most of the people who fretted about it then if they have any memory of doing so, they would stare back at you blankly.
A similar controversy came last year, when a misleading still image of a Border Patrol agent wielding the reins of his horse became evidence that he and others were, in fact, trying to whip Haitian illegal immigrants to keep them out of the United States. President Biden joined in the resulting pile-on, driven by a media already inclined toward skepticism of the idea of border enforcement in the first place. “It was horrible to see what you saw, to see people treated like they did — horses barely running them over people being strapped,” Biden said. “It’s outrageous. I promise you those people will pay . . . . There will be consequences. It’s an embarrassment. But beyond an embarrassment is dangerous, it’s wrong.” Vice President Kamala Harris was reminded of “times of slavery.” Both were fooled: As Isaac Schorr and Brittany Bernstein reported at the time:
. . . the videos that have surfaced of the incident appear to show the agents wielding their reins — not whips — as they try to contain the flow of migrants across the river. And, while the agents can be seen swinging their reins menacingly, none of the available video evidence shows border patrol agents striking migrants with their reins.
This did not stop Biden from taking the task of punishing people actually trying to enforce the U.S. border more seriously than the task of . . . enforcing the U.S. border. The agents involved were placed on administrative leave, then investigated internally by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. That investigation has concluded that the agents did not, in fact, whip anyone — but that they should still be punished. The New York Post reports:
The Biden administration admitted Friday that Texas Border Patrol agents were falsely accused of “whipping” Haitian migrants last year — but still referred four agents for discipline in connection with the viral incident from September 2021.
In a 511-page report, US Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Personal Responsibility said it had found no evidence that [Border Patrol agents] involved in this incident struck, intentionally or otherwise, any migrant with their reins,” though it did say the agents had used “unnecessary” force.
So they are being punished anyway? Why is that? The Daily Caller reports:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has proposed two charges against the Border Patrol agents involved in the alleged “whipping” of migrants in Del Rio, Texas, according to documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The first charge is for “poor judgment” for instructing noncitizens “to go back to Mexico, or words to that effect,” while the second is for “unsafe conduct” for maneuvering the agent’s horse “in a way that caused a noncitizen to fall backward into the Rio Grande River … thereby compromising the safety of the noncitizen, yourself, and your horse.”
These proposals are not yet final, and CBP is expected to announce the results of its investigation into the agents as soon as Friday, according to people familiar with the matter not authorized to speak publicly. It’s unclear how many agents will be charged.
“You knew or should have known that using your horse to block a noncitizen from exiting the water at the boat ramp created an unsafe situation, particularly for the noncitizen, but also for you and your horse,” the charges read.
According to the Daily Caller, the internal CBP document on the charges notes that the agents’ actions “received significant media attention and had a negative impact on the reputation of the Agency.” Which seems like a kind of tautology: This was controversial because it was controversial. And also a concession to outside narratives, however misleading: Why not push back? Border Patrol Union president Brandon Judd blames Biden, and rightly so:
“Unfortunately, the President made this the spectacle it’s become,” Judd told The Post in a text message. “If he would have just kept his mouth shut and let the process play out like it should have instead of passing judgment before the facts were in, we wouldn’t be discussing this right now.”
Here are the perils of governance by the “current thing.” Caught up in the moment, Biden essentially demanded punishment. Now, well after the initial moment of media madness, that demand persists in spite of new information and fuller understanding. Such is the pathetic half-life of hysteria. One must almost pity those few tasked with keeping this fake controversy alive long after it has served its original purpose.