Actually, laughing is really the only cure left when you're at the circus and the clowns come out into the center ring. Why should the reporters at the White House press conferences take SH-Sanders seriously when they they should all just laugh in unison?
THAT would be worth seeing and hearing for a change.
10
It is ironic that with all the hundreds of billions of tax money (or borrowed money) that we spend on armed forces and intelligence, we nonetheless have a Russian agent as President, and a Republican Congressional majority of aiders and abetters for that Russian agent, who still want to see the special counsel fired if at all possible. So then we had to dig deep into our pockets as small donors to support retaking the House, a do-or-die, now-or-never effort to save our freedom. We all knew what was at stake in this election - and so did Trump, McConnell, Grassley, Kemp, Rick Scott and all their ilk. So we paid a lot of extra "taxes" to support the ground troops, the canvassing volunteers, to fight for our freedom by getting out the vote that the Republicans tried so hard to prevent by the quiet sabotage of voter suppression. Fortunately, we retook the House, but we are a long way from being out of trouble. What a way to run a so-called democracy.
13
The only hopeful thing you said was that Trump may be in ill health. Just think, if a Doctor confined him to hospital bed rest, no Fox News, and no tweeting for a couple of years, the entire world would be a better, nicer place.
9
Those that believe a complex multi-generational problem can be solved with a simple slab of concrete aren't smart enough to assess the efficacy of of the solution
9
Robert Mueller is The Wall I support — a wall that protects America from those who want to slip past the rule of law.
If Whittaker cuts Mueller's budget, many of us will contribute to a GoFundMe page. Mexico won’t have to pay for the Mueller wall; America’s patriots will make it happen.
Rule of law! Rule of law!
11
Re: Ricardel, methinks DJT was/is dipping his wick. It's the only thing that makes sense.
6
Oh my goodness! Donald is threatening the his puppets the Republicans?! I am giggling! Donald is vindictive, he blames the GOP for their losses!
Someone should send Donald a letter, informing him that a wall will not be built! He may just pop a vein!
3
"Which would take a while, given the fact that it rose 17 percent, to $779 billion, in the latest Republican-controlled fiscal year."
Just a little more than the planned spending on "defense" (war) next year. Ponder that.
7
Arizona has a wall already in my county. Have for years. (As we say here, build a 18 ft wall, folks will just use 19 ft ladders.) Is he taking credit for something built before he was president? Only places where there isn't a wall are all in extremely rough terrain and those are well watched by border patrol already.
7
Build the wall. Build it with four corners so it encloses a space. 100’x100’ ought to do. 30’ High sounds fine. Leave the top open, but doors, windows, etc. Drop “the President”, his family and retinue into the space enclosed by the wall. If possible, drop their Congressional colleagues and a smattering of supporters in there too. Result: instant improvement to the body politic, everyone’s mood, the health of the nation, and the international outlook. If there is no internet access, global IQ will likely rise as well.
18
Leave Melania outside your prison. She has served enough time with Trump already.
1
The wall can be defeated by - the ladder,the rope, the shovel, the drone, the jackhammer, dynamite, bulldozer, many chisels, chains and vehicles, airplanes, helicopters or any combination of the above. And no doubt will be if built.
11
Terrorists usually fly in. Much less work than walking thousands of miles.
Most illegal immigrants flew in and deliberately overstayed their Visa. No governmental monitoring and little paperwork, unlike those who have to spend weeks at the US border waiting to be one of the few people allowed to petition for asylum each day.
6
When our best high tech shot at border security can be defeated by our 3rd invention (the rope) it's time to revisit your plan
11
As far as worrying about Trump's health, remember that the job he is in is extremely stressful for people who are qualified to be in it, his combative style and lack of relevant experience makes it enormously more stressful, and he just lost an election that may have been delaying a bushel of indictments and subpoenas aimed at his inner circle.
People, healthy or not, do not usually function all that well under extreme stress, and this seems pretty extreme and long-lasting even by presidential standards. The best remedy may be passing the baton, but in lieu of that those around him should try to reduce the temperature, and they should not be judged harshly for doing so.
4
In the spirit of Gail's column I'd like to suggest that Mexico take some photos of the Wall's sections near San Diego, open their copy of photoshop and create a wall all along their border with the US, then submit a bill to Trump for construction of the Wall.
If Trump refuses to pay, then Mexico can mass troops along the border and claim they're going to close it if he doesn't pay up! Businesses that rely on products from Mexico would really make a political stink that even the most fanatical Trump follower would have to pay attention to.
On the other hand it might lead to war with Mexico since Trump would claim he never made any comment about Mexico, the Wall, or paying for it.
7
I wish that Hillary, when Trump questioned her stamina during the debate, had challenged him right then to walk with her around the block.
9
Thank goodness Trump stayed home on Veterans Day. He is a walking disgrace to the men and women who have died in service to our country here and abroad for the WW I ceremonies. President only because of nefarious methods and a man bent on dividing out country.
12
On Veterans’ Day weekend, Trump refused to go to the American cemetery near Paris that he was scheduled to go to, refused to walk with 60 other World Leaders to a WWI program, left early so he would not have to attend Peace Talks with the 60 World Leaders, and refused to go to an American cemetery he was scheduled to go to here. Then he went to ONE Veterans’ Day program, and wants credit for going.
5
Cowardly Bully in Chief Trump has been hanging out with his fans too much, and his inability to recognize that other people exist has gotten worse. He thinks he can bully people who don't worship him.
So far, from what she's said and done, I'd prefer Melania to Trump as President. That's not saying much. But she did give us a good motto:
They don't care. Do you?
9
Does anyone remember when we thought that Mitt Romney putting the dog on the roof rack of a car was a reason for not making a Republican the President.
Old Mitt was not all that bad in hindsight.
9
@MrC, his promise in his "secret" billionaires' dinner not to do anything for the poorer half of the American people because they were all lazy "takers" played a part, too. As well it should have. I doubt social security or Medicare or food stamps would long endure if Bishop Mitt had his way.
14
@MrC
Mr. Flip-flop Mitt "47%" Romney made me sick, dog or no dog. We don't need to move the "bad" into the "good" column just because we're stuck with a total abomination.
19
How many times did Trump say -- on camera at one of his "rallies" -- that Mexico would pay for the wall?
Ten . . . twenty . . . fifty . . . a hundred . . . a thousand?
Could someone please cobble together a video stringing these clips together, force him to sit still for five minutes so he can watch himself say this over and over and over again, and then explain to him that all those cheering Trumpers and Trumpettes voted for him because -- and he's staring at the proof -- HE TOLD THEM over and over again that Mexico would pay for the wall. Period. Full stop.
He campaigned on that lie, he doubled-down on that lie, and now must accept that he is caught in that lie, and can't now expect Americans to pay to let him off the hook.
Before he was president, before his every utterance was captured on videotape, he could blissfully move on from one lie to another with little consequence.
Those days are over.
Hmmm . . . come to think of it . . . if some enterprising video editor could put together "Trump's Greatest WaLLies," and then have it run as an ad on "Fox & Friends," not only would he be sure to see it, he'd have to entertain the thought that it's real.
138
@Chrislav I'm not sure that as President he hasn't moved blissfully from one lie to another with little consequence. And only if lying mattered to him would that video that you suggest have impact. He truly lives in an alternate reality , perhaps unable to fully discern fact from fiction.
13
He would blame the Democrats.
10
@Chrislav Yes, someone should make a video of all the hundreds of times he promised that Mexico would pay for the Wall! And the. Go to the border and film the thousands of miles wide open without a wall with crickets chirping ! Playing this video in all the Red states and Fox! Terrific!
9
"President Trump seems to once again be threatening to veto any spending package that doesn’t include his Wall."
A bipartisan Congress could then override that veto.
Wouldn't that be something.
5
I think people are being too hard on Melania about this one. Apparently, Ricardel is nuts. Apparently, nuts enough to get involved in Melania's travel arrangements. We think Melania's being petty. But maybe she's waving her arms at our airplane saying, "Hallooooooo! Down here! I'm down here on this luxurious desert prison island! I'm signaling to you, dammit! Ricardel - she's crazy! Crazy! N-V-T-S, nuts! Worse than my husband! Do you understand how bad that it is? She's even interfering with *me*, and I just try to stay out of the way. We're talking about super-aggression and control-freakism to the Nth degree! I don't know a damn thing about international relations, but I can tell that that woman's dangerous!...(Can't I please go back to New York now?)"
5
Ricardel may have been let go for telling the press that Melania spent 95,000 at a Cairo hotel that Melania only spent 6 hours at. Ricardel gave some private info out according to some repirts.
The Wall can be defeated by human kind's 3rd invention, the Rope.
Has that been explained to anyone?
5
Wally Trump?
2
It's great to have you back.
Thank you! the first time the Wall was mentioned I thought it was a joke,.. then such nonsense, ..then incredulous that people out there wanted it, well if pretending we are building it helps them all, ok.
But it is still so horrible that anybody thinks we even need a wall.
7
Ricardel is a 'scary, right-wing hawk?' Good for Melania! Maybe the Orange Rubber Ball does not dictate to his 'helpmate.'
2
Can we rig up a sprinkler system that rains down on him all the time? Call Hollywood, I know they've got one.
12
Since we haven't found the members of Congress yet who will pass funding legislation for the wall, why not just start passing the hat at all of Trump's rallies? It seems like the Trump fans want it just as badly as he does, so why not start now? All the contributions can be noted and then when the Mexican government finally coughs up the money, the fans can get repaid?
Surely his fans have no doubt that Mexico will pay, so it seems like a sure-fire deal to me. The African-Americans have had great luck with "souls to the polls." Maybe the Trump Family can launch "Quarters for the Borders."
9
No “Quarters for the Borders!” Trump would insist on being on the quarter!
Reminds me of when conservatives wanted to put their heroes on the Dime, since it was ridiculous to put Roosevelt on the dime in the first place. They quickly backtracked when it was loudly explained to them that Roosevelt, who suffered from polio, sponsored the March of Dimes to eradicate Polio and then later to birth defects and childhood fatalities. March of Dimes should be considered “perfect” to conservatives since no governmental money was involved.
1
The wall is a rallying cry for his followers who
attend his circus performances to cheer and
jeer with the ringmaster/clown. They come to be
entertained and are never disappointed by
the buffoon in charge.
13
Crickey! The drug dealers have been using tunnels for years! And wasn’t the wall supposed to be transparent, like Lucite?
8
Trump looks ill, I think is seriously ill and not just mentally. He is hiding something about his state of health.
9
Wishful thinking, I’m afraid. He’s a flabby, choleric septuagenarian with almost zero self-control, same as always. On occasion it sounds like his dentures have come loose and are sloshing around in his mouth; besides that, he seems like pretty much the same spiteful jerk he’s always been. Maybe he’s testier because he assumed he’d have dismantled all the branches of government by now, the better to rule with a (tiny) iron fist?
6
The 'wall' is a symbol, just as the troops on the border are a symbol. Trump's supporters don't really care if the wall gets built: what they care about is hearing their leader speak the words. In some ways it is much better for Trump if the wall is never built so he can keep rallying his supporters.
96
@Michael Mendelson I agree that the wall is just a symbol. Whether it gets built during Donald Trump's term is irrelevant. As David Brooks, the reasonable conservative Times columnist has written, "Trump's supporters follow him because he gets his facts wrong, but he gets his myths right. He tells the morality tale that works for them."
12
@Selvin Gootar
Maybe he could peddle less costly myths.
15
The Trump administration gets more Mickey Mouse by the day. The soap opera nonsense within the WH pales in comparison with the crass and grotesque disrespect shown to our closest allies like the French, Germans and British, and to our own veterans, at this particular time. It is literally appalling. These people, aided and abetted by the deafening silence of the Republican party, are dragging this country into the gutter.
167
@John
The gutters are clogged now. The stench is everywhere. The miasma is spreading.
13
@John Do not embarrass Mickey Mouse by connecting him with the current administration. His intellect is far superior to anything currently being foisted on the American public by these cowards.
12
Would it surprise anyone if trump said he doesn’t support or respect people killed in war? Like when he claimed McCain was no hero because he was captured after being shot down. I’m not kidding.
Trump thinks those killed in the war were losers. Had they been real hero’s they would have survived. If this doesn’t convince people how unqualified he is being president nothing will.
14
Always reassuring to see that there's no subject too serious for Gail Collins to trivialize.
1
If you can’t laugh at watching a fat greedhead jump out of a clown car and tear at your country, what can you laugh at?
7
@Next Conservatism -- just what is "no subject too serious for Gail Collins to trivialize?"
The Trumps have turned the WH into Keystone Kops + Archie Bunker ... humorists like Gail have a hard time competing.
15
Atta' boy donnie.
Keep chipping away at the gop brand with your patented racism and petulance.
2020's Blue Wave is gonna' make this latest midterm Blue Wave look like a mere ripple.
9
The most concerning event about Trump's Paris visit was how he lit up and smiled when Putin showed up to greet him. Trump was dour faced when with our long time allies and feels free to trash them constantly but will never say or tweet a bad word about Putin. It seems obvious Trump admires Putin who interfered in our 2016 elections to favor Trump and would love to give him whatever he wants if the rest of the GOP would allow it. Trump made lots of $ from Russians as his sons have disclosed often and Trump desires to build Trump hotels in Moscow and may do so when he loses the 2020 election. Trump may seek asylum in Moscow if New York files charges vs him after 2020 so no wonder he sucks up to his future savior. Trump rants about conspiracy theories and unhinged claims of voter fraud so when he loses in 2020 he will call out his rabid base to the streets millions of voters wore disguises to vote 10x despite 6 hour lines. All paid by Soros the globalist. Overtures to Putin will begin as he sees his bleak future in New York prison.
7
Trumps secret wish is to become a Russian oligarch,with access to government funds. He fantasizes about rivers of money
4
A fight during Thanksgiving dinner? How novel! Been there! Unfortunately, if someone at the table is a rank racist and insists on showing it, what to do? Feign something and leave? Some thanksgiving!
4
The Wall is being built. By my last count, there is less than 10 % red seats in the House and Senate from Pennsylvania to Maine. And probably a similar percentage along the western Rockies to the Pacific. That wall is sturdy and soon to be impenetrable.We may like it so much we may decide to take our diverse people, our tax receipts, our climate and women's health care regulations, and egalitarian views and laws and go our own way.
4
The seeming lack of sufficient energy to walk, or even sit in a 90 minute car ride is not surprising. Trump still lives on fast food, doesn't exercise . And he also seems to lack confidence in his ability to walk normal distances. Given his physical condition, overweight and out of shape, approaching the mid 70s, Trump's avoidance of exercise is no surprising.
What is less easily explained are the fits of rage and the mood swings. Trump is too old for a midlife crisis or an attack of male menopause. One can only surmise that he has managed to live most of his life in a cocoon of constant approval from the lackeys with whom he surrounds himself. My guess is that he is not equipped, emotionally or psychologically, to live in the public eye, as he necessarily must, as president of the United States.
13
Rumors from McAllen--Trump is going to build a wall with those troops and Pentagon money,off budget, claiming "national defense" like Bush did to pay for the Iraq War.
5
I get the impression that the "Lock her up" and "build a wall" chants are less about real intentions and more like WWE or sports fan shenanigans. When soccer players fake injuries fans yell "let him die!", that doesn't actually mean they want the player to die. In her book "Political Tribes" Amy Chua shows just how much overlap there is between WWE fans and Trump rallies. It's a way for people to feel tribal empowerment. Not that it excuses it, but I wonder whether too much attention is paid to the circus and too little to more pressing economic and social issues. When people wallets are well and families are fed and have medical care, less are willing to become violent.
8
As someone has already pointed out, Ms M Trump has been in th United States half of her life, and she still has a real problem with English. I’d call that downright unAmerican.
As someone has already pointed out, the wall is a great idea if djt will just stand in front of it.
As someone has already pointed out, maybe “some of those Second Amendment folks” will kindly accommodate the rest of us.
6
Hey...585 million for kids and grandkids might amount to as much as two or three dollars per kid! That'll pretty much end poverty and secure a firm future for them!
2
This all sounds like another dust up on pay day at the local trailer park just outside of town. I mean really, can't you just hear a bunch of folks complaining to their neighbors about somebody at lot #27 not properly sorting the recycling or failing to water a pot full of geraniums?
The current bunch living in the White House make Fred Sanford look organized and well mannered by comparison.
5
Wall, fence, whatever. We can laugh at Trump all we want, but the issue of securing our borders is very real for his supporters. How do we convince them that it is not a ticking time bomb, that in fact the people who come here are more likely to be industrious and ambitious than criminal and that acting as if they are all criminals is a non-starter?
There is so much hypocrisy in this issue. Obama, as always, thought he could reach a compromise by acknowledging the concerns anti-immigrant people had, and he in fact did start cracking down employers who hired them, but as was also typical, managed not to make either side happy.
Trump doesn't really care about illegals, per se - his real issue is with poor, desperate people. The man lacks empathy and is cruel, and if only his supporters could see that he is conning them...
5
Great thoughts, Gail. Ya just gotta love Georgians who want to stack elections to Republican candidates who have ideas like Graves's perverse:
"bill to create a 'Fund for America’s Kids and Grandkids' that would appropriate $585 million that could not be spent on anything until the federal deficit was eliminated."
It shows the kind of mentality that Southern republicans have.
Well, rather than the wall, it seems as if trump needs conveyances to get him around in his meetings with world leaders. As the Pope has his "Popemobile", then trump should have his "trumpmobile". A golf cart is simply a nonstarter.
We wish Nita Lowey well! But contending with a cantankerous, lunatic president over his wall, which, for trump, is getting to be a little like Jimmy Stewart's invisible rabbit Harvey at this point, can't produce any great satisfaction in serving this nation.
Trump is pixilated. When you talk with him, just don't mention the lack of attendance at his inauguration or the lack of his wall.
1
The entire Trump family is an abomination to decency. What I'm really worried about is when Mueller drops his nuke of a report on Americas Romanovs, he'll bomb Tehran or Pyongyang . I could see him sacrificing our young soldiers without an ounce of remorse or conscience.
6
We need that wall and we need it fast. There is a horde of travel weary Honduran family's heading here to rape burn and pillage. Without the wall several of them might actually get through and God knows our 5000 border troops combined with border patrol regulars will be no match for them.
Almost each and everyday brings a new level of depraved absurdity from Trump and his self righteous cabal of wanna be royals. Weird doesn't even begin to properly define their lack of humanity and vision of anything beyond themselves.
12
What is troubling (amid everything else in this administration) is that these "scary right-wing hawk(s)" -- Bolton, Ricardel, Kelly, et al. -- somehow appear sympathetic and more reasonable when they come into conflict with the Trump crew. Their being deprived of position, power, and influence (in this case by the first lady's doing) is something that should actually be cheered.
2
I suggest it is possible that the aging president is, indeed, slowly losing his right mind due to illness, disease, stress, whatever... It's happening to a close friend of mind right now...
His wife's sudden appearance into his affairs may be a recognition of that development, an effort to shield and protect her husband, the father of their child...
5
There are a number of cartoons that portray Trump as Humpty Dumpty sitting on his wall. As he said to Alice, "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor less." "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things." "The question is" said Humpty Dumpty," which is to be master--that's all."
3
It's all about the hair! The reason Trump didn't attend the World War I ceremony, the reason he took the golf cart in Sicily, the reason he took the limo instead of walking. His hair is very precariously assembled and does not do well in the elements.
13
We should build the Wall immediately upon receiving full payment from Mexico.
4
I hope they turn that site full of wall prototypes into some kind of sculpture park/art piece after Trump is gone.
Meanwhile, midterms are over so there's less of this horrible term still to go than has already been.
4
Is it still a wall?
Last I heard president bone-spurs' Mighty Wall has slowly morphed into a picket fence held together with spit and bailing wire.
5
Maybe Congress could buy trump a pair of those virtual goggles with which he could watch his wall being built as the caravan comes to a screeching halt on the other side.
5
Donald J.Trump business history clearly demonstrates how very few investors recovered from Donnie"s brilliant "Art of the Deal" many bankruptcy.
Now in observing all the red hat MAGA devoters gleaming in joy while ICE in rounding up the undocumented, the price of tomatoes, lettuce is going up, soon so many of our MAGA cheerers will find themselves in the field picking tomatoes that they can no longer afford.
Donnie's wall is monument of guanine xenophobia, and infinite stupidity.
Remember " There is trouble in River City" ?
2
@Denis E Coughlin
"... the price of tomatoes, lettuce is going up, soon so many of our MAGA cheerers will find themselves in the field picking tomatoes that they can no longer afford."
