Bent sheet metal bearing retainer and missing ball bearings on outer slide section.

Above is a picture of the US/Mexico border on the San Pedro River about 4 miles from where we lived for 21 years. My first reaction to the photo was, “My God, what have they done to my river? This unsightly steel barricade was installed under the Former Guy’s Border wall initiative. It was built without any input from local citizens or government officials. Apparently no consideration was given to environmental or hydrologic concerns either. They just threw it up claiming some kind of emergency authority.

The San Pedro River is a local treasure. it is the only un-dammed free-flowing desert river in our state. The riparian area is rich in biodiversity. It serves as a North-south flyway for numerous migratory birds. Animals unique to the Chihuahuan Desert travel up and down its course. Ocelots and the occasional jaguar have been sited recently. Then there’s my personal favorite, the White-Faced Coati Mundi.

The San Pedro is the lifeline of our valley. We work hard to keep its calming waters flowing under the towering cottonwoods. The Federal Government has long been our ally in protecting this precious desert resource. through judicious management the flow of its aquifer has been stabilized and maintained. A while back, beaver were re-introduced to the river. They are thriving. Now all is threatened by what amounts to an obstruction at the border.

People have been using the San Pedro as a path for commerce and travel since long before Coronado passed this way in 1540. Most of them left only their tracks in the sand along the bank. The monstrosity recently built by the feds is an exception to the tranquil passing of time along the river. It is ugly, poorly-designed, unnecessary and dangerous. The San Pedro may not look like much, but during our Summer Monsoons, it can become a raging torrent. Rainfall rates of 6 or more inches per hour are common. The power of the unchecked flood is enormous. The locals know to get the hell away from the river when they see dark clouds forming.

The poorly designed “wall” across the San Pedro features gates designed to be manually opened. The assumption is that when it rains, a courageous Border Patrol Agent will wade out to the river and open the gates allowing the unimpeded flow of the flood waters. There are some obvious problems to this crude design. Even if the agent succeeds in opening the gates, the waters are likely to stack up debris against the gate posts. This will likely dam up the water, creating a lake in Mexico. Eventually the dam will give way, leading to rapid down-stream flooding. this could prove catastrophic to wildlife, livestock and the few remaining structures along the river. The resulting erosion and chaos would damage the river for decades.

My old neighbors generally agree that some type of sturdy border fence is necessary. Everyone understands, however, that no fence or border wall is going to stop desperate people from crossing borders. Walls are easily defeated. One can go around, over, under or through them. Agile people can scale the best of them in less than 30 seconds. Tunnels under border towns are common. A portable chop saw can take down a steel barricade in minutes. Drugs can be passed by hand through most sections of the wall. Tiny drones can pass over the wall undetected. There are, however numerous ways to catch people who defeat the wall.

Before the barricade was put up across the San Pedro, there was an effective system in place to monitor, impede and interdict traffic up the river. A sturdy steel rail fence on the flood plain and and some massive boulders in the river bed kept vehicles from entering. A tethered radar blimp at Fort Huachuca can spot low-flying aircraft. The Border Patrol has numerous surveillance devices overlooking the river. Twelve miles away at the Naco Station about 900 agents stand ready to respond to any intrusion. There are far more Border Patrol vehicles on Highway 92, which parallels the border, than there are private cars most days. If anyone gets past the border, there are border check stations at places like Whetstone, Tombstone and Sonoita. Anyone trying to get around them is likely to be spotted.

Lastly, I’d like to dispel any opinions you may have formed about how dangerous the border is. When we lived in the unincorporated community of Palominas, we generally felt safe. The threat from illegal border activity was when smugglers were running from the authorities. There are occasional crashes and fatalities. In one case, a local couple and 5 illegals were killed in a crash. The last shooting death we had was a friendly fire incident where 3 Border patrol Agents shot it out with each other in the dark. Sadly, one was killed and another wounded.

Most of the illegal entrants we have come across were harmless. Many are headed for jobs in agriculture, food processing or domestic work which few Americans want. Few stay in our valley, as we don’t have these kinds of jobs. Elsewhere in Arizona, these willing workers are welcomed with open arms by eager employers. In some cases they are exploited by overseers who threaten to turn them into authorities if they complain.

