Gail Gets It Wrong Again
Ms. Collins is completely off base when she claims, "the vision of what the president wants in a wall keeps shifting."
That is nonsense. Donald J. Trump has made it clear from the beginning that his plan for the wall is a 1,954 mile rampart that looks exactly like this ...
http://www.bartstewart.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Dream-wall.jpg
The cost of building it would be a mere one-third of the national debt ... a real bargain.
Of course what the wall actually looks like it this ...
https://conservativedailypost-guvbvzsunddro8yrw.netdna-ssl.com/wp-conten...
Since I love to solve problems, I recommend that Donald J. Trump employ Maya Lin to design the wall with the stipulation that the names of everyone who voted for him in 2016 be engraved on the U.S. side.
Can you just imagine what a spectacular attraction it would be, with tourists traveling from around the world just to witness its power and significance, swarming the grounds with their cameras. Your president could change his mantra to, "We will build that wall, and the Japanese and Chinese will pay for it.
The existing wall is famously porous, so I suggest transporting it to our northern border (with Canada) to keep all of our rapists, criminals, and drug smugglers from infiltrating their fair land. That would be one way to get rid of them. Hmmm ... maybe I can set up a meeting with Jared Kushner to convince him of the wisdom of this alternative to NAFTA.
Ms. Collins is completely off base when she claims, "the vision of what the president wants in a wall keeps shifting."
That is nonsense. Donald J. Trump has made it clear from the beginning that his plan for the wall is a 1,954 mile rampart that looks exactly like this ...
http://www.bartstewart.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Dream-wall.jpg
The cost of building it would be a mere one-third of the national debt ... a real bargain.
Of course what the wall actually looks like it this ...
https://conservativedailypost-guvbvzsunddro8yrw.netdna-ssl.com/wp-conten...
Since I love to solve problems, I recommend that Donald J. Trump employ Maya Lin to design the wall with the stipulation that the names of everyone who voted for him in 2016 be engraved on the U.S. side.
Can you just imagine what a spectacular attraction it would be, with tourists traveling from around the world just to witness its power and significance, swarming the grounds with their cameras. Your president could change his mantra to, "We will build that wall, and the Japanese and Chinese will pay for it.
The existing wall is famously porous, so I suggest transporting it to our northern border (with Canada) to keep all of our rapists, criminals, and drug smugglers from infiltrating their fair land. That would be one way to get rid of them. Hmmm ... maybe I can set up a meeting with Jared Kushner to convince him of the wisdom of this alternative to NAFTA.
59
"So it’s all about image." That pretty much sums it up and then throw in lies, low intellect and lack of personal integrity and you prettty much sum up our narcissistic tweeter in chief.
58
Build a transparent wall so people won't get get their bell rung as bags of drugs are tossed over.....wasn't "the point" of his wall to prevent that in the first place? So he's saying The Great Wall of Trump needs to be built but it wont work anyway? Hello????
Like the old saying goes: How do you get over a 30' wall? With a 31' ladder.
Like the old saying goes: How do you get over a 30' wall? With a 31' ladder.
53
"(Sometimes you get tired of saying “wall.” It comes up so often, we should create synonyms. Fortification of the Future. Donald’s Divider. Keep working on it.)"
Stockade Syndrome?
Stockade Syndrome?
32
As a thoughtful conservative said about the transgender fiasco and Trump: we asked him to light a candle and set it on the table and instead he set the whole table on fire.
36
Why anyone would pay any more attention to the insanity of this lunatic president is beyond me. We should all simply read the Gail Collins' of the world, laugh hysterically, and work to get people to, simply, VOTE. That's where our energy should be.
In the meantime, enjoy the beauty of Gail's endearing and hysterically, always funny words!
In the meantime, enjoy the beauty of Gail's endearing and hysterically, always funny words!
53
The Great Wall of China fell before the Mongols, the Manchus, the British and the Japanese.
The Great Wall of America will fall before Americans. The Mexican immigration problem rests in an insatiable American appetite for illegal drugs, guns and money. The American West and Southwest belonged to Mexico before America started a war and confiscated them as the spoils of an imperial war. Mexican immigration collapsed in the wake of 2008 economic collapse. The immigrants coming now are from Central America fleeing drugs, crime and corruption.
The First Emperor of China Qin Shi Huang sought the secret to immortality. And he died at age 50 after taking quicksilver aka mercury 'pills.'
The First Emperor of America Donnie Trump is taking vacations on his property playing golf and taking whatever 'life-extending' pills were prescribed to him by his 'doctor' Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin aka the KGB/FSB Puppeteer Ventriloquist.
The Great Wall of America will fall before Americans. The Mexican immigration problem rests in an insatiable American appetite for illegal drugs, guns and money. The American West and Southwest belonged to Mexico before America started a war and confiscated them as the spoils of an imperial war. Mexican immigration collapsed in the wake of 2008 economic collapse. The immigrants coming now are from Central America fleeing drugs, crime and corruption.
The First Emperor of China Qin Shi Huang sought the secret to immortality. And he died at age 50 after taking quicksilver aka mercury 'pills.'
The First Emperor of America Donnie Trump is taking vacations on his property playing golf and taking whatever 'life-extending' pills were prescribed to him by his 'doctor' Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin aka the KGB/FSB Puppeteer Ventriloquist.
23
"Mar-a-Lago keeps getting special visas to hire cooks and cleaners from abroad, “It’s very, very hard to get people.”"
Even when he staggers backwards into the slick nasty pile of truth he doesn't see it.
Even when he staggers backwards into the slick nasty pile of truth he doesn't see it.
60
Put a wall around Trump, Mr. Mueller.
Problem solved.
Problem solved.
51
Meuller is getting closer! The closer he gets the crazier Benedict Donald gets, a direct relationship. Wonderful fun for the sane.
30
The majority of immigrants do not cross into this country by swimming, wading across a river, or walking through a hot desert. They do so like the many items that are imported here, across the many bridges and crossings, just not seen. A wall will not stop many people at all just maybe the poorest. Living in New York always made me wonder how did all the Pakistani and Indian people get here and let's not forget the Chinese and Dominicans, again how did they get here OR HOW will they now if we build a wall...? Stupid is stupid does and another 20 billion dollars will be spent.
19
Only effective wall I have witnessed is a wall of Metro buses around the White House during an anti-war demonstration after Kent State in 1970. Nixon was inside and Jane Fonda and others were
screaming at him from the outside. Tjhis is same president promised he had a secret plan to end the war in 1968. That plan was secretly conspiring and colluding with foreign powers as a candidate to disreupt the peace process.
Maybe it is time to put another wall around the White House.
screaming at him from the outside. Tjhis is same president promised he had a secret plan to end the war in 1968. That plan was secretly conspiring and colluding with foreign powers as a candidate to disreupt the peace process.
Maybe it is time to put another wall around the White House.
23
Trump's telephone conversations with the Mexican and Australian leaders are remarkable. I wonder if he had similar initial conversations with other world leaders. I am sure that after the election word got out very quickly in diplomatic circles that America now has a buffoon at the helm.
36
As long as Americans do not want to do the hard, dirty jobs. the illegals will come. As long as employers refuse to pay decent wages and benefits, the illegals will come. As long as the American people demand low prices that are only sustainable with illegals, The illegals will come.
62
Comic relief. We can laugh till we cry.
9
As disturbing as it may be this President speaks in metaphors and his supporters love it. The 'wall' is a metaphor for stopping hordes of drug dealing, raping Mexicans and it plays well regardless of whether an actual wall will be built, or whether illegal immigrants are crime ridden (they are not).
7
"Trans-country-mental Smoke Screen". How does that sound?
13
Some synonyms of "wall": barricade, fortification, ramparts, barrier, obstacle, divider, hoops, climb-it, jump over, tunnel under, break-in, ... And this without even consulting the Roget's Thesaurus which lists about 30 more, including immurement, fence, enclosure, pen, palisade ...
3
Humpty Trumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Trumpty had a big fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Trumpty together again.
Just hoping for a political fall, not a physical one.
Trumpty himself is the one who talks up physical violence.
Humpty Trumpty had a big fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Trumpty together again.
Just hoping for a political fall, not a physical one.
Trumpty himself is the one who talks up physical violence.
12
A wall. Great idea! Hey... it worked in Berlin. And in Gaza.
16
Most totally insane people don't do as many crazy things at the rate Trump does. But, anyone with half a brain would have known Trump was a maniac during the campaign. If the half-crazy Democrats had nominated anyone but Hillary Clinton Trump wouldn't be President.
8
$1.6B just to get started on the most amazing wall ever(!) is really the biggest, greatest kickback scheme ever! I have no doubt that much, if not all, of those $$$$$$$$$$$$ will end up in the pocket of the Trump Organization.
34
Think of it as the "Star Wars" defense of our era, more paranoid about Mexicans seeking work than Reagan was about missiles from another part of the world. Only just as delusional.
73
It is said that El Chapo's net worth is $14billion. All we have to do is seize his ill-gotten assets, like we do to other drug dealers. This will go a long way to paying for the wall, or some other infrastructure.
7
"A wonder he remembers to breathe"--my goodness, that takes me back! When my children were, well, children, that was my answer to, "But you didn't tell me!" I'd say, "Breathe, Joey. In. Out. In. Out." I didn't think I should have to tell them EVERYTHING. They could think for themselves. Too bad Trump can't.
10
Reading the transcript of Trump's call with Peña Nieto was a spit-your-coffee-all-over-the-laptop moment. I laughed out loud, and it cheered me up all day. That one call, with Trump begging and pleading for Peña Nieto to back up his Mexico-will-pay lies so he can keep up the front for his supporters and avoid more bad press, summed up the whole Trump schtick for me. It's all about the appearance of accomplishment, without actually accomplishing anything. It's about covering the lies. It's Trump's whole sorry life in one phone call.
38
Look on the bright side...consider the possible uses for the crumbling stretches of wall that might be constructed. To wit...
-Training walls for 5,000 (of 750,000 screened) new Boarder Patrol recruits and for coyotes and drug smugglers so they won't get hurt and end up in an expensive US ER.
-A junkyard parking lot for abandoned trucks and large sedans as soon as gas prices go up again
-A living graffiti museum celebrating renewed interest in this inimitable American art form
-Drive-in movie theater franchises projecting reruns of ("I Love Lucy"?) on the bare concrete to recoup expenses, compensate locals for any inconvenience and illuminate the boarder free of charge
-Inspiration for aspiring American poets wishing to write a nativist version of Percy Shelley's "Ozymandias"
"...Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."
-Training walls for 5,000 (of 750,000 screened) new Boarder Patrol recruits and for coyotes and drug smugglers so they won't get hurt and end up in an expensive US ER.
-A junkyard parking lot for abandoned trucks and large sedans as soon as gas prices go up again
-A living graffiti museum celebrating renewed interest in this inimitable American art form
-Drive-in movie theater franchises projecting reruns of ("I Love Lucy"?) on the bare concrete to recoup expenses, compensate locals for any inconvenience and illuminate the boarder free of charge
-Inspiration for aspiring American poets wishing to write a nativist version of Percy Shelley's "Ozymandias"
"...Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."
4
Another option is to build a wall around Congress and the Senate, seal it off until they fix the issues....
6
Actually his tweet was not just "generals", but "Generals". And Gail thinks he doesn't pay attention to details.
3
Don't know Ms. Collins, Berlin Barrier kinda works (and there is the 'barrier wall' in the West Bank); the Panels of Jericho, not so much; nor the great Thingie of China. How about Trump's Window of Mexico?
4
Pretty soon we're going to need a wall on the northern border, to stop people escaping. Then Trudeau will challenge Trump to "tear down this wall".
15
The House bill lead by Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen includes $1.6 Billion of U.S. tax money to pay for Trump wall. This is another broken campaign promise that had Mexico paying, in full, for the wall. Both the disingenuous Congressman and President are serving their own ends to the detriment of the public. One, sponsors wasting tax dollars to preserve his sacred committee chair and, the other wastes tax dollars to embellish his throne. Considering all the heads being added to guard the southern border, why not have them stand arm-in-arm along its length? A waste of money and a waste of personnel.
8
We all know that "The Wall" will never be built and that it is simply a rallying cry to rile up the Trump base. The real danger is that this so called wall represents and legitimizes hatred and fear directed towards anyone and everyone perceived by the Trump base as different.
Different skin color, different religious beliefs, different sexual orientation, different native language, different culture etc.
To continue to spout the wall rhetoric is the epitome of irresponsibility and recklessness. It proves once and for all that Trump should not be nor is qualified to be President.
Different skin color, different religious beliefs, different sexual orientation, different native language, different culture etc.
To continue to spout the wall rhetoric is the epitome of irresponsibility and recklessness. It proves once and for all that Trump should not be nor is qualified to be President.
14
I think we need to take poll: What would you do with 1.6 billion dollars? That's $1,600,000,000.00 to be precise. To put things in perspective, you could build the Titanic nine times for that kind of money *after* inflation. It would take a median income worker over 7,000 years to earn that much money in wages. Every single U.S. citizen is kicking in around $50 for the first stage of Trump's wall. Family of four? Cough up $200 please.
Obviously we know what Trump would spend the money on. You might as well put "campaign finances" on the check memo because that's where the money is going. I want to know what would you do thoug? If we find a consensus, maybe we can kickstart a petition. To the honorable Representative...
As an aside, I personally call the wall Trump's Folly.
Obviously we know what Trump would spend the money on. You might as well put "campaign finances" on the check memo because that's where the money is going. I want to know what would you do thoug? If we find a consensus, maybe we can kickstart a petition. To the honorable Representative...
As an aside, I personally call the wall Trump's Folly.
15
At the rate things are going, we won't *need* to build a...whatever. Nobody's going to WANT to come here.
15
The room (read country) divider screen should be aesthetically pleasing as well as blend in with the surrounding natural environment, which includes wetlands that won't support the structure. Solar panels to keep the wildlife warm at night sounds like a workable plan to me as well.
4
The first thing to note is that border crosser apprehensions does not give one a complete picture. An estimated 170,000 cross undetected annually. And some of those apprehended and returned to Mexico will make a future successful crossing.
There will be no wall.
The dirty secret is that a wall and Border Patrol agents act as deterrent, but not as hermetically sealed border.
People from Latin America will continue to find their into the United States, thanks to the ingenuity of smugglers and immigrants' persistence.
The U.S. is on track to become a nation in which whites will no longer be the majority. It's inevitable.
There will be no wall.
The dirty secret is that a wall and Border Patrol agents act as deterrent, but not as hermetically sealed border.
People from Latin America will continue to find their into the United States, thanks to the ingenuity of smugglers and immigrants' persistence.
The U.S. is on track to become a nation in which whites will no longer be the majority. It's inevitable.
2
"you cannot say that to the press. The press is going to go with that and I cannot live with that"
To which the proper rejoinder is "If you can't live with that, how come you're not dead?"
--
Bob
To which the proper rejoinder is "If you can't live with that, how come you're not dead?"
--
Bob
11
Cogito, ergo sum is somehow the guiding principle of our President. However, in his mind, there is a slight shift from I think, therefore I exist to I think therefore it exists. It follows that if the President thinks there is a wall, then there is a wall. It is so. If the President thinks he is fully clothed, then he is.
Lastly, there is this take on on the principle: Descartes is sitting in a bar, having a drink. The bartender asks him if he would like another. "I think not," he says, and vanishes in a puff of logic.
Lastly, there is this take on on the principle: Descartes is sitting in a bar, having a drink. The bartender asks him if he would like another. "I think not," he says, and vanishes in a puff of logic.
4
The contract for The Wall should be given to Pink Floyd.
7
The wall was about channeling white racism, rounding up red state votes, and inflating Trumps' ego, in that order. Trump can't get Mexico to pay for the wall, and begging Pres. Nieto to play along and say he might didn't work. Trump is all about appearances. I suggest that every few hundred miles, we put up signs that read, "Coming eventually, the most beautiful wall ever." In tandem with that, we give Trump something to look at and hold up for a Fox News video opp: an architect's rendering of a glass wall with Mexicans on one side, peering sadly through and standing next to bags of marijuana. That should do it.
5
"Wall thingie" is tops! The red meat will not be pleased:)
8
Donald Trump runs a construction company. I have come to believe that Trump's strongest motivation for building the wall is getting billions of dollars of payments from the Government to the Trump Organization, and its various friends and affiliates. If Trump can't get the government to pay him for a wall on the Mexican border, my guess is that he'll try to have one built on the Canadian border. Or on the Mason-Dixon line.
16
He is the man we chose to lead and unless he gets too bored to stay around he will be with us until 2020. Meanwhile, the changes which can and if we value our nation will be made are in the mid-terms.
This week's vote denying union representation at the Nissan Plant in Canton MS indicate no more than a unique situation where exceptional wages and benefits are already in place.
Locally a wage of $11/hr coupled with a 39-hour work week without benefits is considered acceptable and a situation which is repeated throughout our nation.
The real Wall Deal already exists between the fantasy so many of us accept and the reality which far more of us live.
This week's vote denying union representation at the Nissan Plant in Canton MS indicate no more than a unique situation where exceptional wages and benefits are already in place.
Locally a wage of $11/hr coupled with a 39-hour work week without benefits is considered acceptable and a situation which is repeated throughout our nation.
The real Wall Deal already exists between the fantasy so many of us accept and the reality which far more of us live.
14
According to some people, the "Wall" was a message that the Donald could understand to keep him on topic about being anti-immigrant.
Maybe we can just pay Fox News to say the "Wall" is under construction, and the Donald will be happy. Fox News can show clips of construction workers in a desert area, and it would be a lot cheaper than actually building the "Wall". Fox News can also say that Mexico is secretly funding the "Wall". Everyone will be pleased and it shouldn't cost much. Perception always trumps reality.
Maybe we can just pay Fox News to say the "Wall" is under construction, and the Donald will be happy. Fox News can show clips of construction workers in a desert area, and it would be a lot cheaper than actually building the "Wall". Fox News can also say that Mexico is secretly funding the "Wall". Everyone will be pleased and it shouldn't cost much. Perception always trumps reality.
34
Jeff Flake in recent interviews totally outed the fact that no wall will be built. Why? It's insane on its face. as promoted. But he also portended a move away from Trump and his influence. Collins links the wall to infrastructure spending, and that will be the off ramp for Trump, putting infrastructure before the wall. But a few ideas I like are building the wall as a solar power generator. Trump would likely support a wall that could pump oil instead - or unearth great coal resources - but the solar idea actually could work. OR, a wall of windmills. Or my favorite, a solar wall, with windmills every mile, and in between the construction of large Drive-In screens, the old style Twin Screens, showing movies and propaganda to Mexico (facing Southwest) and the USA (facing Northwest), paid for by low cost fees for entertainment. Put those speakers in the car window and take a break. Make America Great Again. Trump has movie production expertise in the advisors close to him. What do you think Gail Collins?
4
In the call with the Mexican president, Trump stated that he does not really expect Mexico to pay for a wall ("it will come out in the wash and that is okay”). If that’s not being reported by Breitbart and Fox then his supporters don’t know that he is lying to their faces about his position on a policy issue that they consider paramount.
39
Foreign workers taking low paying jobs from Americans. In the same timeframe, republicans and corporations work together to destroy labor unions that work to help all workers. Who is to blame?
156
That's easy to answer, Larry. If the jobs were not so low paying there would be no shortage of Americans willing to take them. As usual the blame is on the Republicans and corporations.
31
I've always wondered what the numbers of employers who hired illegal workers and were prosecuted were.
14
The workers are voting against unions....
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/05/business/nissan-united-auto-workers-u...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/05/business/nissan-united-auto-workers-u...
1
Of Trump's expressed concern with appearances about wall payments during his conversation with Mexico's president, why was it big deal for him? Just as he lies about everything else, including pretended phone calls and conversations, he could have the wall built (eventually) with appropriated US funds and lie that Mexico had paid for it.
He could lie about the lie, stretching not the truth, but his lie; one lie compounding another. It's what he's done his whole life. He is more chameleon than the lizard itself. He could say whatever he wanted about who paid and the "base" would buy it, paying with their dignity as much as paying for the wall with their taxes.
Trump seems to believe his own lies; he's convinced himself of their believability, if not their veracity. They're the words of the moment. At least let's all of us be honest, there's no way the concepts of facts, the truth, or honesty are ever going to penetrate that chamber of mirrors that is his mind. That's the one place that truly has been walled off.
He could lie about the lie, stretching not the truth, but his lie; one lie compounding another. It's what he's done his whole life. He is more chameleon than the lizard itself. He could say whatever he wanted about who paid and the "base" would buy it, paying with their dignity as much as paying for the wall with their taxes.
Trump seems to believe his own lies; he's convinced himself of their believability, if not their veracity. They're the words of the moment. At least let's all of us be honest, there's no way the concepts of facts, the truth, or honesty are ever going to penetrate that chamber of mirrors that is his mind. That's the one place that truly has been walled off.
45
Can I recommend this a hundred times? When Geo W was president, I realized that he said what would sound good in the moment, without worrying about whether it coincided with the facts. But this guy--he doesn't have a conception of fact or truth at all. He can't even see that there are other minds in the world, minds that exist without any relation to him. "Chamber of mirrors" is exactly right.
5
We are not quite there yet in learning how to translate Trump speak, but I think this wall thingie is helping. When he said he wanted the wall to be see-through, that was Trump code for "invisible," as in not going to "be there," much like his new clothes.
38
If we take away "Build the Wall" Trump looses one of his biggest draws at his rallies. That would leave him with "Lock Her Up" admittedly still popular but starting to hit too close to home, you know what I mean, with the Russian thing and all. What's Baby Boy to do?
The rallies are becoming his ONLY feel good moments. Rose Garden cheers and applause are just not enough and way too infrequent due to GOP Congressional gridlock.
Besides, everyone except for Trump supporters know now that Big Baby could care less about the wall, it was all for the cheers. We would prefer bridges that aren't going to collapse so no way Donnie's Divider is going to be built being so grossly expensive.
The rallies are becoming his ONLY feel good moments. Rose Garden cheers and applause are just not enough and way too infrequent due to GOP Congressional gridlock.
