What began as a mostly fringe narrative from the Right has finally slithered into all corners of American politics.  Yesterday in a show of ultimate egotism, Texas Governor Rick Perry decided to take that flawed narrative to new heights by sending 1,000 National Guard troops to the border.  Here’s the story from the Los Angeles Times…

Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced plans Monday to deploy as many as 1,000 National Guard troops to the state’s border with Mexico, faulting federal officials for “empty promises” in dealing with an influx of Central American children and families.

“There can be no national security without border security, and Texans have paid too high a price for the federal government’s failure to secure our border,” the Republican governor said during an Austin briefing with other state leaders.

Perry said the Guard will provide support over the next month to Operation Strong Safety, the state-funded border surge he declared last month. The state operation, which includes sending state troopers to the border to assist local law enforcement, costs $1.3 million a week; the combined operation will cost more than $17 million a month. It’s unclear how it will be funded, Perry said.

So if the reasoning behind Operation Strong Safety and the National Guard troops is to “assist local law enforcement”, it’s reasonable to think that demand for the militarization is coming from local law enforcement.  But that reasoning is completely false.  Local sheriffs, municipal police chiefs and other officials are actually asking for the exact opposite.  Need proof?  From Marfa Public Radio, reporter Travis Bubenik recently spoke with Jeff Davis County Sheriff and Chairman of the Border Sheriff’s Coalition Rick McIvor…

Governor Rick Perry has announced his plan to send 1,000 Texas National Guard troops to the Texas-Mexico border in response to the recent influx of Central American migrants.

Perry says the troops are needed to protect against threats from Mexican cartels and other criminals, but the Chairman of the Texas Border Sheriffs Coalition says it’s an unnecessary move.

Jeff Davis County Sheriff Rick McIvor spoke with us about Perry’s plan.

“I don’t think it’s necessary to infiltrate the area with a lot of troops,” McIvor says. “I think you put a lot of fear into the people that live in the area.”

McIvor says the $12 million-a-month price tag for the deployment isn’t a wise use of money for dealing with a humanitarian crisis. That’s a sentiment echoed by border county officials who have already questioned the effectiveness of a Department of Public Safety (DPS) surge launched also by Perry last month.

Since then, tensions have risen between the DPS and border sheriffs, with local law enforcement saying they want a seat at the planning table for border surges, and a say in how the money is spent.

“It’s a negative impact and negative direction they’re taking by not talking to the individual who represents the people,” McIvor says.

On Monday, Perry dismissed claims that the immigration surge has not impacted crime along the border.

Officials in McAllen recently testified that they haven’t seen a rise in crime alongside the influx of unaccompanied minors and families. When questioned about those accounts, Perry said they “may not fulfill the full vision of what’s going on the border.”

So despite mounting evidence that there is no connection between these families fleeing persecution and any type of dangerous criminal activity, the Texas Governor has chosen to waste taxpayer dollars just to scare people.

Rick Perry is sending these troops to the Border for one reason… Rick Perry.  He is using the nation’s recent focus on South Texas as a foothold to resurrect his aspirations of running for President.  For someone so concerned with increases in crime across his state, he sure felt secure enough to parade his strong-arm stances across Iowa this weekend.  If you’re counting, this is the Texas Governor’s fourth visit to the Hawkeye state in 8 months.  Up north, Perry was quick to stoke the fires of fear with fabrications about terrorists, murderers and rapists pouring into the country.  And again, he does this in direct contradiction to his state’s local officials.

For other Texas politicians, the worst thing one can do now is to get lured into Perry’s web of fear-mongering.  Such is the case for State Senator and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis, who committed a monumental flip-flop on the issue, now calling for additional law enforcement to help “secure” the situation on the Rio Grande.

Even if Governor Perry is far too gone for reasonable solutions, Democrats have to hope and expect more from Davis.  Just a while ago, she called for President Obama to make a trip to the border and speak with people living through these issues on the ground.  It’s time for Davis to take her own advice and speak with the hard-working local enforcement in South Texas.  If done, she may discover them singing a very different tune from Perry’s war song.

Be sure to consult more smart analysis from Dos Centavos, Brains and Eggs, Texpatriate and Off the Kuff.