The "MAGA cheerers" wouldn't make it an hour picking under the hot sun.
3
I’ve come to think that the only good soundtrack for this Administration is the blues “Snake Farm,” on endless loop.
3
It could be worse -- we could be trying to brexit. From who or what doesn't matter, just the complete insanity of rabidly pursuing something after it is obvious what was originally promised is impossible.
5
What about the "can't get my hair wet" theory for not attending the memorial? I wish I could draw to show what it might look like.
8
@Irenka - But I have only seen pictures of him in the rain with a large black umbrella, thus the wet hair theory does not seem likely.
2
On the bright side, stocks in companies making excavation equipment capable of digging tunnels under the Wall have soared, despite the dyspeptic behavior of the market in recent weeks.
As for Trump's refusal to walk in the rain: Two twitter threads have offered reasonable explanations--1/ Rain is the new heel spurs 2/ Rain causes wet hair and wet hair on bald pates is not manly.
The next big meme: Trumpling has porphyria, (madness of King George III) and Melania will make the diagnosis by placing a jar of his urine in the sunlight for 3 days.
7
Trump has now far exceeded the label of liar - he is a fabulist, creating fables for the base.
The wall is part of the fable. Having the army at the border is part of the fable. That North Korea has stopped its nuclear program is part of the fable along with how great the tariffs are helping us.. the tax cut - fable.. and so on.
This is a president who is trying to make us live in his fantasy world.
It tough for him to go to Europe where no one is drinking the cool aid and it will getting tougher here as his fables gradually alienate all but the most hardcore, poorly informed who prefer fables to reality.
9
Please clarify. Does the Wall come with a moat, or is that extra?
4
@William
The real cost is raising the drawbridges. Self inflicted
2
@William Whitaker
Trump made God pay for the current moat (i.e. the Rio Grande). Still working on the getting God to spring for the rest of the boarder.
God has suggested we move our border back to the Gila river to help speed the process.
1
What's going to happen when this malevolent sulking toddler receives the news of Mueller's findings? Then, we will have more than a bad hair day to contend with, and civilization could hang in the balance.
7
Somebody (you?) should take a look at the Pelosi/Clinton duumvirate. The reason people don't want Pelosi is the people want to get Clinton off the stage.
@Rapid Reader,
Sorry russian but we Americans love Secretary Clinton and Speaker Pelosi.
You guys hate them because together they helped pass The ACA because they are infinitely more effective than your president or the Kochs.
Clinton and Pelosi helped pass The ACA.
McConnell, Ryan, Nunes, Gowdy, Chaffetz and president bone-spurs have been unable to repeal it.
Democratic women are tougher than republican men.
That has gotta' sting the koch brothers a bit.
Charles and david koch bought men but received feckless little boys.
5
@Rapid Reader,
Clinton who got 3 million more votes than putin's beard?
Nah...I'd vote for her again in a heartbeat.
4
@Rapid Reader I think that you should do that. Waiting breathlessly. And when you have completed this, please take a look (and share) the covert role of Tarmac in the Clinton/Lynch plot.
1
Hadrian's Wall was built in AD 122 to keep the barbarians out of Roman Britain and portions of it still stand today. Defense before expansion was the Emperor Hadrian's policy. There is an invasion into the US (and Canada) by those who are using the asylum process to migrate. That only 10 per-cent of Central American's have their claims validated in the US and that only one-in-four Haitian refugee claimants, who came up form the US, have been found to have merit illustrates that there is something very wrong with the asylum system. There is a backlog of 800,000 asylum claims in the US, so yes there is a crisis.
An observation - a psychologist once said to me that he is very wary when someone is described as 100% negative, because everyone has something that that is positive in their making. This opinion piece is 100% negative Trump, anything Trump does, does not do, thinks, says. So here is one of several positive Trump successes (and please don't say Obama should take credit).
US unemployment falls to lowest since 1969, 3.7%
@S Sm
I agree. When we deal in absolutes, then people become numb to it all and the truth gets covered up. President Obama and Democrats DID create a foundation for continued success after the meltdown of 2008. To think otherwise is dealing with the those absolutes of tribe.
If you or I had a couple of trillion dollars to spend on the economy, then it too would do well. There is no stewardship in that.
As far as immigration goes, in 2013 (again Democrats along with republicans) came up with a comprehensive bill that would have dealt with the ''crisis''. (as well as more than adequate border security). The republican speaker of the house would not even allow it up for a vote. (it would have passed easily)
So here we are, sending troops to the border where they are not needed, and costing untold millions of waste.
Regards.
7
Obama should take credit. Trump will be duly credited for $1.7 trillion additional debt to goose the economy. And, more credit for the subsequent recession once the sugar high dissipates.
1
Oh yes? And how’s their wise policy going, over there in the Roman Empire? Things just tickety-boo, are they?
Hadrian’s Wall. Good grief.
1
Slow satire day, Ms. Collins? This column lumbers, rather than sparkles.
I was pleased to see Ms. Collins's concern for the President's health. But i don't recall similar concern when Hillary had that darn "pneumonia" that caused her to be unable to get up steps and to actually collapse. Nor do i see similar concern for the difficulties that Nancy Pelosi has with articulating her thoughts and completing her sentences. Perhaps Ms. Collins is saving those concerns for another column.
@Uysses
No offense. But this comment lumbers as well.
3
i think most of would prefer that melania make personnel decisions, and not don the con or (ugh) john bolton. give her credit.
actuallly, i'd like to hear what melania says about funding/building
the wall.
1
The incipient appeal of Donald Trump to his base, given his entertainment background (if that ever passed for entertainment), is that he entertains its baying membership with a modern version of bread and circuses. The bread arrives in the extra loaves one can buy with tax cuts. The circuses are the rallies where everyone goes out for the day, dressed in memorabilia, laughing, chanting, and brimming with self loathing that translates into mass bigotry.
The Wall is a piece of titillating fantasy that tickles basal prejudices that become liberated when the president comes out of the shadows and publicly thinks exactly the way you do but were afraid to admit. No one has to have a secret fascist tendency anymore. No one, except Trump, believes The Wall can be built. However, in the interim it provides a rallying refrain a bit like “Lock her up!”, only from a civil engineering perspective.
The sad end to The Apprentice: Dictator Edition will be when DJT ceases to be entertaining. That time is close. It’ll be like watching Coco the Clown, beloved by young and old, have a meltdown severe enough to make circus goers realise that he was only a man after all, a pitiful and debased human, not the jolly buffoon with funny hair and comically long ties. His appeal will vaporise in a moment. The danger then is that the audience begin to look elsewhere for entertainment and a new Coco ascends.
8
Melania would have been wise to tamp down her predilections for making bad decisions -- the green jacket, parroting the birther theory, sticking up for Trump's uber aggressiveness against, well, everyone, and now this very public hauteur over someone on the security council. For a while, people were giving her high or passing grades as first lady. Certainly, her taste in clothes made many of us inclined to be slightly proud of how she (appeared) to conduct herself in her First Lady role. But the green jacket marked a pivot point for many of us, which has only been exacerbated by her attitude toward others -- the persona of the Trump brand -- which is arrogant, uninformed, and entitled. In short, Melania has been persistently failing the test for first ladies under her own power, maybe because the expectations for the role are foreign to her in many important ways.
8
Judging by his recent behavior, it's possible that Trump is having some kind of breakdown. His administration is imploding, and I wonder what or who will call for an intervention.
10
Republican talking points this fall highlighted that President Trump has done everything he said he was going to do. A glaring oversight was of course the two-part promise of building the wall and having Mexico pay for it. There was also getting Syria resolved within six weeks and repealing and replacing Obamacare with something much better and cheaper, but the wall was the centerpiece of his candidacy. Of course, to the extent that the wall was always a proxy for racism and xenophobia, you could argue that he actually did keep that promise, too.
6
@sj....And the one really positive thing - he was going to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure.
2
Could Melania Trump's suggestions for security advisor staff positions be worse than her husband's? Possibly, I mean probably, not...
3
" ...looking a little bedraggled" eh? Just had that conversation last night with a friend: Trump looks to us in the first stages of a real mental breakdown. Not kidding. All the signs are there.
Thinking now that his removal from office may not be the rampant corruption but his deteriorating health.
We are listening and watching very closely ...
11
Donald promised a great wall and all he has to show for two years of complete government control is... barbed wire.
4
This column would be funnier if it weren't so true. Maybe I'm losing my sense of humor and not finding Trump and his Wall and his Rallies funny. And his golf cart and his dissing the adult leaders of our allies and his wife now thinking she staffs the White House and his doctor saying he's the healthiest President ever.
Oh, that was last year. So last year.
6
Trump is either in the greatest health a President ever had, or quite likely to die of a stroke/heart attack (all those cheeseburgers surely outweigh the Diet Cokes).
Pick one.
Or maybe the rain will finally get him.
5
I would gladly contribute to build a wall around trump. Something secure for us, no twitter, not too big since he wouldn't want to walk, and definitely with a roof since we don't want to let the squirrel on his head suffer the elements.
7
I trust President Trump's promise that Mexico will pay for the wall.
2
See the photo accompanying the column? Here's a question: who is paying for those professional signs saying "Finish the Wall" at the Indiana Trump rally?
And who really wants this wall, besides Trump, and why?
A little research:
When Trump was campaigning, he first said the wall would cost $4 billion; later he estimated $6-7 billion; then he put it at $10 billion or less.
An independent private research firm estimated the cost of the wall would be in the $15 billion to $25 billion range.
https://www.politifact.com/california/statements/2017/apr/28/scott-peters/would-trumps-border-wall-cost-same-one-and-half-us/
A GAO report concluded: "DHS faces an increased risk that the Border Wall System Program will cost more than projected, take longer than planned, or not fully perform as expected."
https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/693488.pdf
So who is paying for those "Finish the Wall" signs, and why do Trump supporters want to spend taxpayer money on building Trump's wall?
Facts do matter.
I have long suspected that building Trump's Wall probably won't keep illegal immigrants out (see GAO report). But, if Trump and the GOP are in office much longer, the real purpose of the Wall may be to keep Americans in.
5
Isn't there a wall of barbed (razor) wire being installed now
by the US Army?
1
Ok, so if we manage to build a Wall.....what is trump gonna do about those pesky oceans? And the open border with Canada?
3
Trump is currently hiding out and his aids are assisting in keeping him out of public view. It would appear that his mental breakdown has begun and the wall is about to crumble.
13
The emperor is now threadbare. Another year or so he'll be complaining that the straight jacket is too snug. Please Mr. Mueller get this bum out of office and our lives.
17
"Mira Ricardel “no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House.”
Did it ever occur to anyone in this Administration that the vast majority of Americans do not believe the Trumps deserve the honor of serving in this White House?
26
Honestly, my initial reaction to Melanie’s decry was: she had a Communications Director?! For what? Promoting “Be Best”? The silly hollow phrase that faded to nothing within a week of its announcement.
12
We are in deep crisis when the president spews his delusions to adoring masses and the Senate majority leader leads a photo op for a candidate in an election that hasn't been decided.
The crisis is not coming. It is here and it has been here for two years.
Register people to vote. Support real representative democracy, not the cacaphony of lies.
12
Trump letting a little rain keep him from the Aisne-Marne cemetery (where the American dead from the Battle of Belleau Wood are interred) was disgusting. So too was his sulky petulance at such a momentous occasion, honoring the centenary of the end of history's most brutal war, when Napoleonic tactics met the industrialized battlefield to produce horror on a scale never before seen.
During the American Revolution, Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, convinced the French crown to aid the colonists. Despite attempts at revising history (particularly in the last 15 years, since France opposed the war in Iraq), facts don't change, and the simple truth is the colonists could never have succeeded without French help. When Pershing reached Paris with the AEF in 1917, he marched his men to Picpus Cemetery, to the tomb of the Marquis de Lafayette.
Though this part of the story is likely apocryphal, upon reaching the tomb, Pershing said "Lafayette, we are here." He and his men had come to make the first payment on that great debt (if those words were said at all, it was by one of his aides). It was stirring, honorable and just. Thinking of those events, I couldn't help but imagine Trump in Pershing's place, walking up to the tomb and saying "Lafayette, we got ours." Then turning around and leaving our best and oldest allies to their fate. The man is despicable.
12
@Greg Actually, what was I thinking? Trump wouldn't walk up to the tomb. He would take a golf cart.
5
@Greg, Trump saying anything at Lafayette’s grave is not likely. Because he is the most ignorant and incurious man to have ever become President, he doesn’t know anything about American history. If it wasn’t spoon-fed to him by Fox News, Trump doesn’t have a clue.
5
Thanks Gail. Trump has turned "Sometimes you just have to laugh," into "Sometimes you really, really need to laugh."
4
let Trump veto it - lets see if the republicans learned ANYTHING from the midterms and join Dems in overriding his veto. The wall, like his sending troops to the border is pure show and accomplishes nothing.
4
President Trump has become a Republican's Bagdad of shock and awe every day as American declines internally and in the world as a leader among allies.
5
To be fair, 700 yards is like 2/3rds of a kilometer which in turn is like 2/5ths of a mile. In other words, less than half a mile. You can't expect a president to do these mental calculations on the fly. He's the leader of the free world. He can't waste his time doing math. I mean look at the popular vote. Look at the crowd sizes. They have people who understand math for these things.
True story though, Trump is impossibly insecure about his hair. He has a vast avoidance of anything weather related. The man is literally scared of the wind. He would rather insult an entire continent than get caught on television with bald spot showing. That's the backstory behind Trump's most recent embarrassing diplomacy abort.
By the way, I did the metric calculations in under thirty seconds. I guess I should have just waited for the golf cart, huh? The President can't even read arithmetic. We're lost if we expect him to understand it.
9
@Andy In addition to the hair issue, we might also recall that the people buried in the cemetery died in the war, and he likely prefers people who didn't die.
9
@Andy 700 yards is two short par 4s on a golf course. Oops, I forgot. He rides a cart on those, two.
1
Trump's refusal to stand outside in the rain or walk anywhere without a boy's baseball hat perched on his head is ridiculously easy to explain-remember the wind lifting up Trump's hair to expose his plucked-chicken scalp on the way up the Air Force One stairs last year? It's the opposite of the U.S. Postal Service: Snow and rain and wind makes this president chicken out from the swift completion of his appointed rounds.
The fact that Trump also offends the French in the process is just icing on the cake, or glue for the pompadour.
12
How did the Great Wall of China work against the Mongol armies of Ghengis Khan? Where there's va will, there's a way. Waste of time and money.
3
@Diane Thompson
The Great Wall probably wasn't a waste of money; ours probably is. The Chinese had the foresight to build a wall that could stop then-modern military attacks while letting commerce continue. We seem to be intent on building a wall to stop commerce while being completely ineffective against modern military attack.
Of course, our justification for building the wall is to stop invading asylum seekers while the Chinese justified building theirs to stop roving bands from pillaging northern villages.
DJT's initial post Nov 6 press conference
seemed pretty rational, though he did bash
GOP losers for not rah-rahing their potus.
The next two years are scary to contemplate, and if he gets re-elected, then in those 4 more
years I'd expect ...
regression to more meaness including
SOCUS appointments, perhaps two vacancies
Environmental outrageousness
Isolationist arrogance
The US Dollar declining as the respected reserve currency
Sad jokes for laughing but crying to deity
1
These are self-inflicted wounds. Mr. Trump would be wise to just stop twitting.
The old adage 'even bad publicity is good publicity' may apply to TV game show hosts, but it certainly does not for the President of the United States of America.
7
What is ironic, as Thomas Edsall wrote, "Texas turning Blue", and the Dem's possibly winning Texas in 2020, is the wall along the southern border of Texas is not keeping out all those folks moving in from the other directions and the majority are blue voters, not red. LBJ, Sam Rayburn, Doff Briscoe and all the old time Dem's looking down from above have got to be giving the new wave of Dem's a thumbs up. Make Texas Great Again!
9
It would appear from the president’s tweets this morning that he is rapidly becoming undone. Did he ever replace Dr. Ronnie Jackson? If there is a replacement physician on staff at the White House it might be time to check in to see how the stable genius is doing on the dementia tests.
30
Thanks for this. Made my day.
5
This past weekend has made me realize I’ve been unknowingly condescending to women. If I had heard that the president cancelled their appearance at two events over concerns about their hair, while the presidential spouse was making national security-related personnel decisions, I would have assumed we had elected our first woman president. How shallow of me!
15
Donald Trump is a showman. A glitzy "brand" without substance. He's all about a name. Trump. Preferably huge, in gilt, and mounted on some impressive structure.
Hence the Wall. What could be more appealing to a rabid egomaniac that a thousand-mile monument with his name all over it? Who cares how much it costs our people? And best of all, when Donald has ceased to be a fad and has become dust, his Wall will remain.
I suggest refocusing Donald's attention, which shouldn't be hard since it's never on anything but himself for more than three minutes. Tell him he's going to be on Mount Rushmore among the greats. Have him do sittings, choose his best side, make plans, discuss sites …. all those other things that require a thousand miles of government red tape and lots and lots of time. And when we're finally rid of this monster, package up all the paperwork as a going away present and tell him to stuff it.
18
Since the mid term elections trump has been acting absolutely crazy. Dangerous crazy, crazy. His face now seems to be frozen into a nasty scowl. If this keeps up and i am afraid it will, what kind of country will we have in two more years? I am honestly very concerned...even, shall i say, verging on terrified.
21
The recent developments in the White House bring to mind the words of a prophetic mid-1960's song:
"And call out the border guards
The kingdom is crumbling,
The king is in his counting house
Laughing and stumbling."
" The Great American Eagle Tragedy"
Earth Opera
6
"Honor of serving...". Such regal language from the First Lady... Of course, it is an upgrade from the baby talk of "Be Best". And, from the President we hear "my people" "my country". Do they think they are royalty? No one respects them; not even his base, though they may covet his power, money, and his revolting coarse manner.
16
And here’s the problem. The Congress will not call him out on his lies. His “advisors “ pat his hand and laugh while spinning another story and then the press tells it like it is. What happens next? Not what you would expect, instead of his minions saysing the Emporer wears no clothes, they cry FAKE NEWS and CROOKED PRESS along with Trump whose only goal in this job is to make his ego bigger. Sorry Mr President, you can’t fool all of the people all of the time and the midterms showed just that.
10
Not worthy of the honor of working in the White House, for them?
You must be kidding.
There would be no honor in working for either of them.
16
I was willing to give Melania some slack at first, although I don't understand any woman who would let this foul president get near her, but I figured she was a private person, she wasn't comfortable speaking in public, didn't know much about her, etc etc. Well, now she's showing herself to be a fitting partner for Donald Trump. Hopefully in addition to Donald Trump's regular tantrums we will not be treated to more little anger fits by Melania.
15
The wall will never get built. The vow to do so has always been a Trump scam to rev up his base.
But let's pretend it did miraculously get built.
It would do nothing to stop the considerable smuggling that occurs at ports of entry all along the border.
Also unaffected would be the hundreds of thousands of foreigners who legally enter with visas, and then fail to return home.
9
The president made the absurd claim that Mexico would pay for the wall.
Why do we never hear anyone asking him about that - why should it appear in a budget and why should it be a show stopper for funding the government?
17
Gail, does your house/apartment have a wall? Do you have a door with a lock on it? But you want the country you live in not to have a wall. Why make a silly suggestion simply in order to bash Trump? Many of Trump's ideas are impractical. but the wall is simply necessary.
Democrats have become a sort of "lock step, oppose Trump" party so they no longer think what is practical and what is good. They only think of bashing and opposing Trump.
That is not policy. It is little more than petulance.
@Ludwig - The wall is a simplistic answer to a complex situation. It won't do what you think it will do. It won't stop illegal migration or drugs. It will cost great amounts of money that could be spent on so many things that would actually benefit Americans. And Mexico will never pay for it.
14
@Ludwig
Other than the false equivelancy of a house to a country I have to ask if your town has a wall? (I wouldn't be surprised if your property or neighborhood has a wall). If it is NYC I guess you have moat but then you have those pesky bridges and tunnels. If towns and cities don't have walls then shouldn't there be walls for states?
You conveniently forget that we weren't giong to pay for the wall.
With every mention of Trump's wall the video from his rallies where he repeated asks who is going to pay for it? With ringing reply "Mexico!" should be juxaposed with his demands to congress to pay for it. It should make a great ad in 2020.
The question is what will the wall cost, followed by what is the benefit? Is the measurable benefit greater than the cost? What are the alternatives? Is their benefit/cost analysis better or worse?