Besides, everyone except for Trump supporters know now that Big Baby could care less about the wall, it was all for the cheers. We would prefer bridges that aren't going to collapse so no way Donnie's Divider is going to be built being so grossly expensive.
35
If no one has done so already, there needs to be a major study on how the marijuana trade is changing with the legalization in several states. Also, the dollar value of smuggled marijuana almost certainly pales in comparison to the value of smuggled cocaine which could be thrown over the border in one-pound bags, thus reducing the chances of injury to Americans hanging around The Wall.
10
It's not about marijuana Kayleigh. It's about opiates that are illegally shipped into our country and then sold to our citizens. I don't care if it's a wall, drones or any other method of border enforcement. Stop the drugs from destroying our youth and other citizens.
"But just keeping up the pretenses will mean an enormous waste of money and effort". Wrong, again, Gail. As you seem to acknowledge, the mere perception the United States finally has a president who takes illegal immigration seriously has been enough to discourage attempts to enter our country illegally. Most Americans, especially those concerned about the adverse impact of illegal immigration on those on the bottom rung of the American social ladder, do not view this as a "waste".
7
So you would rather ACTUALLY (set aside perception for a moment) pay for a wall... instead of roads?
10
The reality is they really do not impact them. The lowest rung, as you put it, is not the lowest rung because of immigrants nor are they exiting that lowly position simply by sending all those hard working fruit pickers, dry walkers, brick layers, meat packers, childcare providers, housekeepers, restaurant dishwashers, plasters, bus boys, ditch diggers and roofers home. There is a shortage of workers for those positions now which is a drag on the economy.
2
Hilarious and on the money. It's hard to believe that congress has to shell out money to indulge the naked emperor's fantasies of donning a gorgeous new suit every day, with his own camp-style logo on the sleeve.
We should all get out our thesauruses to combat the president's reductive and monosyllabic propaganda. Deplorable, while vivid, has been done to death; we need a page full of alternatives.
We should all get out our thesauruses to combat the president's reductive and monosyllabic propaganda. Deplorable, while vivid, has been done to death; we need a page full of alternatives.
15
The whole idea is ridiculous and impossible and so irresponsible in this time of budget needs that make this, well, almost criminal. Illegal immigration down for several reasons, as Collins points out. It's a stupid solution to an imaginary problem that Trump keeps trotting out for his base. The Rio Grande is a river that ends with a trickle, after traveling many miles through several states before serving as the division between Mexico and Texas. The idea for the wall should end similarly. Genius to "...imagine tourists coming in 4017 to admire the amazing , tall, transparent Great Thingie of the Mexican Border."
9
"I will focus on the transparent wall so Americans can see the drugs being thrown over". Really?, and he did say this! Why are we building a wall? So Mexicans can't bring in drugs and can't take our jobs. There are other solutions...First, Drugs..Americans demand them, they come and they are bought...to combat demand the partnership for a drug free America should with PSA announcements and schools educate. Oh, were those buyers cut? Second, the taking of our jobs...fine the employers who hire undocumented workers...how long will someone stay in this country if that don't have a job? Let's solve problems instead of creating more. The wall doesn't solve anything.
9
All in all we'll never....
See a brick in the wall.
Why not just build a giant, hideous strip mall along the entire border? Mexican Wall Mart. With discount outlets selling discontinued Ivanka merchandis and Scaramucci Gucci, , fast food outlets like Orange Julius Caesar and Cold Roger Stone Creamery? Attempting border crossers would stop to shop, and then juat want to head back home with their bargains. So long as Trump got a piece of the action, he'd be all for it.
See a brick in the wall.
Why not just build a giant, hideous strip mall along the entire border? Mexican Wall Mart. With discount outlets selling discontinued Ivanka merchandis and Scaramucci Gucci, , fast food outlets like Orange Julius Caesar and Cold Roger Stone Creamery? Attempting border crossers would stop to shop, and then juat want to head back home with their bargains. So long as Trump got a piece of the action, he'd be all for it.
20
He is all pretense and should be past-tense. He should build and reside in the mausoleum he said he would build on his NJ golf course/cemetery where all club members would have a permanent hole-in-one.
6
How's this for a deal: We don't build the wall and send Trump to Mexico instead. He can play golf among the cactus, scorpions and rattle snakes.
14
You mean he'll take his cabinet?
6
You do me a favor and I'll know I can count on you in a pinch. Let's make a deal.
3
T. Coraghessan Boyle had a good name, The Tortilla Curtain.
9
Building a $1.6 billion wall or any wall between our southern or even northern neighbors is one of the most ridiculously wasteful ideas in our nation's history. You might even call it stupid.
16
I have always thought that The Wall gave Hilary a great opportunity to show just how stupid Donald's ideas were. She should have said:
A wall on one side of our country is as useful as a locked door in front of your home and no door on the back entryway. Mexicans can just take a boat to Canada and enter from there. We must have a wall on the Canadian side. We can get Canada to pay for it, if they ever want to sell any maple syrup to us again.
A wall on one side of our country is as useful as a locked door in front of your home and no door on the back entryway. Mexicans can just take a boat to Canada and enter from there. We must have a wall on the Canadian side. We can get Canada to pay for it, if they ever want to sell any maple syrup to us again.
8
Maybe Trump can gin up some support in the Northeast by putting a wall around New Hampshire?
6
The "barrier", "The Wall" is between our 45th President, Donald Trump, and his people - US. Gail Collins, your remark tht Trump's "lack of attention to detail is so enormous it's a wonder he ever remembers to breathe" hit the dread-full nail on the head. The Wall is only one of the yuge Big League minuses of continuing to employ this 45th President in the service of the American people. The Presidency is one job that desperately needs filling. His demented conversation with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto was an impeachable offense - if not impeachable, then treasonous. Help! How can we get out of this Trump-infested swamp in Washington, Gail? P.S. The President - who promised before he was elected - never to take any vacations like Barack Obama - took off yesterday for 17 days of golf at his Bedminster, N.J. Trump Golf Club. How do you like them onions? Donald Trump is the worst metaphor for an American President.
6
Trump's family was not born in the US 3 generations ago.
Stupid Americans. They use conspiracy theories and dismiss facts - I call it 'Enquiring Country'. A bunch of squawk boxes talking about nothing that matters or even if it did matter, their opinions are completely ignorant.
Simple example: Arm yourself with the facts about Tesla ownership and quietly ask a Right-wing friend about a Tesla model 3 and the future. You will get ignorant opinions that are not true. It is not because they are not informed it is because they believe lies and disbelieve the truth. Dangerous people.
Stupid Americans. They use conspiracy theories and dismiss facts - I call it 'Enquiring Country'. A bunch of squawk boxes talking about nothing that matters or even if it did matter, their opinions are completely ignorant.
Simple example: Arm yourself with the facts about Tesla ownership and quietly ask a Right-wing friend about a Tesla model 3 and the future. You will get ignorant opinions that are not true. It is not because they are not informed it is because they believe lies and disbelieve the truth. Dangerous people.
8
The wall, stacking the Appeals Courts across the country with right wingers, immigration, infrastructure or the lack thereof, undying love for Russia, Jeff Sessions as the Attorney General, Tillerson as Secretary of State, DeVos in Education, new laws in Missouri that allow discrimination, Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner, healthcare, surrendering Syria to Putin and Republican cooperation in obstruction. This is disgusting.
You know the feeling of being too drunk, hugging the toilet bowl, vomiting and repeating "never again, please make it stop?" That's how I feel each morning when I awake and remember Donald Trump is president. It's even worse for me when I see his zombie, cult like supporters cheering him on. What kind of people have hijacked this country? Canada looks better and better each day and I hate the cold.
You know the feeling of being too drunk, hugging the toilet bowl, vomiting and repeating "never again, please make it stop?" That's how I feel each morning when I awake and remember Donald Trump is president. It's even worse for me when I see his zombie, cult like supporters cheering him on. What kind of people have hijacked this country? Canada looks better and better each day and I hate the cold.
27
Some wall names: Barricade Against Progress, Bulwark Against Browns, Curb to Mexican Mobility, Impediment to Immigration, Levee Against the Human Flood, The Enclosure of the Free.
It's easy: just set a few monkeys loose with a thesaurus and a typewriter.
It's easy: just set a few monkeys loose with a thesaurus and a typewriter.
3
Hey Gail:
In case it becomes necessary in the future, when it comes to his breathing, which should be first, "in" or "out?"
In case it becomes necessary in the future, when it comes to his breathing, which should be first, "in" or "out?"
4
How about this appealing alternative: Not at all
2
I expected the "deal" not a long lecture. I say NO to that deal.
2
Of course the wall will never be built. The whole thing is reminiscent of Reagan's Star Wars fantasy: red (and in this case, racist) meat for the gullible base. The more things change...
6
Gather up the nation's willow tree cuttings & plant them for a beeyootiful wall! Unemployed Trumpites can plant them!
1
"Lately he’s talked about making the wall transparent, so Americans passing by won’t be hit on the head with “large sacks of drugs” being tossed over from the Mexican side."
No, now Americans will be able to simply reach through the gaps in the fence and buy their drugs directly from the supplier. No more middle-man cartels! Brilliant!
No, now Americans will be able to simply reach through the gaps in the fence and buy their drugs directly from the supplier. No more middle-man cartels! Brilliant!
2
Great piece Gail. Keep it up.
3
Of course the elephant in the room (irony is fun, no?) regarding the wall is that companies keep giving jobs to illegals. Why? Well because they don't have to pay decent wages to these people who they can control so easily. If these businessmen, who vote Republican and buy their local Republican marionette candidate, paid better (spelled "living") wages, maybe they would not need to rely on illegals to do their bidding. But, Heaven forefend, that might reduce their profits, and we just can't have that happening.
3
Their profits won't be reduced. The cost of their products will be raised in order to maintain their profit margin. Not that I have anything against a living wage, but it is true that the price of restaurant meals has gone up in California, sometimes explicitly spelled out on the menu as a percentage surcharge to improve employee compensation.
2
Trump's wall is an absurdity every way one looks at it, but lost in the commentary on how idiot it is in every other regard is the fact that "Trump's 50 ft wall" is not what a nation actually trying to prevent infiltration builds -- every military person knows that.
Look at the Israeli security barrier: 95% of its length consists of "The Security Fence is a multi layered composite obstacle comprised of several elements: A ditch and a pyramid shaped stack of six coils of barbed wire on the eastern side of the structure, barbed wire only on the western side. A path enabling the patrol of IDF forces on both sides of the structure. An intrusion-detection fence, in the center, with sensors to warn of any incursion. Smoothed strip of sand that runs parallel to the fence, to detect footprints." Combined this is about 80 - 100 meters wide in most areas; nothing but low wire fencing one can see through, and that is in fact part of what makes it harder to get through.
The Israelis built walls though densely populated areas only; and the primary purpose of these walls is to stop sniper fire. (Otherwise Israeli homes are out of range; there is a clearance zone near the barrier.)
Many nations or armies have constructed anti-infiltration barriers -- look at the DMZ in Korea. When these get really serious they include anti-personnel and anti-tank mines ... but no big "wall."
Portions of our border already have what approximates an Israeli-style barrier.
Look at the Israeli security barrier: 95% of its length consists of "The Security Fence is a multi layered composite obstacle comprised of several elements: A ditch and a pyramid shaped stack of six coils of barbed wire on the eastern side of the structure, barbed wire only on the western side. A path enabling the patrol of IDF forces on both sides of the structure. An intrusion-detection fence, in the center, with sensors to warn of any incursion. Smoothed strip of sand that runs parallel to the fence, to detect footprints." Combined this is about 80 - 100 meters wide in most areas; nothing but low wire fencing one can see through, and that is in fact part of what makes it harder to get through.
The Israelis built walls though densely populated areas only; and the primary purpose of these walls is to stop sniper fire. (Otherwise Israeli homes are out of range; there is a clearance zone near the barrier.)
Many nations or armies have constructed anti-infiltration barriers -- look at the DMZ in Korea. When these get really serious they include anti-personnel and anti-tank mines ... but no big "wall."
Portions of our border already have what approximates an Israeli-style barrier.
1
Why not just have those 750,000 unscreened people hold hands to form a human wall. You get your wall, and 3/4 million jobs created in one swell foop. Winning!
3
This is the Wall upon which Trumpty Dumpty sat, yes? We can all hope the nursery rhyme continues as written.
3
Americans have been encouraged to think about the nice things this Trump administration is doing. Sorry, the whole thing is an abomination we’ll all just have to survive to get to the next stage of life. Like chemotherapy, that which doesn’t kill you will allow you to live another day.
What gives me heart is the push-back by conservatives. Stuff like the head of the Boy Scouts of America apologizing for Trump’s absurd remarks at their jamboree. Like the Austin, Texas police department tweeting soon to be ejected transgender soldiers to c’mon down, we’d love to have you! Like police departments all over America stating, unequivocally, that they’re not going to bash the heads of crime suspects into the sides of police cars. Like General McMasters getting rid of four paranoid nut-jobs at the NSC who think bankers and Obama are out to get Trump.
The Boy Scouts, police departments, and generals are all organizations and people I think of as somewhat conservative who could have stood by and said nothing. But they didn’t. Good for them, they all have some backbone. Liberals like me realize we do have much in common with rational conservatives like them. Without Trump, that never would have happened. Once again, it’s calamity that brings Americans together. See? Something good has happened.
So, don’t despair. If “The Wall” is the only infrastructure we’ll ever get, at least it will put some of Trump’s whiny white boy supporters to work for a while.
What gives me heart is the push-back by conservatives. Stuff like the head of the Boy Scouts of America apologizing for Trump’s absurd remarks at their jamboree. Like the Austin, Texas police department tweeting soon to be ejected transgender soldiers to c’mon down, we’d love to have you! Like police departments all over America stating, unequivocally, that they’re not going to bash the heads of crime suspects into the sides of police cars. Like General McMasters getting rid of four paranoid nut-jobs at the NSC who think bankers and Obama are out to get Trump.
The Boy Scouts, police departments, and generals are all organizations and people I think of as somewhat conservative who could have stood by and said nothing. But they didn’t. Good for them, they all have some backbone. Liberals like me realize we do have much in common with rational conservatives like them. Without Trump, that never would have happened. Once again, it’s calamity that brings Americans together. See? Something good has happened.
So, don’t despair. If “The Wall” is the only infrastructure we’ll ever get, at least it will put some of Trump’s whiny white boy supporters to work for a while.
6
Humpty Trumpty sat on his wall
Built by Mexican labor--HUGE and tall
But Humpty Trumpty had a great fall
And Congress had to pay for it all
Built by Mexican labor--HUGE and tall
But Humpty Trumpty had a great fall
And Congress had to pay for it all
9
If only we could round up all the Trumps and their supporters and build a wall around them, pipe in Fox News, give them all the guns and ammo they want to play with and air drop them supplies.
5
A funny ing happened toward the end of this column. Gail correctly identified the real reason we don't need a wall.
It seems illegal border crossing are way down, and illegals aren't coming in droves anymore because Donald Trump is "crazy." Say what, Gail?
No, he's simply gone on record saying that he's ending sanctuary cities and deporting practically any illegal alien his border team encounters. You know, actually enforcing the law.
It's incredibly the one thing he's managed to accomplish in his ramshackle Administration. And, typically, he's too dense and self absorbed to realize it, so he's insisting on blowing $24 billion on a useless wall.
It seems illegal border crossing are way down, and illegals aren't coming in droves anymore because Donald Trump is "crazy." Say what, Gail?
No, he's simply gone on record saying that he's ending sanctuary cities and deporting practically any illegal alien his border team encounters. You know, actually enforcing the law.
It's incredibly the one thing he's managed to accomplish in his ramshackle Administration. And, typically, he's too dense and self absorbed to realize it, so he's insisting on blowing $24 billion on a useless wall.
54
Blowing $24 Billion on red meat just to feed is base?
Dear Donald, offer your 33% admirers $100 each and forget the wall.
Dear Donald, offer your 33% admirers $100 each and forget the wall.
3
Brian, I guess you failed to notice that during the last few years of the Obama administration, more Mexicans left the country than entered.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/03/02/what-we-know-about-illeg...
http://www.pewhispanic.org/2015/11/19/more-mexicans-leaving-than-coming-...
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/03/02/what-we-know-about-illeg...
http://www.pewhispanic.org/2015/11/19/more-mexicans-leaving-than-coming-...
5
"Its very, very hard to get people" to move to Palm Beach to work for low wages for six months and find a place to live in an area where a five million dollar house is considered a starter cottage? Where working hard full time will not provide half enough money to support a family of four? Imagine.
One reason Trump and thousands of other business people can hire foreign workers who are eager to come here is they see it as much better than what they can do at home, in terms of wages and opportunities, plus they get to spend time in America. Living in a rundown house or apartment crowded with other workers is much better than being jammed in with 11 family members in one or two rooms.
Work is losing its appeal to native born citizens because it is clear that working, in many cases, is not a pathway to anything other than bare survival, the key to shopping in the depressing aisles of Walmart, living on credit with no savings and no apparent way out of the cycle of work, pay bills and fall behind month by month.
We need a full on, detailed report on foreign temporary workers, how many there are, what their average earnings are and how many, what percentage, manage to convert from temporary to permanent residents. When no one was paying attention, Congress, with pressure from American businesses, slipped in multiple expansions of guest worker programs. Millions of jobs are stuck with low wage status and corporations, as always, get to ensure more and more profit.
One reason Trump and thousands of other business people can hire foreign workers who are eager to come here is they see it as much better than what they can do at home, in terms of wages and opportunities, plus they get to spend time in America. Living in a rundown house or apartment crowded with other workers is much better than being jammed in with 11 family members in one or two rooms.
Work is losing its appeal to native born citizens because it is clear that working, in many cases, is not a pathway to anything other than bare survival, the key to shopping in the depressing aisles of Walmart, living on credit with no savings and no apparent way out of the cycle of work, pay bills and fall behind month by month.
We need a full on, detailed report on foreign temporary workers, how many there are, what their average earnings are and how many, what percentage, manage to convert from temporary to permanent residents. When no one was paying attention, Congress, with pressure from American businesses, slipped in multiple expansions of guest worker programs. Millions of jobs are stuck with low wage status and corporations, as always, get to ensure more and more profit.
18
We need a full-on report of how four decades of juicing corporate profits and cutting expenses have trivialized the value of education, hurting all American labor, settled and immigrant.
2
Another term might be "Taco Curtain." Or, combining tributes to Reagan and Trump, "The Tear-Down."
Every time this topic arises, I'm reminded of Tom Russell's wonderful song and video from over a decade ago: "Who's Gonna Build Your Wall?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZkAoosVLkA
Every time this topic arises, I'm reminded of Tom Russell's wonderful song and video from over a decade ago: "Who's Gonna Build Your Wall?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZkAoosVLkA
7
GC, suggestions:
- Duh Fence
- Wiki Wall
- Hopper Stopper
- Marijuall
- Duh Fence
- Wiki Wall
- Hopper Stopper
- Marijuall
11
I surmise they will only build as much of this ridiculous wall for as long as Trump is in office- so it should be no longer than an average city block. As those transcripts show Trump was merely using the wall as political fodder, practically begging Mexico's president to stop saying to the press that Mexico would not pay- because he ALWAYS knew it was never going to happen. How can his supporters read that and think this con man didn't dupe them?
8
The transcript of the discussion with Mexico showed how Trump lacks even a modicum of respect for others. The President of Mexico repeatedly refers to Trump as Mr. President and Trump calls the Mexican President by his first name. This so called leader of the free world is worse than a babbling bull in a china shop.
16
Trump cannot even spell the word, respect. It is missing from his vocabulary along with integrity and dignity.
3
Woke up again this morning. Thought I'd read Gail's column before I turned on the TV with my usual question for it -
Has Trumped resigned yet? Has Trump been impeached yet?
Sadly, I see from Gail's column that my hopes are not yet realized. But I always enjoy Gail's column and am so thankful that there is someone who still has a sense of humor about our current political mess.
Today's score - minus 1, plus 1 (Gail).
Has Trumped resigned yet? Has Trump been impeached yet?
Sadly, I see from Gail's column that my hopes are not yet realized. But I always enjoy Gail's column and am so thankful that there is someone who still has a sense of humor about our current political mess.
Today's score - minus 1, plus 1 (Gail).
8
How about a deal that he will pay for his weekend jaunts to his golfing properties out of his own pocket (since he has already spent more than any other president's entire term in his vacay weekends) in return for having a conversation about the Penetrable Barrier to the South?
5
We in the US are truly blessed. We have an impotent incompetent president, backed up a an equally impotent and incompetent congress. Seems this is what Ben Franklin warned us about in terms of self governance. I don't think we are up to the task. Very very sad.
7
Agree wholeheartedly that Trump is incompetent but I don't think all of Congress can be labeled as such. I take heart from the pushback I see from the members of Congress who will not be bullied by this con man, as well as from citizen groups such as Indivisible who have mobilized Americans. I view The Trump Administration as a temporary nightmare from which we will awake stronger. We ARE up to the task.
4
"It's very, very hard to get people." I wonder what he's paying them?
11
But I thought there are all kinds of Americans looking for those jobs. Think about that trumpoholics, trump want to hire foreign workers. While ivanka has her stuff made in china.
5
The Dealer-in Chief sure knows how to make a Deal! It would be just stupid idiocy, if it di not cost the American citizens 1.5 billion for a quarter of the Wall. Our money could be put to real use. Stop cutting subsidies for Medicaid or rather all funding to the States. We could at least cover the potholes on the roads if not fixing the entire roadways. And our crumbling bridges, and our railways and protecting our parks and environment and....... !.5 billion is peanuts but the waste is not!
4
Talking about metaphors, just watched a Republican congressman on CNN walk back the wall saying it was a metaphor! ( switch to excerpts of Trumps wall description, concrete, tall beautiful, to as Gail wrote a new see through variety).
And he was sure the base thought it was metaphorical too. I'm not too sure about that though. This from a man who was in construction and who had run his campaign propaganda wearing a hard hat and carrying a plan roll in his hand, and oh yes an orange safety jacket!
