Editorial: Martha’s masquerade

Column By Mike Bibb

There’s not a better example of the old saying “It’s different, when the shoe’s on the other foot,” than the sudden change of attitude in the elite island community of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

A popular hangout for high-profile, rich, and famous types where the average price of a moderately comfortable home is over a million dollars.  It was also one of the filming locations for the 1975 megamovie “Jaws.” 

Cause of concern; a plane load of illegal migrants sent from Florida recently landed in town.

Unannounced – no Expedia.com reservations.

The island’s welcoming signs – in multiple languages – announcing “hate has no business here” unexpectedly became a proclamation of pent-up prejudices, masquerading as phony civic pride.

It took less than 48 hours for the real “Martha’s” ugly hypocrisy to surge to the forefront.  In a fit of rage, whiny townsfolk announced there was no room on their exclusive island for 50 Hispanic wayfarers.  They simply didn’t “have the infrastructure” to adequately take care of these newly arrived guests.

There weren’t enough portable toilets or sanitizer dispensers to handle the sudden burden.  Blankets, bottled water, and baby formula were in short supply.  Tragically, no Walmart Rollbacks to accept the few pesos still remaining in pockets of touristas. 

In fact, no Walmart at all, or shopping malls.  You’ll likely not find a single merchant selling red MAGA caps or Trump 2024 bumper stickers.  Certainly, the closest “Let’s go Brandon” banner is probably somewhere in southern Virginia.

Martha’s a posh place of state-enforced sanitation, customary hygiene, politeness, political correctness, and pampered folks sipping the finest wines available for the privileged few.

They don’t have the time or concern to ponder chaos going on a few thousand miles away in a dusty Texas town along the Rio Grande River.    

The island of Martha’s Vineyard isn’t a graffitied, cerveza-littered barrio inhabited by foreign-sounding surnames like Gomez and Provencio.  Kennedy-Onassis, Madonna, and Obama, maybe, but not Rios.

There’re also no gaudy electric windmill generators to obstruct the serene beauty surrounding the historic island.  Folks may drive EVs, but they’ll have to use conventional fossil fuel-supplied electricity to charge them. 

Keep in mind, the Vineyard is an affluent attraction, with resorts, 5 Star motels, pricey cottage rentals, multi-million-dollar estates, and all the trappings built upon a monied economy.

Costly beach property is continually escalating in valuations faster than melting ice caps can raise sea levels. 

It is one of the most expensive tourist destinations in the United States. 

To insist they couldn’t provide services for 50 “immigrants and refugees” is laughable, if not ludicrous.  Particularly, since the busy summer season is winding down.

Also, freshly altered opinions are an obvious contradiction to boastful humanitarian hubris displayed on signs (see picture) in many shops, store windows, and front yards.

A notice posted in many store and office windows throughout the small Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard.

Martha’s welcomes everyone, regardless of race, religion, origin, political affiliation, or credit score. 

Unfortunately, a few dozen Venezuelans didn’t make the cut. 

The bottom line – the Vineyard’s ruling elite simply didn’t want to have anything to do with travelers from south of the border, down Mexico way. 

In a response quicker than reacting to an approaching hurricane, residents of Martha’s Vineyard came up with a solution:  Simply call the National Guard and have the brown pestilence hauled away.

Which is what they did.  Intruders were swiftly loaded onto busses and transported to a military base, never to be seen walking the consecrated streets of the liberal seaside resort.

I can almost hear town officials patting each other on the back and boasting “What do they think Martha’s is, Arizona or Texas?  How uncouth!  Were they really naive to believe the fanciful scribble on our tourist signs?  That’s just a marketing ploy.  Everyone knows that.”

“Good grief, this isn’t Brownsville, so don’t send your trash up here and expect us to take care of it.  We cater to a more sophisticated, wealthy, and intellectual clientele – one that respects our laws and customs and has Gold Visa cards.”

The real tragedy of the Martha’s Vineyard incident is it exposed the obvious double or triple tiers of our federal government’s law enforcement failures.

While folks living along the Mexican/U.S. border are being inundated with millions of people fleeing into our country, they are expected to accept Washington’s open borders doctrine, and all the physical and economic hardships accompanying these asinine decisions.

Meanwhile, the pampered and rulemaking charlatans in Washington make sure they aren’t exposed to such discomforts.  They erect fences, and walls and hire armed security guards to protect their homes and offices to keep out the unwashed.

Sometimes, they even dispatch the National Guard to take care of troubling annoyances.

President Joe continually reminds us “We are a nation of immigrants,” but he always leaves out the word “legal” immigrants. 

With increasing caravans of migrants, criminals, drugs, human traffickers, and terrorists from all over the world randomly walking uninvited into our country, there will probably come a day when we pay a terrible price for this delusional madness.

There’s a reason the Biden Administration continues to ignore, or stupidly insist “The border is secure,” when the evidence clearly shows otherwise.  His aiding and abetting further compound the seriousness of the situation.

As does disregard for border security or pretended tolerances in places like Martha’s Vineyard.   A 2000-mile buffer zone can do a lot to calm the nerves of perceived menaces between Captain Ahab’s All You Can Eat Lobster & Oyster Bar and Juan Mendoza’s 2 for $2 Street Tacos concession stand in Downtown Eloy, Arizona. 

Except, when the island’s coddled vulnerability is at risk.  Then they squeal the loudest for prompt government intervention.

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author.