It all translates as "She won't let me have a cookie!"
17
Sniffling. Strained breathing. This is the best of the New York Times? Most Americans want border security. Not a wall. But borders that are actually a boundary that delineates our sovereign state. The fact that 11-15 million illegal immigrants go to sleep here each night is not a joking matter although Congress had 2 decades to pass immigration legislation and failed. Making fun of the president's nasal breathing is so infantile that we would expect it from Trump. There must be something important for Ms. Collins to write about.
4
Next we will learn that the White House is infested with bedbugs, and Bugs Bunny stole the strawberries.
4
I listened to his speech. I don't see him sniffing. He is just breathing.
4
hilarious!
7
That sniffling you heard was from Mueller's hounds on the other side of Trump's door.
17
Was Nancy wearing a mohair sweater or perhaps it was Loretta there in that long neck sweater?
Shouldn’t they invite the ambassador from Mexico in the next talks for a scholarly debate on this matter?
Did either party come to this meeting with a prepared, stated meeting agenda along with their own presentation and PowerPoint?
If both sides set up a monitor with their talking point “bullets” and bring their experts in to argue before their peers, we may be able to debate the facts and the issues.
Also, set up a third monitor for officials and experts to scribble on, take notes, comments and to ask questions in real time to each other. These can be then ranked and questions to each side asked at a later time...?
This may not be Davos, but if some people ever attended a conference of professionls would know that you get to present your latest or greatest findings before your peers in a publication, then they get to pepper you with questions and throw you spit-balls...!
Let the tRump or Consequences games begin...!
1
Gail, for God's sake, you need a new microwave!
5
Trump "sniffs" when he lies. He's like Pinocchio whose nose grows. Recall similar sniffing during the presidential "debates".
13
It is silly for the Republicans to blame the Democrats for Trump walking out of the meeting with Chuck and Nancy.
Trump is very sensitive about his ill-advised promise about the wall and told the Mexican president Pena that he does not want to talk Mexico if Pena kept saying he won't pay for the wall.
Trump, during a phone call with Pena, said, "... if you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that."
At one point, Pena said, "You have a very big mark on our back, Mr. President, regarding who pays for the wall. This is what I suggest, Mr. President – let us stop talking about the wall. I have recognized the right of any government to protect its borders as it deems necessary and convenient. But my position has been and will continue to be very firm saying that Mexico cannot pay for that wall."
Trump replied, "But you cannot say that to the press. The press is going to go with that and I cannot live with that. You cannot say that to the press because I cannot negotiate under those circumstances."
Trump is now doing the same with Chuck and Nancy, refusing to negotiate because they don't want US taxpayers to pay for the wall just as Mexico didn't want to pay for it.
Unless Trump gives up his obsession with the wall as he obviously did with Mexico, this is not going to end well for the country.
19
Trrump's obsession with migrants and his obvious resentment of them needs to be discussed in public by a professiuonal. It's not me. But I do have my opinions.
At his core I do not believe Trump percieves himself to be the lying, dishonest man he is, instead transferring these negative qualities to migrants. He's truly delusional.
Migrants have been present all throughout Trump's life, most being illegal immigrants working for peanuts and putting up with their daily travails for the safety of they're not being discovered.
And Trump, over time and by attrition, got to know and understand this, ultimately developing a resentment for them, maybe even hatred, because of their subservient acceptance and cowering behavior.
What else can explain this obsession we see day in and day out. It's crazy what's going on in this White House and frightening at the same time. Why? Because it appears what's going on is becoming normalized, as if this is how things should be.
Well, it isn't. Things must change and the 2020 elections can't get here soon enough in my humble estimation.
12
The titanic is sinking
But trump isn't blinking,
Ignoring the People's deep pain.
He's nailed to the mast,
Can see only the past,
The iceberg is just more fake news.
Supporters are trailing,
Chained to the railing,
Keep drinking that kool-aid, you see.
Vlad Putin will save them!
They cry to the heavens,
Determined never to flee.
But there in the distance
With grit and persistence
Nancy Pelosi now sails.
Bob Mueller is nearing,
A big smile he is wearing,
He knows who's going to jail.
The moral, my friends,
As trump stays till he drops,
Is a lesson we all should learn.
When you follow a fool
You become just his tool
And his fate becomes yours in the end.
22
I'm a first generation US citizen, born abroad. Almost always I look at our body politic and public events from a local's point of view as also from that of a person looking inside from the outside.
From the outside, America now looks to be the same as Trump and his mindless Republicans appear to a native Democratic leftwinger. Both come across Rotten to the Core. I look at them as a bunch of mindless political opportunists, unfaithful to the promise and ideals of America. Unfaithful to its Constitution, unfaithful to America's celebrated respect for the Rule of Law.
Trump, we know, voluntarily carried on his nefarious activities to satisfy his unquenchable greed and his pathetic business needs. But one wonders why are the Republicans following him to the edge of the cliff? My guess is what greed for money is to Trump is lust for political power to the disgusting Hill Repubs?
15
<>
You know, if you told me that McCarthy brought candy for Trump, just so Trump could say he brought candy, I'd have to say that's plausible. He and Meadows are two of the biggest Trump lickspittles stalking the halls of Congress.
6
Look for the silver linings. Well, huh, let me see. If and when the President opens up the government he shut down, he will have probably lost as much on the shutdown as he is asking for his wall. That's called a 2 for 1 sale. That's about as silvery as it gets.
5
Dear Gail,
I can;t really remember when a column of yours was either interesting or relevant.
But one thing is certain: you Trump fixation does not improve matters one whit.
3
Now if Trump said the wall is to prevent the invasion of Nightwalkers I might agree with him. But then again a dragon destroyed the wall.
2
The Wall of Shame: Twelve-foot high shiny gold letters spelling the word TRUMP, spaced 500 feet apart and running the entire length of the border.
Your tax dollars at work!
6
This is like a real estate course in the art of the grab.
3
B. Meanspirited waste of money.
The sensible thing to do would be to reopen the closed parts of our government ASAP, charter a small group of people who understand what might best be done to improve border security - including some people who work there, a couple of systems-oriented folks, you know - a team! - and have them report back to Congress and then Congress make a proposal to President Trump.
Yeah, I know. Not bloody likely. But we can hope.
4
One gets the feeling that Trump found out there was still one Hispanic voter even thinking about still aligning themselves with him and/or the Republican party.....and Trump wants to be sure that this last Hispanic person will have absolutely nothing to do with him or the the Republican party. Oh Ok, there is still Marco Rubio and his 1960s style Cuban base.
2
One of the primary concerns of our time, as Yuval Harari has written in his most recent book , is an epidemic of stupidity. We are witnessing the first truly stupid Presidency. A Presidency by the stupid and for the stupid.
This stupidity is exacerbated by iPhones, Facebook, and fully sycophantic television "news" stations.
The group-think that has created Evangelical America has also helped create a willfully ignorant population - or at least half the population.
How do we battle against 60 million willfully ignorant folks? Those of us who read know that a wall will solve nothing and that walls generally exacerbate problems, not resolve them.
But remember - Trump is wagging the dog. He's interested mostly in delaying and obfuscating law suits and Mueller. The Wall is only one of many Trump Reichstag Fires. That is precisely what this is, and what Trump has been focusing on.
His 90 percent Republican approval rating is appalling and evidence of the fact that stupidity is as big a danger to humankind's future as Climate Change, Nuclear War, and AI.
We need a task force on American Stupidity, as much as on the three other existential threats to our planet.
19
When I read the paragraph where she wonders if Trump had given campaign speeches that always included, "Pre-K all the way!",would he now refuse to fund the government until Congress paid for childhood education.........well I wanted to cry.
6
Think of all the big walls in history, such as the Berlin Wall. This is what this president stands for.
3
Metonymy seems to be the permanent style of writing in the NYT .
Mixing little psychological references to bits and bouts of reality .
It just keeps the horse fed to trott a little further without changing the rythm .
Welcome back, Gail! I've missed you.
3
To some people, this is quite obvious: the sniffing is an indicator of intranasal drug use. See also: Trump's dilated pupils.
5
Gail...you know, of course, that trump IS the wall!! And BTW, I loved your comment about his pre-government experience on stiffing contractors. He possible drove more small businesses (and people) into financial ruin than any high-rolling bankruptcy manipulator in human history! I always end my trump comments with this - "he's a coward and a disgrace to the military men and women he now leads".
5
Thanks for the humor Gail. It is needed more and more as this clown show goes on. Two years of Trumps outrageous absurdities and lies is wearing on this old man. His ratings are down so just maybe we can get this very poorly made series canceled soon. You know things are beyond the pail when Cheney and Bush are looking good in comparison.
6
We could spend a fraction of this money and improve the quality of life for these poor down-trodden people who ache for a normal existence and thereby eliminate their desire to come here and thereby eliminate this farcical and counter-productive wall notion...
8
If you should build a wall, build it in Alaska, before Putin does a Crimea on you guys! He is already turning your president into the shape of Ukraine's deposed president. And Putin has griped to Dubya Bush that the US only paid 70 cents for the territory. Good luck.
6
Whew! So glad Gail Collins is back! No more time off, Gail, ever! And just look at the mess the country got into when you were off for five weeks.
3
What's behind the push for a wall? Ever watched an unruly kid pull a tantrum...what is it that he kicks?
5
Geez. Anybody who lived through the 80s in the NYC area knows what the sniffling's about. And the overconfidence born of nothing. And the fact that he does not sleep much.
Coke habit.
9
The man is an embarrassment to the human race, although I can understand why that is attractive to Republicans.
10
Wouldn't the Berlin Wall be a more appropriate metaphor for this discussion.
3
The alarming authoritarian impulses of Kim Jong-Un, combined with the intellectual ability of Elmer Fudd. Too bad our GOP is too compromised and unwilling to do their jobs and place a check on HRH Donald I. Genuflecting creates bad posture and policy.
Meanwhile our Constitution gets steamrolled, while the Founders roll over in their graves.
6
How do I feel about the wall-barrier?
Hmm, there's usually one answer that's obviously wrong, and that would be "A".
B... or... C?
B... or... C?
Darn!
Okay, okay. I'm going with "B".
Gail's great wit made me smile.
Unmasking absurdity is the best way to attack piggishness.
Still, my smile faded towards the end, with the reminder of how hard hit many people will be by the wallower-in-chief and his GOP pigsty.
4
I love Gail's sharp wit, and insight. That said, let's move on. Each side needs a win. It ain't that hard:
Dems should give the Prez $10 Billion for "border security and comprehensive immigration reform" so long as it includes an expedited path to citizenship for dreamers, and a path to the same for productive, working, "non-criminal" undocumented illegal aliens.
Then sit back and let each side claim a win.
At least our precious federal workers will be back to work; government reopened; air traffic, coast guard, food, drug and border security back to full functioning; and the economy not thrown in turmoil because of one million families (at least) who are about to start missing mortgage, rent, car, medical, etc. payments.
(Never mind that Customs and Border Protection only asked for $1.6 billion to secure the southwest border for FY2019. Let it go!)
3
Mexico may never pay for the wall, but I think I speak for all Canadians when I say we will gladly pay for the fiery moat.
10
Please shed a spotlight on the cost of this government shutdown.
3
Trump most likely snorted some Adderall before the speech.
Hence the sniffling.
Or it was cocaine. Trump was known to be quite familiar with it during his Studio 54 days.
Or maybe it was the side effect of anti-psychotic drugs used for treating manic symptoms in Bipolar Disorder.
Or maybe it was just Trump's ego sulking. Aggrieved sighs over not getting his way. Why don't people just give him what he wants!?!!?!?
Or all of the above.
5
Back during the presidential-candidates' debates in 2016, Donald got so excited in interrupting Hillary from time to time, that his voice sounded strangely weird. I seriously thought he must have drugged up on something before going on stage.
His teleprompter recital Wednesday was just plain blah. No rabid pep-rally fans cheering on his disregard for virtue and his defamation of anyone not clasping his dictatorial idiocy to their bosoms.
2
Trump always sniffs and snuffles when he is about to lie. Don’t look at his nose, waiting to watch it grow; just listen to it.
5
@Gail Collins: "Trump Hits the Wall."
"The Wall"?
No, the Great Wall of Trump.
For short, the GWOT.
It's appropriately cacophonous.
1
Trump said Mexicans will build the Wall, so I guess he went down to the Border to hire some undocumented workers to build the wall. He can stiff them for their wages, too. Oh, maybe I got that wrong, Mexico will pay for the wall, not build it. Sorry!
2
“He makes Jeb Bush look like a combination of Mighty Mouse and Bruce Springsteen.”
Probably left a lot of Deplorables disappointed that he wasn't leading chants.
All that "sniffing"? My guess is it's from slamming a few lines of coke before going on. Consider his incredible wee-hour and weekend tweet storms. It's not difficult to picture him all alone snorting his brains out, then being unable to control himself when his wild thoughts overrun whatever reality he's unable to handle. Just a guess.
3
Where's the supercut of "Mexico will pay?" Or is the file too large?
1
The real question is why do we keep ignoring the sniffing. There are reports that the POTUS, the most powerful position in the world, snorts amphetamines (Adderall) for big speeches. How is this not a bigger story. I read this article hoping Ms. Collins was finally going to say something substantive about this. But no luck. It should also be noted that Trump exhibits many of the signs and symptoms of amphetamine psychosis.
5
His Dad had Alzheimer's, as did one other President since 1980.
His appearance seems to also indicate heart/respiratory issues.
It's not 1945 or 1987.
3
Trump really, really, really wants that wall.
Maybe the Democrats should ask for the passing of DACA, the grandfathering in of undocumented migrants who’ve been law-abiding citizens for the last 10 years or more, single payer healthcare, college for all, a guaranteed living wage, a reinstatement of all Obama-era policies that Trump has cancelled, 1 million a year in additional funding to the EPA that is dedicated to combating climate change, a reinstatement of the federal assault weapons ban, and funding for the NIH to research gun injuries.
Go for the whole enchilada. Trump is so desperate he may give the Democrats every single policy wish they have ever had just so he can get his wall!
7
Disdain for Donald Trump, the person, infuses almost every other comment here. It seems, the objective is often to denigrate him rather than to address the issue at hand, in a rational manner. Surely, much of this is group-effect, sanctioned by a respected authority (this paper). But the guy has an uncanny ability to aggravate educated people and reduce them to irrational states. While it may be fun or therapeutic for them, it doesn't advance things much in the long run. I really hope liberals can make some concrete changes to our election (and nomination) process that encourage wide participation, particularly to less successful members of society.
3
A sovereign nation has every right to protect its borders. There's nothing immoral about that. More than anything, it is prudent. This does not make an individual (like President Trump) or a country (like the United States) unsympathetic to the oppressed or maligned.
An individual cannot shut down a government. It is the effort of all of Washington to shut down the government. If your party presents legislation to the President which they know he will veto outright, that's not productive and you are partially to blame for a shutdown. If your party begins a meeting with, "We won't give you practically the only thing you're asking for in this funding measure," then there's no reason for the President to stick around and hear the rest of what you have to say. He's not throwing a tantrum by walking out - he's preventing himself from wasting his time.
I get that conservatives play hard-headed, too, but your precious Democratic leaders are no better, and the games they play are just as childish.
2
But did they Stormy out?
2
@Jonathon —“preventing himself from wasting his time”? You mean he will be giving up GOLF?
2
The fact is that if we want to be safe as a nation, it doesn’t come from walls that are political promises offered to solve problems which don’t exist. To be safe we have to create and maintain good relationships with our neighboring countries and with our long term allies. This is the opposite of what Trump does. If we want to stop people coming here to seek asylum and work, we need to help them be safe and prosperous in their own countries, not shove their kids in dog kennels and treat them like bugs to be ground under boot heels. This country used to take pride in our humanity and in being able to provide refuge for those in need. I believe most of the country still does.
And we cannot run a government where the president and his cronies hold hostage the livelihoods of 800,000+ people and the citizens of this country. This is not a sandlot, and you can’t just take your baseball and go home if things aren’t going your way. This is the real world and actions have consequences. If Trump couldn’t get his was funded when he controlled both houses of Congress, what makes him think he can now that he doesn’t. The Democrats need to hold out and do what is right: not give in to a petty tyrant, and not was $5 billion on security measures that aren’t.
This is not a national emergency. If it were, Trump should have acted two years ago.
15
Democrats & their supporters need to replay, over and over, the clip of Trump talking about how he'd be "proud" to shut down the government over the wall, that he would "own" the shutdown and not blame democrats. Every day, people need to be reminded that this man will say one thing one minute, and the opposite the next minute; so, his words mean nothing really...except that he's the president.
12
Doesn’t the smartest man in the world know how easy it is to cut steel with a gas powered cut-off saw?
Or how easy to hook a ladder over the top of a wall, no matter the height?
Or that if Amazon can deliver packages with a drone, so can drug smugglers?
Are we truly a nation of such gullible fools?
262
Agreed, there is nothing to be cheery about this shut down, or the threat to declare a national emergency every time the president doesn't get the funding he wants for whatever project he dreams up. This entire debacle is brought to us by Ronald Reagan (the fairness doctrine) and Bill Clinton (Telecommunications Act) when they made it possible for Rupert Murdoch to unleash his tabloid world (Fox etc) on the very susceptible American electorate. We need to rescue the 1st Amendment.
4
I'd call it sniffing, not sniffling (as in a cold). His sniffing connotes a kind of disdain, a contempt for the rabble challenging his authority. You can see it get worse when he is trying to assume a gravitas he does not possess, or when he is attempting to bluster his way out of an argument he's losing (remember the debates with Hillary?)
4
@Michele He exhibits a lot of symptoms of drug abuse imo
3
Well, first of all, a lot of the border has already been fenced in or walled in, so what's the big deal about a new wall? Our border patrol does an excellent job keeping most trespassers out. And what happened to applying for legal asylum, which has slowed down to a crawl recently anyway? It's a human right. Trump is simply pandering to Ann Coulter and his fanatic base, who loved to scream "build that wall" during the election, but wasn't Mexico supposed to pay for it? The "president" is looking more and more like a petulant child, but with the power to hurt a large segment of our population by shutting things down. Don't the Republicans see how stupid this all is? Can nobody get to this man and talk some sense into him?
3
None of this is funny anymore. Even good sarcasm is nothing to laugh about. Reality is not a joke, but a horrific mess. What we need is a border around Trump's mouth so we can shut it down, rather than stop the paychecks of government workers.
I just can't laugh about this absurd reality anymore.
5
To heck with a wall, give us border security in the budget and open up the government. I know everyone hear loves the daily Trump bashing, but this is out of control. There is no reason Congress cannot get a budget together that includes security.
3
Why shouldn't the Democrats use this 'build the wall' issue as a great opportunity to trade for something most Americans want - like DACA and Health Care for All - in exchange for the 5 billion? That will build a few miles of wall at most. Trump's back is against the wall, so to speak! And Nancy and Chuck can say they made DJT an offer, and he's the one who's stonewalling (no pun intended here, either) if he refuses the offer! Might be worth a try.
2
It is not sniffling, but rather snorting. I noticed it first during the campaign debates with the bevy of republican candidates. It was more evident when he debated Hillary.
It seems to me that it is a nervous tic--a tell.
Herr djt is miserably deficient in his verbal communication skills. He cannot speak clearly or effectively, which directly correlates with his inability to think.
And so here we are, left to monitoring his snorts for some idea of the state of his cognition.
4
@Kathryn Seems like a symptom of something far more nefarious to me
1
He was so bored. It wasn't all about him. He couldn't shout and gesticulate to admiring, cheering throngs, so he barely phoned it in. He might as well have worn one of Melania's "I really don't care, do U?" jackets.
9
Sure, Pres. Trump is an easy person to despise, but what's with all the chest beating from both sides? A (metal) wall along our border is not all that unreasonable except to the degree that it affects migrating wildlife. It's a larger manifestation of the raggedy barbed-wire fence that already exists. Costly, sure. Not that this country has never before flushed money by the boatload. This whole sorry episode has gotten so pathetic it's just embarrassing, both parties playing "mine is bigger than yours."
1
Over $5B for an ineffective solution — while unnecessarily shutting down the government — is unacceptable and only further encourages bad behavior from the toddler-king. It's "embarrassing" because he's behaving like a dictator, unbeholden to our Constitution and exhibiting total disregard for the separation of powers. He does not reign, he's there to serve.
3
I keep waiting for someone - anyone, really, but it would have been nice coming from Schumer or Pelosi - to call Trump out on the "wall" by saying something like this:
"It's interesting, Donald, that you're so fixated on this wall to keep people out, in light of the fact that you have a number of illegal immigrants working in your home in Bedminster, NJ - and that you ALSO have employees at that location helping those illegal immigrants get fake credentials. It seems, Donald, that you don't have a problem with illegal immigrants working directly for you. So, what's up with the wall; are you fully staffed now?"
10
Thank you, Ms. Collins, for your cogent commentary and for humorusly noting that strange snuffling. As we watched, we started waiting for the deep snuffle after every sentence, and soon everyone was anticipating and sniffing along. Solidarity at last!
2
McConnell says he's going to make Trump a one term President.
3
Trump is the ultimate angry grandpa but instead of just ranting to his bored, nodding-along buddies at the nineteenth hole of his local golf course, he’s sitting in the Oval Office with literal powers of life and death over the entire population of the world.
Can we just create a constitutional amendment to cap the voting age at 60 years old, to eliminate the influence of cranky racists from election outcomes? Ok, it’s ageist, yes, but we need fresh political talent desperately, on both sides of the political divide.
1
I read that Mr.Trump took a Briefing at 'The Wall'.
I shook my head. I thought, he thinks little of taking briefings at the WH, but he takes one at 'The Wall'. Oh, yes, appearances.
It's so all about appearance, the effect he hopes to affect.