Note to self, also watched Jeff Greenfield reminding us that the circus we are watching, metaphorical or otherwise, should not distract us from the "work" that is taking place mainly from the DOJ changing reality such as the appeals court judges and all things attached to the law. These changes being quietly constructed will change more than the wall as the country is steered to the right.
And he was sure the base thought it was metaphorical too. I'm not too sure about that though. This from a man who was in construction and who had run his campaign propaganda wearing a hard hat and carrying a plan roll in his hand, and oh yes an orange safety jacket!
Note to self, also watched Jeff Greenfield reminding us that the circus we are watching, metaphorical or otherwise, should not distract us from the "work" that is taking place mainly from the DOJ changing reality such as the appeals court judges and all things attached to the law. These changes being quietly constructed will change more than the wall as the country is steered to the right.
12
Grand jury indictments cannot come fast enough!
1
Trump's Folly. Is any name more obvious?
9
We have a winner.
2
I can't speak for anyone else, of course, but already I'm just becoming darned sick and tired of all this winning we're getting, as promised, from the Trump administration!
5
I wish some journalist at some point would ask Sarah Huckabee Sanders, "Um, on which side of the Rio Grande does the wall go? Or is it going to be built smack in the middle of the river?"
It would be fun just to see the look on her face when she gets the question.
It would be fun just to see the look on her face when she gets the question.
16
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain . . .
10
"Mexico will build the wall" , "Mexico will pay for the wall", now is "hey suckers, now we will pay for the wall and I will cut troops to do it". What kind of an American believed Trump and his "wall" hate rhetoric? The kind of American who also says on TV " what's wrong with the Russians?".
5
I am in favor of building a large canvas wall across our Southern border which would serve as a gathering place for grafitti artists from all over the world to demonstrate their affection for our President.
I also favor the building of giant walls around Trump Tower and Mar-A-Lago to protect me from him.
I also favor the building of giant walls around Trump Tower and Mar-A-Lago to protect me from him.
18
Please don't forget Bedminster. Maybe a very large moat with pacus (cousins of the pirana who will survive the winter cold) for this.
2
Is Trump thinking of an electronic fence, similar to what you install when you want your dog not to cross the yard?
2
The Rio Grande is America's 4th largest river. Rivers are very helpful natural resources. The wall has to be built on our side of the river therefore blocking access. Building a wall that blocks access to water would seem incredibly stupid.
Am I missing something besides that listening to Trump makes me fell dumber everyday?
Am I missing something besides that listening to Trump makes me fell dumber everyday?
20
O...M...G! You've solved Trump's problem, @G.E.! Simply flood the river to an impassible level. This will also cause such a swift current that it will make its crossing well nigh impossible, and nigh is pretty severe.
I'll go in on this with you, but I want some of the credit. We can use Cory Lewandowski to get access to the president.
Now, all we need is a large, uninterruptable source of water in the Southwest...
I'll go in on this with you, but I want some of the credit. We can use Cory Lewandowski to get access to the president.
Now, all we need is a large, uninterruptable source of water in the Southwest...
5
Sorry Gail, I can't laugh anymore. You're probably right, it won't be built but we will spend $1.6b just to study the options. And Mexico won't go Venus a refund you can be sure. So sorry, I can't laugh anymore
2
It is so difficult to laugh when one is sobbing their heart out over how our country is being degraded by the man in the WH.
3
Gail, would a wall really keep out the undesirables and their drugs? There is no mention of the number of tunnels found during the hunt for El Chapo and the sheer size of some of them. One tunnel even had a Starbucks for those passing through. Let be realistic about this before we spend money on a wall.
4
The easy solution is simply to say he already built the wall, it's invisible so no one gets hit on the head with falling bags of drugs, claim success based on the reduced numbers of illegal immigrants, and assert that his discussion with Nieto brought it in so far under budget that he got it for free.
32
To those who are fond of quoting Robert Frost's line:
"Good fences make good neighbors"
remember that his poem is titled "Mending Wall"!
The line has a multi-layered, ironic meaning as he and his neighbor are working *together* to repair the wall that upheaving ground and trespassing hunters have torn asunder. In such cases, mending walls brings neighbors closer.
(By the way, the hunters are portrayed as not only destroying hand-crafted stone walls but, inhumanely, with their yelping dogs, seeking out innocent hiding rabbits.)
Keep in mind, too, that the aphorism is not Frost's, but his neighbor's, who is blindly echoing his father's words...
In a key line, Frost contemplates mischievously asking his neighbor:
"WHY do they make good neighbors?"
Frost goes on to reflect, in words we should all take to heart:
"Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That wants it down...
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/mending-wall
------------------------------------
My thanks to my old college friend, Rob, the poet, who helped open my eyes to the wonders of poetry. If he happens to read this, we should get back in touch. Good memories of looking up World War I government takeovers of industry in the Haverstraw, NY library and his alerting me to *Schooling in Capitalist America* by Bowles & Gintis.
"Good fences make good neighbors"
remember that his poem is titled "Mending Wall"!
The line has a multi-layered, ironic meaning as he and his neighbor are working *together* to repair the wall that upheaving ground and trespassing hunters have torn asunder. In such cases, mending walls brings neighbors closer.
(By the way, the hunters are portrayed as not only destroying hand-crafted stone walls but, inhumanely, with their yelping dogs, seeking out innocent hiding rabbits.)
Keep in mind, too, that the aphorism is not Frost's, but his neighbor's, who is blindly echoing his father's words...
In a key line, Frost contemplates mischievously asking his neighbor:
"WHY do they make good neighbors?"
Frost goes on to reflect, in words we should all take to heart:
"Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That wants it down...
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/mending-wall
------------------------------------
My thanks to my old college friend, Rob, the poet, who helped open my eyes to the wonders of poetry. If he happens to read this, we should get back in touch. Good memories of looking up World War I government takeovers of industry in the Haverstraw, NY library and his alerting me to *Schooling in Capitalist America* by Bowles & Gintis.
19
Great post, and i can just see that Trump was bonding with Peña Nieto from their leaked conversation.
2
Perhaps we could have a plaque with these words inscribed on them as a nice bookend to the Emma Lazarus poem on the Statue of Liberty.
3
With all the charm of a Martin Shkreli, Trump plods ahead no matter the harm to the country and his party. If anyone actually has his attention, they should whisper in his ear that Russia isn't going away. The investigations have momentum, the wall has none.
10
The analogy between Shkreli and Trump is an interesting one, and on point in many ways. But the sad fact of the matter is that Shkreli is more competent and less morally loathsome than Trump.
Shkreli is merely a "greed is good" capitalist. He made a lot of people angry at him, so they went looking through his dealings, and found a few too-obvious frauds. Had he not made everyone so angry -- his bunko would have stayed submerged in the corporate miasma.
There's no evidence that the "Pharma Bro" has routinely groped women; certainly no tape of him bragging about it. There's nothing like Trump's history of abusing little people -- other than through cruel drug prices.
But there's another side of this where Shkreli serves as an object caution to Trump, and Trump knows it -- does anybody believe that Trump's business practices can survive scrutiny? Trump SURE DOESN'T.
Let's get real here -- all the evidence is that Trump will go to jail on very short order if/when any "follow the money" investigation commences ... and has it?
Shkreli is merely a "greed is good" capitalist. He made a lot of people angry at him, so they went looking through his dealings, and found a few too-obvious frauds. Had he not made everyone so angry -- his bunko would have stayed submerged in the corporate miasma.
There's no evidence that the "Pharma Bro" has routinely groped women; certainly no tape of him bragging about it. There's nothing like Trump's history of abusing little people -- other than through cruel drug prices.
But there's another side of this where Shkreli serves as an object caution to Trump, and Trump knows it -- does anybody believe that Trump's business practices can survive scrutiny? Trump SURE DOESN'T.
Let's get real here -- all the evidence is that Trump will go to jail on very short order if/when any "follow the money" investigation commences ... and has it?
1
" And one person whispered to another what the child had said, 'He hasn't anything on. A child says he hasn't anything on.'
'But he hasn't got anything on!' the whole town cried out at last. (Sadly "whole" isn't even close in our case.)
The Emperor shivered, for he suspected they were right. But he thought, 'This procession has got to go on.' So he walked more proudly than ever, as his noblemen held high the train that wasn't there at all.
'But he hasn't got anything on!' the whole town cried out at last. (Sadly "whole" isn't even close in our case.)
The Emperor shivered, for he suspected they were right. But he thought, 'This procession has got to go on.' So he walked more proudly than ever, as his noblemen held high the train that wasn't there at all.
11
I won't be depressed to see the wall, I'll be happy,
Most of us will be
Most of us will be
I disagree as "most" people did not vote for this man and his inane agenda.
4
Tell you what -- you pay for it. I want my tax dollars to do things a lot less stupid.
6
A pretend wall would be the greatest metaphor of his pretend presidency and his pretend wealth and his pretend business acumen. A pretend wall would be transparent, but also would go all the way over high mountains, and through "vicious" rivers and we could pretend to be at awe on how much clean energy it produces without endangering digging for coal.
11
Gail, I am not sure what we should call the "wall." But I do have an idea for how to build it.
I think every Trump voter should have to carry a stone from their home to the border to build the wall.
We can create a grass roots organizational plan for this. In order not to tie up traffic getting to the border, we will have KellyAnne go on Fox News to call up Trump voters like wedding guests to the buffet.
First, all Christian Trump voters should be called upon to "cast the first stone." Jesus taught about this in the Gospels. Read John 8:7.
Second, any Trump voter that has an ancester who did not immigrate to America. This is notably a very small group, but it will give us time to alleviate the traffic congestion caused by the first group.
Third wave should be all Trump voters from West Virginia. This can ultimately be a "jobs program" for people left behind by the coal industry. They can mine giant lumps of coal for this. Think of it as a multi-level re-purposing proposition.
You get the picture.
I also happen to think that Steve Bannon should be moved out of the White House and positioned at the Southern Border to manage the rock pile. He will be issued a bullhorn to explain the work to the Mexicans. This is important work befitting a Bannon. Because, "what we have here, is (ultimately) a failure to communicate." (Seriously, don't you think Strother Martin would play Bannon in the film adaptation?)
I think every Trump voter should have to carry a stone from their home to the border to build the wall.
We can create a grass roots organizational plan for this. In order not to tie up traffic getting to the border, we will have KellyAnne go on Fox News to call up Trump voters like wedding guests to the buffet.
First, all Christian Trump voters should be called upon to "cast the first stone." Jesus taught about this in the Gospels. Read John 8:7.
Second, any Trump voter that has an ancester who did not immigrate to America. This is notably a very small group, but it will give us time to alleviate the traffic congestion caused by the first group.
Third wave should be all Trump voters from West Virginia. This can ultimately be a "jobs program" for people left behind by the coal industry. They can mine giant lumps of coal for this. Think of it as a multi-level re-purposing proposition.
You get the picture.
I also happen to think that Steve Bannon should be moved out of the White House and positioned at the Southern Border to manage the rock pile. He will be issued a bullhorn to explain the work to the Mexicans. This is important work befitting a Bannon. Because, "what we have here, is (ultimately) a failure to communicate." (Seriously, don't you think Strother Martin would play Bannon in the film adaptation?)
9
What we couldn't do in this country with a 1 billion dollar infrastructure initiative---you cannot walk out your door in any major urban area without finding a shovel ready project right in front of your door. Instead, we dump a billion dollars in building a wall in the middle of the desert solely for the purpose of filming a political ad for the 2020 election cycle --that's it.
7
The idea to make the wall transparent is pure genius. He can use the money for more tax cuts for the Rich or just steal it and not build a wall. When people ask him where the wall is, he could just say, "It's there, but you can't see it because it is transparent."
3
Aka the emperor's new wall.
1
Gail, I'm surprised you missed the most important thing Trump said to the Mexican President when they were talking about The Wall: "Believe it or not, this is the least important thing that we are talking about, but politically this might be the most important talk about."
In other words, he's admitting that The Wall and who pays for it was merely a political ploy of no great import--just red meat to gull and fire up his supporters. Fake red meat.
In other words, he's admitting that The Wall and who pays for it was merely a political ploy of no great import--just red meat to gull and fire up his supporters. Fake red meat.
10
So, how will Trump's supporters feel when the wall is used to keep unhappy Americans in? In the end, that's all that tyrants use their border security for.
2
He's a child. A little kid, both emotionally and mentally. Climb in the Big Truck and go Toot-toot! If we could only let him do that all day. Could we get him a really nice train set instead of pretending he's a great builder of walls? Something to keep him busy and out of trouble?
I was just listening to H.R. McMaster talking about Trump as if Trump was a sensible, reasonable, smart person. So much for the 'grown-ups' we're supposed to rely upon.
I was just listening to H.R. McMaster talking about Trump as if Trump was a sensible, reasonable, smart person. So much for the 'grown-ups' we're supposed to rely upon.
5
That the House would allocate 1.6 billion to this shows how compliant the GOP is to the king's whims. Just like the health care bill. Just to score a "win".
3
Advice to DT- forget the wall and never mention it again. Concentrate instead on getting funding for needed infrastructure for roads, bridges, tunnels and railways.
Any thinking person knew even during the campaign that Mexico would never agree to pay for a wall that wasn't in their interest to begin with- and that this was just another ridiculous lie spewing out of DT.
It is bizarre that DT would make this campaign promise a cornerstone of his campaign knowing full well that he never discussed this with Mexico and had no agreement from Mexico to pay for anything.
Just another lie from a pathological liar.
Lincoln was correct- you can fool some of the people all of the time- aka Trump supporters.
Any thinking person knew even during the campaign that Mexico would never agree to pay for a wall that wasn't in their interest to begin with- and that this was just another ridiculous lie spewing out of DT.
It is bizarre that DT would make this campaign promise a cornerstone of his campaign knowing full well that he never discussed this with Mexico and had no agreement from Mexico to pay for anything.
Just another lie from a pathological liar.
Lincoln was correct- you can fool some of the people all of the time- aka Trump supporters.
1
The more time goes by, the even more Trump appears to be like the General Garcia character played by the great Richard Libertini in the uproarious movie "The In-Laws". Garcia was a piece of work, as my family would say.
Meanwhile, in the uproarious presidency, Trump's got us paying for his wall. I'm glad that those angry Trump supporters are coughing up their money. I'm not glad that they're coughing up ours.
Trump is the schlemiel and his followers are the schlimazels. The schlemiel is the guy who builds the useless wall, and the schlimazels are the ones who pay for it. But right, this wall could be the greatest work of all time, the seventh or eighth wonder of the world, or whatever.
I'm really impressed that you brought up Qin Shi Huang. Your reference sent me to Wikipedia. It turns out that Qin actually instituted border controls on the Silk Road. The wall was to keep the European hordes out, but I don't think that they paid for the wall. Anyway, it's at least 5000 miles long, and could be as much as 13,000 miles. They could do this because labor is so much cheaper in China than it is here.
But Trump (and of course, his supporters. Let's not forget them) could build the wall and then declare bankruptcy and not pay the workers on the wall. That lowers the price.
I so thoroughly enjoyed Trump's entreaties to Peña-Nieto. I thought, "Aha! Now I know how to make a great deal!" The Donald shouldn't give away his secrets. We all knew that he was the leaker.
Meanwhile, in the uproarious presidency, Trump's got us paying for his wall. I'm glad that those angry Trump supporters are coughing up their money. I'm not glad that they're coughing up ours.
Trump is the schlemiel and his followers are the schlimazels. The schlemiel is the guy who builds the useless wall, and the schlimazels are the ones who pay for it. But right, this wall could be the greatest work of all time, the seventh or eighth wonder of the world, or whatever.
I'm really impressed that you brought up Qin Shi Huang. Your reference sent me to Wikipedia. It turns out that Qin actually instituted border controls on the Silk Road. The wall was to keep the European hordes out, but I don't think that they paid for the wall. Anyway, it's at least 5000 miles long, and could be as much as 13,000 miles. They could do this because labor is so much cheaper in China than it is here.
But Trump (and of course, his supporters. Let's not forget them) could build the wall and then declare bankruptcy and not pay the workers on the wall. That lowers the price.
I so thoroughly enjoyed Trump's entreaties to Peña-Nieto. I thought, "Aha! Now I know how to make a great deal!" The Donald shouldn't give away his secrets. We all knew that he was the leaker.
21
Not a day goes by that Donald Trump doesn't showcase his breathtaking ignorance. And his tacit support by so-called "intelligent" members of the GOP Congress is just beyond belief.
3
"It's very very hard to get people". Unlike ACA repeal, which is very very easy.
19
Will the wall be visible from space? Will we call it the Great Wall of the United States or the Great Wall of Mexico? Will there be guard towers? Will graffiti artists be able to paint on it? Will advertisers be able to buy space on it? So many questions.
15
The "wall" is more a symbol for the disaffected. Something is always standing in their way to their imaginary American dreams.
The Sarah Palin victim card.
The Sarah Palin victim card.
29
It will be the Most Transparent Wall Ever Built.
But I'm wondering how the Trump signs on it will work. Every couple of hundred yard or so, for sure; but won't they have to be see-through too?
(By the way, I hear the Mexican catapult industry is resurgent.)
But I'm wondering how the Trump signs on it will work. Every couple of hundred yard or so, for sure; but won't they have to be see-through too?
(By the way, I hear the Mexican catapult industry is resurgent.)
18
New word: "Trumpwall"
In the future, this word will mean: A stupid campaign promise that becomes a costly government fiasco.
In the future, this word will mean: A stupid campaign promise that becomes a costly government fiasco.
32
Trump and Sessions are lethal to common sense governing.
Both show their hateful tendancies.
We cant joke about this.
We are not a functioning republic or a true democracy now.
Just keep laughing till they lock us into our country.
Both show their hateful tendancies.
We cant joke about this.
We are not a functioning republic or a true democracy now.
Just keep laughing till they lock us into our country.
19
first comment that wasn't as funny as the article. otherwise this comment string is the best ever!
1
His lifeline is throwing out red meat to his intelligence-challenged supporters.
The wall, Hillary, Obama all the buzz words that keep his rabble salivating.
Now with his own version of a State Controlled News Service, with a daughter-in-law as the presenter, imagine he can now feed his poison and lies to a far broader audience of trailer occupants. This is very dangerous indeed as was yesterday's innuendo by a Fox mouthpiece that if #45 is indicted there will be violence...this is appalling and frightening.
The wall, Hillary, Obama all the buzz words that keep his rabble salivating.
Now with his own version of a State Controlled News Service, with a daughter-in-law as the presenter, imagine he can now feed his poison and lies to a far broader audience of trailer occupants. This is very dangerous indeed as was yesterday's innuendo by a Fox mouthpiece that if #45 is indicted there will be violence...this is appalling and frightening.
24
Really great post, @Edward. Trump people hold the made-up fear of violence over our heads, but they are, once again, caught between a rock and a hard place. If Trump goes, then Pence assumes the helm and the Trump idiots can't destroy the Republican Party (any more than what they already have).
So any violence that they perpetrate could serve to further fracture the G.O.P. That's not a bad thing. Maybe Trump people could stop their mindless bloviation and start a political party. But they are so inept, I think that they'll just go back to the way they were; they just won't come out to vote, as they always did.
So any violence that they perpetrate could serve to further fracture the G.O.P. That's not a bad thing. Maybe Trump people could stop their mindless bloviation and start a political party. But they are so inept, I think that they'll just go back to the way they were; they just won't come out to vote, as they always did.
1
This Trump presidency continues to appear like a bad movie - actually a serial
film without ending (so far). I saw excerpts of Trump's West Virginia tirade - a miracle of lies and vulgarities - and couldn't help notice the crowd. Just behind
Trump was a baseball capped atrocity of a man, gesticulating and howling at
everything Trump said, especially after the "lock her up" chant. Made you wonder at these fans, their mental state - this guy was clearly a nutcase, or
lobotomized. There were more normal looking people - blond women who were
clone-like images of the Trump ladies, some young and older strait-lace types.
I keep wondering at their focus on this man, and why so much love toward this clearly awful person who will do nothing for them.
film without ending (so far). I saw excerpts of Trump's West Virginia tirade - a miracle of lies and vulgarities - and couldn't help notice the crowd. Just behind
Trump was a baseball capped atrocity of a man, gesticulating and howling at
everything Trump said, especially after the "lock her up" chant. Made you wonder at these fans, their mental state - this guy was clearly a nutcase, or
lobotomized. There were more normal looking people - blond women who were
clone-like images of the Trump ladies, some young and older strait-lace types.
I keep wondering at their focus on this man, and why so much love toward this clearly awful person who will do nothing for them.
50
Surprisingly, there just isn't enough articles written about these people who willingly voted for Trump and arrogantly brain-dead still believe in this clown. Why would anyone with any sense refuse to examine all of Trump's phony claims to somehow Make America Great Again?
1
When it comes to coherent planning for anything. the wall, health care reform, infrastructure repair, tax reform Trump is the Mad Hatter. Its all word salad and motion. It is depressing to watch as he commanded the stage in West Virginia all these wild eyed rural people give him a reception fit for a king. It is highly doubtful that they could even begin to process the double dealing conversation he had with the Mexican President. Their adoration for a man who has played them for fools is being televised all across the world and makes us all look like idiots. If the press wants to do something useful they should interview these people after the rally with probing questions to show the general population what clueless and dim witted people they are.
22
Maybe we ought to save the money so we can build a more useful wall... not one to keep Mexicans out, but one to keep the sea from drowning Miami and New Orleans....and don't forget Mar-a-lago. That ought to convince Trump.
121
A wall around Mar-a-largo with no gate sounds like a good idea.
3
Will the solar panels be manufactured in China?
Can the building and maintenance costs be offset by leasing advertising space on the wall, like billboards that beautify our highways?
Will the wall end up a graffiti artist’s dream-come-true?
Can the building and maintenance costs be offset by leasing advertising space on the wall, like billboards that beautify our highways?
Will the wall end up a graffiti artist’s dream-come-true?
23
May be he has already built a wall with some magical properties ... it is so transparent that only his supporters can see it.
25
Dear Ms. Collins,
It's all in the marketing.
Calling it a "Wall" or even a "transparent barrier" is problematic and, in the case of "transparent", sounds vaguely transgender-ish; tough to defend when one has thrown transgender folks off the bus.