3
@MJM - But a wall has worked for Hungary. The country was overrun by aspiring asylum seekers before it was built. And by-the-way many of the undocumented who made their way into the US crossed our border between the official entry points. Canada has 55,000+ asylum claims pending and it does not look like the major cities have room to house any more. "Irregular" and legal immigration are said to be a major issue in next years election. So do go ahead America and build the wall, and if you can't I applaud that you attempt to secure your borders, which is more than the politicians do in Canada.
Not only was stationing military troops along our southern border a wasteful and expensive pre-election publicity stunt. They will now probably be held hostage there until Trump gets border funding. Watch and see, it will be Congress's fault that they are kept there...
5
Didn't Trump say repeatedly that Mexico was going to pay for the wall? What has he done to get them to do so? Nothing. I don't support the wall, but before Congress appropriates one cent for it, Trump needs to live up to his commitment. Show us some of that "Art of the Deal" he's so famous for. Republicans should especially support this. The wall, and getting Mexico to pay for it, was a big reason many voted for him.
16
@JB The "Art of the Deal" could be summed up simply as: 1/ fail and get bankruptcy protection, 2/ stiff your vendors, and 3/ get Dad to bail me out.
22
Re: Trump's aversion to ambulation:
Look, anything more than a few dozen uninterrupted strides, in Trump's definition, is exercise, which causes our president to break out in unsightly hives. (I know, with his complexion it's difficult to distinguish between normal skin and hivey skin. Just trust me on this one.) This allergy to physical exertion is psychosomatic, yes, but the discomfort is real. It could have been sunny and 70 in Paris and still Trump won't walk 100 feet. He manages 18 holes of golf without walking that far. I am truly surprised there is not a Golf Cart One stowed on board Air Force One. I'm also amazed the stairway rolled up to the door of AF1 is not equipped with a stair lift.
As for Tom Graves's Fund for America's Kids and Grandkids, it has really been in place for longer than most of us have been alive, thanks to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. We know it as Social Security and, yes, it deserves better funding than anything the Republicans are willing to cough up.
14
Maybe Mexico will become angry enough to build a wall on its side of the border. How cool would it be to have parallel structures mere yards apart cross the continent just north and south of the border?
4
Wasn't it just a few years ago that a Republican POTUS said to Gorbachev: TEAR DOWN THIS WALL? And now another Republican POTUS is determined to BUILD A WALL. What is it with Republicans and walls????
32
Dogs: “ Invisible “ Fence
Trump: “ Invisible “ Wall
GOP: “ Invisible “ Spine and Ethics
Seriously.
32
But I thought Mexico was going to pay for the Wall? Why would Trump suggest that the American people pay? Why?
18
Good one, Gail. But the truly scary thing about all the White House craziness is that we actually have a government where our highest ranking elected official (and now apparently also his family) cannot be controlled, contained or constrained. This presidency is so destructive to our system that it has exposed most every crack in the executive branch, and it seems there's almost nothing anyone can do about it, at least so far. And that's not funny, it's scary. But please, please keep doing funny.
15
If we had only known that when Republicans were demanding that "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall" that they would then turn around and demand that "Mr. Trump, put up that wall" then we could have bought the Berlin Wall on the cheap and erected it on the Arizona-Mexico border - kind of like a reprise of the London Bridge caper. Maybe we could even have gotten the East Germans to pay for the Berlin Wall attraction in Tucson.
17
Since the President is not constrained by the truth, why not just tell him the bill contains wall funding even if it doesn’t? He and his base won’t know the difference. The only wall they really need is the psychological one.
26
The infamous Wall along our southern border is a good example of how incorrectly we have read Donald Trump.
We have assumed that every lie Trump tells is told to please his adoring base of lower-educated white men and women who hate immigrants and people of color.
To the extent that reporters have excused Donald Trump, they have done so on the assumption that he was fulfilling foolish promises made during the campaign.
It is time to recognize that the cheering crowds at the Trump pep rallies are humoring Trump. They know there is no Wall and never will be one. They never expected a Wall.
Let’s all grow up and see Donald Trump for the dangerous incompetent he is.
16
Well written with just the right amount of snark.
Three suggestions:
1. Please never refer to Trump as "president". Refer to him as the 2016 candidate with the most votes from Iowa. Or Mississippi.
Or you could refer to him as the man whose inaugurationhad a crowd of half that of his predecessor, a black man.
2. Please do not refer to Trump's third wife as First Lady. She is Trump's third wife. There is nothing first about her and the word lady will forever mean something else.
3. I forgot the third one, but it was good. It'll come back to me.
37
Let the government shut down because DJT doesn't get a dime for his idiotic wall. Wonder who would get the blame?
4
Just think about it.....a former illegal alien making national security personnel decisions.....and, no I’m not talking about Obama.
32
Can't the "fake news" take several pictures of the Great Wall of China, Photoshop it so that it appears to stretch along our southern border. Then have Fox and Friends include in their news of Trump successes. He's happy. the base is happy, problem solved.
20
Hey Gail! The "wall" worked for China..........didn't it?
3
@Bob - the difference between the Mongols that invaded China in spite of the wall and us, other than several thousand years where technology makes a difference, is that the barbarians are already here, within our boarders, working to destroy our values and country under the banner of patriotism.
5
I've said it before and I will say it again: The ONLY reason Trump wants a wall that traverses the entire southern US is to feed his narcissistic personality. The wall is all about building a tribute, a monument, a permanent structure that will forever bear the name of Donald Trump. That's why a narcissist would want such a thing. It's an extreme narcissist's dream.
19
"Perhaps you remember that during his first year in office our president attended a Group of 7 summit in Sicily in which the other six leaders walked 700 yards to the site of a group photo. Trump opted to wait until he could get a golf cart."
I didn't remember this, but I do recall that when visiting Masada in Israel, he wouldn't climb or take the gondola because he was afraid of heights.
There is nothing, whether political or social, where he'll compromise or make any effort that extends him in any way.
Curmudgeon? Well beyond that. Ignorant, lying, sanctimonious (expletive deleted)!!
13
Melania Knavs Trump is a much better Slovenian American queen than Ann Boelyn was an English queen and Marie Antoinette was a French Queen. Moreover if the Third Lady First Mannequin lost her head she could still model clothes. And other than holding up her hair Melania does not have much use for her head anyway.
Instead of a wall the Trump's should build a moat around the White House to prevent the peasants from storming the place with pitch forks and torches. They can watch the guillotine being built for their comfort and joy.
MAGA!
17
I thought Mexico was going to pay for it.
7
There is nothing like losing that reveals a person’s true character. No wall will be as stout as his ignorance, as lofty as his ego, or as long as his memory of perceived slights. He is a spoiled brat.
7
Trump feared the rain in Paris because it would make his hair dye and make up run.
20
Not funny really!
Tell the orange dictator
“ Sit down and shut up”
Dementia in an angry autocrat
Go forward ignoring his tweet fires and insults and lies.
I cannot wait much longer for his indictment and prison time
Wall wall
Put him in front of a piece of his stupid concrete wall and get a firing squad post haste
I am ready for a Mussolini redux of political assassination
Trump has destroyed our foundations
And his coup helped him
We just all love the blabber
News = Joke
Humor isn’t needed
Arrests. Are needed and a lot of jail time
The election isn’t settling our middle class horror show just exacerbating America’s
Racism and hate. Greed still plays our suffering.
3
Trounce the Trump-Cuomo-Bezos dictatorship.
2
No border wall! No money for it! Let the Mad King throw his tantrum. I don't care about his delusional whims.
9
I can't believe -- and I emphasize 'believe' -- that you'd accuse our President of lying. As the leader of my cult, he is incapable of lying. You must have some sort of misunderstanding, or perhaps you just hate America so much that you cannot bring yourself to admit that Mr Trump is the best thing to happen to us in quite some time. Also -- please stop hogging the Kool-Aid.
11
Trump behavior seems he has just been visited by Jacob Marley's ghost (could have been Roy Cohn's)--so he might never sleep again. While Melania has 23 and me'd herself into a Marie Antoinette ancestry.
And the only wall being built is a firewall around Trump, with Whitaker the bouncer. (Mueller from Mexico?)
6
Wall, not bridges, is our imbecile bully in-chief's aim. This beast must feel frustrated that his lies are not catching on...except on his misinformed and biased 'base'. Trump, our brutus ignoramus, is an empty vessel, devoid of any content worth talking about. He is a like a rabid weasel, constantly on the attack, to hide his own incompetence and impose his cruel fearmongering, with no end in sight. Sad!
5
Dementia or demented? Our First family is truly frightening. Their lack of any of the social graces were in stark contrast to those of the true world leaders in Paris. Trump is truly the Ugly American.
25
Fools, knaves, ne'er do wells, and just plain, old-fashioned idjets. The Wall is so stupid and ridiculous an idea, yet it remains attached to the thinking of the Grand Old Party. And in Indiana and other faraway from the border places, unless you count Canada as Indiana's border, or Illinois, or where else? What is the $1.6 billion POTUS refers to in his grand old rallies. As the writer from Puget Sound noted, get Christo or another fabric designer erect a wall along the border and call it concrete! And yes it's okay w/me if Bolton, aka Yosemite Sam, and his protege go the way of the others who've left this administration.
7
" ... hardly the only scary thing bouncing around the White House these days ... " Indeed, like getting rid of practically everybody except close family and campaigners. " ... Trump gears up ... to devote more effort to his own re-election campaign ... Ayers, a seasoned campaign operative, would restore a political-mindset to the [chief of staff] role ... a way to rally his most loyal supporters ... " (AP, 14Nov2018) All Mr. Trump ever wants to do is campaign, mostly by standing on the platform at rallies, basking in the worship of his cap-wearing base. He does not accept the real responsibility of a POTUS, everything else is somebody else's job, and somebody gets fired if any problems arise. Truly a "sad, embarrassing wreck of a man". (George Will)
11
The very idea of six more years of this slob and his atrocious cabal gives me the dry-heaves.
There has to be an easier way to remove a bad president. This is just insane. Once again, he comes to Europe and is a total embarrassment.
20
@Plennie Wingo It should not be six years. At the rate he is tearing up the country, I hope voters don't get distracted by perceived shiney objects, and that they support the sane choice, even if it is boring or doesn't meet their taste 100 per cent.
For better or worse, we are a two-party system of government and the next election is not the time to again vote against a real Democrat.
1
Spain and the Sahara...I hadn't heard that one. I actually had to look it up just to make sure that you weren't kidding. Nope...he said it. I don't know what to say anymore. The stupidity that comes from this man is everlasting.
17
The only wall America needs is one surrounding Trump and his entire clan. Oh wait, that’s prison! Lock the Orange up
23
Is the wall on the Mason Dixon line?
3
Gail there is good reason to question the mental and physical fitness of this President. 1. Father died of alzheimer's. 2. malignant narcissism. 3. obese. 4. little exercise. 5. bad diet. Twenty-fifth amendment please. And by the way, an illegal alien dictating national security. That's ironic.
24
@Pat
I believe all of Trump's insanity is due to his 10 Coke a day habit. Considering that, you have to give him credit for not yet triggering a nuclear war.
Ya' gotta' hand it to the old mental case.
He has hung around a lot longer than any of us thought he would or could.
5
Mattis has become a patsy.
8
Hey, of course we need a Wall! Every autocrat needs a Wall. Hitler had his wall, the Atlantikwall. But it was a much longer wall than the Trumpwall would be, since it extended along the west coast of Europe from the North Sea down to Spain. But then it didn’t work very well since the Normandy Invasion managed to breach it. It also didn’t have already existing tunnels running under it. But then it wasn’t composed of a line of 30 foot high piles of concrete, just massive cannons and guns and mines and soldiers and lots of aircraft. Maybe Trump will use drones and soldiers. And mines?
2
Wait a minute, Ms. Collins.
When you said: "Our president did suggest that Spain ....", maybe he is your president but please read the name of this post.
As to the $1.6 billion and "nothing started:, well have you talked to - what's her name? - something Conway? In the alternate reality the money is for the wall, and the idiots who actually believe the lies.
6
Gather Roy Cohn never taught 45 about Marquis de Lafayette nor did they ever read "De La Démocratie en Amérique", by Alexis de Tocqueville. Another despicable example of Trump's limited amount of testosterone to put down French PM E. Macron ('Nationalism is a betrayal of Patriotism')
5
Compared to her husband's national security policies, Melania's might be better. At least she would not put foreign children in cages.
3
I'm not making this up but I heard on the news tonight, from Republican sources, that Trump didn't attend the ceremony to honor World War I vets because it was raining and he didn't want to get his hair wet. When it gets wet, he just can't do a thing with it.
9
@Whole Grains Of course he can't do a thing with it. Squirrels don't like getting wet.
With consensus on both sides and token technology "wall" funding perhaps government budget funding will pass with an overriding majority to prevent any pouty shutdown "until I get what I want".
2
Who knows? Maybe his bone spur acts up during the rain. And about that golf cart....he has abone spur. Or oops he had one. Does he still have it? Is that what makes him so crabby and mean? Maybe we should pass a law that says people with bone spurs can't be president.
Or maybe we should just insist all the Republicans in Congress and the Senate should stand up to this bully. If not now, when?
8
Is Melania Trump our Marie Antoinette?
Let them eat cake attitude (I don’t care jacket)
Is now enforced by meddling in state affairs when something does not suit her: lock her up together with her so-called husband Donald.
The whole family is robbing America blind and nobody seems to notice, least of all the Trump voters!
11
I thought that Hillary Clinton was supposed to be the one lacking stamina?
8
@Sylvia Poole .Fake news, no doubt.
2
Trump did what he did in France because he doesn't respect veterans. He never served in the military due to his spurious bone spurs. He is fundamentally a coward. Trump is only out for his own personal gain. And he appears not to want to get his hair wet. He is a weak simp. He was angry with Macron for standing up to him, on behalf of France and Europe, and Trump's petulance was on full display. He can't walk with other leaders because he has alienated all of them. They can't stand him, and it shows.
The United States has obligations under both federal and international law to hear asylum cases. Trump can waste our money on a wall, but if he reneges on our legal commitments then he is in violation of the oath he swore when he assumed the presidency.
If American elected officials and voters do not hold Trump accountable for his actions, both at home and in the international arena, then the blame shifts from Trump to us. In that sense, we are being tested: we are at a fork in the road. Do we have the strength to choose the path toward a better democracy? Future generations are watching. Let's hope we have the courage to choose wisely for them.
13
Well, now we have the First Lady who is still learning to speak English angry that not all the sycophants surrounding her fragile hubby are not sufficiently loyal. Wha ever happened to her 'bullying' project that was laughable from the start? Perhaps she should have started with the top bully in the country, her mentally ill, afraid of the rain, wall-obsessed husband. I'm still trying to figure out what Melania's trip to Africa was all about, other than wasting our tax dollars. Perhaps it was to show that her little bully boy spouse 'Donnie the menace' wasn't the only one who knew how to spend our tax dollars on frivolous ego trips.
15
I wonder if Trump even remembers that last year he had a good thing going with Schumer? Protect DACA and we'll give you $25 billion for your silly wall. But, oh, what hysteria Stephen Miller must have felt because his 'reinforcements' were brought in (Tom Cotton) and all of a sudden that deal went up in smoke.
Tom and Stephen, et al, killled the deal because they didn't want to lose immigration as a wedge issue. And, probably, they just wanted to be mean to the DACA kids. What fun ruining people's lives! (If they are brown people).
Doubt if Trump even remembers.
10
Trump is a tired old man. All those rallies took their toll on him. He is not healthy, either physically, mentally, psychologically, or emotionally.
This is what we get when millions of Americans bought the fertilizer that Hillary Clinton was not physically up to the job.
13
Okay, let's start first with the Fund for America's Kids and Grandkids." Graves has made a grievous miscalculation. On purpose, you ask? Most likely, since even our kids and grandkids can figure out that the federal deficit will probably grow exponentially by the time they are moms, pops, nanas, and nanos.
Now, Lady McBeth. What can one say? Well apparently, we have been duped by her feigned shyness. This woman belongs with her man. She needs to climb out of her 6 inch Manolo's and buy some Sketchers. She may even enjoy doing some gardening in Michelle Obama's vegetable garden. It seem as if Melania can use a little health around and within her.
Finally, the "president" who never fails to disappoint... Yet again he made a fool of himself among our loyal allies. Word has it that he was in a foul mood because the GOP lost the House...big time. So instead of being gracious in defeat as his predecessors Obama and Bush were in similar circumstances, he spews hate and vitriol anywhere and toward anyone. Let's face it, however. There is no good in this man. If ever there was, there is no longer any semblance of decency within his darkened soul.
No comment about "The Wall." And anyway, it's late and I am looking forward to reading more of Michelle Obama's memoir. Gosh...how I miss her and her hubby.
10
The really sad thing is that most of Trump's supporters truly don't know there is no wall being built. Trump has so successfully managed to con these poor stupid people that any news or information not broadcast by his tweets is "fake news" to them . I don't know how they square the fact that Trump gets caught lying all the time. I guess you have to be gullible enough to believe that Trump both doesn't mean what he says but yet tells it like it is.
In an interview with a panel of his supporters one of them said that Trump was successfully "draining the swamp". When the interviewer rattled off a list of Trump's billionaire cabinet members who got caught abusing their office and stealing from taxpayers the Trump supporter didn't consider what they did was wrong. He said draining the swamp meant punishing the mainstream media. What? I think Trump supporters are just chomping at the bit for an excuse to wear jackboots and armbands. We have some dangerously stupid people in this country and they are mostly made up of the new modern republican party.
10
Sounds like a play by Samuel Beckett!
4
Remember Melania came here under a "Genius" visa. She's more than qualified. /s
6
Too wet to attend? My soldier/ father, like so many other Americans, was a foot soldier who, as a member of George Patton's 3rd US Army, marched across France in 1944 to confront and defeat the Nazi army at The Bulge. I could feel his disgust at our fragile, pampered First Couple's avoiding the perils of Parisian rain.
The women who kicked so many Republicans back into the private sphere should do everything possible to reign in the horror that occupies the White House. Funding a wall, separating children from parents, belittling victims in fire ravaged California, misusing troops to guard against an "invasion," playing footsie with the Saudis and protecting Mueller are topics that these new House members will tackle to the horror of Team Trump.
9
A sane person might think that the first lady would be more incensed over reports of her husband's affairs with porn stars than the slights of White House national security aides. But that would require sanity in the age of Trump, and that's a bridge too far.
11
Gosh. Makes me wish that Trump had gone on vacation with the dog on the car roof. Hard to imagine.
3
Gail Collins deserves the Greatest Pulitzer Prize for Columnists of All Time, not least because of her expert use of, um, "um."
5
I've mentioned this before. But hey! since when did continual repetition hurt anyone?
"The Duchess of Malfi." Maybe the greatest English tragedy outside of Shakespeare.
Duchess marries her own steward. That enrages her detestable brothers. One of them shuts the poor woman up in an asylum--where the various loonies gather round gibbering.
Horrible place!
"I am Duchess of Malfi still," she exclaims.
I'm still me. I'm unbeaten. I defy you. All of you.
I'm saying this right now, Ms. Collins. As hard, as often as I can.
"I am still an American citizen. This man--this unspeakable man--this boor--this fool--this crook--this incorrigible liar--
--"does not represent me. No sir! Does not represent my country. No sir! Does not represent the best--no, nothing like the best--
"--we have to offer. HE is not US! HE is not US!"
Because, I swear to God, Ms. Collins--
--if I DIDN'T keep repeating this stuff--
--I would go mad.
Like those pitiful loonies crowding around the Duchess of Malfi.
God help us all! God help our country!
With such a man at the helm.
Thanks for your piece.
Horrible!
Thanks.
8
Our President cannot walk 700 yards? Bone spurs coming back, or fear to tread on a mushroom?
5
Aside from "Be Best", the FLOTUS is a woman of few words and that is her prerogative, but she uttered a profound declarative remark when she commented... “no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House.” Surely she could be opining on all members of the cabinet and most assuredly, her beloved misogynist hubby, the petulant tweeting POTUS. Just saying.
5
Much as we need comic relief from the slow motion train wreck of the Trump presidency and his clear move to authoritarianism, it is hard to find the humor when so many Americans vote for his sycophant politicians and think that he is worth the time to attend his rallies. They apparently believe that a physical wall will protect them from the changing demographics of the country. I can only conclude that they support him because they are also racists. Surely it cannot be due to his fiscal prudence with record deficit spending in an economic recovery or expansion of medical care and its cost reduction.