I was in Sales. I feel like I'm caught in a meeting where the Sales Mgr is caught in a bind, pressed to generate #s.
The taste of his job is so in your mouth, you can taste his need rather than the good of the product you're selling.
You can't escape. You're Mitch McConnell. You're going to go out & ram that product down people throats or your not going to keep your job. You know it doesn't matter what you say. Everybody knows what is going down. What matters is that you'll be back here tomorrow. That's all that matters.
That's what Washington is counting on.
They will be there tomorrow. Not you, not me. THEM.
Threaten THEM and you're talking #s they understand.
Not Trump. Trust me on that.
When you lie about paycheck o Troops who hold the notice in their hand, you don't care about any numbers. Trust me.
2
Thank you for injecting some humor into this issue. Before your article it was nothing but a bad joke, much like the current president of the United States.
4
Let's be more serious about something that is not a joke. The only emergency is political, it's for Trump as to how he will get out of having to give in to Congress and lose face in the eyes of the people. He would rather put the `little people' out of work, cause them pain and suffering than feel the sting of a public loss of his stupid wall. Yet he pretends he cares about our people and keeping them safe.
Nothing could be further from the truth. He cares only for himself and his own petty image. Entirely ego driven this very small and shallow human being will throw anyone under the bus to save himself even momentary humiliation or embarrassment.
There is no emergency on the Southern border in spite of Trump getting his vassals to go out and lie to the public, twist numbers, exaggerate them, distort them, etc. in the vain effort to manufacture a fake crisis on the border to justify the huge waste of taxpayer money to build a wall.
What is no joke however, is the autocratic move to go around the congress and their powers of the purse. The next thing you know you'll see tanks rolling down the streets of your quiet neighborhood because this fantasy land make believe man has declared marshal law for his latest invented crisis.
But his republican lackeys in Congress still hide behind him and let him go off on any crazy whim he wants.
Sad, disgraceful, pathetic. Has the US ever sunk so low?
5
Now I am beginning to dislike the current barriers on the border. What other country creates such an ugly division from their neighbors? I'm hoping the democrats will call for the removal of existing barriers. They are ugly and cause environmental damage by dividing parts of the dessert ecology. They also prevent our criminals from escaping to the south especially the vast exodus from Washington after the Mueller Investigation wraps up.
1
Well, our dear leader has made it a point to talk about one of his proboscises which makes talking about his snoz seem perfectly ok.
And by the way, has anyone in the adminstration really addressed the functionality and reality of such a wall? There is no prototype that will work over the length of the terrain, ecological impacts (which are HUGE) have not been addressed, and the cost is nowhere near accurate.
It is time to grow up and address the immigration issue with viable, effective options. A wall is a simple-minded non-solution.
2
The best line of this entertaining article is....the only area of Trump's pregovernment experience is....stiffing contractors, which unfortunately will be the case as told in this article. Trump, the man we love to hate.
2
Recall Major Clipton's reaction to the destruction of obsessive Colonel Nicholson's River Kwai Bridge. Clipton's closing cries at the climactic explosive ending scene were, "Madness, Madness !"
Somehow that metaphor is alive today.
3
Regardless of our political differences, surely we can all agree that a wall around Kellyanne Conway would have prevented the Bowling Green Massacre.
6
I'd be all in on the wall if the project was turned over to Christo.
101
"The Buck Stops Here" is the appropriate sign to remind Trump it's ultimately his responsibility to open government and stiff contractors.
3
In all the opinion pieces I read about the Wall and illegal immigration and asylum-seekers, there is hardly a word about the fact that the poverty and gangs and violence that make people willing to flee their homes, risk death and endure an arduous journey in the slim hope of finding refuge here are to a considerable extent due to more than a century of this country's policies to, and interference in, Central America. If we can pour money into countries like Saudi Arabia, why can't we do more to help and encourage economic development in Central America? Trump wants billions to stop the desperate flight at our border. Can't we have some compassion and try to help the conditions where it starts?
20
With the news that Cohen is going to publicly testify on the myriad nefarious Trump acts, the Wall will move to the back pages. The wall has been a transparent distraction from the Mueller investigation. There's no way Trump can distract the nation from hearing from Cohen.
14
Maybe Trump has allergies like this commenter and a large fraction of Americans have! And should not be "shamed" or discriminated against because of this when people who have all manner of disabilities are valorized by our emotion-evoking and manipulative media pundits who work for the 1%. While they simultaneously disparage the rest of us as 'populist' immoral brutes who they believe should have no say in governance, should have no choice in how many 10's of millions of immigrants our greedy for slave labor business owner nobility shove into our - the 99%'s neighborhoods, jobs, schools and force our citizen poor to "share" with in regard to always scarce social services resources.
His physical exam report from last January by his physician, Ronny Jackson, makes no mention of allergies of any kind.
4
@winthrop staples
You are NOT the majority, sir. Not even close.
You know, I could almost go for a partial wall if it would end some of the needless suffering and humanitarian crisis of those who have high hopes of easily crossing into US.
Here's my offer for negotiations... We do this piecemeal. Give him 20 miles of new wall at a time if he agrees to reopen all government agencies 100 percent. One other condition to get the first 20 miles approved. Release last five years of Federal and State income tax filed. It's on you now Mr. President. It would only take 15 minutes to reach agreement.
4
Here is my suggestion: Trump was more than willing to shut the federal government down and seemed happy about doing it. So, now he owns it. Let him pay the $5.7 billion himself if he thinks it is a national emergency. He never served his country in the armed services and probably never paid any income taxes, so he can serve it now and pony up the money he so desperately wants the American taxpayer to provide for him agsin.
2
Trump wants the wall so he can keep a campaign promise. He also promised during the campaign to provide health insurance that is affordable, comprehensive, and everyone gets it. I'll gladly trade one for the other.
5
During the presidential campaign Trump said he would build the wall and that Mexico would pay for it. Now he has shut down the government to get US taxpaydoesn't er funding of his wall which experts say is not an effective solution.
But we all know that Trump is a genius and wealthy businessman.
I suggest another solution to the problem. Let Trump build the wall using some of his personal and family enormous wealth and then request reimbursement from Mexico for the funds he used on their behalf.
Of course once he decides to implement this idea he should reopen the govcernment.
8
The military is obligated not to follow unlawful orders. What about orders that are not clearly lawful or unlawful such as in an emergency that is clearly not an emergency? It is time for the generals and admirals to insist on clarity as to the lawfulness of any such order. They are going to be put in worse spots in the future? What is declares an emergency and orders all the Dem leaders arrested?
Don't say it couldn't happen here. I would never have believed much of the last 3 years could have happened here.
6
@BJW
If they were OK with carpet-bombing Cambodia and Laos, do you really think they would get all righteous about the definition of an "emergency"?
3
I agree, you have to laugh to keep from crying. Yes, what if we had a president who put this same level of determination into bringing about universal childhood education? Or, better yet, universal healthcare? Oh, wait, we DID have a president who did that—sorry, seems like a long time ago.
But if you're determined to cry, here's something to cry about. The chances of President Trump agreeing to reopen any part of the government without something at least resembling his wall is zero. The shutdown could go on for two years.
This has to do with shame. The most valuable insight about President Trump's psyche is that he can never be shamed. Never, can't. I've found this explains so much about him. For example, it explains how he could never apologize, even weakly, for saying Senator McCain was not a war hero, despite all that sad remark cost him.
So he simply will not—ever—be able to say, "OK, didn't get my wall, but gotta get the government running again—maybe down the road!" What intensifies this even more is his realization that he hasn't gotten his wall so far with two years of a Republican congress, and now that the Democrats have the House this is his last stand.
So either the Democrats give in—and I hope they don't—or, the preferred alternative, the Republicans in Congress finally get some integrity, throw off their chains, and step forward to fix this. It would only take a few of them to shift, and hopefully they will do this sooner rather than later.
9
The sniffling may be drug-induced or some nervous affectation. It is reminiscent of Brett Kavanaugh. Nothing good there.
Democrats never asked for a wall made of steel, so this tactic by Trump is complete obfuscation. At first, I thought Trump was moving to claim he is bolstering the American steel industry, but I am not hearing anything on that. In fact, the wall will become more expensive due to Trump's tariffs on imported steel.
We know that most illegal immigrants come to the country through valid ports of entry and then overstay their visas and that there are much better ways of dealing with the problem, not the least of which is to stop separating mothers from their children and to stop tormenting the DACA kids.
And speaking of treating each other more humanely, we are all facing the same brutal enemy, and we need to focus on that. It is climate change. Building barriers is not the solution. The key to our collective survival is coming together as one human family. No wall will keep climate change out. Until we learn to truly unite, we will continue full speed down the path to our own self-inflicted annihilation.
Hope springs eternal, but we need to see the world as it really is, not as we hope it is. We are in perilous shape with this continuing Trump sideshow. Let's hope Democrats have something up their sleeves, the sooner the better.
We can also take to the streets with protests. The sooner the better with those, too. After all, our lives hang in the balance.
10
@Blue Moon, thanks for this very wise comment! Yes, as both you and Gail Collins point out, one of the many reasons President Trump's wall fixation is so tragic is that while he focuses on his wall which will do little beyond providing a feel-good for his grouchy supporters the urgent real problems the country faces go unaddressed. And as you say, climate change is high on this list.
4
As the old saying goes, if your only tool is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail. Trump got on the wall obsession as a way to talk about immigration. He has tripled down on those "terrible" migrants ever since, making up stories, taking them out of context and just plain lying to the American people. But it works for him. Why would he change now?
Clearly he couldn't get money for a wall from a Republican-controlled Congress, but somehow he believes that shutting the government or declaring a non-existent national emergency will get one from a divided Congress.
I'd say that's the apotheosis of his wishful thinking, but he always finds a way to top (or maybe bottom) himself whenever I think he can't go lower.
6
Speaking of abnormal nasal passages, snuffles is another name for nasal syphilis (actually, congenital syphilis with nasal manifestations). Untreated syphilis can also affect the brain, as neurosyphilis, and account for confusion, poor concentration and irritability.
It could all be coincidence but president Trump should probably show us his VDRL (it's a syphilis test). If necessary he can go to Tuskegee for treatment.
13
I learned way back in the debates- he "Sniffles" when he tells a WHOPPER of a LIE but it has to be in a setting that makes him NERVOUS. Ordinary, everyday lies just flow but when he is out of his element- watch for the "Sniffles"!!
3
It's the Pinocchio syndrome. Lying irritates the nasal passages and causes snuffling and' at least in puppets), excessive and comical growth. (Trump needs to watch out, him bring a puppet of the Kremlin and all.)
1
Trump’s speech proved he’s a wall paper tiger.
1
Sniffling could be due to stimulant use. Perhaps the medication modafinil? The man does seem to possess an inordinate amount of energy. He does seem to have difficulty at times maintaining a cohesive, goal-directed line of thought. Just saying.
7
How about we just get Pink Floyd to play The Wall at different spots along the border? We can call it the "The Chinese Beat MAGA to the Dark Side of the Moon" tour.
5
Trump is abusing his presidential powers to extort attention from us that would otherwise be spent noticing that even Judge Nap now thinks Trump's administration colluded with the Russians in 2016.
What on earth is Trump going to do for the encore necessary to keep us from noticing Michael Cohen's testimony on Feb 7th?
5
Can’t do that, Pink Floyd are immigrants. They could only play from the Mexico side as they wouldn’t get their visas approved with the shutdown underway
OMB estimates a cost of 49 billion to build what Pelosi aptly has called Trump's beaded curtain. The Iraq war's cost easily exceeds 2 trillion and counting. A universal, comprehensive health care plan for US citizens is deemed too costly. Climate change and global warming and its dire consequences a fact. Reality check, please. And McConnell and Graham faithful lieutenants still on aboard Trump's sinking ship freighted with lies.
2
All this party needs is a vengeful speed freak, as the late great Hunter Thompson might have observed.
Let's write to our GOP congresspeople and urge them to consider impeaching VP Pence, for failing in his duty to invoke the 25th amendment.
Even without a national emergency, real or the product of whatever keeps Mr. Trump's brain going, there's no legal way to stop a U.S. president from launching a first strike.
It's not worth the risk.
3
This “wall” is foremost, and hintermost, a distraction.
When Nixon faced impeachment, he tried to avert attention from Watergate and the plumbers, by globetrotting to Moscow, Peking, the Mideast, offering to build nuclear power plants.
That wouldn't work so well for Trump. Rocket Man, for instance, already has more than enough nuclear facilities to play with.
Trump is obsessed with "the wall" (actually a fence, and already mostly built, and demonstrably ineffective, but please don't mention that, it's not good material for headlines or social media). He fixated on it already during the 2016 campaign as a distraction from his lack of policy ideas, and now he needs to throw in a "crisis" or two to keep people from talking about how Mexico will not, after all, be paying for that wall (described by Mexico's president using an adverbial adjective which would not make all incoming Congresspersons blush).
Speaking of Congress, the wall and shutdown are also convenient ways to distract from its having done nothing to demand Trump release his tax returns, divest his businesses, come clean on Russian financing, and stop confusing reality TV with executive orders from the Oval Office.
It's time for the Art of the Deal. Let bargaining commence on a package of "make resignation great" plus letting the US-Mexico desert bloom with beautiful golf courses, complemented by gorgeous facilities for permanent retirement, and without interference from global warming or other Chinese hoaxes.
2
I know Trump did not write "The Art of the Deal". However, I wonder if he read the book.
7
Now we know the short meeting was a ploy so trump could stage a walk out to say bye bye.
This man is almost 73 hardly reads or writes but good in shouting and theatrics .
A cruel heartless man , all the thousands who will not get a paycheck tomorrow or the one after should vote the lying con man out in 2020.
6
The occupant of the White House is the King of distractions, what are we not paying attention folks?
As for all those folks who want the wall may be we could fund it with your tax dollars only and not the rest of us.
3
This would be really amusing if the country weren’t going down the drain. But it’s difficult to laugh as the Republican Party’s bonfire of pathological greed and corruption consumes a 240-year-old experiment in self-government. And no, the Democrats are not the same. Greedy and corrupt, yes, but not pathological. Still, one has to give Collins credit for trying to make us laugh.
4
GC, your piece is too breezy and smiling for me. I prefer "Trump is the Wall," an editorial by the Univision journalist Joge Ramos that really underscores the absurdity and moral depravity of Trump and anyone who would even remotely seek to appease him and go along with hanging a "not welcome" sign on the border of a nation of immigrants.
All tragedy can be viewed as comedy by those secure in the knowledge that they won't themselves suffer the ill effects of the diseased situation. Such prideful hubris -- it can't happen here to me -- is partly what got us into this mess.
2
Thank you, Gail, for your humorous take on the absurdity of Trump’s ridiculous campaign cheer/slogan.
Because a few perpetually frightened and angry folks didn’t get the joke, the joke is now on all of us.
4
He’s nuts. And we aren’t doing anything about it. Period. When this is over and the inside story is told, there will be plenty of guilt and shame to go around.
12
My personal opinion that a physical obstacle prevents nothing except people doing things the "right way." The heart of our immigration problem, is how difficult we make it for someone from Mexico to immigrate here legally. We impose ridiculously small and arbitrary limits on the number of applicants we permit to come here permanently. So the majority of illegals choose to either get in on a temporary visa and then never leave...or try to smuggle themselves in some other way. A wall might prevent them from smuggling themselves in they way they are now. But it isn't nearly as hard to find a way over a wall as it is to deal with 15 years of paperwork and being waitlisted to come here legally. Absent a change in the way we process legal immigration applications no wall will ever be enough to encourage people to use the legal process instead.
3
I have heard that sniffling (escpecially throughout speech) is a side effect of modafinil which is a powerful stimulant used to treat narcolepsy.
5
Next up, full banana republic—government by emergency declaration for everything.
I worry that the House won't muster an adequate response when it happens. It needs to tell Trump now, before he acts, that whatever kitty he raids for wall money will, in the future, get no appropriations at all.
4
Isn't it odd that there are so few Nicaraguan immigrants? The mass emigration occurring throughout the world now is the consequence of globalization. The few countries that do not participate in the global economy are generally protected from the economic and demographic upheavals underlying these desperate actions. From my understanding, most of the immigrants in the current exodus are from rural areas (and not, of course, LA-based, MS-13 gang members) of three countries whose traditional, small-scale and diversified farming methods have radically changed in order to produce biofuel (rather than food, clothing, etc.), for US vehicles (to a large extent). The large-scale monoculture of African palm and sugar cane has led to a modern, globalization version to the Irish potato famine. And where do most of these illegal immigrants work? In our own globalized agriculture sector, e.g. massive-scale poultry/eggs, dairy and beef/pork industries, that's where. The domination of local commerce by giant, multinational corporations, i.e. globalization, causes many problems in both developed and undeveloped nations.
8
So our allegedly Great, or newly-Great-Again, nation, whose annual military budget exceeds that of the next-biggest nineteen or twenty countries' combined budgets, needs to cower behind a wall to protect itself from... mothers, children, families, fleeing from violence and poverty, and willing to work hard at jobs the rest of us refuse to do.
Dang, I feel safer and Greater already...
18
Still, coal’s decline has raised concerns among regulators that a rapid shift to renewables and natural gas could come at the expense of power-grid reliability. Coal plants have historically served as generation workhorses, running nonstop to serve the demand for power. Wind and solar farms, and some natural-gas plants, run more intermittently.
Snuffling too much is the very least of Trump's problems. That he is "memory challenged", and has the attention span of someone with ADD is more concerning.
He refuses to read briefing papers, either through inability to concentrate, inability to retain information, or both.
He stubbornly fixates on ideas, when logic and fact do not support him, as with the wall, or tax breaks for the rich, or following coal baron Robert Murray's environmentally destructive "Action Plan"--to the letter.
The "Wall" -- a mnemonic device created by a campaign team to remind Trump to speak about immigration, a fake wall, if you will. Trump fixated on a mnemonic, rejecting all border experts.
That it would be ineffective, and impossible to build, given border terrain and issues of imminent domain, doesn't stop him. He holds the country hostage and Congressional Republicans refuse do their job--check him.
Adding to a large deficit with tax breaks for the rich holds no logic for most Americans, whose tax rates increased. But it did benefit Trump, his family and wealthy campaign donors, the only cohort Trump cares about.
His unthinking following of the "Murray Action Plan" is responsible for his unreasoning fixation on fossil fuels and ignoring climate change. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/09/climate/document-Murray-Energy-Action-Plan.html
Trump's not a thinker. He reacts, but cannot plan long-term. He lacks empathy and destroys without guilt.
And we let him win.
27
Gail, I might buy into the idea of an impenetrable wall, but only if Trump were on the other side of it.
29
Today, an NPR program guest mentioned that border fencing and militarization over the past 30 years has actually increased permanent settlement of illegal immigrants. Before, workers would come across the border for work and return home to their families later on. The barriers made return trips difficult, so workers opted to settle here and bring their families rather than undertake the dangerous border crossings.
18
@Amanda: People come to the US hoping to get rich enough to retire in style to their places of birth. Many of them would be happy with guest worker visas.
3
@Steve, please share evidence
After TD "wins" this astro turf crisis - he will move onto the next one. My guess is that we will next need a giant fan to keep the Canadian cold air from ruining the golf season in West Palm - then a really tall wall in Cali to keep the Santa Ana's from blowing those annoying forest fires out of control.
The fiery moat will have to wait until the second term.
The man is a genius with a very large brain - what could go wrong?
9
My guess is that there are at least a million high school students that can sit in a chair and read a teleprompter as well or better than our dear leader. That said, all of those kids would meet Lindsey Graham's standards for looking and sounding presidential.
19
At LEAST a million. I used to teach high school.
1
Laughing Out Loud!!! Brilliant, Gail Collins - and just what we needed to wipe away a bit of the pain and angst from the daily destruction of an unfit, crazed, so-called president who won't even consider better 21st century means to control immigration or to actually listen and engage in the collaborative process of democracy. Thank you for the insightful comic relief!
15
Age old ploy of divide and rule. Only hope divisions sown by this deplorable, narcissistic cynic would be temporary, And the erasure of this abomination of a presidency from our public concsciousnness would be coupled with a collective resolve of 'never again'.
11
All of stumps talk about border security is another deflection from what’s really happening in our country. Notice how he harps on the hoards of illegals, the relentless caravan that was going to invade our southern border. This is the same “man” who believes Putin over his own intelligence agencies. No crisis there; our election was hacked by a foreign enemy, but hey that’s no big deal. Stump doesn’t know what a crisis is. He’s never had to pay for any of his mistakes and his sense of responsibility lies with everyone else. This is a nightmare; when are the republicans going to see that stump has damaged our reputation around the world? I think it’s time the toddler had a timeout! Sniff, sniff!
8
This was Gail's bias inaccurate opinion.
I believe that every word Trump said was the absolute truth.
I also would have been much harder on the corrupt Socialist Democrat Establishment Elite for not representing the citizens of the United States but their own selfish interest.
They are the ones destroying America, Trump wants to MAGA.
... “absolute truth”? Wish you would soberly re-consider the response you
have shared to Gail Collin’s piece about the President’s remarks in last evening’s address from the oval office.
How in the world would a cement/steel wall be helpful to someone who has been sexually assaulted on their trek through Mexico - heading north to the border?
Is every democrat truly an elitist? No.
Are there no republican elitists? Really?
You, sir, have called attention to the fact that some citizens participating
in the national dialogue about the president’s thinking are not playing their hand (head) at all well on the subject - be they GOP or DEM!
1
@Roger Martin - delightful irony.
um, right?
2
@Roger Martin
You forgot to put the /s symbol at the end of your satirical post.
He's only a couple of days away from a new record! Maybe that will fill up enough of that hole in his soul to allow him to step back and accept a compromise.