So here's my proposal. Much like major sports franchises have "mascots" (Like giant dancing chickens or romping Buckeyes), the promotion of a divide between us and all those Mexicans should be given a cute name and some kind of cuddly, dancing creature and, in Mr. Trump's case, scantily clad cheerleaders promoting this "divide".
This mascot, in my eyes, should be called "Wally the Wall" and be dressed in a "funny" border patrol outfit with giant plastic handcuffs, fuzzy white gloves and a baseball cap with, of course, "Make America Great Again" on one side and on the other, "Haz de America de Nuevo genial" in case the drug dealers, rapists, etc. that Trump claimed were crossing the border didn't quite get the message.
It could be a fun venture for all and would make the "selling" of the wall an easier pitch. Perhaps the government could sponsor a "name that mascot" contest with general public voting on the name!
Er, cancel that; "Wally McWallface" would probably win and THAT'S embarrassing!
It's all in the marketing.
Calling it a "Wall" or even a "transparent barrier" is problematic and, in the case of "transparent", sounds vaguely transgender-ish; tough to defend when one has thrown transgender folks off the bus.
So here's my proposal. Much like major sports franchises have "mascots" (Like giant dancing chickens or romping Buckeyes), the promotion of a divide between us and all those Mexicans should be given a cute name and some kind of cuddly, dancing creature and, in Mr. Trump's case, scantily clad cheerleaders promoting this "divide".
This mascot, in my eyes, should be called "Wally the Wall" and be dressed in a "funny" border patrol outfit with giant plastic handcuffs, fuzzy white gloves and a baseball cap with, of course, "Make America Great Again" on one side and on the other, "Haz de America de Nuevo genial" in case the drug dealers, rapists, etc. that Trump claimed were crossing the border didn't quite get the message.
It could be a fun venture for all and would make the "selling" of the wall an easier pitch. Perhaps the government could sponsor a "name that mascot" contest with general public voting on the name!
Er, cancel that; "Wally McWallface" would probably win and THAT'S embarrassing!
11
Sorry, Mr. Petro, but "Wally the Wall" already exists. He's a cuddly (kind of) symbol of The Green Monster at Fenway Park in Boston. And he wears a baseball cap, too. Maybe he could moonlight?
Dear Mr. Clark,
Obviously I don't pay much attention to hockey (Or any other sport for that matter). Thanks for the info.
How about 'Wilbur Wall" instead?
Or "Winnie the Wall" satisfying the feminists among us?
And before any of you baseball fans go nuts out there, my first sentence was humor so don't get TOO rattled (Though I often wonder why its the "New England Patriots" in football? If the Patriots represent all of us New Englanders then why not the "New England Red Sox" or, if not, then back to the old, AFL "Boston Patriots"?).
Obviously I don't pay much attention to hockey (Or any other sport for that matter). Thanks for the info.
How about 'Wilbur Wall" instead?
Or "Winnie the Wall" satisfying the feminists among us?
And before any of you baseball fans go nuts out there, my first sentence was humor so don't get TOO rattled (Though I often wonder why its the "New England Patriots" in football? If the Patriots represent all of us New Englanders then why not the "New England Red Sox" or, if not, then back to the old, AFL "Boston Patriots"?).
Of course, we may be missing the whole story about the -- wall, if that's the word I want.
What if Trump if not just a stooge for Russia, but a mole who has been lying low since the Soviet era? He has been lying, definitely. And he has been low. It may be his mission to re-establish the empire now. Mission? Why, he could be Mr. Big himself, sending orders to Putin by means of coded messages contained in his strange remarks and tweets.
If so, the talk about building a wall to keep aliens out could be a diversion to keep us from noticing his true purpose: to keep Americans penned in with the biggest, most beautiful Berlin Wall in history. Today, Mexico. Tomorrow, Canada.
What if Trump if not just a stooge for Russia, but a mole who has been lying low since the Soviet era? He has been lying, definitely. And he has been low. It may be his mission to re-establish the empire now. Mission? Why, he could be Mr. Big himself, sending orders to Putin by means of coded messages contained in his strange remarks and tweets.
If so, the talk about building a wall to keep aliens out could be a diversion to keep us from noticing his true purpose: to keep Americans penned in with the biggest, most beautiful Berlin Wall in history. Today, Mexico. Tomorrow, Canada.
9
Here's a name suggestion for the wall: The Insanity Defense.
24
The notion of building a wall across the continent is insane. That anyone holding political office could pretend otherwise is disturbing. President Trump should be impeached, and the sooner the better.
47
If Trump ever leaves the White House he should b e appointed wall superintendent, given a fat salary, and told that he could never move from the remote location of his office, a gilded dome in the middle of nowhere.
13
It's time to amend the Constitution, retroactively, to read that a president may be impeached for high crimes, misdemeanors, and incompetence.
35
If incompetence were an impeachable offense, could it be that many politicians would be removed from office - not just Trump?
2
And more than one lie a week.
Still fooling some of the people all of the time, the SCP has a great base. If only everyone would lie for him, as his cabinet seems willing to do, maybe, someday, the fantasy will become true.
1
I think we caught Trump telling the truth: He didn't need Mexico to pay for the wall, he just needed them to stop saying they wouldn't.
453
It seems as though there will plenty of the jobs tearing down the "wall" during the next administration, since any president with half a brain knows the wall is a bad idea.
10
Donny Trump will be remembered as Wally Trump.
During the campaign, I remember Hilary giving an innocent, yet factual response to the question of building s wall. She said that in some areas it could be improved but that it was impractical to build a wall spanning the entire border. I am depressed to watch a president who is so ignorant that he must be educated about everything, at our expense. If it were only this stupid wall gag that required repeated lessons, I could rest a bit. But this man must re-learn everything that has gone before. He has no capacity to learn from the collective wisdom of prior administrations, nor the wealth of experienced advisors available to him. Like a stubborn teenager who risks life and limb speeding down the highway after drinking and drugging.
67
Relearn? Relearn? How about simply learn?
1
Its clear most didn't listen to a word Hillary ever said during that entire election. We got Trump because Americans have the attention span of a bag of Doritos.
2
He never learns and never forgets.
1
"$20 Billion-plus Project" Remember there are continuing maintenance costs into the future that will dwarf the initial cost. Likewise it assumes that some of trumps supporters will allow the wall to be built on, or near, their property. If not the cost of Condemnation proceedings would dwarf the "cost". Don't you just love America?
21
Clear winner: "Trump's folly"
21
The wall idea is about as useless as Trump but not quite. I guess we will find out if this country can survive for four years without any effective leadership.
10
Breathing... to quote the National Institutes of Health:
"A respiratory control center at the base of your brain controls your breathing. This center sends ongoing signals down your spine and to the muscles involved in breathing. These signals ensure your breathing muscles contract and relax regularly. This allows your breathing to happen automatically, without you being aware of it."
Voila, no one has to think about breathing, therefore no attention to detail necessary...
BTW are we still going to have the National Institutes of Health, or is that no longer deemed necessary, like clean water...?
"A respiratory control center at the base of your brain controls your breathing. This center sends ongoing signals down your spine and to the muscles involved in breathing. These signals ensure your breathing muscles contract and relax regularly. This allows your breathing to happen automatically, without you being aware of it."
Voila, no one has to think about breathing, therefore no attention to detail necessary...
BTW are we still going to have the National Institutes of Health, or is that no longer deemed necessary, like clean water...?
11
Trump is never serious about building the wall and not sure if he can articulate the benefits for more than a minute.. It is just a catch phrase and a marketing gimmick to appeal to his base. He leveraged the catch phrase during his campaign and continues to do so.. A master mind in manipulation..
10
Thank you Gail. One of your best. And informative: I didn't know reason for the "transgender " travesty.
13
Why is it so "very, very hard to get people" to work for Mr. Trump at Mar-a-Lago? One would expect all the unemployed/under employed and employed admirers of the President would flock to Florida to pick up those jobs - voila - problem solved. American jobs to Americans and he would have to pay at least minimum wage. TOO EASY?
40
@Gaby: I think it used to be difficult to get workers for Mar-a-Lago but, you're right. He shouldn't have any trouble now finding people. And are the Secret Service vetting these kitchen people and chambermaids? I bet Russia would love to slip in a few spies in the kitchen. Or, if Trump gets under Putin's skin too much, a stone-cold killer to put poison on the potatoes.
2
The least we can do, wall or no wall, is to adopt solar wind abundance to provide us all unlimited and clean energy. We ought to do it. It's ridiculous that poor countries in the world have adopted much advanced technology towards practical purposes that will benefit quality of life. We should collectively do something about harnessing sunshine in vast swathes of the country that have bright days all year round.
12
China is building a network of high speed trains. Britain is building a new high speed subway. Norway is building a floating tunnel. Nigeria is building a 900 mile coastal railway. America is building a boondoggle wall.
American leadership. Elected by West Virginians, and others who dream of a future where Americans cook with coal.
American leadership. Elected by West Virginians, and others who dream of a future where Americans cook with coal.
125
To all of those who argue that the 150 to 1 intake ratio at the Border Patrol Agency would seem to indicate a need for more immigration; You forget that a Border Guard requires certain qualities that only 'true' Americans possess.
As noted in the recent Independent review of the Customs and Border Protection Agency produced for Homeland Security, border agents are:
Highly susceptible to corruption from drug cartels and human traffickers in the form of accepting bribes or participating in illegal activity.
Regularly engaged in the unlawful and unconstitutional use of force including the shooting of unarmed people.
So lax and negligent in their approach to international terrorism as to constitute a threat to national security.
http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-na-border-patrol-abuses-...
Obviously not a job for a lazy uneducated immigrant but only a true American patriot.
As noted in the recent Independent review of the Customs and Border Protection Agency produced for Homeland Security, border agents are:
Highly susceptible to corruption from drug cartels and human traffickers in the form of accepting bribes or participating in illegal activity.
Regularly engaged in the unlawful and unconstitutional use of force including the shooting of unarmed people.
So lax and negligent in their approach to international terrorism as to constitute a threat to national security.
http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-na-border-patrol-abuses-...
Obviously not a job for a lazy uneducated immigrant but only a true American patriot.
10
So if the transgender are out of the military and Donald wants a wall, does he want Caitlyn Jenner to lead the army of newly unemployed transgender in this construction project? The mind boggles.
11
A brief history of walls:
Great Wall of China - positive, a very good infrastructure project to create a tourist attraction in a few millennia. Negative - immense cost (both in resources and people) and basically ineffective (see the Mongol invasion).
Hadrian's Wall - positive, not too expensive (probably built to control immigration by barbarians coming from the North (Scots) not invasions. Negative - ineffective after Roman Empire fell to other barbarians coming from the East.
Berlin Wall - Recent enough that no comment is necessary beyond St. Reagan's "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."
Very Great, Greatest, Big League, Wall of Trump - 'nuff said already.
Great Wall of China - positive, a very good infrastructure project to create a tourist attraction in a few millennia. Negative - immense cost (both in resources and people) and basically ineffective (see the Mongol invasion).
Hadrian's Wall - positive, not too expensive (probably built to control immigration by barbarians coming from the North (Scots) not invasions. Negative - ineffective after Roman Empire fell to other barbarians coming from the East.
Berlin Wall - Recent enough that no comment is necessary beyond St. Reagan's "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."
Very Great, Greatest, Big League, Wall of Trump - 'nuff said already.
30
Then, of course, there was the Maginot Line. A wall, of sorts (mostly fortifications), that the enemy simply went around.
1
And let's not forget the Maginot line
When Canada and Mexico both declare their intention to build big, beautiful walls that the U.S. will pay for to keep us out of their countries, I wonder what the current administration's response will be....
19
I was surprised to hear that one of the proposals was a Wall with solar panels on it. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to have a wall with coal-fired power plants atop?
34
Good thought, but it might be even more appropriate to have a wall with wind turbines on it. He's such a windbag he could keep them running forever.
2
IF the wall gets built, and they still get thru it, will AG Sessions create an another F.B.I. taskforce to see why there are so many leaks?
33
Truth is something that is rare in the Trump world, instead we get trumpery. And the wall would be the ultimate trumpery. Who new that Mr. Webster would have a word for it before we needed it. Mr. Webster defines it as foolish and trickery.
31
Yes, a president who is shallow, impulsive, and who inspires terror in most Americans. My most troubling visual though, daily, is the rapture on his fans faces when he is speaking.
Jonathan Chait (NYMAG) sums it up nicely: "The conviction that Trump is dangerously unfit to hold office is indeed shared widely within his own administration. Leaked accounts consistently depict the president as unable to read briefing materials written at an adult level, easily angered, prone to manipulation through flattery, subject to change his mind frequently to agree with whomever he spoke with last, and consumed with the superficiality of cable television. In the early days of the administration, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and then–Homeland Security Director John Kelly secretly agreed that one of the two should remain in the country at all times “to keep tabs on the orders rapidly emerging from the White House,” the Associated Press reported recently."
Trump, who is non-ideological, captured the GOP because they thought he would be malleable, willing to approve their tax cut mania. Many of them now realize how mistaken they were and are retrenching somewhat.
The Rule of Law is threatened seriously by Sessions (the Orc) who is implying that he will jail members of the press if necessary so that the government can act in secret.
His precious wall seems like a gnat in the scheme of things when he may just initiate a war to recover his standing.
Jonathan Chait (NYMAG) sums it up nicely: "The conviction that Trump is dangerously unfit to hold office is indeed shared widely within his own administration. Leaked accounts consistently depict the president as unable to read briefing materials written at an adult level, easily angered, prone to manipulation through flattery, subject to change his mind frequently to agree with whomever he spoke with last, and consumed with the superficiality of cable television. In the early days of the administration, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and then–Homeland Security Director John Kelly secretly agreed that one of the two should remain in the country at all times “to keep tabs on the orders rapidly emerging from the White House,” the Associated Press reported recently."
Trump, who is non-ideological, captured the GOP because they thought he would be malleable, willing to approve their tax cut mania. Many of them now realize how mistaken they were and are retrenching somewhat.
The Rule of Law is threatened seriously by Sessions (the Orc) who is implying that he will jail members of the press if necessary so that the government can act in secret.
His precious wall seems like a gnat in the scheme of things when he may just initiate a war to recover his standing.
77
Gail, I am an expert on walls. My qualifications are impeccable. I have the maturity to be able to comment about walls too.
I am over 55 (actually 75) and live in a WALLED IN community. Walls surround us. There are large metal gates that have lighted arms that are accessed by special code.
In addition there are uniformed guards in an actual Guard House with modern communications including direct connection to the Sheriff's Department (fully armed, tear gas, shotguns, plastic handcuffs, SWAT teams, hostage negotiators and bomb sniffing dogs).
A great part of our wall is camouflaged with palm trees, bushes and other foliage so the public does not realize that we, America's Senior Citizens are locked in.
The Politicians (County, State & National) are fully aware of the wall and support same so the active Seniors cannot get out to protest.
There are some positive reasons to support the wall, such as keeping our children out so we are not pestered to babysit or send money.
Soliciting is banned and only approved "guests" are allowed to enter. By the way, the Paramedics are always welcome and do not need special access.
Suggest you have walled 55+ communities built across the entire southern border so that the wall will be fully paid by Real Estate Developers.
The Senior's will offer protection and we could learn about guns and how to use them to ward off the drug dealers. You would not have to pay us either, just keep our entitlements coming.
It's a win-win.
I am over 55 (actually 75) and live in a WALLED IN community. Walls surround us. There are large metal gates that have lighted arms that are accessed by special code.
In addition there are uniformed guards in an actual Guard House with modern communications including direct connection to the Sheriff's Department (fully armed, tear gas, shotguns, plastic handcuffs, SWAT teams, hostage negotiators and bomb sniffing dogs).
A great part of our wall is camouflaged with palm trees, bushes and other foliage so the public does not realize that we, America's Senior Citizens are locked in.
The Politicians (County, State & National) are fully aware of the wall and support same so the active Seniors cannot get out to protest.
There are some positive reasons to support the wall, such as keeping our children out so we are not pestered to babysit or send money.
Soliciting is banned and only approved "guests" are allowed to enter. By the way, the Paramedics are always welcome and do not need special access.
Suggest you have walled 55+ communities built across the entire southern border so that the wall will be fully paid by Real Estate Developers.
The Senior's will offer protection and we could learn about guns and how to use them to ward off the drug dealers. You would not have to pay us either, just keep our entitlements coming.
It's a win-win.
103
"The House passed a bill that would pony up nearly $1.6 billion for the first stretch of Donald Trump’s pet project."
One must wonder how many crumbling bridges and roads $1.6 billion would replace or repair?
Or how many people could have health care for $1.6 billion?
Or......feel free to add to the list.....
Btw, do we actually have the $1.6 billion to spend, or is it funny money?
One must wonder how many crumbling bridges and roads $1.6 billion would replace or repair?
Or how many people could have health care for $1.6 billion?
Or......feel free to add to the list.....
Btw, do we actually have the $1.6 billion to spend, or is it funny money?
75
has anyone asked trump to draw a clockface set to 4 o'clock recently?
I wonder how many people voted for Trump based solely on his cure all strategy of a wall? Nothing says Presidential to some as we will build a better future and make America Great Again with a wall. Must be the heat.
25
The fiscal hypocrisy of Trump and Republicans is amazing. Concerned with spending $2-8 million a year for transgendered military personnel but willing to spend $1.6 Billion for 70 miles of useless Mexican border wall?
79
@Question Why: The US spends a lot more than $2-8 million a year for Viagra for our military service members. Enough said.
4
Well...one thing seems clear. The POTUS is certainly making America great again, aided and abetted by a set of sycophantic minions and an inept political leadership caste (of characters). One great big mess.
So it goes.
John~
American Net'Zen
So it goes.
John~
American Net'Zen
19
If I refuse to have my income tax pay for the wall (a terrible idea but one Trump said Americans would not pay for) how much should I refuse to pay to account for one taxpayers share? Or should I just consider this another lie and false promise that we are all unfortunately going to pay for?
23
We could build the wall in the spirit of Follies, the useless architectural fake ruins from the old estates of English Aristocrats. It could look like a defense wall, but be a trompe l'oeil visual effect.
Trump l'oeil: Something that doesn't even seem real, but no one cares.
And we could have it be multiple designs - some clear, some, concrete, some fencing with jacaranda growing artily along it, some designed with steel faces so we can put up kids' artwork with refrigerator magnets. Oh, yeah, and solar panels, because putting up solar panels in a remote place where they are likely to be stolen faster than the copper pipe in an abandoned building is a great idea.
What I cannot understand is why the Builder-in-Chief doesn't leave the road funding alone and privatize the wall, selling shares to foreign investors. It could be a toll wall, charging for people who climb it, or per bag of heaved drugs.
Trump l'oeil: Something that doesn't even seem real, but no one cares.
And we could have it be multiple designs - some clear, some, concrete, some fencing with jacaranda growing artily along it, some designed with steel faces so we can put up kids' artwork with refrigerator magnets. Oh, yeah, and solar panels, because putting up solar panels in a remote place where they are likely to be stolen faster than the copper pipe in an abandoned building is a great idea.
What I cannot understand is why the Builder-in-Chief doesn't leave the road funding alone and privatize the wall, selling shares to foreign investors. It could be a toll wall, charging for people who climb it, or per bag of heaved drugs.
80
What a jolly image, Cathy! Hundreds of good old boys and girls can be hired to guard the solar panels.
A couple of weeks of training, cute uniforms, and off they go to help Make America Great Again.
A couple of weeks of training, cute uniforms, and off they go to help Make America Great Again.
The wall could be so transparent that it would be invisible. We could call it the Emperor's New Wall.
262
Great idea until some kid crosses the border chasing a ball, crying out "what wall?".
Trump seeks to make a deal advantageous to the United States. Even in the absence of verbatim disclosures of discussions with foreign leaders other presidents did most likely the same.
Throwing a hissy fit over an insignificant issue while making a concession to Australia in order to get a favorable deal in the future for a more substantial interest of the United States is both correct and not unique in presidential history.
Same goes for agreeing with a counterpart as long as the counterpart agrees to keep it secret. It is a common bilateral practice. I cannot imagine Obama never doing it. Neither would Mrs. Clinton.
Throwing a hissy fit over an insignificant issue while making a concession to Australia in order to get a favorable deal in the future for a more substantial interest of the United States is both correct and not unique in presidential history.
Same goes for agreeing with a counterpart as long as the counterpart agrees to keep it secret. It is a common bilateral practice. I cannot imagine Obama never doing it. Neither would Mrs. Clinton.
2
Pressburger,
you don't get it; the problem isn't that the President is wheeling and dealing, yes all Presidents do that, the problem is that if you read the transcript, it is all about making himself look good, and nothing to do with what would be good for America.
you don't get it; the problem isn't that the President is wheeling and dealing, yes all Presidents do that, the problem is that if you read the transcript, it is all about making himself look good, and nothing to do with what would be good for America.
17
Did you read the transcripts? Whiny, cry-baby, "Me, me, me" is all it is. How could any world leader take him seriously with such victimhood. "Oh, oh, oh, I would get killed, I would get hurt in this bad deal, oh, I'd look bad".
My god. You think that's a leader? If you do, let me tell you: he is not a leader in any sense of the word and he's putting our country at risk because all he cares about is himself. It's sickening that his supporters do not see how very weak he truly is.
My god. You think that's a leader? If you do, let me tell you: he is not a leader in any sense of the word and he's putting our country at risk because all he cares about is himself. It's sickening that his supporters do not see how very weak he truly is.
3
Can General Kelly demote Trump to subaltern 2nd Class and assign him to border patrol in the Texas sage brush?
Probably not, but one can hope.
Probably not, but one can hope.
46
Texas deserves trump.
8
But those bone spurs .......
Great Gail!
I need to laugh, smile a little.
-- and your writing is eloquent
I need to laugh, smile a little.
-- and your writing is eloquent
35
The beautiful thing about the wall is its dual use characteristic. It might one day also protect Mexico from the US-Immigration.
57
> the Department of Homeland Security would have to screen 750,000 applicants to meet the president’s target for new Border Patrol hires.
For that many applicants, we'll have to create a Department of Screening Border Patrol Officers.
