Mexico is getting hammered. Slowdown in USA means that migrant remittances are falling. Oil production and exports are crashing. And the drug war, fueled by cash and illegal weapons from the USA, has brought violence from the hinterland into the capital.

Eight were killed and over 100 injured in a bomb blast during celebrations on the eve on Independence Day (Sept 15) in a plaza in Morelia.

On October 2, Mexico's conservative president proposed decriminalizing possession for personal use.

The destabilization of Mexico is one of the biggest security threats we face, in my humble opinion. (Which doesn't mean we need to invade, amigos. Rethinking prohibition, as these law enforcement officers are doing, would be a better place to start.)

And apropos the post, would we be safer if we imported no oil from Mexico through "energy independence?"

And apropos the post, would we be safer if we imported no oil from Mexico through "energy independence?"

I believe we will be safer if we do not invade Mexico in order to get their oil.

Yes, invasion would be a very bad idea.

That being said, the Mexican War worked out well for the USA. If the outcome had been different, then the oil fields of Texas and California would be part of Mexico.

Talk about alternate history.

... and if Russia hadn't flogged off Alaska - no Prudhoe and no Governor Palin