7
Canada wouldn t mind a Moat at all...
18
@joseelr the Great Lakes will not suffice as the carp are trying to get in, too.
Moose, elk, bears and wolves keep out...!
A long bathtub deep moat 4000 miles long will work.
2
OMG what a wonderful column to read today! !! You are the grand master of sarcasm. Facts and humor rolled into one. What a pleasure!! Thank you!!! I’ve been in Mexico, living among Mexicans for many years. The dangerous Mexicans fly to the US whenever they want $$. The Latins who are traveling by foot, of course have nothing. Granted, a few may be traveling because their family is fed up with them and booted them out. But still, it takes a lot of determination to walk thousands of miles! That’s a lot of good hard workers. Aren’t they needed for all those jobs Americans don’t want and don’t stick with?
13
Why oh why did so many of us vote for the Worst President in American History? He and his family and cohorts have run rough shod over all we have stood for.. for so long! Who can forget the Russians laughing in the Whitehouse when Trump mentioned firing Comey? They are laughing at us as a nation I'm sure! Why are we so dependent on Mr Mueller? Why have so many of us chosen to stick with such a dysfunctional chaotic administration? Republicans can you hear me?? We are being undermined from within ! Everyone in leadership playing by the rules seem stymied ! Though headway has been made there's a long way to go ! Why is the way so hard? There should be no support left for this inept leadership!! Now our own Gov't workers are without pay! Ridiculous ..Mr Mueller ..the NYT Prints All The News Fit to Print !! It's a New Year !! Let's Make a Resolution to Get FIT !! OPEN The GOV'T AND LET OUR FELLOW AMERICANS BE PAID ! IMPEACH !!NOW THOSE ARE HEADLINES I HOPE WE SEE IN PRINT SOON !! There will be a collective sigh of RELIEF then!! Along with some dancing in the streets !! Make the States United Again!
15
Elect a clown president and the circus will follow.
30
Vladimir Putin must be laughing into his blintzes by now.
13
Oh, come on, people. Those tiny little sniffs are typical of having lizard-size lungs. No offense to lizards. Those lizard lungs are small leathery bags with poor oxygen-CO2 exchange. The gases build up and for the evolved man-lizard to continue to breathe, he has to do what science calls "bloviate" - from bloviatus - or blow via cough (as near as I can recall from Latin 101.)
Once room is made in the lungs more oxygen can be taken up so that bloviation can continue. The respiratory pattern is "sniff, bloviate; sniff, bloviate" ad infinitum. Isn't science wonderful? Latin ain't so bad, either.
10
Trump doesn't know or care anything about building a wall. He doesn't really know how much it would cost to build or maintain, how long it would take to build, where it would actually go or the legal implications. As noted, he only knew that when he said "build the wall" people cheered.
Likewise, he knew and cared nothing about healthcare except that when he said "repeal and replace" people cheered.
His meetings are punctuated with expressions of adoration by his underlings, regardless of what inanity he spews.
He will learn nothing from this trip and will dispense no wisdom.
We can only hope that, if he usurps power by declaring a bogus emergency, congress and the courts will have the gumption to rein in his power grab.
11
Doesn’t declaring an “emergency” generally entail having a solution that will immediately address the problem? Considering the fact that building a wall will take years, as eminent domain cases wend their way through the courts and the daunting task of actually constructing a 30’ high barrier proceeds, how does Trump’s solution meet this requirement? What does he plan to do while the massive caravans that he is always telling America about reach the border and invade our country? Station more troops at the border for the foreseeable future?
The wall is, like the president, a sick joke.
11
Applying the cui bono principle, it was likely Trump and/or a confederate who promoted the caravan, got it moving just weeks before the election, and abandoned it flat on election day.
3
I wish Trump would build a wall between the US and Canada to keep out the illegal or legal immigrants fleeing the US. Since Trump's election, that has become a problem for us....
8
Gail , you might have misread the genius of Trump. He's sad so himself, " I am a stable genius." He's building the wall, probably a moat and a berm (accd to Dana Milbank of washpost) for environmental, wildlife preservation and employment opportunities.
He would need hundreds of thousands of employees to man the wall, the towers (you knew that was coming?) to keep out the "hordes," the moat will be filled with endangered sea life and the berms are for small desert burrowing animals.
I don't know about his constant sniffing, must be a coke habit...
5
Never mind Trump. How do the Republicans ever climb their way back to sanity? The party of white men in blue suits and red ties is lost in the woods, and like Michael Cohen, Rick Gates, and Paul Manafort, have tied their fortunes to the wrong President. The majority voters of the mid-terms can see right through these ridiculous men. Our nation's work has shut-down, emblematic of the Republican Party and Trump. They have closed the doors for decades.
8
Sniffling I can tolerate, but the sniveling - good lord, will it ever end?
It would almost be worth funding the Edifice Mex just to make it stop.
Almost.
197
@the dogfather Only if it includes putting That Man on the southern side of it. But that would be cruel, to the people of Mexico.
19
Polyps? Deviated septum? Maybe it was a reaction from white, powdery substance. He has been acting bizarre these past 72 years.
7
What is Trump but the physical embodiment of what we called the "Theater of the Absurd".
Following is an excerpt from Wikipedia when describing that literary movement:
" .... some characteristics coincide in many of the plays: broad comedy, often similar to vaudeville, mixed with horrific or tragic images; characters caught in hopeless situations forced to do repetitive or meaningless actions; dialogue full of clichés, wordplay, and nonsense; plots that are cyclical or absurdly expansive ...."
7
Perhaps our President needs assistance in understanding the United States internationally-known policy concerning hostages. We do not pay ransoms; even if the hostages happen to be 800,000 federal employees of the United States.
7
I was really glad to see Gail's column return today. She adds a bit of brightness to this extremely sad situation created by the totally incompetent president.
11
I can't listen to him for too long, but I admit that I stare at him in utter fascination. You know how people who are tragically afflicted with anorexia see someone entirely different in the mirror? He obviously looks at himself with that orange skin with white circles around his eyes and that singular shelf of hair and thinks "looking good today Trump." I'm no therapist, but holy cow.
19
I think perhaps the Trump wants to partake in every possibility, advantage, permissible by a president.....before his time is up.....shut down the government (lets see how that works), executive order (love to see my name so large), travel to the foreign countries (love having them create parades for me), etc., etc., etc!
2
I think many of us are able to define the reason for trump’s strange sniffing. It doesn’t take a genius, but being familiar with medicine helps.
7
Trump wants an excuse to use his power to declare a national emergency. Behind it all, his desire to dictate (as in dictator) to Justice and the FCC (to shut down media coverage and communications). I truly hope I am wrong.
Sniffles is from his false teeth, dentures giving him post nasal drip?
2
I watched clips of Trump this morning, basically bellowing his views. Perhaps he's deaf and can't hear half of what's said to him? I want to believe there's some good reason for him being so out of touch and stubborn.
1
During our evening walk with the dogs last night, my wife came up with a sensible proposal that let's everyone save face. Dems agree to fund the wall to the tune of $5 billion to be allocated at $1 billion for the first two years and then assessed for efficacy. If it works as intended, the remaining $3 billion would be released. If it is not successful, the funds would not be released.
This seems to be a pretty grownup solution so I don't expect Trump, Schumer, or Pelosi will go for it, but one can hope.
7
@Spartican
You can't build half a wall to keep people out, any more than you can close a window halfway to keep out the cold.
The grownup solution is to acknowledge that one is not necessary, as there isn't a problem.
2
I think we ought to start referring to this as the McConnell shutdown and make sure that Kentucky voters understand this.
While Trump does actually seem prepared to keep the government closed for months, there must be a few advisors around the President who see the shutdown as a losing strategy. The house should pass a bill with something for the President and McConnell should be pressured into sending it on. (By 2020 McConnell can find a savvy way to justify sending a bill with some bones for Trump forward). Trump is persuaded to sign it and folks like Sarah Sanders and Kelly Ann Conway spin it as a total victory.
8
I wonder how much of this is related to the Russia investigation. With Rod Rosenstein announcing his departure from the DOJ, it would seem that Robert Mueller may be preparing to release a report. If so, Trump will desperately need an escalating crisis to distract the public.
It’s hard to imagine that TSA Agents and Air Traffic Controllers will stay on the job if the shutdown extends beyond a second missed paycheck. Air travel will become a nightmare, and it’s only a matter of time before an outbreak of food borne illness is blamed on missing FDA inspectors. Federal courts will run out of money in a little more than a week, and National Parks are already disaster zones.
The general public is going to start feeling the effects of the shutdown very soon – and Trump may have a powerful incentive to extend the chaos for as long as possible.
6
Trump isn't sniffing, he's snorting.
Being overweight and unfit, he quickly becomes breathless when he has to read sentences written for him that are longer than three or four short words.
As proved again on Tuesday night, joined-up sentences expressing sequential logical thoughts are out of the question without snorting (gasping) for air.
The infantile gibberish he spouts when not reading from a teleprompter is a result of his shortness of breath.
Trump's (ab)normal speech patterns are based on his need to breathe and not on a need to make sense -- or to sound like someone capable of words with more than two syllables.
7
Gail, the moat comes next. But meanwhile I too am bothered by his noisy nose, and wish he'd keep his nose to the ground by honestly and thoughtfully running this country. Why didn't I see this coming after his first meeting with "Nancy and Chuck" when he said he would be proud to own the shutdown. You know what they say? Pride comes before the fall.
1
Welcome back!
2
January 10, 2019
Speaking of the border in the animal kingdom the best territorial areas are biologically mark to all the world and this as well surely could be tested by the powers of DJT - wetting the appetite of his base forever.
3
Is it too much to ask to see an actual plan of how and where this $5.7 billion wall is going to be built? The last I heard, Trump already has an unspent $1 billion for some kind of border wall somewhere and even that isn't defined--yet Congress is supposed to hand over another pile of cash to indulge what appears to be pure imbecilic fantasy.
Is there a blueprint? Which agency is in charge? Army Corps of Engineers? Will there be Environmental Impact Statements? Homeland Security? A collaborative effort? Who's on first? Is there something other than a prototype? Apparently not, since Nancy Pelosi is making jokes about beaded curtains.
Is any of the wall abutting the Rio Grande? (which is after all, about half the length of the border) If so, is it going on the Mexican side? (do the Mexicans know about this?) The American side? (do American ranchers and property owners who border the river care about this?) Or right down the middle? (a bit of a logistical problem, not to mention environmental nightmare)
It would be grand if a reporter from beyond Texas or New Mexico asked one or more of these questions of someone in charge one of these days--like in the White House briefing room, on the evening news, or on the front page of the NYT.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Proposed-fence-in-Rio-Grande-Valley-shows-13468138.php
3
Since Trump seems to doing this presidency gig primarily for all the shock value he can muster, I think he might like Gail's idea of a fiery moat for border security. Why?
Because a fiery moat is much more dramatic, and will no doubt bedazzle his base. Plus, it would greatly pollute the environment, be far more dangerous, do lots of real tangible damage, and is even a stupider idea than an ugly old concrete or steel wall.
And, Putin would probably love to see this as Trump's solution to the "security" of our borders.
3
We are happy to accommodate little donny's dreamy, great wall, campaign promise. Let's review it: "Build a wall!"...and who's gonna pay for it ? I can't HEAR you ! Who's gonna pay for it ? MEXICO!" rrroaarrrrrr! Mind you, using any taxes remitted to the US Treasury means they are drawn from OUR Treasury. We elect a Congress to budget the use of those funds. That's why Donny went to the President of Mexico, hat in hand, with his childlike favor demeanor, " Help me out here Signor, I made this promise, see, and , I'll promise you something in return, honest, cross-my-heart !"
1
I got a Trump on my screen.
I know that if
He took even one sniff
He would bore me terrif-
ically, too.
So I turned it off - how 'bout you?
4
As a nearly 70 year old man with a septum that ... in the words of a board certified otolaryngologist ... is seriously deviated -- and, in my best guess, has been 'thus' since 1964, when I caught a pass in the schoolyard that fell incomplete as my face found common place with a light stanchion -- I must 'say' that my public speaking, most often observed in courts during over 40 years as a corporate litigator (retired, thank the ghosts), was ever and is yet sniffle-free.
P.S. His sniffles aside, I find it most surprising that trump is not a 'mouth breather' -- but I guess he had to resort to nasal inhaling, as mouth breathing would be incompatible with his 'habit' of chewing his Mickey D's with his mouth open.
2
Donald should pay for the wall himself. Mexico will reimburse him.
6
Americans are missing the point.
Trump imagines, though his imagination is limited; he perceives in the primitive pleasure of his reptilian brain, the wall as a MEMORIAL to him.
He will not give up the thought (though thinking is also a stretch) of his great great grandchild walking with a friend along the wall, declaring proudly (the DNA does not fall far from the tree), "My great great grandfather built that wall,"
"Why," asks his Latino friend.
6
"He sounded like Uncle Fred who you haven’t seen for a while and suddenly he shows up for Thanksgiving with weird colored hair and vacant eyes and he’s talking into his mashed potatoes."
There is something about uncles that show up for dinner that causes panic in NY Times columnists. It can be a wild haired old socialist uncle. A bitterly nasty (old) right wing uncle. In this case a senile (just to be clear that's the word in all its ugly stigmatizing power that's called up by the image depicted here in Gail's mockery) uncle. Or the uncle who enjoys dancing too much (that particular uncle if he is old creates real disgust in Timothy Egan).
As for me I loved my uncles. I wish they were still here to spend time with.
I was going to leave it with those last two lines. But I think I need to mention I am 75. And to know that this degree of age bigotry is so active and alive and totally unexamined inside the pages of the Times is more than a little unsettling. No I am not going to try and separate myself from "Uncle Fred". As a freshman sports writer for my college paper I covered a game and used one of the players who had a bad game as a gag line throughout the article. That's what sports writers did. He came over to me later and said, "Why did you do that? I was trying my best." In saying that he treated me with a respect I never experienced before. Since then I have tried not to play for the cheap laugh ever again.
4
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy claimed, Trump “brought a little candy for everybody.”
Is he bringing some to the border?
1
Thanks for mentioning the sniffing. Not earth shattering but certainly distracting
2
Trump's obsession with the border wall is evocative of borderline personality disorder. Coincidence?
3
Gail - not just contractors being "stiffed" by this man. Consider thousands of Foreign Service Officers, many serving in dangerous places, who are currently furloughed without pay. My son and his wife amongst those numbers.
3
Given the many changes to our Dear Leader's Cabinet in recent months, you may have to turn 2018's Worst Trump Cabinet Member contest into an annual competition. I, for one, look forward to the 2019 Tournament (or, in boxing parlance, Round Two).
“The President is right, the President of Border Patrol council is right, the other day when they had the national press conference and they got up and they said the wall works, they’re right.
“And it’s not based on a personal political ideology. That’s based on historical data and facts that can be proven.
“I personally, in my experience and I was also with The FBI for 20 years, I was special agent in charge of the El Paso Division right on the border. I cannot think of a legitimate argument why anyone would not support the wall as part of the multilayered border security.”
President Obama’s chief of U.S. Border Patrol, Mark Morgan - Yesterday
mic drop!
1
@Jerome
The Border Patrol supports the wall.
What a surprise ...
'Will no one rid us of this turbulent president?'
5
@robg
Well, the House is willing and able, but the Senate is controlled by Mitch McConnell, so.....
2
I like Gail Collins. I dislike Donald Trump. But I am sorry to point out that every comedian in America made fun of Trump throughout 2015 and 2016. Every columnists denounced him. Still, he won the election. Yesterday, every comedian and pundit, including Gail Collins, was making fun of Trump for painting himself into a corner with his ill-advised government shutdown and insistence on a border wall. Today, many pundits say Trump may declare a national emergency, start building the wall, re-open the government, and will then blame Democrats when they file a lawsuit to stop him. So, who's laughing? As they say, it's not funny anymore.
4
@Chris Rasmussen
One point of disagreement; he did not win the election, he was appointed by the Electoral College.
6
Chris Rasmussen, how should people act when djt has become more unbelievable every day? Wouldn't you like to see him and his white house staff become more thoughtful in their approach to this presidency? It is pitiful what has happened to this country. We have lost all sense of decency and honor.
@Chris Rasmussen
"Still, he won the election."
By the slimmest of margins in three states.
And three million more voted for Clinton.
Acerbic wit is the best deflator of arrogance.
I keep telling everyone that treating the border as a destined/linear resort -- from BOTH sides -- whence regrettable penetration of any sort would automatically turn win/win dynamics into lose/lose stagnation.
Imagine a Christo-like lineage of relocated Confederate statues -- all facing East -- on gated pedestals forking BOTH westward traffic, assimilated via time-travel into a future, countering MAGA fronts for destiny's higher order AND eastward traffic, confronting statuary "arrears," time-traveling back to a mythic greatness super-imposed on a "Sherman's march to the SeaWorld" payoff. With traffic flow separably coming-and-going via two-way miniature JUMBO golf-holed links holistically chain-ganged by caddies gladly "doing time" in lieu of crossing discernment's worsening choices.
1
Far more important than the so-called "Wall" is the revelation that Paul Manafort while he was Trump's campaign manager secretly shared polling data with the Russians and helped Russians target voters on social media in key states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. This enabled Trump to carry the Electoral College with a total of a mere 70,000 votes in those key states.
If Trump had not colluded with the Russian he would not have been elected, and "The Wall" would be meaningless ancient history.
However, more seriously, at the end of the day the Republican leadership especially McConnell knows that the Wall is a stupid waste of time and money. They don't care about that anymore than they did about foisting off the ignorant, incompetent racist Donald Trump on the American people through corrupt election practices.
No person who has even a shred of respect for the United States can support Trump and these Republicans who are destroying our nation to satisfy their own lust for power and money as well as that of their super-wealthy owners.
Are you listening Mitch? Your day of retribution will come along with Donald Trump's.
9
Trump is exhibiting classic bully behavior. Shame on every congressional leader who is allowing and supporting these actions at the expense of American workers. If members of Congress won't stand up for American citizens then they need to find a new job. This is NOT about building a wall this is about an abuse of power.
4
B. My answer is B.
#Impeachment
3
3 quick thoughts
1. This is symbolic. There are cheaper and more effective ways to secure a border.
2. Even IF the wall was an effective way to stop criminals from entering the country, its not going to pop up overnight like mushrooms after a rain. The President is rushing to get approval for something that will not be built for years. As others have pointed out, our border often is along private lands and in cities. We are sacrificing other things for a questionable expense that we won't be able to use for years.
3. The sniffling. I didnt find it that bad, but it sounds to me like he was trying to catch his breath. He is not used to speaking utterances that long and polysyllabic. Adult is a difficult language to speak.
9
Sniffling? How about his slurping? Doesn't always happen, but sometimes when he stands in front of that microphone you can hear him slurp as he breathes in or utters a word. Like he's got excess saliva at the back of his mouth. It's really gross.
6
@Jessica Mendes
Yes, he is really gross! I've noticed that slurping too, so nasty. I also wonder if those bizarre breathing sounds are caused by a respiratory problem or something??
2
The first part of this column made me laugh out loud. Thank you, Gail - at least we have that.
2
The president brought candy to grease the skids for the Democratic leaders to give him the $5 billion for his silly wall? And then he up and said "Bye-bye" when Nancy said NO to his demand?
Agreed, the president has been sniffing for some time, Gail. When children sniff like that, they have either stuck a green pea up a nostril, or have ENT problems. The Big Orange should see his Park Ave doc who wrote his health report in 5 minutes -- "astonishingly excellent, especially his mental health" -- and mailed it in during 2016 campaign.
The less said the better about His Nibs's toxic address to us all on Tuesday night. What's going on in our president's "stable genius" mind? His government shutdown is causing a world of hurt to Americans and to our allies (and joy to our enemies).
Like most Americans (immigrants all, who built this greatest country in the world) I think the wall is a colossal waste of time and moolah. an insult like throwing paper-towel rolls to the hoi polloi. Can we wait and see what his visit to our Southern Border today produces? "The mountain strained and brought forth a mouse.", Horace wrote 2000 years ago.
3
The sniffling is caused by loose atom-sized particles of the hair spray Trump uses to keep his comb-over-nest do firmly in place. Thes teeny droplets lodge in Trump’s nostrils, where entire colonies of bacteria have nestled, like bats in a cave.
4
Sniffles may have been crying before he went on air as he must know in his heart that this covfefe moment is a loser and we all know how much he loves winning. Did he really think that bringing candy to the meeting would melt the Democrats resolve?
Proposing a 3rd Century solution to a 21st Century issue is kind of mind-numbing. You think the Trumpster fire thinks there were airplanes when the Great Wall of China was built? I'd say that's a 50/50 question.
His out of control, childish behavior is on full display while the Republican Party each day get closer to irrelevancy. How can anyone from that party continue to let him go unchecked?
Go get some tissues, Sniffles and do what's right for the country instead of this grandstanding attempt at being a tough guy. We know you're not. How are your bone spurs doing these days?
3
Trump lost. so SAD!
1
Not a single, solitary cent of the taxpayers' funds should be given for this abomination. Let's hold this liar to his original promise: Let Mexico pay for the wall!
4
This paper is turning into a giant echo chamber.
Trump has a runny nose! BAAA!
Focus on the bigger stuff, can we?
32
@lin it’s actually “irony” or more simplistically, “humor”.
Give it a rest... Gail is great!
100
@lin That is quite difficult when our collective fate(s) are in the hands of a petulant child, god help us.
59
@lin The closure of the government because there is no Great Wall seems big enough to me.
50
Let's look at the facts here Gail! Trump brought candy, Pelosi & Schumer brought note paper. If Chucky & Nancy had brought some Chucky Cheese pizza they all would have stuck around and got this thing solved. Who wants to negotiate without some heavy carb loading? Nobody! Lession learned. And hold the salad!