For that many applicants, we'll have to create a Department of Screening Border Patrol Officers.
27
Again, a good piece, but Ms.Collins and any other journalist writing about the wall should make clear how expensive this boondoggle really is. Ms. Collins reports that the House passed a bill that would pony up $1.6 billion for the infamous wall. What she fails to state is that this $1.6 billion is earmarked for only 74 miles of said wall. Given that the US-Mexico border spans almost 2000 miles, some of it in remote and inhospitable terrain which likely would result in higher construction costs, a very sunny cost estimate to build the wall would be in excess of $43 billion. And given our government's (regardless of party) penchant for exceeding budgets we could easily anticipate a doubling or even tripling of this figure. And yet Trump and our Republican congressmen (and privately some Democrats too) complain we cannot afford to keep our people healthy. What a sorry state of affairs.
185
Are the GOP in Congress crazy? There is no question after this expenditure.
2
We cannot afford to keep our people healthy as we are well on our way to spend one trillion on the new fighter plane, that's one thousand billion bucks. You have hit the nail on the head.
2
America has been the world's leader in destructive behaviour since Reagan ripped the solar panels off the White House.
I wish the USA and Donald J Trump nothing but success and hope that after the wall on the Southern border is in place a wall can be put in place on the Northern border.
Those of us who believe that good fences make good neighbours can think of nothing more attractive than a stone fence from the Atlantic to the Pacific and here along the border there are still skilled craftspeople who can build beautiful, stupendous walls without mortar. Think of all the jobs and the job training. Canadian values are existentially America's greatest threat.
A country that rejects Darwin is our species' greatest danger Darwin isn't about the survival of the biggest and strongest it is about adapting to a changing environment. It is time to change your country's name to Tyrannosaurus and the presidency name to Tyrannosaurus Rex.
I love Donald Trump, who else can make Vladimir Putin an ignorant, thug and kleptocrat seem a Titan on the world stage. Who but Donald could make North Korea and Iran world powers and a threat to civilization. Who else could turn Australia into a rogue state.
Donald Trump rule might allow us a mulligan. maybe this time instead of evolution we might remain small insectivores and rodents and content ourselves with finding food , shelter and procreating.
I wish the USA and Donald J Trump nothing but success and hope that after the wall on the Southern border is in place a wall can be put in place on the Northern border.
Those of us who believe that good fences make good neighbours can think of nothing more attractive than a stone fence from the Atlantic to the Pacific and here along the border there are still skilled craftspeople who can build beautiful, stupendous walls without mortar. Think of all the jobs and the job training. Canadian values are existentially America's greatest threat.
A country that rejects Darwin is our species' greatest danger Darwin isn't about the survival of the biggest and strongest it is about adapting to a changing environment. It is time to change your country's name to Tyrannosaurus and the presidency name to Tyrannosaurus Rex.
I love Donald Trump, who else can make Vladimir Putin an ignorant, thug and kleptocrat seem a Titan on the world stage. Who but Donald could make North Korea and Iran world powers and a threat to civilization. Who else could turn Australia into a rogue state.
Donald Trump rule might allow us a mulligan. maybe this time instead of evolution we might remain small insectivores and rodents and content ourselves with finding food , shelter and procreating.
122
Perhaps the US should begin implementing some Canadian polices, but not the one that keeps people on an airplane for 6 hours after it has landed....
2
It's safe to say, Trump doesn't know the meaning of transgender.
50
Either the man's stupidity is such that it is impossible to plumb its depth (a form of genius in the genre) or he is an enemy agent (or even a combination of both, let's say an extremely useful idiot). Either way, his presence at the top is paralyzing and ridiculing America, while whatever insincere allies have gathered around him like so many flies attracted by a pungent perfume work tirelessly to dismantle anything worthwhile built by all his predecessors. One could not dream of a more effective anti-American, except maybe for Putin.
74
Well, those two UNITED STATES SENATORS who are implementing funding for the Wall, should be considered anti-American also ! As should the people who elected them..........
7
"Sometimes you get tired of saying 'wall'....we should create synonyms...."
How about "Insane Membrane"?
How about "Insane Membrane"?
67
"If you build it, they will laugh.."
"Monument to Monumental Stupidity"
"Come Over to the Dark Side"
"Keep Americans Away!"
"Monument to Monumental Stupidity"
"Come Over to the Dark Side"
"Keep Americans Away!"
Will the president pattern his wall after the Green Monster at Boston's Fenway Park? The Monster just might frighten away the druggies and the MS-13 wanna- bees. Then their "home runs" will be a return trip back to where they came from.
2
The "wall" and the banning of transgender patriots. Only Trump could connect them.
Strange bedfellows, indeed!
Strange bedfellows, indeed!
17
Donald's Divider.
That's the perfect name for Trump's racist folly.
That's the perfect name for Trump's racist folly.
32
"“I won New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den.”
Trump lost NH. Doesn't he know that?
Trump lost NH. Doesn't he know that?
107
I think he's remembering the primary, where his opponents all favored legalizing all drug use. So much winning...
4
@David Henry: Trump won the New Hampshire primary. His language is so poor - perhaps on purpose? - that he's difficult to understand and get at the truth. The Donald wouldn't know the truth if a Mexican put it in a bag and threw it over the stupid wall and hit The Donald in the head. He still wouldn't 'get it'.
3
Right, but let's consider the implications if it were true: He won because it's drug infested?? Campaign slogan for 2020: "Druggies for Donald."
I don't get how building this wall will make America great again. God, I hate my stupid brain.
43
The slogan is not correct. The real aim is “Make America grate again”.
Maybe Trump could pay for the wall?
31
He would have to borrow more money from the Russians.
7
I'm not sure that was a loan.
1
Clearly it's time for "The 25th Amendment [Pence & Cabinet majority] meets 7 Days In May [Kelly/Mattis/McMaster]". And just in time for the fall TV season!
10
I hope "The Wall" gets built fast, real fast. That way Trump cannot cross into Mexico when he gets indicted!
"Trump runs into his wall" can be the catchy headline!
"Trump runs into his wall" can be the catchy headline!
26
LOL, yes, but unfortunately, the rest of us couldn't leave either...
1
I know - let Mexico pay for the wall, but include solar panels. Pay them back with interest with the power generated.
A win-win solution for the most dim-witted time in history.
A win-win solution for the most dim-witted time in history.
11
In that part of the country, the sum comes mostly from the south, from Mexico, so in a way .....
Wouldn't it be better to finance the Wall by cutting out male ED drugs as a benefit. Certainly that would solve lots of problems and save lots of money.
37
Yeah right, asking men to give up their penis pills will never happen. What else would they live for? Lets ask the next all-white-male Congressional panel what they think..
1
I am old enough to remember the Berlin wall...both its construction and destruction. Walls seldom do any good. I saw some pictures recently of the parts that are there. It reminds me of pictures from WWII and prisons. This is the vision Trump and his supporters want for a "Great America"? Aside from the political and aesthetic disasters his #1 campaign promise represent, just think what a hue and cry the GOP would raise if $20 billion was promised to education, or, heaven forbid, health care! As to the "first $1.6 billion" going to infrastructure? I'll believe it when I see it. Perhaps he is going to have Australia pay for it...he thinks he can manipulate them just like he thought his charm and power would overwhelm Mexico.
I can't even comment on his obscene attitude toward transgenders. He is a very sick man.
I can't even comment on his obscene attitude toward transgenders. He is a very sick man.
100
I remember reading in history books that there was some other wrong-headed guy in Germany who determined to get rid of whole classes of people who didn't fit in with his ideal of the perfect blond, white, heterosexual, Christian persuasion, and banned, deported, enslaved, tortured and murdered millions of them, 80-some years ago, while many citizens stood by, allowing it to happen, or ignoring it, and some even thinking it was for the best. And then, in 1961, people in that same country built a wall to keep out so-called "undesirables" with different political views. It seems that perhaps history is beginning to repeat itself, but in the USA this time, by another wrong-headed guy who calls our beautiful White House "a dump".
43
EAST Germany didn't build the Wall to keep anyone out. It built it to stop the mass exodus of its citizens to the West. Trump's barricade might end up serving the same purpose against a wave of southerly migration, if he's allowed to continue the slow destruction of every positive thing the US has ever accomplished. Unlikely, you say? We certainly hope so; and okay, a mass movement of Americans into Mexico would be a complete reversal of things as they have always been. So is Trumpism.
11
Actually that wall was built to keep people IN, but despite razor wire, patrol dogs and guys in watchtowers with machine guns, people still managed to get past it! One thing we should wonder is if in the long run, that Trump wall, if built, will become a barrier to keep people from leaving! If I were younger I would be gone!
1
Ahhh. Nice to be able to find some humor at the end of another Trump Week.
8
The contradictions of the United States' policies, principles and points of view are mind boggling. There is a book called "The Reluctant Welfare State"...which brilliantly shows that American Christian Values to help one's struggling brothers contradicts with American Individualism and Self Reliance. American Protestantism of Philanthropy contradicts with Protestantism of Business Acumen. American Catholicism on Sacrifice contradicts with American Catholicism of Selling (even religion). American Belief in Aid for the Needy contradicts with American Leaderships' Desire to Improve Work Ethics by Cutting Welfare Funds, while Increasing Defense Budget & Wall Street Bailout
Republicans get elected by promising to cut government expenditures and so-called waste. But they expand government when it comes to defense, intelligence, surveillance, security...and now The Wall. Research shows The Wall will be difficult, expensive and will not curb illegal immigration that much.
It is like NYT...doing an entire article on how psychics, many poor or working class, scam the desperate or the unsuspecting...but they never write about Wall Street scams, and some of the Wall Street psychic claims that they know the economic future of the US and the World and, hence, you should trust them with your savings and investments. How many people were driven into penury, debt, foreclosures and complete washout with Wall Street Psychic Claims?
Republicans get elected by promising to cut government expenditures and so-called waste. But they expand government when it comes to defense, intelligence, surveillance, security...and now The Wall. Research shows The Wall will be difficult, expensive and will not curb illegal immigration that much.
It is like NYT...doing an entire article on how psychics, many poor or working class, scam the desperate or the unsuspecting...but they never write about Wall Street scams, and some of the Wall Street psychic claims that they know the economic future of the US and the World and, hence, you should trust them with your savings and investments. How many people were driven into penury, debt, foreclosures and complete washout with Wall Street Psychic Claims?
12
Gail, your irony, and wit are great, but get creative with real, useful suggestions.
Why are we so short sighted? Build a wall, tall and wide (and beautiful!) like the one in China and call it the Great Wall of America, or better, the "High" Line, you know, to remember all the drugs that the Mexicans foisted on us unwilling tea-toters. We'll have tourists galore buying from the strategically placed Trump retail outlets, with 7-foot long ties and, ironically, Ivanka's shoes (aren't they made in China?). In addition, we'll have all sorts of fast-food chains like Taco Bell and Chipotle, you know, to show the good Mexicans that Trump really loves them - it's the bad hombres he is after.
And here's the best thing, they can reserve certain sections for the NRA to sell guns and have enthusiasts take pot-shots at the Mexicans trying to figure out how to burrow under the wall. That'll keep them out, the riff-raff.
Of course, they'll be metal detectors at the main entrances of the wall so you will have to buy the guns at the firing ranges, even if you already have an arsenal at home. Now isn't that good old fashioned American know-how to generate income?
The only problem will be how to play down the use of cheap illegal aliens to build the wall, you know, to keep the cost down? That will be "a mere bag of shells" to someone as clever as Donald (the Great One) Trump.
Now that's making lemonade out of the illegal lemons we are stuck with.
Why are we so short sighted? Build a wall, tall and wide (and beautiful!) like the one in China and call it the Great Wall of America, or better, the "High" Line, you know, to remember all the drugs that the Mexicans foisted on us unwilling tea-toters. We'll have tourists galore buying from the strategically placed Trump retail outlets, with 7-foot long ties and, ironically, Ivanka's shoes (aren't they made in China?). In addition, we'll have all sorts of fast-food chains like Taco Bell and Chipotle, you know, to show the good Mexicans that Trump really loves them - it's the bad hombres he is after.
And here's the best thing, they can reserve certain sections for the NRA to sell guns and have enthusiasts take pot-shots at the Mexicans trying to figure out how to burrow under the wall. That'll keep them out, the riff-raff.
Of course, they'll be metal detectors at the main entrances of the wall so you will have to buy the guns at the firing ranges, even if you already have an arsenal at home. Now isn't that good old fashioned American know-how to generate income?
The only problem will be how to play down the use of cheap illegal aliens to build the wall, you know, to keep the cost down? That will be "a mere bag of shells" to someone as clever as Donald (the Great One) Trump.
Now that's making lemonade out of the illegal lemons we are stuck with.
9
"The only problem will be how to play down the use of cheap illegal aliens to build the wall, you know, to keep the cost down?"
Use trump's base and pay them Mexican laborer's wages with a bonus of opioids and methamphetamine.
Use trump's base and pay them Mexican laborer's wages with a bonus of opioids and methamphetamine.
1
Better build it soon, illegals from Mexico down ,down ,down since 2000, about 70%. Seems that they are staying away even without a wall. The wall warriors at about 20,000 and all their equipment is another government expense of billions per year. We are like Don Quote and his partner (Trump and Pence) fighting the windmills.
4
Alternatives to “wall”, since you asked:
Instead of building a wall, use undocumented (U) to build immigration detention centers / prisons along the border, a de facto wall. No deporting U immediately, detained / imprisoned can work in menial and historically low-wage jobs that they came here illegally to perform; need mandatory sentencing guidelines. U would work legally, for room & board, no pay. Day labor outside and factories inside.
Some U would be sentenced to working off back-taxes, interest and & penalties they incurred working here illegally; as above, w/say $6 /hr credit (the rate U are working for now, reportedly).
Project should all be green too, a minimal carbon footprint.
All U must choose to participate in ACA or take the penalty (this option means U must pay for any medical costs incurred), at a $6/hr credit.
Doubtlessly, the project should be privatized from the outset.
This project would drastically cut down on illegal immigration (and IMMUNE to any claims of cruel & unusual punishment, right)?
Upshot: U considering illegal immigration would have to confront the real outcome of becoming part of the wall of workers. Successful or not, U would be doing the same kind of work, but not with the same outcome. The project would put a damper on illegal immigration from the South instantly, then the empty project would simply be a silent reminder and a wall.
Mexico WOULD be paying-in labor-for the wall too.
#WorkingWall. #NewNAFTA.
Now letting your leg go....
Instead of building a wall, use undocumented (U) to build immigration detention centers / prisons along the border, a de facto wall. No deporting U immediately, detained / imprisoned can work in menial and historically low-wage jobs that they came here illegally to perform; need mandatory sentencing guidelines. U would work legally, for room & board, no pay. Day labor outside and factories inside.
Some U would be sentenced to working off back-taxes, interest and & penalties they incurred working here illegally; as above, w/say $6 /hr credit (the rate U are working for now, reportedly).
Project should all be green too, a minimal carbon footprint.
All U must choose to participate in ACA or take the penalty (this option means U must pay for any medical costs incurred), at a $6/hr credit.
Doubtlessly, the project should be privatized from the outset.
This project would drastically cut down on illegal immigration (and IMMUNE to any claims of cruel & unusual punishment, right)?
Upshot: U considering illegal immigration would have to confront the real outcome of becoming part of the wall of workers. Successful or not, U would be doing the same kind of work, but not with the same outcome. The project would put a damper on illegal immigration from the South instantly, then the empty project would simply be a silent reminder and a wall.
Mexico WOULD be paying-in labor-for the wall too.
#WorkingWall. #NewNAFTA.
Now letting your leg go....
2
Trump's transparent wall is there, Gail -- just like the emperor's clothes. Don't you see them?
10
Really, are there no Trump supporters who don't want a job at Mar-a-Lago???
26
I've always gotten a laugh at the way Gail can skewer the high and mighty with her columns. This was no exception. Then I realized every word was just reporting the facts. It was still hilarious, but also a bit scary.
32
The United States needs basic street repair. We need to rebuild our towns and cities. We need to put solar panels on every house and building.
We the People ought to contact our representatives and tell them NOT ONE PENNY FOR A WALL. Then, we ought to give control of Congress to the Democrats. The Grand Obstructionist Party cannot govern. We need a reliable check on ignorant lying p-grabbing birther Trump.
We get the government we deserve.
We the People ought to contact our representatives and tell them NOT ONE PENNY FOR A WALL. Then, we ought to give control of Congress to the Democrats. The Grand Obstructionist Party cannot govern. We need a reliable check on ignorant lying p-grabbing birther Trump.
We get the government we deserve.
24
What a waste of money! Imagine what else $20 billion could pay for! You know things like Meals on Wheels, school lunches, Head Start, all day kindergarten, healthcare for all, infrastructure, etc. Instead Trump and the Republicans are going to squander our tax dollars on an insane project.
Once the taxes of the wealthiest Americans are cut, Congress is going to slash the budgets for social programs and all those “entitlements” that help the needy. So where is the money coming from to pay for the wall?
And how about that national deficit? Aren’t the Republicans always talking about shrinking it? How will the final cost of the wall reduce the deficit?
By the way the Great Wall of China didn’t work out too well at keeping the barbarians out of the country. The Europeans arrived by sea.
Once the taxes of the wealthiest Americans are cut, Congress is going to slash the budgets for social programs and all those “entitlements” that help the needy. So where is the money coming from to pay for the wall?
And how about that national deficit? Aren’t the Republicans always talking about shrinking it? How will the final cost of the wall reduce the deficit?
By the way the Great Wall of China didn’t work out too well at keeping the barbarians out of the country. The Europeans arrived by sea.
12
And nearly 400 years before *European* foreigners arrived by sea, Ghenghis Khan and his Mongol army arrived and overwhelmed the Great Wall. A new dynasty was established.
5
Ms. Collins notes, “Then there was the release of the transcript of Trump’s crazy pay-for-the-wall conversation with the president of Mexico.”
The conversation was a far cry from the art of the deal – instead Trump comes across as a desperate loser pleading for some, any concession from the Mexican president. The good news for Mexico is that they are never going to have to pay for the wall. The bad news for Trump is that the wall is never going to be built.
The conversation was a far cry from the art of the deal – instead Trump comes across as a desperate loser pleading for some, any concession from the Mexican president. The good news for Mexico is that they are never going to have to pay for the wall. The bad news for Trump is that the wall is never going to be built.
9
At last an explanation for the bizarre transgender ban. The scale of idiocy of this staggering presidency is daily more awe-inspiring.
But Gail, why reach for comparisons to the Fantastical Thingie all the way back to the Great Wall of China? Its actual inspiration is known: Israel's Wall, lauded to Trump by Netanyahu, whom Trump actually cited on this point in his loutish conversation with the president of Mexico. It's even an Israeli company, Elbit Systems, that has been tapped to bring the techniques of Israel's Wall to our country's southern border - presumably so people in the US can cultivate the friendly neighbors and peace of mind that Israelis enjoy? Actually, sure, Israel's Wall probably does "work" to stop a few attacks a year by a few terminally demoralized people seeking symbolic vengeance. But this gain comes at the cost of confining millions of innocent people behind towering concrete, guard towers and steel gates, ruining their culture, economy and life chances and whole society. It takes a special kind of mindset to consider that such a policy is not only "working" but "beautiful. " The only meaning that a Wall like that can possibly have is as a monument to failure. Moral, political, economic and foreign policy failure. At least most of Washington seems to know this and considers it chimerical. But even talk of it signals a kind of dry rot in our political culture and damage to our relations with Mexico that will take a deal of work to repair.
But Gail, why reach for comparisons to the Fantastical Thingie all the way back to the Great Wall of China? Its actual inspiration is known: Israel's Wall, lauded to Trump by Netanyahu, whom Trump actually cited on this point in his loutish conversation with the president of Mexico. It's even an Israeli company, Elbit Systems, that has been tapped to bring the techniques of Israel's Wall to our country's southern border - presumably so people in the US can cultivate the friendly neighbors and peace of mind that Israelis enjoy? Actually, sure, Israel's Wall probably does "work" to stop a few attacks a year by a few terminally demoralized people seeking symbolic vengeance. But this gain comes at the cost of confining millions of innocent people behind towering concrete, guard towers and steel gates, ruining their culture, economy and life chances and whole society. It takes a special kind of mindset to consider that such a policy is not only "working" but "beautiful. " The only meaning that a Wall like that can possibly have is as a monument to failure. Moral, political, economic and foreign policy failure. At least most of Washington seems to know this and considers it chimerical. But even talk of it signals a kind of dry rot in our political culture and damage to our relations with Mexico that will take a deal of work to repair.
16
An excellent counter to Gail's flippancy.
What "The Wall" makes no provision for are migratory animals -- Deer, sheep, jaguars. What will happen to their populations? I know deer will simply stand at the wall and starve to death. Also, what will happen to ranchers whose ranches straddle both sides of the border? No matter how "beautiful" Mr Trump may envision his Wall, it's still a monstrosity that cuts the landscape.
17
There are already too many barriers (for example, huge parking lots for mega-malls) that impede the movement of many animals and threaten their populations. Deer are roaming the suburbs, along with confused wild turkeys and other critters, such as occasional black bears. A impassable barrier between the USA and Mexico would be the same, writ very large.
3
The barrier, as you wish to call it Señora Gail, is emblematic of much that is wrong with Trump and his administration. At a time when the world is more interdependent than ever, Trump speaks of building a wall as a legitimate policy response.
In some ways, the leaked telephone conversation with the President of Mexico is a bit reassuring. Trump doesn't really believe in the nonsense he spews. Its for the applause line.
But what do we make of really delusional comments like: "The wall should be transparent so that passing Americans don't get hit on the head from the sacks of drugs being tossed over from the Mexican side."
Angela Merkel spoke for almost the entire world when she said: "We can no longer count on US leadership."
Mexico in 1994 made a tremendous bet on Nafta. In so doing, Mexico joined a new conceptual space called "North America."
Now Trump wants to redefine North America, this time with a great wall instead of an orderly border between allies and trading partners. The hostility is routed in racism and economic ignorance. Yet beyond the descent of the US executive into racist politics -- a truly sad state of affairs -- for Mexico, the rise of Trump presents an opportunity to re-balance its role in the world. It can return to a leadership role in Central and South America and open up more toward Europe and Asia.
