You Realize, of Course, This Means War (With Trump)

The drug cartels basically said out loud this week that they want war. They might just get one.

Before we get to war and other niceties, here's why they might have just opened a can of military-grade whoop-a** directly into their own faces.

Bugs Bunny has been a hero of mine for so long that I can't remember a time when he wasn't. All Bugs ever really wanted to do was enjoy his (surprisingly posh) digs and indulge in a perfectly crafted carrot stew. He never sought out trouble, but when it came for him, he came back ready to fight — and never lost his cool or wit.

He's equal parts Groucho Marx, Buster Keaton, and Gen. George S. Patton.

Our cartel friends in Latin America might want to remember that there's a latent Bugs Bunny streak in everyday America, and that despite his considerable wealth, power, and ego, President Donald Trump is, oddly enough, in many ways a remarkably everyday American.

Sure, he has a set of solid gold golf clubs and a toilet made of diamonds (careful!), but Trump still loves a Big Mac, just like the rest of us who didn't swear off them for Lent, ethics, or cholesterol.

You can put me in that last group. Sigh.

PJ Media's own Sarah Anderson reported Tuesday on the "dangerous and unprecedented" cartel news just announced by Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem. In league with domestic terror organizations like Antifa and local drug gangs, the cartels have tiered bounties on federal law enforcement:

$2,000 for gathering intelligence or doxxing agents (including photos and family details).
$5,000–$10,000 for kidnapping or non-lethal assaults on standard ICE/CBP officers.
Up to $50,000 for assassinating high-ranking officials.

Again, thanks to Sarah for gathering all this information at the link above, and in this earlier report from last week.

This is where America’s inner Bugs Bunny, happily minding his stew, finally decides he’s had enough.

"You realize, of course, this means war."

Noem shot her own dog, fer cryin' out loud. What do the cartels think she might authorize against them?

And Another Thing: Another, better, smarter writer — Walter Russell Mead — had a much fancier take on the Bugs Bunny Effect, called "The Jacksonian Tradition" in American foreign policy. It's very briefly summed up as a desire not to impose our values on other countries, but they'd better look out if they want to impose anything on us. But I've always been a Bugs fan, so the Bugs Bunny Effect is what you get from me. And don't you think it suits Trump better?

Maybe the drug lords don't — can't? — think that far ahead. Although I rather doubt that. One doesn't put together a major business enterprise, even an illegal one, without more than a little entrepreneurial foresight and planning abilities.

More likely, Trump's willingness to enforce existing border and immigration law — not to mention his authorization of explosively deadly force against cartel drug boats — has cartel bosses too desperate to care about anything more than the immediate future.

The cartels said they wanted war. They just might get one.

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