2
How fun... what's not to like about such an easy mark? Problem is, a President in his terrible twos makes it too easy. Opinion columnists used to have to work hard with hyperbole and clever alliteration, telling similes, and other literary devices that added some higher relief to an almost 2D tableau of blandness and political correctness.
No more! We have an instant-on, just add water, ready-made, baitable by all... buffoon. As Tina Fey so elegantly demonstrated with her verbatim imitation of Sarah Palin, all you have to do is quote people like Palin and Trump for an instant laugh.
Gail, you are bright, insightful, and funny, but your talents are wasted on the village idiot. Unfortunately, there is no one else in this administration worth lampooning. Pence, Huckabee, Bolton? They don't have enough character to impugn.
3
@live now you'll be a long time dead
Presidents who can discuss policy seriously tend to get more serious coverage, analysis, and inevitably, more respect.
Is it possible that Trump’s bluster about the wall is a diversionary tactic so we will all forget about the investigations that should be going on? You know, meddling in elections, collusion, tax fraud ...
9
The Art of the Deal baby, The Art of the Deal. We always knew The Donald did not actually write the Art of the Deal. Now we know he never read it. Winning!
11
Look, there is always a compromise. How about this?
The Dems allocate about $500,000 to build a wall. But we build it around Mar-a-Lago instead. And we make it a fake golden wall, just like the cladding of Trump Tower.
Here’s the thinking and the terms of the deal:
1. It’s a golden wall and it would have Trump’s name of it. Ergo, it would be the best wall ever built. How could he resist?
2. A condition to the money is that Trump has to stay there, all the time. (Don Jr. and Jared, too. Eric? Meh.) If he ever violates this condition and leaves the premises, Jack Dorsey gets to shut down his Twitter account.
3. The wall would at least keep the Mexicans out of somewhere, thus pleasing Trump's base, and would keep the Trumps IN there, thus pleasing everybody else.
4. With these terms, the Mexicans probably would pay for it.
Who says compromise is hard?
10
Even better idea in 7 words:
Trump Grand Transnational Resort at Guantánamo Bay
Other countries build bullet trains, our stone-age President wants to build walls instead. Does he not understand that a 30 foot ladder will defeat a 30 foot wall? Why is it that facts do not matter the the President or his Party?
14
The same guy who sees coal as the fuel of the future.
4
@Brud1
Hard to say which is worst: no facts, no logic, no integrity.
He sniffled pretty badly during the debates in 2016.
The nation got to see "Teleprompter Trump" the other night. A stiff person, reading words he didn't write and thoughts he could not come up with on his own.
His 35% base (and the rest of us thanks to the media) on occasion get to see "Rally Trump," a free-for-all when he speaks contemporaneously and plays to the crowd. We get to see the infantile side of The Donald. Love it when he imitates a "boring" president.
Happy New Year America. The one truly great thing about 2019 is that it is one year closer to a general election. Then we will have the chance to throw this bum out of office.
12
If you watched the address — and really, you could have, it was only about as long as it takes to microwave popcorn — you saw a 72-year-old guy squinting at the teleprompter and making rather alarming breathing soundsI
It may be that Trump's age is affecting him, but it may not be. This is the ONLY characteristic I wouldn't hold against him. There are plenty of 72 year olds, 75 year olds, 80 and even 90 year olds who are functional and competent and who, if they have some problems, know how to handle their limits. AND there are plenty of leaders who are MUCH younger who are incompetent and dictatorial. Take Nicholas Maduro of Venezuela for instance. He is 56. I guess you could say that Vladimir Putin at 66 is inching up there, but Jair Bolsonaro is only 63, and for heaven's sake, North Korea's Kim Jong Un, a Trump favorite, is only 36!!!!! So let's just admit that Trump is a terrible president and leave out his age.
4
@EKB
Ageism is a huge, underrecognized issue. But your comment sparked a really interesting question--does Mr. Trump receive S.S. and Medicare?
Before anyone points out that he doesn't need them, remember that "entitlement" in classic policy analysis refers to benefits to which an entire class is entitled (i.e., by age, military service) without further qualification (i.e., means testing).
Either way the answer would be interesting. If he doesn't, why and when did he make that decision? If he does, when did SS start and how much? What Medicare coverage did he elect?
His SS contribution file might be just as interesting as his tax returns, dating back to his first reported earnings, and showing who paid the employer contribution (self, family business, etc.).
When Gail mentioned a weird Uncle Fred, I thought she meant Fred Edison from the original "Maniac Mansion." An obscure reference, I know. That's why I did a double-take. Turns out I was mistaken. Ed Edison is the weird one. Uncle Fred is just a diabolical mad scientist under the influence of a strange meteor from outer space. Mistakes happen.
In this context, I'm not sure the analogy is entirely wrong though. Have you ever recognized that moment when a President looks like they've been run over by a truck? It happens to every President eventually. Sometimes repeatedly. I think Mr. Donald J. Trump just had his truck moment. He is forever aged in the public mind. And here we thought the permanent 80s haircut was bad.
1
Thank you again, Gail, for keeping us sane with laughter through this horrible presidential nightmare!
5
Saying "bye-bye" after only thirty minutes, makes him the tyrant, not the culprit. That means "I talk, you listen. You agree. Meeting over." That's not a meeting.
13
A complete waste of $5.7 billion. If I thought it would sate the beast for a while, it might be worth it, but I fear that the newfound tool in the toybox—emergency declarations—could become his new thing.
Oh, 2020, you cannot come soon enough!
3
Back during the debates with Clinton Trump's sniffing tic was discussed in the press. One psychiatrist's explanation was that the sniffing was a conversational affirmation going on his head; he was agreeing with himself.
Tic or no tic it is apparent that Trump is not a speaker but a shouter. At rallies his audience's reactions allow him to end his sentences without completing them. As he makes outrageous statements that their cheers tell him when he has hit the sweet spot. So he repeats the incomplete phrases. "It's gonna be beautiful... Beautiful... Beautiful... A real Beaut..." or "...is a traitor. A traitor. A real traitor..."
Like many lay people, I have strong suspicions that the President is mentally ill. The narcissistic bullying, the inability to complete a paragraph of thoughts on a single subject, the stream of lies and invective and the lack of any internal censor.
But I strongly agree with Dr. Azarian who states in his brilliant article in Psychology Today: "While dozens of psychologists have analyzed Trump, to explain the man’s political invincibility, it is more important to understand the minds of his staunch supporters."
It is his enablers that we have to understand. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-in-the-machine/201812/complete-psychological-analysis-trumps-support
Read the article: I think you will agree that Trump's nervous ticks are the least of our worries...
7
What if it's medical? What if, for example, the "personal Vietnam War" never really ended?
It seems that Mr. Trump wants 5+ billion, carte blanche, for something ill-defined. How is it going to be spent? Walls are fine in urbanized areas, however, I've heard experts say you a need something different in rural areas--steel beams at angles in the ground that block cars and trucks. And then there's the need for better electronics for surveillance, an electronic wall if you will.
In its first incarnation, the wall was supposed to be paid for by the Mexican government, to not the American people.
Experts also say that drugs are smuggled routinely through regular customs check points, transited across the border in remote rural areas, save for the occasional independent marijuana producer. But that's not the shipping method of choice of big drug cartels.
The border probably needs barrier improvements in some locations. Whether we need a wall from sea-to-shining-sea, as some wag said, is quite another thing.
So what we have is a contest of wills, rather than any kind of sensible plan worked through in negotiations. "The Wall" has become some abstract thing that has no meaning except as a symbolic football in partisan politics.
@T Norris The logical extension of your statement is that Trump, as the party advocating spending $5.7 billion American dollars on the abstract wall project, has failed to meet the burden of proof of justifying that expense. Therefore, congress is right in refusing to authorize the spending.
5
The Clogger only knows how to get Negative Attention. Not one of his actions has been the result of Positive Attention. If national security is in jeopardy, and it is, then where better to spend funds and get instantaneous bi partisan approval than a mass initiative to block and root out Russian para military intelligence networks. It seems to me Russian cyber warfare is very real and a truly clandestine and dangerous threat to the security of our country. They have already created huge social and economic disruption in America. The Kremlin has had immense success with their continuous and sophisticated mass psychology initiatives to tear American democracy to shreds. They have infiltrated intra- governmental communications, our news media, our social media, our power grids and our information transmission systems. I haven’t heard a word, let alone a proposal, to do anything to thwart and counter this dangerous menace that is a constantly pounding us with disinformation and with proven success. This fictional disaster is just oneof the many Trump has provoked. And anyone who thinks Trump is smart enough to devise all this extremely divisive political gamesmanship overestimates his intelligence, rather than being aware he is a puppet who is following very advanced planned propaganda techniques.
5
Thank you, Gail, for this delicious column. (We have to laugh these days to keep from crying.)
The Democratic Party should hire you to provide the response to our "President's" next speech announcing yet another inane and damaging action of his. Would be both more entertaining and effective than the sensible but boring efforts of the Chuck and Nancy show.
7
If the true motivation for bringing government to a halt was indeed about the safety and security of the country, then the shutdown would be over eliminating the very dire problem of guns in the US...something which actually is an ongoing crisis, and literally does harm and kill hundreds of thousands of Americans every year.
Then again, it’s the same with those ardent anti-abortion activists; if ending abortion were about saving “babies”, they’d be the most fervent in advocating sex Ed and providing universal, no-cost contraception to everyone.
6
Wow, I hope the crushing horde of zombie-like criminal gang members don't get to our dearleader! Won't some of you supporters go there too, to protect him? I mean, the danger is real, right? The caravan killers could, AT ANY SECOND push over the meager picket fence and destroy everyone in an attempt to take over the Border Patrol resources and then take over all America! Such a brave president! /s
It IS weird that the caravan zombies quieted down immediately after the mid-terms. But now that the gov't is shut down, suddenly the hordes are clamoring again! That's what FOX tells us anyway.
Look, if there were a full-blown crisis, wouldn't FOX news show continuing tear gas defense? (Not just the same tired loop from months ago) Bloodied BP agents? Although trump followers know that non-FOX news sources are fake, CNN probably WOULD cover something monumental going on at one of our border areas......
trump isn't worried about his safety either. No extra Secret Service folk, no huge military buildup to prevent a firestorm, just trump and his lies. It'll be interesting to see what national emergency he (and thus his loyal followers) will manufacture when they realize we are all unimpressed.
The lies are easily debunked. All you have to do is read a local border-city newspaper, and find zero news reports of any meaningful violence except for the normal. In fact, it's the gov't shutdown that harms them most.
8
Trump (waving a sidearm) needs to be seen down at the fence shouting orders and pushing back (hired) immigrants. This photo op would hang beside "Washington crossing the Delaware" in the National Gallery of Art.
Pelosi should also get down to Texas for her equal-time photo op listening to a border town sheriff with his boots up on his desk, chair tipped back, "No one locks their doors in these parts."
He'd note that of the 19,300 cities and towns in the country, half of the top ten Safest places to live are border towns.
6
The Trumpet of the Don? There’s a book there somewhere.
2
Touche'! Was wondering for a while about his sniffling. Hmm...
4
You should be proud of yourself that you ridiculed Trump for the way he breathes. Making fun of the physical characteristics of someone with whom you disagree really says that your argument is valid.
As for the wall, it will have the desired effect of discouraging would-be trespassers from attempting to enter our country illegally. They won’t attempt to climb and cross a 30-ft wall, they’ll go miles out into the desert, thus thinning the ranks of those who would attempt an illegal crossing. Every little bit helps.
@NorthernVirginia
Did you clutch your pearls this way when Trump made fun of a physically handicapped press member?
3
The Republican Party created a new "governing" tool: the Republican government shutdown.
When Republicans in Congress don't have enough radical members to vote for their fear and hate agenda and force it on an objecting majority, they simply pull out of their back pocket: another Republican government shutdown.
A democratic republic depends on the elected representatives voting on behalf of the electorate to decide how to run the government. But Republicans don't like that rule. They have decided when they don't like an outcome they will pout, cry and go home to mommy.
Imagine if the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles decided to stop a football game because the officials said they could not have five downs to the other teams four.
Imagine if the pilot flying the plane you are seated in announced he is taking a parachute out the front exit because he didn't like that air traffic controllers told him he had to land on a runway the pilot didn't want to use.
Imagine your 5-year old child throws your purse out the car window as you're driving across the George Washington Bridge because you refused to buy him an ice cream cone.
Who would accept any of those ludicrous behaviors? Oh yeah, Trump supporters.
Senator McConnell, is this anyway to run the government of the United States of America?
8
@JABarry
Very nice analogies. The irony is that one of the pro-border contingents' favorite arguments is that prospective immigrants need to follow the rules. Or that the U.S. is based on the rule of law.
GOP leadership should explain why it's different for Mr. Trump and Mr. McConnell.
1
Hello Gail, I do keep imploring the NYT writers to be more sensitive to stereotypes of older people. Uncle Fred at Thanksgiving dinner -- relatives can be funny, still it's a stereotype that has been used so many times. I am older than our dreadful president, but I am physically fit and mentally alert. These stereotypes, like old geezer, a woman of a certain age (no longer sexually desirable is the implication), and others, do hurt.
1
"with weird colored hair and vacant eyes and he’s talking into his mashed potatoes." Thank you for engraving this image in my brain, Gail. I needed this.
5
I don’t believe the sounds are related to Adderall or to a cold. I well recall, watching as he “debated” Hillary Clinton, the wheezy sounds whenever he inhaled. I remember thinking it was connected to how extremely affronted he was to be in the presence of someone (and a woman!) who not only outshone him but made clear she didn’t share his delusion of his magnificence.
He was, and is, literally congested: so full of hatred, rage and narcissism is he. His evil pathology suffuses even his nasal passages.
8
Does an article with this tone do anything to advance the discussion? I think not. It plays right into the kind of b&w polarization we ought to be leaving behind. Trump seems able to force so many to play on his frequency. The Times can do better. I'm not learning anything new nor am I finding much inspired thought in recent NYT opinion pieces---just 'same old same old'. Just like from the White House. Hardly the basis for intelligent dialogue or professional writers.
1
Just spent a month in Mexico, had a great time. Wonderful people, a rich culture, great weather, although Mexico City’s air quality is terrible. If more Americans spent time in Mexico we’d be investing in bridges, not walls.
The future of the United States is closely linked to our neighbors to our north and south. We rise or fail together.
1527
Try San Miguel de Allende. Its a World Heritage City 4 hours from Mexico City and it has clean air. Its like being in Europe, spectacular architecture, wonderful city, cosmopolitan people, spectacular location. Most even speak English. You will be bowled over by its heritage and beauty. And its food. And its climate.
Just mentioning this because Mexico at its best is worth seeing indeed.
219
This is nice of you but you should visit Guatemala, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras...so you have a more solid argument using your same logic. My point is, this is not Mexico’s problem but a US one. A high number of Americans voted him based on proposals of this kind. That is something just cannot be ignored.
25
@Gimme Shelter
A group of us from Hughes used to go fishing in Del Cabo during our company paid holiday from Christmas to new year, the people were great, friendly, helpful. Fresh sea bass in the local restaurants, fun place to go, just down the road from Cabo San Lucas.
27
To Gail Collins - a wonderful, intelligent fact-filled column.
While some descriptions may be tongue-in-cheek, they are all too real and scary .
I wondered about his sniffing during presidential debates.
Many articles were written then - allergies, medications, illegal drug sniffing (younger folks were all over that possibility)
Bottom line - this person does not have the integrity, intelligence, compassion, leadership qualities to be our President.
When will republicans become honest protectors of our constitution and our morality and throw this bum out of office and chase him with his family pretenders, corrupt cabinet and adviser?
I predict that as soon as family members are indicted for crimes in their businesses and/or in their government positions, trump will have a full out, no stops, psychotic break with reality (not far from where he is now).
Soon - Soon - Soon.......Please NOW.
5
He caught the sniffing bug from Kavanaugh. All that was missing was the frequently used water glass.
And his whole behaviour is full of ironies. By withholding pay from border security, TSA and other federal 'patriots' (his own words) he is damaging precisely those whose cause -- the security of the nation -- he claims to be aiding with the wall.
And then he walks out on the most senior members of the party ruling the House, as if the White House trumps (sorry) all else.
This is 'governing through tantrums'. Very un-presidential. He is there for all to see, a big, overgrown cry baby.
9
Finally my comments are working again, I believe it was some glitch that I could only read, but not recommend or comment myself.
So I called and they fix it @ IT.
Thank you so much IT department, this board is my social media, I don't use any other platforms, too much noise everywhere you go.
But this board remains my peaceful place in the midst of all the chaos.
Thank you IT department once again.
6
The shutdown is likely to end in February when the funding for Homeland Security would have had to be renewed in the bill passed by Congress in December. Trump's advisors advise him to hold firm so resolution is unlikely before then. The rest of government was to be funded thru September. The idea then was that issues regarding border security remained to be negotiated and the new congress would have addressed the matter as a priority.
Is Trump creating the conditions where Congress can urge him to resign? This could be designed to avoid prosecution. A thankful nation would wish him Godspeed.
2
@Vid Beldavs Oh, come now. Do you really think that's what we'd wish him?
A stump resignation would do nothing to halt the NYS investigation of stump and his crime family. One way or another the stump family is headed for prison.
1
This column is beyond pathetic. It's historically analogous to watching a rabid anti-semitic rant by Adolph Hitler and making fun of his moustache. Think I need to get a sense of humor? Really? Think about the way Hitler demonized Jews, then compare it to Trump's talking about immigrants (in reality, these are refugees). Change "Mexican" to "Jew" in Trump-speak and you have Hitler feeding the base...and saying "feed the base" is a really messed-up way of accommodating this fascist.
2
The sniffing isn’t a new thing. In my family, we gotten so we bet on how many sniffs there will be in any given speech. This time he must have been told not to sniff but to breathe through his mouth, because the first half he was sort of huffing and puffing. When they slowed the TelePrompTer down he was in his comfort zone. He could read and breathe at the same time. He started doing the big snifferoos. Maybe he’s just the big spoiled snot we think he is.
11
It's been over 2 years now and Trump still hasn't put a lick of effort into actually devising a plan for the wall. Just like he hasn't devoted 10 minutes of thought to that big, beautiful health plan that was scheduled for revelation sometime back in 2016.
Does he have even a simple spreadsheet to explain what would be done with the 5.7B? Is there an actual program and budget? Of course not. He just pulled a number out of the air.
If there were to be a wall, step one is a plan and detailed cost estimate. Then an Environmental Impact Statement needs to be prepared. It would examine not just wildlife impacts but also property requirements, hydrology (rivers and groundwater), construction and maintenance costs, community impacts, archeological sites that would be bulldozed, and much more.
Trump understands none of this. If he were capable of thinking things through, he never would have run for president.
8
"He’s a guy whose great political talent is yelling applause lines to a howling mob of supporters. If they cheer, he goes back again and again."
For that, he deserves an Oscar.
And, one for firing (all the Best!) people.
Well, not firing them face-to-face, but still...
He claims his advisors made him do the Oval Office TeeVee thing. That he just knew all along it was a 'bad idea.'
He makes such a good Victim....
What the heck -- give 'im another Oscar!
No one's worked harder.
2
there is already a wall on the boarder
2
". . . putting a concrete or whoops-maybe-steel-slats barrier. . ." Concrete. New York City concrete. DJT always uses NYC concrete because it's controlled by NYC gangsters with whom DJT is very familiar and at home. Concrete, fer shur.
1
The reason Trump sniffs so much is the clown makeup he wears is toxic. You can only get it on the dark web. Look for it by name "Agente O'range" by L'oriel.
2
Some of us already knew what the 'sniffing' was all about - SOMETHING'S ROTTEN IN THIS WHITE HOUSE!
3
Let’s face it. We hired an idiot. Fire him (25)
11
Gee, Gail, we wonder why Clear and Present Danger 45* - a verrrry close relation of Carlos Danger - hasn't spent the $1.3 Billion$ Congress gave him LAST year for his wall, before he wants another lump sum $5 Billion$, oh wait, no, $5.3 Billion$, oops, make that $5.7 Billion$ for something where there are no metrics.
It's just "give me the money, now, or else"; in certain parts of Queens, where POTUS originates, we understand that's not a friendly negotiating tactic - it's certainly not regarded as friendly in these parts.
Then again, this isn't about 'the wall' at all, which is why POTUS's Tuesday night reality episode was so tiresome - it was just a tired old rerun with tired old memes - and this is supposed to be a new season.
The whole 'the wall, the wall, the wall' rant is just cover for His Unhinged Unraveling Unfitness to invoke a 'National Emergency', probably whilst legislators are out of town for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; if 'Chuck and Nancy' just said "yes" and give him his Billion$, there would be some other excuse to suddenly be in conflict with Dems that Mayhem 45* doesn't want to compromise/consult with, in order to promote conflict ! drama ! klieg lights ! fundraising !
And fundraising/conflict/division is what it's really all about with the Rightist puppet-masters of Sock Puppet 45*, since they are the ones who got him to blow up this budget deal which came over from the GOP'er Senate, same as they blew up 2017's DACA deal with 'Chuck and Nancy.'
3
If you really want to ask why Trump sniffs when he has to perform in a high-tension setting, I suggest asking Michael Cohen. It could be Trump long ago adopted a well known feature of the hard-charging Manhattan lifestyle, one that is readily available in the circles in which Trump and Cohen swam, and apparently difficult to give up.
18
I've been wondering about that breathing thing for a long time. I think it merits a national conversation.
3
Undoubtedly Baby-Boomer Trumpeteers viewed the Berlin Wall as representing everything wrong with Russian-style, anti-democratic authoritarianism and so sang "Tear Down This Wall" in concert with Reagan. Now these exemplars of democracy whine "Finish the Wall" as they embrace Trump's Russian-style, anti-democratic authoritarianism.