His rants worsen by the day have only gotten more strident since he learned that he will be subject to House oversight. The clearly overweight man does seem physically challenged by the duties, which perhaps explains his long intervals of being cloistered in place watching television for hours on end. This should not surprise or amuse anyone. Those worried about the Democratic majority in the House overstepping its authority in investigating Trump and his dubious administration should relax. They must not relent for fear of arousing sympathy for the dotard. Stay on message about healthcare coverage and cost. If Mueller's investigation proceeds and is effective in bringing Jr. and others in the Trump inner circle to justice, then we will see Trump unravel even further than he already has.
13
What a difference between the present first lady and past first ladies. You know, the ones who actually initiated and accomplished meaningful programs and had the intellectual capacity to help their husbands navigate the presidency. The ones who had gravitas. Now we have one that reflects the ignorance, pettiness and vindictiveness that is the current WH and its occupants. One who give interviews and whines that she has to watch her back in the WH and spends taxpayer dollars to traipse around Africa in a costume sideshow. What a way to inspire...or Be Best.
577
@ND,
Well, aside fron John Quincy Adams' wife, all other First Ladies have been Americans.
Our current First Lady (technically, Third Lady) is a chain migrant...using her affluenza addled husband's own definition.
But, she's the right color, so who cares right evangelicals?
55
I personally find it hard to laugh at anything this President does or says. I just wish it would all go away, along with his "fans" and
their "lock her up" imbecility and signs of The Wall , which I wish
they'd just stuff it and slink back to their swamp of lies and deceit.
I think a lot of us have reached a point of total fatigue with Trumpism and all it represents. Never in my long life have I ever
switched channels when a President appears, or when Trump's vile rallies deface the screen. When does it go away? Please!!!! But thanks anyway for the humor - it takes the
edge off for some of us.
579
@pIkay
I too am fatigued and want it to all go away, and I do take days off from the drama. But doing that for very long is very dangerous, we can't get to a point where we cease paying attention and attempting, at least, to hold the president and his minions accountable.
81
@JS are you kidding? I'm a news junkie - watch Morning Joe and then Nicole Wallace later in the
day and then Cnn or Chris Matthews in the evening. Brian Williams at 4am each day. No wonder I'm tired! Believe me, I pay attention, ergo
great fatigue....
22
@pkay
Do not give up, never ever give up.
Write, call email, or tweet your Senators and Congressional reps (and especially McConnell and McCarthy even if you are not in their district) to put the heat on them to hold Trump accountable.
Demand that Congress exercise their power of "checks and balances" to STOP this psychopath Trump from lying incessantly to the American people, ignoring the rule of law, and creating constant chaos and dissension on a daily basis.
58
aisle or window ?
Will the “other” First Lady be chiming in on personnel decisions? Ivanna Trump, First Ladty #1 or Marla Maples-Trump, First Lady #2 are peculiarly silent on who should come, stay or go.
The Real First Lady, which ever hobbles about on stiletto heels and trowels concrete for the border wall deserves a say. Could they serve lemonade to the 6,000 military troops guarding the border, sans border wall?
Will the Thanksgiving turkey be pardoned in lieu of McDonalds cheeseburgers and the infamous Mar-a-Lago chocolate cake?
The inside scoop say the real reason for the termination was a scathing oped. In it, lambasting the Africa Pith Helmet fashion sense and Indiana Jones costuming during the Africa junket was a no go. To suggest Bob Macke costumes was an egregious mistake.
Never, never question the chic First Ladies fashion sense, or how she secured an EB-1 visa as an intellectual treasure.
6
The way Trump rants about the "Great Wall" one may think he owns stock in the enterprise. Perhaps a kickback to Trump Inc. from the winning contractor ? It would be his kind of "Deal Making".
3
If the fake president was a normal guy people would be concerned that his latest behavior was a sign of ill-health. He is elderly, after all. But with him, who can tell?
3
@Joe Smith His entire life is riddled with bad behavior. Being older--and in a position of power--only makes it worse.
2
“Actually, the $1.6 billion was explicitly not for a Wall. Nothing’s started.”
Shhhhhhhhhhh! Don’t talk about it. We need it to work again.
Don’t talk about the Wall!
3
Along with “Keep Government Hands Off My Medicare” and “Promises Made - Promises Kept,” I’ve added “Finish the Wall” to the list of my top three favorite slogans on signs carried by GOP/Trump supporters, with an honorable mention for Melania’s “ Be Best.” You can’t make this stuff up!
3
And they still cheer?
2
I still want to know why he didn’t go to Arlington on Monday. It’s right in his backyard. Despicable.
10
@Vivien Hessel As a Vietnam vet I am appalled on Memorial Day when I see president bone spurs, the one who brags on national radio about his “Vietnam” being avoiding STD’s in NYC, the the one who denigrated John McCain’s 5 years of torture & captivity while he conducted his “Vietnam”, laying a wreath to honor the fallen. His very presence desecrates the sacred ground of Arlington.
8
When did the White House become the second coming of the 80’s TV show “Dallas”?
4
I don't know why funding The Wall is such an issue. If Donald and his ducks want The Wall they could set up a GoFundMe account. It's that easy!
Donald wouldn't know how to do it but he could order Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to set up the GoFundMe account and Donald's ducks could fund The Wall. They so desperately want.
I do wonder about Donald's ducks though. They use to happily chant "Mexico!" at Donald's rallies when he prompted them, "Who's going to pay for The Wall?" Do any of the duck remember that? Do any of them remember the transcript of Donald's phone call, begging President Peña Nieto to not say Mexico will not pay for The Wall? Because it makes Donald look bad?
And isn't that what The Wall is really about, Donald looking bad?
And Donald, you DO look bad...in appearance (clownish hair, orange skin, racoon eyes) as well as for the stupidity of making The Wall another one of your many ridiculous and failed claims.
11
If you had constructed a hair style like his on your head, you wouldn't want to walk in the rain, either.
2
Re: Issues in France...serious lack of ketchup there...
4
When your "talent" or resume essentially consist of removing your clothes to be filmed for the pleasure of men it really does not matter what else you do - that will be a defining moment for you. Unless of course you are the wife of the President of the United States. As First Lady you can pretend to be anything you want and keep your clothes on too. Such a shame such talent has to be wasted now.
4
Ricardel is Croatian. Melania is Slovenian. I suspect that there may be a Balkan dimension to this drama.
8
Lying to rubes.
Who said president bone-spurs hasn't accomplished anything since being appointed president?
5
The Maginot Line , named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles, and weapon installations..... the massive Maginot Line was built in the run-up to World War II, ..... French military experts extolled the Line as a work of genius ...
The line has since become a metaphor for expensive efforts that offer a false sense of security.
7
He won't go in the rain because of his hair.
4
Do I really want to engage in a conversation with his rally folks who happily consume his lies...they actually believe the wall is started and funded? Not deplorables but maybe not the brightest bulbs on our Christmas trees.
3
“ no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House “. I do not think that word means what you think it means.
Seriously.
4
Melania is just copying Nancy Reagan. She regularly put a bug in Ronnie's ear about who should be fired. As for the person who doesn't deserve to be in the WH, even though I'm progressive, I do find it funny that some of my fellow believers defend The protege of John Bolton who is a crazy arch conservative
Hey, Trump is batty, and everybody knows it. His followers agree, but offer that his “policies” are good, nonetheless. You know, like helping the Saudis with starving thousands in Yemen. And putting 5200 troops along the Mexican border who aren’t permitted to do anything but lay razor wire. And Trump’s rallies are really entertaining: they get the testosterone flowing and impress the ladies.
4
Build a wall around Donald Trump. I'll pay for it.
9
First, I would not know Mira Ricardel from Ricky Ricardo. If she hangs with John Bolton then her character has to be held in contempt. However, if this statement is true: Mira Ricardel “no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House.” and it came from the Slovenian Bombshell, then she gets an upgrade from super troll to just troll. The best news of the week, Don the Don is not doing well physically. Hey, a couple more like this and he might be one foot closer to the big luxury apartment in the sky. But then we would get that rancid beast Pence. And god knows who they would appoint as his Vice. Maybe the Slovenian Bombshell. Oops, she can't, she wasn't born here. Whew, was gonna lose sleep I don't get over that one. I have not one serious thing to say. This country is a joke, bigger one than yesterday. The experiment is over. Stick a fork in it.
2
Oh, Ms. Collins, you omitted the most truly zany moment of the president´s week, the one where he explained how those tricky democrats get to vote repeated. They go around the block, change their hat, change their shirt, come back, vote again. Those clever vaudevillians!
Unhinged doesn´t even begin to cover it.
12
Thank you Gail! Don’t know how you stay sane!
The Donald needs to retire!
1
Gail, what about writing your next column on the Canadian 1k jacket ban on high schoolers?
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7743616/school-bans-canada-goose-moncler-pyrenex-coats/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1542281393
It really advance the Trudeau's crusade on equalization, don't you think?
But since teenagers attend also commercial shops and sports centers, i think the ban should extend also over there.
Also, since it's scientifically proved that human mind, pre-cortex specifically, doesn't develop entirely until 24 yrs, the ban should be extended to all working places, since there are interns over there, too.hat
Then what about the large-span discrimination. Is it ok for a young adult to see a mature man, other adult's dads, with those pricey outfits, ? Is it ok to see popular media stars, singers actress and actor to show their money off in luxury outfits?
What about the suits of the POTUS? Should he downdress too?
1
I suggest that if you have Melania on the one hand and a John Bolton clone on the other, you have to say that Melania deserves a round of applause. Finally someone in the White House with an ounce of sense. I hope she told Donald that it's either the clone or me.
Build a Potemkin wall then have him visit and view it from afar.
Done!
1
Maybe having to deal with Pelosi will give trump a heart attack. Hope springs eternal.
4
"Actually, the $1.6 billion was explicitly not for a Wall."
These are dangerous words. They are the equivalent of bursting The Base's bubble. Uttering thoughts debunking chem trails. Declaring fascism is evil and Nazism is not beautiful. All are harmful words threatening GOP democracy.
Please be more careful in stating facts.
1
No need for a "Wall" when we are at Defcon 2 at the Mexican border in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act.
This is trumps second step to using the military as his personal police force as do all Third World Thugs. His first step was bypassing the Senate and putting a fake Attorney General into office and that Office will come out with an "opinion" validating the use of the Military on Home Soil.
3
Season 2 of Reality WH (or is Survivor WH?) just opened with a pan-shot of Allies still scratching their collective heads in the rain as Agent Orange seeks refuge in limo. (doesn't trust rigged umbrellas !)
The, sphinx-like co-star FLOUTS slams axe in back of high level super hawk hack, whose draft dodging mustachioed boss is stirring up global division and trouble abroad.
Next episode, expect more surprises !- see Jarvanas get all dressed up and pretend to be seasoned diplomats, as they fly, on your dime, to far flung fashion shoots.
(If you want boring stuff like the science behind climate change or the realted arc and devasting tragedy of a wildfire, go to PBS. Yawn.)
Guaranteed- if you dont laugh, you will cry.
2
Imagine Michelle Obama demanding a cleaning guy fired. It would have paralized the country for a week. These are crazy wasted times indeed.
3
I'd rather see Reps & Dems come to an agreement that can't be vetoed that doesn't include any phony wall stuff. If the Reps started compromising and recognizing that climate change is our biggest threat, they might just save their party.
1
Crazy, oh so crazy after all these long two years of Trump-a- mania.
And what ever happened to Mike in the second seat, Trump seems to become more eccentric and unhinged by the day. Is the VP ready for the Oval Office should the Donald flip altogether out.
1
Gail, you should do a piece about Nancy and the speaker spot. Something about who else may actually want the job, which is no one. About how the job defeated and deflated the great wonk of the GOP Paul (mister buff) Ryan who ran away with his tail between his legs. About how easily it is for the GOP to suggest something to the base and politicians of the DFL, like Nancy is not a good speaker and about how we should absolutely follow their orders and not support the person they absolutely hate and vilify, you know, because she is bad for democrats.
The wall? What can you say. Even the GOP doesn't want to spend the money. Of course, if you build it, how are you gonna scare all those old racist folks into voting GOP. No, the threat of the brown people walking directly at us with hopes of continuing to live must remain. The Trump base wouldn't know what to do without it. You know if Trump is repeating it it must get good response at his rallies.
1
"If you build it, they won't come." Puhleeze!
1
How anyone cannot see that the man behind the curtain is a total con is beyond me. Bellowing about the wall to keep his minions in a constant state of fear is nothing short of advertising racism. His brand is a cancer in our society, and the sooner he is gone, the sooner we can start to heal from the toxicity.
4
I had begun thinking that Donald Trump's supporters were being distinctly tactful at his rallies, holding up placards that say "Finish the Wall" instead of the more in-his-face "Start the Wall". Now I learn that he's been telling them he has started it.
It's good light mental exercise to wonder about those people with the placards. Maybe they're not everyday supporters, but plants stationed out in the crowd to hold up the other end of Trump's conversation about a wall in progress. Maybe they are supporters but don't really care about the wall so much as they care about wanting a wall (if you get my drift) and boosting their leader's signature wall talk. Maybe the idea is simply to catch his eye and be immortalized by his index finger.
But the pretense, at least, of seeing a wall in progress is necessary to the Trumpist mantra that Trump is "getting things done" on any front at all. The absence of even an appropriation for the wall shows that political skill and effort matter, and that Trump lacks the skill and can't be bothered to make the effort. Not that I'm complaining about that.
4
Fixating on a worthless wall. Melania's tantrums. Asking ourselves if Trump can go even more insane.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could help the rest of the world by taking the lead in combating climate change, our global existential problem? We could put our petty national squabbles behind us and face the stark reality of our shared future by working together, united with courage.
But we've got more important things to do. Like writing our own epitaph. And we forge ahead with that, one asinine tweet at a time.
389
@Blue Moon You write the words that were forming in my head, as I came to this op/ed piece from reading about how climate change is destroying Yellowstone as we know it. In the face of the real challenge of climate change, all this nonsense seems just so much squabbling over deckchairs on the Titanic.
54
As we all know by now, Trump is motivated only by personal considerations. As to the wall, I figure that somebody told him about Hadrian's Wall since it is unlikely that he read about it himself. As I understand it, the Roman Emperor Hadrian built the wall to keep the Scottish riffraff out of the British territory controlled at the time by the Romans. The thing was built eons ago but Hadrian is still remembered because of it. Trump has the similar goal of keeping the Mexicans at bay but mostly likes the idea of people referring to the Trump Wall a thousand years from now.
2
While we weren't looking, Donald did indeed build, or, let's say, create, his wall.
Flush with resolve and commitment, Donald trump IS the wall. He wanted to keep Mexican people out? Done. Immigration, legal or otherwise, is at its lowest point in years, because the appeal of the United States has fallen so low.
That's one sneaky con-man!
178
@Sera
Every single day, Donald Trump says or does something that successfully diverts the american people's attention to a "bright shiny object over here" moment rather than the Mueller investigation.
Our nation must now be razor-focused on Protecting Mueller, Protecting Mueller, Protecting Mueller.
Ignore Melania's petty cat fight with Ricardel over "seating arrangements".
37
@Sera,
Update on Trump's Wall:
Can Donald Trump use force against the 'migrant caravan'?
Just ahead of the midterms, the US president deployed thousands of soldiers to the southern border, curtailed asylum law, and threatened the use of military force against an approaching "migrant caravan." Is that legal? This key question will once again have to be decided by the courts, which could take a long time to play out. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has already filled a lawsuit challenging the order, and other cases are expected to follow. DW
Migrant caravan groups arrive by hundreds at US border
On 14 November, migrants in a caravan of Central Americans arrived in Tijuana by the hundreds, getting their first glimpse of the robust US military presence that awaits them after President Donald Trump ordered thousands of troops to the border. Several hundred people from the caravan got off buses and made their way to a shelter on the Mexican side near the border to line up for food. Doctors checked those fighting colds and other ailments. AP
6
@Sera
Yes, and now the ripple effects are starting to show: already a 10% decline in foreign students applying to US universities. Pretty soon the very best and brightest from countries Trump has alienated will be choosing European, Asian, and Canadian schools instead, and those countries will reap the benefits in advancing research and talent in science, engineering, medicine, etc. By making "immigrant" a dirty word, Trump is going to choke our country's progress better than any literal wall. Trump and Trumpism is a disaster.
51
I think Donald Trump is having withdrawal symptoms. He was so used to campaign mode this past month that he couldn't spend a single day without multiple speechifying surrounded by feel good fans who were just having a great time singing build the wall. Perhaps Mr Trump is depressed or in grieving mode. At first he thought all the candidates he rallied for, won. But turns out, not so fast. All those candidates are in the process of losing or if they did win, it was with a thinnest sliver of votes. Psychiatrists need to apply for jobs in the WH, pronto.
2
Can we have some volunteer construction people and an architect or three get together and design and build an attractive wall with a moat between it and the White House sometime soon? I'm beginning to think that the best place for this wall is in DC surrounding the White House. We could put McConnell, Pence, the Koch Brothers, the Adelsons, and the rest of the clown car crew inside to natter on about how ungrateful we are. While they are doing that in the company of the TIC (Toddler in Chief), we can have a functioning government. I'd like that for a change.
Wall in the GOP and we might have a livable country with reasonable people finding common ground to work together. I'd gladly pay for that sort of wall.
8
Who deserves the honor of serving in the White House these days? The President's wife got his divided attention yesterday with her press release about firing John Bolton's National Security Deputy. Trump's wild mood swings and lies and chaos in the White House continue apace. Re Midterms "complete victory for Republicans", re not courting rainy "bad hair" days in Paris for French Centenary Commemoration of World War I (with 91 world leaders braving the rain to walk on the red carpet to the Arc de Triomphe on 11 November), or braving Arlington Cemetary (in drizzle) on Armistice Day. Trump's " Great Southern Wall"? When will he give us all a break from his WWF rumbles with immigrants and migrants and caravans (speckled with "very bad people") invading America from Mexico? Now he has ordered troops to our border with Mexico to help out ICE and border immigration guards during "this crisis"(Trump manufactured). Our ignorant president keeps ginning up his far more low-info base by rallybragging about starting to build our wall ("We started. We started. We have $1.6 billion and we've started!"). Lord have mercy and save us from Trump's honorable service in our White House.
191
@Nan Socolow, when will he give us a break in his rumbles with foreign leaders? He's a man always in search of a rumble.
11
Remember how Trump told us that Hillary Clinton wouldn't have the stamina to be president? Well, look who turned out to be the weakling. He's too weak to even walk with other world leaders. Instead he pouts and moans and stays in his hotel room watching TV instead of observing the ceremonies he went there to participate in. Trump is an old man. This is why we shouldn't elect a president, of either party, who is older than 65. At least not one that is as overweight as Trump is. And, we should insist that the next president have a real medical exam, not the fake one Trump had with the fake doctor. The health of the president is important. We don't want to end up with another one that can't even walk 700 yards.
5
Let's build a wall around this White House. I'll throw in some money for that.
And as for "deserving the honor of serving in this White House" imagine going to work every day and there sits John Kelly, John Bolton, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephen Miller, and the other miscreants. Lurking somewhere in front of a tv, with crumbs on the bed and floor, tweeting his heart out is Little Donnie. They do deserve it. We do need a wall around that place.
454
@Nick Adams, our neighbors have invisible fences to contain their dogs. It's a thought....
51
@Nick Adams
That's a wall I'd pay for!! "Lock them up! Lock them ALL up!" As the corruption scandal grows closer and closer to little Donnie, Agent Orange grows daily more deranged.
Don't worry folks--he won't declare martial law or nuke Syria, because the military despise him.
Regardless of their personal politics, they operate by a clear chain of command, not chaos. They know (he doesn't) they're not his personal police force. And the Military Code of Conduct allows any officer to disregard ANY superior, for the good of the country.
35
@Nick Adams
"...imagine going to work every day and there sits John Kelly, John Bolton, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephen Miller, and the other miscreants. "
Thanks for putting things in perspective! I'll never complain about anyone I've ever worked with again.
35
C'mon Gail, you missed it.
Trump got his wall…of beautiful concertina wire.
Looks just like east Germany and all the images of concentration camp seen in history flicks.
Trump version of beauty and class.
Just ignore the dead animals caught in the fence, dying of thirst in few of the river. (That would be the four legged kind, not our two legged brethren.)(Though either would be acceptable to our conservative faction.)
4
Melania Trump has performed a useful service by demanding that Bolton Deputy Mirna Ricardel leave the White House. Whether she did it for petty vanity reasons or more strategic reasons will be known in time.
What we do know is that both Bolton and Ricardel conduct themselves in a way that they believe they are protected by a higher power, specifically Sheldon Adelson...also known as he who must be obeyed.