Main Menu: http://www.azrockdodger.com

      The storming of the United States Capital on January 6, 2021 was both outrageous and preventable. Never, in his wildest dreams, did Jefferson Davis ever envisioned the Confederate flag being victoriously paraded through the US Capitol. Yesterday, it happened. Some referred to it as another “Day of Infamy.” We will be sorting this day out for a long, long time.

     Much of the blame appears to be laid squarely upon the President of the United States of America. He encouraged the crowd to come to DC for a Stop The Steal protest on the day that Congress would be meeting to accept the votes of the Electoral College. This routine exercise in democracy is rarely marked by controversy. Indeed, some famous losers of the Presidential contest, like Al Gore, have joked their way through declaring their opponent the winner. The last time there was any serious contention was in 1876 when some Southern states sent two slates of Electoral College Electors to Congress. This resulted in the “Corrupt Bargain” that made Hayes President and ended the protections for Freedmen under Reconstruction.

     Wednesday’s vote should have been routine. One candidate clearly won both the popular vote and the Electoral College vote by comfortable margins. The sitting President’s fragile ego would not permit him to concede defeat. Therefore, he concocted a wild conspiracy theory claiming widespread voter fraud. The state and local government officials who run our elections, many of who are of the President’s own party, are very careful and responsible in exercising their duties. They check, audit, recount and double-check the results. Almost nobody gets to vote who isn’t entitled to. In fact, overzealous laws and voter roster purges sometimes keep legitimate voters from voting. In the end every county voting official and Secretaries of State of all 50 states certified the results.

     Even before election day, the sitting president was trying to delegitimize the results. He alleged mail-in ballots used to keep voters safe from the pandemic, were being printed in foreign countries. Signatures on ballot envelopes would be forged. Massive numbers of ballots from Republican voters were being thrown away. Election officials were violating state laws by making it easier for people to vote. None of these assertions were true and they were easily disproven.

     Inexplicably, while questioning the integrity of early ballots, the President urged his supporters to both vote early and show up at the polls. Voting twice is, of course, illegal in most places. Early voters can easily check by phone or on-line to see if their vote was accepted. Showing up at a polling place on election day after one has voted causes confusion and could get the voter arrested. It also makes the line a lot longer for legitimate voters.

     Because of the Pandemic, it was clear that much of the balloting would be by mail. This set up a situation where the results of the election in some jurisdictions would not be known until days after the election. (Many states do not count early and mail in ballots until election day.) Typically, mail-in and early ballots are predominantly not from the President’s party. This gave the illusion that the President was winning in the early returns of same day voters. The early ballots would be counted later. The President would use easily explained process to make scurrilous charges of late-night vote dumping as officials began to count the early ballots.

     Upon losing the election the President went into overdrive trying to discredit the process that led to his defeat. He hired a team of not-so-good lawyers who made all kinds of claims they couldn’t back up in court. By January 6, they had lost about 60 cases, most of them laughed out of court for insufficient evidence or no legal standing. (They did win one case involving how far away an observer must sit during a Pandemic. Instead of ten feet, they can be as close as six.)

     For his (hopefully) final act in saving himself from defeat and possible post-presidency legal problems, the President called for his supporters to meet in Washington DC on January 6^th. They were going to rally to “Stop the Steal.” Immediately these “patriots” began to lay plans for the event on social medial. The government reserved a public place for them where they would not cause too much disruption. A platform was erected and the faithful began streaming into town.

Many of the participants were members of groups with unsavory reputations. Some appeared to be members of private militia groups. The Leader of the Proud Boys, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, was arrested for an earlier offense on his way into town. No doubt there were other groups like the Three Percenters and Boogaloos, all of them listed as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Participants were photographed wearing riot gear or T-shirts with incendiary phrases on them. Examples: “Camp Auschwitz” and “6MWE” (Six Million Wasn’t Enough in reference to the holocaust).