4
The story goes that Teddy Roosevelt asked Congress to fund an around the world voyage of the newly built naval armada to show everyone our prowess. This idea was even bolder and more costly than Trump's request for a military parade. Congress wasn't very generous but they did give him half of the amount he requested. He might have thanked them or not for this, I don't remember but he quickly used the money to send the fleet to the Philippines. Unfortunately, for Congress this portion of Teddy's world wide tour used up all of their allocation. He then stated the obvious, which was that if they wanted to retain the fleet, they would need to fund the rest of the trip back home. Here was a hard-ball playing President who really understood the art of the deal. Trump is a amateur.
1
El Presidente sorely needs to be sent to a Last Tango In Huehuetenango in an attempt to have him grasp the harsh realities of the migrant situation. And maybe, because of The Shutdown, he could be refused re-entry upon his return.
2
This "Wall" project is probably not even about immigrants, its a massive government pork barrel with plenty of no-bid contracts for Mitch's patrons, connected contractors and kickbacks galore for the Trump clan.
Biggest opportunity for public graft since pot dispensaries and Obama's stimulus! Can't believe it hasn't already passed.
5
I was wondering when somebody would finally mention trump's sniffing.
not as bad as when he was insulting Hillary, but....
in 'it's wonderful life' Clarence says every time a bell tinkles it means an angel has just received his/wings.
with trump it's every sniff means he's lying.
16
The real bright side is, he doesn't own a dog that he could put on the roof of his car.
6
Welcome back, Ms. Collins, and hope you have been able to take a few days off at leisure. To the honest, I never waste time listening to what Trump has to say, and watched 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' instead.
We don't build walls in America. If Mr. Trump keeps sniveling about this, he can visit the Great China one, and start mending fences with the People he represents here in the US of A. According to a staunch Republican acquaintance, now retired, the Federal Workers are on leave and will all be compensated for their furlough.
Trump has been wheezing from the onset of his election and sounds winded like an old horse that you would have the grace to put out to pasture. A few days at his lily-pad in Florida, with some golf balls in the sun would be all to his good.
A neighbor, deeply devout by his account, announced in all honesty that he has been dumping debris and concrete in the garden here, with a proposal to build a wall. Try for a 'motte' instead, I told this mountebank.
Children are hungry at our Border, while we are watching the rise of the emperor of walls ice-cream. Let us use tax funds on building beautiful bridges to restore and unite our Country
Mr. Trump might wish to take the New York Subway at Rush Hour with the petrified Senate. Lots of positives in this picture, and he can look forward to celebrating Cinco de Mayo with tacos and tax releases.
3
mr. trump is sniffling because he may be on his way to jail.
3
Move quickly with indictments, children first. Federal and NY state at the same time. Committees in congress move faster.
Give him his wall to view from a federal prison yard. Indict a sitting president.
Out of wack legal system. Trump worried about illegal Latinos when Devon Nunez moved his family dairy business from California to hide in Iowa, and the family employs dozens of illegal aliens to work 12 hour days. What is very wrong with this picture?
2
It’s not about a wall, or a political party, or a fraternity party or any other kind of party.
It’s not about political belief, or religious belief or any other kind of belief.
It’s the same thing that’s happening in towns and small cities all over the ‘Heartland’.
People do crazy things when they’re high on speed. Squinty eyes, sniffy nose, erratic behavior, inability to concentrate, impaired thinking, bad decisions.
You wouldn’t get on an airplane if the pilot was high on amphetamine - why would you let someone handle your treasury, make decisions on trade, or give orders to your army, who is high as a kite on speed?
Drug test all elected officials now. Today. Starting with Individual One.
22
Trump: "the beautician in chief", changing the face of America before the world.
"You are not welcome to America" (Unless, of course, if you are a Norwegian beauty or an athlete.).
2
Unless as an athlete you decide to take a knee. Then you are most definitely NOT welcome!
You do wonder what Ivanka and Jared are thinking. In a normal situation, the children would be thinking of some kind of senior citizens/assisted living residence---you know, a place he can talk with his friends at say a Dunkin Donuts, go home watch some TV, maybe play a little golf, more TV--especially FOX, eat a steak dinner at the club, put on an old DVD movie, lights out. But no, her Dad is President of the United States, yes, he is---living in the White House, in command of vast armies, our economy, and directing our foreign policy---and surrounded by Secret Service agents who will not permit anyone to take his remote control away.
4
Build the wall. How many times do we have to say it? How many Americans have to be murdered, before we build the wall? How many more tons of illegal drugs have to come in, before we build the wall?
It is fun to watch the left get all verklempt, when President Trump does not obey the Rules of RINOs.
So, thousands of federal employees are going to be homeless? Really? They won't get back pay? Will we see these families on the street, in the middle of winter? Their children won't get their life saving medicine? They'll be hungry?
And, all of this will be a million times worse, when they no longer have a country.
The upside is, the illegals will now have homes to live in AND can get a job and never go on welfare. WIN. WIN.
Or, winning?
1
@Mike It's not that Trump doesn't "obey the Rules of RINOs." It's that he doesn't obey the Constitution, or the law. His is the most corrupt administration in a very long time, maybe of all time. It will catch up with him eventually. Then, all the tweeting and whining and threatening will not distract the public from his crimes.
3
Gail, love it! This is exactly the only thing he knows how to do-not pay people what they are owed and bluster. He even said he “doesn’t throw temper tantrums” after the 2nd meeting with Chuck and Nancy where he obviously did throw a tantrum! And pretty much said “I’m all alone in the WH and their being mean to me.” Waaaaa!
McConnell is being a very bad parent letting this brat get away with it!
2
Whole wall thing is cutting off your nose to spite your face...
1
@Jill Chambers Yes, but he would have to look at actual facts to understand the value of cross-border trade and immigrant labor in our economy. He'd rather just make stuff up than have to make educated decisions.
"All of the above" might have been a good option.
You're the expert but I would change "sniffling" to "sniveling" which means both sniffling and whining.
As always, thanks for lightening up a dark and cold morning.
2
Sniff, sniff. We still need to get to the bottom of this.
1
The problem isn't the wall, the shutdown or even Trump. The depressing reality is that nearly half of Americans support a racist, misogynist, homophobic and self-obsessed buffoon as President. Trump will fade away, but another, perhaps more intelligent and devious, demagogue will rise with the support of these Americans. Trump revealed the ugly underside of America that does not appear to be willing to change or be silent.
6
It’s too bad his mouth and throat don’t just dry up and go numb when he speaks instead of his nose.....It would be a nice way to silence him. And better yet, he himself would be the culprit, with no one else to blame. Nice fantasy.
2
Trump insists on a wall because Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh told him to. These two repulsive individuals and their fellow fear-mongers are effectively running the country. Between them and Putin, Trump doesn't have to do much thinking for himself.
As Ms. Collins suggests, how different a world we would inhabit if these two 'entertainers' were as fired up about early childhood education, or universal health care, or even (dare one even think it) addressing climate change.
10
Mitch McConnell is complicit in this debacle. He refuses to bring the House bill to the floor unless Trump signs off on it. In other words, McConnell is letting Trump run the Senate. Is that the way the Constitution intended it to be.
This two men, Trump and McConnell, are obstructing the orderly running of the country and jeopardizing the democracy. The House bill should be voted on in the Senate and let the chips fall where they may.
11
In all the collection of reasons and "deplorable Trump" rhetoric the writer "forgot" that the main reason for the no compromise position is the Democrats' leadership refusal to let Trump keep a campaign promise.
21
@Mike seems to be 'forgetting' that the republicans had control of both houses of congress in 2016 and 2017. Apparently his own party also did not want to let Trump fulfill his campaign promises.
336
@Mike Really? So any refusal to sign off on a campaign promise is obstruction? In other words, if one utters one's policy preferences as promises made while campaigning then they're sacrosanct? I think Nancy Pelosi and many or most of the 235 Democrats elected to the House promised not to approve money for a border wall. Their campaign promises don't count?
It's about the costs and consequences of any desired policy, not where it was stated, of course. And some things you don't compromise. Reasonable minds can debate which, but where or how it's stated isn't a criterion per se.
191
I believe there was a compromise agreed to by Trump and the Democratic leadership: Trump would get $1.6 billion for the wall and the DACA issued would be addressed. Then some conservative commentators yelled at him, so he called off the deal.
236
The tap root of our great national disturbance may be trump's refusal to grasp and deal with the fact that, as POTUS, he is no longer a corporate owner and CEO who was able to overrule or expel any voice of opposition.
He is now an employee, legally subject to the oversight of Congress, the Judiciary and, ultimately, the public. His response to that fact has reduced many aspects of his job performance to expressions of contempt, indignation, anger and defiance. And when all else fails, he reshapes his reality with lies (or nonsense he may actually believe).
The consequences are evident in the local, state and federal elections in 2018. Trump and his sycophants are beginning to reap the crop of hostility they have sown.
As better minds in the GOP have paid attention and calculated their odds, many have moderated their positions or simply bailed out. Perhaps the best of them will, as in the Nixon debacle, present Trump with an easy out deal he can't refuse and box Pence in with a package of threats he can't ignore.
One can hope.
4
Thanks Gail -- Great piece. I've become convinced that the sniffing comes in differing degrees of lying -- slight when he's just generally lying (which is always) and then when the whoppers are being spewed it gets more intense.
2
Some facts-
2000- about 2 million "illegals" tried to cross border. 2018-400,000.
Big problem now is the 30,000 plus asylum seekers that present at the ports of entry. They are eligible for evaluation per the law. The fence, wall ,barrier will not effect them.
Recent evaluation of the wall said it would not stop illegals but may slow them down. I would guess that steel cutting saws used by coyotes will make this slowdown minimum.
@RichardHead -- a wall doesn't stop much of anybody by itself. People can figure out how to go over, under, or through. A wall only stops people if it is guarded, and if you look at the Israeli security border (and the DMZ and considerable portions of the current American border) walls are only erected through urban stretches, and in Israel a major reason for that is to stop sniping.
Effective security barriers are generally a series of fences plus a ditch or other vehicle barriers, with intrusion detectors. (and also geophones to detect tunneling) If you are serious/mean then one of the internal fences is electrified and potentially there are anti-personnel mines. Not many people get across the DMZ, or got across the parts of the east-German "wall" (that wasn't a wall outside Berlin) that had multiple fences and mines. But these security barriers also had/have serious guards, who shoot to kill.
Is this what America wants? Maybe?
I don't know. But Trump's wall is stupid: plain and simple fact.
What we have in our White House is a demented demagogue who, despite his short fingers and twitchy nose, bends news organizations to his every whim and plays them like a violin. One way or another, he manages to "win" every cycle.
In a sense, he's laughable; absurd, really. But as the most powerful person in the world, he's also very dangerous, and will become much more so as he's cornered by all the criminal investigations. As prosecutors and the courts suddenly close in on him, he'll become increasingly desperate to save his skin at any cost.
This is as good a time as any for some spines -- in both parties -- to start growing on Capitol Hill. Abuses of "emergency powers" by a wounded, impulsive president will likely be a prelude to a full-fledged constitutional crisis, and as admirable as Robert Mueller surely is, he won't be able to save us alone.
2
Does this remind anyone else of Palin's bridge to nowhere?
This is so silly (but dire for the federal employees -- I understand that horror). We are not a castle, nor even a shining city on a hill. We are the most welcoming, risk-taking, forward-thinking, innovative country on the face of the earth. We have made the world better. And that "we" includes millions of immigrants throughout our history.
What if the hats screamed, "Make the World Great Again!"?
3
In the past, all government works were paid retroactively for the period that the government was shut down. I don't advocate changing this but this extended paid vacation for some 800,000 workers seems a colossal waste of money and resources.
1
I have always felt that arguments about crime and economics are a distraction when it comes to the issue of the wall. However I started doing some digging and came across three sets of statistics that got me thinking.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, in 2018 ICE conducted 158,581 arrests for immigration violations. Two-thirds (105,140) involved people with criminal convictions and one-fifth (32,977) involved people with pending criminal charges. Only 16% of the criminal convictions were immigration related. This leaves a large proportion of illegals who committed other type of offenses, but unfortunately a break down by type of offense is not provided.
According to the FBI,115,717 murders were committed in the US from 2003 through 2009. The General Accounting Office documents that criminal immigrants committed 25,064 of these murders. I have no way of verifying this data, but if true, this would be shocking to say the least !
Last but not least, The U.S. Department of Justice documented that in 2014, 22 percent or over 13,300 criminal cases filed by prosecutors were for drug related felonies. That same year, the U.S. Sentencing Commission found that 75 percent of all criminal defendants who were convicted and sentenced for federal drug offenses were illegal immigrants.
uummmm....Let's build that wall tomorrow
@Juan -- "ICE conducted 158,581 arrests for immigration violations" ... these are mostly people arrested inside the USA, not at or near the border. Most illegal immigrants come into the US with a visa, that they simply overstay. No border security mechanism would affect that.
Then at least get a fact right: the full quote is
"According to the FBI, 67,642 murders were committed in the U.S. from 2005 through 2008, and 115,717 from 2003 through 2009. The General Accounting Office documents that criminal immigrants committed 25,064 of these murders."
That's 25,064 out of 67,642 + 115,717 ... or roughly 1 out of 8.
I agree that is reasonably shocking, but it is obviously the drug trade that is the cause of almost all of this.
The wall isn't going to stop the drug trade or the people involved: the drugs and most of the people involved come in other ways. Only a very small fraction the drugs get carried across the southern border outside checkpoints, by people on foot. Most of it comes through checkpoints hidden in vehicles, but a lot of it, and a lot of the criminals involved, come through tunnels, or come in on visas.
@Lee Harrison
The question is not only about how the majority of illegal immigrants got to the US. While this is an important aspect, there is also the question of how much of a marginal benefit a wall can provide to alleviate violent and drug related crimes.
People infer that the majority of illegal people in the country did not do so through the rough southern border. But what are the real numbers? No one knows and an estimate is made based on the number of apprehensions that take place at the border. 20% 10% 5% of the total number apprehended may provide an estimate of those who hit through?
Also the most dangerous individuals have sneaked through the border with a high degree of certainty. The US tries as best as it can to get people who request a visa. An MS 13 gang member would never get a visa in Honduras.
Even if the number of illegals who come through the border is relatively small, say 20% they are bound to inflict serious damage to our society. The marginal cost of buoikfung a wall is sure seems far smaller than the marginal cost imposed on society through murder, rape, theft and drug related crimes
We are wealthy enough to afford a 5 billion wall
Since he's going on his road trip to the border he should make sure to bring along many boxes filled with those brand spanking new MAGA hats - why wouldn't those dedicated unpaid federal workers want an autographed red hat to wear about as they protect our border from the cascading hoards of terrorists and thugs Trump repeatedly mentions. And don't forget to bring some of that candy the Democrats refused - you could give it to the kiddies and families who are housed in Camp Trump, aka internment centers. Baseball hats and candy, could a kid want for more?
3
If there are some troops nearby he could say he visited them and get that arduous task out of the way at the same time he is visiting the border (that would make two accomplishments for 2019).
Why is it that cost creep for this wall has been largely ignored? First it was $5B, then $5.5B, then $5.6B and latest is $5.7B. My rudimentary math says that each tenth of a billion is 100,000,000. So the cost creep is $700,000,000 and we are even blinking at that figure. Whether you agree that the wall is immoral and fails to solve the issue or not, I think even the most ardent supporters of the wall would recognize its unaffordability. And who knows if by tomorrow it won’t be $6B.
2
How the Republicans have devolved:
Ronald Reagan, 12 June, 1987, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
Donald Trump, 2019, "Put up a wall and I'll shut down the government and throw a hissy-fit until you do."
8
I also noticed Trump sniffing after each pronouncement. I started to wonder and then it came to me , he cant lie and breathe at the same time.
5
Hi Gail,
The moat may be delayed. Trump`s America has little to worry about hoards of Canadians making a run for the border.
Alternatively, we have to make sure Americans needing an exit plan don`t get burned on their way here.
So, you know, win-win on the no moat idea.
1
Please, Ms. Collins, if you're going to plant an idea in Trump's mind to create a Truly Spectacularly Tall Tower, pick on somewhere other than Illinois. We have his big tower here in Chicago already, with its EnergyStar rating of 9 (where best score is 100).
How about the Granite State? They nearly gave him a majority in 2016.
2
I watched the president the other night. I didn't notice the "sniffling". I guess I was distracted by the orange face with the grey circles around the eyes. I'll try to be more observant next time if there is one.
1
I really like the fiery moat idea...
Welcome back, Gail, we really missed you!
3
Ouch. Great last line.
It will be wonderful to see just what he does at the border. Throw some paper towels? Ask the folks in detention if they are tired of winning yet? Tell furloughed workers to try Uber?
1
Well let's just build a wall around the whole perimeter of our country, and while we're at it jail all people of color, and get on with the fourth Reich. Isn' this what Trump and his fellow Republicans have been pushing with their fear mongering and vile, racist rhetoric? Looks as though Trump has been pushing for a wall to keep out terror suspects on the wrong border. Far more terror suspects came across our northern border than did our southern border last year. So, hey, maybe all we need is that "fiery moat between us and Canada". Canada would probably welcome it to keep right wing political contamination from spreading to their country.
What "candy" did Trump offer? It certainly was not opening the government while civil discourse continued about border security.
Trump and the Republicans have now shown they are willing to harm the economy and cause severe hardship for thousands of government workers in order to fulfill a campaign promise based on the false premise that Mexico would fund a wall. All this chaos for fleeting applause from Trump's base to shore up a man's fragile, infantile ego.
We are being governed now by fits of rage and a man given to precipitous ill-thought out behavior. The ball is now in Trump's and the Republican's court. Those up for re-election in 2020 should think long and hard about going down with a sinking ship of state. The majority in this country do not want a wall. They want a return to the principles upon which this country was founded.
4
@Diana ...Trumper's want a return to founding principles also, those principles being chattel slavery and sufferage exclusively for property owning white men.
1
But he gave them candy!
If Pelosi wants respect from Trump, she needs to dye her hair blond.
And when he asked her if she would agree to his wall if he reopened the government, she should have told him, "yes". Then she could just deny she ever said it.
Trump would call that leadership.
2
"This is not a man who should wrap his arguments around protecting women from sexual assault." -- thank you, Gail, thank you, thank you!
6
Please fight your way to the ballot box every chance you have to reverse this travesty, you couldn’t pick anyone less suited next election, he or she doesn’t exist.
2
Upon becoming president, Trump actually had the chance to turn the Wall into strong political leverage. Had he explained that the Wall was not meant to be an actual physical barrier but was instead only a metaphor for strong border security, a cohesive immigration policy, and advantageous trade policies with all of our global neighbors, he would not have only his rabid base on his side, but much of the conservative and a good deal of the liberal Americans as well. But, and this is a big big But, in order to have actually done this, Trump would have to understand what a metaphor is. And, I fear, something that intellectual is beyond his grasp.
4
Right now Trump wants 5.7 billion dollars as a down payment to fund his wall.
62 million Americans voted for Trump.
If all of them chip in $100, that would equal 6.2 billion dollars.
If Trump puts the word out on Fox News and Facebook, his wall could be crowd-funded within the week.
Will the Republican base fund the wall themselves? Will they cover the down payment with the same enthusiasm flowing through them when they purchase MAGA hats and guns?
3
@poodlefree
Actually, the crowd-funding idea has already been tried. They've gotten over $19 million so far. Still a long way to go, though, even to the first billion...
https://www.gofundme.com/TheTrumpWall?fbclid=IwAR1aFV4Hdnyx_gJr8qu_Wy6BLdp_VaZHzIpj854njCxCgCw5MaVMjwFl22k
2
I live here in McAllen, Texas, just miles from the border, and I tell you: There is no emergency or even a minor problem!
The only problems are caused by Our Great Leader, who has effectively kidnapped and tortured foreign children and now wants to put walls (and roads and lights) through at least three treasured wildlife parks, one a National Wildlife Refuge, and one a large State Park.
And any wall near the Rio Grande threatens our area with flooding, a threat that will grow worse with climate change. Even a slatted wall would increase flooding, as debris would collect at the slats.
Some of my acquaintances are even driving from Houston today (a 5 hour trip!) in hopes of protesting the arrival of this repellent person, but no one can even find out when/where to see him.
17
@jabberThank you, thank you..for some on the scene common sense observations. We need more of the same; Our Great Leader is so out of touch with reality. It is up to us to keep ourselves in touch with reality. If only McConnell would do the same, he might come to see that he is protecting a sociopath, and doing great harm to the country.
1
Trump doesn't actually care about the wall. Deflection and dictatorship are his primary concerns.
Dictators have often used the carrot and stick approach to establishing control early on. In his case it's cheese burgers or shutdown!
The wall issue allows him to escape scrutiny about a myriad of issues. Russia is only one of many.
5
@Texan ... Aside from deflection from his criminality, Trump has to keep his racist base happy. Thats what this is about, keeping support from 34 red state senators fearful of a primary challenge to prevent him from being convicted in a senate impeachment trial.
1
This should be times pick
2
Starting on November 5, 1979, ABC starting airing a late night news program "America Hold Hostage", in response to the Iranian Hostage Crisis which lasted fro 444 days. The program will eventually be renamed "Nightline".
Each night the program will being with "America Held Hostage" - Day ...". Now, 39years later, America is being held hostage again, this time by its own president.
Maybe, ABC, or someone else, should revive America Held Hostage - Day ...".
So, here we are Day 20, so "This is an ABC Special Report (cue music) America Held Hostage - Day 20, here is Ted Koppel".