The immediate portfolio of Bolton includes spreading rumors that Defense Secretary Mattis "is not in tune" with Trump's foreign policy and "is likely to leave" shortly. Ricardel was an eager participant in executing that part of the Bolton portfolio.
Mattis has to go in Bolton's (Adelson's) eyes because he is way too honorable to go along with an unwise and unnecessary war with Iran. The fact that Ricardel will be given another home within the Administration is an indication that she is good at what she does...cutting the legs out from under honorable people like Secretary James Mattis.
I'm open to the possibility that Melania Trump is actually hip to the whole Crown Prince-Jared-Adelson-Bolton war with Iran scam and has fired a strategic shot across the bow.
As Church Lady would say..."wouldn't that be special."
2
I’ve had a really hard time figuring out what Melania meant to say when she wore that “I really don't care, do you?” jacket on her visit to the migrant kids in Texas, but I think I've finally got it figured out.
What it meant was, “I really don’t have the faintest clue as to what any of this is about -- I married him for the clothes and the money, and I am doing the best I can at my job.”
7
Ahem. She would be chairwoman or chairperson. Not chairman. Thank you.
1
We all agree-he's crazy and corrupt. What does that make the people who go to his rallies? And where is Rudy Giuliani when Donnie needs him the most ? He could have held the umbrella in Paris. Is Chris Christie back ?
5
There's a wall of razor wire put up by the 6,000 troops on the Southern US/Mexico border. It will greet the weary, hungry travellers who walked away from their murderous regimes in their countries. Little children in their parents arms will see the rolls and rolls of razor wire fencing when they arrive seeking refuge, asylum, safety.
3
The printing costs of all those FINISH THE WALL rally signs could provide a year's room and board for a number of homeless American war veterans.
7
If Melania can get Ricardel out, the prospects for removal of Bolton will improve dramatically. Bolton was not confirmed by the Senate and can be removed at will.
2
the only wall is the one between Trump and the truth.
Constant lyig finally caught up to him. The man is
deteriorating like soggy halvah
word
1
Can't get educated without crippling debt, can't get sick without murderous debt, tax breaks galore for corps. who don't need education or get sick and are people. Gotta incorporate myself, see what's on the other side of that wall.
3
Bottom line, trump is a scared, tired old man. He is in a job he does not like, surrounded by people he does not like, in a place he does not like. Trump has been forced into following rules and laws that he has never had too before. Trump did not worry about rules when his life was fun, they were for lesser men.
Trump was amped-up by the pre-election rallies. But that 'high' is unsustainable and the reality of the crushing defeat of the election is now evident. Trump's sour mood on the Paris trip is evidence of the truth seeping into his brain.
In trump world, being a quitter is equivalent to being weak. And the man who has been afraid of weakness for his entire life cannot be labeled a quitter. So he is stuck doing a job that he hates until we can mercifully put him out to pasture.
11
Did you see the "hordes" of "caravaners" climbing over the fairly high "wall" bordering San Diego? Not so difficult. If they could swim, it's just a short dip to get to nirvana by sea. A wall is no good unless it surrounds our shores -- all our shores. There are probably pesky Canadians floating across the Great Lakes right now.
2
Sahara? I truly thought that Ms Collins was joshing.
According to Josep Borrell (Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain), the US president brushed off the skepticism of Spanish diplomats – who pointed out that the Sahara stretched for 3,000 miles – saying: “The Sahara border can’t be bigger than our border with Mexico.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/19/donald-trump-urged-spain-to-build-the-wall-across-the-sahara
According to Rep. Mark Meadows, Chairman of Freedom Caucus and Linksman Whisperer: “It’s going to have to be the president who decides whether he’s willing to fight for the (wall) funding. The House certainly will.” (quote from Ms Collins' web link "threatening to veto..")
Meadows won't identify his caucus members (33 have self-identified), but IT IS Meadows who promises that Ryan's House will fight. So, beyond that Gang of 33, those Republican members who prevent Funding of the Government by 7 December are - "fighters in hiding".
Who are Meadows' Fighters-In-Hiding?
1
Gail, don't be too concerned about the president's health-- it's probably just those old bone spurs acting up.
5
Donald Trump needs some love. The midterms didn't deliver. Macron and France didn't deliver. Why isn't anybody rushing to thank Donald for being the bestest, most wonderful man in the world?
Donald Trump needs some love. Rumors are that he is planning a - wait for it - rally for Ms. Hang 'em High down in Mississippi. Now Trump knows that he can get some good lovin' in old Miss.
They understand The Wall and everything it symbolizes.
Donald Trump is a one trick pony. 'Build the Wall' was his first of many rally cries that he and his cult love to chant. The hate and fear of the Other binds these folk and sends the adoration Donald's way. It doesn't get better than that for our POTUS.
He offers little else.
It's scary that the Trump mob, I mean family, is turning to each other at this time. Their individual ignorance and collective entitlement have created an Oval Office of self-seeking incompetence, blame and few accomplishments. And now is the time Melania chooses to up her game and do something?
I feel better after the midterms but not enough to take away the apprehension about 2 more years with our needy snowflake and his family of misfits.
3
Trump doesn't want the wall. That would eliminate his only reliable get-the-crowd-going battle cry. No, he wants the issue of immigration and has no interest in solving the problem or addressing the needs of the refugees. Look for a return of the mongrel hordes threatening the border and our national security as 2020 draws near.
2
There's a "wierd wall" alright, Gail....but it's not the one on our southern border.
The real Wierd Wall separates people who can no longer respect one another, nor dialog with each other, nor cut a deal together. Pay attention here, there's a Pop Quiz afterwards.
The Really, Realy Wierd Wall is comprised of those who see the cause of "wierd" soley not their own. Take Gail "What the hey" Collins, for example, she thinks it's all Trump's tweeted fault. Until we can admit our own faults, we will never find a resolution to our wierdness.
1
Let Trump close down the government
Fortunately, the mail go through.
1
I was beginning to about that sudden statement out of Melania Trump's office -- apparently "The Donald" does rub off when it comes to message-by-tweet.
Do you think she can get rid of John Bolton as well?
2
Weexclaiminunison": Is this article suggesting that our "prez" is bi-polar (mood swings while in France)? If so, can our country bear it (see the pun ... polar, bear)? Perhaps he and his entourage should be walled in ...
It shows how wonderful the U.S. of A. really is when people still want to come here, knowing about the insane behaviours of those "running" the country. Or are they uninformed like too many members of our population.
1
You have to understand how much the middle class loves its walls. The first thing they do when they buy or build a house is to plant a row of trees guaranteed to grow 30 ft high, then they build a fence exactly on the property line, minimum 6 feet high, out to the street, cutting off the view, and out to the back neighbor's line, shutting him off too. inside that enclosure they will build another fence nailed onto it, while claiming this whole shebang is semi-transparent. Then they will build a raised eating area surrounded it with a fence. They will claim this is for privacy. Meanwhile they will build windows synchronized with your bedroom windows and get special shades that they can see out of but you can't see in to. This is all in the name of privacy, but the real intent is to declare ownership and the refusal of neighborly cooperation.
5
The royal “this White House” Mrs. Trump tweets about is an imaginary place. This White House is not the White House of the Obamas or the Bushes or even the Clintons. Full of palace intrigues, leaks and people on the way in and out, many people have had the “honor” of working in the metaphorical Trump White House. So much is imaginary about this White House including facts and accomplishments, why not have Hollywood create a CGI wall to show Trump. Since there is no threat, the caravan has apparently evaporated, an imaginary wall would keep Trump and his rally crowds safe from the imaginary threat.
130
I want to laugh. God knows I need to laugh. But it is sticking in my craw these days. While Trump is so bizzare the comedy writes itself, all of those absurdities are symbols for the dangerous, destructive, divisive and disasterous directives coming from this White House. "The Wall" stands for a cruel policy to deny legitimate refugees asylum by holding children hostage in contradiction to our laws. "Clean Coal" signifies the repudiation of climate science and the degradation of our environment. "America First" represents a blatant forswearing of our treaties and obligations. Then there is MAGA itself, a not so subtle nod and wink for a return to a "Leave it to Beaver" fantasy land where white was right and women were quiet quite. I don't mean I do not appreciate the effort to look at the funny side. I do. So please keep writing Ms. Collins, and I will keep trying to laugh.
225
@kevo
Right -- very likely nothing can be done to curb the daily tweet storm, attack on the 1st amendment, etc. The focus needs to be on what is happening fairly quietly behind the scenes that is now and will continue to impact the country for decades -- the environment is a major example.
24
@kevo -- you are partly right. But the real reason Trumps wants a wall is to have a permanent monument, a tribute and physical structure that will bear the name of Trump forever. It's all about him and feeding his extreme narcissistic disorder. Nothing more than that.
41
@kevo
Oh I am laughing. How do you make fun of someone who is already a walking parody of himself? By repeating what he says and tweets and does!
I should have been a standup comic. All you have to do is read the headlines.
17
Gail, it would be nice if we could build a wall around Trump instead of building one near Mexico.
After having seen and heard so much about Trump and all his idiosyncrasies, thanks to the media pundits that gave him such a free publicity since his announcement for presidency in the month of June, 2015, if anybody got an award like "Rotten Tomatoes", it'll be Trump as the best actor.
Melania, the best actress.
Ivanka, best supporting actress.
John Kelly, the best supporting actor.
And John Bolton, the best villain ever.
Maybe we can make another movie called "The Wall" based on Pink Floyd's best album with Trump leading the Republican lawmakers' children on a "Pied Piper" like trail trying to build the wall on the Mexican border with very tall card board pieces glued together by crazy glue or something from some infomercials.
Because as each day passes, it seems like our uncle Harry a.k.a. Keith Moon from The Who's "Tommy" album, is on a destructive mode to change not only the national order but the world order as well.
No wonder the promise that Trump made to his junkies and groupies, from his circus like campaign rallies saying, "Be sure that I'll build the wall. And Mexico will pay for it", has kind of spooked him.
And when he found out that even his Republicans won't pay for the "Bloody Wall", Trump is at times daydreaming while other time he's telling his acid tripped "Deadhead" like followers, "See the wall is already built. And it looks beautiful."
Go figure !
3
"the honor of serving in this White House". A curious concept! Is there an example of anyone improving their reputation by serving there?
9
My right wing brother-in-law and sister-in-law visited the border well over a year ago and reported their thrill at seeing "The Wall" being built. They continue to espouse the notion that the wall project is well in its way, thanks to that genius, trump.
I don't know what they saw, but I know that they are devotees of Fox News.
Is Fox claiming that the wall is, in fact, happening? Or are my in laws even more delusional than I thought?
178
@Tom Clifford perhaps they say the walls that have existed for some time. In San Diego there are 2 walls with a no man’s land in between patrolled by electronic surveillance, helicopters, ATVs and Cusroms and Border Patrol agents. Or maybe they just see what Fox tells them to see.
44
@Tom Clifford Jimmy Kimmel refers to that as "Lie-Witness News."
22
@Tom Clifford
There's been a crazy quilt of different kinds of fencing in various locations along sections of the border since the mid 1990's. Some of it is not much of a barrier and can easily be climbed or cut. Originally, when Trump saw the shabby fencing and learned that most of the border was not fenced, he wanted the old fencing replaced with his new super duper secure wall. No funds have been allocated for a new wall although there is existing funding for repair and replacement of old fencing. So Trump now pretends that the old fencing IS his wall. Go figure...
26
Um. I am literally the last person in the world to even dare attempt this, but...17 per cent of 585 million comes in at about 685 million out here in the flyover. But if I'm wrong and you're right, I'll be looking for a way to get my money invested in that Fund for Kids thing.
2
@Emma Horton I believe it is saying the deficit rose 17% to be $779B. The $585M is the money Graves's fund would make available. Two different piles of money.
@Emma Horton You might wish to review your calculation... 17% x 585 = 685. Really? I know we spell differently, but this is amazing!
@Cass Phoenix no no she did that part right. A 17% increase of 585 is 684.5. The article wasn't clearly differentiating between two different amounts, implying (sort of) the 17% increase resulted in 779 billion dollars.
If we all ignored him including and especially the press corps it would be interesting to watch him thrash about to get some attention, attention he does not deserve.
6
Wall smwall. It makes more sense to construct a white picket fence with kissing gates, daiseys, and one tree house per border block. Absurd? Not compared to The Don’s wall thingie.
5
You expect an overweight, 72 year-old man with bones spurs and a bouffant 'do to walk in the rain?
Anything that even remotely disrupts Bolton's life is fine with me. Kudos to the First Lady. Just another day in the cuckcoo's nest.
Tastefully decorated by local artists Jersey barriers along the southern border might make a nice wall.
Thanks for brightening up the morning.
2
@Fred Plenty of photos of said o/weight etc. etc. playing golf in the rain - and wait, there's more - he cheats as well.
1
I’m glad the Slovenian high school graduate is dictating national security decisions. I’m sure her experience as a topless model will be as useful as the son of a landlord/failed casino operator/Miss Universe dressing room lurker’s experience has been.
Useful in electing President Harris.
5
@Luke Such class acts.
Seems obvious that Trump’s hair confectionary structure could not withstand actual weather conditions in France and that his foot long hair-turban would be the subject of freak show level interest by the photographers of the world as it melted in the rain revealing the mind blowing vanity that is Trump.
Or he might actually have been freaked out by cemeteries where the war dead could confront his bone spur fakery on a gut level even he can’t escape.
Trump is becoming a Charles Dickens cautionary tale. Melania seems to be out of a telenovela where the cryptic Slovenian lady doesn’t like the loud-mouth Croatian lady and cut to the pith helmet/Sphinx/high waist jodhpurs/skinny tie shoot.
7
Wait a minute. What happened to the caravan of angry rapists and middle eastern terrorists headed toward the border bent on invasion? Not a word uttered about that since the mid terms by our dear leader. Trump supporters really can't make the connection here. The invasion insanity was pure political theater and sending troops to the border is a political stunt at the expense of taxpayers. Not a good use of military might but not one Trump supporter noticed the rhetoric ended after the mid-terms.
The entire presidency is surreal. It's like a never ending nightmare.
6
Congress should pass a unanimous resolution declaring "The Wall has been completed"! Trump would be too lazy to actually check, but could then begin shouting to his base that "it's done!" The whole mess would be over, and we could move on to things that matter.
6
For all intents and purposes, our government is running on autopilot. Yes, our President turned it on, sits back in his Oval Office seat, and looks out the window--waiting for his first class lunch. Actually, I am OK with this---the only problem of course is Sully event that demands a skillful pilot to take control of our governmental aircraft and land it safely. Some would say, well at least we have a first officer next to Trump, but, Pence is only qualified on a Piper Cub, not a 747.
2
"Which would take a while, given the fact that it rose 17 percent, to $779 billion, in the latest Republican-controlled fiscal year."
Which would take a while, given the fact that it rose 17 percent, to $779 billion, in the latest Republican-controlled FIASCO year. There I fixed it for you.
1
When the Trump administration is over, if the Donald and most of his family don't wind up in the pokey, I propose we build a wall around Trump Tower; but only after the entire Trump crowd is inside.
That's a wall to which I'd contribute.
1
Sorry Gail, you seem to forget that Trump announced long ago that construction of the wall has begun. All that's left for him to do is make Mexico pay for it.
2
With an ounce of compassion, some of us might feel sorry for Trump, who looks more worn than ever and shows signs of chronic depression.
Versailles expressed admiration of Mrs. Melania Trump, and of her beauty in plain view at her evening at the Opera.
While invitations to become a patrol security officer at the border appear to have vanished, the embattled army is looking for you and me. You first; for if our Nation is in need of my services to build a Trump Wall, we are definitely in trouble and sounding desperate.
Maybe the Military is needy in funds to support our 6000 armed men and women, protecting us at the border, where a caravan is waiting to seize the country, ravish our women and populate our states with their children.
'The Good, the Bad and The Ugly', starring Clint Eastwood comes to mind, as I try to write it right. The president could tell the truth and announce that 'The Wall' is for his added protection, and that of The White House china and phone collection.
Either way, let us not rain on Trump's parade, but start looking forward with cheer to his pardoning of a turkey in time for Thanksgiving.
Keep it a secret but bringing the American author, Edward Gorey's 'Doubtful Guest', to the fare table of gentle and trenchant academics, where there are no walls to be found.
A Wall is a barrier. It has no personality. It can’t talk or negotiate with you. How effective is it? Look back into history, or at least recent history on the geographical map. The Great Chinese Wall was very effective for awhile until it wasn’t anymore.
Think of it this way. What if every home in your city had a huge wall around it. Would crime decrease? Probably until criminals found a way to breach it. As for good neighbors next door, well, forget that!
I think of walls the same way I think of Photo Radar. It’s big brother watching you with electronics. No personality. No questions. You’re guilty until proven innocent which rarely happens.
All society’s have rules. Primitive societies have walls. Borders are important and need to be protected. Our “wall” used to be the Oceans or Rivers or barbed wire. It isn’t perfect, but with humane laws, it still works.
Thank you Gail.
We seem to be living in a very dark comedy though. The risks though of leaving the management of the US govt. to the likes of Pompus, Bolton, and Mnuchin, not to mention Perry and Whitaker, leaves us with a cold chill. While Trump sulks, and his kingdom continues to shrink, the world moves on.
The worst part of it all is that so many of the menacing people in the caravan are planning on changing clothes once they cross the border, so they can go back and do it again without being noticed. Crafty folks, they!
Once they discover that they need ID in order to buy cereal here, however, they will no doubt voluntarily return to their homelands, where all they have to worry about is their own mortality.
2
The Wall is a symbol of our indifference to the humanitarian crisis being presented to us at the border
3
Seriously, why bother covering anything this fabulist says. There’s zero probability that it will remotely be grounded in fact. In a sort of defense, I’d say it clearly appears that’s what is real has always presented itself as a complete stranger to his self-serving self.
I continue to wonder how veterans feel about being called to protect our southern border now that
1. The caravan is no longer a problem post midterm,
2. the Orange thing doesn't want theit votes counted,
And
3. Getting rained on was a deal breaker when honoring veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice?
BTW. Who didn't tell him this looked really bad? Someone fire John Barron.
1
Unfair to criticize the president for not walking with other world leaders. Remember he has bone spurs in one of his heels, a disability which kept him from serving his country in the military.
1
We need an Emperor's New Wall. It will be designed by the greatest wall designer, and built by the greatest wall builders. It will be of the most glorious material, and all and sundry will come an gaze upon and exclaim its greatness.
"That's some Wall, yep, some wall. You bet."
Heaps of praise will be laden upon the chief Wall advocate, exclaiming that no wall has ever been better. Not Hadrian's not China's. Not even the one at the Vietnam Memorial! This is a wall!
And we will have a ceremony to celebrate it, laud it's founder, be amazed. And we will keep small boys with big mouths away from the President.
1
Ms. Collins has become my go to columnist for telling it like it is and helping lower my blood pressure simultaneously.
Thank you Gail
Not a physician, but guessing sleep deprivation (3 hours a night for a 72 year old overweight man?), poor diet and lack of exercise combined with extreme stress and a lifetime of poor impulse control seem to be leading toward some kind of breakdown. God help us all.
3
"But what the hey. Maybe Mexico will pay for it."
Every time Trump mentioned the "caravan," someone should have said, "If Mexico paid for building that wall, we won't have to worry about the caravan." That probably would have shut Trump up. I know. I know. That won't happen just as Mexico paying for the wall ain't happening either.
Everyone keeps talking about him not going to the cemetery in France. What I'm horrified about is that he couldn't be bothered to visit Arlington National Cemetery on Veteran’s Day. Come on - you can see it from DC. Presidents have been laying a wreath every Veteran's Day for the last 60(?) years. But he couldn't be bothered. Too busy with his phone.
3
The President's mental decline seems to have accelerated since the election, with more aggressive blurts and wilder emotional swings. Declining to attend a rainy event was probably more about preserving his hairdo and avoiding a possible slip and fall, which he tends to be quite careful about.
Hi Gail! This is some advice for Republicans eager to build "The Wall". They may not be aware of this, but in the 21st century, we now have these things called "ladders". I know, it kind of snuck up on us. But, if Trump builds a 30 foot "wall" on the border, all it takes is a 31 foot "ladder", leaned up against "the wall", to circumvent it. They sell these "ladders" at stores like Lowes, or, if you're a hard core Trump fan, at Home Depot. They even come in sections, these ladders, so you could put two 20-foot sections together, and really lift yourself over "the wall".
So, one more time. A 30 foot "wall", at a cost of 30 billion dollars, can be easily breached by a 31 foot "ladder", at a cost of about 80 dollars.
