Troops and Tropes: As a small army of mothers and babies trudges north through Mexico hoping to reach asylum in the United States, President Trump yesterday said he may place as many as 15,000 troops on the border to defend the country against the “invasion.”

That’s far more troops than the US has in Iraq and Syria fighting the Islamic state, which is armed with guns, not baby bottles.

The President said, “As far as the caravan is concerned our military is out, we have about 5,000-8 (thousand), we’ll go up to anywhere between 10 (thousand) and 15,000 military personnel on top of border patrol, ICE and everybody else on the border.” The migrant march has shrunk to about 3,500 people.

Soldiers cannot legally apprehend migrants. They’ll be acting as drivers, cooks and supply clerks in camouflage. They would be there for show. The mission — dubbed Operation Faithful Patriot — will “provide a range of assistance, including planning, engineering, transportation, logistics and medical support to the US Customs and Border Protection,” according to the Pentagon.

Trump is hoping that fear of immigrants will help him keep control of the Senate, and maybe even the House in midterm elections next week. Last night he said, “A vote for Democrats is a vote to liquidate American borders.”

Yesterday he got into a public fight with House Speaker Paul Ryan over his plan to end birthright citizenship with an executive order. Ryan said “Obviously as conservatives we believe in the Constitution,” and he said the Constitution is clear that anyone born in the US is an American citizen.

Trump blurted out in a tweet, “Paul Ryan should be focusing on holding the Majority rather than giving his opinions on Birthright Citizenship, something he knows nothing about!” Well, Ryan was born in the US and he’s a citizen.

The 14^thamendment to the Constitution clearly says, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.” Trump tweeted, “So-called Birthright Citizenship, which costs our Country billions of dollars and is very unfair to our citizens, will be ended one way or the other. It is not covered by the 14th Amendment because of the words ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’ Many legal scholars agree…..”

Finding those legal scholars is like finding climate scientists who believe global warming is a Chinese hoax.

Game Ejection: University of Maryland football coach DJ Durkinyesterday was abruptly fired, only a day after he had been reinstated following investigations into his leadership and the death of a player.

Under pressure from students, faculty, the community, and the state legislature, University President Wallace Lohmade the decision in defiance of his own board of regents, which had decided to retain Durkin. Loh had originally fought the board of regents and lost. When he announced the firing, he also said he’s retiring at the end of the academic year.

Coach Durkin, whose won-loss record with the university is 10-15, is likely to be paid out the $5.5 million remaining on his contract.

One investigation involved the death of an offensive lineman who collapsed with heat stroke during spring practice last June and the other looked into bullying and abuse by the coaching staff. Durkin was found not responsible. But many of the players had turned on their coach. Offensive lineman Ellis McKennie tweeted, “Justice served.”

Indictment and Grief: As funerals were conducted end to end in Pittsburgh, a federal grand jury yesterday indicted the accused synagogue shooter Robert Bowers on 44 counts, some of which could result in the death penalty. The charges against Bowers, 46, include 11 counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious freedom resulting in death, and 11 counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence.

Cease and Desist: Following the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the US and Britain are pressuring Saudi Arabia for a ceasefire in its war against Houthi rebels in Yemen, which has turned into one of the world’s biggest humanitarian disasters.  Saudi Arabia thought a quick bombing campaign would stop the rebels from firing missiles at the Kingdom, but they’ve hung on while starvation and disease have ravaged the country.

The US and Britain have supported Saudi Arabia in its war and the Khashoggi murder may have motivated a change of policy. Turkey now says Khashoggi was strangled and dismembered soon after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last month.

The Obit Page: Willie McCovey, the beloved San Francisco Giants Hall of Fame first baseman, has died at age 80.He spent 19 of his 22 major-league seasons with the Giants. McCovey and Willie Mays together were a fearsome duo. He hit 521 home runs, placing him tied for 20^thamong Major League Baseball’s home run hitters.

The News Roundup: Divers have found the black box from the Lion Air flight that went down in the Java Sea. —Ryan Zinke, the all-hat-no-cattle secretary of the interior, faces at least a half dozen ethics investigations involving his travel habits and close ties to the oil industry. —Workers are walking out from Google today in protest of how the company has handled sexual harassment. One executive who was accused was paid $90 million to go away.

Get Out the Vote: No matter which way people are voting, there’s a surge of interest in the midterm elections. With five days to go, early voting in some states has already surpassed early and absentee voting in 2014.If the trend continues, the numbers may exceed total votes — including Election Day — from four years ago.

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