Maybe, by doing this, it will send a loud message to the White House, Trump, Congress and its leadership, that what is going on has degenerated to kids and bullies on the playground. Caught, in the middle, are 800,000 federal workers, and millions of people who depend on them.
Finally, I blame this all on Trump. He had a majority, when this started, and his party opted not to give him his wall. Trump even said he would do it, and blame the Democrats. No folks, this is all Trump, his ego and his childish rants and raves.
And yes, he is holding America hostage.
4
In case he gets the army to protect the border, would the army plant landmines in the desert to protect the border or re-enforce the border with guard towers and drones?
Do we even have a government to speak of, what will be left after that much Trump?
1
It has become increasingly clear that the problem at the heart of this mess is Donald Trump's statistically remarkable good luck. Riches, resources and opportunity landed in his lap his entire life, and for the most part 'deal making' for him was a piece of cake (or two).
The unforgivable miscalculation underpinning his entire life and character was to attribute this to acumen rather than good fortune. Now he has found himself playing the highest stakes of his professional life, and suddenly like a decrepit engine spluttering to a halt, the luck seems to have abruptly left him.
I'm not sure he is even capable of learning life lessons any more, but if he were he would do well to recognize the one in front of him; a situation in which his deal making, acumen and circumstance at hand is insufficient to win.
4
Generally, negotiations suggests give and take. Yet despite their previous statements about walls; now abandoned, the Dems won’t give an inch to resolve the impass. Trump, otoh, has let it be known he would settle for less, etc. So who is the impediment? The Dems don’t currently care whether a wall is effective in preventing illegal immigration or not. They just care to hand Trump defeat. 2020. Maybe they should put up a winning candidate in 2020. Pelosi might be a good choice but at 78 probably won’t do it. Course if she did, then the Dems too would have someone they couldn’t push around.
@Mike Hetsko Now for the reality check. The Dems passed over $130 billion for Border Security in the 2013 Immigration bill that the GOP voted against, effectively killing the bill.
Similarly last year they put forth various immigration plans, including a compromise plan with several immigration reforms and $26b allocated for a wall, which the GOP preceded to kill in the house because their block wouldn't support a path to citizenship for DACA.
Lastly, go check out the various studies on the same 2006 border fence act you mention, actually implemented in 2008-2009, and how ineffective it's been. If anything, demonstrating that border fences/walls are the last thing we need to be investing in, whether it's $5b or a penny.
5
What? The shutdown started w the GOP in both houses. Pelosi had nothing to do with it.
2
@Mike Hetsko Mike, you aren't dealing with the real world. You must be watching fox propaganda. Be careful, too much of it can damage your mind.
Trump always sniffles when he use a teleprompter. We know he's allergic to reading.
The possibility that Nancy Pelosi's ability to out negotiate, out think, and out insult him may be causing a severe histamine reaction, must also be considered.
We know he's severely allergic to the truth in any form, but I doubt that caused the sniffles --Trump is careful to avoid exposure to deadly truth allergens.
When it comes to immigration, the White House is a particularly hypoallergenic environment. WaPo reports Trump has made over 1,000 false or misleading claims about immigration since he took office.
But Trump can't take all the credit -- Stephen Miller's full-time job is to make sure that that the White House is a truth free zone when it comes to immigration. I suppose we could be thankful that there is finally a White House staffer excelling at the job he was hired to do. Or not.
11
The problem is that Trump does not mean a "wall, barrier, fence, steel slats" or anything like that. And Trump is not anti-Mexico or anti-Hispanic or anti-Muslim or xenophobic.
Trump is a white nationalist.
What he is talking about and what he wants with $5.6 Billion of funding is an opening into an exclusionary race driven white nationalist immigration policy in order to turn America back to the 1924 system founded on the Dillingham Commission.
In 1965 America opened its doors and eliminated racist immigration laws when the Immigration and Nationality Act was made the law of the land. No longer were there racial quotas or exclusions or racial barriers.
Trump wants to set America back a century. The "wall" is indeed a metaphor - and the first step - backwards. Don't let him do it. This IS a red line.
9
@Mimi, The immigration act was introduced by Ted Kennedy and it was to enhance immigration from, what for it, Ireland!
1
@Mimi You are spot on, he has to keep the racists on board, lose them and red state senators might not fear a primary challenge from Tea Party types, and he might not survive the senate impeachment trial that is coming.
1
@lin
Not true.
Representative Emanuel Celler of New York proposed the bill, Senator Philip Hart of Michigan co-sponsored it, and Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts helped to promote it.
The Hart–Celler Act abolished the quota system based on national origins that had been American immigration policy since the 1920s.
The 1965 Act marked a change from past U.S. policy by removing racial and national barriers.
The new law preference visa categories that focused on immigrants' skills and family relationships with citizens or U.S. residents.
Trump's professed concern about undocumented immigrants flooding the country is demonstrably false - one merely has to look at his company's own hiring practices https://nyti.ms/2E5ovaE
The wall is pure optics and would certainly not keep out "bad hombres" or drugs.
Trump is a pathological liar and a sociopath - fits this definition from "A Beautiful, Terrible Thing: A Memoir of Marriage and Betrayal" to a tee. The book should be required reading for all Trump supporters.
The sociopath is:
Charming. Impulsive. No remorse, guilt or shame. Invents lies.Speaks poetically. Incapable of apologizing. Hates being alone. Has a target who he idealizes, then devalues, then discards. Woos them by mirroring what the target loves in themselves and what they want in a mate.He values what they value and mimics their taste in clothes, music and friends.
The sociopath who marries their target cannot and will not be faithful for long. Some targets provide such large sources of ego fuel that they can remain in the idealize phase for years, but eventually will be devalued and discarded.
When the target is no longer useful or providing enough narcissistic supply, the dark void that is always lurking within the sociopath opens and he starts to devalue the very traits of his target he once overvalued.
9
trump grew up playing in the bush leagues while telling himself he was a star. He now finds himself in the big leagues. Not only can't he figure out how he got there, he has no idea what to do now that he is.
Meanwhile, the trump shutdown continues.
11
As I watched this mannequin of a man blankly snort his message to the American people, I wondered, is this what a puppet government looks like? Are we in good hands, or should we be panicking in the streets and looking for an actual human president? Considering all the sniffing, I wondered if his nose might be running for office.
He looked like a man without a thought in his head who was doubling down on a ridiculous campaign promise to build a wall. Without any actual ideas, or the gray matter with which to process them, he just keeps moaning on about a foolish thought that used to whip up the people who showed up at his rallies.
I think he said bye-bye a long time ago, as he bid farewell to any shred of decency or common sense. A little though would have told him that it’s a bad thing to sacrifice working people on the altar of a silly campaign promise.
But nothing’s too silly for this president. Hilarity is sure to ensue when people can’t afford their mortgage payments, or medical bills or car notes. But apparently, these suffering people call him up and tell him he’s doing a great job.
Is there a point where a psychological evaluation of a president is just
15
@gemli
For what it's worth, the last paragraph of my comment should have read:
"Is there a point where a psychological evaluation of a president is justified? If so, do straitjackets come with long red ties?"
I blame the computers.
8
The sad thing is that we have a population that would rather be afraid of immigration than fund early education. How does this possibly make sense.
11
@mr, Perhaps some of them don't want to pay for the education of the children of illegal immigrants?
He's carved out an impossible position for himself, where only winning everything would construe a victorious outcome. The Democrats have no incentive to indulge him in this. The longer this drags on, the more it will irk and drag on the economy -- his one supposed solid success.
If he wants to hold the entire government hostage with a toy gun, I would wish him good luck, if it weren't for the quest itself being so ignoble and self-serving.
4
I think we must remember one simple fact, and that is the ONLY reason why we are even having this ''conversation'' is that the budget has been squeezed, squeezed and squeezed some more. (except for the military of course)
Back when it was Eisenhower's day, and when the greatest productivity occurred after world war II, up to the 1970's, the tax rate on high income earners was 70% +. Things like the entire national highway system, or public school system, or any other massive project could easily be paid for. (AND a military !)
Then came conservative deregulation, privatization and a massive decrease (more than cut in half essentially) of tax revenues as those near or at the top were given a pass.
So here we are with almost all of the country aged out with its infrastructure (falling apart), more and more things privatized (costing more and being less efficient), and public programs all shrinking. (except for the military which takes up an enormous amount of the budget, while at the same time being bloated and wasteful - let alone a myriad of ongoing wars)
We fight over the scraps of a billion here or there, and then the President and republicans are more than happy to hold hostage, 100's of thousands of federal workers. (inflicting untold pain upon them and their subsidiaries)
''See? There’s always a silver lining. '' - indeed .
10
What started as a dog whistle racism mnemonic to remind Trump to bray about immigrants at his rallies is holding 800,000 workers hostage, jeopardizing our food and drug safety, and costing taxpayers millions in extra dollars.
But we knew all that before this column.
What Gail just shed light on is, why the shutdown really could go on for a long time:
Nobody has more experience refusing to pay workers for doing their jobs - even when it means they can't pay rent, put food on the table for their kids, or they lose their business or their savings or their home - than this 6-time bankruptee "president."
Nobody.
1358
@common sense advocate
Here's The Critical Problem No One Has Talked About
It's do we really need the steel fence?
Dems, Pelosi, Schumer, pundits, CNN, MSNBC say NO
Republicans, Trump, administration and Fox News say YES
The people are confused
Here's a suggestion:
Get Schumer, Pelosi and Trump out of negotiation. Then have Dem experts and GOP experts testify to Senate Armed Services Committee. They have already held hearing on this. Let experts decide what is required. With Senate Committee the final arbitrator.
12
@common sense advocate
Trump really is a despicable subhuman being.
But, from what I was reading this morning our dear friend Mueller will be done soon with his investigations. Plus, according to one other investigative source, over 101 contacts from the Trump campaign and family were found with Russia.
Start spreading the news: Trump is going down.
Happy days will be here again!!!!
48
@Frank Leibold A joint presidential-congressional commission could address the problem comprehensively and come out with recommendations with strong bipartisan support and removed from political acrimony. Presidential commissions are not uncommon. In the 1980s they would be budgeted at $1 to $2 million, with the commission made up of citizens of sterling reputation. On a complex matter commissions would research and deliberate with stakeholders for a year or more. Output could be a package for comprehensive immigration reform and border security.
11
Somehow I feel better when Trump is manufacturing a false crisis instead of causing a real one, at which he is even more adept.
224
@NYSkeptic
I would say: "instead of causing a NEW one".. and I'm curious about how adept he will be to cope with the REAL disaster for all those terribly impacted hundreds of thousands federal employees, workers, and their families across the Country..
36
To thousands of government workers this not a false crisis. And the trickledown effect is only starting to be felt.
285
KLKemp:
The shutdown is a real crisis that he has created. The false crisis that he manufactured is the threat on the border.
34
Someone suggested that his highness might crush adderall into powder and sniff it. The drug is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy. Who knows?
413
I told my friends it's Adderall bumps. I'd like to be generous and say nasal polyps, but I don't have it in me tonight.
233
The military MD who praised this man’s health is a co-conspirator.
40
Man, could you imagine if Trump was secretly narcoleptic? That would make some amazing TV. Heck, I'd watch the state of the union if there was a chance he'd just fall asleep in the middle of it.
30
But seriously folks... What kind of employer furloughs his employees or forces them to work without pay just to fulfill someone’s ridiculous promise? Well, we the people, that’s who.
292
Good try but subtle humor and Trump mutually exclusive!
6
@Tom Hayden
trump who has stiffed contractors & workers for years in his own businesses. What adjustments are they suppose to make when they don't earn enough to pay bills from one check to the next?
14
@Tom Hayden - no, not we the people - we, the electoral college. We the people have two years to undo voter suppression and gerrymandering before the next election.
26
I remember in college learning how to analyze decision making by doing a flowchart. Start with the first decision & choices; make a choice, which leads to the next choice, to track the choices and results.
If we did a flowchart for Donald's decision-making from the time he first occupied the Oval Office to our current Wall "crises" (plural), it looks like: given a choice, Donald consistently made the wrong one--unless anyone can think of a choice Trump made that was positive and constructive. I can't.
At each step, Donald's choice seems to be the choice that is the worst, most idiotic, and harmful to individuals, the government, the country, the world, and the planet. Probably some kind of a record for a POTUS.
Historians will let us know--actually a bunch of historians already weighed in: "...a survey of 170 presidential historians puts Trump in dead last place – behind even James Buchanan, whom many historians blame for failing to stop the Civil War."
http://time.com/5165686/donald-trump-last-place-presidential-greatness/
But I think we are finally reaching the end of the decision chart with Trump. Time's Up! Trump has walled himself in on this diversionary wall obsession, followed by his petulant decision to shut the government down until he gets his $5.7 billion for Trump Wall.
Or is Trump's tumultuous Wall charade simply because Mueller is looming in Trump's rearview mirror, and 800,000 fed. workers & their families are merely Trump's collateral damage?
11
So The Art of the Deal is “Gimme what I want” and then screaming and pounding table followed by pouting when countered. Wow. Who knew.
28
Where have you been? You cannot take time off to write books, take a vacation, spend more time with family, recharge batteries, etc. You cannot deprive us of your wit and sanity. Even Mitt Romney misses your weaving Seamus references into almost any political scenario. I know I certainly do. So no more of this ducking of responsibility to keep our view skewed to the absurdity and danger of our current political life—OK? Enough scolding. I’m just glad to see your byline and read your words.
8
@James Thornburgh (and @Gail Collins):
Hear ye, hear ye: I agree, down to the 'no scolding' part. Good to welcome you back and to read, again, your most satisfying words.
"Trump was sniffing so much it was like he was trying to get all of the drugs off the street himself. " - Trevor Noah
26
@susan When he lies, he sniffs
2
Individual 1 held a presser in a loud setting so you couldn't hear the questions he was being asked.
The upshot is he's going to declare an emergency.
The government workers may get paid sooner, but look at the precedent this sets. With no security expert testimony, we are to believe a single design wall is the best way to spend $5,700,000,000?
Come on Senators, override his veto and end this madness. Why aren't red state voters seeing through this impasse?
16
Because a lot of red state voters do NOT keep themselves informed regarding the details of government and current events, and most DO NOT WANT TO. Also, they are misinformed when they DO try to keep up because the Fox Cable News household viewing share of audience is much higher in red states. Even if they have a de cent local newspaper, few read it except for the sports section. With the exception of major quality newspapers such as this one, readership and subscriptions a trending downward.
It really is scary.
9
@Lefty Lucy, Most people, about 80%, get their news, (if they even choose to do so), from TV and Facebook or other social media sites online. Only about 20% read newspapers or periodicals. I'd guess about half of Millenials don't ever bother with the 'boring news'. Too many video games to play and Instagram or Twitter updates to post.
@Roy Smith
You seem to be painting millions of people with a very wide brush. I think you mean well--it is, however, alarming when I see so many being dismissed. This huge swath of the country think, and vote.
Faux is even watched in my home state of CA!
Under threat of Trump's appearance at the border, Mexico is amassing hundreds of thousands of troops, and machine guns in full riot battle gear, unwinding razor wire all over the place.
Maybe Trump going to the border to find the pesos to build the wall like a big fat orange leprechaun searching for the pot at the end of a rainbow. Before he stumbles back up air force one he can shout through the steel slats, "Where are the pesos? When can we expect delivery of the pesos? No pesos? Bye Bye."
5
“Trump’s breathing has actually sounded strange for a long time...”
Well Gail, your breathing might sound “strange” too if you had Robert Mueller breathing steadily and resolutely down you neck. The more malfeasance and Russian collusion by Trump, his family and his associates that Mueller and his team “sniff out,” the more Trump squints, sniffles and throws tantrums about “his” wall. He is in panic mode and 800,000 federal workers and America in general are paying the price.
9
We can endlessly argue for or against the Wall.
But we might learn from Robert Frost's "Mending Wall" poem.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is a video of "Mending Wall" read by Frost"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB_iD1ZCVG0
It starts:"Something there is that doesn't love a wall"
And it ends: He says again "Good Fences make good neighbors".
Perhaps walls defines the political mess we are in, today.
We have physical walls, and also political walls that divide us.
Maybe, the insanity of Trump can convince us to bridge gaps.
And after Trump resigns, we may have a "new birth of freedom".
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2
Have you ever seen anyone who hates his job more than this man? Grumpy, lumbering, short tempered. He thought being President meant he was King of the World— a fantasy shared by many toddlers.
Won’t give me what I want even though I brought candy. Bang the table, I’m out of here.
Seriously??
18
For a thoughtful, detailed description of T's medieval wall with moat, please read Dana Milbank's column in today's Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-wall-isnt-evil-its-medieval/2019/01/09/80dfa20a-1458-11e9-90a8-136fa44b80ba_story.html?utm_term=.27cec9a807b6
1
Baby Donny
Needs
WALL
Of
Silence.
1
Gail,
Glad someone in the media is finally noticing one of Trumps most obvious tells.
When Trump is extra audacious and egregious in his lies—he starts to snort.
You’ll see it as in his Charlottesville retort—a heavy snort.
You can see it with his Hillary Clinton debate debacles.
And of course last night, but usually he snorts at press conferences.
The sniffing could be drugs, but who knows on that. We will never see his medical record, we just know according to his disgraceful Naval “Officer” doctor that he has another 128 years left on this planet, so maybe the drugs are preservatives?
But, the snorting is Pinocchio related.
10
Nothing the least bit funny.
trump is a disgrace and his supporters are deplorable.
His presidency is a permanent stain on our country.
8
The Don sniffs when he is cornered and panicking.
He will get three concrete walls and a set of steel slats soon enough.
9
Gail we missed you. Can you run for president? Just a thought......:)
2
Humpty Trumpty sat on his Wall
Humpty Trumpty had a Great Fall
And all the King's Flunkies
And all the King's Stooges
Could not put Trumpty back together again.
4
Perhaps from inhaling spray tan fumes. Whoops you missed your eyes DJ.
4
It’s not even about a wall.
After thorough review, dialog, consensus, and a comprehensive and coherent plan for immigration, asylum-seekers, and border security, there could actually be a wall, among other things.
But it’s only about: “My Wall, Now! Or I’ll shut down the government!”
It’s about Trumps ego, so big that even heading up one of the three branches of the government of the most powerful country in history is not big enough for him.
9
The OTHER question is, given the easy availability of audio software that can reduce or drop out the sound of breathing/sniffling in real time, WHY wasn't it used by his sound technicians?
Either they're
a) incompetent, given that this is a known problem
b) letting us hear the sniffles on purpose -- maybe they're working without a paycheck too, or
c) trump thinks it's a manly thing, like an alpha hippo asserting dominance, and wants the snuffles left in.
In any case, we've become accustomed to everything being better produced — which was the case in general up until this amateur hour administration that despises pointy-headed 'experts' (i.e. people who know what they're doing, even when it comes to making audio sound good).
5
It’s getting harder and harder to find anything funny about anything Trump does. It’s more like the nervous laughter invoked when the alternative is to either flee in panic or prepare to fight for your life.
The revelation that Trump used the speech as a fundraiser for his 2020 campaign is beyond cynical. The fact that his speech was full of racist fear-mongering and that’s all he has to run on is disturbing, but not as disturbing as the number of people who buy into it completely. Or that the Republican Party is okay with it.
(And where is that gutless partisan hack Mitch McConnell in all this?)
The only speech Trump needs to make at this point is an apology and a confession that he has no clue what he’s doing.
Not going to happen. Impeachment looks like the only remedy. That, and voting Republicans out of office everywhere.
15
Also on the bright side, Trump may act like a crybaby now and then but at least he didn't feel that he needed to resort to total shock and awe on an entire region of the world just to prove his manhood and cover his father's past failings like some have been known to do. If Trump were really serious about border security he could merely draw a red line there to prove how he meant it.
Yes, it could be worse. The king of Thailand, for example, has promoted his pet poodle to Air Chief Marshall of the armed forces. Luckily, Trump is not a pet person.
5
Trump's sniffing is a recurrent issue, as is his slurred speech. We haven't gotten a report about his physical health since the last fiasco in 2017. When are we going to get a real health examination on this guy?
6
How much longer will the Congressional Republicans put up with this abomination in the White House? Clearly, the "wall" is a Trump vanity project, and he pulled a temper tantrum yesterday rather than demonstrate that he is a "world class negotiator." What kind of negotiator walks out without at least trying to find common ground? Trump acts like a toddler: "Give me what I want or I'll take my candy and go home!"
7
I have a question I think needs an answer - let us assume for a moment that we are all in agreement that there is a big problem at our southern border that is overwhelming our Border Patrol and that it verges on being a national emergency. It certainly is a humanitarian crisis. Let us assume in a brainstorming session, we put all options on the table including the Trump physical barrier - wall or steel slats, etc. I would say that Trumps' threat of declaring a national emergency means he believes the problem needs an immediate resolution. So how does that work - aside from how much would it really cost because I am guessing $5+ billion is just the beginning. How long would it take to secure the land needed through eminent domain ? That could take years. And how long to develop the actual barrier and deliver it?How long to actually construct the barrier? I do not see how the President's proposed solution could resolve anything with any immediacy to addressing the crisis facing us. Could anyone especially Republicans in Congress explain this as we the American people are by and large a pragmatic people and we deserve real answers. Why doesn't any reporter or columnist ask the President? He repeats his idea over and over and loudly but he doesn't tell us how this works.
19
Fox reported this AM that it will take between 6 mos to 2 yrs for a legal challenge to Trumps Executive order (regarding the Wall) to be decided. Then of course it has to be built-- if decided in his favor.
One way or another Trump will never get his Wall built during his term. It is all about riling up his base for 2020-- and staying out of jail in 2021.....
12
After doing a currency conversion (because Mexico is paying) I found I could buy a 30-foot ladder for 5,544 pesos.