Hope that clears things up for Trump fans, and fans of "the wall".
327
@Jack from Saint Loo, Totally agree with you and appreciated the humor, but there is also what my friend found out when he put a wall around his yard to keep his dog in: you can also dig UNDER the wall.
51
@Jack from Saint Loo
Or tunnel under it, I suppose. There have been tunnels under the border found before.
"Smugglers also dig cross-border tunnels, primarily to move large volumes of marijuana. While many tunnels are rudimentary, others have lighting, tracks and ventilation systems, even elevators. As of March 2016, a total of 224 tunnels were discovered on the Southwest border since 1990."
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/25/us/drugs-border-wall.html
36
@Jack from Saint Loo Better yet - ever see those trucks at the airports with ladders mounted on the back? Just drive up to the wall and have everyone board the US that way.
24
1. If Melania were choosing national security advisers, they would be well dressed and perfectly groomed. Nothing reins in enemies of the state like high fashion and weapon-grade stilettos.
2. If Melania bought Donald a designer rain coat and a gold umbrella with a solid gold handle, he might brave the rain. Doubt he'd wear a hat. Can't crush that carefully crafted pouf.
3. Have fabric artists erect a wall along the border. Tell the Donald it's painted concrete. Build it 10 feet high and explain it's really 30 feet, but looks less from this perspective.
43
Trump not walking in the rain in Paris may all have to do with his hair. I think rain or even a little bit of water would have messed up his hair creating a picture shot for all time to come. That is why he didn’t walk to the cemetery in rain.
26
@Vsh Saxena
Surely an umbrella could have been procured from somewhere....
Donald is a walking heart attack waiting to happen. If that wall ever gets built, it will be as his memorial - he's just not healthy, and that's physically. But if they do build the wall and put his big picture on it every hundred feet or so, like they do with other great dictators like Lenin and Stalin, we on this side can spray paint mustaches and glasses and big noses and blacked out teeth. We'll have to deploy more troops to patrol the wall than we ever had guarding the border.
27
@Brookhawk really the funniest image. Of course. The wall will be graffiti heaven.
1
Back in 2016, I read somewhere that Trump was given the idea of the Wall so that he would remember to talk about immigration during his rallies. Looks like it worked....
10
I suspect that if there was funding for a military parade, Trump may back off on The Wall.
2
There is video all over the internet of caravan members who made it to the border scaling the pathetic fencing we have separating Mexico from the US. We arrest over 35,000 foriegn nationals every month who try to sneak past our border, and that obviously doesnt include the folks who made it. We have had multiple humanitarian crisis' on the border, including back in 2014 and '15 when, after Obama issued DACA, tens of thousands of unaccompanied children migrants came streaming across the border.
Seems the idea of "technology" isnt working. Will technology stop a caravan of thousands?
I know it escapes many "thinking progressives", but common sense dictates we need a wall, period.
@Sports MedicineCommon sense dictates that tunnels and ladders are the solution to any wall. A wall is strictly a waste of taxpayer money.
3
@Sports Medicine-Well, we all know that if a video is "all over the internet" then it must be true.
3
@Sports Medicine
If you pay for it it's fine by me. * rolls eyes *
1
I guess Melania is not just another pretty face after all. And I cannot disagree with her opinion on Ricardel. Maybe, while Melania is at it, she can call for the firing of John Bolton.
It sounds as if Melania has morphed in to Nancy Reagan. Perhaps the Donald is so unhinged, that Melania is going to start making decisions, a la Nancy, when Reagan apparently had Alzheimers while serving as our President.
I still think that the only reason Trump wants the Wall is because he thinks that the Trump Organization will get the contract to build it. He sure could use the 1.6 Billion. Trump has a lot of lawyers he needs to pay.
Mean while, back to Melania, I guess she may be more of a Dragon Lady than we thought.
11
@Jean---she is the Queen of Cruel
And every day I think about the class act that were the Obamas and I shake my head in disbelief at how we fell that far and that fast in such a short time. It will take many years to recover our reputation, if we ever will.
56
@AMM. Think how long Mitch McConnell will get back his reputation. My guess is NEVER. However me thinks he doesn't really care.
3
Well we don't need more wall built. We need more democracy in the South America Countries that have drug and gang problems driving out it's citizens. The people fleeing need to stay, get involved and clean up the problems in those countries by fighting for strong democracies that are free of corruption and crime. Good luck with that. But that is what we need. Instead we have the weirdness of people marching upon an already existing wall on our Texas border. The other side are US armed militias. Now that is weird.
5
Remember that Trump believes the body is like a battery, it has only so much energy in it and then it is used up. That's right folks, that is a firm, unshakeable "fact" for the President of the United States. Thus why walk when you can be driven?
6
@jimc "why walk when you can be driven? "
To honor thousands of young men who died horrible deaths fighting for their countries long before their "batteries could be worn out."
"Trump believes the body is like a battery" - Pathetic!
1
He also believes in ‘clean coal’....
1
If Trump closes down the government because he doesn't get a wall, perhaps it is indicative of a lack of maturity as well as character which would only cause many government employees to lose wages around the holidays. This isn't likely to increase his approval rating.
5
About that wall- Ms. Collins says, "Maybe Mexico will pay for it." EVERY time Trump mentioned it during his campaign, he forcefully said,"... AND MEXICO WILL pay for it!" Mexico won't.
So, now he wants us the taxpayers to pay for it. That would amount to breaking his campaign promise. Here's hoping the Congress reminds him of that as he tries to con the members into voting for it.
9
Perhaps the Wall is more symbolic than an actual physical line of demarcation. I have just read the first 28 comments on this opinion piece and it appears everyone is 100% anti - Trump and anti-Wall. I wonder if the same 28 commentators would balk if the whole group of Caravan migrants, and those that would be inspired to follow, be allowed to walk in to the US? If that is what you want why not have a referendum on the matter?
@S Sm-There are fewer than 4,000 people in the "caravan." I suspect they could all enter the U.S. and it wouldn't make one bit of difference. We are a nation of 327 million. The "caravan" presents no threat to us.
2
@S Sm
How about just allowing the lawfull process of asylum to continue rather than reality show grandstanding.
America IS Great.
Stop the side show
3
@S Sm- Oh please. No body is just walking across the border, new wall or no new wall. We are not going to have a scene outta the movie "Born in East LA."
1
Future generations, assuming there are some, will look back at this month to pinpoint “Peak Trump” the point when everything beginning with his escalator ride down to the presidency to Columbus Day. Veterans’ Day was his Verdun. But also, the elections happened and although the blue wave was somewhat attenuated—it was more like an incoming spring tide—it did arrive. Now Trump looks ahead to Mueller’s report, a Democratic House and two years of increasing and largely ineffective viciousness which will culminate with the first override of a Trump veto and who knows, articles of impeachment? All that’s coming and now you can tell those future generations with some certainty that it started in November 2018.
5
"Also, are we supposed to be worried about Donald Trump’s health? He looked a little bedraggled in France, where he was apparently subject to wild mood swings,"
Yes Gail we should be very worried. It is abundantly clear to me that djt is living in the heightened emotional and dangerous state of "Fight or Flight':
"A sequence of internal activities triggered when a person is faced with a threat, a stressful or dangerous situation. It prepares the body for combat and struggle or for running away to safety. "
American Psychological Association
What's scaring this guy is the Mueller investigation and not due to voter tampering but, the ties of his acquisition of wealth to Russian business oligarchs. On 11-7 he woke up to the Democrats winning back the majority of the House and he lost the wagons of protection he so desperately needed that supported the 'Mueller witch hunt' theory.
The Wall, threatening to veto any spending package, his wife's publicly stated disdain for Ricardel, etc. are just battles he thrives on for he holds the power of this presidency ; "I am president and you are not."
That $585 million “Fund for America’s Kids and Grandkids” Grave is sponsoring, pay back the money borrowed from the Social Security Trust Fund.
4
Hey, maybe China will pay for it, if we keep our Navy out of the Pacific. That sounds like the kind of deal Trump would go for (and Putin would tell him he's doing the right thing).
4
@JTML
Only IF China finances another Trump hotel project.
One prediction for 2020: Trump will proclaim that the wall has been completed. It is a beautiful, fifty-foot high structure that you can see through due to a sophisticated system of prisms, mirrors, and smoke. Standing on one side of the wall, you can see through the wall as if it were not there. Moreover, you can walk through it due to the fact that is built out of air, thus making the cost for the total project only $14.36, which is less than a Big Mac, Coke, and fries.
9
We are arriving at the point where “The Wall” is a punchline to jokes and becomes another way of wildly ridiculous and expensive ideas. “Wildfires in California? Build a Wall 30 ft high around every house. Rising water levels? Build a Wall along the Coast. Declining Stok Market? Build a Wall aroundWall Street.”
When people at Trump rallies start laughing when Trump says “Wall”, Trump is toast.
24
@Rita
How about just building a wall around Trump?
@Rita
Wall or no wall, why isn't he toast already? Trump supporters will never laugh at a rally as long as they're being paid to show up.
1
Next up: Trump will send even more troops to occupy Texas, Arizona and California and then claim it’s the Democrats fault for not building the Wall. He will blame the Democrats when the troops miss Thanksgiving, blame them more at Christmas and, the ultimate, blame them when the troops miss the New Year’s Day bowl games. Mattis will defer to the chain of command and say the troops are on an essential mission. But at some point the troops themselves will tire of the charade and stories will begin coming out that they are doing nothing useful. Some in the country will say it’s just the Army being the Army, you know, hurry up and wait, and you can’t blame Trump for that. And at some point a caravan that has dwindled to couple hundred people will try to request asylum at a designated point of entry only to be told that their request will be heard in a few months, please take a number. THEN Mexico will pay, because the caravan will never actually set foot in the USA and we won’t need to put them in tent cities after all. It’s a genius strategy.
30
Wall or health care. Affordable health care or grandiose boondoggle. Decisions, decisions, decisions. What to do.
Here’s something to consider in choosing. Three weeks ago, I fell and ended up in a hospital ER. No broken bones, just a cut in my forehead that was glued back together. Never saw an actual doctor in the five hours I was there, mostly sitting in the waiting room. Just got the bill: $14,953.27.
Wall? Really not anywhere near the top of my priorities list. Yours?
207
I got a small cut on my two days before flying to Amsterdam. By the time the plane landed, I had developed a soft tissue infection swelling up my palm. I found a walk-in clinic the terminal, where in 20 minutes I saw nurse and a doctor, had the wound dressesed, and was given a 10-day supply of antibiotic. The pills, not a prescription. Total cost was 36 euros. For the price of Trump’s ornamental wall we could repair American healthcare and extend the tax deduction for battery cars regardless of the number made by an individual manufacturer.
207
So true! 2 months ago I was hospitalized for the replacement of a diseased aortic valve. The cost will be nearly 10 times the median household income in the US. Security is not our first priority. Affordable health care for all is!
152
@Fearrington Bob
I had the same condition repaired here in Canada last March. The procedure required a team of surgeons, lasted six hours, and put me in intensive care for three days. It cost me nothing. No, wait, that’s wrong. I paid into that system for fifty years of working life, and I’m sure glad it was there for me when I needed it. Good luck, Bob!
90
Clearly we are witnessing someone in cognitive decline, and he’s also experiencing the physical decline customary of an overweight man in his 70s with unhealthy habits (fast food, no exercise, etc.). As others have noted, this multi-pronged deterioration is propelling the behind-the-scenes machinations of Melania et al. Being president requires great mental and physical stamina, as candidate Trump correctly noted. His big lie was that he possessed such stamina. Obama dealt quite deftly with a hostile Congress for six years; Trump began cracking up after six days, hardly auguring good things for him (and, by extension, us) down the road.
And I very much look forward to the tu quoque arguments about Democratic president Woodrow Wilson’s camouflaged incapacitation as justification for efforts to cover up Trump’s neurological decline. (It sounds like the spluttering sort of whataboutism, gussied up with a patina of history, that Fox would attempt.) If that’s the best they’ve got, bring it on.
112
@Tom Heintjes
Deep in the archives of the Times you will find a 5 part series by Errol Morris on, among other things, the reverberations from Wilson's hidden illness extending all the way to today. He gives us a full description of neurology and neurological injuries leading to an inability to perceive a paretic limb, for example. You will also learn a new word: anosognosia, the inability to perceive one's deficits, uniquely useful in today's environment.
2
@Tom Heintjes
Don't forget Ronnie. Pretty far gone mentally by the end of his second term
6
It is axiomatic for we vox publii to spurn thoughts expressed in Latin. We prefer You too to Tu quoqui
2
New Paradigm observers see two distinctive use of political parties—despite the false equivalences media drives by counting seats and election wins. The real story is context: for one group, the party is a means to drive divisions/slash freedoms/lie and kill. In her promise to be there, a Mississippi candidate's invitation to her black counterpart to attend a “public hanging,” is a new generation of racism with old threats and images of death.
New Paradigm observers see ideological/rhetoric/racist ties in recent deaths and threats: a wave raising from the Orlando shootings, with recent violent examples at a shopping center, two grandparents died; a club--where two survivors of the Seattle shootings died; a synagogue shooting, where a 95 year-old Holocaust survivor was killed.
The common feature: the killers are American white males, armed with AR-15 style assault weapons, all legal.
The weapon itself has become not an icon of freedom but of death. It puts the fetish of violence over the virtue of safety. Why does freedom of gun ownership also embed those who commit spectacular crimes?
Politic parties are frames, collections of people interested in government for diverse reasons. But only one party supports laws that legalize preventable deaths by turning them into scattered statistics.
39
@Walter Rhett,
Thank you, Sir, you have been missed. Witnessing here 'The Great American Lie' where the gap widens far broader than The Grand Canyon, between those with a growing bent for violence, and where freedom soars higher than ever, because the Living grow rarer by the day.
3
Its not some Mississippi senator, its Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, Republican of Mississippi who well knows the long history of public hangings (lynching African Americans) in her state. Just another instance of dog whistle racism in the age of Trump republicanism. Use her name, her ancestors would be proud of the reference, especially since her opponent is black and male, their favorite target.
2
Gee, I thought the wall deal was already done. Chuck Schumer already agreed to fund the wall in exchange for reinstatement of the DACA bargain and allowing TPS immigrants, who have been here legally for years, to stay. But any bargain can be improved, particularly since now we control the House. We should add allowing the immigrants in the caravans, those needed to rebuild Florida and California, and a nice round number of about 100,000 a year, to enter and stay. And we could add absolute protection for Mueller and his investigation. Then Donnie can have that big beautiful wall......
14
Two more years and he’s gone.
The 2018 election results spell that out clearly; despite Mitch McConnell’s having rushed to the mic to proclaim victory, because he knew that, once the votes were counted, the GOP would lose, big-time.
Two more years and he’s gone. Trump has lost support in precisely those states that he must win to be re-elected.
Two more years, and he is gone. That’s our mantra. We’re counting down the days.
85
@RCT, from your lips to god’s ears. Getting 45 and his compadres out is still going to take a lot of work and an unceasing ground game. Please volunteer through one of the orgs that are sustaining the push from now until the 2020 elections. There are opportunities for those with lots of time and energy and those with not so much of either. You can make calls for the ACLU from home for an hour (focused on issues, not candidates), or you can spend every weekend canvassing through your local Indivisible group. We must continue the work to ensure the return of our country to sanity!
57
@RCT
Be careful with that mantra. Mine used to be "Trump could never get elected," then it became "The electoral college was put in place to protect us from people like Trump." Now it's "I will personally do everything I can to keep this ship from sinking."
14
@RTC And everyone needs to vote. Even in the high-turnout midterm 2018 election only 50% of eligible voters voted. Typically only 60% vote in presidential years. Why not 80% in 2020?
6
If someone could just record Trump and play back the recording to him on an endless loop, we might not ever have to see him again. A problem seems to arise whenever he has to do anything that doesn't bring him the adulation of his rally crowd ( are we certain that it isn't the same group anyway?) He is not, remember, some one who has ever put anyone's needs before his own.
Maybe there is some video on the building of existing Wall sections - - include that with his crowd-love loop and he should be easy to control.
The huge number of women set to enter Congress is a big lift. I thought Nita Lowey was getting a little long in the tooth, like so many in government, but this is an achievement. It's just vital that the experienced hands initiate the newcomers -- in under 2 years, they'll have to show signs of improvement.
12
@cheryl: "Maybe there is some video on the building of existing Wall sections..." It would have to be CGI from Pixar. Ain't nothing to film in reality. But show it to Trump and he'd be overjoyed. "See? Here it is! The Fake News Media won't report it because they hate me!"
1
@cheryl,
Trump is reminiscent of an angry wasp under attack, boxed in, unable to escape; redress his gold mop, give him an exit hole and turn on the light. He can address his rallies from his nest in Florida.
Ms. Collins, thank you yet again for your heroic effort to help us all relax by putting a comic spin on this ongoing tragedy. But I really coulda done without the accompanying photo reminding me that millions of our fellow citizens still think this is all just great. Absolutely no way to laugh about that.
61
@Michael
Yes.
A better photo accompanies the letter to the editor this morning about Milania's intervention. Trump looks like he is on his way to the gas chamber, and Melania has her usual stone expression. Hands not touching. No even walking in sinc.
1
Trump’s behavior this past week is a sign of “new slippage,” as Gail Collins notes. Although it is beyond clear that he suffers from a phenomenal case of malignant narcissism and some type of personality disorder, Trump’s newly elevated levels of anger, instability, fatigue, and disorder might also signal early stages of Alzheimer’s disease from which his father died. Anyone who has dealt with a loved one in early stages of dementia will tell you that travel, a disrupted routine, and the stress of keeping up with cognitive norms trigger that type of behavior. It is also common at that stage for family members to try to hide the truth - which also could explain Melania’s newly found aggression on national security staffing, as well as Ivanka and Jared’s frantic efforts to replace Kelly with James Ayers, their trusted friend, as Chief of Staff.
We may well not have a functioning president, but an unelected presidential family and staff pulling the strings, supported by a compliant Republican congressional leadership. After the new Congress is installed, perhaps the first investigation should be into Trump’s mental fitness to continue in office.
192
@J.
Your comment about travel and a disrupted routine leading to increased signs of Alzheimer's disease being
exhibited by Trump is quite relevant. He has been wobbly for a long time but lately has seemed to undergo a quantum change. His comments to reporters "you are so rude" with no other answer last week reminded me so very much of my mother who had Alzheimer's Disease.
6
"Go high when they go low."
Dems have a great opportunity to announce they will not use the threat of a gov't shutdown for any political purpose. That they will support America's word and honor and pay for commitments America has already made.
This would give them sole claim to bipartisanship and ethical good will at no cost. Doing so gives them a better negotiating edge than the threat of shutdown. Whichever side uses the threat of gov't shutdown loses. They should turn this into a win. Now.
31
Trump has been using the Wall as a bargaining chip for a long time. Yet, if you search the Times website, you find lots of articles indicating that the Wall is a serious policy goal of Trump's.
Ms. Collins has it right. Trump is using the Wall as a bargaining chip. More than a dozen Times articles that come up pursuant to search and indicate otherwise are simply wrong. Trump, as Ms. Collins accurately states, has never treated the Wall as a sincere policy goal. And all the Times articles that indicate otherwise are simply inaccurate.
17
@michjas
The Times, like most of its readers, primarily focuses just on the words politicians say. In the case in point, President Trump has been promising to build a thirty-foot high wall along our southern border from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean for at least 2 1/2 years now. He mentions the WALL frequently in his speeches and tweets.
If the wall is a political ploy, a “bargaining chip”’as you put it, michjas, Mr. Trump has failed to make that bargain clear. And if, as you contend, “Trump has never treated the Wall as a sincere policy goal,” he has done an awful job, wink-wink, at signaling his lack of Wall-construction sincerity to the press and the general public.
Mr. Trump’s public speaking skills are neither subtle nor nuanced. Hence, most of us only take his declarations at face value. As well as we can decipher his statements.
You hint that you have knowledge of the hidden agenda behind President Trump’s ongoing Wall-related ramblings.
michjas, what does DT really have in mind?
1
I just wish Melania would get rid of Bolton too.
Somebody's got to do it.
363
@Mark Thomason
Then who would be the entrant in the Mark Twain look-alike contest?
I agree - he is an absolute horror.
14
@Mark Thomason ---- just a random thought from down-under. When Melania's condemnation of Ricardel was first reported, it came with a pic of letterhead grandly displaying the title "Office of the First Lady".
