The Wall
One gets the feeling that when the Trump era is dead and gone, resting fitfully at the bottom of a metaphorical pit of slime and sludge, the one true memory of this president* will be The Wall. After all chants of "Build that wall" echoed down the gymnasium halls and off the airplane hangar walls as Trump campaigned in 2016. In some way his identity as a politician became ingrained with the idea of building a border wall between the US and Mexico, just as his political identity had once been aligned with his efforts to prove Barack Obama was foreign born. Even if only as a symbol of his presence here, The Wall must mean a great deal to Donald Trump. How bitterly it must pain him now to know the wall will never be built. Just as he miserably failed to show Obama was illegitimate, he has failed to demonstrate any need at all for a "wall" at the southern border.
The one time head of the Republican Party, Michael Steele , was a guest on a radio talk show this morning. The host asked him about Trump's "intention" to allow the federal government to shut down by the end of the year if Congress doesn't give him many billions to fund the construction of The Wall. Steele's reply was so obvious, but rarely voiced in the way he did, that I was taken aback for a second. He dismissively put down Trump, saying that if the wall was a good idea it would have happened already. This is not the angle that people usually come at the topic, but it is surely the fact of the matter.
Come next January, a legislative option to fund The Wall will be gone as the Democrats take over the House. There is still a window between now and the end of this Congress in a few weeks, but that window would depend on Mitch McConnell using the so-called "nuclear option" on behalf of the wall, the Senate maneuver where a bill can pass with a simple majority instead of the now customary 60 votes. McConnell has shown no inclination to do that, probably knowing it would fail anyway. The GOP still only has 51 votes in the Senate, a defection of just two would make the nuclear option irrelevant. And there are at least two Republicans who are not willing to aggrandize Trump with a Wall.
No, in all likelihood the dream has died, barring Trump concessions to the Democrats that could entice 10 or 12 of them to vote with Trump on this.
Two final thoughts. There will be no federal monuments to Trump, ala the Jefferson Memorial or Mt Rushmore, even though Trump has repeatedly declared himself the greatest US president of all time. Maybe a collapsed and abandoned coal mine in West Virginia can be named after him. The Wall was to be his physical monument to himself, something people would associate with him at the sight of it, that would last for generations.
And , it would save his fallen reputation among his most ardent fans , the white nationalists. The white supremacy crowd has turned on Trump, at least among the leadership . Richard Spencer, the erstwhile cover boy for the white nationalist alt-right, (remember the right arm extended "Hail Trump" salute at a meeting of his organization a day or two after the election?) came out the other day and said that he and his people are "moving on" from Trump, who Spencer says has failed the movement. The reason for the failure? No Wall for one thing. Trump promised his white nationalist supporters a wall and deportation for the browns and others and has "failed". The alt-right white nationalists are "sick of failure".
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Trump has had two years to get this done. It should dawn on him, at long last, that it is not a priority to the American people.
it should have dawned on the left that the caravan getting violent would pave the way for that wall being built.
if congress does not fund it? the military budget will.
if you're watching the long game? patience is a virtue.
cheers
The Wall? BWAHAHAHAHA. What kind of fearful world are righties living in?
There is no wall can't be gone over, under, around or through. None. Not one...
Porous and open is best.....huh !
Better than GAS
GAS....is only $ 2.27 a gallon.
look for gas at $1.49 a gallon as soon as the Saudi's get caught committing a war crime in Yemen or chopping up another journalist
It's a $1.98 at my local Murphy this morning
I'm sure it could already be there without "Finding Out" anything.
Should we tear down all existing fences then?
Would it alter the fact any fence can be gone over, under, around or through?
Under and over takes more time and energy than walking a simple straight line.
If there was a continuous wall, walking around would be difficult too.
You tell me. You're saying basically that fences are pointless. So I'm asking you if we should tear down the ones we have. They aren't very pretty and it probably costs at least a little bit of money to repair them now and then. Should we just get rid of them?
Here, try a little reading,
Nope. Not without a good reason.
Well, according to those links immigrants are LEAVING the U.S. faster than they're coming in, you want to get rid of them, don't build the wall, that way they can just walk back to their home country.
