by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
A few days ago Donald Trump was boasting that he would happily shut down the government if the emergency funding deal with Congress did not include $5 billion for his big, beautiful concrete wall along the southern border. As of today, he has apparently seen the harsh light of reality politics and backed off of that claim. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is now saying that the money needed for the wall will come from other sources. (It's nice to know the budget has than much slush!) And Trump himself is again yammering that the military (presumably the U.S. military and not that of Mexico) will work on constructing the wall to honor and beatify himself.
When Donald Trump first began inflaming his rabble with talk of a wall to keep brown people from entering the United States across the southern border, he led them, as well as much of the rest of the country, to believe that he was proposing a giant barrier, something akin to the Great Wall of China, that would extend along the entire U.S.-Mexico border from San Diego, California, to Brownsville, Texas. A monument to his glory, forever and ever, amen. And to frost the cake, it would not even cost U.S. taxpayers one thin dime because he would make Mexico pay for it. Amen, Brother Trump, amen!
Of course, in the intervening years several truths have become apparent regarding the wall. The first truth is that Donald Trump never tells the truth. He golfs, he throws tantrums, and he lies - and that's about a full workday for Donald John Trump. The second truth is that Mexico will never pay for anything that interferes with the economic trade flowing between itself and its neighbor to the north - and Mexico would be loathe to help fund a barrier designed to strengthen Trump's loud belief that everything south of Arizona is a "shithole" country. A wall funded by Mexico ain't-a-gonna-happen.
Another truth that quickly surfaced was that a big, beautiful wall along the entire border between the United States and Mexico (1,954 miles) was never feasible in the first place. The cost would be astronomical, and property owners along the border (many of them rich, influential Republicans) would fight tooth-and-nail to keep the government from taking their land for a wall, a barrier that in many cases would create business and agricultural problems.
So as those truths became self-evident, the Trump roar quietly shifted from a complete wall to a partial wall, something that could be erected in areas where most immigrants supposedly sneaked in. Short stretches of physical wall supplemented by ground sensors, drones, and other technology that could help border agents spot and block invaders. A bait and switch tactic, but enough wall where Trump could rush in and get his picture taken standing next to it - or perhaps even atop of it - staring south across the barren shithole desert where brown people scamper like rats racing to the United States - only now they will be lugging ladders.
So today's truth is that the government has other money sloshing around that it can use for the wall - perhaps some that they saved by not adequately supporting Puerto Rico after the hurricane, or California after the wildfires, or children with cancer. And it will also save money by using the military, who are already on the payroll, to construct it.
It all sounds so simple, and, of course, none of it will work. Next year when Trump is running for re-election he will again be stirring the wall issue relentlessly because it is a proven vote-getter. He will blame others, like he always does, for his failure in getting it built, and he will inflame racist passions as he roars about the importance of a safe and secure America.
And then he will play golf.
Same story, different day.
Citizen Journalist
A few days ago Donald Trump was boasting that he would happily shut down the government if the emergency funding deal with Congress did not include $5 billion for his big, beautiful concrete wall along the southern border. As of today, he has apparently seen the harsh light of reality politics and backed off of that claim. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is now saying that the money needed for the wall will come from other sources. (It's nice to know the budget has than much slush!) And Trump himself is again yammering that the military (presumably the U.S. military and not that of Mexico) will work on constructing the wall to honor and beatify himself.
When Donald Trump first began inflaming his rabble with talk of a wall to keep brown people from entering the United States across the southern border, he led them, as well as much of the rest of the country, to believe that he was proposing a giant barrier, something akin to the Great Wall of China, that would extend along the entire U.S.-Mexico border from San Diego, California, to Brownsville, Texas. A monument to his glory, forever and ever, amen. And to frost the cake, it would not even cost U.S. taxpayers one thin dime because he would make Mexico pay for it. Amen, Brother Trump, amen!
Of course, in the intervening years several truths have become apparent regarding the wall. The first truth is that Donald Trump never tells the truth. He golfs, he throws tantrums, and he lies - and that's about a full workday for Donald John Trump. The second truth is that Mexico will never pay for anything that interferes with the economic trade flowing between itself and its neighbor to the north - and Mexico would be loathe to help fund a barrier designed to strengthen Trump's loud belief that everything south of Arizona is a "shithole" country. A wall funded by Mexico ain't-a-gonna-happen.
Another truth that quickly surfaced was that a big, beautiful wall along the entire border between the United States and Mexico (1,954 miles) was never feasible in the first place. The cost would be astronomical, and property owners along the border (many of them rich, influential Republicans) would fight tooth-and-nail to keep the government from taking their land for a wall, a barrier that in many cases would create business and agricultural problems.
So as those truths became self-evident, the Trump roar quietly shifted from a complete wall to a partial wall, something that could be erected in areas where most immigrants supposedly sneaked in. Short stretches of physical wall supplemented by ground sensors, drones, and other technology that could help border agents spot and block invaders. A bait and switch tactic, but enough wall where Trump could rush in and get his picture taken standing next to it - or perhaps even atop of it - staring south across the barren shithole desert where brown people scamper like rats racing to the United States - only now they will be lugging ladders.
So today's truth is that the government has other money sloshing around that it can use for the wall - perhaps some that they saved by not adequately supporting Puerto Rico after the hurricane, or California after the wildfires, or children with cancer. And it will also save money by using the military, who are already on the payroll, to construct it.
It all sounds so simple, and, of course, none of it will work. Next year when Trump is running for re-election he will again be stirring the wall issue relentlessly because it is a proven vote-getter. He will blame others, like he always does, for his failure in getting it built, and he will inflame racist passions as he roars about the importance of a safe and secure America.
And then he will play golf.
Same story, different day.
1 comment:
Trump's delusion that he can take money from one government account and spend it on his wall has a term of art. It is called reprogramming. The notion that Trump can now rob Peter to pay Paul for this abomination of a wall is illusory, especially with Democrats in control of the House of Representatives.
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