Since when has wife-hood to a President become a constitutionally recognised or otherwise official government position ? Did Mrs Trump have to pass a security clearance to qualify for it ? Is she about to sideline power-behind-the-throne Eleanor Roosevelt by taking over as an upfront Donnie-meister ?
The mind boggles.
13
@Mark Thomason
I wish she would get rid of Donald
19
A wall can work both ways. It can keep people out and it can keep people imprisoned. trump's wall may not physically exist yet, but the very idea has imprisoned many Americans, mentally isolating them from the world beyond our borders.
116
Between the president’s healthcare promises, the non-existent wall and the mysterious tax break he promised by the midterm elections, the man has lost any semblance of control over his presidency. Now he also doesn’t control is cabinet staffing with the First Lady getting a major player fired, or at least removed from her radius of influence. What a pile of problems he’s created for himself, and it’s only going to get worse with the new Congress.
66
@Jsbliv. True, but Trump doesn't even have control over his own mouth ... or his mind, if he has one.
1
@Jsbliv You are being far too generous for he was never in control to begin with.
1
"Our president did suggest that Spain might want to wall off the Sahara. But everybody sort of coughed nervously and changed the subject."
I'm intrigued. Would Spain build the wall along their own land? Would they wall off Gibraltar, too, as part of Brexit - killing two birds with one stone wall?
Or would the wall be in the Mediterranean? That might be Trump's subtle way of pointing out a risk to America we've been ignoring for years; trusting thousands of miles of oceans to deter approach, and thus leaving our shores totally defenseless to invasion.
Come to think of it, with his policy of encouraging fossil fuel companies to live out their most depraved fantasies, we might need a wall on our coasts, just to keep the oceans out. Maybe a drafting error at the Army Corps of Engineers could accidentally leave Mar-a-Lardo on the Atlantic side of the Florida Wall.
75
@b fagan
Mar-a-Lardo... nice.
I'm going to start using that one.
3
@b fagan
Actualy it refers to the citiies of Ceuta and Melilla, which are spanish territories in Africa.
Educate yourself.
1
@b fagan
Good thinking! Back here in Madrid there´s a groundswell for the Mediterranean wall. They´re rallying in the Puerta del Sol as we speak.
1
Do I detect a supposition here that Melania is less qualified than Donald to make decisions, such as personnel decisions, that may affect national security? Such a supposition will not withstand scrutiny. No one could be less qualified on questions of national security than Donald.
138
@TOM
Melania has much more international experience, she spending her childhood in wherever she’s from ( Serbia?)
In contrast, Trump has, and continues to spend his childhood in solely in the US of A.
5
My 98-year old father walks two miles every day, rain or shine. I guess it helps that he doesn’t care what his hair looks like. But then he’ll never Make America Great Again, either. Guess you have to ride around in golf carts to do that.
232
@Richard
Your father is doing far more to make America great.
11
The Wall has been started. The linked article even has a picture of a plaque on a wall proclaiming it to be part of the Trump Wall. Oops - my bad - but it is seriously funny ... and a sign of the times. Technically though, as a "project" the wall has started because the prototypes are part of "the project". This turns out to be a great practice example for parsing a Trump lie. "The wall has been started" loses its status as a truthful statement when it it is clearly meant to imply actual construction has started. The clarity comes from the actual lie about funding and the plaque's attempt to prove that the wall construction has started. The latter being such a blatant falsehood that it becomes the perfect example of a web of Trump lies that turns back in on itself. Someone should write a book creating a taxonomy for Trump lies.
37
@Rusty Carr
The plaque comes first, with His name on it. The wall can wait.
The House should actually appropriate money to build the Fake President’s beautiful, amazing, and magnificent Wall but with a particular caveat inserted at the end of the specific language in the bill doing so: “This appropriation will automatically expire if Mexico fails to commit to fund this Wall within ten calendar days from its passage.”
64
Once again, the photo with the article is truly worth deconstructing.
A “rally participant” is holding a sign that reads-Finish The Wall-
Are there other signs that read - Turn on the Concrete Mixers- Get the Elevations Correct-Remember the Flash Flood Retention Ponds-Graffiti Resistant Surface?
I wonder if there similar signs in China during the construction of The Great Wall—- Hurry — before the hordes get here...
28
@Dry Socket Good historical analogy, but you might have pointed out the the Great Wall didn't work. Having been there I can point out that it is a great tourist attraction.
8
@Jeffrey Davis My wife and I went down to San Diego a couple of months ago, and despite being warned by a former co-worker how "dangerous" it would be, we took a side trip to Border Fields State Park to check out where the border fence runs out into the sea. There wasn't another soul on the United States side save a couple of border guards in a pickup, but through the fence we could see and hear people enjoying a lovely day at the beach in Mexico, a carnival with live music, and what appeared to be some sort of small stadium. What there was NOT were hordes clamoring to get past the fence, and there were no signs of any invasion, unless you count the people who invaded the beach to have a good time. At one point my wife, a naturalized American citizen, turned to me and said "The border is cool."
Before the midterms, a comment that I made elsewhere about the cowardice of Caucasian America was met with derision and a statement that it was "the most racist statement I have ever heard." Don't be ridiculous. A large percentage of American Caucasians are hiding behind their guns and their fear of human beings from elsewhere or otherwise not like them (I'm not even going to bring religion into this) in a misguided attempt to feel more secure about themselves and their position in today's American society. Sooner or later, one way or another, something's got to give.
5
Trump's beautiful imaginary wall has been a rightful target of derision on the left ever since he proposed it, yet along with the highly offensive Lock Her Up, Build the Wall became a favourite go to rallying cry for Trump supporters and worked wonderfully well to create the all too real wall that now stretches across America dividing communities and even families. With helpers like Whitaker and Kavanaugh, Trump now hopes to remain undisturbed behind this ugly wall of his as he further undermines the very raison d'etre of a great country.
64
Mexico can't pay for the wall. They are already, and will continue, paying for the tunnels that go under the wall!
32
@Peter E Schwab
Let me get this right, you are saying that the Mexican Federal government is paying to have tunnels built under the US-Mex border, for what purpose is unclear. To secretly facilitate moving Honduran and Columbian asylum seeking into the US ? For smugglers? Pre-military invasion?
Please point us to the source of this “information"
2
@Peter E Schwab,
Let us clean our gutters first, before addressing this needy wall that is serving as another divide between our Nation, who should know better.
1
@Bombadil,
Our country is in need of infrastructure, and Trump's concept of the above appears to be deplorable, to be dumped in the sewer of historical anecdotes.
We are under the tunnel, and are gathering momentum to move forward in the light of the day.
1
Criticizing Trump for not joining European leaders on a 700 yard walk just isn't fair! His bone spurs act up every time he has an obligation to the military.
368
@A. Conley
I wonder why he never takes that overcoat off? Perhaps he is hiding something...like his being overweight and unhealthy. For someone with his head in the TV all the time, who is of advanced age, and overweight, to walk any distance at all is very taxing. Maybe he didn't want us to see him huff and puff.
Then again, maybe his actions are the signs of his deteriorating mental health. Physical health and mental health problems co-exist in the elderly.
Plus, there are those nasty bone spurs.
p.s. I'm an old guy who feels the experience
of age creeping up on me.
13
How do the Trumpers keep those 2 simultaneous thoughts in their heads: Congress MUST provide funding for the wall AND Mexico will pay for the wall? I guess they like being sold snake oil.
61
Love the sign in the photo that accompanies this op-ed:
'FINISH THE WALL''.
Prepared of course, and passed out to Kool-Ade drinkers, to be held up at one of Trump's made-for-tv-reality-rallies.
All the signs are passed out by Trump's campaign people.
You never see a 'home-made' sign.
Too risky to let people into these staged events with First Amendment rights and their own signs.
We look more like North Korea every day.
Someone need s to tell the folks that the 'WALL' has not been started, so a sign that suggests 'finishing it' is a non sequitur.
64
Please someone correct me if I am wrong (it happens), but this is the first time in memory that a First Lady has been the one to make an announcement about the firing of someone who is part of the presidential White House staff. Hey way to go Melania for getting rid of the right wing scary person. Maybe she'll get rid of Bolton as well. I have a few other suggestions for people who need to go that are hanging around the White House. She needs to boot Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Jared Kushner (Mueller may take care of his departure), Ivanka Trump (is she even there anymore), and the rest know who they are who are past their "sell by" date.
Trump was like the truculent embarrassing child at a party he didn't want to attend while he was in France. He pouted in bed and refused to participate in planned events on Saturday while other world leaders braved the elements to honor the fallen. Nor would he deign to walk with them up the Champs Elysees to the Arche de Triomphe. Later he blamed his security people (of course)when he was roundly criticized for his rude, disrespectful behavior.
Something changed upon Trump's return to the U.S. The White House is in even more chaos, with Melania asserting her non-authority, and Trump angrier than usual because the midterm election was not a ringing endorsement of his faux presidency. So now he is demanding The Wall get built or he will stamp his feet and veto everything in sight. How about helping those in CA who have lost everything to fire?
161
@Diana He likes the pageantry and pomp of being president but not the daily grind of being president. Right now he is merely hanging on by his fingernails and what shred of sanity he has left.
10
@Diana
Maybe if he would have set the fires we would hear how they may look dangerous, but only one person can save us. Of course that one person is the guy in the White House.
Sound familiar?
6
@Diana
Melania can't run for President, but she could be appointed to the Cabinet, maybe as a replacement for Bolton.
6
There’s a simple solution. Just tell him they’re already building a great big beautiful wall and calling it the Trump Invasion Barrier. He’ll love that. Then show him a picture of the Vatican wall and say: “There it is!” He’ll be ecstatic. And if he asks to go and see it just tell him it’s raining down there.
167
@David: I wonder what would happen if, somehow, Trump was denied any more hairspray. He must go through a can a day. If all hairspray disappeared from the earth, so would Trump. End of problem!
6
Genius.
5
How many miles of wall could be paid for by Trump's evaded taxes and the interest thereon?
If the IRS can't finish his audit (ha, ha), let's crowdsource the job.
40
@Jim S. Remember that the Trump family’s tax evasion schemes began with Daddy Trump. Donald, when he’s finally indicted for hundreds of millions in unpaid taxes, will pay the price for Daddy’s own history of wholly illegal money manipulations.
1
He is so unbelievably invested in the wall, fear and paranoia. It gets weirder every day. And is Melania demonstrating her brand of "be best?" Just asking because "be best" is grammatically weird and incomprehensible to those of us who learned to diagram sentences in elementary school.
60
@KB: Yesterday Trump told The Daily Caller that Democrats won because of fraud. People, he said, would vote then go back to their cars and change their shirts and hats and then go back in and vote again. He said a person needs an ID to buy a box of cereal. He said people were turning around in circles (to vote again, I guess).
Each day he becomes more unhinged. Each and every day. And nobody is protecting us. Nobody. I guess we're all just supposed to laugh it off as I see so many pundits on TV do every day. They laugh a lot, now, at Trump. Maybe it's just nervous energy and shock at what Trump brings to us every day, but I find laughing at the constant breaking of our norms and institutions and election confidence to be a very wrong response.
3
Ricardel was employed by the Boeing Company as Vice President, Strategic Missile & Defense Systems. She’s not an engineer. What was she doing in that position?
How did she work her way through several high level gov’t positions and wind up as Deputy National Security Advisor?
I don’t think there was ethnic competition, Serbia vs Croatia! Perhaps Melania believes that Ricardel was just fawning it.
The wall: if ants can build their great mounds, we can build a wall. Trump thinks we’re all a bunch of worker ants anyways.
Trump and his issues are becoming more and more esoteric and difficult for the logical mind to comprehend. But he's POTUS and Putin's buddy!
14
@Texan - simply put there isn't one competent experienced, and well regarded in their field, cabinet member in this entire administration.
4
@Texan as they say it is who you know and not what you know that advances one through life.
1
@Texan
And like he told Acosta: I'm President and you aren't.
I can hardly wait till he "aren't"
3
I have a plan that just might work. We persuade Mexico to build their wall along the border and WE pay for it. This might be good for both countries and the southern border could be designed to match the one that Canada is building to the north, also thanks to our generosity. I know Canada pretty well and, frankly, they are utterly sick and tired of us.
25
When will they take him away? Tomorrow would be good. Yesterday would be even better...
104
Let's start a new slogan: 25 for 45.
(25 being, of course, the 25th Amendment)
7
@MdGuy
Or 25 yr sentence
3
“Not sure this is a sign of new slippage…”
More like an avalanche! It’s really difficult, actually impossible, to figure out if anything at all takes place in the White House except taking pot shots, backstabbing, and firing people. Now Melania’s into the act, you just have to wonder whether or not we’ll survive as a nation for the next two years?
Something is really wrong with Trump, he’s getting worse. I’m beginning to think he doesn’t believe his own lies anymore. This midterm election was a blowout for the Democrats, regardless of his tweets to the contrary, and it's sinking in. I see on the horizon a complete meltdown, and just hope he’s still in love Kim from NK. Otherwise, POOF!!!
41
@cherrylog754: What is even more frightening to me is that Pence agrees with Trump, that the Dems really didn't do that well, there was no blue wave and they, the valiant Rs, were the big winners because, well, I guess they picked up 2 (I've lost track) in the Senate. Delusional liars. And with Pence, it's not illness.....it's strategy. Which proves how unfit Pence also is for the presidency.
2
And to think how Trump tries to come across as a tough guy!
He talks and tweets tough but...
He surrounds himself with 'macho' guys like coal miners, police officers, construction workers but...
He mocked Hillary Clinton for supposedly lacking stamina but...
Trump is a mollycoddle! He lied last weekend about being unable to move in the rain - on a commemoration of those who endured agony - but he just didn't want to face the elements. There is his lack of willpower when it comes to food, and he even shamelessly wants more dessert than anyone else at the table. He makes an inordinate amount of trips to Mar a Lago and his golf courses to unwind from a job he does lightly! This is someone who spends hours daily watching cable news.
What a poser in Trump! He is the farthest from strong.
108
@NM: he's just a wimp, wimpy man.
4
Sometimes not even Gail Collins can find anything amusing about current events. Maybe Romney will resurface and we'll get to hear about Seamus again.
21
@L D Fret not, L D, ol' Mitt is back... and he will be the GOP nominee for president in 2020. How's that for a side-splitter?
Maybe we could give the contract to Lego. Make it out of recycled plastic. Good for the environment, satisfying to Trump because he can play with the Lego models, and probably as effective as that 30 foot concrete wall would be, but a lot cheaper.
32
Remember the economic choice of guns vs. butter. Now the choice is healthcare vs. the great Mexico wall. I vote for healthcare and I did by voting Blue. I wasn't alone in my vote as many voted with me. The voters have spoken, NO WALL.
50
Can't we just spend a million or so to build a wall around Donald Trump? Let him think that it extends all the way to our southern border. I imagine the Mexicans would be willing to pay for that one.
243
@stu freeman: If your proposed wall around Trump includes a big tv, his cellphone and delivery service from McDonalds, he would be ecstatic and so would we.
9
@stu freeman
I would pay for myself.
5
Maybe a nice brick beanie for Donald.
Frankly at this point he probably can’t tell the difference between a yarn wall, a cement wall, a piñata, whatever- so give him one of those virtual reality headgear things with a wall image and set him loose in a West Wing rubber room while Melania works over the hardliners in the WH in high heels and no explanation.
The Lord is working in mysterious ways I guess.
5
Are we really still talking about THE WALL? And who will pay for it? Really??? With everything else that is always happening?
Just to put this to rest, I propose that there be a THE WALL Go Fund Me Campaign so the people who really care about this and believe it will make a difference can contribute to it. Finally with financing, THE WALL can be be built by that great builder Donald Trump and his beloved base as volunteers in service to the country that they love.
This semi-privatizing is more than likely illegal, but hey ,by the time that any one notices, no one will care and The Wall can get checked off The Campaign Promise List. It will be right up there with the tax cut and the Supreme Court. On a personal level I would have felt that I sold out since this is my idea but I deal with that for the greater good, just so we won't have to talk about it anymore. Ever, ever again.
41
@Laurie Knoop.
Brilliant idea ... A GoFundMe campaign that fans of Trump can fund if hey really want a wall. I really like that suggestion. Let the know-nothings blow their cash on a stupid plan.
I recommend 2 options for Democrats to propose.
1. Trump said MEXICO should pay. Send Trump to MEXICO to negotiate it, and he should stay there until he is successful.
2. WALL TAX. If the wall is so important to Trump, he should propose what tax should be raised to pay for it. Call it the DONALD TRUMP MEMORIAL BORDER WALL TAX.
258
@MarkE
As an alternative to your suggestions, how about Trump pass the hat around to the GOP owners and let them pay for the wall. Trump could chip in a bit as well. After all, it was his idea. He and the rest of the gang can well afford it as a thank you for their tax cut.
Then, after it is built, someone can blow it up. A pile of rubble would be fitting memorial to the Trump presidency.
123
@MarkE
This is genius! Trump goes to Mexico STAYS there until the art of the deal is done. But if it is raining, he might have to opt for #2.
44
@MarkE: Great idea, MarkE! The tax is especially fine. It could be Trump's long-promised tax on carried interest, and if that isn't enough, we could add in a tax on all billionaires of 10% of net worth each year, as disclosed in tax returns, for the last 10 years. Trump could fund his own wall.
32
Rio Grande: the Hugely Biggly River, 1800 miles long, flows from SW Colorado through central New Mexico and along the boundary between Texas and Mexico to the delta on the Gulf of Mexico. I rode the length from Elephant Butte to the Gulf on more than one occasion in the early 70's. Fifty years ago the Rio Grande still had enough water in it to actually form a proper estuarine delta at the mouth.
The visual imagery, sounds and smells I took in on those travels still dance in my dreams. I always thought it was missing something. The other day it dawned on me. What that beautiful open, sometimes barren and desolate landscape needs is a Wall standing 30 feet high along the border right on down to a sea wall then submarine nets out 3 miles into the Gulf.
Problem solved.
54
One of the nice things about being Donald Trump or being a cult member of the Trump Mad Hatter mob is that reality is irrelevant.
In their minds, their beautiful White Wonder Bread Cement Wall is nearing magical completion, never mind that no money has been appropriated for it by the US Congress or that Mexico told Daycare Donnie to pay for his own toys....muchas gracias.
Add in Donald's mythical rehabilitation of the 'beautiful' filthy, fatal, collapsing coal industry and a fresh lump of coal in everyone's Merry Christmas stockings, and 2018 is a magical year for Trump's Mad Hatters.
Trump is Making America White Again, as Donald's Confederate rallies clearly demonstrate a sea of white faces as far as the eye can see...Praise Jesus....who was a Middle-Eastern Jewish fellow that 2018 Trump's Mad Hatters would have been proudly roughed up and deported because of his swarthy appearance and democratic socialist tendencies.
All praise the great Trumpinocchio, who said in Jan 2017 that “we’re going to have health insurance for everybody. We’re going to have a healthcare that is far less expensive and far better" ...and sort of kept his fake promise.
Trump has better healthcare...because he's the so-called President...and it's cheaper for him because the taxpayer is paying for it.
As for everybody else's healthcare...Trumpcare has Americans carefully covered...in body bags.
"Take two tax cuts and call me from the morgue !"
The GOP Doctor Is In - "drop dead, America !"
673
@Socrates The Democratic presidential nominee should repeat Trump's lies to his base. "If you are one of the coal miners rehired with a great job because of Donald Trump, vote for him. If you are one of the construction workers with a great job building the Wall, vote for him. If you are someone with better and cheaper health insurance thanks to Donald Trump, vote for him. If you are a farmer or small businessman profiting handsomely from Donald Trump's tariffs, vote for him. But if you are not actually benefiting from Donald Trump's leadership, perhaps it's time to NOT vote for him!"
43
Hahaha.
Does anyone wonder if the affordable housing crunch in so many cities -- rents are through the roof; they cannot build fast enough... -- is because there are thousands and thousands of undocumented immigrant families that also need shelter in our sanctuary cities?
We decimated the labor market with cheap workers who are unseen and unregulated. It is amazing what it costs to live in sanctuary cities if you are not a legacy family property owner. Not looking for sympathy. Just saying: in between all the joking, you might want to understand what is happening out here in terms of what people are seeing, and what they are paying in their communities. Is open borders really the answer? How will this affect our social programs in years to come, particularly Social Security/Disability which is siphoning off worker dollars. Do the rentiers care about these new costs in society? Do they have a long-term gameplan for survival?
3
1. I can guarantee that the cost of housing in San Francisco is not affected by someone undocumented watching children or washing dishes
2. Numerous places have advertised for workers willing to pick tomatoes, harvest onions, milk cows, and of course wash dishes, and no one shows up.