     The group was addressed by none other than the President of the United States on Wednesday. Other speakers included his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and his son Don, Jr. The President had once told the Proud Boys to, “Stand back and standby.”  during a Presidential debate. This time the President told them, “And after this, we’re going to walk down – and I’ll be there with you – we’re going to walk down … to the Capitol….” He clearly wanted them to disrupt in some way the process of counting and certifying the electoral College vote. (I have yet to see video of him standing with the protesters after telling them this. I believe he simply went back to the safety of the White House.) Rudy Giuliani called for “trial by combat.” The President’s son, Don, jr., both commended the crowd for being peaceful and called them to arms with statements like, “We’re coming for you and we’ll have a good time doing it.” Many of the statements can be viewed as incendiary.

One of the most odious characters in the ramp up to the invasion of our Capitol was Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri. He had long supported the false narrative of a stolen election. He did the President’s bidding by agreeing to be the first Senator to object to the counting of elector votes from the swing states. This led to the prospect of an unnecessary prolonged and dramatic counting of the votes. It had the effect of giving the insurrectionists more time to breach the Capitol and disrupt the proceedings. As he entered the Capitol on the 6th, Hawley gave the protesters a Fascist clenched fist salute. This no doubt encouraged them to invade the premises. On the Senate floor Hawley spoke for his allotted five minutes. Like others, he made vague charges of election fraud, but offered no actual evidence.

     The group seemed to know what to do next. Shortly after the President’s entourage left, they marched on the Capital. When they got there, they got a clenched fist sign of approval from Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri. Hawley, a man with more ambition than sense, was leading the effort in the Congress to overturn the results of the election. The debate of Arizona’s electoral votes had scarcely begun, before the protesters began applying pressure on the security fence protecting the Capitol. The insurrection had begun.

     Inexplicably some of the Capitol Police quickly abandoned their posts allowing the protesters to advance. Others valiantly stood their ground. They had prepared for peaceful First Amendment protesters, but were confronted with violent, aggressive tactics. The leadership of the Capitol police rebuffed offers of help from the National Guard and the FBI. The protesters seemed to know exactly what to do. They had disassembled sections of the fence to use as scaling ladders. They simultaneously swarmed all avenues of approach, overwhelming more Capitol Police.

     Once inside the Capitol, the protestors stormed the sacred halls of Congress. They broke through doors, assaulted federal law enforcement officers, tore up offices and grabbed documents ant artifacts. Members of Congress were put on lockdown and even donned gas masks. In spite of what was unfolding, some Capitol Police Officers treated the invaders kindly and even posed for pictures with the insurrectionists.

The brazenness of the insurrectionist was unusual. They proudly paraded past security cameras without masks. Many post incriminating images on social media. It was like they assumed there would be no consequences for their actions. Were they expecting the President to pardon them if their coup was successful? Oddly many will be prosecuted uner the President’s recent executive order authorizing up to 10 years in prison for “injury of federal property.”

     The number of insurrectionists who committed criminal acts was rather appalling. Fortunately, not too many of them came armed for combat. Some used pipes and clubs to beat back police. It was reported that zip ties were carried by some of the invaders, indicating that they had planned to take hostages. One rioter came well prepared with a firearm and several Molotov Cocktails. Several others were arrested for firearm possession. One Officer, Brian Sicknick, was apparently beaten so badly, he later died. Other Officers required medical attention. Four insurrectionists died, apparently only one at the hands of Capitol Police. Another was reported to have been crushed, presumably by the crowd of rioters.

     The insurrectionists also put the life of our Vice-President in mortal danger. The President has been very hostile toward Pence recently and his followers know it. One of the President’s voter fraud attorneys has even called for the arrest and execution of Mike Pence. These thugs might have even taken out the next two people in the line of presidential succession (the House Speaker and the 87 year-old Senate Pro Tempore.)

     While the insurrection was going on, the President remained in the White House. Leaked reports said he seemed giddy over what was transpiring. At first, he failed to act in any way to restore order, not even calling in the National Guard. (Vice-President Pence who was trapped in a secure location in the Capitol was apparently the one who requested the Guard.) When the National guard did arrive, they reportedly were not armed or equipped for riot duty. Finally, he took to Twitter. Some of his tweets asked for calm and support for law enforcement.  In other tweets he continued to air his election grievances. He posted a bizarre video where he praised the insurrectionist with “we love you” and calling them “very special people.” Then he asked them to stop the violence. The video and two other tweets were taken down by Twitter. The President’s account was suspended and he was told to remove the incendiary tweets. Sometime the next day, his account was re-activated. The President, perhaps cowed by fears of removal, posted a slightly conciliatory video.