8
Virtually all illegals arrive here by plane and simply overstay an otherwise legal visa
The bulk of illegal drugs are smuggled in in vehicles which otherwise cross our borders legally at existing crossing points.
It may very we’ll be the case that $5.7b (or more) in funding for border security is needed and Democrats have made it clear they’re prepared to discuss this.
But a wall is irrelevant and unnecessary and the continued discussion of a wall reflects the irrational obsession of a President and not the practical needs of his country.
9
Let's keep it simple, Seems to me Democrats have two decent options:
1. put together (ideally with Republican input) a serious (repeat, perhaps, but do it anyway) specific proposal for increased border security, sans wall of course.
2. Continue gathering Republican support to pressure McConnell to allow a vote in the Senate, the Senate votes then the bill goes to the president. Let him veto a reasonable bill -- and take the consequences. Back to Congress if necessary to override.
Maybe no one but the 800,000 Federal workers will be pleased, but worth the effort.
4
@Susan Cole
A good suggestion, but since the Democrats don't have an override majority (in either House of Congress), a legislative solution to the Wall/shutdown impasse is going to have to rely on Congressional Republicans. Of whom, so far, only a mere handful have even ventured so much as mild criticism of Trump's tantrum policies. And the bulk of whom seem to be backing our Toddler-in-Chief: either out of partisan solidarity or fear of the "base". So, good idea: but not much chance...
1
I can live with the ill effects of the government shutdown, so long as it does not interfere with the IRS’s audit of Trump’s taxes, but would like to know when they expect to start and complete it.
11
“I’m under a routine audit and it'll be released, and as soon as the audit is finished it will be released."
--- Trump, 1/16/17
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/promise/1421/release-his-tax-returns-after-audit-completed/
3
In all honesty, no matter which side you are on, the frightening thing that is happening right now is that it has become impossible to do anything in Washington unless you control all 3 branches of government. And, even then it is not guaranteed. The country remains in a stasis. People over party.
4
Time for a new strategy - one that would be much cheaper than the wall, yet just as effective - and a new chant: “PLANT THAT HEDGE....PLANT THAT HEDGE...PLANT THAT HEDGE...”
And Mexico’s gonna water it.
52
@J Henry
I enthusiastically support your call for planting a border hedge!
It would be great for wildlife and if necessary could feature some prickly plants like barberrry as a deterrent to invaders.
4
A fiery coal-fueled moat would kill two birds but we'd really prefer an ice wall.
95
“Oh Canada, please don’t build a wall on we.”
8
@Larch Ice wall is a much more ecologically sound proposal, so I'm certain he'd go with the fossil fuel option.
7
@Larch We have a federal election coming up later this year. I'll vote for the party that promises the fiery moat. But it's got to be fueled by Alberta oil or BC natural gas.
8
What chapter in The Art of the Deal is slamming the table and walking out?
The one right before faking a heart attack to get sympathy?
42
If this “president” gets his wall, you can be sure that fiery moat will be next on his list.
138
@Surele67
I'll go for that but only if this fiery moat is installed outside of his bedroom.
5
@Surele67
a wall between Canada & US to stop Americans from leaving. Closing off airports & sailing ships are close behind the wall. Got to stop those brown terrorists from coming in in the thousands & thousands.
3
@Surele67
Prison wall is next.
6
Many people are awaiting the Mueller investigation to smack #45 down. It seems that even the GOP is losing patience. The collapse of his government is a matter of time.
19
Anyone ever seen the Jinx on HBO? I couldn’t help but think of Bob Durst’s incessant blinking while watching Trump’s incessant sniffling. Both are full of lies, lies, lies.
8
the first thing i read this morning... thank you gail collins!!!... laughing out loud helps against anxiety about the future... you made my day
22
The real crisis in America, is in our president’s head.
20
Give the man a break; he can barely read! All of the sniffing and snorting is obviously due to the stress and effort it takes to sound out the words.
45
I think we’re being governed by a secret cabal of alien post-nasal drips.
19
The sniffing is a bad habit. Maybe a nervous habit. Somebody needs to teach him how to breathe through his mouth when his nose is stuffed up.
6
@Desertbluecat, Great idea. He won't be able to talk while mouth breathing. No great loss.
4
D) Put up a gate to keep the babies and children from crossing the border.
You know, the ones that keep toddlers out of trouble.
9
It’s known that Trump has had OCD, such as his phobia about germs. Furthermore, OCD and narcissism often co-exist. Perhaps his constant sniffing is the OCD sniffing that coexists with anxiety. He has every reason to be anxious....heavens count the ways. It’s clear he’s obsessing a lot lately, as in a “Wall”. His maladjusted behavior is affecting everyone across the globe. Unfit for office is an understatement.
20
Sniffing, it's a Republican thing I think. Remember Kavanaugh at his confirmation hearings, when he wasn't yelling at the Democrats he was sniffing away. Know wonder Trump and Kavanaugh got along, two peas in a pod. Sniffers and yellas!
24
I’m telling ya, we’re getting close to John Belushi shrieking uncontrollably and going over backwards in his chair on “Weekend Update,” territory.
36
Reply to Robert Out West. You know one thing Trump and his fellow Republicans have done has tricked the the country into losing their critical thinking skills. Now the immigration issue has been reduced a simplistic answer: if you don’t want a wall then you want open borders and citizenship is a matter of walking across a border check. We know walls don’t work, we know 5.7 billion on steel slats is not even a partial answer to the dilemma of immigration and we know that to address immigration is complex and will require more than one answer. But it is now acceptable for one side to scream and stomp their feet and hold their breathe refusing to do the work of governing. While the other side stands with a smirk, arms across their chests, name calling and not doing the work of governing. Who pays the price of this outrage? The people do. We should be in the streets demanding the government open, people get paid, and federal contracts are honored. If pay is withheld it should be from the Congress and executive branch. Better yet shut them down. And let the agencies that actually do something keep the country running.
I get bombarded by the Democratic Party everyday for money. For what? To keep this dysfunctional system going? I gave, Dems, I voted. Your turn. And as for the Republicans. You own this, get help. Crazy Uncle Trump needs a family intervention.
9
@Sheri Delvin - Your comment is the best I've read in a while and cements how I have felt about the tidal waves of donation begging, for everything under the Sun. So much of it is also aimed at the elderly. Then there are the non-stop gut wrenching TV ads. It's appalling.
This college-educated liberal who voted twice for Obama, and who heard Clinton and Obama assert the need to improve border security and end the invasion of illegal aliens, hopes the President refuses to sign any budget unless and until Congress finds the wall.
17
As a college-educated voter, you should be skeptical that a border wall like the one Trump wants can be built for just $5.7 billion. Trump doesn't really care about a wall. He just doesn't want to look like he was on the losing end of a negotiation. It's all about appearances.
284
@James Good time to buy stock in companies that make ladders.
85
@James As a college-educated liberal, you should be able to read statistics and realize that a border wall is not going to stem the so-called invasion of illegal immigrants. In fact illegal immigration has been at its lowest in 20 years. If you could put that college education to work and do some research, you would know that there are other less expensive, and more efficacious options for border security, that the Democrats have put forward and wholeheartedly support, than the pr stunt that is Trump's wall.
261
Seriously: lock him up.
49
Why the ageist/sexist “72-year old man” comment. Micro-aggressions aren’t helpful.
Because he is.
7
“And I will huff and puff and blow your house down! (Because I lost mine).” Spiteful little child. Somebody give him some LEGO blocks to play with. He is not fit to do anything else.
22
@Diane Vendryes He is not a child. He is a stupid, ignorant old man.
3
One of the primary concerns of our time, as Yuval Harari has written in his most recent book , is an epidemic of stupidity. We are witnessing the first truly stupid Presidency. A Presidency by the stupid and for the stupid.
This stupidity is exacerbated by iPhones, Facebook, and fully sycophantic television "news" stations.
The group-think that has created Evangelical America has also helped create a willfully ignorant population - or at least half the population.
How do we battle against 60 million willfully ignorant folks? Those of us who read know that a wall will solve nothing and that walls generally exacerbate problems, not resolve them.
But remember - Trump is wagging the dog. He's interested mostly in delaying and obfuscating law suits and Mueller. The Wall is only one of many Trump Reichstag Fires. That is precisely what this is, and what Trump has been focusing on.
His 90 percent Republican approval rating is appalling and evidence of the fact that stupidity is as big a danger to humankind's future as Climate Change, Nuclear War, and AI.
We need a task force on American Stupidity, as much as on the three other existential threats to our planet.
92
@David Kesler
Interesting, but let's keep in mind that Bush the Lesser was considered to be pretty dumb. The fact that Trump is in a league of his own only skews the curve and doesn't make Bush smart.
2
Doing what he does best - sniffing at and stiffing others.
10
Nose spurs?
72
@TMOH I had to laugh out loud! Perfect!
1
Thank goodness for Gail Collins! Uncle Fred! Pre-K all the way! Gail, you totally made my day!
20
Thank you Mr. President.
Hold firm - no wall - no budget.
22
Why would you wish hardship on your fellow hard-working Americans by not paying them? They, like you, have bills to pay, children to feed, lives to lead. The president has no real leverage; he lost the House. He either changes and negotiates honestly or, I predict, Republicans will force him to. They already passed a budget bill a few weeks ago which maintains funding for border security at current levels. They don’t want a wall either.
304
@William, Why a wall? If you take even 10 minutes to do some non-partisan research, you will find it would be an ineffective colossal waste of anywhere from $15 to $50 billion total cost. FACT: more than half of illegal immigrants in this country are long-term visa overstayers who do not come through Mexico. FACT: native-born Americans commit crimes, serious and minor, at a much higher rate than do illegal immigrants. FACT: As finally admitted by the Trump administration, there is no flood of terrorists being stopped at the border. Only 6 non-US citizens with possible ties to terrorism have been apprehended at the border. Many times that number have been stopped at the Canadian border. FACT: There is not an unprecedented surge of people coming across the border. The number is at an all-time low since it peaked in 2007. FACT: the total number of illegal immigrants living in the US is 10.7 million, many of whom are long-term residents and, as noted above, many of whom are visa overstayers. Thus, the fear I see often expressed by Trump supporters that tens of millions are flooding across that border is wrong. FACT: Heroin comes into our country by being shipped in through ports of entry, not smuggled in by illegal immigrants crossing the Mexican border.
As Democrats have urged, we need evidence-based, high technology border security, not a wall.
604
@ William
Fact is that Trump promised us all at his rallies until just very recently that Mexico will be paying for the wall. Apparently that wasn’t a good plan for some unexpected reason.
Fact is that Trump now wants to shift the burden onto the American tax payer. Not cool!
Fact is that the majority of represented voters in the last election are not feeling that the wall is a priority to be totally honest with you.
Fact is the power of the purse is vested with the Congress not the President as laid down in the Constitution.
So shutting down the government with all its costly consequences just because you can is generally frowned upon and also a sign of really, really bad leadership skills.
278
For a guy who has been effectively outsmarted and outplayed at most steps of his private career (4 bankruptcies running casinos is not a leading indicator of auspicious business acumen), he sure is taking this setback pretty hard.
If the Wall is the only way that Trump can come up with to retain the loyalty of his base, maybe those loyalties aren’t quite as strong as he believes them to be. Considering the likely impact on his base of a prolonged Government shutdown, I suspect the Wall will, in retrospect, appear pretty irrelevant when we analyze how and why Trump’s base eventually abandoned him.
24
Beijing is taking over outer space!! We must build a roof over our country and China is going to pay for it!
29
He sniffs every time he lies. It’s his tell. He was doing it the entire campaign. And probably long before.
32
Mr. President: Say no to drugs, and yes to a plea deal. You might still get to live out your days in freedom. But first fess up to everything and implicate everyone else in the GOP who is part of your criminal conspiracy.
9
I always have and still believe he will resign. He will say “they wouldn’t let me do what you sent me here to do” and, see yah! Of course I would much rather see him defeated in ‘20 by a Reagan style landslide, but he won’t hang around to watch that happen. He’ll leave that to whoever is the hapless lamb-to-slaughter Republican who replaces him as the candidate. They sow the seeds of their own demise.
17
I took the sniffles during his speech as actually being sneers. He was sneering at us.
5
For everyone who criticizes Trump’s sincere efforts to step up to the challenge of lucidity, I suggest giving his him and his speech-writing team a break. First, the speech was only a beginning effort on the road to speaking in full sentences. And, faced with the obvious Trump-coherence challenge, it was one of his speech-writer’s best. Plus, perhaps the sniffing was just from our president’s understandable nervous fear of not being able fully please the enforcer. . . uh, lead speech writer, Vladimir Vladimirovich.
Rubles don't grow on trees, you know.
13
More lousy jokes about sniffling:
It's considered chic by residents of Antarctica.
B
2
@Robert Cohen Good place for him. He could build another trump hotel and the penguins would love it.
3
I suspect that if DT got his wall, he'd next scream, "DIG A MOAT! And make the ROMANS pay for it!"
6
You’re onto it. The sniffing is his tell. When he’s at his most insecure. Fight or flight panic crawling up his back when he feels he’s in danger of losing the moment.
Watch all the times it’s happened and you’ll have a roadmap to why he knows he’s so ill-fitted for the job.
9
Imagine if we had a grown-up as president instead of Bratty Baby Boy Trump. Surely then, what a great country we would be.
So let us close our eyes real tight, and know that with all of our might, in 2020 voters will see the light.
Paraphrasing John Lennon's "Crippled Inside":
Trump can shine his shoes and wear a suit
And add a collar and red tie
But the one thing he can't hide he is crippled inside
Well, now, cats may have nine lives
But in the Oval Office Trump has only one
For in 2020 voters will have him on the run
Because he will always be crippled inside
9
M&Ms for everybody! Bye-bye!
The White House is being run like a progressive kindergarten, with the sniffing enfant terrible throwing yet another tantrum. And the supervising adults have all left the building.
Mr Mueller, please. Deliver the goods, bigly.
7
The sniffing is a symptom of the panic attack that Trump is experiencing now that he doesn’t have his protectors in the House of Representatives and his knowledge that Mueller Is Coming! I dare say, and hope, that his sniffing will soon be accompanied by tears.
5
Wait...there’s a fiery moat on the table?
4
@J Clark
You must have slept through that discussion. We're going to dump all that beautiful coal into the Rio Grande and set it alight. When the coal runs out, we'll just use the toxic sludge that's contaminating the rivers. It's a win-win for our environment, just so long as the wind blows to the South. Of course, the winds on the Gulf tend to blow to the North, so maybe not so much.
1
Hey, instead of shooting someone on 5th Avenue, Trump has decided to stop paying 800,000 workers. It still gets attention, eh?
But attention isn’t all he wants. He wants a wall. The two desires aren’t related, but Trump joins them:
“I don’t like taking 800,000 peoples’ pay — but you’re making me do it cause you won’t give me $5.7 billion bucks. I just can’t help it.”
“And in the future, maybe you oughta remember — gimme what I want, or I’ll just have to make some folks suffer”.
“It may sound harsh, but hey that’s the deal.”
However, as some GOP Congressmen said, if these victims don’t live in your district and can’t vote against you, well don’t sweat it.
13
He’s shooting blanks and even he knows it. This will all end when he decides to end it by being the great leader he is.
2
Trump wants to build a thirty foot wall. Here’s the good news for the American economy: amazon sells forty-foot ladders! Think of all the sales to Mexican terrorists and drug lords! Here’s hoping the ladders aren’t made in China...
13
All true swamp dwellers sniffle when out in the air. Not their natural habitat. As for how he managed to read that TelePrompTer for almost ten minutes, long long beyond his attention span....I’m thinking his handler had some sort of mechanical or electrical connection to an unseen body part and was able to zot him back to focus. Theory, of course, just like the imaginary hordes he was talking about. Could have been worse; a lot worse. US Space Force called to repel the Klingons at the border, for example.
7
A fiery moat! Welcome back, Gail! We missed you! And since Mitt is now a Senator, you can work Seamus back into your columns again.
6
Perhaps Mr. Trump should be required to submit to random drug testing, like many other government employees.
10
So interesting that he used the word “soul” twice. And he used the word “love,” and said words that conveyed he was concerned about rape, drug abuse, and suffering children. Yes, he’s desperate.
10
@Allison Slavick I can't stand to see or listen to him, so I read the newspapers to see what he says. I find it interesting that he would use words that--except for drug abuse--relate to accusations levied against him.
1
Maybe a drug panel is in order, but I'm watching Chicago Med now and additionally I know nothing about medicine.
5
Gail, I'll go with choice D. Good First step in deterring drug and gun trafficking, and illegal immigration into the US.
Your column attacks the man instead of the issue of further securing our borders and addressing illegal Immigration which to be candid, your antics are quite pathetic. Given your long history of disdain for Trump (decades before he became president), your commentary is not out of character for you .Though not mention in your column, the real sniffling was done by Pelosi and good old Chuck! They expected Trump to concede but left empty handed. Like it or not their unwillingness to comprise is the driving force for the impass. This is Pelosi's opportunity to live up to her promise to change. Evidently its same old Democrat word speak for business as usual. There are sizable concession that Pelosi could seek in resolving this impasse but instead she squanders the opportunity.
@George
No, George, we expect a president to think in 21st century ideas. A physical barrier was fine for Hadrian in the year 107, but in 2021 anyone with a brain uses drones, high tech cameras, well trained border agents with dogs,etc. All of which the Democratic house has offered to fund, but giving 5.7 billion to an idiot to protect his ego is just plain stupid.
4
“Federal workers cannot go to their private charitable foundations to write an illegal check for their children’s Scout dues. Most Federal workers cannot ask their father to go buy them millions of dollars in casino chips to hold off the creditors. Trump’s desire to call a national emergency to fund his border wall, pulling needed money from the defense budget to fund his vanity project, is exactly like buying portraits of himself using his charitable foundation.”
To those working class people who think Trump is on your side, he is a typical spoiled rich boy, who has no understanding of the struggles facing everyday American families. Most federal employees were not wealthy before their second birthday. The only experience Trump has with working class people who struggle to pay their bills is not paying them what he owed them, when they did work on his bankrupt casinos.
Then stress how you are for “smart” border security, fiscal responsibility, not one stupid man’s outdated, ineffectual vanity project. America does not need or want another portrait of a con man.
16
Note: The fiery moat between us and Canada is to staunch the flow of Americans who've given up on this mess of a country.
1
He promised the nation during his speech that this could all be resolved in one 45 minute long meeting. It's a shame that he could only make it through 30 minutes before saying, "bye-bye." They were so close...
11
The sniff is his tell. It happens when he is delivering a scripted speech right before he says something he knows is a bald faced lie.
8
If Trump survives long enough to run again in 2020, the Democrats biggest problem will be picking amongst his unparalleled list of travesties to focus on. In an age of short attention spans, you can’t run two hour long pop-up ads. The guy isn’t just a train wreck, he’s a plague.
18
Good try, but I have to agree with one comment here; none of this is funny anymore. Get back to me when the “essential” workers slam the table and walk out. And alert me when the majority of Americans that did not vote for this man - just stay home until he resigns. Until then, all the editorials, op-eds, TV rants, round tables, are just that old sound and fury.
Leave the table. What a good idea.
5
Bye bye is what flight attendants say. trump demeans all flight attendants when he misappropriates one of their signature statements.
6
Where have you been. I look for your column every day. You are the clearest seeker of reality in this unreal world.
18
Why don't we all chip in together to purchase several boxes of 'Lincoln Logs' so Mr. Trump can build his wall around his desk, bed, toilet, the White House, MaraLago, etc. There are instruction, no doubt, for buiding a Lincoln Log wall ... but since Mr. Trump is all wise and very smart (anf the instructions are presented as drawings), the wall he constructs will be brilliant, the best, the strongest (if he glues the logs together), etc. And it will divert his mind for a few minutes.
22
Could money for a wall be a way to siphon money to pay his masters?
8
Trump should have hired Alec Baldwin to do the address for him. Baldwin is more entertaining, and Trump could blame somebody else if the show got lousy reviews.
39
Apparently when Trump hits the wall, Trump slams the table.
But the candy was a sweet gesture; if only the president had enough of it to spread around the 800,000 federal employees who aren't getting the paychecks they need to buy real groceries and pay their mortgages. Snickers bars will keep them healthy at least until the sugar high dissolves.
Please Gail, ease off the fiery moat idea. My wife and I drive to Canada on a regular basis and we don't welcome the idea of driving through a moat of flames, no matter the silver lining but it represents.
The thing is, though, none of this is funny anymore.
18
Great column as always Gail. I've always thought that the sniffling is a sure sign that Trump is lying. Okay, moving his lips is another tip but the sniffling really signals he is telling a whopper.
42
Re the sniffling. I counted the number of times Trump sniffled during the televised debate with Hillary Clinton on tv before the election. I concentrated on his breathing rather than his words. I got up to 72 sniffing noises before I quit. As I listened the other night I said “He’s still sniffing.” What is this? If he were one of my students I would ask him about it... drugs, sinus, deviated septum or what?
8
Are we really to be held hostage by a petulant man-child screaming about getting his way and fretting about his popularity while his intransigent and immovable base refuses to look at facts (terrorists are NOT coming in at the southern border) and continues to provide his much-needed applause? If the answer is yes, then all the humor columns in the world can’t save us.
25
Every action Trump has taken from neglectful cabinet appointment dismantling their agencies, to executive orders allowing corporations to poison, us to a raid on our treasury masquerading as a tax plan, to this shut down that weakens and stymies all federal workers - every effort is to weaken the US and allow dictators to replace the US on the world stage.
Stop navel gazing America and start marching!
This is not normal - we have been taken over by a foreign power with the complete capitulation and complicity of the Republican Party that most certainly has been funded by foreign nations for decades.