3. Of course open borders are not the answer. But no one on any side of this debate said that they were.
4. In many cases, undocumented workers pay taxes and contribute to social security without getting any benefit. We, the citizens, are benefiting.
5. A much more rational answer is to acknowledge our need for and our debt to such workers, and treat them fairly. Allow them to come when needed, and go back to Latin America when their job is done. Give them legal recourse when exploited.
6. Recognize that we are part of the problem: when we subsidize Iowa corn production, we are undercutting small farmers in Mexico who then must travel to support their families
551
@Midway - where, exactly, in "Midwest" are you? I'm in Chicago and the grumbling here is all the darned rich folks who are moving downtown when they finally are empty nesters, or the younger people filling up the expanding waves of luxury apartments.
This isn't Manhattan, where the new luxury apartments are just places Trump's overseas clients drop cash for, these are buildings with residents.
And in this midwestern city, it's not undocumented immigrants filling all this new construction.
85
@Midway
Wasting billions on a wall (that Mexico won't pay for), not to mention billions for maintenance down the road, is a bigger drain on society than any anti-immigrant talking points.
Sound immigration policy is the answer.
BTW - What joking are you referring to?
44
I would not be surprised to find out that the reason Trump does not want to appear in public in the rain is that he's afraid of what it will do to his hair.
506
@Valerie T
Oh Valerie, if only I had known! I still have one of those handy dandy little plastic rain bonnets with accordion folds - a relic of the 1950’s.
I wish I had thought to send it to him for his travel bag. It would have saved the day!
54
@Valerie T Well, the idea of seeing that mess plastered against his skull is not a pretty one. He knows it. Can't wear a red cap to solemn occasions. We have witnessed that he can't handle an umbrella if there is a breeze..
37
@Valerie T Perhaps or could it be that he is so unhealthy he couldn't walk any amount to join the others? On the Democrat list of investigations should be a medical check up with a real doctor and a real scale. He may be unfit physically to be President and relieving him of his position may be the simpler route of removal than impeachment.
30
I don’t know about you but I’m willing to say we finished the wall last week. Better than paying for it.
169
You don't have to build a wall, just tell Trump you are building it. And don't ask him any questions about it. Like which one of the 8 prototypes did you choose? Or, how many jobs have been created by the construction of the wall? Just tell him it's a beautiful wall and if he insists on wanting to see it, tell him it's raining.
1290
@RNS You'll also need to assure Trump that it's a see-through wall. You'll remember Trump said that you have to be able to see what's going on on the other side of wall. Otherwise, "they" could throw drugs and guns over the wall and injure Americans innocently enjoying a stroll along the wall.
I suggest acrylic. Do you have a preferred material? Glass block? How about those glass-and-aluminum garage doors that are popular these days--wouldn't it give the wall a decidedly suburban look?
31
@Ex Communicator My preferred material would be a combination of 50% cement and 50% soybeans. His numbers would skyrocket in farm country.
28
@RNS
A little dry humor goes along way these days...
I mean wet humor..
7
Trump is pretending we are building his wall. He also pretends North Korea has ended its nuclear program, the fires in Southern California (where there are no forests) were caused by poor forest management, the midterms were a great victory for the GOP, and he has never met the guy who he just appointed to be attorney general. This is all in the past week. Kinda makes sense since, in essence, he is a pretend President.
540
@Victor James: Of course there are forests in Southern California. I've seen trees every time I drive by Joshua Tree National Park. But as everyone but Trump knows, the forests in California, the ones up in the north especially, are managed by the USDA or the NPS, which are parts of … um … the Federal Government, the one that Trump thinks he is the leader of.
91
@Victor James Over 90% of the California fires were on federally-owned land, so ultimately the “poor forest management” can be blamed on Trump—who ordered massive cuts to the budget that was supposed to cover California’s forests.
55
@Victor James He's learning his lines, slowly, in the extravaganza called The President Of Some Of Us. He's really trying (yes, VERY trying) and one day he'll actually get them memorized. Unless he kills us all first.
15
The Republicans have had 2 years of COMPLETE CONTROL and they haven't authorized the money for the wall. All they need to do is write a check and it's done. It should be obvious to anyone other than our President that they have no intention of building the wall. I am enjoying seeing Trump rant and rave and still get nothing done.
67
Viewing Mr. Trump’s mostly symbolic WALL in a practical way, it seems likely that the construction of dozens of tunnels under the wall would be completed before the wall itself is. Really? How difficult will it be for desperate people who have travelled hundreds or thousands of miles to get TO the WALL to find a way over, under or through the WALL?
This is no longer about border security, if it ever was. It is about the president’s ego, and his rash promises, his bogus guarantees.
Mexico isn’t going to pay for the wall as Trump guaranteed, “believe me.”
The wall was not priority #1, as we were once assurred, “believe me.”
The wall is very unlikely to achieve it’s stated purpose. It’s cost is unwarranted. And, most importantly, building the wall would make our entire country appear to be as irrational and paranoid as our president.
53
“We started building our Wall. I’m so proud of it. We started. We started. We have $1.6 billion and we’ve already started,” he tells the folks at his rallies.
Actually, the $1.6 billion was explicitly not for a Wall. Nothing’s started.
He could just as soon tell his acolytes "It's built! It's the best wall ever built! Come take a look at It"
When they come and don't find it: "It's there -believe me it's there - it's so there it's amzing!"
No problem -Hannity will start some conspiracy theory about cloaking or something equally credulous for fox newsies.
McConnell and Graham will confirm they saw it!
Gingrich will supply commentary.
136
@dave
I agree. Maybe it can be a new type of invisible wall, kind of in keeping with the emperor’s clothing?
77
The evidence suggests that Melania would be just as good as picking advisors and cabinet staff as the Donald.
43
@David Clark
Definitely! And the men, at least, would be a lot better looking than Bolton, Whittaker, Giuliani et al.
2
Amidst all Trump's lunacy, he must not get away with his villainous response to Michelle Obama's commentary about him. In "Becoming," Mrs. Obama related how deeply reckless was Trump's birther lies and how it was too personal an attack for her to ever forgive what he did. Trump's response? He shrugged that it was intended to boost sales and then he pretended to be the victim by claiming that he would never forgive President Obama for depleting the military! Not even a trace of humanity or acknowledgement of the fear he caused another to live with. Trump is mortifying, but he's no joke; he is hopelessly dangerous, indifferent and irresponsible.
449
@NMAnd yet who are these red hats who support him and yell at his rallies?...So sad.
12
@NM Trump's whole run for the Presidency was intended to boost sales.
9
Trump doesn't like rain or any outdoor activities because he's deathly afraid that his hair will go AWOL. His tax returns aren't the only things he needs to cover up. You did hit on something in your second to last paragraph, though. Just tell Trump the wall is stuffed into some bill he'll never read anyway and you're half way there. If Trump thinks the money has been allocated and his rally goers believe everything he says, problem solved. Just remember, North Korea had this idea first.
111
@Rick Gage: Well, he does like at least one outdoor activity: golf. But I hear he cheats!
9
@Cat Lover
He rides a cart, too. Walking with all those extra lbs may be too challengin.
6
@Cat Lover
Never thought of that! Set old donnie up a bit north of the border, give him a bottomless bucket of golf balls, and let him build his own wall - one ball at a time!
5
Whilst i like Coillins' mood, always cheerful, she wrote some ill-informed news.
It's not her, but the source she relies on the problem here.
The Spain Wall actually exists! It's there, notwithstanding Daily Show's Trevor Noah's gullible comment on.
That's what happens, though, when you have a spanish enclave in another country (Morocco) also in another continent (Africa). Granted, it's not Sahara, an it's not a wall, it's a fence. That said, see for yourself what is happening in the last few years https://www.dw.com/en/hundreds-of-migrants-scale-spanish-enclave-fence/a-45976287
Does that sound familiar?
And second, yes, there is a progression toward the construction of the wall at the mexican border. There were installed three types ( or four, i don't recall the exact number ) of wall's prototypes over there to check which one is better to build. It's not a wall's construction, but it's the first step to that. And if i remember correctly there was a related allocation of money from last year budget, too.
4
Trump is clearly in the early stages of a mental breakdown and the insiders in the white house are covering it up. We are close to a very serious period in American history.
114
@Karn Griffen
Early stages? I think he's pretty far along.
50
@Karn Griffen
While we are essentially on the same page, Karn, I think maybe you need to go back and check your math. Mr. Trump needs a rearview mirror and binoculars to review the ”early stages of his nervous breakdown.”
Our boy’s choo-choo jumped the tracks a good ways back. Yep. A good l-o-n-g ways back.
You did hit the nail smack on the head about how serious our situation is. Paranoia, delusions and infrequent contact with factual truth are not desirable characteristics in a POTUS.
13
We need to buy the Wall that the Chinese have. They aren't using it anymore, and it would create jobs, and could double as a tourist attraction. Of course, it wouldn't help with the trade deficit, so we'd have to work around that, but just think of the possibilities!
When he died, we could entomb Trump in it, just like an Emperor.
38
Yeah, why not? The moved London bridge to Arizona, why not the Chinese Great Wall?
1
A wall around the West Wing would benefit America more...and be a lot cheaper...than any concrete-and-steel-updated-version-of-the-Great-Wall. Of course, if it DOES get built, it will have to be called the Greatest Wall.
53
Also, are we supposed to be worried about Donald Trump’s health?"
Yes.
Trump in an interview today with The Daily Caller, a conservative news and opinion site:
“The Republicans don’t win and that’s because of potentially illegal votes. When people get in line that have absolutely no right to vote and they go around in circles. Sometimes they go to their car, put on a different hat, put on a different shirt, come in and vote again. Nobody takes anything. It’s really a disgrace what’s going on.”
The Daily Caller did not note if Trump was wearing a tin foil hat during the interview.
The first question at the next WH press briefing should be:
"Sarah, is the President in danger of triggering the 'crazy as a loon' clause of the 25th amendment?"
How much longer can we wait for that "pivot" towards sanity?
206
@LT Yes, he is crazy as a loon, and good ol' Sarah seems to have misread her bible. She's about as serious a student of Christ as my dog.
17
@LT Has Trump ever voted?
5
How insentient can a sentient being be? Unless, of course, the being is not sentient at all. That’s what makes the stuff of circuses - ‘send in the clowns’.
15
It’s probably better to ride in ANY Plane seat than on top of a Car.
Seriously.
10
@Phyliss Dalmatian. Oh for the days when we just had to worry about poor Seamus.
3
Let’s give the voters a choice. For the same amount of money would they rather have a blue ribbon package of health care benefits or A rambling wall on the southern border to keep people out of the country? I am betting that it is not even close.
59
Mr Trump seems to look for opportunities to embarrass the people of the United States. What is so complicated about going to France for a memorial service for World War I American war dead?
NOTHING, unless you count the possibility of rain, a little walking, topless protesters, and the very Un-MAGA way that the French interpret Nationalism versus Patriotism.
This grumpy old man does not seem to 'enjoy' anything that does not involve making snide remarks, his crude public speaking, and him being the center of attention.
When does this embarrassment end?
111
@Lalo
It's not just trump. It's the Republican Party. He is the leader it was waiting for, even as it pretended otherwise.
The most common adjectives used to describe trump are words like annoyed angry, sullen, enraged, bitter, and one can only conclude that Republicans and their voters can be described likewise. He's in a permanent tantrum, and he's so unable or unwilling to even go through the motions of being a normal president that his WH aides have to resort to naming a part of his day, as in "come on, little donald, it's policy time".
He has been particularly unhinged of late not only by the GOP losing the House but because the Pentagon brass rained on the Parade that he wanted, so he had to go to France for Armistice Day and make excuses to avoid the rain there.
The embarrassment continues because there are still enough Americans who are not embarrassed. And in the meantime, his Napoleon complex will be working overtime threatening something worse than embarrassment. "I could be a great War Leader; I wonder what's the easiest country I could blame for starting one.....?"
35
@mancuroc The list is long.
4
Actually, anything that divides us, keeps us at each other's throats and helps his reelection is fine by Trump and that includes this turkey of a wall.
Will Trump ban Thanksgiving this year? After all it allows us to ignore him for one day and features those kneeling guys. Who will he watch now that FOX opposes his ban on CNN's Mr. Acosta.
11
As long as Trump and the GOP hates the "other" they will get about 40% of the vote. Hopefully, that will be just enough to lose the majority of all future elections.
22
Shots on TV of the Tijuana sea wall show that they could start there. The newly arrived Honduran refugees are climbing to the top and taunting U.S. Border Guards. They could start there because a decent high jumper could jump that in a flash. Any warm bodied person could swim around it. Because there are literally millions of Central and Southern Americans who would gladly slip over the border, we can not have too many people guarding it. So a full Trump wall is overkill, but his concern for it is reasonable.
2
And every single person that went over the fence is in custody. Do you stop reading as soon as you reach a conclusion that fits your narrative?
6
Since those at his rallies already hold up "Finish the Wall" signs, and believe him when he lies to them saying it's already started, would you truly be surprised if at some point he just takes the next logical step and tells them it's already finished?
91
@John Moran. They'll probably believe that, too, John.
28
@John Moran
Great idea!! Lets take some stock photos of that "Great Wall" that China has and photoshop some sad sombrero wearing guys crying at its base. Release it to Fox with a "scoop" note. Then we just wait for Trump to get the news from his favorite channel that his wall is done!
7
"“Fund for America’s Kids and Grandkids” that would appropriate $585 million that could not be spent on anything until the federal deficit was eliminated. Which would take a while, given the fact that it rose 17 percent, to $779 billion, in the latest Republican-controlled fiscal year.
But you have to figure the Kids and Grandkids would appreciate the thought."
Nope. The kids and grandkids would appreciate plans and action for climate change to be addressed and remediating steps taken NOW. They want and deserve a future that we're squandering...
113
Unless Bob Mueller intercedes to save us from Trump, he will be in office at least until January 2021.
In any other year following a mid-term election, presidents take their lumps and shellacking and move on with the business of running the government.
Now we have a president who appears to have gone off the rails and those appointed to offer guardrails have either quit or about to go.
I hope Mueller is working a little faster these days.
228
@JT FLORIDA
Mueller better be working on what VP Pence knew and when he knew it, as well.
19
Exit polls showed that twice as many voters care about healthcare than care about immigrants. Even people with health insurance have trouble paying all the extra medical bills that pile up. Trump, when campaigning, said he had a beautiful healthcare plan that was "cheaper and better than Obamacare." He spoke like it was already created, so where is it?
If exit polls are to be believed, more people are waiting for that "beautiful healthcare plan" than are waiting for the wall. Will Trump listen?
571
@Linda
Gadot will arrive well before Trump’s healthcare plan.
34
Trump said Better, Cheaper Healthcare would happen Day One. So it’s back there with “The End of Crime, Day One”.
*circular gesture around ear*
29
@LindaTrump thought he had a plan; but then he discovered that “health care is more complicated than anybody knew.” Something all those “stupid people in government” who toiled long and hard at the healthcare problem for decades before his election undoubtedly did know.
21
Of course he fears the rain and doesn't feel equal to a brisk walk: he's the oldest man ever elected president. And that fact plays out in other ways, too, which are there for the noticing. Age was the red flag of his candidacy that we weren't allowed to discuss. Americans love to fantasize about endless youth. Seriously.
94
@Blair, people older than Trump walk briskly, endure and even enjoy rain in many cases, and otherwise live perfectly reasonable lives. Not all do, but many certainly do, as you yourself will see in time, with a bit of luck. No, it is the man's character, slothful and lacking in effort, coddled from childhood on, you are seeing, make no mistake.
847
@Blair
so, the fact that mr. Trump attended a ceremony at another cemetery doesn't count. That is a strange comment to make, as if the dead soldiers interred in a place are not equivalent of those in another one.
The other possible explanation could be that the ceremony with the other chief of countries, (and i mean that countries, not allies) was more important because of this collegiality simbolism. It could be very well. But in that case what should anyone make of the speech and ceremony in Gettysburgh after the end of civil war? Were there present Confederate's chief/ representant? Did the cold reception in Southern States diminish it? I think not. So it goes for mr. Trump, too.
9
@jb I've lived with and adored my older relatives all my life and I know what I am talking about. Our society is in collective denial about the limitations that grow with every birthday; we don't want to face it. And the presidency, of all places, isn't the time to settle for "perfectly reasonable." Of course all of the pathologies you point to are there, but the fact remains, he's the oldest man ever elected, and that matters.
65
But it certainly is an apt metaphor. Trump has walled himself off from reason, from facts, from diplomacy, from decorum, from truth, from transparency, from decency, from common sense, from integrity, from good form, from compassion, from judiciousness, from ... well, from every quality we used to say we believed the President should embody.
No surprise he's so keen on physical walls too.
369
@Charlotte Amalie
You omitted that he walled himself off from sanity.
14
@Charlotte Amalie
And having walled himself off from sanity, enter Melania to run the govt. much the way Nancy (Mommy) did for Ronnie.
16
I don’t think a physical wall is the answer based purely on geography. But I would welcome some positive ideas as to how to address the problem. Based on numerous conversations with people in diverse walks of life and ethnicities it appears illegal immigration is favored by virtually no one. Most folks seem to want liberalization of legal immigration and an acceleration of the process but only once illegal immigration is stopped to the maximum extent possible.
20
Liberalization of legal immigration and an accelaration of the process would drastically reduce illegal immigration. Trying to do it the other way round simply won’t work and is counterintuitive.
38
Gail,
Thank you today and every day. I love that you are able to keep a spot on sense of humor through all of this and aspire to that myself. It's not easy. Well done!
207
Gee I wonder how well Donald the Dishonest will be getting along with Maxine Waters, he has had some things to say about her. He could get his wall though if she can find a way to put it around Mar A Logo, with him in it.
Oh he is going to make a deal he says, well we know hat his deals are, you sign a contract with him, and when you have finished, he does not pay you, he wants a deal. But we have to look at who else whats that wall, as far as we can tell it is mostly unemployed people fin the upper Mid West states that think those immigrants are going to take their jobs cleaning up the pig styes, slopping the hogs, and ou9t here picking the strawberries. Oh they solved that problem in Georgia, they sent the prisoners to pick the cucumbers, good idea, seems as if those people that will be behind the wall can do the job before they rot on the vine.
Oh poor Donnie boy, might have got his pinkies wet going to the Cemeteries, I guess there were no medals given in WWI for bone spurs, so no one he could relate to.
Mood swings? He has only one mood, anger, characteristic of a sociopath. I wonder what Melania's expertise is in national security, doesn't take much to pique the current WH occupants, having a Democrat controlled house just might give all of them something have mood swings about.
No wall, tax returns examined, is there some unreported income,? Now that would be real fun to watch.
148
If Speaker Pelosi were smart (and she undoubtedly is), she would dust off the 2013 bipartisan bill that passed the Senate easily, and pass it now in the house. Send it back to the Senate.
It deals with undocumented immigrants, with a path to citizenship and more than adequately funds border security.
It would seem republicans (in particular the President) want the issue to demagogue (see this recent election), than they want to offer a solution.
Call their bluff.
749
@FunkyIrishman
S744 was the bill
14
@FunkyIrishman
Unfortunately, she is not "Speaker Pelosi" until January 3, 2019. This bill has to be passed before then.
Otherwise, good thought.
5
Apologies to the Mikado’s Here’s a Howdy Do
Keep on losing seats
‘Spite of all my Tweets
Those White ladies, educated,
I guess I have overrated
They all hate my guts
No ifs ands or buts.
Democrats conspire
Voting plots inspire,
Gravestone names are being voted
Candidates on whom I doted
Beaten right and left
My name lost it’s heft.
So I’m sitting in my bedroom
And I’m watching Fox TV
And Melanie wants to fire someone
And they’ll blame it on me,
Oh what a howdy do
Made me a loser, too,
Here’s a bigly state of things
Biglier sad state of things.
Here’s a bigly bigly state of things!
296
@Larry Eisenberg
Don't apologize! It's timely! It rhymes, it fits!
And Republicans in Congress have been paying attention. Republicans now quote the Mikado by saying it's time to "Let the punishment fit the crime...."
Meanwhile, Trump keeps mumbling,
"As some day it may happen that a victim must be found I've got a little list - I've got a little list
Of society offenders who might well be underground And who never would be missed - who never would be missed!"
Make Gilbert and Sullivan Great Again!
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@Larry Eisenberg
Thank you, Mr. E, so hilarious!!
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@Larry Eisenberg
Hahahaha just marvelous, must once again thank you for your wonderful gifts to us of verse, warmest regards! -Wendy
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