     Later that evening order was restored and Congress returned to complete the important business of confirming the election of the next President. They worked late into the night. Clearly rattled and shocked by the day’s events, some members of Congress changed their opposition to the acceptance of the Electoral College vote. Senator Romney eloquently said that the best way to assure Americans of the integrity of their votes was to, “Tell them the truth.” He got some rare, but well-deserved applause.

     There were immediate calls for the President’s removal for sedition. Chastened, he issued a statement promising to accept the results of the election, but continuing to air his false claims of election fraud. In spite of numerous calls for his removal, the Vice-President and a very weak cabinet are unlikely to invoke the 25^th Amendment.  There is a move in the Congress for a second impeachment. If it succeeds, it could bar the President from ever holding office again. We should not be holding our breath waiting for that.

     Of all of Wednesday’s horrors, I most regret the death of Ashli Babbitt. She was an Iraq War Air Force veteran. I’m guessing she was suffering from PTSD. That could have led her to fall for wacky QAnon conspiracy theories.

     The sadness I am feeling is for the reasonable people who somehow found themselves drawn into the web of the President’s lies and divisive tactics. Like all authoritarians, he finds scapegoats and demonizes them. Instead of the Jews of the Third Reich, he is targeting others who are different. The outgoing President is a narcissist. He only cares about himself. He uses people only to accomplish his personal ends. If they stand up to him for his crimes and abuses of power, he will cast them aside. They are simply the losers amongst “all the best people” he has elevated to office. Just as he abandoned the deluded insurrectionists he sent to storm our Capitol, he will someday abandon you, me and everyone else who doesn’t fluff his ego. Our country and its people are not safe as long as this President remains in a position of power.

President Trump tweeted on Friday that he would not attend the inauguration of his successor. Nobody cares.

Link to video of the assault on our Capitol:

WARNING: Graphic shooting incident at about 35 minutes.

      The storming of the United States Capital on January 6, 2021 was both outrageous and preventable. Never, in his wildest dreams, did Jefferson Davis ever envisioned the Confederate flag being victoriously paraded through the US Capitol. Yesterday, it happened. Some referred to it as another “Day of Infamy.” We will be sorting this day out for a long, long time.

     Much of the blame appears to be laid squarely upon the President of the United States of America. He encouraged the crowd to come to DC for a Stop The Steal protest on the day that Congress would be meeting to accept the votes of the Electoral College. This routine exercise in democracy is rarely marked by controversy. Indeed, some famous losers of the Presidential contest, like Al Gore, have joked their way through declaring their opponent the winner. The last time there was any serious contention was in 1876 when some Southern states sent two slates of Electoral College Electors to Congress. This resulted in the “Corrupt Bargain” that made Hayes President and ended the protections for Freedmen under Reconstruction.

     Wednesday’s vote should have been routine. One candidate clearly won both the popular vote and the Electoral College vote by comfortable margins. The sitting President’s fragile ego would not permit him to concede defeat. Therefore, he concocted a wild conspiracy theory claiming widespread voter fraud. The state and local government officials who run our elections, many of who are of the President’s own party, are very careful and responsible in exercising their duties. They check, audit, recount and double-check the results. Almost nobody gets to vote who isn’t entitled to. In fact, overzealous laws and voter roster purges sometimes keep legitimate voters from voting. In the end every county voting official and Secretaries of State of all 50 states certified the results.

     Even before election day, the sitting president was trying to delegitimize the results. He alleged mail-in ballots used to keep voters safe from the pandemic, were being printed in foreign countries. Signatures on ballot envelopes would be forged. Massive numbers of ballots from Republican voters were being thrown away. Election officials were violating state laws by making it easier for people to vote. None of these assertions were true and they were easily disproven.

