There’s a cynical saying in politics that goes something like: Never let a good crisis go to waste.

We’ve certainly seen that tenet applied as politicians and pundits have thrown elbows and hip-checked each other in the scramble to get in front of the cameras over the Trump administration’s disastrous policy regarding children of immigrants who have illegally crossed the border in the United States.

An ill-advised strategy meant to deter illegal immigration and asylum-seeking at the southern border spiraled out of control to become another self-inflicted wound for President Trump, unnecessarily handing his opponents a crisis to hold against him — and to exploit. Wanting a more secure and less chaotic border is not evil, but the clear lack of planning for the handling of thousands of family members detained since the early spring mushroomed into a chaos of its own, and now Trump is paying the price — politically and morally.

Yet the crescendo of outrage — plenty of it delivered with a certain theatrical flair — also mushroomed into a chaos of its own, as politicians virtually stumbled over each other to make visits at federal holding centers, promise lawsuits and make appearances on cable news.

Former President Bill Clinton, with zero moral credibility himself, was emboldened to criticize the “zero tolerance” policy at the border, this despite his own anti-immigrant rhetoric in the 1990s that would have had a tea party rally screaming with cheers. Clinton’s criticisms today ring hollow given his own utter failure to address immigration during his do-nothing presidency.

Former President Barack Obama and his vice president, Joe Biden, still mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2020, also jointly criticized Trump on zero tolerance.

Yet it was under the Obama administration, a New York magazine article pointed out this past week, that the U.S. immigration apparatus ballooned in size and power under his watch: “Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the post 9/11-born agency that many liberal activists now want to abolish, saw its budget skyrocket during the Obama years, as did U.S. Customs and Border Protection — all the way to a combined $20 billion in 2016.”

The Obama administration set a record for deportations of illegal immigrants, many of them from Central America, and the concept of contractor-run detention facilities for illegal immigrants — which indeed held children — developed under his presidency.

Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat with presidential aspirations of his own, was big on the outrage circuit last week, lip quivering as he decried Trump, zero tolerance and the evil of holding detained immigrants in tent cities along the border.

Meanwhile, there are more than 12,000 homeless — 21 percent of them families with children — in Seattle alone, as a homelessness crisis continues to grow in the Evergreen State. About half of the homeless in Seattle live in squalid, state-sanctioned tent cities — and that does not include other sites in King County and the rest of the state.

Inslee didn’t offer any solutions for that as he blasted Trump — and tested the presidential waters in Iowa last week.

In New York, there’s Democrat Andrew Cuomo, another worthy in the musings over 2020, and Democratic senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, each avowed foes of Trump.

Cuomo and the New York state attorney general’s office have filed numerous lawsuits against the Trump administration — spending how many hundreds of thousands or more in taxpayer dollars? — in opposition to its policies. They promise another one over zero tolerance, despite Trump announcing cessation of enforcement, as the fixation on combating Trump in court continues.

Schumer and Gillibrand expressed their own outrage, yet reject any negotiation on legislation that might solve the immigration quagmire.

All this as they represent a state that continues to erode population and economic opportunity — New York was No. 1 in losing residents to other states, according to latest figures. Experts cite taxes that are among the highest of any state, high cost of living, a poor jobs climate and frustration with a culture of corruption in Albany as reasons for the decline, yet Cuomo, Schumer and Gillibrand often seem more occupied with fighting Trump than addressing the state’s needs.

The zero tolerance fiasco is more than just a bad look for Trump — and for America. But while outrage is the order of the day, we’ve heard precious little about solutions or policies that go anywhere beyond “Trump is the devil.” That didn’t work in 2016.
Nov. 6 and the midterm elections are 19 weeks away. Given recent events, perhaps “Trump is the devil” will carry the weight needed to push Democrats to majorities in the House and Senate.

Some real policy ideas and solutions will help even more.

(Jim Eckstrom is executive editor of Bradford Publishing Co. His email is jeckstrom@oleantimesherald.com.)