39
He sniffs and snuffs a lot. I personally think he's allergic to responsibility.
70
With apologies to Mexico, I’d like to see him go to the border and keep going - south! Great column.
14
Here is the solution: infrastructure and wall.
Trump cannot build a wall now until private property acquisition and other right-of-way work is completed. The wall will require access roads, drainage and other infrastructure stuff.
Solution: build the Donald J Trump International Parkway along the border from Brownsville with a median barrier of 24 foot steel slats.
Tourism. Jobs. Infrastructure. Just like the Hoover Dam during the Depression. 90 mph speed limit.
13
@ Mack- great idea! I would add: 90 MPH right smack into the wall.
1
Lindsey Graham stated that “Trump never acted so presidential” as he did during his 8 minute speech.
Mitch McConnell refuses to even allow the Senate to vote on legislation.
Trump had two years to get Mexico and the Republicans to pay for his silly wall.
Now he’s pounding the table?
It’s time for Republicans to act like elected officials and confront our petulant President.
120
Standards for getting elected as US Senator from SC are Republican and, no mas. Gender, ethnicity or skin color are no longer issues. Opportunism is still in style, as it ever was.
2
The “Uncle Fred” paragraph will keep me looking at the bright side. Wit, humor and intelligence. So few writers have it.
Best
16
Gail's opinion piece is a must read for Trump. Trump needs to hear what all of this means in a light, funny, perspective. If Trump were to ever read Gail's article I'm sure his narcissism would kick in when he read about his sniffling, his stiffing contractors, and having to be told to think of a wall so that he might stay focused on a campaign thought. It might actually make Trump look at the damage he's done, though I doubt it. At least the article was a light hearted review of the where we are today.
11
The sniffling likely represents a simple motor tic that Trump has had throughout his life and is brought on by stress and anxiety. It is semi voluntary and relieves some degree of his stress. It is likely associated with lifelong neurological developmental problems long commented on by Trump observers.
This includes attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,
impulse control disorder, and some degree of learning disability with a form of dyslexia.He has had these problems throughout his life and had serious conduct
problems as a child leading to his placement in a military boarding school and to his dropping out from Fordham University. To this day, he doesn’t like to read because he is a poor and slow reader with reading retention and comprehension problems.
His volatile temperament, frequent temper tantrums, and notoriously short attention span are also well documented. His serious developmental problems are combined with deep insecurities and a significant
personality disorder- narcissistic and sociopathic.
These problems explain Trump’s character somewhat and should be more extensively explored and discussed because they impact significantly his job performance.
168
@IN
Talk about hitting the nail on the head, perfect analysis.
12
@IN
Right On!
Drug test of the subject is the indicated action.
2
@IN It is really more of a snorting than a sniffling sound. I have thought it is party tied to a desire to appear "like a bull" -- in other words intimidating, and macho. If you are talking to someone and they are snorting like that it could give the impression that they are impatient, annoyed, and wanting to get you to back down. Like you said, it seems like a tic and somewhat involuntary at this point.
1
Republicans, let’s be clear. The president did not promise the American people during the campaign that he would build a beautiful wall, and the taxpayers of the United States would pay for it. He did not and has not estimated the cost of eminent domain,nor the cost or plan for building a wall. Had he made that promise, and those estimates and been elected, perhaps he would have some argument that he’s fulfilling a campaign promise he was elected to complete. However, since the president of Mexico humiliated him by refusing to pay for the wall, one can reasonably infer that this shutdown is about Trump’s misguided attempt at pure revenge on Mexico and an attempt to escape the humiliation he suffered. In other words, like everything else, it’s about his ego. Get over it.
39
Well, we can all take solace in how America continues to influence fledgling ‘democracies’ around the world. Just this week the Congo has declared a ‘winning’ presidential candidate who lost the popular vote.
15
Can the networks bill him for a campaign ad since he solicited funds for his re-election campaign?
62
Seems to me that Republican Senators are not only down with Caligula appointing his horse to the Senate, they’ve agreed to convene in the stable.
73
@Jack Shultz At least the Romans got the whole horse. All we get is the rump.
5
@Jack Shultz, I'd bet that your average horse would be a better Senator than most Republicans.
3
My best guess about the sniffling is that it signals a kind of derisive, arrogant self appraisal of superiority. It’s common among narcissists who are particularly clueless, in my experience.
Doesn’t change the sad fact that this is the person currently occupying the office of the presidency. Let’s continue to do everything possible to repopulate the government with people who really get what public service is about.
22
Yes, Mexico is nice and a place you have to see and experience but under such logic you have to add Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, etc. To the list. My point is, this wall thing has so little to do with Mexico that you could take it out from the equation. Please don’t forget that Trump is your president because of campaign proposals like this and which were widely supported then and, very possibly, still yet.
4
“Widely supported”? LOL the man lost by approximately 3MM votes, barely won the electoral college by 80,000 votes scattered in 3 states (& with the help of the Russians; stay tuned). Only his limited base supports the wall, which was to be paid by Mexico. Every poll out there indicates the great majority believe it to be - (1) Stupid; (2) Wasteful; &/or (3) Not Needed. But do not let the facts get in the way of your opinion. After all, in-spite of our Russian President, it still is a free country.
10
I keep thinking about the law of unexpected consequences. The proposed wall would directly and indirectly affect our natural world, from destroying butterfly refuges to blocking migrations to who knows what. Remember, the simple, low barrier of the rabbit-proof fence in Australia changed weather patterns there, leading to more drought within the protected area.
79
Perhaps closing the government is his last-ditch attempt to stop the Mueller investigation?
97
@ E Bennet: It also serves to keep the public's (and his own internal?) eye off of other matters such as several investigations, world situations, etc., no?
6
45th best presidency in US history, but 44th best president!! (Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th presidency).
Since it’s all about him, I’m sure he’ll find a way to tout this vastly improved statistic as “winning,” and evidence of improving poll numbers. Even Frederic Douglass is impressed these days.
37
The sniffing could be due to any number of physical causes. It’s not really a related ailment but I suspect he also has severe sleep apnea (he and Melania apparently share separate bedrooms, possibly because of heavy snoring) based on his weight and overall lack of a healthy, low-fat diet, and that may be a cause, if untreated, of his declining mental and cognitive abilities, sleepy demeanor, low energy, and late appearance in the Oval Office every day.
103
Dont get Trump wrong. Behind closed doors he has brought the art of the secret deal to new heights with the likes of Putin and Kim. Now he is using advanced bargaining techniques on Chuck and Nancy. It is just that his advanced bargaining skills move slower and more methodical at the light of day when facts are brought to light. (And don't forget to pre-order his soon to be released "Art of the Deal II". It will soon be released by the Ivanka University Press.)
71
Donald has his back against the wall
And our government moves at a crawl
So, Mr. and Mrs.
The question for us is
Can a man with bone spurs play hardball?
171
@ Larry Greenfield- I so enjoy and look
Forward to your poetry and prose every time I read the comments of the NYT. Brilliant!!
7
@Suzanne
Sadly Suzanne, you are probably referring to Larry Eisenberg who passed on Christmas Day. The Times did a wonderful obituary on Dec 26th.
Having said that, perhaps this Larry and others (not necessarily named Larry) can help pick up the mantle.
3
not funny. not sure what your audience is: those who are working or not working without pay would not be amused, the rest of us are exhausted and the Trump base will see this as predictable sneering
22
As long as the US population and Congress remains inert to the abusive cruelty and corruption of this administration humor provides a healthy helpful relief.
I need it. My contempt for this country and its people is becoming toxic. Thanks Gail.
26
It is funny. It is seriously bad, but in context it is funny.
5
The Trump base should actually see this as the grownups standing around, pointing at them, and roaring with laughter.
Sorry they feel bad, but none of ‘em ever seem to have the least little prob with calling the rest of us everything under the sun, and throwing the stupidest possible lies and insults our way. Is it fun?
Hey, here’s a question, Trumpists: when ARE you planning to schedule the day when YOU listen to your fellow Americans, when YOU stop hurling sneers at us?
When’s THAT due?
8
Trump was “low energy” last night. His energy comes from the adulation of a crowd. It reaffirms him, makes him feel big. Without it, he was left only with his own vast insecurities and the uncomfortable knowledge that many of the people watching his speech were disgusted, outraged, incredulous, or otherwise unimpressed. He must have been truly desperate to agree to such an appearance.
359
@lydgate
I couldn't agree more with you!!!
You are 'TREMENDOUSLY' right - me, by the way, deliberately and ironically using one of this US President's most favored words due to his 'not really literary language' style.., if not to say 'poor vocabulary' compared with other presidents of the United States of America..) !! Unfortunately, he's always been a lifelong 'artist' in turning his dispair into more and more messy new and - to him much more important ideas and actions ... his well known distraction tactics
14
@lydgate Well, I didn't watch his speech. So, not only does he have to worry about those who were disgusted, outraged, incredulous or unimpressed, but he has to worry about people who just didn't care enough to give him attention because I'm sure I'm not the only one.
12
@Jackie
I didn't watch it
2
I think he has stayed away from the oval office broadcast due to the conspicuous red of the background flags and his gut feelings that orange clashes with red.
Thank you for lightening my day.
65
Democrats have it nailed—just say no to the wall. It’s the moment to crush this fake issue and set the tone for the next two years. Every passing day is a nail in the coffin of another GOP Senator in 2020.
409
It is ever so comforting to know that there are others who are equally as bothered by his nasal noises. My guess is that he is also a noisy chewer and a mouth breather. Those qualities alone are enough to prove that he has no self awareness which is typically accompanied by an unhealthy ego. Most people in that situation self medicate with Tic Tacs.
101
A plausible explanation from an observer from The Apprentice production staff is that he abuses Adderall - crushes and snorts it.
8
The sniffing has indeed been a topic of derision, oops, I mean discussion on many occasions.
29
When it comes to the “crisis on the southern border,” Trump is like the boy who cried wolf. He keeps shouting “border wall, border wall,” as if there are hordes invading our southern border, but the grownups are not listening. Because they know Trump’s caravans of “illegal aliens” just don’t seem to materialize in the vast numbers that can even be deemed a “crisis,” leave alone have him pronounce a “national emergency.”
With apologies to Pink Floyd: we don’t need no Trump justification, we don’t need no thought control – all in all, it’s just another trick to build his wall.
85
@Jack Nargundkar
Thank -you for that. Roger Waters is smiling.
3
I wonder if Republicans really do want to destroy the institutions of Democracy and subvert the Rule of Law?.What do they really want, to go back to the Wild West where the gun was the law, or perhaps to imitate dictators where money and power is concentrated in one place and the public is prevented from being too well off or too informed? They are not a democracy's party at this point because they have ignored or subverted most of the rules that make democracy work and they have undermined the institutions from within by appointing totally subversive people as heads. All this behavior is with intent that is actually treasonous. Intent to undermine democracy.
Democracy may have its problems, but it takes functioning participants to make it work. If the US slips into the chaos of an authoritarian rule, God help us all. Most of these people close to Trump have had a lot of dealings with Russia and have been lured by the rivers of dark money available to those close to Putin. Where they should have eyes they have dollar signs. The rest are cowards.
The Republican party has lost its soul to the devil. They need to start over with a clean slate. Vote them all out and vote in new blood.Their behavior is treasonous. They need to go, along with Trump. many to jail. Clean house. Good riddance.
310
Around sixty years ago The John Birch Society was founded on the premise to combat a conspiracy to undermine American democracy and replace it with a authoritarian / totalitarian regime. Reviled in the press, they were consigned to the Right-wing lunatic fringe and not taken seriously. The events around us now, and with Trump's direction, with the willing complacence of those in Congress seem to give some measure of credence to their premise. Who knew?
27
The reason we have this fool in charge is because of folks wanting a quick solution to comp!icated problems. Enough with the silly witticisms, please. America, and all its possibilities, is at stake.
19
@LaVerne Wheeler I blame the electoral college. The outdated system of chosing the government of a nation that is seen as a world leader by giving more vote power to a handful of states is undemocratic and dangerous as we are now experiencing.
14
And the national embarrassment just keeps humming along. Trump not only is selling lies, but the rest of the GOP is pitching them as well.
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@Anthony
"And the national embarrassment just keeps humming along."
Eg. Last Oct. the world laughed at Trump when he gave a speech to the UN General Assembly .
America , you are better than the Trump-Kushner crime family and their abettors ………. aren`t you ?
11
@Duncan Lennox
Well, the vast majority of us are, but the electoral college has given us Bush 43 and Trump. Currently, the racists, sexists, and xenophobes in the GOP, and the naive Fox News watching electorate that gives them power, currently hold the rest of America hostage.
10
We all need a good laugh in grim times, but less we forget, Trump is a cruel wannabe despot. Today he was back at it threatening to cut FEMA aid to thousands of displaced persons of the California wildfires. Who's to know what his motivation was. Could it have been that Speaker Pelosi got better ratings than him in her rebuttal speech with Sen. Chuck Schumer last night?
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@MKathryn It's been my observation over the past forty years that in all ways, the poor must be punished, and the "poor" in this case includes those who are homeless because their houses were demolished by wildfires. Predators always prey on those who are most vulnerable.
7
The silver lining is that Trump is only trying to lie the country into a worthless $5 Bn wall instead of a $2 trillion war that will cost 100s of thousands of lives and throw an entire region of the world into chaos.
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@Sparky- it’s because he really isn’t a visionary genius with the best people; Cheney and Bush’s cabinet: now they had experience and a particular genius for robbing us blind through government and contractor contracts.
11
@Sparky A sobering reminder of a murderously devastating GOP mindset that tends towards cultivating human misery.
11
So far...
10
What I saw last night was a man, desperate, troubled and depressed. Here is a man who critical thinking is being done by deeply conservative influencers who found a “mouthpiece” to carry out a agenda that is not characteristic the values, global position we have endured to construct for the last 200 .
God Help US !!
151
@Dave Martin:
We have asked god to help us so many times. Perhaps it's time to realize that only we can help ourselves.
12
@ad rem
Exactly, you are the ones that have helped create this mess, you are the only ones who can fix it.
@Dave Martin,
It might help to read some of the quotes by Ingersoll, known as the Great Agnostic; a Republican orator of magnitude, who once wrote what God does not feature in these political choices of ours.
4
This is the most hilarious thing I have read in a long time.
21
“This is not a man who should wrap his arguments around the idea of protecting women from sexual assault.”
Perfect.
Also, I suggest any time the word ‘president’ is used when referring to trump that it has quotes around it because ....... popular vote.
195
And also because... incompetence.
19
@Chris McMasters: Indeed! The People's Second Choice (and Putin's first).
1
He’s been sniffling for two years. I used to think it was a “tell” — signaling his lies. But now that I know he never stops lying, I too wonder why some days those sniffles seem worse than other days.
59
Maybe his nasal passages were over stimulated somehow. During the Russian Operation, I mean, er...his campaign, Carrie Fisher called him out about all of that sniffling.
11
at least it's not a moat? the sad thing is that it is a moat because tunnels go under walls and most unwanted immigrants overstay visas. it won't stop drugs because they come in what's called "ports of entry." 90%? Human trafficking is a serious issue where many migrants die in transit. very sad. only 2% are violent!
7
Adderall Side effects, simple Dx. Yup
151
Everything he says is tragic hilarity.
If and when the federal employees are officially
back to work, then the nation will eventually have stamped certified brownies.
Sniffles are very attractive ... especially to the residents of
6
Trump has a path to saving face in his shutdown debacle. He can give Mitch McConnell the green light to bring to a vote the deal the Senate approved already and then veto it with the understanding that the Senate has enough votes to override him.
Trump could then report to his associates Rush and Ann that he’d done all he could for the Wall but Congress wouldn’t let him build it.
The Base will once again feel that their cult leader has won and they’ll share that victory with him, which is what they care about most.
After that happy ending we will be back where we started , where 35% of Americans make decisions for the rest of us.
430
Why would McConnell leave himself and other Replicant Senators open to criticism by his Holiness Rush Limbaugh?
17
@Ran
I agree. That seems like the way out without calling for an emergency wall.
10
@Ran Those who give underlings their marching orders are not called "associates".
5
Trump certainly sounds like a man who hasn't read a book in decades. I can't imagine having a conversation with him; let alone an argument. His speech reminds me of that Shaw play I can't think of. Perhaps it's Mrs. Warren's profession when someone says, "The problem with speaking without thinking is that you never mean anything."
261
Americans ever since 1776 have been a resourceful and resilient lot. Even in the darkest times laughter and humor carried us - remember Ernie Pyle and Kilroy from WWII.
When the need for humor appeared Gail was always there. But with the shutdown continuing it's hard to keep expecting her to pick up millions of people. By the time this president is gone from office, the devastating situation left behind by him and his party will have squeezed the last vestiges of humor from the populace and late night comedians will no longer have an audience
56
Sniffling equals puffery (AKA lying). Roll the videotape. Sniffles occur during most of his long, web-spun tales, when the abuse of facts is most evident. Think of the final, fitful scene in HBO docuseries, “The Jinx.”
Sniffling is “a tell,” if you will, and it cannot be helped.
299
Nixon used to wet his lips right as he lied. That was his tell, so this might be Trump's. I prefer this explanation to the obvious thought that he was coked-up.
I recall he sniffled a lot when he stalked Hillary around the debate stage. Then there are the blown pupils under the TV lights. Hmmm.
33
@NY Prof
In general, or for Trump in particular?
Having any sort of "tell" belies his supposed great ability to make "deals".
1
@NY Prof
Bush used to smirk (kind of a smile) when he told lies. My mother always said she could tell when someone lied by the smirk on their face.
This is the first I had heard of the sniff. I didn't see The Jinx.
2
Priceless. One of her best. By the way, I'm becoming increasingly convinced that Trump’s wall obsession and subsequent shutdown is very much connected to his fear of Mueller's findings in the Russia inquiry. Does he really believe that his base will save him?
503
I agree. Great work, Gail.
32
@Dennis Sullivan Not even his base, on the wall thing. He's only doing this to keep Anne Coulter from calling him a wimp. So what will it take to make her happy?
1
So we have the manic behavior, the sniffing, the dilated pupils, the inability to focus on one topic or even utter a complete sentence. Add ‘er all up and you have Trump. I remember the sniffing in a debate with Clinton, and I attributed it to nerves or some sort of nervous tic that manifested when he was getting publicly demolished. Clearly that’s not the causation here, but you’d think someone with his TV pedigree would be aware of how it comes across to viewers. Maybe he can persuade Gary Busey or one of his Celebrity Apprentice dead-enders to give him some coaching. Clearly he’s receptive to new ideas.
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As with all “reality” programs, all his sniffing would have been edited out of the final cut that went to air.
39
As I recall, that was the same debate he suggested Hillary be tested for drugs for. Coincidentally a famous tell for addicts and liars is that they usually try to turn things around and accuse others of doing exactly what they themselves are guilty of. You might think I'm being flippant, but I'm stone cold serious. He displays all the behavioral signs and should be tested.
253
During one of his sniffs, I noticed his lips pursing into a I-just-smelled-something-really-bad pout. Then that was all I noticed. DJ Trump looks like he's really gasping for breath, and having a hard time getting enough.
20
The reaction of the news media to Trump's address, as far as I'm aware of it, shows that letting oneself get used to Trump is not entirely a bad thing. We're no longer hearing that he comes off as "presidential" when he laboriously reads prepared remarks from a teleprompter.
The news media and the rest of us are used to Trump, now. Just as we know his gaudy prattle and his troglodytic tweets, we know his sluggishness when faced with any task requiring disciplined behavior or literacy. We know whether he's got it in him to be presidential, and whether he deserves the benefit of any doubt. More and more Americans must be used to Trump and achingly tired of him. That's all to the good.
This too shall pass. But the moment we no longer have Donald Trump to kick us around any more, we'll need to be ready for the next-generation Fox News favorite.
325
@Longestaffe
I'm afraid that Fox News has been looking for the next Trump for years. While they will never find anyone who combines his skill at impromptu speaking with outright insanity I'm sure they have found people who will push the same buttons that they primed for Trump. And whoever they pick as the next savior, the whole network will once again go full monty on the propaganda machine and again deliver 40% of the empty state vote. And some unelectable identity politics queen will run on the Democratic ticket and deliver Fox News the rest of the votes necessary to win. We may have Fox News presidents for the rest of our lifetimes because their ratings are going up and not down. It is now necessary to have the media and Fox News in the bag with you to win a presidential election. The Republicans will always have a head start with their own private national propaganda network turning out lies 24/7. We have seen a combination that is hard to beat. At this moment I don't see any Democrat as having a chance.
2
Praise be-Gail Collins is back. I knew that our wise leaders were making me more suicidally depressed than usual, but until I saw Gail’s cheery by-line, I did not realize that the depths of my despair were so tied to an absence of her always enjoyable thoughts. I really missed them.
579
Probably s very common reaction. She's a gem.
27
Thank you, Fred. It’s so nice to have you back, Gail!
19
I didn’t watch Trump yesterday and was not aware of the sniffing but do remember the sniffing during the debate with Clinton. I sincerely hope that there is nothing serious, not because I am concerned about him, quite the contrary but I want him to be around long enough to face trial with what will surely be a bombshell report in the coming months.
817
Ah, the irony now of Trump’s cheerleading for “lock her up!”
33
@James Arisman,
What goes around, comes around. A la lanterne, a la lanterne, and the Base can become fierce. Trump announced that he wanted 'to take care of' the forgotten ones, while some of the rich have been supporting his Presidency.
While Mr. Trump blocks into his wall, the resentment among Americans is growing, and there is no telling what is going to happen in taking back our Country from this compromised, incompetent and unfit leader.
9
@Ted Siebert
Did not watch the oval office yawner, but do remember the snorting during the debate, it was like a steam release for a barely controlled fury.
2