     Inexplicably, while questioning the integrity of early ballots, the President urged his supporters to both vote early and show up at the polls. Voting twice is, of course, illegal in most places. Early voters can easily check by phone or on-line to see if their vote was accepted. Showing up at a polling place on election day after one has voted causes confusion and could get the voter arrested. It also makes the line a lot longer for legitimate voters.

     Because of the Pandemic, it was clear that much of the balloting would be by mail. This set up a situation where the results of the election in some jurisdictions would not be known until days after the election. (Many states do not count early and mail in ballots until election day.) Typically, mail-in and early ballots are predominantly not from the President’s party. This gave the illusion that the President was winning in the early returns of same day voters. The early ballots would be counted later. The President would use easily explained process to make scurrilous charges of late-night vote dumping as officials began to count the early ballots.

     Upon losing the election the President went into overdrive trying to discredit the process that led to his defeat. He hired a team of not-so-good lawyers who made all kinds of claims they couldn’t back up in court. By January 6, they had lost about 60 cases, most of them laughed out of court for insufficient evidence or no legal standing. (They did win one case involving how far away an observer must sit during a Pandemic. Instead of ten feet, they can be as close as six.)

     For his (hopefully) final act in saving himself from defeat and possible post-presidency legal problems, the President called for his supporters to meet in Washington DC on January 6^th. They were going to rally to “Stop the Steal.” Immediately these “patriots” began to lay plans for the event on social medial. The government reserved a public place for them where they would not cause too much disruption. A platform was erected and the faithful began streaming into town.

Many of the participants were members of groups with unsavory reputations. Some appeared to be members of private militia groups. The Leader of the Proud Boys, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, was arrested for an earlier offense on his way into town. No doubt there were other groups like the Three Percenters and Boogaloos, all of them listed as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Participants were photographed wearing riot gear or T-shirts with incendiary phrases on them. Examples: “Camp Auschwitz” and “6MWE” (Six Million Wasn’t Enough in reference to the holocaust).

     The group was addressed by none other than the President of the United States on Wednesday. Other speakers included his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and his son Don, Jr. The President had once told the Proud Boys to, “Stand back and standby.”  during a Presidential debate. This time the President told them, “And after this, we’re going to walk down – and I’ll be there with you – we’re going to walk down … to the Capitol….” He clearly wanted them to disrupt in some way the process of counting and certifying the electoral College vote. (I have yet to see video of him standing with the protesters after telling them this. I believe he simply went back to the safety of the White House.) Rudy Giuliani called for “trial by combat.” The President’s son, Don, jr., both commended the crowd for being peaceful and called them to arms with statements like, “We’re coming for you and we’ll have a good time doing it.” Many of the statements can be viewed as incendiary.

One of the most odious characters in the ramp up to the invasion of our Capitol was Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri. He had long supported the false narrative of a stolen election. He did the President’s bidding by agreeing to be the first Senator to object to the counting of elector votes from the swing states. This led to the prospect of an unnecessary prolonged and dramatic counting of the votes. It had the effect of giving the insurrectionists more time to breach the Capitol and disrupt the proceedings. As he entered the Capitol on the 6th, Hawley gave the protesters a Fascist clenched fist salute. This no doubt encouraged them to invade the premises. On the Senate floor Hawley spoke for his allotted five minutes. Like others, he made vague charges of election fraud, but offered no actual evidence.

     The group seemed to know what to do next. Shortly after the President’s entourage left, they marched on the Capital. When they got there, they got a clenched fist sign of approval from Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri. Hawley, a man with more ambition than sense, was leading the effort in the Congress to overturn the results of the election. The debate of Arizona’s electoral votes had scarcely begun, before the protesters began applying pressure on the security fence protecting the Capitol. The insurrection had begun.

     Inexplicably some of the Capitol Police quickly abandoned their posts allowing the protesters to advance. Others valiantly stood their ground. They had prepared for peaceful First Amendment protesters, but were confronted with violent, aggressive tactics. The leadership of the Capitol police rebuffed offers of help from the National Guard and the FBI. The protesters seemed to know exactly what to do. They had disassembled sections of the fence to use as scaling ladders. They simultaneously swarmed all avenues of approach, overwhelming more Capitol Police.