Thanks for explaining. I actually wasn't trying to be difficult. I appreciate when people supply links to support something they are trying to say, but I'm just not going to commit to reading something and trying to figure out what someone else is saying.
As far as I know, it's pretty easy to walk out of the country. Getting back in is another matter. If it's just a matter of coming and going for work, I wouldn't object on principle to the return of something like the Bracero program.
I still think fences work, though. And logically, bigger fences are more effective than smaller fences.
Longer term, I'd like to see the US do something to bolster justice and opportunity in Latin America so that desperate people aren't compelled to come running to America. This is why we don't need a big honking fence on the Canadian border.
Weird….how Chucky is willing to give Trump $1.6 Billion for the "Wall" to date, since it's NOT a priority afterall.
Bet it get's funded in total …… SOON !
Your ….. "NOT" a "Priority"....with everything going on at the border now...… is a "Liberal" dreamer hope !
Actual "Americans" are "Dreamers" too !
What is the incentive for Congress to build the wall?
They had passed a bill under George W. Bush to build a border fence, Obama stopped it being built, citing in part environmental impacts.
GOP Congressmen have been saying they will repeal Obamacare and build a wall since 2010, they get elected and here is what happens:
Between 2010 and 2012, they say "Well, we can't pass these pieces of legislation because we need a Republican Senate."
Then, after 2012, "Well, we can't pass these pieces of legislation because we need a Republican President."
After 2016, "We can't pass these pieces of legislation, but if you re-elect us we promise to do so eventually."
Does anyone wonder why they lost the House of Representatives?
They refused to follow through on their major promises after being granted everything they asked for in order to pass it.
Why?
Because, they feel like they can do whatever they want and will get re-elected.
And, based on how they are acting after they lost, they still haven't gotten the message, which is "Stop acting like Democrats and follow through with your promises!"
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[Your line of questioning is inappropriate and will not be tolerated here.]
The new congress can tack that wall to new immigration legislation and fund it by fining those that have hired any undocumented workers since the Reagan amnesty on a large fine per worker and a build as far as those fines are collected basis. Give the teapublican senate a chance to demonstrate to the taxpayers xenophobia while trying to perform corporate fellatio at the same time.
Now here's somebody who ate his Wheaties this morning!
Excellent idea!
I was with you until your last sentence. You were going good until you threw in that hateful partisan comment.
The comment was not partisan. It was purely Supply Side at its best.
You are entitled to your view, I'm entitled to mine. Have a good day.
For those that have never cracked an American history book, blaming Central Americans for bringing crime, drugs, and disease across the border was done in the front part of the last century, prior to the great depression, to rid the US of an abundance of farm workers that had over stayed their welcome and then been hired for other jobs by those looking for much cheaper labor. [Deleted]
trump's useless wall is just a cash cow for political insiders and money laundering scam for future campaign contributions with bloated no bid contracts that the new congress will have to investigate and terminate.
It's not a terrible idea on the surface, but the fines could only be levied for future violations. Retroactive fines would be unconstitutional. Also, it would also probably take so many fines that they would be unlikely to make much of a dent in the cost.
I like how you're thinking there. A wall entirely funded by fines will never be larger than the problem.
The Wall, Trump's Wall, whatever one wishes to call it-----if ever completed-----will be the personal edifice of DJT that in scope, magnitude and wry magnificence will be 'The Wall' that shuttered the heart of...………………...
Hey, I thought Mexico had this wall shit covered?!
Nah. The Trump wants the US taxpayers to cover it.
No big deal. GM is laying off. Ford is next. Damn, all of this winning is...……………...
Well shoot, perhaps all those GM and Ford assemblers can find a job in a Mexican plant now, and help pay off the shiny new wall.
Let's not forget, Trump wants the wall to be "see through" so, doesn't that mean invisible? As far as we know we might have a wall already, we just can't see the damn thing, if you live near the border and, like four wheeling watch where you drive, you might hit the wall. /s/
Hey! I know how to build that wall so it will be cheap! Use Visqueen!
But how would trump have is orange likeness painted on it every 20 feet?
Simple!
Stickers!
We can put one over his mouth and, one on each hand to keep him off of twitter.