Once feared as the "colossus to the North," the US now under Trump is becoming the "the rogue state to the North."
In some ways, the leaked telephone conversation with the President of Mexico is a bit reassuring. Trump doesn't really believe in the nonsense he spews. Its for the applause line.
But what do we make of really delusional comments like: "The wall should be transparent so that passing Americans don't get hit on the head from the sacks of drugs being tossed over from the Mexican side."
Angela Merkel spoke for almost the entire world when she said: "We can no longer count on US leadership."
Mexico in 1994 made a tremendous bet on Nafta. In so doing, Mexico joined a new conceptual space called "North America."
Now Trump wants to redefine North America, this time with a great wall instead of an orderly border between allies and trading partners. The hostility is routed in racism and economic ignorance. Yet beyond the descent of the US executive into racist politics -- a truly sad state of affairs -- for Mexico, the rise of Trump presents an opportunity to re-balance its role in the world. It can return to a leadership role in Central and South America and open up more toward Europe and Asia.
Once feared as the "colossus to the North," the US now under Trump is becoming the "the rogue state to the North."
16
My 5-year-old Irish Terrier and I live along the Arizona/Mexico border in a small community called Naco. Daily we have workers come across the border to work for us gringos, doing odd jobs, the stuff that we don't want to do ourselves. At night, whoever wants to cross the border without papers finds other ways than through the US Customs house. Suzie and I already have a 20-foot wall about two minutes walk from home. But nobody uses it.
4
Wall -- About $20 billion
Ladder -- About $200 for a good one
Shovel -- About $20. Might as well get a couple at that price.
Ladder -- About $200 for a good one
Shovel -- About $20. Might as well get a couple at that price.
12
I'm beginning to think the deported immigrants are the lucky ones. A wall ostensibly built to keep others out, easily becomes a wall to keep those who remain in. I remember a man remarking how he liked how Duterte was dealing with his drug situation. Maybe a man would like to make America less lousy, so Duterte might consider a visit with a kindred spirit. Even now a man's administration is moving to lock up more drug users. I remember a man congratulating Erdogan on his election victory, giving himself more power, even the power for Erdogan security men to attack protestors on American soil. Even now, a man's administration is looking to restrict freedom of speech. A man's love for Putin is so outwardly displayed, yet a man's administration is backing away from civil rights protections for gay people.
The Trumpuppets keep cheering. A man's wall will have two sides. Which side will be safer?
The Trumpuppets keep cheering. A man's wall will have two sides. Which side will be safer?
6
James Mattis and H.R. McMaster should step up, and offer their resignations if Donald Trump doesn't rescind his disgraceful tweet. They simply can't allow transgender soldiers, who risk their lives and serve with distinction around the world, to be pawns in some sleazy, sordid, back room political deal, involving Donald Trump's ludicrous wall with Mexico and cynical Republican homophobes.The political deal is a moral abomination and would leave an indelible stain on the honor of the U.S. military.
11
It all goes back to the now defunced idea known as "Electoral College". This now ridiculous provision that has long outlived its purpose makes a mockery of the Jeffersonian Democracy. It allows the Minority to elect a President whom in turn tries to propose and implement Rules, Regulations and Laws that do not have the support of the Majority. The result is that the Minority elected President must keep that Minority happy or if he loses a few of them, the chance of re-election becomes non-existent. And you have a frustrated Majority, which by all rights must be in power, that can not witness nor tolerate the policies and Laws of the Minority Government. Gridlock Galore!
5
"The jobs, it seems, can be both demanding and extremely boring."
Wait, doesn't that exactly describe how Trump feels about the presidency and why he plays so much golf?
Wait, doesn't that exactly describe how Trump feels about the presidency and why he plays so much golf?
8
The "Wall," surely, will be the emblem that future historians will use for the decline and fall of this once great nation.
4
It's amazing how the Orange One can say the most ridiculous things, and his base would nod their head and cheer him on, as though he is a prophet and every word out of his mouth is gospel. No revelation (such as the stunning account of the Donald's phone conversation with the Mexican president) would persuade the Republican base that the current occupant of the White House is a hoax and a fraud. Is it too harsh to presume that a good fraction of Trump's base consists of people who've made the wrong decision at every turn in their journey through life? If they are unhappy with their lives and dissatisfied with the hand they've been dealt, perhaps they should look in the mirror and recognize the source of their misery -- rather than blame their bad luck on the Mexicans and the liberal cosmopolitan elites and the mainstream media and the non-believers, etc. Perhaps if they recognized that it's their own decisions that have brought misery upon them and their families, they would stop voting, thus allowing people who're happier, less angry, and generally better off -- presumably because the latter group has made better decisions along the way -- to pick the men and women who would represent us in Washington and elsewhere in government.
2
Masud-"Is it too harsh to presume that a good fraction of Trump's base consists of people who've made the wrong decision at every turn in their journey through life? If they are unhappy with their lives and dissatisfied with the hand they've been dealt, perhaps they should look in the mirror and recognize the source of their misery -- rather than blame their bad luck on the Mexicans and the liberal cosmopolitan elites and the mainstream media and the non-believers, etc."
The problem with this premise is many of his base are above median income earners and well- educated yet they truly believe that they are down and out and paying unfairly for the "other". I've posted this info before- if you look at the electoral map of Worcester County, Massachusetts almost every town voted for trump. My town has a median income of 96K for those in the 45-64 age group, likely voters, our elderly population has a median income of 70K. 67% of our residents have some college, 50% have a bachelor degree or higher. trump won overwhelmingly over Clinton. And we are one of the "poorer" communities. The wealth is greater north and east of Worcester. And almost all these towns with the exception of three or four voted for trump. The propaganda worked. Doublespeak is alive and thriving in this new brave (America) world.
The problem with this premise is many of his base are above median income earners and well- educated yet they truly believe that they are down and out and paying unfairly for the "other". I've posted this info before- if you look at the electoral map of Worcester County, Massachusetts almost every town voted for trump. My town has a median income of 96K for those in the 45-64 age group, likely voters, our elderly population has a median income of 70K. 67% of our residents have some college, 50% have a bachelor degree or higher. trump won overwhelmingly over Clinton. And we are one of the "poorer" communities. The wealth is greater north and east of Worcester. And almost all these towns with the exception of three or four voted for trump. The propaganda worked. Doublespeak is alive and thriving in this new brave (America) world.
2
Enough about the wall. Sacamelo. I love that expression, learned in Venezuela. They are so delightfully obscene.
But when we talk about Trump, there is no shortage of material, proving the absolute inadequacy of this man.
But all of that is just rehashing the hash.
The question for me is why? How did he get into this place from which he so effectively ruins our every day?
How could so many people, taxpayers, responsible citizens in so many other ways, waste their vote in such a manner?
Yes, I know it is like trying to figure out who left the gate open, after the cows got into the corn, but the question obsesses me.
Three friends, hard working, intelligent, voted for him. One out of opposition to Hillary, not wanting another Clinton in office, the other, a professional woman with similar justifications, but more spite, and a black workingman.
And I blame Obama too. He was too honorable and dignified, too black, too expressly moral and reasonable and successful. He bored people with what they saw as his righteousness, even if applicable.
And some people are just plain bored with correctness.
But most of all I blame the system, which broke down badly. The DNC assumed that they knew what America wanted.
And Hillary's big money Wall street corporate donors, not wanting what was for them, an extreme, like Sanders, were behind the screen, like Oz, twisting the dials.
Vain speculation now, but Lord have mercy...
But when we talk about Trump, there is no shortage of material, proving the absolute inadequacy of this man.
But all of that is just rehashing the hash.
The question for me is why? How did he get into this place from which he so effectively ruins our every day?
How could so many people, taxpayers, responsible citizens in so many other ways, waste their vote in such a manner?
Yes, I know it is like trying to figure out who left the gate open, after the cows got into the corn, but the question obsesses me.
Three friends, hard working, intelligent, voted for him. One out of opposition to Hillary, not wanting another Clinton in office, the other, a professional woman with similar justifications, but more spite, and a black workingman.
And I blame Obama too. He was too honorable and dignified, too black, too expressly moral and reasonable and successful. He bored people with what they saw as his righteousness, even if applicable.
And some people are just plain bored with correctness.
But most of all I blame the system, which broke down badly. The DNC assumed that they knew what America wanted.
And Hillary's big money Wall street corporate donors, not wanting what was for them, an extreme, like Sanders, were behind the screen, like Oz, twisting the dials.
Vain speculation now, but Lord have mercy...
4
Perhaps the first $1.6 billion could be used for infrastructure repair by applying the funds to repair that junk of a house called the White House. A gold T might be placed on top of the new building, I mean house.
5
If he puts in turnstiles, like in the subways, or even EZ Pass lanes entering the US, the wall will pay for itself.
By the way, speaking of "remember to breathe," you don't get incoherence like that with a well-oxygenated brain.
By the way, speaking of "remember to breathe," you don't get incoherence like that with a well-oxygenated brain.
6
The cheaper method for stopping illegal immigration is to prosecute employers who employ illegal immigrants. That will also enrich the treasury's coffers.
12
Of course he consulted with a class of people he identifies as his "generals and military experts." It just so happens their names were Lefrak, Icahn and whatsisname, that waiter from from the 21 Club,
3
Trump's continuous lies and weasel-words about the Wall are what caused me to finally give up on him as a President and a leader. And then the final straw: all of our environmental protections which are in conflict with the building of the Wall will be suspended so that the Wall can be build without any environmental impact considerations. To add to my despair, the useless Congress is going along with him on funding - we taxpayers will pay for the Wall - and any other problems. America, is there nothing to be done to stop this madness and lying?
12
Well, between the construction of the 'Wall' and the hiring of more agents, trump will keep his promise of more jobs.
That will never happen.
The GOP's true base, their campaign donors, relies as much on cheap illegal labor as the party does on their claimed base's resentment of it.
The GOP's true base, their campaign donors, relies as much on cheap illegal labor as the party does on their claimed base's resentment of it.
4
The transcript of the conversation with the Mexican president says all you need to know about Trump. He makes no real factual or policy arguments, because he has none. What is clear is that doesn't really believe in or care about the wall as a policy solution. All he cares about is how he will be perceived if Mexico keeps opposing him and he can't live up to his campaign rhetoric. He is afraid he'll look weak. He's afraid his base will abandon him. He believes his image will be tarnished. That's it. That's the whole story, folks.
So he would be willing to spend $20 billion or more on what is essentially a Trump branding campaign. Money that could be used for infrastructure, or jobs retraining, or medical research, or improving health care, or even defending our country.
He truly believes in nothing but his own self-aggrandizement. It is pathetic but mostly tragic for the rest of us. We are all suffering as a result of his massive personal insecurities and lack of any intelligent, fact-based policies.
So he would be willing to spend $20 billion or more on what is essentially a Trump branding campaign. Money that could be used for infrastructure, or jobs retraining, or medical research, or improving health care, or even defending our country.
He truly believes in nothing but his own self-aggrandizement. It is pathetic but mostly tragic for the rest of us. We are all suffering as a result of his massive personal insecurities and lack of any intelligent, fact-based policies.
14
Didn't Trump admit in an interview the wall was just an applause line that went over too big to stop using? He was never serious about it or anything else.
Maybe his fans are right; we shouldn't pay attention to what he says.
Maybe his fans are right; we shouldn't pay attention to what he says.
5
Can he not become like the rejected suitor and just go away? Moeller and his crew will make the "resign before you go to jail" option sound like a very, very bigly deal to The Donald. If only his ego would allow him to accept that not being president is way better for all concerned than being president. Then we'll have Pence who isn't much but at least isn't Trump, either.
1
"...attempted illegal border crossings appear to be down. This is partly due to an improving Mexican economy but also partly due to a perception in Mexico that America is now a country governed by a crazy man." Many here in the U.S. have this same "perception". Or maybe I should say "realization"...
This wall is needless, hateful, harmful, and expensive. We have real needs and problems that should be addressed, not waste money and cause more problems with this wall. No environmental impact statement, no regs to consider, and havoc will be visited on wildlife, some already endangered, whose habitat lies along this corridor. I also wonder about water rights considerations and environmental destruction in general with this construction. Doesn't it seem almost the work of a madman?
This wall is needless, hateful, harmful, and expensive. We have real needs and problems that should be addressed, not waste money and cause more problems with this wall. No environmental impact statement, no regs to consider, and havoc will be visited on wildlife, some already endangered, whose habitat lies along this corridor. I also wonder about water rights considerations and environmental destruction in general with this construction. Doesn't it seem almost the work of a madman?
3
Where this needs to be used for the U.S. infrastructure needs is at a 90 degree angle and it might be a useful road somewhere. It is U.S. highways, bridges, ports, and airports that are in desperate need of repairs and new construction. America is turning into a third world country in terms of its infrastructure. The current condition is dangerous and risking a major disaster when millions of Americans use the roads and bridges every single day.
The wall is a ridiculous vanity project. It is the kind of project that in antiquity was somewhat prized but even then was seen more as propaganda than useful. Take Hadrian's Wall for example. it runs across Roman Britain and was a nice engineering project. It certainly didn't stop anyone. Sea access, gates, and over the top were perfectly reasonable ways to avoid it. The same thing is true of Trump's Wall, just an insane waste of money.
The conversation Trump had with Mexico's president made no sense. Why would Mexico pay? This wall project will take land away from American ranchers and farmers through seizure. It will block rivers, and is impractical over some terrain. The insanity of Donald Trump can be measured by his wall.
The wall is a ridiculous vanity project. It is the kind of project that in antiquity was somewhat prized but even then was seen more as propaganda than useful. Take Hadrian's Wall for example. it runs across Roman Britain and was a nice engineering project. It certainly didn't stop anyone. Sea access, gates, and over the top were perfectly reasonable ways to avoid it. The same thing is true of Trump's Wall, just an insane waste of money.
The conversation Trump had with Mexico's president made no sense. Why would Mexico pay? This wall project will take land away from American ranchers and farmers through seizure. It will block rivers, and is impractical over some terrain. The insanity of Donald Trump can be measured by his wall.
7
Great connection Gail; the wall and the tweet. But, wait, this would imply that the current president has a strategy. Let's hope that it can be traced back to Scaramucci, who is now gone.
1
A border wall presumably stands more or less at the exact border between two countries give or take a few hundred meters. If Trump was serious about getting the wall built, there'd be a financially prudcent way to do this: pay mexico to build it on mexico's side of the border. The costs would be an order of magnitude lower and identically effective.
Of course, the wall itself is an idiotic idea. But so is an immigration policy where there are both legal and illegal paths to US residence and citizenship and we don't particularly punish those who take illegal paths. For all their many many many many many faults, an immigration plan that is a combination of GW Bush's sensible and humane comprehensive immigration reform plan supplemented with a "legal, and all win" guest worker program and a points-based immigration system as proposed by trump while getting rid of the spectacularly abused and unfair 'family reunification' aspect of current immigration law would not be a bad thing, and this progressive is not too proud to admit it.
Of course, the wall itself is an idiotic idea. But so is an immigration policy where there are both legal and illegal paths to US residence and citizenship and we don't particularly punish those who take illegal paths. For all their many many many many many faults, an immigration plan that is a combination of GW Bush's sensible and humane comprehensive immigration reform plan supplemented with a "legal, and all win" guest worker program and a points-based immigration system as proposed by trump while getting rid of the spectacularly abused and unfair 'family reunification' aspect of current immigration law would not be a bad thing, and this progressive is not too proud to admit it.
2
Whenever I hear mention of 'The Wall', it is reminiscent of receiving a call from the dentist's office that a wisdom tooth needs to be extracted for the benefit of future comfort and the coming years. 'Well, of course', you tell the pleasant assistant, 'let me revert back to you after I have returned from my honeymoon in Acapulco. It will give us a better coordination plan and I don't want to waste your time'.
If Trump cannot figure out the difference between his 'Wall' and Infrastructure, Americans should not be surprised. Rebuilding and restoring the Nation's public works, making America better by bringing it into the 21st century with other industrialized countries like Japan, who has a fine mass train transportation system, some of us would not be shouting 'New York looks like a Third World Country!'
It happened. We built some extraordinary bridges in the 20th Century, one is called The Golden Bridge, and while one cannot barter with Trump, we might create another beautiful one in his name without having to sell the Brooklyn Bridge.
Let us give our Veterans jobs. Let our Troops know that there is a construction job waiting for them at home and put it in writing. We do not want to spend $8 Million in more prisons, we do not need a transparent Wall with more guns and security dogs to keep us out of trouble, and when a new neighbor with a smile suggested that I build a 'Wall' to protect his hounds, we understood that it was all about mending 'Fences'.
If Trump cannot figure out the difference between his 'Wall' and Infrastructure, Americans should not be surprised. Rebuilding and restoring the Nation's public works, making America better by bringing it into the 21st century with other industrialized countries like Japan, who has a fine mass train transportation system, some of us would not be shouting 'New York looks like a Third World Country!'
It happened. We built some extraordinary bridges in the 20th Century, one is called The Golden Bridge, and while one cannot barter with Trump, we might create another beautiful one in his name without having to sell the Brooklyn Bridge.
Let us give our Veterans jobs. Let our Troops know that there is a construction job waiting for them at home and put it in writing. We do not want to spend $8 Million in more prisons, we do not need a transparent Wall with more guns and security dogs to keep us out of trouble, and when a new neighbor with a smile suggested that I build a 'Wall' to protect his hounds, we understood that it was all about mending 'Fences'.
2
I realize the wall won't be built and that we will waste money on it anyway. But I ask this in all seriousness - can we sue over the wall? The idea of it? The planning of it? The waste on it? It seems like people can sue over far less important things, like when they don't like their new iphone, or, gasp, when 45 blocks them on twitter. Is there no case to be made for the unconstitutionality of the federal government physically barring Americans from freely leaving their country? It's one thing to have to have a passport and to have to answer questions. It's something else to be prevented from leaving by barbed wire. Even knowing it's not going to happen, the idea of a wall prohibiting Americans' movement without the permission of Donald Trump's goons creeps me out.
3
Ms. Collins, about 'The Great Impediment between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific that happens to follow the international Border' you say: "... just keeping up pretenses will mean an enormous waste of money ...", but that is a barefaced lie. The money will go to Donald the Magnificent's extended family and cronies. And isn't that the point of much of what he is doing?
Meanwhile, his Vizier, Bannon of the Darkness, is plotting to utilize the control the GOP has in Statehouses galore to alter the legal framework of the USA. Expect the term limits to be removed, expect the impeachment process to be made more difficult, expect any number and variegation of rules to be brought in to facilitate end further the pursuit of the heartlessness that has come to be synonymous withe the Republican agenda.
Meanwhile, his Vizier, Bannon of the Darkness, is plotting to utilize the control the GOP has in Statehouses galore to alter the legal framework of the USA. Expect the term limits to be removed, expect the impeachment process to be made more difficult, expect any number and variegation of rules to be brought in to facilitate end further the pursuit of the heartlessness that has come to be synonymous withe the Republican agenda.
2
If he keeps talking to the country's allies as he has been, and of its enemies as he has been, I think we'll soon find Trump himself is the wall.
3
Instead of a transparent wall to save lives from drugs falling from the sky, how about Congress coming up with a transparent healthcare act that save lives with fairly priced drugs?
15
Monty Hall was better at making deals and didn't offend anyone in the process.
7
One thing which stood out in President Trump’s call to the president of Mexico was the pleading tone of our leader. Trump pointed out in the conversation how difficult it is for him, when his Mexican counterpart says publicly that Mexico will not pay for any part of the You-Know-What.
Many people felt that, while Donald Trump has embarrassed America in many ways, begging a foreign leader to play along with a stupid campaign promise for the sake of appearances is really low.
Others felt that the only time Donald Trump is even slightly acceptable is when he grovels.
Trump fails to understand that there is only one American we want to see sealed off protectively behind very tall, sturdy walls.
The best part is that those walls do not need funding – they already exist at any one of several federal facilities.
Take your pick, Mr. President.
Many people felt that, while Donald Trump has embarrassed America in many ways, begging a foreign leader to play along with a stupid campaign promise for the sake of appearances is really low.
Others felt that the only time Donald Trump is even slightly acceptable is when he grovels.
Trump fails to understand that there is only one American we want to see sealed off protectively behind very tall, sturdy walls.
The best part is that those walls do not need funding – they already exist at any one of several federal facilities.
Take your pick, Mr. President.
4
President Obama managed to deport more illegal immigrants than any other president but he did so quietly and focused on criminals not families. Because of his policies others either self deported or were intercepted at the border. He didn't need a wall to manage our illegal immigration problem.
Trump talks big but he has no game. Those transcripts reveal a man with the attention span of a gnat. The wall sounds good to his supporters but just like the great wall of China failed to keep out Invaders, Trump Wall will also fail spectacularly.
Using drones and having border agents that partner with Mexican border agents would be so much more effective. Frankly our waiting list to come here legally from Mexico is almost designed to encourage illegal immigration which just makes them vulnerable to be exploited. We could fix this if we wanted to.
Trump talks big but he has no game. Those transcripts reveal a man with the attention span of a gnat. The wall sounds good to his supporters but just like the great wall of China failed to keep out Invaders, Trump Wall will also fail spectacularly.
Using drones and having border agents that partner with Mexican border agents would be so much more effective. Frankly our waiting list to come here legally from Mexico is almost designed to encourage illegal immigration which just makes them vulnerable to be exploited. We could fix this if we wanted to.
13
How is it that Trump still can't even pull off a simple political bribe without exposing and embarrassing himself?
Red meat attacks on Transgender soldiers and Mexicans is Republican base building 101. Should be a simple win-win (or hate-hate) for our Master Dealmaker in Chief.
197 days and it's still surprising just how bad Trump is at every aspect of being President.
Thankfully, He's not even very good at being a bad President.
Red meat attacks on Transgender soldiers and Mexicans is Republican base building 101. Should be a simple win-win (or hate-hate) for our Master Dealmaker in Chief.
197 days and it's still surprising just how bad Trump is at every aspect of being President.