     Once inside the Capitol, the protestors stormed the sacred halls of Congress. They broke through doors, assaulted federal law enforcement officers, tore up offices and grabbed documents ant artifacts. Members of Congress were put on lockdown and even donned gas masks. In spite of what was unfolding, some Capitol Police Officers treated the invaders kindly and even posed for pictures with the insurrectionists.

The brazenness of the insurrectionist was unusual. They proudly paraded past security cameras without masks. Many post incriminating images on social media. It was like they assumed there would be no consequences for their actions. Were they expecting the President to pardon them if their coup was successful? Oddly many will be prosecuted uner the President’s recent executive order authorizing up to 10 years in prison for “injury of federal property.”

     The number of insurrectionists who committed criminal acts was rather appalling. Fortunately, not too many of them came armed for combat. Some used pipes and clubs to beat back police. It was reported that zip ties were carried by some of the invaders, indicating that they had planned to take hostages. One rioter came well prepared with a firearm and several Molotov Cocktails. Several others were arrested for firearm possession. One Officer, Brian Sicknick, was apparently beaten so badly, he later died. Other Officers required medical attention. Four insurrectionists died, apparently only one at the hands of Capitol Police. Another was reported to have been crushed, presumably by the crowd of rioters.

     The insurrectionists also put the life of our Vice-President in mortal danger. The President has been very hostile toward Pence recently and his followers know it. One of the President’s voter fraud attorneys has even called for the arrest and execution of Mike Pence. These thugs might have even taken out the next two people in the line of presidential succession (the House Speaker and the 87 year-old Senate Pro Tempore.)

     While the insurrection was going on, the President remained in the White House. Leaked reports said he seemed giddy over what was transpiring. At first, he failed to act in any way to restore order, not even calling in the National Guard. (Vice-President Pence who was trapped in a secure location in the Capitol was apparently the one who requested the Guard.) When the National guard did arrive, they reportedly were not armed or equipped for riot duty. Finally, he took to Twitter. Some of his tweets asked for calm and support for law enforcement.  In other tweets he continued to air his election grievances. He posted a bizarre video where he praised the insurrectionist with “we love you” and calling them “very special people.” Then he asked them to stop the violence. The video and two other tweets were taken down by Twitter. The President’s account was suspended and he was told to remove the incendiary tweets. Sometime the next day, his account was re-activated. The President, perhaps cowed by fears of removal, posted a slightly conciliatory video.

     Later that evening order was restored and Congress returned to complete the important business of confirming the election of the next President. They worked late into the night. Clearly rattled and shocked by the day’s events, some members of Congress changed their opposition to the acceptance of the Electoral College vote. Senator Romney eloquently said that the best way to assure Americans of the integrity of their votes was to, “Tell them the truth.” He got some rare, but well-deserved applause.

     There were immediate calls for the President’s removal for sedition. Chastened, he issued a statement promising to accept the results of the election, but continuing to air his false claims of election fraud. In spite of numerous calls for his removal, the Vice-President and a very weak cabinet are unlikely to invoke the 25^th Amendment.  There is a move in the Congress for a second impeachment. If it succeeds, it could bar the President from ever holding office again. We should not be holding our breath waiting for that.

     Of all of Wednesday’s horrors, I most regret the death of Ashli Babbitt. She was an Iraq War Air Force veteran. I’m guessing she was suffering from PTSD. That could have led her to fall for wacky QAnon conspiracy theories.

     The sadness I am feeling is for the reasonable people who somehow found themselves drawn into the web of the President’s lies and divisive tactics. Like all authoritarians, he finds scapegoats and demonizes them. Instead of the Jews of the Third Reich, he is targeting others who are different. The outgoing President is a narcissist. He only cares about himself. He uses people only to accomplish his personal ends. If they stand up to him for his crimes and abuses of power, he will cast them aside. They are simply the losers amongst “all the best people” he has elevated to office. Just as he abandoned the deluded insurrectionists he sent to storm our Capitol, he will someday abandon you, me and everyone else who doesn’t fluff his ego. Our country and its people are not safe as long as this President remains in a position of power.

President Trump tweeted on Friday that he would not attend the inauguration of his successor. Nobody cares.