Thankfully, He's not even very good at being a bad President.
10
Sometimes you get tired of saying “wall.” It comes up so often, we should create synonyms.
Collective lunacy in America circa 2018 made concrete.
Collective lunacy in America circa 2018 made concrete.
2
So comforting to know that the president who's playing word games about Wall-ab-Surdo is the same one who will be making the fateful decisions about how to deal with the gravest national security threat since the Cuban missile crisis. If action must be taken against North Korea, will we be told by tweet?
3
How about making the Wall a mirror on the American side of the Rio Grande.
1. So Trump can admire himself in it.
2. So Americans can see for themselves how stupid we look to people all over the world.
1. So Trump can admire himself in it.
2. So Americans can see for themselves how stupid we look to people all over the world.
9
Except except that Trump didn't win NH. He lost it 47.6% to 47.2%.
18
Does it matter that he lost NH by four tenths of a percentage point?
No, since he is the person to win the Presidency.....
No, since he is the person to win the Presidency.....
So about 14 of 15 potential applicants for new Border Patrol positions will be rejected. Isn't this arguement for MORE immigration?
9
The LA Times today included an account of Trump's backtracking on building the wall. Not many folks in Washington expect it to be built. Writing about it is like writing about Obama's opposition to gay marriage after he changed his mind. There has to be something better to write about.
1
Go tell that to the millions who voted for him and believed in his stupid Wall. I disagree, there's nothing better to write about than reminding everyone about all his stupid bluster, and everything he promised that clearly was just bluster and won't actually get accomplished under Pres. Trump.
6
A National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank was first created in Washington by Senator Christopher Dodd and Hagel in 2007. Mr. Barack Obama and his Administration estimated that it would create nearly two million construction jobs. Let the G.O.P. look into this well again and whether a promise will be made to Trump that he will get some of the credit, this American is not going to pipe up about these bold endeavors. Anti-Semitic, Racist, how about 'Anti-Christian' which is about to overtake name-calling in America?
Let's get moving and put a cog-in-the-wheel when it comes to creating a 'Weeping Wall' in our Country.
Let's get moving and put a cog-in-the-wheel when it comes to creating a 'Weeping Wall' in our Country.
1
But Trump keeps lying about it.
Walls keep people out, but they can also be used to keep people in.
6
Trump threw an entire group of Americans under the bus for his wall and to curry Evangelicals’ favor.
Has anyone considered how the U.S. Selective Service laws would have to change? “Failing to register or comply with the Military Selective Service Act is a felony punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 or a prison term of up to five years.”
Congress will have to carefully rewrite the requirements. If a person’s birth certificate says birth occurred with male parts, but that person identifies as female, does that person need to register? Why? Trump won’t let that person in anyway.
Now, consider a person who has fully transitioned or is transitioning to male. Since that person is transgender, will that person be allowed to register for the draft? Or, did the “transgender” identification end when that person transitioned? If allowed to register, then as what gender?
If Congress implements conscription for a highly unpopular war and tens of thousands claim they are transgender, how does the law sort that out?
Now for the wall and illicit drugs. How will the U.S. stop swarms of mid-sized, programmed, self-flying drones simultaneously flying over the wall and heading to major cities to make drug drops?
Or, drug cartels could borrow from WW I, tunnel under the wall, pack the tunnel with explosives, and detonate. The wall would collapse as an embarrassment to the White House.
What is this, really? Trump is trying to con U.S. taxpayers into building monument to him.
Has anyone considered how the U.S. Selective Service laws would have to change? “Failing to register or comply with the Military Selective Service Act is a felony punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 or a prison term of up to five years.”
Congress will have to carefully rewrite the requirements. If a person’s birth certificate says birth occurred with male parts, but that person identifies as female, does that person need to register? Why? Trump won’t let that person in anyway.
Now, consider a person who has fully transitioned or is transitioning to male. Since that person is transgender, will that person be allowed to register for the draft? Or, did the “transgender” identification end when that person transitioned? If allowed to register, then as what gender?
If Congress implements conscription for a highly unpopular war and tens of thousands claim they are transgender, how does the law sort that out?
Now for the wall and illicit drugs. How will the U.S. stop swarms of mid-sized, programmed, self-flying drones simultaneously flying over the wall and heading to major cities to make drug drops?
Or, drug cartels could borrow from WW I, tunnel under the wall, pack the tunnel with explosives, and detonate. The wall would collapse as an embarrassment to the White House.
What is this, really? Trump is trying to con U.S. taxpayers into building monument to him.
50
Let us restore Trump's ice-skating rink in New York, and build a monument of him in Central Park sitting on a magnificent charger. Preferably close to Alice-in Wonderland.
2
I've always imagined the wall as heavily gilded with the Trump name plastered everywhere on it. In fact, I suspect that that has always been Donald's secret plan. It also explains why infrastructure repair is not a priority for him. He sees no value in having his name, on, among other things, sewage treatment plants.
47
For those keeping score (Trump takes no half-times!), the conversations (leaked! pray for the sinners!) are a stunning new trove of the depths of Trump's iniquity and crimes. We see in the new record is a subtle attitude: the President of Mexico is repeatedly called by his first name, Enrique. As if he was a valet or service cleaner, speaking to as a superior. The conversation with “Enrique” made certain he understood who was superior: Trump announced the power to change Mexico's constitution and guarantee Enrique an unprecedented second term; he announced he could, with his star powers, raise tariffs on goods crossing the border, but in the middle of Trump's boast, he went pathetic.
Suddenly, he went wimp. Imploring Enrique to protect a false promise, to keep the press away from the fake news. Badly imitating gangster movies, the President of the United States pledged good will (“I want the best solution for Mexico; for Mexico to be strong and happy”)--after a list of threats (tariffs! big ones!) demands (don't tell the press!) and begging “Enrique” not to make him look “terrible.” It was more con than deal. Sad.
Enrique is no snitch! And no fool. He wandered, no doubt, how could such a man of power be such a clown, without being funny?
Suddenly, he went wimp. Imploring Enrique to protect a false promise, to keep the press away from the fake news. Badly imitating gangster movies, the President of the United States pledged good will (“I want the best solution for Mexico; for Mexico to be strong and happy”)--after a list of threats (tariffs! big ones!) demands (don't tell the press!) and begging “Enrique” not to make him look “terrible.” It was more con than deal. Sad.
Enrique is no snitch! And no fool. He wandered, no doubt, how could such a man of power be such a clown, without being funny?
208
The good citizens of 17th century London, stayed amused by watching the inmates of Bedlam.
4
Clowns are not funny.
2
At least Trump didn't whine to the Mexican President "I won't be your friend any more" as part of his pitch. Maybe he's saving that for the next call.
3
"On the plus side, attempted illegal border crossings appear to be down. This is partly due to an improving Mexican economy but also partly due to a perception in Mexico that America is now a country governed by a crazy man. So give some credit where it’s due."
Is there a way to have Mexicans talk some sense into the 83% of Republicans who still approve of the job Trump is doing:
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/344298-trump-job-approval-swings-lower
Are these Republicans reading the transcripts coming out of the White House? The entire Trump Administration seems to have been hacked, not by the Russians, but by The Onion.
Seriously.
What are these Republicans smoking?!?
Is there a way to have Mexicans talk some sense into the 83% of Republicans who still approve of the job Trump is doing:
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/344298-trump-job-approval-swings-lower
Are these Republicans reading the transcripts coming out of the White House? The entire Trump Administration seems to have been hacked, not by the Russians, but by The Onion.
Seriously.
What are these Republicans smoking?!?
143
You know who would like this wall best? The drug dealers of course. The harder something is to get, the higher the price. We saw this during prohibition. Now subnormals like Rep King of Iowa have a fixation on Mexicans carrying bags of maryjane across the border. However today there are three borders, California, Nevada, and Colorado. So the wall is supposed to be in the wrong place. We would like a wall out here, conservatives would have to divert to the state of Jefferson.
As for the hard drugs, they come in all sort of ways, smuggled by tunnels, dropped from planes, now drones, and of course by sea. Human ingenuity seems to find a way to satisfy the law of supply and demand. All this wall money could be better used reducing the demand, but then many of us who do not use, are thinking about it, just to escape the tRump experience.
The wall is an abomination, it is a barrier to wildlife, ranchers, even trade, and the Mexicans are not going to pay for it. Actually there is a wall, it is the tRump wall, our amigos no longer want to come here, but there is a large contingent of American expatriates living there. But the idea of it satisfies the more base aspects of tRump's followers, believers that their jobs have been taken by those illegals. Oddly enough, we do not see them lined up to pick oranges or harvest the fields in California.
Come on you unemployed tRump followers, you can get a job shoveling out cow pens something you are qualified for.
As for the hard drugs, they come in all sort of ways, smuggled by tunnels, dropped from planes, now drones, and of course by sea. Human ingenuity seems to find a way to satisfy the law of supply and demand. All this wall money could be better used reducing the demand, but then many of us who do not use, are thinking about it, just to escape the tRump experience.
The wall is an abomination, it is a barrier to wildlife, ranchers, even trade, and the Mexicans are not going to pay for it. Actually there is a wall, it is the tRump wall, our amigos no longer want to come here, but there is a large contingent of American expatriates living there. But the idea of it satisfies the more base aspects of tRump's followers, believers that their jobs have been taken by those illegals. Oddly enough, we do not see them lined up to pick oranges or harvest the fields in California.
Come on you unemployed tRump followers, you can get a job shoveling out cow pens something you are qualified for.
70
I'm not sure Donald wants his wall to be built.
Donald is a con artist peddling snake oil.
He made promises to his base that manufacturing jobs will return.
He will be unable to fulfill that promise and he knows it.
But if his wall is not built he can argue that those jobs would have returned if those nasty Democrats had allowed the wall to be built.
And his base will believe his bogus argument.
Donald is a con artist peddling snake oil.
He made promises to his base that manufacturing jobs will return.
He will be unable to fulfill that promise and he knows it.
But if his wall is not built he can argue that those jobs would have returned if those nasty Democrats had allowed the wall to be built.
And his base will believe his bogus argument.
36
Mr. Otter and Mr. Badger are in high dudgeon again and at logger-heads, but still going on about the little woman here who thought it would be a pleasant notion to have a small reading-gazebo. 'Ran into your pal, Mr. Otter at the gas station, and he tells me...'. It is a wish, a thought, an idea, I replied, not an accomplished fact.
'Stay off the internet' was his parting farewell until tomorrow, while I replied, 'Stop watching Fox News for a day and you will live'.
Never mind what Trump and his baser instincts will believe. Let us make room for a Bipartisan Effort. The concept that We The People cannot solve challenges without being committed does not come out of the blue.
'Stay off the internet' was his parting farewell until tomorrow, while I replied, 'Stop watching Fox News for a day and you will live'.
Never mind what Trump and his baser instincts will believe. Let us make room for a Bipartisan Effort. The concept that We The People cannot solve challenges without being committed does not come out of the blue.
'' The chances we’ll ever see this $20-billion-plus project completed are minimal. '' ~ That's true because there was $40 billion passed ad on the table in an immigration bill that was passed in the Senate and the house ( Boehner and republicans ) would not even give it a vote.
The NYT article ;
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/28/us/politics/immigration-bill-clears-fi...
''The proposal, by Senators Bob Corker of Tennessee and John Hoeven of North Dakota, both Republicans, would devote about $40 billion over the next decade to border enforcement measures, including adding 20,000 Border Patrol agents and 700 miles of fencing along the southern border. ''
So, if they didn't do it then with MORE money allocated AND with immigration fixes, then why would they do it now ?
Hmmm...
The NYT article ;
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/28/us/politics/immigration-bill-clears-fi...
''The proposal, by Senators Bob Corker of Tennessee and John Hoeven of North Dakota, both Republicans, would devote about $40 billion over the next decade to border enforcement measures, including adding 20,000 Border Patrol agents and 700 miles of fencing along the southern border. ''
So, if they didn't do it then with MORE money allocated AND with immigration fixes, then why would they do it now ?
Hmmm...
21
Madness, pure Madness............and we elected the perpetrator. And we elected the enablers in Congress. US. The citizens. And the bills will soon be coming in, and WE will have to pay them...............
6
Wow, Gail – I never realized the banning of transgender soldiers was linked to the funding for the wall. You could not juxtapose any two single items like these and have the public believe it.
What's next? Punishing leakers and tax reform? Banning Muslims and conducting talks with North Korea?
i've heard conflicting theories about the propriety of releasing the contents of those calls, with many saying this was a bridge too far. That the president deserves privacy in his dealings with foreign leaders.
However other said revealing details like this is definitely in the public interest because Americans have a right to know who the president is and how he conducts himself.
I think by now we have a pretty good idea who this president is, and we definitely know how he is conducting himself.
So now it's time for the special prosecutor to become similarly informed.
What's next? Punishing leakers and tax reform? Banning Muslims and conducting talks with North Korea?
i've heard conflicting theories about the propriety of releasing the contents of those calls, with many saying this was a bridge too far. That the president deserves privacy in his dealings with foreign leaders.
However other said revealing details like this is definitely in the public interest because Americans have a right to know who the president is and how he conducts himself.
I think by now we have a pretty good idea who this president is, and we definitely know how he is conducting himself.
So now it's time for the special prosecutor to become similarly informed.
295
@Christine McM:
"i've heard conflicting theories about the propriety of releasing the contents of those calls"
As have I.
However, consider the obverse: imagine if our only source(s) of 'news' about Donald Trump were the odious Kellyanne Conway, (the late) Sean Spicer, Hope Hicks, Ms. Huckabee Sanders, or any of the horrors that trot out to inform us.
In my view, Donald Trump has forfeited any 'right to privacy' whatsoever. We'll never get anything near the truth from this WH. Let the leakers prevail!!
NOT my president
"i've heard conflicting theories about the propriety of releasing the contents of those calls"
As have I.
However, consider the obverse: imagine if our only source(s) of 'news' about Donald Trump were the odious Kellyanne Conway, (the late) Sean Spicer, Hope Hicks, Ms. Huckabee Sanders, or any of the horrors that trot out to inform us.
In my view, Donald Trump has forfeited any 'right to privacy' whatsoever. We'll never get anything near the truth from this WH. Let the leakers prevail!!
NOT my president
7
Gayle muses that Trump may not believe that building the wall will have a positive impact. That observation is based on the assumption that Trump thinks about the connection between any of his promises and the problems he claims it will solve. But his promises never have any relationship to reality, and often he phrases them in such vague language that no one could determine if he had fulfilled them or not. ("We will win so much that you will get tired of winning!")
For Trump, promises serve the function of props in a magician's act. They distract the audience and convince them of the reality of the illusion the magician has contrived. In a show, however, the customers know the conjurer has fooled them and they enjoy the experience.
We don't yet know whether Trump's supporters will ever discover the illusory quality of their hero's promises or that the tricks in this magic show have real-world consequences.
For Trump, promises serve the function of props in a magician's act. They distract the audience and convince them of the reality of the illusion the magician has contrived. In a show, however, the customers know the conjurer has fooled them and they enjoy the experience.
We don't yet know whether Trump's supporters will ever discover the illusory quality of their hero's promises or that the tricks in this magic show have real-world consequences.
68
Last night, Trump was ranting to his West Virginia true believers that Congress needed to keep its word about the ACA. This coming from the man of 5,000 lies.
7
Actually we will know when we see the results of the next presidential election. My sense is Trump's base will vote for him again, and, good God, he'll pick up a sufficient number of new supporters who don't understand that the raging upswing of the stock market has little, if any, connection to him. Of course this assumes Trump and his equally nutty counterpart in North Korea haven't blown us all to bits by then.
5
That was beautiful, a beautiful thing.
1
Thank you Gail for this essay and particularly for clarifying this part of Trump's political craziness by connecting the dots. I think with Trump it is really important to have members of the press and the public who follow his smoke and mirrors chaos closely enough so that the actual intentions are made clear:
..."But final passage was being held up by social conservatives, who were trying unsuccessfully to add an amendment barring the military from paying for gender reassignment surgery."
"And the discovery that Trump’s sudden announcement about barring transgender volunteers from the military was actually all about getting money to start building the … barrier."
"To appease them, Trump raced out and tweeted that after “consultation with my generals and military experts” — which of course had never happened — “the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.”
..."But final passage was being held up by social conservatives, who were trying unsuccessfully to add an amendment barring the military from paying for gender reassignment surgery."
"And the discovery that Trump’s sudden announcement about barring transgender volunteers from the military was actually all about getting money to start building the … barrier."
"To appease them, Trump raced out and tweeted that after “consultation with my generals and military experts” — which of course had never happened — “the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.”
31
Why would Trump confer with his generals? Didn't he say that he knew more than the generals?
14
Regardless of attention to detail, breathing is as autonomic a response to the presence of carbon dioxide in the blood as flipping the hair is if your name is Ivana, Marla or Melania ... but not Ivanka, who by all accounts is a serious lady who is far more Kumbaya than she's given credit for being.
If the number of those prepared to risk life and limb to become illegal aliens drops precipitously even in part because some believe that the U.S. is governed by a crazy person, then, obviously, the New York Times is doing its job. And if the Border Service or their HR surrogates need to screen fifteen applicants to find one entry-level border cop, when half of red-state America is on Meth because they're depressed that they can't find jobs, then a good way to draw down our debt is to fire at least half the HR screeners. If you stick to red-staters you save even more money, because as border cops they'd bring their own guns and ammo.
We also should note that if the money that Moonbeam is trying to squeeze out of the feds to finish his sublime super-train to nowhere were dedicated instead to the amazing, tall, transparent Great Thingie of the Mexican Border, it would get built in no-time, employ thousands in its building, then thousands to maintain it. And because the money was taken largely from Southern California, Trump could even claim that he did indeed get Mexico to pay for it. (Too far? But, then, Southern Californians aren't my biggest fans, so who cares?)
If the number of those prepared to risk life and limb to become illegal aliens drops precipitously even in part because some believe that the U.S. is governed by a crazy person, then, obviously, the New York Times is doing its job. And if the Border Service or their HR surrogates need to screen fifteen applicants to find one entry-level border cop, when half of red-state America is on Meth because they're depressed that they can't find jobs, then a good way to draw down our debt is to fire at least half the HR screeners. If you stick to red-staters you save even more money, because as border cops they'd bring their own guns and ammo.
We also should note that if the money that Moonbeam is trying to squeeze out of the feds to finish his sublime super-train to nowhere were dedicated instead to the amazing, tall, transparent Great Thingie of the Mexican Border, it would get built in no-time, employ thousands in its building, then thousands to maintain it. And because the money was taken largely from Southern California, Trump could even claim that he did indeed get Mexico to pay for it. (Too far? But, then, Southern Californians aren't my biggest fans, so who cares?)
11
As a resident of Los Angeles, I'm among those who fall under the category you note of "Not Your Biggest Fans." Based on the tone of your comments, my guess is "Your Biggest Fan" lives in New Jersey in your home and shares your full name and driver's license.
69
Michael:
You could be right.
You could be right.
4
Ivanka is the privileged heiress who makes every single product abroad, often in horrific working conditions. It is easy to be a successful businesswoman if you start out with many millions of Daddy's dollars added to by Jared's fortunes. Employ the best plastic surgeons, hair colorists, and stylists and you still can't buy class.
As for the rest, anyone who supports Trump honestly cannot be expected to live in the real world, and I do not understand why anyone educated or reasonable would even pretend to. The good thing about California with its enormous economy and high tech advances is that it isn't getting caught up in stupid things like antiquated coal or an ancient vanity wall like Hadrian's. California has renewable energy, self driving cars, space projects, and the richness of diversity. It has undergone a boom and is putting its future into educating citizens, protecting the environment, and treating people with some respect.
I am less and less caring about the Trump universe people. The West Virginians (second largest beneficiaries of the ACA) can cheer Trump all they want, it really doesn't matter. Put West Virginia and its economy against California, and there's no context. Texas despite its Permian Oil Basin money had to just go to some kind of barebones budget because of its bad policies and lack of future vision.
Embrace coal; love the wall; worship Trump -- just jump over the cliff already and don't wait for a suicide wall.
As for the rest, anyone who supports Trump honestly cannot be expected to live in the real world, and I do not understand why anyone educated or reasonable would even pretend to. The good thing about California with its enormous economy and high tech advances is that it isn't getting caught up in stupid things like antiquated coal or an ancient vanity wall like Hadrian's. California has renewable energy, self driving cars, space projects, and the richness of diversity. It has undergone a boom and is putting its future into educating citizens, protecting the environment, and treating people with some respect.
I am less and less caring about the Trump universe people. The West Virginians (second largest beneficiaries of the ACA) can cheer Trump all they want, it really doesn't matter. Put West Virginia and its economy against California, and there's no context. Texas despite its Permian Oil Basin money had to just go to some kind of barebones budget because of its bad policies and lack of future vision.
Embrace coal; love the wall; worship Trump -- just jump over the cliff already and don't wait for a suicide wall.
25
The 1.6 billion for the first stretch of his wall would be coming out of our pockets...and we'd still have to pay for infrastructure modernization. Maybe he'd give visas to foreign workers to improve infrastructure at lower cost, since we would have spent our money on his wall. We need to have the right to recall elected officials who go off the rails when congress won't do it.
77
I would appreciate it if just one of Trump's supporters, apparently so enthused about the WALL, would state exactly how building the wall would benefit him or her. How would this person's life be better if the wall were built? What if one had to choose between spending on the wall and spending the same amount of money as part of a massive road/bridge infrastructure project?
521
Or improving education?
10
Texans don't want the wall. It means eminent domain taking a lot of their land to erect an eyesore. Like West Virginians that just got all the coal waste pollution dumped into their waters thanks to Trump's pollution policies, Texans who voted for Trump can enjoy watching a large border turn into some ugly Berlin Wall of discrimination and fascism.
14
That would involve thinking.
7
OMG Gail - you've come up with a barrier-plus solution. Get Presidente Pena Nieto on the phone again for the Donald: the US will hire Mexicans to build the wall, but pay them under the table, at less than minimum wage, the American way! Win-win.
249
@Cheryl: And make sure there's no health care for the wall builders. You know, building a wall in 100+ degree heat, piece of cake, nobody should get sick from that.
I was in Florida this past winter and saw that hundreds of brown men are employed at the rich, fancy mansions around Palm Beach. I mentioned this to an old white guy taxi driver one day, about how very hot it was and how they worked so hard. And he said, "They're used to it. They don't mind it." I wish I could send this guy the NY Times article I just read about how these landscapers are getting sick, very sick, sometimes getting close to dying from working in 100+ degree heat so that the rich can have pretty yards. I'm sure he'd think, "What's a few less?"
Something is really very wrong with America. Trump is just the symptom of our dis-ease.
I was in Florida this past winter and saw that hundreds of brown men are employed at the rich, fancy mansions around Palm Beach. I mentioned this to an old white guy taxi driver one day, about how very hot it was and how they worked so hard. And he said, "They're used to it. They don't mind it." I wish I could send this guy the NY Times article I just read about how these landscapers are getting sick, very sick, sometimes getting close to dying from working in 100+ degree heat so that the rich can have pretty yards. I'm sure he'd think, "What's a few less?"
Something is really very wrong with America. Trump is just the symptom of our dis-ease.
8
Winning?? Not!!
9
How about hiring Christo to create a barrier (divider, Maginot line, whatever) - it would draw tourists who could pay for it.
84
Rainbow colored chiffon might be nice.
6
I can only imagine what Christo would say about doing anything for Trump's benefit. I don't think it would be floaty and pretty, what he'd say.
2
Actually, I was thinking Christo might do this in defiance of Trump, perhaps welcoming immigration and peace and environmental activists to affix messages of love and goodwill. Imagine.
Are we all being punked??? Or, am I in a coma, and this is all a horrific, never ending nightmare??? You really could NOT make this " crap" up.
301
Yes, the U.S. is in a coma.
7
I'm all for a Wall. A big, beautiful, stupendous, awe-inspiring Wall. An impenetrable, inescapable, supremely secure Wall. I want this Wall to be the best Wall in history. The Trump Wall: built around the fabulous Trump Property, in Florida. HE can check in anytime he wants, but he can never leave. Seriously.
859
Hi Phyliss, why not a big, beautiful, stupendous, awe-inspiring wall all around the USA with the barbed wire on the inside? After all there are 63 million Trump voters to be kept in as well.
5
Welcome to the Hotel Mar a Lago
You can check in any time you like
But you can never leave
You can check in any time you like
But you can never leave
12
Excellent. My very favorite, of ALL time, album. Obviously.
4
.
.
Gail, the reason you are so tired of the word "wall" is that you spent years covering Connecticut!
Thomas Jefferson's phrase "a wall of separation between church and state" appeared in his letter to the Danbury (Conn.) Baptists in 1802.
The Baptists were concerned -- to their credit -- about a wall between 2 things that need to be separated. Trump, not so much.
He just wants to build an Obstacle.
Speaking of famous phrases, I liked that remark about Trump: "it’s a wonder he ever remembers to breathe".
Credit where it's due: In "Idiot Wind" (Blood on the Tracks album), Bob Dylan sang, "You're an idiot, babe; it's a wonder that you still know how to breathe." (That was before he had a Nobel Prize and a Special Pulitzer Citation. In American culture, Dylan is way more than just Another Brick in the Wall. Gack, I copied that from Pink Floyd!)
.
Gail, the reason you are so tired of the word "wall" is that you spent years covering Connecticut!
Thomas Jefferson's phrase "a wall of separation between church and state" appeared in his letter to the Danbury (Conn.) Baptists in 1802.
The Baptists were concerned -- to their credit -- about a wall between 2 things that need to be separated. Trump, not so much.
He just wants to build an Obstacle.
Speaking of famous phrases, I liked that remark about Trump: "it’s a wonder he ever remembers to breathe".
Credit where it's due: In "Idiot Wind" (Blood on the Tracks album), Bob Dylan sang, "You're an idiot, babe; it's a wonder that you still know how to breathe." (That was before he had a Nobel Prize and a Special Pulitzer Citation. In American culture, Dylan is way more than just Another Brick in the Wall. Gack, I copied that from Pink Floyd!)
57
Dylan is a poet first, a musician next, very much like Orpheus and as for Trump, you will find an excellent profile of him in the writings of Robert Graves. Sitting on Mount Olympus in the Ancient Times of Greece, Zeus demolishes the mortals with his trumpet-blasts and would have been an excellent tweet-in-commander.
3
Wouldn't it be cheaper to hire a militia of Trump supporters to line up on the border (there are 63 million of them) and stick their tongues out at Mexico. It wouldn't protect us but the messaging would be the same.
1056
Rick Gage- "Wouldn't it be cheaper to hire a militia of Trump supporters to line up on the border (there are 63 million of them) and stick their tongues out at Mexico. It wouldn't protect us but the messaging would be the same.'
Better yet how about they form a human chain? They could all link hands, sing spiritual songs to appeal to the "Christians" and we could pay them $7.25 an hour which is plenty enough to live on according to that policy wonk speaker of the house, Eddie, er Paul. Just think 63 million new jobs created and no environmental impact!!! It's a win-win for everyone.
Better yet how about they form a human chain? They could all link hands, sing spiritual songs to appeal to the "Christians" and we could pay them $7.25 an hour which is plenty enough to live on according to that policy wonk speaker of the house, Eddie, er Paul. Just think 63 million new jobs created and no environmental impact!!! It's a win-win for everyone.
18
They would be paid in opiates. That would get them off the streets and put to work. And there would be roving medics with nalaxone injectors if needed.
Win-win.
Win-win.
8
While Trump is yammering about a "wall," Japan is demonstrating a 600-kph maglev train. Sad. Very.
1207
China has begun a $1 Trillion Infrastructure program linked to six other Asian countries, while Trump is going to be our Waterloo.
15
"we should create synonyms. Fortification of the Future. Donald’s Divider. Keep working on it."
How about the Big Berm? :)
How about the Big Berm? :)
47
How about Trumps folly?
12
And the rallying cry could be, "Feel the Berm!"
13
45's Foolish Folly?
I know, I know: It's redundant, but I didn't realize this would be so difficult.
I know, I know: It's redundant, but I didn't realize this would be so difficult.
4
The Wall isn’t merely a pipe dream, or a ploy to please the president’s supporters or even an effective way of slowing drug traffic. It’s simply stupid, which somehow defines everything this president does.
If something is backwards, unintelligible, insulting, ineffective, inappropriate, quease-inducing or intellectually constipating, the president is on it like gravy on rice. He’ll praise the most awful candidates, put them in crucial positions, fire them the next day, and take credit for his keen discernment in getting rid of them. If he knows that any involvement in the Russian Thing could bring down his presidency, he’ll dictate a fake justification for a meeting with the Russians to exonerate his son.
Clearly these are the acts of a stupid person. He’s not uninformed as much as he’s uninformable. His narcissism has made him isolated, unable to perceive--much less trust or listen to--the council of others. It’s left him boorish and unmannered.
So trashing the transgendered is just another fetid bubble rising in the think tank of really bad ideas. Pretending to have sway over the president of Mexico is proof that he’s just not listening. Continuing to attack Hillary Clinton to an audience of Boy Scouts is borderline psychotic.
I can't get excited about any wall that doesn’t keep the president out of our view. If we could build one of those, I’d personally contribute a hefty sum.
If something is backwards, unintelligible, insulting, ineffective, inappropriate, quease-inducing or intellectually constipating, the president is on it like gravy on rice. He’ll praise the most awful candidates, put them in crucial positions, fire them the next day, and take credit for his keen discernment in getting rid of them. If he knows that any involvement in the Russian Thing could bring down his presidency, he’ll dictate a fake justification for a meeting with the Russians to exonerate his son.
Clearly these are the acts of a stupid person. He’s not uninformed as much as he’s uninformable. His narcissism has made him isolated, unable to perceive--much less trust or listen to--the council of others. It’s left him boorish and unmannered.
So trashing the transgendered is just another fetid bubble rising in the think tank of really bad ideas. Pretending to have sway over the president of Mexico is proof that he’s just not listening. Continuing to attack Hillary Clinton to an audience of Boy Scouts is borderline psychotic.
I can't get excited about any wall that doesn’t keep the president out of our view. If we could build one of those, I’d personally contribute a hefty sum.
1070
Borderline psychotic? The man is way out by the margins of the 6th standard deviation, claiming the bell curve is a triangle.
The whole thing with the wall started when Bannon or someone suggested it as a device to keep Trump focused, something he could remember and riff on in campaign speeches to rally his base. It wasn't his idea, nor was it a substantive part of an actual policy or position.
How it metastasized is similar to how the transgender thing came about. A faction in his base wanted specific limited "relief" on one small item, gender reassignment surgery paid for by the military. The notion got dropped in the empty hopper under the radioactive orange ferret, which feeds the logic macerator at the base of his skull which in turn creates projectile insults, alternative "facts" and gratuitous self inflation. Whatever valves may exist in the rusted plumbing of that system have long been frozen in the open position, and the filters have all been removed. For whatever reason, this whole exercise left me thinking about Trump trying on one of Ivankas made in china dresses. Perhaps after his removal we'll see him in curlers at Walmart?
I'm heartened to learn Mr. Mueller will soon bring an end to this side show of privilege and abuse though I'm certain Trump will throw the mother of all hissy fits and possibly start a war to avoid prison. Do you think he secretly wears pants suits?
The whole thing with the wall started when Bannon or someone suggested it as a device to keep Trump focused, something he could remember and riff on in campaign speeches to rally his base. It wasn't his idea, nor was it a substantive part of an actual policy or position.
How it metastasized is similar to how the transgender thing came about. A faction in his base wanted specific limited "relief" on one small item, gender reassignment surgery paid for by the military. The notion got dropped in the empty hopper under the radioactive orange ferret, which feeds the logic macerator at the base of his skull which in turn creates projectile insults, alternative "facts" and gratuitous self inflation. Whatever valves may exist in the rusted plumbing of that system have long been frozen in the open position, and the filters have all been removed. For whatever reason, this whole exercise left me thinking about Trump trying on one of Ivankas made in china dresses. Perhaps after his removal we'll see him in curlers at Walmart?
I'm heartened to learn Mr. Mueller will soon bring an end to this side show of privilege and abuse though I'm certain Trump will throw the mother of all hissy fits and possibly start a war to avoid prison. Do you think he secretly wears pants suits?
14
gemli,
Near perfect column.
You could have done without the word 'borderline' in reference to the President being 'psychotic'.
Near perfect column.
You could have done without the word 'borderline' in reference to the President being 'psychotic'.
8
.
.
We definitely have a big problem with immigration from our south.
The problem is human death and degredation.
Most recently, about 10 people were found dead in a tractor-trailer in a Wal-Mart parking lot. A few years ago, it was a train freight car on a siding in Iowa.In between, other deaths. The story is always basically the same:
Take a bunch of people who are up against U.S. border-crossing restrictions. Add greedy Americans. The one group packs the other group into transportation with minimal air holes (and certainly without all other human needs).
The sun's rays heat the box that the poorer, browner people have been stuffed into.
There is usually a lock system keeping the people from getting out. They flee at any opportunity; the arrest of the trucker came about because a Wal-Mart employee alerted police after one of the survivors managed to get free to seek water.
Of course, the real criminals are never caught; in this case the trucker was charged with the murders but by the time he had taken over the driving, someone may have been dead already.
A driver, or someone connected with the truck or train, takes the blame. They are culpable, after all. But the higher-ups evade arrest.
Survivors of the Wal-Mart episode are recovering in hospitals from dehydration. Trump will probably deport them.
Give us your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free. Indeed.
.
We definitely have a big problem with immigration from our south.
The problem is human death and degredation.
Most recently, about 10 people were found dead in a tractor-trailer in a Wal-Mart parking lot. A few years ago, it was a train freight car on a siding in Iowa.In between, other deaths. The story is always basically the same:
Take a bunch of people who are up against U.S. border-crossing restrictions. Add greedy Americans. The one group packs the other group into transportation with minimal air holes (and certainly without all other human needs).
The sun's rays heat the box that the poorer, browner people have been stuffed into.
There is usually a lock system keeping the people from getting out. They flee at any opportunity; the arrest of the trucker came about because a Wal-Mart employee alerted police after one of the survivors managed to get free to seek water.
Of course, the real criminals are never caught; in this case the trucker was charged with the murders but by the time he had taken over the driving, someone may have been dead already.
A driver, or someone connected with the truck or train, takes the blame. They are culpable, after all. But the higher-ups evade arrest.
Survivors of the Wal-Mart episode are recovering in hospitals from dehydration. Trump will probably deport them.
Give us your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free. Indeed.
223
I forgot the cite.
https://nyti.ms/2tR0ADg
74 Comments, none recommended by as many as 3 dozen readers if I understand correctly. That is probably an indication that it wasn't read by many site users.
This was mass-murder. Double the death toll of the attack on a small diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, a few years back.
How many Congressional Committees will investigate the deaths in an airless truck? These humans were transported by Americans, not by post-Weimar Germans.
NYT can't do anything more than publish the facts. If fewer people read what's really happening than are reading whatever Kellyanne Conway is shilling, we will keep getting clones of Speaker Ryan and Justice Gorsuch, instead of real leadership.
Send not to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for elections based on facts, and for thee.
https://nyti.ms/2tR0ADg
74 Comments, none recommended by as many as 3 dozen readers if I understand correctly. That is probably an indication that it wasn't read by many site users.
This was mass-murder. Double the death toll of the attack on a small diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, a few years back.
How many Congressional Committees will investigate the deaths in an airless truck? These humans were transported by Americans, not by post-Weimar Germans.
NYT can't do anything more than publish the facts. If fewer people read what's really happening than are reading whatever Kellyanne Conway is shilling, we will keep getting clones of Speaker Ryan and Justice Gorsuch, instead of real leadership.
Send not to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for elections based on facts, and for thee.
9
Let's make it a "Pretend Wall"
Just like the Donald's intellect,
T'would cost us not one cent at all,
With nothing we'd have to collect.
The Donald would say it was there
His Base would most surely agree,
The rest of us just wouldn't care,
We'd have bipartisan harmony..
Just like the Donald's intellect,
T'would cost us not one cent at all,
With nothing we'd have to collect.
The Donald would say it was there
His Base would most surely agree,
The rest of us just wouldn't care,
We'd have bipartisan harmony..
551
Larry, you've made me smile many, many times, today included (a childlike one, fun). Thank you.
10
.
There are actually topics for which light verse is inappropriate.
This Ayn Rand character in the Oval Office is playing with real lives.
There are actually topics for which light verse is inappropriate.
This Ayn Rand character in the Oval Office is playing with real lives.
3
Hahaha I love this! A very "Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking glass feel to it - the whole Trump administration has a kind of topsy-turvy, Alice in Wonderland feel to it - thanks Larry!
11
The Trump telephone conversations show him to be the farthest from a dealmaker. Trump could not even distinguish his own bind from the next person's. He also showed breathtaking arrogance, being a brand new political figure and making ultimatums.
The Trump of those calls is a person who does not merit respect. He does not grasp that his title will not confer prestige when he does not live up to it.
The Trump of those calls is a person who does not merit respect. He does not grasp that his title will not confer prestige when he does not live up to it.
723
Trump's phone calls also showed incredible stupidity, ignorance, and lack of reason. He was begging for other world leaders to go along with him no matter how crazy or incoherent the idea was. He sounded drunk or drugged.
What an embarrassment. Trump voters voted for a lunatic who cannot communicate with any degree of sanity, sense, or substance.
What an embarrassment. Trump voters voted for a lunatic who cannot communicate with any degree of sanity, sense, or substance.
23
@NM: What surprises me is how much respect both the Mexican and Australian leaders gave Trump in those phone calls. I would have just laughed at him when he started his "Oh, but this will make me look bad!" shtick. Yep. It will, Donald. It will, is what I would say.
I guess it's our military. Is everyone afraid of our military? Or is it trade? I don't know, but I'm sick of world leaders being nice to him. I want THEM to be real, even if our leader cannot even recognize reality.
I guess it's our military. Is everyone afraid of our military? Or is it trade? I don't know, but I'm sick of world leaders being nice to him. I want THEM to be real, even if our leader cannot even recognize reality.
11
Hi SMB and sophia,
Yes, as Trump showed himself to be stupid, ignorant and unreasonable, he was met with civility, even though he did not get his way. I always root for people like Nieto and Turnbull (inter alia) who don't lose their own manners or tempers when dealing with Trump and his crudeness. It reminds me of the graciousness President Obama showed Trump, despite all Donald's nastiness. Individuals who hold their head high and don't go down to Trump's level emerge as the bigger person.
Thank you both for writing. Warmest regards.
Yes, as Trump showed himself to be stupid, ignorant and unreasonable, he was met with civility, even though he did not get his way. I always root for people like Nieto and Turnbull (inter alia) who don't lose their own manners or tempers when dealing with Trump and his crudeness. It reminds me of the graciousness President Obama showed Trump, despite all Donald's nastiness. Individuals who hold their head high and don't go down to Trump's level emerge as the bigger person.
Thank you both for writing. Warmest regards.
11
"Trump, whose lack of attention to detail is so enormous it’s a wonder he ever remembers to breathe..."
Oh, Ms. Collins, would it be mean of me to hope for--and even pray--that he would forget? For just a minute?
Oh, Ms. Collins, would it be mean of me to hope for--and even pray--that he would forget? For just a minute?
365
Could it be that part of the problem is that he DOES forget to breathe and that the resulting lack of oxygen flowing to his brain is doing the damage that we seem to be witnessing on a daily basis?
11
... or five?
5
I think it takes about 7 minutes...
11
"So it's all about image."
That it is. Trump's.
Not only is Trump not doing so great with his image, but, with his unhinged remarks such as the ones with the leaders of Mexico and Australia, the country's image has taken a hit as well, primarily because an ignoramus is at the helm.
Trump's conversation with the Mexican president was another example of his ignorance when he said to Peña Nieto that he was given “tremendous taxation powers for trade." He has no such powers. Congress does.
The president of Mexico probably knew it and most likely laughed his posterior off after he hung up on Trump.
The president of Mexico laughing at Trump is conjecture on my part. Not so with the Australian Prime Minister who openly mocked Trump to much laughter and applause when he said this:
"The Donald and I, we are winning and winning in the polls. We are winning so much! We are winning like we have never won before. We are winning in the polls. We are! Not the fake polls. Not the fake polls. They're the ones we're not winning in. We're winning in the real polls."
The target of mockery may be Trump, but what does that say about a country that elected a clueless fool?
That it is. Trump's.
Not only is Trump not doing so great with his image, but, with his unhinged remarks such as the ones with the leaders of Mexico and Australia, the country's image has taken a hit as well, primarily because an ignoramus is at the helm.
Trump's conversation with the Mexican president was another example of his ignorance when he said to Peña Nieto that he was given “tremendous taxation powers for trade." He has no such powers. Congress does.
The president of Mexico probably knew it and most likely laughed his posterior off after he hung up on Trump.
The president of Mexico laughing at Trump is conjecture on my part. Not so with the Australian Prime Minister who openly mocked Trump to much laughter and applause when he said this:
"The Donald and I, we are winning and winning in the polls. We are winning so much! We are winning like we have never won before. We are winning in the polls. We are! Not the fake polls. Not the fake polls. They're the ones we're not winning in. We're winning in the real polls."
The target of mockery may be Trump, but what does that say about a country that elected a clueless fool?
429
"Lately he’s talked about making the wall transparent, so Americans passing by won’t be hit on the head with “large sacks of drugs” being tossed over from the Mexican side."
A clown in a clown's costume with clown ideas and circus friends deserves a tent.
A clown in a clown's costume with clown ideas and circus friends deserves a tent.
248
The problem is the size of the Republican's big tent. So big is now encompasses completely incompetent people like Trump as presidential candidates, no, let me rephrase that as there is nothing about Trump that is presidential, as Republican candidates for president (and a host of other offices, but I don't have enough room in this comment to explore that idea.
11
Trump was not the only one who thought that the call between himself and Turnbull was the most unpleasant of the day.
193
In President Obama's first year, he was bringing the economy out of a deep recession and working toward establishing guaranteed healthcare.
Donald Trump, in his first year, is chasing a fantasy wall from Mexico and impugning the Boy Scouts.
Donald Trump, in his first year, is chasing a fantasy wall from Mexico and impugning the Boy Scouts.
649
And don't forget trying to disassemble everything his predecessor accomplished.
17
Trump has built a wall separating himself from sanity and rational thinking and truth and honesty.
311
Trump has just tweeted that the transparent wall has been completed from Atlantic to Pacific.
He has delivered on his promises yet again.
He has delivered on his promises yet again.
157
Apropos of the Emperor's New Clothes(he wore none!). Amazing that Hans Christian Anderson wrote of Trump in 1837.
11
Seriously, enough with the image of Trump walking naked - I read the paper with breakfast
16
Trump's fear of looking like a weak and ineffective leader, as revealed through the telephone transcripts, was prescient. Not that the realization of the illusory wall, along with payments from Mexico, would have changed things.
Trump could have lived down moving away from the border wall, on Nieto's dime. He might have said that being in the White House showed what priorities edged out the wall. Trump could have even said that no one would have ever known that it could be so complicated! But no.
So he attacks, from federal judges to world leaders to his Attorney General. He lies about everything from imaginary conversations to imaginary acclaim. He belittles, right up to personnel of the military he claims to champion. And he obfuscates his inner circle's sketchy dealings with Russia, even lying about the lie he suggested to his son.
No wall can block the clear view of Trump as a weak and ineffective leader.
Trump could have lived down moving away from the border wall, on Nieto's dime. He might have said that being in the White House showed what priorities edged out the wall. Trump could have even said that no one would have ever known that it could be so complicated! But no.
So he attacks, from federal judges to world leaders to his Attorney General. He lies about everything from imaginary conversations to imaginary acclaim. He belittles, right up to personnel of the military he claims to champion. And he obfuscates his inner circle's sketchy dealings with Russia, even lying about the lie he suggested to his son.
No wall can block the clear view of Trump as a weak and ineffective leader.
468
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/01/politics/trump-waives-environmental-laws-b...